The Path of Immortality: Starts With Creating Water Bear Gu

At this moment, on the other side.

“Butler, why are you here? I’m hosting a Marrow Cleansing stage trade fair, and as a Gu King, you can’t participate.”

A cheerful-looking young man reluctantly walked over, glancing at a stern-looking old man.

“Young Master, the Clan Head suspects that you are using the trade fair as an excuse to select companions for an overseas adventure.”

“So, the Clan Head ordered me to watch you and make sure you don’t act recklessly.”

The old butler looked warily at the young man before him, sighing inwardly.

The Clan Head’s lineage had everything going for it—excellent cultivation talent, good looks, and intelligence. But they had one fatal flaw: a strong desire for danger.

This line of the family had a genetic inclination toward adventure, and from birth, they were drawn to exploring all corners of the world.

Especially the mysterious, unknown overseas lands, which seemed to spark an insatiable curiosity within them.

As a result, too many from the Clan Head’s lineage had perished in foreign lands, causing the family to dwindle. By this generation, there were hardly any left.

Now, only Mo Bufan remained, the last of the line. The old Clan Head was determined to protect him, ensuring he wouldn’t go on any reckless expeditions.

Up until now, Mo Bufan had only seen the sea from afar but had never set foot on a ship. Yet, this only intensified his curiosity about the world beyond, making the future uncertain.

The Clan Head knew his son well. Upon noticing Mo Bufan’s unusual behavior, he immediately sent someone to monitor him.

Upon hearing the butler’s words, the cheerful expression on Mo Bufan’s face froze, slowly falling.

“How could that be? I organized this trade fair to meet the world’s heroes. I never even considered going on any overseas adventures! How could you accuse me of such things?”

“I have no interest in ocean expeditions! I’m not curious about the world outside, especially not that Sky Island Ruins! I don’t want to go there at all!”

Mo Bufan fumed, looking as if he had been deeply wronged.

The old butler nodded, saying, “Since you say so, I’m relieved. But since you’re not interested in ocean expeditions, why don’t you trade away those ten nine-hundred-year Ironwood trees at this fair?”

“Ironwood is the best material for ship hulls. Since you’re not going to sea, there’s no use for them. You might as well exchange them for something more useful.”

“I’m guessing this trade fair was organized for the sole purpose of selling off those nine-hundred-year Ironwoods, right?”

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Hearing this, Mo Bufan’s expression stiffened.

Soon after, many servants in the manor began to move, shovels in hand, as if preparing to dig something up. Before long, teams of twenty people carried massive trees into the trading area.

The Gu cultivators carrying the trees were all panting and drenched in sweat. When they placed the iron-like trunks on the ground, there was a sharp metallic clang that echoed through the area, loud and clear.

Everyone in the crowd froze, halting their conversations and turning to stare at the ten giant trees, their eyes filled with astonishment. The place instantly fell silent.

For the first time, it became quiet around Long Xuan.

“Trees that look like they’re made of metal… Could these be the legendary Ironwood? This is one of the best materials for building ships!” someone in the crowd exclaimed, their eyes glowing.

“Yes, it’s definitely Ironwood. Ironwood is neither purely wood nor metal. It has the hardness of metal but the buoyancy of wood when placed in water, making it the perfect material for ship hulls. Mo Dashao is really generous, putting such treasures up for trade. What a noble man!”

“Haha, but this isn’t ordinary Ironwood. I can tell these ten trees are at least nine hundred years old, almost reaching the level of Thousand-Year Ironwood. Unfortunately, they’re not quite there yet. Even being just a hundred years short, the value difference between Nine-Hundred-Year and Thousand-Year Ironwood is astronomical. What a shame.”

“Isn’t Mo Dashao being a bit too hasty? If he had waited another hundred years, allowing these trees to grow into Thousand-Year Ironwood, he could have sold them for much higher prices. Now, it seems like he’s exhausting the resources too soon. Ah, young people lack patience,” an elderly man in the crowd commented regretfully.

The crowd gathered around the ten Ironwood trees, pointing and discussing excitedly.

