The Path of Immortality: Starts With Creating Water Bear Gu-Chapter 384: Long Xiaoyao’s Night Visit

As Feng Tiancheng finished speaking, all the Gu Kings in the hall turned their gazes toward Long Xiaoyao, their eyes filled with deep meaning.

"Hmph! As a Fourth-Grade Alchemist, do you still not recognize the Nine Netherworld Flame?"

"Only the Burning Heaven Ancestor possesses the Nine Netherworld Flame. He is ranked tenth on the Most Wanted List and is a notorious demonic cultivator hunted worldwide."

"It is everyone's duty to eradicate evil and uphold righteousness. What is wrong with my Long Clan acting on behalf of justice?"

"Just because he is a contestant, does that mean we can't touch him? What kind of logic is that?" Long Xiaoyao instantly came up with a righteous response, speaking with an air of justice.

Feng Tiancheng cursed inwardly at his cunningness. It was clear that Long Xiaoyao had attempted an assassination first, only to realize later that the target was the Burning Heaven Ancestor.

Otherwise, he would never have sent ten Gu Kings of the Long Clan to their deaths.

Just as Feng Tiancheng was about to retaliate, Long Xiaoyao did not give him the chance and continued, "Speaking of the Burning Heaven Ancestor, I have something to ask you."

"The Burning Heaven Ancestor bears the surname Feng and hails from your Feng Clan. To win a mere wager, you dared to collude with the Burning Heaven Ancestor? How audacious!"

"The Burning Heaven Ancestor has stolen secret techniques from various clans, making him an enemy to all. Are you not afraid of provoking public outrage?"

"The Burning Heaven Ancestor is on the Emperor Gu City’s kill-on-sight list. Does your Feng Clan think you are above the Emperor Gu City?"

Long Xiaoyao's loud questioning was deliberately heard by everyone present, and soon, the spectators all turned their strange gazes toward Feng Tiancheng.

"You're spouting nonsense!" Feng Tiancheng's face turned livid as he pointed at Long Xiaoyao and roared in anger, "Do not falsely accuse us! When have we ever colluded with the Burning Heaven Ancestor? If you make such claims, show evidence!"

"How would we know why the Burning Heaven Ancestor appeared at the tournament? Our Feng Clan never invited him! He came of his own accord. What does that have to do with us?"

Feng Tiancheng's expression darkened. He had originally planned to use this incident to tarnish the Long Clan’s reputation, but unexpectedly, Long Xiaoyao turned the tables on him.

If this matter was not handled well, it could provoke public outrage and even offend Emperor Gu City.

Realizing the gravity of the situation, he immediately said, "It is everyone's duty to eliminate demons and uphold justice. The Burning Heaven Ancestor must be eradicated by all!"

"Now that he has appeared within the Phoenix Heaven Empire’s borders, we cannot ignore it."

"To prove our innocence, our Feng Clan will take the lead in organizing a task force to hunt down the Burning Heaven Ancestor!"

"Our Feng Clan is willing to send twenty Gu Kings. Who else is willing to join this demon-slaying mission?"

The hall fell into a dead silence. No one responded for a long time.

The Burning Heaven Ancestor’s reputation was known to all. Even Emperor Gu City had mobilized countless forces multiple times to hunt him down, yet they had failed.

How could this small group possibly kill him?

If they truly had the power to kill the Burning Heaven Ancestor, he wouldn’t have dared to come here in the first place.

The fact that he dared to enter Phoenix Heaven City alone and participate in the Alchemy Tournament meant he was absolutely confident in his ability to leave unscathed.

Finally, Qin Shang broke the long silence with a sigh.

"Although this Alchemy Tournament has gathered a sufficient number of Gu Kings, making it possible to issue a demon-slaying order at any time, the Burning Heaven Ancestor is not someone who can be defeated by numbers alone."

"He possesses three Heavenly Flames—the 31st-ranked Nine Netherworld Flame, the 29th-ranked Nine Heavens Moonfire, and the 25th-ranked Extinguishing Life Flame."

