章 47: 1-10 The Path of Immortality: Starts With Creating Water Bear Gu
Chapter 1
In the endless darkness, Long Xuan woke up in shock from a dream.
"Where is this?"
He looked around in confusion, his brows furrowed.
What he saw was a cluttered bedroom with a musty smell lingering in the air.
When his eyes landed on a bronze mirror on the table, the reflection of a handsome fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy appeared in his vision.
He quickly realized that he had transmigrated. Soon, a flood of unfamiliar memories surged into his mind, further confirming his suspicion.
This was a strange world similar to one of cultivation, with pills, artifacts, formations, talismans, beast taming, insect control, sword control, puppetry...
The boy practiced Gu insect cultivation and lived in a region inhabited by other Gu cultivators. People in this area gained powerful strength by raising and refining Gu insects.
A Gu, as it was called, involved placing different types of spiritual insects in a container and letting them kill each other.
Over time, there was a chance that a more powerful new insect species would emerge.
These new insect species, born from this method, were called Gu insects. Gu insects could not reproduce and could only be obtained through refining.
Depending on the types and quantities of spiritual insects in the container, there were countless combinations.
Different combinations produced different Gu insects, varying in shape, strength, and abilities, some bizarre and unpredictable.
Broadly, they could be categorized into two types: external Gu, which were larger and used for external combat, and internal Gu, which were smaller and could parasitize the Gu cultivator's body, providing the cultivator with various miraculous abilities like breathing fire and summoning lightning. Internal Gu offered numerous abilities by growing within the cultivator's body and feeding off its nutrients.
Some internal Gu were harmful rather than beneficial to the cultivator and could be secretly placed in an enemy's food, making them hard to detect and almost impossible to guard against. Those affected would often die as the Gu ate their internal organs.
It was noteworthy that many combinations failed to produce Gu insects, and those that did produce powerful Gu were extremely rare.
Gu cultivators recorded successful combinations on paper, turning them into Gu recipes that could be passed down through generations.
A Gu recipe was the foundation of a family's enduring prosperity and their most important asset.
Each family guarded their Gu recipes as treasures, never sharing them.
Therefore, for ordinary people, learning Gu recipes was extremely difficult.
The original owner of Long Xuan's body was a poor, ordinary person working as a laborer in a medicinal garden to earn a meager income, with no opportunity to learn Gu recipes.
The original owner, also named Long Xuan, was of low status, orphaned since childhood, and was born with a "golden finger," a typical protagonist trait.
However, to the original owner, this golden finger seemed useless, leading to a life of poverty and struggle despite having it.
Upon seeing these memories, Long Xuan couldn't help but frown.
A useless golden finger? Unheard of! After reading countless novels, it was the first time he'd encountered such a situation.
This protagonist's golden finger was not a system but merely the ability to see the growth of all things.
This was its only function—just seeing, without the ability to alter anything. Apart from visualizing a number, it had no practical use.
At first glance, it indeed seemed useless, as spiritual beasts and insects could have their growth assessed by their size, and there were many ways to determine the age of medicinal herbs. It didn't really need his ability to identify them.
Long Xuan fell into deep thought. According to the memories, this ability allowed him to see the growth progress of all things in the world, not just living things.
It seemed that any named entity, living or non-living, could have its growth progress seen.
However, using the term "growth" for non-living things seemed inaccurate. Long Xuan preferred a modern term, calling it "progress" instead.
While the original owner thought this ability was useless, Long Xuan disagreed. He believed this ability had great potential for development.
There are no useless golden fingers, only useless hosts—it all depended on the host's creativity.
As a transmigrator, creativity was something he didn't lack. Soon, many fantastic ideas appeared in his mind.
He quickly got out of bed and went to the desk, taking out paper and a pen from the drawer. He wrote the characters "Gu Recipe" at the top of the paper and then listed a material called "Ghost Spider" below it.
As expected, the paper showed a progress rate, but instead of the previous form of 10% or 20%, it displayed as numbers from his previous life. It was clear that the golden finger's display format was based on the host's cognition.
At this moment, a number "1.5%" appeared in his vision.
Long Xuan pondered. According to his guess, incomplete recipes were also a kind of entity and could naturally have their progress seen.
The progress of a Gu recipe evidently represented its degree of completeness.
The more complete the recipe, the higher the progress; the more incomplete, the lower.
However, a recipe missing only 1% could still be called incomplete, as could one missing all but one material.
Thus, it was simple. Faking an incomplete recipe with just one material wouldn't be difficult.
He just needed to randomly guess a recipe with a visible progress rate and then continue writing down materials he thought were correct.
If the progress disappeared, it meant the guess was wrong, and he would erase it and try another material.
If the progress increased, it meant the guess was right, and he could continue guessing.
Once he reached 100%, it meant he had successfully created a complete Gu recipe.
He deliberately wrote down an insect species from his previous life on the paper and could still see the progress. This indicated that the golden finger's standard for incomplete recipes included those theoretically existing.
In other words, he could create new Gu recipes with this golden finger, inventing Gu species that didn't yet exist in this world.
With no trial-and-error cost, researching Gu recipes only required paper and pen. Creating new Gu recipes was just a matter of time.
Having two lifetimes of strong soul and high comprehension, combined with his previous life as an entomologist, he was confident that he could use his past knowledge and creativity to develop extraordinary Gu recipes and shine in this world.
Long Xuan was now extremely excited and full of expectations for the future. After studying his golden finger a while longer, he finally opened the door and headed to the medicinal garden where the original owner worked.
Refining Gu required a significant amount of initial funds, and this medicinal garden might become his first source of wealth.
The garden belonged to an old Gu cultivator named Long, whom outsiders called Elder Long.[1]
Elder Long came from a Gu cultivator family named Long and was stationed in a village called Great Stone Village, protecting it from spirit beast invasions and demon cultivator bandits.
In return, Great Stone Village had to provide more than half of its food, including meat and eggs.
There were countless villages under the control of the Long family.
In this world, Gu cultivators didn't farm. They only practiced cultivation, didn't engage in production, and had enormous appetites. Their food supply came solely from various mortal villages.
Gu cultivator families provided protection for mortal villages, and in return, the villagers provided food.
The stronger the Gu cultivator family, the more villages they controlled, and wars between Gu families often involved capturing mortal villages.
Great Stone Village was a large village with a population of three thousand, having grown to its size due to a nearby market, the only one in the Far West.
Because it was closest to the Long family, it became one of their protected villages.
The Long family was one of the seven strongest Gu cultivator families in the Far West, and no one dared provoke them, so Great Stone Village never experienced any raids.
Such a safe environment was exactly what Long Xuan was satisfied with.
Elder Long's medicinal garden was vast, growing over a hundred types of spiritual herbs.
The spiritual herbs were graded from one to ten, with higher grades being legendary Earth-grade and Heaven-grade.
Despite its size, Elder Long's garden only grew the lowest grade, first-grade spiritual herbs, and all of them were flowers, filling the garden with a rich floral fragrance.
Following the instructions in his memories, Long Xuan carried a bucket of green liquid into the garden. The green liquid was fertilizer.
Unlike stinky manure, this fertilizer had to be bought from a guild and was called ripening liquid by Long Xuan.
Using ripening liquid on spiritual herbs could halve their growth period.
Long Xuan was very interested in this ripening liquid, sniffing it closely as if trying to figure out its components.
If ordinary ripening liquid could have such an effect, then advanced ripening liquid could possibly reduce the millennia-long growth period of spiritual herbs to mere centuries.
He firmly believed that once he knew the formula of this ripening liquid, he could apply his golden finger to develop an advanced ripening liquid.
"Too bad I don't have a microscope," Long Xuan sighed, shaking his head.
Unable to make a microscope, he could only use his golden finger to achieve a similar capability. In this world where everyone used Gu, he felt it necessary to develop a Gu insect with this ability.
After some more study, finding that the progress rate might represent the shelf life of the ripening liquid but nothing more, he gave up and planned to revisit the research once he had created a microscope-Gu.
Long Xuan composed himself, scooping a ladle of ripening liquid onto a spiritual medicine called Moonlight Flower, increasing its growth from 17.1% to 17.2%.
After a glance, he continued pouring a second ladle, seeing the progress rise from 17.2% to 17.3%.
When he poured a third ladle, the progress remained unchanged.
Long Xuan pondered and thought of the second function of the golden finger. To verify his suspicion, he continued to pour three consecutive scoops of the ripening liquid on another type of spiritual herb, and this time, there were three changes in progress.
He tried pouring the fourth scoop, and only then did the progress stop increasing.
"indeed, is that so?"
Long Xuan showed an excited expression.
According to Elder Long's instructions, he needed to water each spiritual herb with three scoops once every seven days.
But now it seemed that the amount used was not precise, and perhaps the watering intervals were also not accurate.
