The Path of Immortality: Starts With Creating Water Bear Gu-Chapter 386: The Four Evils’ Scheme

"The National Advisor once prophesied that this high-stakes gamble would end in victory for our Long clan. A prophecy is not necessarily wrong—we still have a chance to win." Long Xiaoyao hurriedly spoke.

"You mean that genius named Long Xuan might win? Do you think a third-grade alchemist has a chance against a fourth-grade alchemist?" The Dragon Emperor said in a deep voice.

Although his words were skeptical, his demeanor had calmed significantly.

"I'm not certain. However, if Burning Heaven Ancestor becomes overconfident and does not refine a fourth-grade pill in the finals, then our chances of winning are not nonexistent."

"Perhaps the reason the National Advisor predicted our victory was based on the assumption that Burning Heaven Ancestor would not refine a fourth-grade pill," Long Xiaoyao said, his tone somewhat uncertain.

"Have you investigated his background?" the Dragon Emperor asked again.

Long Xiaoyao shook his head. "I have not. The Long clan has no third-grade alchemists who have been left outside. I have no idea where he appeared from."

"But one thing is certain—his alchemy skills surpass those of Princess Yuyao. If we want the Long clan to win, we must place our hopes on him."

The Dragon Emperor nodded and continued, "Hmm! Send the Gu King to protect him. Even though the Feng clan has no reason to assassinate him, such matters must not be overlooked."

"I will be cautious. No matter what, there can be no more accidents this time. Time is of the essence—I will go make arrangements now." Long Xiaoyao clenched his fists, gave a respectful farewell, and finally put away the mirror before leaving.

With his departure, the room fell silent once more…

...

Meanwhile, in another inn.

Two elderly men, a young man, and a beautiful woman sat around a table.

The table was filled with dishes and fine wine…

"Who would have thought that Burning Heaven Ancestor would be one of the contestants? After he enters the Medicine Realm, I wonder if he'll interfere with our plans."

Burial Demon Ghost frowned and hesitated as he spoke.

"Hmph! No matter how strong Burning Heaven Ancestor is, once he enters the Medicine Realm, he will lose all his abilities. As long as he's inside, he won’t be able to stir up any major trouble. Just ignore him."

Jade-Faced Rakshasa shot him a glance, showing clear disdain, before shifting her gaze to the scholar-like young man sitting across from her.

"White-Faced Scholar, all four of us have arranged for numerous alchemists to participate in this alchemy competition. Yet, only your candidate has successfully reached the third round."

"The real issue now is not Burning Heaven Ancestor but whether we can locate the Enlightenment Tea Tree within three days."

"Does the person you arranged have the confidence to find the Enlightenment Tea Tree within the Medicine Realm? If we fail to locate it, then all our plans will be for nothing."

The White-Faced Scholar shook the folding fan in his hand and sighed with a bitter smile. "Who can say for sure?"

"We have too few people infiltrating the competition—only one. Relying on a single person to find the Enlightenment Tea Tree in three days… claiming absolute certainty would be nothing but self-deception."

"Moreover, everyone who enters the Medicine Realm will lose all their abilities. Once spiritual power is sealed, spirit artifacts, talismans, puppets, zombies, spirit beasts, Gu insects… none of them can be used."

"If these things are banned, I won’t be able to help him at all. His only chance of finding the Enlightenment Tea Tree will depend on luck. If luck isn’t on our side, our entire plan may die in its infancy."

The scholarly man with a pale face shook the fan in his hand again, appearing unhurried and unconcerned, as if he did not take the matter seriously.

"Finding a single spiritual herb in a small world is like searching for a needle in a haystack. Doesn't that mean the success rate of our plan is incredibly low?"

"Even if we manage to locate the Enlightenment Tea Tree, breaking through its protective formation and taking it away safely will still be an enormous challenge," said the sinister-looking Burial Demon Ghost, his face dark with gloom.