"When these three flames are unleashed together, the resulting heat is beyond what any Gu King can endure."

"In such extreme heat, all Gu Kings would have to retreat. Even if we gathered ten thousand Gu Kings, none would be able to get close to him. Against those three Heavenly Flames, sheer numbers are meaningless."

"The only ones who can kill him are strong individuals with powers that counter his flames, such as Gu Kings who wield Heavenly Water. Without such means, sending more Gu Kings would be futile."

"That’s right!" Wang Hu said gravely.

"The Burning Heaven Ancestor fears the Gu Kings of Emperor Gu City who possess Heavenly Water, which is why he destroyed all teleportation formation—so that those who could counter him wouldn’t be able to arrive quickly."

"With the teleportation formation to the Central Region destroyed, he is now invincible here."

"If we attempt to organize a siege, it will be suicide. Right now, we must not provoke him, nor can we revoke his qualification in the competition. If he becomes enraged, none of us will survive."

The hall once again fell into silence.

Long Xiaoyao glanced sideways at Feng Tiancheng. He could see clearly that Feng Tiancheng had only proposed the demon-slaying task because he knew no one would dare to go against the Burning Heaven Ancestor.

Since no one would participate, the demon-slaying mission would naturally be abandoned, leaving the Feng Clan’s Gu Kings completely unharmed.

"Enough with the performance. You only made this proposal because you knew it would never happen."

"When the enforcers of Emperor Gu City arrive, I hope your excuses will be enough to fool them."

With a cold snort, Long Xiaoyao ordered the Long Clan’s Gu cultivators to take away the corpses on the ground and left the scene.

The other Gu Kings who had been watching the spectacle now felt a heavy weight in their hearts. None were in the mood to continue spectating and left one after another.

Many Gu Kings, fearing they would be forced to join the mission against the Burning Heaven Ancestor, even left the city overnight.

The mere mention of the Burning Heaven Ancestor’s name had sent the Gu Kings fleeing in terror…

In the inn, Long Xuan was preparing to sleep when an unexpected guest arrived outside.

Seeing the old man suddenly leap in through the window, Long Xuan was momentarily stunned. But upon recognizing who it was, he quickly straightened up and respectfully said, “So, it’s Senior Long. May I ask if you have any important instructions for me, visiting so late at night?”

Long Xiaoyao appeared somewhat exhausted. Looking at the composed and respectful Long clan genius before him, he nodded in satisfaction, his eyes filled with appreciation.

“You should already know what happened outside. Yes, our Long clan organized an assassination attempt against Feng Jiu. However, the operation failed.”

“I can now confirm without a doubt that the person involved is the tenth-ranked individual on the wanted list—Burning Heaven Ancestor. He is a genuine fourth-grade alchemist.”

“The Long clan’s hope of victory now rests on you. Do you have the confidence to defeat him?”

Upon hearing this, Long Xuan couldn’t help but twitch the corner of his mouth. Asking a third-grade alchemist if he can defeat a fourth-grade alchemist—wasn’t that just asking nonsense?

He sighed inwardly. As expected, that Feng Jiu was indeed a fourth-grade alchemist. His cautious approach had been correct.

Long Xuan let out a helpless sigh and said, “Senior, you must be joking. That is a fourth-grade alchemist we’re talking about. If I, a third-grade alchemist, claimed I could definitely defeat him, would you even believe me?”

Long Xiaoyao nodded and said bitterly, “Of course, I wouldn’t believe it. But there is still hope for victory.”

“All powerful individuals are proud. If a Gu King spars with a Spiritual Sea realm Gu cultivator, they would certainly suppress their cultivation to the Spiritual Sea realm to fight fairly and wouldn’t rely on their higher realm to overpower their opponent.”

“The same applies to alchemists. Especially for someone like Burning Heaven Ancestor, who is the top figure in the field of alchemy—he is proud. If he competes against third-grade alchemists, he wouldn’t lower himself to using fourth-grade pills to crush them. He will definitely refine third-grade pills during the competition.”