The types of spiritual herbs were different, so the amount of ripening liquid naturally varied.
Some spiritual herbs absorbed well and might need three scoops, while others might need just one scoop, and more than that could be counterproductive.
There would also be significant differences in watering times; some needed watering every seven days, while others might need it every five days.
The merchants could only estimate an approximate amount, and wastage was inevitable. To make more money, they might even exaggerate the required amount.
However, Long Xuan could tailor the approach perfectly, using the precise amount for each type of spiritual herb and ensuring seamless timing in fertilizing.
What does this mean? It means that without affecting the yield, he could embezzle a portion of the ripening liquid.
It also means that under his extreme cultivation, the spiritual herbs would mature much faster than expected, naturally surpassing the previous yields within a certain period.
According to the original owner's memory, Elder Long used the spiritual herbs in the medicine garden to pay salaries. As long as the stipulated amount was delivered on time, the extra yield would be his salary.
The harder the original owner worked, the more he earned. If he was lazy and the yield couldn't meet the required amount, he would have to pay out of his own pocket.
And Elder Long only cared about the results, not the process. He didn't care how the original owner managed the medicine garden, and he had never inspected it, being in seclusion for many years.
So, isn't this the first bucket of gold?
A smile appeared on Long Xuan's face. The golden finger was indeed useful; not only was it not useless, but it was also somewhat extraordinary.
The golden finger Is not a system but an bug.
Chapter 2: "Eternal Life Sutra"
For the next period, Long Xuan stayed in the medicine garden, studying the optimal amount and best intervals for applying the ripening liquid to each type of spiritual herb, recording the results on paper.
The medicine garden housed over a hundred types of spiritual herbs, making this a long and arduous process. Fortunately, there was a large white hen in the garden to keep him company, so it wasn't too dull.
This hen was originally bought for pest control. Just like crops need pesticides when they get pests, spiritual herbs also need pest control, for which one has to buy insecticide from the Chamber of Commerce.
The original owner, left to his own devices by Elder Long, went wild in the herb garden and saved the spirit stones meant for insecticide powder to buy a hen instead.
As it turned out, this was a stroke of luck. Chickens raised in rural areas have the ability to control pests in crops, something every villager knows, but that usually applies only to regular crops.
The pests on spiritual herbs are not simple. Normally, a hen eating spiritual pests would not digest them and would instead be parasitized.
However, this hen, after a period of lethargy, not only survived but evolved into a spirit hen, becoming an expert in pest control. The original owner had good luck.
At this moment, Long Xuan watched the large white hen strolling around the medicine garden, secretly amazed.
The hen strutted confidently, with an imposing air, its head bobbing as it walked, eyes gleaming with intelligence, as if its IQ had also increased after evolving into a spirit hen.
It scratched the ground and soon dug out a large fat insect, which it promptly swallowed.
The progress bar on the hen's head instantly changed from 99.3% to 99.4%, indicating it was nearing maturity.
Seeing this, Long Xuan thoughtfully stroked his chin.
The hen had eaten many things, but only a few fat insects affected its maturity.
By observing these changes and feeding the spiritual hen different foods, he could determine which foods most benefited its growth, and formulate a feed that could significantly shorten its maturation period.
Long Xuan wasn't interested in making chicken feed. Instead, he thought of another application of his special ability: breeding spiritual insects.
Breeding spiritual insects could be as profitable as cultivating spiritual herbs.
Spiritual insects are used for refining Gu (a type of magical talisman), and the higher the maturity of the insect, the higher the success rate of refining.
Rare spiritual insects are exceedingly valuable and sought after, but few know how to breed them.
Different Gu-cultivating families raise the same species of insect with varying growth times.
Some families, with superior feed, could reduce the growth period of their spiritual insects by several times compared to others.
This allowed them to dominate the market, undercutting competitors by reducing prices and achieving a monopoly.
Discovering the best feed for a particular insect species could be extremely lucrative.
Long Xuan quickly decided he wanted to start breeding a type of spiritual insect.
Breeding Gu insects was even more complex. The more powerful the Gu species, the longer its maturation period, with some taking thousands or even tens of thousands of years to mature, far exceeding the lifespan of Gu practitioners.
However, the combat power of mature Gu insects far surpassed that of their immature forms, compelling Gu practitioners to find ways to shorten their maturation periods.
The methods to breed a powerful Gu species were often more valuable than the Gu recipes themselves.
Gu practitioners found it hard to breed Gu, often spending more resources on feeding them than refining them.
Many practitioners went gray with worry and exhausted their resources trying to find methods to shorten the maturation periods of Gu insects.
But Long Xuan had no such concerns. In the future, regardless of which Gu species he blood-bound, he could formulate the perfect feed for it.
Reducing the maturation period of a Gu species from ten thousand years to a hundred years or even less was not a dream. This was like having a cheat code, and Long Xuan was excited.
"The optimal use of ripening liquid for each spiritual herb has almost been figured out. Using it as recorded, the output of this medicine garden can increase profits by another fifty percent."
"With such high returns, I now have enough funds to refine my first Gu insect."
Long Xuan clenched his fists excitedly, his eyes shining.
In his excitement, he reached for the hen's nest to grab a few spiritual eggs to celebrate.
He was curious about the taste of these spiritual eggs, which were smooth, round, white, and large, brimming with spiritual energy and nutrition. They looked delicious, making his mouth water.
However, as soon as his sneaky hand touched the smooth eggs, the hen immediately sensed it and pecked at his hand aggressively.
"shoo, shoo, how dare you..."
...
Spring came and went, flowers bloomed and withered.
A year passed in a flash, and the medicine garden was now a sea of colorful spiritual flowers, swaying with the wind and filling the air with a dreamlike fragrance.
Next to the flower sea, Long Xuan lay on a rocking chair, with papers filled with Chinese characters and a cup of tea on the table beside him. He leisurely read a book, enjoying the breeze.
His previously thin frame had filled out considerably over the year, likely due to eating too many spiritual eggs.
The large white hen was also plump and strong, patrolling the medicine garden for spiritual pests, which it devoured as soon as they appeared.
Long Xuan had given it a resounding name. Influenced by his habit of calling chickens "Chicken bro" in games from his past life, he named it "Chicken bro" even though it was a hen.
Having Brother Chicken around saved Long Xuan a lot of work, as it handled pest control and saved money on pesticides.
For the hen, the garden was a buffet, providing ample nutrition and allowing it to lay at least one egg a day, all of which ended up in Long Xuan's belly.
At the moment, he was reading a book titled "Eternal Life Sutra," a cultivation method for longevity.
Longevity methods were widespread in this world, easily accessible to all, and almost everyone had a copy.
This dissemination was deliberate by Gu-cultivating families, intended to extend the lives of ordinary people so they could work longer and produce more food.
The "Eternal Life Sutra" had ten levels, with each level extending lifespan by ten years.
The original owner of Long Xuan's body had poor cultivation aptitude and slow progress, but he was a prodigy in cultivating the widespread "Eternal Life Sutra."
Gu cultivation levels were divided into Spirit Gathering stage, Marrow Cleansing Stage, Spiritual Sea stage, and Soul Projection stage from low to high.
Each major realm was subdivided into Initial, Middle, Late, and Peak stages. The Soul Projection stage, being the highest in this region, was also called the Gu King.
At fifteen or sixteen, the original owner was only at the initial stage of spirit gathering stage, indicating his average talent.
This world, like traditional cultivation worlds, valued purity. The purer the attribute, the faster the cultivation speed.
A single attribute was a heavenly-grade aptitude with the fastest cultivation speed, dual attributes were earth-grade, and so on.
The original owner had five attributes: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. His aptitude wasn't the worst, but it was ordinary, and as a scattered cultivator with no resources, slow progress was understandable.
But where there are weaknesses, there are strengths. When one door closes, another opens.
The original owner was poor in cultivation but had extraordinary talent in health-preserving methods.
While other mortals struggled to reach the fifth level of the "Eternal Life Sutra" in their lifetime, he had reached the tenth level before adulthood, extending his lifespan by a hundred years.
Long Xuan accidentally discovered that the progress bar of the "Eternal Life Sutra" was not at 100% but at a mere 10%.
Driven by curiosity, he tried to continue writing the method according to the previous pattern. Though he lacked the ability to create techniques, he had a correction tool.
If the progress disappeared, he had guessed wrong and would rewrite it; if it remained, he had guessed correctly and could continue.
After a year of intensive effort, he successfully extended it to twenty levels, with each level from the eleventh onward adding a hundred years of lifespan.
How much each subsequent level added remained unknown—maybe a hundred, two hundred, or even more.
However, a rare twenty-level technique showed only 20% progress, indicating severe incompleteness.
He knew that in this world, the "Eternal Life Sutra" genuinely only had ten levels, and no technique exceeded ten levels in this region.