"There’s no other way. Plans never keep up with changes. Initially, making it to the third round wasn’t supposed to be difficult. Many alchemists from the Land of Sin could have easily reached this stage."

"But that brat named Long Xuan has been utterly defying the heavens with his actions. The people we arranged were all terrified of him. Afraid of being blown to pieces by his alchemy, they panicked and ran away halfway through refining their pills, leading to their failure and elimination."

"As a result, instead of eliminating only half of the contestants in this round, we are now left with only two hundred participants."

"If we had enough people infiltrating, each searching in a different direction, our chances of finding the Enlightenment Tea Tree would still be quite high."

Jade-Faced Rakshasa let out a soft sigh. At this moment, she suddenly thought of Master Wei, whom she had planted within the competition.

She had already lost contact with Master Wei. She did not know whether he had died along the way or if he was among the remaining two hundred contestants.

The scholarly man folded his fan and spoke again: "Finding the Enlightenment Tea Tree will depend on luck. We have no other choice, so there’s no point in discussing this any further."

"What we should focus on now is—if my people do manage to find the Enlightenment Tea Tree, how do we take it away? And how do we break its protective formation?"

"The people I sent in will have lost all their abilities. They definitely won’t be able to break the formation. That step will have to be left to us."

At this moment, the elderly man in black robes, who had remained silent all along, finally spoke: "As long as you give me a drop of that contestant’s blood essence, I can pinpoint his exact location."

"I possess the innate spiritual treasure, the Boundary-Breaking Pearl, which can break through the space of the Alchemy Realm. As for the protective formation around the treasure, we will have to personally take action to break it."

The scholarly man looked at him and said, "I know you have the Boundary-Breaking Pearl, which is why I agreed to work with you on this mission."

"But I also understand the limitations of the Boundary-Breaking Pearl. The power of the Gu King is still too weak. If you use the Gu King’s strength to activate the Boundary-Breaking Pearl, the spatial rift it creates will only last for an instant."

"Are you confident that you can destroy the protective formation in that single instant? The formation guarding the Enlightenment Tea Tree won’t be easy to break. If we don’t even have the ability to breach it, then all our previous planning will have been meaningless."

The Black Mountain Elder replied, "You all know that I am a Corpse Cultivator, one who refines and controls corpses to gain powerful strength."

"But my corpse refinement techniques are not limited to human corpses. I can also refine the corpses of other races into undead warriors."

"I once discovered the corpse of a Giant Demon in some ancient ruins. The Giant Demon stood over a hundred zhang (330 meters) tall and had an enormous weight. Perhaps it could stomp and shatter the protective formation in a single step."

"Of course, the spatial rift created by the Boundary-Breaking Pearl is too brief. My Giant Demon will only have one chance to step on it. Whether that will be enough to destroy the formation is uncertain."

"If one step isn’t enough, we will have no choice but to retreat. Stealing the Enlightenment Tea Tree was always a low-probability endeavor. We’ll just go with the flow. Even if we fail to obtain the tree, it doesn’t really matter."

The Black Mountain Elder remained remarkably calm, his face showing no signs of urgency. It was clear that he had already mentally prepared himself for failure.

The other three exchanged heavy glances.

Among the Four Great Evildoers, the Black Mountain Elder was the strongest. In the outside world, he was known as the leader of the Four Great Evildoers.

He was an extremely rare Corpse Cultivator in this world. He had refined zombies from beings more powerful than even the Gu Kings. Some of his undead were created from the corpses of divine beasts.

Many extraordinary and heaven-defying Gu insects that had perished were also refined into undead creatures by him, granting him an endless lifespan—eternal and indestructible.

The sheer number of unfathomable existences hidden within the Black Mountain Elder was terrifying. The other three evil of the Four Great Evildoers could only barely contend with him if they joined forces.

Now, he had even found a Giant Demon’s corpse, increasing his power once again. The Giant Demons were one of the Ten Ancient Races. In this world, what Gu King could possibly withstand the stomp of a Giant Demon?