The Path of Immortality: Starts With Creating Water Bear Gu-Chapter 388: Seeing the Tea Tree

The forces with the same idea as the Long Clan were clearly not the only ones. At this moment, many alchemists with the same surname sat together, whispering and plotting something.

Among them were the alchemists of the Feng Clan, the alchemists of the Qin Clan, and the alchemists of the Wang Clan...

After Long Xuan meditated for a while, the third round of the competition finally began.

Standing before the teleportation gate, Feng Tiancheng glanced around and loudly announced, "Now that everyone has arrived, the third round of the competition shall begin!"

"I will repeat the rules once more: Each contestant, upon entering the Medicine Realm, will use the spiritual herbs they collect to refine pills. The final score will be determined by the value of the pills they produce. This round will test the participants' knowledge and collection of pill recipes."

"However, regardless of how many spiritual herbs a contestant gathers in the Medicine Realm, they must hand over every single one upon exiting."

"The spiritual herbs from the Medicine Realm have a unique aura. Even if stored inside a spatial ring or storage bag, we can still detect them. Do not entertain any thoughts of keeping them privately."

"That is all I have to say. Now, all contestants, enter the Medicine Realm!"

With these words, Feng Tiancheng finally stepped aside, revealing the teleportation gate behind him. The contestants took deep breaths and exchanged glances. Soon, some took the first steps toward the gate.

Long Yuyao glanced at the group of Long Clan alchemists beside her and whispered, "Let’s go in quickly. Those who enter first will have more time to gather herbs. Although the advantage may not be significant, we must not let it slip away."

The Long Clan alchemists nodded and immediately followed her toward the teleportation gate.

At the same time, the alchemists of the Feng Clan also rushed forward, eager not to fall behind.

However, Long Xuan did not hurry. Instead, he kept his attention fixed on that demonic cultivator. That person had to be watched closely—if not the Burning Heaven Ancestor, then at least him.

His Clairvoyant was useless inside the Medicine Realm, and he wasn't sure if he could send a clone to follow the demonic cultivator secretly.

Long Xuan pondered. A clone should still be considered an ability. Once inside the Medicine Realm, it likely cannot be used.

But what if I release the clone beforehand, outside?

Glancing around, he saw that in just a short while, all the contestants had entered the Medicine Realm. With a firm decision, he stepped in front of the teleportation gate, suddenly releasing all his clones. Then, he leaped into the portal, vanishing along with them.

At that moment, a distant elder responsible for maintaining the formation suddenly exclaimed in shock, shouting, "What’s going on? Two hundred and five people just entered the Medicine Realm! Weren’t there supposed to be only two hundred contestants in the third round? Where did those extra five people come from?!"

Many were dumbfounded.

Qin Shang’s mouth twitched as he muttered, "It must be because this brat’s clones are too perfect! The formation couldn’t detect the difference, so it counted his clones as additional contestants!"

"This is possible?!" The judges’ faces turned strange, their expressions more colorful than ever.

Feng Tiancheng's face instantly darkened. "Everyone else is collecting herbs alone, but he has six people collecting for him. How can anyone compete with that? Isn’t this outright cheating?!"

"Damn it! Long Clan, this is too shameless! He has five clones gathering herbs for him—who can possibly compete with that?!" Feng Tiancheng glared at Long Xiaoyao, his face ashen with frustration.

Long Xiaoyao stroked his beard and chuckled, "Heh, this is merely an exploit of the rules. Finding loopholes in the rules is also a form of intelligence. Exploiting a loophole is not the same as breaking the rules."

"Hmph! Let him do as he pleases. He will lose this alchemy competition regardless!"

Feng Tiancheng turned back to the teleportation gate, unwilling to argue further.

In his view, even with five clones, Long Xuan’s collection speed could never match the combined efforts of over ten Feng Clan alchemists working together.

Moreover, Feng Jiu was a fourth-grade alchemist. No matter how hard he tried, he could never surpass a fourth-grade alchemist.