Long Xuan felt a headache. It took a year to guess just 10% of the content, and the more complex and profound it became, the longer it would take to extend further, beyond his current knowledge.
He couldn't imagine how long it would take to complete the "Eternal Life Sutra" to 100%—hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of years?
Chapter 3: Far Western Market
Long Xuan slowly set down the "Eternal Life Sutra," his expression somewhat distant. Isn't the purpose of cultivation to attain immortality? If the "Eternal Life Sutra" could truly grant him thousands of years of life, then he would essentially achieve immortality, fulfilling the ultimate goal of cultivation, allowing him to retire peacefully.
Of course, this was just a passing thought for him. Even if a mere ordinary person like him could achieve immortality, longevity might still be elusive.
After all, this was a world where might was revered. The immediate priority should be refining the first Gu.
In his previous life as an entomologist, he possessed a keen sense of integration among insects.
In his view, genetic fusion didn't necessarily require the strongest pairings. For example, the lion and tiger, despite being the strongest on the surface, when combined to produce the Liger, had compromised overall abilities and extremely low immunity, making survival difficult.
On the other hand, ants, though weak, could produce terrifying effects when combined with certain species.
Because he was an expert in the field, he conducted various forbidden experiments at no cost and created a Gu formula that wasn't particularly difficult.
However, considering the initial shortage of funds for beginners, it was an extravagance to create a transcendent Gu.
So the first Gu formula he created was extremely cheap. But don't be fooled by its low cost; Gu worms made from inexpensive materials might not necessarily be weak.
His philosophy was that stronger combinations didn't always result in greater strength. Utilizing genes from certain weaker insects could produce terrifying effects.
In his previous life, centipedes, poisonous snakes, scorpions, spiders, and toads, though not insects, were classified as such by Gu masters and used in Gu refinement.
It was the same in this world. These five types of creatures were not only classified as insects but also as the five strongest insect species, known as the Five Poisons in this world.
As the strongest insect species, most Gu cultivators used the Five Poisons to refine Gu.
Long Xuan had never heard of anyone using flies or caterpillars to refine Gu.
Not because flies and caterpillars weren't insects, but because these two types of insects were simply too weak.
The reason Long Xuan's Gu formula was inexpensive was solely due to the use of these unpopular insect types.
For example, cockroaches. Although cockroaches were weak in combat, the people of this world probably didn't know that cockroaches were practically indestructible.
Cockroaches could withstand pressures hundreds of times their own weight without injury, survive for months without food or water, and even regenerate limbs. Even if their heads were cut off, they could survive for nine days.
In a place where an atomic bomb exploded in a corner of his previous life, all living things died except for cockroaches, which survived, which was simply unreasonable.
Cockroaches were not strong in combat, but in this world, there was a setting for internal Gu. By implanting a Gu worm in the body and feeding them with blood and spiritual energy, the Gu worms would reciprocate the host with magical powers, forming a symbiotic relationship and mutual benefit.
Can humans gain the immortality of cockroaches through this method?
It is important to know that this world is a world with spiritual power, and all spirit insects have spiritual power. The cockroaches in this world are far more terrifying than those in the previous world, with all their data being pulled up. Once refined into Gu, the data will be further pulled up.
Immortality in this magical world may not be a fantasy.
So Long Xuan's first task in this world was to study how to make humans have an immortal body.
Considering that the ability to be born by various spiritual insects devouring each other was uncontrollable and unpredictable.
So when Long Xuan created the Gu formula himself, he deliberately only wrote various types of cockroaches on it, so that the immortal genes of various types of cockroaches could be perfectly integrated.
He didn't think such a Gu formula would give birth to other abilities.
Now everything is ready except for the east wind. After a year of accumulation, he has accumulated a lot of spiritual medicines, and he can get the funds to refine the first Gu as long as he sells them.
Long Xuan stood up excitedly, he first went into the medicine garden, pulled out all the spiritual medicines with a 100% figure, put them into the storage bag, and replanted them. He then hurried out.
He was ready to take the spiritual medicine to the nearby Far Western Market and sell it. Today, he will try to refine Gu, and he can't wait.
It is worth mentioning that it is forbidden to kill for treasures in the Far Western Market and near the market. This is a rule that must be followed for a prosperous market, otherwise no one would dare to expose treasures in the market.
So as long as the traded materials are not too shocking, Long Xuan basically doesn't have to worry about killing and seizing treasures. This novice protection village is enough to allow him to develop steadily for a period of time.
Great stone Village is very close to the market, and Long Xuan arrived in half an hour.
Although the market is close to the village, this is his first time here. As soon as he entered, he was immediately amazed by the bustling scene here. Everywhere, scattered cultivators sat on the ground, selling various treasures such as elixirs, spiritual insects, spiritual medicines, martial arts, spiritual artifacts, mineral materials, and animal materials, all of which were dazzling.
An area dominated by Gu cultivators naturally trades mostly in Gu insects. After entering here, Long Xuan witnessed a variety of Gu insects, which greatly broadened his horizons.
There were many wandering cultivators who possessed Gu formulas, but they never sold the formulas themselves. Instead, they refined the Gu insects and placed them on their stalls for continuous sales.
This was not only because all Gu cultivators cherished their own secrets, but also because once a Gu formula spread, others could research countermeasures against it. Moreover, increased competition would arise with more people refining the same Gu.
With Long Xuan's current wealth, purchasing an ordinary Gu insect was not an issue. However, after some thought, he quickly abandoned the idea.
It was generally better not to buy second-hand Gu insects, as they were susceptible to tampering. Gu insects refined personally were the most loyal and reliable.
The more owners a Gu insect had, the more complex its thoughts became, increasing the likelihood of backlash against its master.
Therefore, for the sake of his own safety, Long Xuan decided to create his own Gu formulas and refine Gu himself.
First, Long Xuan found a consortium and sold all the spiritual medicines, earning a total of three hundred and seven low-grade spiritual stones. However, he immediately spent most of it here on materials for his created Gu formula and ten Gu refining vessels.
Long Xuan was surprised at how low the selling price of first-grade spiritual medicines was. A full storage bag of spiritual medicines only fetched three hundred and seven low-grade spiritual stones.
Upon inquiry, he learned that low-grade spiritual medicines had no environmental restrictions and could be mass-produced with the hiring of ordinary people. Therefore, first-grade spiritual medicines were now very common and practically worthless.
Perhaps even if he completely stripped the medicine garden of spiritual medicines and ran away, Long Lao probably wouldn't even bat an eye.
Realizing this reality, Long Xuan could only wander the lively market with the remaining ten spiritual stones. He wondered what he could buy with so little.
Wandering cultivators were generally poor, and there wasn't much particularly valuable on their stalls. However, they ventured into the deep mountains and forests, finding all sorts of miscellaneous items. While it was impossible for there to be absolutely nothing valuable, there were plenty of opportunities for others to pick up bargains.
Another significant characteristic of wandering cultivators was their lack of education and short knowledge. They didn't recognize many treasures, often underselling valuable items, which gave others the chance to profit.
This made it a paradise for bargain hunters among the larger clans of Gu cultivators, who came here every day to try their luck. Some became wealthy overnight, while others ended up losing everything to scams.
At this moment, Long Xuan once again discovered another use for his "golden finger."
He could see the progress of all items on the stalls.
One should not underestimate this ability, as it could discern many things.
For example, if an item's progress hadn't reached eighty percent, it was likely a fake, such as nonsensical martial arts techniques or remnants picked up by others.
There were also rare instances of black iron Ore nearing one hundred percent progress. Long Xuan strongly suspected that once it reached one hundred percent, it would turn into profound iron essence, increasing its value by more than a hundred times.
Unfortunately, even if it was just ordinary profound iron, he couldn't afford it right now and could only reluctantly give up.
The same applied to spiritual stones. Once the progress of high-grade spiritual stones approached one hundred percent, they were likely to undergo a transformation into peak-grade spiritual stones.
Peak-grade spiritual stones were priceless treasures that only appeared once in a hundred years, with immeasurable value.
As for living creatures, it was even more needless to say. For example, some Gu insects had progress of 15.0%, while others had progress of 25.6800%, with a string of digits after the decimal point.
This was easy to understand; the longer the maturation period of the Gu insect, the higher the precision required after the decimal point.
If you saw Gu insects with a very high number of decimal places, you had to pay attention.
Such insects definitely had long lifespans, and the longer the lifespan of a Gu insect, the stronger it was. It could be said that the lifespan and strength of Gu insects were directly proportional.
As a result, there were many opportunities for picking up bargains. Although Long Xuan was a novice and didn't recognise any treasures, when it came to picking up bargains, everyone else here couldn't compare to him.
Chapter 4: Picking Up Bargains Makes Me Happy
For him, this place was a treasure-filled paradise on earth. There were countless priceless treasures at dirt-cheap prices, beckoning him. A random grab could make him rich overnight, but unfortunately, he was short on cash and could only watch with envy.
