The Path of Immortality: Starts With Creating Water Bear Gu-Chapter 515: Dragon Emperor City

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In a dim world, the Blade King awakened from the darkness, feeling the damp sensation around his body. He quickly realized something and gradually revealed an expression of wild joy.

"Heh… heh heh! Have I been reincarnated through? I must be in my mother’s womb right now. Hahaha! The effects of the Reincarnation Pill are real—it actually allowed me to reincarnate with my memories intact!"

"Now I can start cultivating inside the womb! I can absorb that trace of Innate Qi through the umbilical cord and use it to temper my foundation. Once I’m born, I’ll already be a peerless genius. Who among my peers could possibly compare?"

"In this lifetime, I’m destined to achieve far greater accomplishments than in my previous one!"

"This life, I shall stand at the pinnacle of this world!"

Excited, the Blade King clenched his fists tightly, wishing he could laugh out loud. But at this stage of fetal development, that was clearly impossible.

After the initial excitement, he immediately began circulating his cultivation method, attempting to absorb the Innate Qi from the mother’s body—he could wait no longer.

Innate Qi, found only in the mother's body, is the most pure and primal form of energy—the very origin of innate cultivation. It offers boundless benefits. However, when the mother gives birth, this Qi disperses upon contact with the turbid outside air.

In other words, Innate Qi is temporary and cannot be preserved.

Since unborn infants typically lack consciousness, much less cultivation methods, they are naturally unable to absorb this precious energy—thus it dissipates in vain.

If one could awaken consciousness while still in the womb and absorb the Innate Qi in time, the resulting foundation would be unimaginable. But such a phenomenon has never occurred. The world has never seen an infant awaken in the womb and cultivate—not even the most monstrous genius has done this since ancient times.

But now, the Blade King was determined to be that exception. He was so overwhelmed with emotion that he could hardly breathe, clenching his fists in excitement.

He finally closed his eyes and, upon sensing that trace of Innate Qi, held back his joy and activated his cultivation technique to absorb it.

But then—his smile suddenly froze, and his face turned pale.

"Impossible! I only remember half of my cultivation technique—the other half is completely gone! What’s going on here?"

"Damn it! Without the second half of the technique, I can’t cultivate. Without a complete method, I can’t absorb the Innate Qi at all. How could this happen? Could it be… because I only consumed half of the Reincarnation Pill?"

His face darkened—this was truly a case of extreme joy begetting sorrow.

Such a sudden twist was devastating. The advantage of reincarnating with memories had instantly been cut in half. All of his earlier fantasies were shattered, and despair began to settle in.

"No choice… Since I can’t use my original technique, I’ll have to use a lesser one. I remember several ordinary cultivation methods. At worst, I’ll switch to a better one once I grow up. What matters now is absorbing the Innate Qi."

Taking a deep breath to steady his mind, he began searching through his memory for suitable techniques.

But the more he recalled, the darker his expression grew.

He soon discovered a horrifying truth: consuming only half a Reincarnation Pill causes the loss of half of one’s memories—not randomly, but proportionally. Every memory is split in half.

He remembered many cultivation techniques, but only half of each. The result? None were usable.

He nearly vomited blood from the shock. The joy of reincarnation had completely evaporated, replaced by utter despair.

The Innate Qi was right beside him, and yet he could not touch it. No one could understand the agony he was going through.

Just as he was about to break down completely, he suddenly sensed another consciousness awakening nearby—a soul powerful enough to be ranked Gu King had scanned him.

The Blade King was stunned. He had a twin brother?

And he had also awakened consciousness in the womb?

Could someone other than him truly awaken like this?

Then realization dawned. The only person who could do this… must have consumed the other half of the Reincarnation Pill!

His face grew dark and gloomy.

Other than himself, only the person who took the other half of the pill could awaken consciousness during this prenatal period.

Who else could it be but that black-robed man who had sabotaged him?

What a cruel twist of fate! Not only had the man stolen his chance, now he dared compete for his Innate Qi as well!