“The fact that he hasn’t used his fourth-grade alchemist abilities in the previous two rounds already proves everything.”

“My point is—if he doesn’t refine fourth-grade pills, how confident are you in defeating him?”

Long Xiaoyao’s gaze was extremely serious, filled with expectation.

Long Xuan forced a bitter smile. This was a bit self-deceptive—how could they place their hopes on the opponent going easy on them?

Even if there was such a possibility, what if there was more than one fourth-grade alchemist in the competition? Would he still suppress his abilities?

Moreover, the stakes in this match between the Long and Feng clans were enormous. When it came down to life or dignity, any wise person would know what to choose.

In Long Xuan’s opinion, if he pushed Burning Heaven Ancestor into a corner, unless the man was a fool, he would definitely refine fourth-grade pills.

“If Burning Heaven Ancestor doesn’t refine fourth-grade pills, I have confidence in defeating him.”

Long Xuan didn’t voice his real thoughts to avoid making Long Xiaoyao despair and act recklessly.

“Excellent!”

Long Xiaoyao’s eyes lit up, and his exhausted expression finally showed a glimmer of energy. Slowly, he removed a storage ring from his finger and tossed it to Long Xuan, speaking seriously:

“The third round of the competition requires all contestants to enter the Feng clan’s Medicine Realm to gather herbs.”

“The Medicine Realm is a fragmented small world left behind from the War of the Gods. It is vast and filled with spiritual herbs, controlled exclusively by the Feng clan.”

“The Phoenix Heaven Empire’s national treasure, the Enlightenment Tea Tree, is planted within the Medicine Realm.”

“All contestants can freely gather the herbs in the realm for three days. They will then refine elixirs based on what they collected. The higher the value of the refined elixirs, the higher their score.”

“You can probably guess the key to victory. Although the Medicine Realm is full of herbs, rare spiritual herbs are limited. Only these rare herbs can be used to refine the most valuable elixirs.”

“Finding rare herbs requires luck, and the variety of herbs each contestant can gather is unpredictable. This means contestants must possess a vast collection of pill recipes. No matter what herbs they find, they must be able to use them to refine elixirs.”

“Contestants without a sufficient collection of pill recipes may end up unable to refine a single pill in this round and ultimately score zero.”

“This storage ring contains a vast number of pill recipes—my life’s collection. It includes both transmissible and secret pill formulas.”

“If you have a photographic memory, you must memorize as many of them as possible as quickly as you can. You only have three days.”

“The outcome of this bet between the Long and Feng clans depends entirely on you. Don’t let me down.” Long Xiaoyao’s expression was extremely solemn.

Hearing that this storage ring contained Long Xiaoyao’s life’s collection, Long Xuan’s eyes gleamed with excitement.

He hadn’t expected such a windfall. Long Xiaoyao was the foremost alchemist of the Long clan—his collection of pill recipes must be unimaginably vast.

The knowledge in this storage ring was priceless. It would provide him with an endless source of inspiration for creating new pill formulas, benefiting him for a lifetime.

Long Xuan gripped the storage ring tightly, suppressing the joy in his heart. He then looked up and asked, “The third round requires contestants to enter a small world to gather herbs. Wouldn’t alchemists with farsight abilities have a great advantage? Wouldn’t this rule be unfair to those without pupil-type Gu?”

Long Xiaoyao shook his head and patiently explained, “Once inside the Medicine Realm, all contestants will lose their abilities. Aside from being slightly stronger than ordinary mortals, they will be no different from regular people.”

“Farsight abilities will naturally be disabled, and even soul perception will be unusable.”

“This rule exists to prevent contestants from resorting to mass slaughter in order to seize more herbs.”

“The greatest danger anywhere is always other people. If everyone kept their abilities, out of the four hundred contestants entering the Medicine Realm, it would be fortunate if even a hundred made it out alive.”

“All those who have reached the third round are the most outstanding alchemist talents in the Western Region. Not a single one should be lost.”

“If a competition were to cause a massive loss of the Western Region’s alchemy geniuses, it would not be worth it.”