What can ten spirit stones buy? He suddenly realized that window shopping as a poor person was a mistake. Apart from ten spirit stones, all he had was a chicken bro and the first twenty layers of the "Eternal Life Sutra".
The chicken bro could save him money on medicine, so selling it was out of the question, and he didn't dare to sell the "Eternal Life Sutra".
The last ten layers of the "Eternal Life Sutra" could increase lifespan by a thousand years. A thousand years is not a small number; most Gu cultivators don't live that long.
Nothing is more tempting than extending one's lifespan. If he revealed the "Eternal Life Sutra", it would attract those old monsters on the brink of death.
Long Xuan browsed various stalls for half a day before stopping at an old man's stall, his eyes fixed on a broken honeycomb.
Three-quarters of the honeycomb was missing, leaving only a quarter with two dying bees. Most of the larvae were dead, with few live ones.
Seeing a customer stop, the old man looked up and smiled, "This is the honeycomb of a mid-grade spirit insect, the Thorny Bee. You know how terrifying mid-grade spirit insects are. I risked my life to get this honeycomb."
"Honey has beauty-enhancing effects, but I have other uses for it. There are still many pupae and Thorny Bees in the honeycomb. Seeing that you're young, I'll sell it to you cheaply for just a hundred spirit stones."
Upon hearing this, Long Xuan remained expressionless but was secretly delighted. The old man had clearly misjudged it.
Although Long Xuan didn't know what kind of bee it was, it definitely wasn't a Thorny Bee but a higher-grade species resembling the Thorny Bee.
From his research, the maturity rate of spirit insects is indicated by decimal precision:
- For low-grade spirit insects, the progress bar had two decimal places, indicating a maturity period of over ten years but less than a hundred.
For mid-grade spirit insects, the progress bar had three decimal places, indicating a maturity period of over a hundred years but less than a thousand.
These two young bees had progress bars of 82.3648% and 82.3251%.
Their progress was precise to four decimal places, indicating they were likely high-grade spirit insects with maturity periods of over a thousand years.
Long Xuan was determined to get these unknown bees. His unique ability could easily create feed suitable for various spirit insects, and he had long planned to raise them.
In Elder Long's medicinal garden, there were plenty of flowers, making it an ideal place for bee cultivation, and the food source for the bees could be obtained for free.
Once he raised them to a certain scale, he could sell the honey to earn spirit stones, creating a significant income stream.
After making up his mind, Long Xuan took a deep breath, hiding his excitement, and pretended to be impatient.
"Are you trying to fool me because I'm young? Don't think I can't tell; all the pupae and bees inside are dead, with only two half-dead ones left."
"And the combat power of social spirit insects is much lower than that of solitary ones. If there were thousands of Bramble Bees, even a peak-grade spirit insect might avoid them."
"But with only two bees, they probably can't even beat a low-grade spirit insect. If used for refining Gu, what use are two with a success rate of only a few percent?"
"Given their poor condition, they might die as soon as I buy them. Then wouldn't my hundred spirit stones be wasted?"
"One price, ten spirit stones. If you don't sell, I'll leave immediately!" Long Xuan pretended to walk away.
"wait, I've seen people bargaining by half, but this is the first time I've seen someone cut it to a tenth."
"I'm not lying; these Thorny Bees are fierce. I risked my fortune to get them. Even selling for a hundred spirit stones is a loss, and you want to buy for ten? You might as well kill me."
Hearing this, Long Xuan wanted to laugh. They were high-grade spirit insects; of course, they were fierce. The old man was lucky.
"That's nonsense. Your loss has nothing to do with me. Pricing products based on your loss is illogical."
"The price is the price. I won't pay a penny more."
"Don't blame me if those two bees die soon. The longer you hold onto them, the more likely they'll die."
"Selling now will get you at least ten spirit stones. If they die and no one buys, you won't get a single stone."
Long Xuan's words hit the old man's sore spot. He hesitated for a long time before finally gritting his teeth and painfully agreeing, "Take them, take them. You drive a hard bargain."
"But let me make it clear, no returns. If they die as soon as you get home, don't come back to me."
Long Xuan ignored his words, took out his only ten spirit stones with a pained expression, threw them on the stall, and quickly picked up the honeycomb.
In his opinion, the bees were weak because the old man was too stingy and had drained all the honey, starving them.
The dead bees might have starved to death.
With honey, the two bees should recover.
Afraid they might starve, Long Xuan put the honeycomb in his insect-rearing bag and left quickly.
Although there were many other treasures to be found, he had no money left and could only hope those items wouldn't be bought by someone else.
Once he made more money, he would come back and sweep up all the good stuff.
Long Xuan hurried home, hung the honeycomb on a fruit tree next to the medicinal garden.
The flowers in the garden were not ordinary wildflowers but top-grade spiritual herbs with a rich fragrance.
As the fragrance wafted into the honeycomb, the two weak bees immediately revived, flying eagerly towards the flowers.
The bees happily flew from one red flower to a purple one, frantically collecting pollen and nectar, no longer appearing half-dead.
Soon, their little legs were laden with heavy pollen, almost making them unable to fly. They wobbled back to the hive, happily making honey.
Seeing this, Long Xuan felt relieved. In this world of gu-cultivation, there were many ways to breed queen bees. He just needed to wait for the two bees to become queens and provide endless honey.
He was curious about the taste of honey made from spiritual herb nectar.
Then, Long Xuan took the spirit insects out of his insect-rearing bag, quickly filling the table with jars and bottles.
Looking at the jars covering the table, Long Xuan's heartbeat quickened. Preparing to refine his first Gu insect made him both nervous and excited, his emotions running high.
This was his self-created Gu formula, his unique recipe with a hundred materials. He was eager to see what kind of Gu insect it would produce.
Chapter 5: Gu Refining in Progress
The steps to refine Gu are very simple. You just need to gather all the spiritual insects required by the Gu formula, put them in a Gu jar, and starve them for a period, forcing them to devour each other. In due time, a Gu will be formed.
For some insects that are not inclined to fight, other methods are needed to stimulate their ferocity, but these methods are currently beyond his understanding.
The spiritual insects need time to digest each other; some need 49 days, some 81 days, and some powerful Gu species may even take up to three years. There is no fixed duration.
The long duration of Gu refining is not the difficult part; the challenge lies in the failure rate of refining Gu. Some Gu formulas have a success rate of one in ten, while others have a success rate of one in a thousand. If one is unlucky, it might be impossible to refine a Gu even after ten thousand attempts.
If the Gu refining fails, all materials are lost, and the resources invested are wasted.
Long Xuan had no idea about the success rate of this Gu formula. He just prepared ten sets of materials and bought ten Gu jars for refining Gu simultaneously.
Many Gu cultivators use this method, casting a wide net to catch big fish and saving time.
Even if they end up with more than needed, the extra Gu insects can be sold, not only avoiding loss but also making a profit.
It's worth noting that Gu insects are cannibalistic, so each Gu cultivator can only raise one of each type of Gu insect. If they refine too many, they must quickly trade them away.
Soon, Long Xuan discovered another function of his golden finger.
During Gu refining, he could see the progress on the Gu jar. Once the progress reached 100%, the Gu would be formed.
This raised a question: if a Gu jar's spiritual insects were destined not to form a Gu, would it still show progress?
Would a jar that shows progress definitely form a Gu, and a jar that does not show progress definitely fail?
Could he immediately open the jars that did not show progress and find an optimal time and place to refine the Gu again until the jars showed progress?
Long Xuan's mind was blown.
This meant that his success rate for refining Gu could be 100%. He wouldn't have to gamble on the success rate like other Gu cultivators and wouldn't have to worry about wasting materials.
He felt he could challenge the heaven-defying Gu formula with a success rate of one in ten thousand.
Long Xuan's breathing became rapid. This golden finger was indeed incredible.
In the blink of an eye, 49 days passed, and Long Xuan's ten Gu jars finally showed signs of activity.
As he expected, once the jars displayed numbers, the success rate was 100%, and when the number reached 100%, the Gu was formed.
Because of the numerical reminders, Long Xuan waited early today to witness the moment the Gu insects broke out of the jars.
Long Xuan's eyes widened, unable to contain his excitement.
Almost simultaneously, the ten Gu jars transformed, and ten red little roaches crawled out one after another.
Indeed, all ten jars successfully produced Gu, without wasting any materials, achieving a 100% success rate.
This was unimaginable to others.
Long Xuan excitedly ran over, took out Gu pots, and placed the roaches into ten separate pots.
He hadn't forgotten the taboo of Gu insects: cannibalism.
To prevent them from devouring each other, they had to be separated immediately.
After completing this, Long Xuan finally had time to study them closely.
He had already named this new Gu species for its first appearance in this world: Little Strong Gu.