The Blade King clenched his fists, his eyes ferocious.

It was this man who had taken half of the Reincarnation Pill, causing him to lose half his memories and fail to absorb the Innate Qi. Everything that had gone wrong stemmed from him!

The Blade King was enraged, his face twisted with killing intent.

"I’ll kill you!"

He launched himself at his twin like a madman, hands reaching for his brother’s neck.

Meanwhile, elsewhere—

"Hahahaha… I’m rich! Rich beyond belief!"

"What a massive haul! The Heaven-Devouring World Toad is going to grow several sizes after this!"

On a floating island, Long Xuan examined the loot from his recent heist, laughing like a maniac.

The Myriad Medicine Pavilion had been hosting a Pill Exchange Assembly, and the array of precious spiritual herbs on display was immense. Now, all of it had fallen into his hands in a single swoop—he was nearly laughing himself mad.

At first, he had thought exchanging a Reincarnation Pill for Longevity Spring Tea was a slight loss. But now, seeing the gains, that deal had turned out to be incredibly worthwhile.

Of course, he did wonder what had become of the person who received the Reincarnation Pill. Had they entered the cycle of rebirth? Were they now cultivating in the womb? What changes would they experience while absorbing Innate Qi?

He was quite curious.

But since the Reincarnation Pill chose a random maternal vessel for rebirth, there was no way for him to track the exact location. The world was vast—it would be like searching for a needle in a haystack.

Suppressing his curiosity, he rummaged through the pile and pulled out a box of Longevity Spring Tea.

His laughter faded. He frowned slightly.

This tea, when brewed regularly, was known to extend life—but only after long-term use. A cup or two had limited effect. Thankfully, the box he had was quite full.

However, evolving his Tea Gu would require an equally large amount. What looked like a generous supply might not even be enough for a single successful evolution.

Even with the whole box, there was no guarantee his Tea Gu would successfully advance.

Long Xuan picked up a leaf with a stalk from the box, frowned, and pondered for a moment. At this point, he had no choice but to rely on the power of Medicinal Gu and use cutting techniques to try and regrow the Longevity Spring Tea Tree from the leaf.

As for whether he could successfully grow the tea tree with the help of the Medicinal Gu, he wasn’t certain either. The success rate was around fifty-fifty—a gamble at best. Right now, he could only treat a dead horse like a living one.

However, the growth cycle of a Heaven-grade spiritual herb was extraordinarily long. By the time the medicinal Gu managed to ripen the Longevity Spring Tea, it might well be the year of the monkey.

For now, he could only hope that the Tea Gu was strong enough to advance successfully using just this portion of Longevity Spring.

Speaking of which, his Go Gu had formed bonds with many geniuses, allowing him to share a small portion of their luck.

The cumulative luck of these geniuses was quite considerable. With such incredible fortune assisting him, it wasn’t impossible for the Tea Gu to complete its advancement using only these few Longevity Spring Leaves.

After handing over the leaves with stalks to the Medicinal Gu, Long Xuan began processing the rest of the tea leaves. In a short time, a rich tea aroma wafted throughout the entire floating island.

The Tea Gu sniffed the air, excitement flashing in its eyes, and flew toward the source of the aroma.

Even the Yin-Yang Profound Jade Ginseng, known for its love of tea, was twitching its nose as it ran over, drooling onto the ground...

Two Months Later:

Long Xuan looked at the colorful butterfly flitting through the sky, a faint smile appearing at the corners of his mouth.

Things had not disappointed him. Perhaps it was due to the tremendous Qi Luck of the Go Gu—amazingly, the Tea Gu had successfully advanced using only that bit of tea. It now danced joyfully through the skies.

Through their blood contract, Long Xuan quickly understood the Tea Gu’s newly awakened ability post-advancement.

The Tea Gu was a support-type Gu. With each advancement, it gained an additional buff aura:

First-grade: Awakened the Healing Aura (white), greatly enhancing healing abilities when applied to other Gu.

Second-grade: Awakened the Power Aura (black), massively increasing strength.