Since the victory was certain, he couldn't be bothered to waste time entangling himself any further...

...

After entering the Medicine Realm, Long Xuan immediately felt the fresh air and the abundance of spiritual energy, far surpassing that of the outside world. He couldn't help but take a deep breath, instantly feeling refreshed and invigorated.

"As expected of the Medicine Realm, so many spiritual herbs."

Long Xuan glanced around and couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement.

The number of spiritual herbs here was truly astonishing, covering the entire landscape. The variety of herbs was also extremely rich.

The Medicine Realm was vast. If the density of spiritual herbs was the same everywhere, then the total quantity of herbs here was simply unimaginable.

At this moment, he had already realized that this was one of the Feng Clan’s massive medicinal gardens. This vast herbal garden could bring immense benefits to the Feng Clan. The reason why the second round of prepared spiritual herbs was so enormous was likely due to the contributions of this gigantic medicinal garden.

Long Xuan quickly scanned the area but ignored the spiritual herbs scattered all over the ground. After commanding his Fire Clone to chase after the demonic cultivator, his other clones dispersed in different directions.

Although there were many spiritual herbs here, most of them were only low or middle-grade, and he naturally had no interest in them. Time was limited, and he had to dedicate all his efforts to collecting rare spiritual herbs. He couldn't afford to waste time on ordinary ones.

The other contestants clearly had the same mindset. Despite the fact that the area near the teleportation portal was filled with spiritual herbs, not a single person stopped to pick them. Instead, they all ignored the herbs and chose a direction to venture deeper into the realm.

With his incredibly strong physique, Long Xuan was the fastest among them, especially since everyone's cultivation had been sealed upon entering the realm.

Even though he was the last to enter the Medicine Realm, he quickly overtook everyone, leaving the other contestants far behind.

Those behind him gritted their teeth and had no choice but to change direction, afraid that if they followed him, he would take all the best spiritual herbs, leaving them with nothing.

After completely shaking off all the other contestants, Long Xuan glanced back to make sure no one could see him. Only then did he finally relax and open his Insect Bag.

Ever since he had entered the Medicine Realm, the rabbit inside the bag had been restless, constantly struggling. It was clearly sensing the presence of an unparalleled spiritual herb—something that only happened when it detected such an extraordinary treasure.

Without a doubt, the divine herb it was sensing was most likely the Enlightenment Tea Tree.

Long Xuan was overjoyed. Now that he had successfully shaken off everyone else, he could finally release the rabbit without worry.

As soon as it was let out, the rabbit immediately dived into the ground and disappeared, using its Earth Escape ability to swiftly head in a certain direction.

Sensing the rabbit's movements, Long Xuan's excitement grew as he hurriedly chased after it.

Along the way, he encountered numerous rare spiritual herbs that even he found tempting. However, he knew how to prioritize—compared to the Enlightenment Tea Tree, he had no choice but to give up these precious herbs.

Five hours later, the rabbit crashed headfirst into a semi-spherical barrier, letting out a miserable cry before falling back onto the ground. It sat there rubbing its head, a large bump already forming, its eyes teary with pain.

Long Xuan, however, paid it no mind. At this moment, his entire attention was drawn to the magnificent tea tree inside the barrier.

Staring at the tall tea tree within the formation, his breath quickened, and his heart pounded wildly.

"So this is the Enlightenment Tea Tree?"

Long Xuan suppressed his excitement and refrained from recklessly approaching. Instead, he carefully observed this divine tree.

The Enlightenment Tea Tree was grand and majestic, exuding a strong vitality. It had an extraordinary presence. However, its branches were completely bare—there wasn't a single leaf left. Clearly, someone had already harvested all of them.

Long Xuan felt a deep sense of disappointment. As expected, just as Long Xiaoyao had predicted, the tea leaves of the Enlightenment Tea Tree had already been plucked by the Feng Clan's Gu Masters.