Long Xuan pricked his finger with a needle, dropping a bit of blood on the head of the Little Strong Gu to complete a simple blood contract ceremony.
Although he couldn't communicate with it through words, he quickly learned its abilities through the soul connection.
As expected, the Gu insect refined from a hundred cockroaches possessed the undying ability of a cockroach.
Of course, it wasn't absolutely undying. Using the cheapest materials, many forces could still kill Little Strong. It could be summarized as being unkillable by conventional attacks of the same level.
To achieve true immortality, it would require refining the Gu with the best spiritual insects.
The Little Strong Gu refined from low-grade cockroaches had many ways it could be killed, far from being truly undying; it was more resilient instead.
This resilience might not be much in the eyes of big clans, but in the world of rogue cultivators, it was quite a decent ability.
Long Xuan was very satisfied. He never expected to create a truly undying body with the cheapest materials; that would be impossible.
He contentedly placed the Little Strong Gu in the palm of his hand, deeply fond of this first creation.
According to this world's classification of Gu insects, his Little Strong Gu should be considered a low-grade Gu insect.
In this world, Gu insects are classified into low-grade, mid-grade, high-grade, and peak-grade.
peak-grade Gu insects are the kings of Gu, coveted by all Gu cultivators.
The dream of all Gu cultivators is to refine a peak-grade Gu insect in their lifetime. Each peak-grade Gu insect has a fatal attraction to Gu cultivators.
However, refining a peak-grade Gu insect is extremely difficult, and very few possess them.
Long Xuan aspired to create a peak-grade Gu formula and refine a peak-grade Gu insect, which was also his dream.
Naturally, it was impossible to refine a peak-grade Gu insect on his first attempt. The quality of a Gu insect is determined by the primary material in the Gu formula.
The primary material is the one spiritual insect that, after all others have killed each other, will definitely be the last one standing.
The primary material must be the strongest in the Gu formula to ensure it survives until the end. If the primary material dies, the Gu refining fails.
If the primary material is a peak-grade spiritual insect, the refined Gu insect will be a peak-grade Gu insect.
Similarly, since the primary material for Little Strong Gu was low-grade, no matter how unique its abilities, it would be classified as a low-grade Gu insect.
However, in Long Xuan's view, even though Little Strong Gu was the weakest low-grade Gu insect, its resilience might be more practical than a mid-grade Gu insect.
Since only one of each type of Gu insect can be used, this time, an accident caused him to refine nine more than needed.
Dealing with these nine extra Little Strong Gu became a problem. He couldn't waste them by feeding them to the chicken bro.
After some thought, Long Xuan decided to sell the extra Gu insects like other rogue cultivators.
Many rogue cultivators sell unique Gu insects at markets, and it's not uncommon to create a Gu formula in this world.
Low-grade Gu formulas might require only a few materials, sometimes just two. Even by sheer luck, one could stumble upon a Gu formula.
Many rogue cultivators without a legacy create their Gu insects using luck, so unique Gu formulas are common, with everyone having the ability to create their own.
However, peak-grade Gu formulas are not something a normal person can create. Long Xuan could reveal his ability to create Gu formulas, but he must never expose his ability to create peak-grade Gu formulas.
So, selling unique Gu insects at the market wouldn't attract attention, and he could do it confidently.
Currently, he was too poor and urgently needed a large sum of money to buy that piece of Xuan iron and the high-grade spirit stone.
He could even set up a stall to sell his unique Gu insects like other rogue cultivators.
The cost of Little Strong Gu was very low, but the selling price could be high, and without a failure rate, it was pure profit.
As for the possibility of these being used against him, he didn't care. After all, they were low-grade Gu insects, and he had better options. Little Strong Gu was just a temporary solution and would soon be replaced.
However, he couldn't find the materials now, so he had to use Little Strong Gu for the time being.
His better option was the famous Tardigrade, also known as 'water bear' from his previous life.
In terms of immortality, cockroaches are nothing compared to water bears.
water bears can withstand temperatures of 151°C and as low as -272°C.
They can't be killed in the deepest Mariana Trench, by atomic radiation, or even in space. They can survive without food or water for thirty years.
water bears are resistant to hypoxia, vacuum, high pressure, low pressure, can regenerate lost limbs, and even repair damaged DNA.
Their vitality is a miracle, surviving five mass extinction events on Earth without being wiped out.
However, water bears are too small, most being only 3 to 5 micrometers, barely visible to the naked eye and requiring a microscope for observation.
So, to refine a water bear Gu, one must first refine a microscope Gu.
This would require him to create a new Gu formula, which couldn't be done quickly.
Once he had the microscope Gu, he could see more microscopic creatures.
It's worth noting that microscopic creatures haven't been discovered by Gu cultivators in this world. The vast variety of them remain unnamed and uncaptured, a massive resource pool.
The microscopic spiritual insects of the entire world would belong to him alone.
In this world, Gu insects are divided into internal and external categories and further subdivided into natural, enhancement, animal, plant, eye, dark, magic, special, and production types systems...
He might pioneer a new school of study —microscopic type, becoming the founder of this new school.
Long Xuan was full of ambition for the future.
Chapter 6: The Old vendor Li Laodao
After more than a month, Long Xuan returned to this market again, but this time he was no longer a buyer; he had gloriously become a small vendor.
Long Xuan covered his face with a cloth and wore a large hat. He casually found a place to spread a white cloth and placed nine insect jars containing small cockroach Gu on it.
He then placed a self-made folding chair beside him and sat down.
Next, he began to think about pricing the Little Strong Gu. It is worth mentioning that this world can be said to have currency, but also not to have currency.
Because spirit stones can only be used to exchange for cheap goods; expensive items cannot be exchanged for spirit stones and must be obtained through bartering.
Strictly speaking, spirit stones do not count as the universal currency in this world.
This is because spirit stones are definitely irregular in shape, come in various sizes, and have different concentrations of spiritual energy.
Can someone use a half-absorbed spirit stone for transactions? Since spirit stones differ, they cannot possibly serve as currency.
Spirit stones are merely equivalents in this world; trading with spirit stones is akin to bartering, not purchasing with money. Therefore, spirit stones cannot exchange for priceless treasures.
Due to the inconsistency of spirit stones, the prices of various goods are mutually agreed upon, rather than uniformly priced in one place.
Pricing can only fall within a general range, giving the vendor significant freedom.
However, considering the birth of a new item should first open the market, Long Xuan decided not to price it too high initially.
So, after much thought, Long Xuan temporarily set the price of the freely priced Little Strong Gu at three hundred spirit stones, planning to raise the price once the reputation spread.
Of course, the quality of the spirit stones had to be acceptable; they could not be those with spiritual energy almost fully absorbed or excessively small ones the size of a pinky finger.
For his first time as a vendor, the items on his stall were few, making it look a bit shabby, but there was a long way to go, and his stall would eventually become rich in items.
Then he placed a sign on the stall that described the function and price of the small Little Strong Gu, waiting for the first customer to come and bite.
He felt very novel doing this for the first time.
His arrival immediately attracted the attention of other vendors. The vendor sitting closely to his right was a spirited old man who, upon seeing the items on his stall, said:
"Low-grade Gu insects? The quality of Gu insects is more important than the quantity. The weakest low-grade Gu insects are not popular."
"Moreover, what you have refined are not the Five Poisons but the very unpopular cockroaches, making willing traders even fewer."
"This market has many rogue cultivators selling medium-grade Gu insects, and there are even three selling high-grade Gu insects, all with unique Gu insects."
"People selling low-grade unique Gu insects are everywhere; your stuff has no competitive edge at all."
"No matter! Good wine needs no bush; as long as I have one trader, I can open the market." Long Xuan said confidently.
He had great confidence in the Gu insects he had researched.
Li Laodao was indifferent, truly not believing that such a young kid could research such powerful Gu insects.
Although the sign stated the Gu's functions, he thought it was exaggerated.
How could a low-grade Gu insect have such strong resistance to damage? Such powerful ability could not appear in a low-grade Gu insect.
However, just as he was about to reply, Long Xuan's first customer approached his stall, and Li Laodao wisely kept his mouth shut.
Li Erniu picked up one of the insect jars, opened it to look at the Gu inside, then looked at the sign full of text, showing a surprised expression.
He had never seen this type of Gu insect before; it must be a newly researched variety.
The emergence of new Gu always arouses curiosity; newly created Gu insects could be very strong, very weak, or exhibit strange abilities.
However, new Gu had not been tested in actual combat, and no battle methods had been developed; no one knew which Gu insects it paired best with.
Thus, few were willing to be the first to try it.
But there were benefits too; no one would understand a newly emerged Gu insect, let alone know how to counter it.
Danger often comes from the unknown; having a Gu insect never seen by the enemy can often lead to unexpected victories.
He planned to duel with a nemesis, and the person who knows you best is always your enemy. The nemesis knew all his cards, so having a Gu insect that the opponent could not possibly know might be a good choice.