Third-grade: Awakened the Speed Aura (blue), drastically boosting speed.

Fourth-grade (newly awakened): Defense Aura (yellow), significantly boosting the defensive power of any Gu it is applied to.

The defense buff was very practical. Long Xuan was extremely satisfied.

With this, his Tea Gu now had four aura effects. If all four could be applied during group battles, he didn’t even dare imagine how terrifying his Gu swarm’s combat ability would become.

“Now that the Tea Gu has successfully advanced, next should be the advancement of the Dragon Gu. After two months of travel, the Heaven-Devouring World Toad should almost be at the Dragon Emperor City, right?”

Long Xuan’s eyes sparkled.

His condition for joining the Dragon Emperor Empire was the advancement materials for the Dragon Gu and other important Gu insects.

As long as he arrived at Dragon Emperor City, he could receive the advancement materials. Barring any mishaps, the Dragon Gu could enter its evolution phase the very same day.

He was already impatient for the Dragon Gu’s evolution.

Three Days Later – Dragon Emperor City:

Dragon Emperor City was a newly established city within the Golden River Region. It was originally known as the City of Slaughter, a gathering place for demonic cultivators.

Much like the City of Sin, it was formed by fugitives and devil cultivators from various nations. It was filled with evil-doers—there wasn't a single decent person in the entire city. It was one of the infamous lawless zones not under any nation's control.

Originally, the demonic cultivators lived here in peace, quite comfortably. But a few years ago, a mysterious force descended upon the city, claiming to be searching for a lost child, and launched a full-scale siege.

This force had many giant Gu insects, each with immense strength, capable of hurling massive boulders like divine siege weapons.

That battle was like a meteor shower falling from the heavens. Under relentless bombardment, the powerful city-protecting formation of the City of Slaughter eventually collapsed in three days and nights.

Once the barrier was broken, countless meteor-like boulders rained down, killing many demonic Gu cultivators before they even had a chance to fight.

Soon, the gigantic Gu insects stormed the city, each one carrying mobile Mountain-Protection Formation on their backs. These mobile formations were incredibly destructive—far beyond the resistance of ordinary people.

The city’s demonic cultivators were overwhelmed, routed almost instantly. The streets ran red with blood. In panic, many fled, leaving corpses strewn across the ground.

The Long Clan’s Gu cultivators pursued them for three thousand miles, dyeing the lands in blood. Most devil cultivators perished while fleeing. Only a handful managed to escape alive.

Along the way, many forces were also uprooted by the Long Clan for “harboring demonic cultivators.”

Thus, the Long Clan completely took control of the City of Slaughter and the vast lands surrounding it.

After this decisive battle, the city was renamed Dragon Emperor City, and the Long Clan firmly established itself in the Central Region.

Although the City of Slaughter was remote, small, and lacking in resources—which is why it was never seized by other nations—its strategic location led the Long Clan to eye the adjacent Demonic Night Forest for expansion.

This forest was the territory of spiritual beasts, with countless powerful beings. It was not a place human empires could easily touch.

Thus began a long and bitter war between the Long Clan and the spiritual beasts. Over the years, casualties mounted on both sides.

However, the frontline was gradually pushed deeper into the Demonic Night Forest, and the Long Clan's territory grew steadily.

All of this was the background information Long Xuan learned before even arriving at Dragon Emperor City.

It all seemed familiar to him. The expansion of the Dragon Emperor Empire was strikingly similar to the Far West Long Clan's own strategy.

The Far West Long Clan had once wanted to seize territory but lacked a just cause to declare war. Starting conflict without justification would only provoke public outrage.

So they directly wiped out a stronghold of demonic cultivators, who were universally condemned. They didn’t even bother to make up a proper reason—just claimed a “lost child” and immediately started the siege, slaughtering the demonic cultivators to the last.

Afterward, they began pioneering the barren lands and gradually gained control of large territories, eventually becoming one of the strongest factions in the region.

Now, the Dragon Empire City’s development path looked almost identical.