Li Erniu showed interest and asked Long Xuan, "Can your Little Strong Gu make someone immortal?"
"No, I never said that." Long Xuan hurriedly denied with a wave of his hand.
"I've written it clearly; it's just that it won't die from conventional attacks of the same level. After all, it's a low-grade Gu insect; there are too many ways of the same level to kill you."
"For instance, if your heart is pierced by a sword, as long as you have the Little Strong Gu, you won't die. But if your heart is torn to pieces, how could you not die?"
"The small cockroach Gu hasn't reached the level of instantly restoring your heart."
"But as long as you keep improving the growth of the Little Strong Gu, its damage tolerance limit will get higher and higher."
"The biggest advantage of the Little Strong Gu is that it eats everything, including paper, leather, cotton, wood chips... you won't have to worry about its food."
Hearing this, Li Erniu's eyes lit up; this was indeed a very practical advantage.
Gu insects are precious and eat all sorts of strange things. Some even eat gold, spirit stones, and spiritual herbs, often bankrupting wealthy Gu cultivators.
Not being picky about food was definitely a plus.
"That's not bad, after all, it's just a low-grade Gu insect. If you really said it gives absolute immortality, I wouldn't believe it either."
"I'll take this Little Strong Gu, three medium-grade spirit stones, take it."
Li Erniu threw three well-formed medium-grade spirit stones on the stall, then left with the insect jar without another word.
One medium-grade spirit stone equals a hundred low-grade spirit stones. Long Xuan's storage bag space was not big, so he preferred to accept medium-grade spirit stones.
With his first sale successful, Long Xuan joyfully put away the three medium-grade spirit stones and casually shouted, "Don't miss out, high-quality Little Strong Gu, come take a look, you won't regret it..."
Seeing no one coming for a long time, Long Xuan turned his head to the old vendor he had spoken with earlier, intending to sell to his peers.
"Old man, you must have seen what my Little Strong Gu can do. You're old, and your legs and feet are probably not good. Trading my small cockroach Gu can be an extra insurance."
"Since we are neighbors, I'll give you a discount and charge you only 299 spirit stones."
Li Laodao immediately blew his beard and glared, "You little rascal, you're even trying to fool me."
"I don't believe your Little Strong Gu has such abilities. Although it doesn't give true immortality, its abilities are still a bit scary."
"Do you know how terrifying such abilities would be in actual combat? You could trade injuries with your opponent, effectively doubling your combat power, no exaggeration."
"This is not an ability that a low-grade Gu insect should have. If your Little Strong Gu really has such abilities, in front of medium-grade Gu insects, I would rather choose your Little Strong Gu."
Chapter 7: Stone Gu
"You don't believe me?" Long Xuan glanced at him sideways and smiled, "Why don't you try it yourself to see if I'm exaggerating?"
"My Little Strong Gu can regenerate severed limbs. You can cut off your hand right now, and see if I can reattach it."
Of course, Li Laodao wouldn't agree to cut off his hand. What if the Little Strong Gu didn't have the ability to regenerate severed limbs? Cutting off his hand would make him look like a fool.
"Why test the Little Strong Gu's ability by cutting off a hand? I can verify it in other ways."
Li Laodao, successfully provoked, decided to exchange it regardless of whether it was true or false and verify its ability on the spot.
If it proved false, he would settle the score immediately. How could Long Xuan escape under his watch?
Li Laodao walked straight to Long Xuan's stall, grabbed a random Gu jar, opened it without a glance, and blood-bonded with the Little Strong Gu inside.
As long as a blood bond is established with a Gu insect, the owner can clearly understand its abilities.
Receiving information through his soul, Li Laodao's expression quickly froze, his face changing color repeatedly, gradually revealing a look of disbelief.
"How is this possible? It's clearly a very weak insect, so how could it possess such a terrifying ability?" Li Laodao muttered to himself.
"Alright, since you've already blood-bonded with it, quickly hand over the spirit stones. As a neighbor, I'll only charge you 299 spirit stones," Long Xuan yawned, urging him incessantly.
Li Laodao looked at Long Xuan differently now. Someone who could create such a Gu method was certainly not ordinary. At this moment, he felt a desire to befriend him.
"Hehe, I underestimated you. I didn't expect a weak cockroach to be used in Gu refining. I've truly gained new insights. It's indeed important not to underestimate any insect in the world."
"But luckily, I didn't follow your advice and cut off my hand. Although this Little Strong Gu can regenerate severed limbs, it's not exaggerated enough to instantly restore them."
"Regenerating a severed limb is a very slow process, possibly taking years. If I had really cut off my hand, it would have caused me great trouble. In the Gu world, one is often powerless, and everyone has enemies."
Li Laodao threw down three medium-quality spirit stones at Long Xuan's stall and said with a smile.
Long Xuan's face showed a joyful smile as another deal was made so quickly.
Seeing that Long Xuan didn't continue the conversation, Li Laodao, who wanted to make friends, continued, "I've done business with you. Shouldn't you also take care of my business?"
"My Gu insects may not be unique, but they are definitely the fiercest in this market. I guarantee you'll be satisfied."
Hearing this, Long Xuan became interested and turned to look at his stall.
Compared to the sparse items on his own stall, Li Laodao's stall was much more abundant, almost full, with jars and bottles containing various insects.
However, all his jars were smaller, and the insects inside were smaller, all used as parasitic inner Gu.
His inner Gu had no benefits for the host, only for parasitizing the enemy's body and harming them.
Since they weren't for personal use, they didn't count against the quota, allowing as many as one wanted to raise.
It's worth mentioning that Gu cultivators are limited in the number of Gu insects they can use, varying by individual and related to soul talent. On average, a Gu cultivator in the Spirit Gathering stage can use about four.
Of course, Long Xuan, having lived two lives, could possibly blood-bond with more Gu insects than the average person, perhaps even twice as many.
Most Gu cultivators have very limited slots for blood-bonding with Gu insects and must calculate carefully. Parasitic inner Gu, which don't count against the quota, are the only type that all Gu cultivators raise.
This Li Laodao, who liked to refine such Gu insects, was definitely a cunning old fox, deserving caution. Long Xuan immediately became wary of him.
Looking at the descriptions on the bottles, Long Xuan felt a shiver down his spine.
Stone Gu: Shaped like a pebble, often placed on paths full of stones. When a person passes by, the Stone Gu jumps into their body. The infected person's lower abdomen becomes hard as rock, constipation ensues, and they become increasingly emaciated, dying within half a year.
Rice Grain Gu: Shaped like a grain of rice, often placed in the enemy's food. The infected person's appetite skyrockets, they constantly feel hungry, become mentally unstable, and without an antidote, die within a month.
Wart Gu: Often hidden in nail crevices. It infects the target through close contact, such as a pat on the shoulder or a handshake. Once inside, it devours all internal organs, and the infected usually don't survive a day.
...
Seeing these gruesome methods of death, Long Xuan's face changed slightly.
This was his first real understanding of the dangerous extent of Gu in this world. For example, the Stone Gu looked exactly like a pebble, making it impossible to distinguish.
And the path back to his village was full of pebbles. What if someone placed a few Stone Gu there? That would be disastrous.
Imagining this possible scenario made Long Xuan shiver involuntarily.
He couldn't tell which were pebbles and which were Stone Gu, no matter how careful he was.
This was just an ordinary Stone Gu, with many more concealed Gu insects existing, employing various unpredictable methods. How could he defend against them?
Even bacteria and viruses were invisible to him now, indicating that tiny things rendered his golden finger useless.
Most insects a few millimeters in size couldn't be seen from a distance; only when very close could he detect them.
Defending against Gu methods was beyond even his golden finger's help.
At this moment, Long Xuan truly felt fear. These things could take his life, and he had no means to counteract them. If someone secretly targeted him with a Gu, he wasn't confident he could escape unscathed.
No, the research on the Microscopic Gu must be prioritized. No, the second Gu insect he refines should be the Microscopic Gu.
Without the Microscopic Gu, it would be impossible to defend against those small, sinister insects. Once the Microscopic Gu was developed, no one could secretly target him with a Gu again.
Long Xuan had made up his mind. The second research project would focus on the Microscopic Gu.
Having lived another life, he truly feared death. He must pay attention to any factors that could threaten his safety.
After another wary glance at those Gu insects, Long Xuan said to Li Laodao, "No, I'm not interested in these kinds of Gu insects."
He had other plans for his funds and didn't intend to waste them on unimportant things.
Even if he wanted these Gu insects, he planned to create them himself.
Once the Microscopic Gu was developed, he could research micro-life Gu insects, which were too small to be seen with the naked eye. They could fly directly into the enemy's mouth without being noticed, allowing him to harm whoever he wanted. Who could counteract that?
In terms of concealment, no other Gu insect could match the Microscopic Gu. Stone Gu would be insignificant in comparison.
Chapter 8: Gambling on Stones
In the following period, no more customers visited, and seeing no one, Long Xuan decided to close his stall.
Although he still had seven Little Strong Gu insects left unsold, he earned six mid-grade spirit stones today, equivalent to six hundred low-grade spirit stones. For a rogue cultivator, this was no small sum, and Long Xuan was very satisfied.
With a substantial amount of money in hand, he finally had the confidence to go shopping.
Long Xuan eagerly walked into the depths of the market, looking for the piece of black iron ore and the peak-grade spirit stone that had been on his mind.
However, after a month and a half, it wasn't that easy to encounter such items again.
Moreover, each Gu cultivator was busy with cultivation and collecting resources in the wild; they couldn't set up stalls here every day. Finding them again was purely a matter of luck.
After a fruitless search, Long Xuan had to give up in disappointment, realizing he didn't have the protagonist's halo.
But it didn't matter. There were countless treasures. New stall owners and new treasures flowed into the market every day. Treasures were endless.
Old treasures must go for new ones to come, and the new treasures might not be inferior to the old ones.
Adjusting his mindset, Long Xuan walked toward a surprisingly large shop.
Recently, a new chamber of commerce had settled here, dealing in fossils. The shop's yard was piled high with countless fossils.
In this world, there were many sources of spirit insects: some were captured in the wild, and some were artificially bred.
Spirit herbs in medicine gardens also produced insects, but only high-grade spirit herbs' insects were valuable for refining Gu. The insects from low-grade spirit herbs were killed by insecticide powder.
Some spirit beasts also had certain spirit insects parasitizing inside them, including humans, who may also have them innately. They are called innate spiritual Gu. Such people are often geniuses with incredible extraordinarily abilities.
Some spirit insects came from underground, like earthworms, mole crickets, and ants…
Even hard stones might contain insects, and their quality could be quite high.
Earth entered an ice age every few eons, and this world was no different, but it was even colder.
During this period, temperatures plummeted, cold waves swept the world, and every corner was engulfed in cold. The entire surface was covered in snow and glaciers, turning the world into an icy, white landscape with bone-chilling winds.
Thus, the earth entered an eternal winter, with countless years passing without a day of warmth.
During this time, surface plants were massively frozen to death, and the earth stopped producing food. All living beings either froze or starved to death. The vitality of all things ceased, and countless species went extinct during the ice age, with only a few survivors.
Insects, however, were the most resilient life forms. When the ice age approached, insects worldwide followed high-grade spirit insects underground, entering a hibernation phase. Their bodies were covered in a thick stone layer to insulate them from the cold.
Hibernating insects entered a state of apparent death, with all bodily functions stopping. They neither ate nor drank, with energy consumption paused, and their lifespan ceased, allowing them to survive endless years.
Only external disturbances could wake them, slowly crawling out of their stone layers, possibly after millions or even billions of years having passed.
These stones containing ancient spirit insects were called fossils by Gu cultivators.
The spirit insects in these fossils were ancient, possibly rare species or even long-extinct ones, of immense value. Discovering one could lead to instant wealth.
However, not all spirit insects could survive the ice age. Most, even with stone insulation, froze to death. Very few spirit insects survived that period.
Therefore, most stones contained dead insects, which had turned into true fossils over endless years. Only one in a hundred stones had live insects.
The forces controlling fossil mines maximized profits by selling all fossils, shifting the risk to others. Whether it was a loss or gain depended entirely on individual luck.
This gave rise to the globally popular fossil gambling industry.
"One cut to poverty, one cut to wealth, one cut to rags." This industry thrived on excitement.
Despite most people losing, Gu cultivators were addicted, hoping luck would favor them, uncovering heaven-defying insects and becoming wealthy overnight. These people were gamblers.
There were patterns in fossil gambling. The stone's texture could hint at the presence of live insects, leading to the emergence of many fossil gambling masters.
However, even the best master in the world only had slightly higher success rates. No one could definitively determine if a stone contained live or dead insects.
But today, an exception entered this fossil shop.
In Long Xuan's eyes, stones without visible progress naturally had no insects, while those with visible progress did. The more decimal places, the better the stone.
To him, the shop's valuable materials were like gifts, being given to him for free.
Long Xuan's mouth curved into a smile as he confidently walked in, still masked.
This fossil shop was large, divided into several areas. Fossils with high sale potential and high insect emergence rates were concentrated in one area, with high prices.
Fossils with poor sale potential and higher chances of dead insects were in another, larger area, and cheaper.
This area had the most people, everyone hoping for a big find at a low price.
They picked up fossils, tapped and felt them, studying for a long time, often indecisive, making the area crowded but with infrequent transactions.
The stones varied in size, some as small as a fist, others up to four meters high, displayed in the courtyard and called "Stone Kings." A crowd marveled at these, touching and exclaiming over them.
Naturally, the "Stone King" had the highest price in the shop. No one dared buy it, and few could afford it, so it remained, with many onlookers but no buyers.
Long Xuan was amazed by the "Stone King." How afraid of death was this spirit insect to form such a thick stone layer? Surely, it wouldn't freeze to death.
The insect emergence rate for this "Stone King" must be very high.
Instinctively using his golden finger ability, Long Xuan saw a progress of [82.68732%] in the "Stone King."
Wow, five decimal places! This indicated the insect inside might be a peak-grade spirit insect over ten thousand years old, essential for refining peak-grade Gu insects.
Long Xuan's eyes lit up, and his heart pounded wildly.
Chapter 9: The Stone King
With an exceptional spirit insect, he could immediately start creating a peak-grade Gu recipe, thus refining the first peak-grade Gu insect in his Gu cultivation career.
It must be known that there were no peak-grade Gu insects in the entire market. Owning a peak-grade Gu insect was indeed a tremendous attraction for him.
This Stone King had thoroughly tempted him.
However, figuring out how to acquire it through a bargain required careful consideration. Direct purchase was out of the question, as he certainly didn't have enough spirit stones.
At this moment, he remembered several methods of acquiring bargains mentioned in novels, but they required extreme conditions to cooperate, such as buying scrap materials for bargains, which needed someone to cooperate with him.
But could anyone really afford this Stone King? His gaze suddenly shifted downward, and when he saw the price tag on the Stone King, he felt a bit speechless.
Good heavens, ten million!
Why don't they just rob people? Have they gone mad with their desire for spirit stones?
Even if he sold his blood and kidneys, he couldn't afford the ten-million price tag.
"Shopkeeper, isn't your pricing unreasonable? Even if this Stone King can indeed produce a peak-grade spirit insect, isn't the price too high? You must know that refining Gu has a very high failure rate!"
Long Xuan looked at a fat man standing next to the Stone King with his hands behind his back and asked in confusion.
This fat man was Qian Duoduo, the shopkeeper responsible for this store.
Hearing this, the fat man's round face squeezed out a smile. He turned to look at the masked young man and laughed, "Are you an outsider?"
"Who told you that the highest you can get from the stone is a peak-grade spirit insect?"
"The birth principle of Gu insects is that insects devour each other. In the insect world, it's survival of the fittest. Spirit insects that feed on other insects can naturally, by chance, turn into Gu insects after consuming a lot in a short time."
"Although rare, naturally born Gu insects absolutely exist."
"I'll teach you a principle only known by stone gambling masters: when a Gu insect enters hibernation, the stone shell it forms is often very thick."
"This Stone King definitely has the potential to produce Gu insects, and there's even a chance for it to produce some heaven-defying Gu insects."
"If it produces one of those heaven-defying Gu species on the ranking list, it could sell for billions. My ten-million price tag is already very low."
After another glance at the Stone King, Long Xuan tentatively asked, "Is there any activity, like completing a game to get this Stone King for free?"
Qian Duoduo was stunned by Long Xuan's statement.
Giving it away for a game?
Does he think he's a fool? Who would give away a ten-million-valued Stone King for a game? He really dared to think.
"Are you kidding me? Taking a ten-million-worth item as a game prize, are you crazy, or am I crazy?" Qian Duoduo shouted frantically.
"Your idea is a good way to gather popularity, but the prize cannot be so extravagant."
"However, there is indeed a way to take this Stone King without spirit stones, though no one can achieve it," Qian Duoduo suddenly said mysteriously.
"Oh? I'd like to hear more," Long Xuan's eyes lit up, becoming spirited.
"The abilities of Gu insects can be deeply developed, you know that, right?" Qian Duoduo first asked.
Long Xuan shook his head. He was a small rogue cultivator without any master or inheritance. No one taught him any knowledge, and various families kept their treasures secret, not even selling books. He had to explore everything on his own and did not understand many common things in the Gu world.
Qian Duoduo showed an expression of understanding and patiently explained, "The biggest difference between humans and Gu insects is that humans have the highest wisdom among all beings, while Gu insects have the lowest intelligence but possess the power to kill humans instantly. The two can complement each other."
"Human wisdom can make Gu insects exert even more terrifying power."
"For example, the Fireball Gu, which has the ability to spit fireballs, but it has low intelligence and doesn't understand flexibility, only spitting fireballs repeatedly."
"But humans are intelligent; humans can think divergently, making the fireball bigger, turning it into a Great Fireball Technique, or making more fireballs, turning it into a multi-Fireball Technique."
"In this way, the Fireball Gu essentially masters two more abilities, greatly increasing its combat power."
"There are many similar examples. Many ordinary Gu insects become terrifying existences in the hands of highly intelligent people, with their value skyrocketing."
"It can be said that there are no useless Gu insects, only useless Gu cultivators. As long as your wisdom is high enough and your imagination broad enough, the abilities of Gu insects will have unlimited possibilities."
"Most Gu insects have only one ability, but a Gu cultivator with a strong enough imagination can develop a second, third, or even tenth ability for them."
"See that bidding box over there?"
Qian Duoduo pointed to a wooden box beside the Stone King.
"My young mistress recently acquired a high-grade natural-type Gu insect. Apart from the eye-type Gu insects, the natural-type Gu insects are the most sought after by Gu cultivators in this world."
"Natural-type Gu insects have no physical form and are in an energy state, capable of being immune to most attacks. My young mistress spent quite some effort to capture it."
"Unfortunately, this Light Gu insect is extremely low in intelligence and only knows the Illumination Technique."
"Therefore, my young mistress is collecting everyone's wisdom here. Anyone with an idea can write their thoughts on a piece of paper and put it in the bidding box."
"Anyone whose developed ability satisfies my young mistress will win the bid and take away the Stone King."
Qian Duoduo smiled at Long Xuan. He had said similar words to countless people and enjoyed seeing their expressions of thinking they were about to receive a windfall.
Upon hearing this, Long Xuan's heart moved, but he quickly calmed down and hurriedly questioned, "That's not right. There's no standard for what counts as a powerful enough ability to win the bid."
"She says it wins if it wins, and it doesn't if it doesn't. Isn't this just her word alone, with final interpretation rights belonging to her?"
"What if someone's idea impresses her, but she can't bear to give away the Stone King and dishonestly says it didn't win? Doesn't this mean we all become suckers, getting swindled one by one? I believe I'm not the only one with this thought."
"Haha, you're an outsider, aren't you?" Qian Duoduo still wore a smiling expression and wasn't angry at all. He explained again, "You're wrong; you're the only one in the world with this thought."
"All Gu cultivators know that our Qian clan members cultivate the Integrity Gu. The Integrity Gu has a very deadly weakness: the host must act with honesty and integrity; otherwise, they will be counterattacked by the Integrity Gu."
"The least severe consequence is leaving a heart demon, preventing any progress in cultivation for life."
"However, there's a benefit with this weakness."
"Because of this weakness, all Gu cultivators trust our Qian Clan's merchants, preferring to buy cultivation resources from us first."
"When selling valuable treasures, they also prefer our Qian Clan's merchants, because a Qian Clan merchant with the Integrity Gu can't harm customers by any means, not even indirectly."
"This is why our Qian Clan's business has grown so large, becoming one of the biggest merchant groups here."
"The Integrity Gu's constraint is instrumental to the Qian Clan's current size."
"Our Qian Clan has established a rule that all managers must cultivate the Integrity Gu."
"So your worries are completely unnecessary. My young mistress would never do anything against her conscience, especially for a mere ten million, which is just a small amount to the Qian Clan. It's not worth the risk."
"If you can develop a sufficiently heaven-defying ability for the Light Gu insect, the Stone King will be yours. Our Qian Clan always keeps its word."
Chapter 10: Brainstorming
"Do you see those people over there, deep in thought with their paper and pens? Look at how much they trust the Qian Commerce Association."
Qian Duoduo pointed his chubby finger in a direction.
Following his gaze, Long Xuan indeed saw a group of people with paper and pens, some sitting on steps, others on rocks. They all wore expressions of intense concentration, some even scratching their heads in frustration, seemingly using up countless brain cells.
"If you don't have the intelligence, don't waste your brain cells. Intelligence is innate; it cannot be forced."
Seeing so many people planning to bid, Long Xuan finally believed Qian Duoduo's words and felt relieved.
When it comes to imagination, who in this world can match him? He dares to claim second place, and no one would dare claim first, even in the imaginative world of his previous life.
Confidently, Long Xuan took out his paper and pen, ready to unleash a brainstorming and secure the top bid.
Seeing Long Xuan's excited expression, Qian Duoduo secretly laughed, having successfully fooled another one. Young people today are so easy to deceive; there's no such thing as a free lunch.
He wasn't lying; the Integrity Gu indeed had an irresistible binding ability.
However, he avoided mentioning Qian Jinjin's standards.
Qian Jinjin valued that stone king highly. In her view, this stone king might produce a peak-grade Gu insect, so only an ability equal to a peak-grade Gu insect would justify giving it away without loss.
In other words, her standard was to develop a high-quality Gu insect into a combat level comparable to a peak-grade Gu insect, which is impossible. Even a god couldn't do it.
This was a task that no one could complete, and no one would win the bid. She was just playing with people.
She never intended to give away the stone king; her standard was beyond human capability, and in the end, everyone would lose.
Qian Duoduo marveled at young lady's cunningness again, so deceitful, gaining everyone's wisdom for nothing, This was simply a free-for-all.
And it wouldn't cause dissatisfaction, making them unknowingly contribute their ideas willingly. This trick was brilliant.
Qian Duoduo grinned wickedly, seeing Long Xuan standing still, lost in thought. He added, "This bidding lasts for a month. You came at an unfortunate time; today is the last day, with less than an hour left before it ends. I hope you can come up with a good ability in such a short time."
With that, Qian Duoduo turned and left, seeking the next target. He had to repeat the same words to more people, hoping for more to come and willingly offer their ideas.
At this moment, Long Xuan, oblivious to the outside world, was experiencing an unprecedented brainstorming in his mind.
With his eyes closed, the first thing to confirm was not to go off-topic. The light Gu insect's ability is to control light, not just any light-related ability.
So, light-speed kicks, light-speed movement, and elementalization were out of the question; the light Gu insect couldn't achieve them.
Controlling light could derive many abilities, and the first thing Long Xuan thought of was a flashbang that could blind people. This is the simplest usage.
Humans see objects because light reflects off their surfaces and enters the eyes through reflection and refraction.
If light doesn't reflect, humans would be in complete darkness, seeing nothing.
Thus, controlling light could develop an ability to deprive opponents of their vision.
Extending this further, controlling the light that reflects off oneself could grant invisibility.
If one could control the light reflected from distant objects to bend into their eyes, they could see things miles away, developing a long-range vision ability.
If light on the ground didn't reflect, it would be absorbed, causing the ground to heat up, eventually forming lethal high temperatures, turning the earth into a scorching furnace—this would be a forbidden technique.
If one could alter the reflection of light, causing erroneous visuals, like seeing an enemy on the left when they're on the right, it would be a terrifying ability, causing headaches for any opponent.
This isn't even the scariest part. If the light Gu insect's growth were high enough, it could control light over a region, plunging it into eternal darkness, creating a night-walking technique.
Long Xuan's imagination ran wild, continuing to diverge...
Light can disperse into red, orange, yellow, green, blue (indigo), and violet.
It can also break down into ultraviolet rays, infrared rays, X-rays, Y-rays, and radio waves.
Infrared rays can accelerate metabolism, promote blood circulation, relieve fatigue, and pain, and enable thermal imaging and night vision.
Ultraviolet rays, X-rays, and Y-rays cause cancer and other hazards to humans. This could develop into a death ray ability by extracting all harmful rays from light.
The uses of radio waves are countless...
Long Xuan's mind was exploding...
He quickly thought of developing light's attack power.
Aside from lasers, consider the principle of burning paper with a convex lens.
A convex lens refracts light, converging it at one point, generating enough heat to burn paper.
Modern technology can't make large enough convex lenses, so the light converges are limited, making the destructive power negligible.
But a light-controlling Gu insect is different; it can gather as much light as desired without any tools.
When light within a hundred miles converges at one point, the destructive power would be unimaginable. Long Xuan didn't dare to think about it.
It's not an exaggeration to say that this attack power has no upper limit because light in this world is infinite.
When gathered light has no upper limit, the resulting destructive power is infinite.
Under such world-ending attack power, even lasers couldn't compare, making laser development unnecessary.
With so many ideas, when it comes to developing light abilities, even Kizaru would be no match. His creativity in this world is overwhelming.[1]
He felt that any ability he drew out would be enough to secure the top bid.
1. For those who don't know, kizaru is a one-piece character with light power.
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