Finally, Mo Bufan stepped forward and stood beside the ten trees. “Alright! Quiet down!”

“You really think I’d be so short-sighted? The Mo Clan is a shipbuilding family. No one values shipbuilding materials more than us.”

“Not all spirit herbs can grow indefinitely. Most spirit herbs will wither and die once they reach a certain age. All living things under heaven have a lifespan limit, and spirit herbs are no exception.”

“My Mo Clan, being experts in shipbuilding, has a way of determining the lifespan of wood. These ten Ironwoods have a lifespan of just over nine hundred years. If they don’t reach a thousand, they will wither and die.”

“Otherwise, do you really think I’d be foolish enough to sell Nine-Hundred-Year Ironwood? Do you think I, Mo Dashao, need the money?”

“Even if I wanted to squander the family’s wealth, they wouldn’t let me do it!”

“Now that these ten nine-hundred-year Ironwood trees have been dug up, there’s no point in burying them again.”

“As the host of this trade fair, I’ll kick things off. I’m willing to trade these ten Ironwood trees for Breakthrough Pills. If you have them, come forward to trade!”

Upon saying this, Mo Bufan’s heart was bleeding.

Although he had been stuck at the peak of the Marrow Cleansing stage for a long time, he genuinely didn’t want to break through.

Because once he advanced to the Spiritual Sea stage, he would no longer be able to visit fun places like the Sky Island.

But he couldn’t refuse the Breakthrough Pills. The old butler was trying to completely crush his dreams of visiting Sky Island by forcing him to trade for the pills and enter closed-door cultivation.

Even if he didn’t agree, the Mo Clan had extensive resources in Starsea City and could easily obtain the Breakthrough Pills for him.

Upon hearing that someone wanted to trade ten Ironwood trees for Breakthrough Pills, Long Xuan’s eyes immediately lit up.

Thousand-Year Ironwood was the best material for ship hulls. He knew that. Initially, he thought it was too rare and in high demand, so he had given up on the idea of using it to build his ship.

Unexpectedly, fortune had smiled upon him, offering a chance to obtain ten Thousand-Year Ironwood trees.

Yes, in his eyes, these were Thousand-Year Ironwoods.

Don’t forget, he had the Medicinal Gu, a heaven-defying existence. Its ability was to accelerate the growth of spirit herbs, completely bypassing their natural lifespan limits.

In other words, if a spirit herb had only a hundred years left to live, the Medicinal Gu could mature it into a Ten-Thousand-Year spirit herb, and its remaining lifespan would still be a hundred years, unaffected by the process.

Although the Medicinal Gu was being kept in his herb garden and not brought out, Long Xuan had carried several dozen drops of the Heavenly-Creation Liquid that the Medicinal Gu had spat out with him, just in case it was needed.

This was to prevent a situation where he needed millennium-grade spiritual herbs for alchemy, but couldn't gather them, and would have to force them to mature on the spot.

With this mindset, he always carried dozens of drops of Heavenly-Creation Liquid with him whenever he went out, and unexpectedly, this time it came in handy.

There were a total of ten nine-hundred-year-old ironwood trees. He only needed ten drops of Heavenly-Creation Liquid to mature them into Ten Thousand Year Old-grade ironwood trees, which would be more than enough.

A gleam flashed in Long Xuan's eyes, and he immediately spoke up eagerly: "I'll offer ten Sea Converging Pills! Can I trade them for your ten ironwood trees?"

However, with so many Marrow Cleansing stage Gu cultivators present, how could Long Xuan be the only one who wanted the ironwood?

Long Xuan was just the fastest to speak up because he was anxious. As soon as he finished, an elderly voice immediately shouted, "I’ll offer eleven Spirit Gathering Pills! Would Young Master Mo kindly yield it to me?"

Long Xuan frowned slightly. Glancing at the elder, he quickly raised his offer: "I'll offer twelve Sea Converging Pills!"

The old man gave Long Xuan a sideways glance and sneered, "I'll offer fifteen Sea Converging Pills! Competing with me in Sea Converging Pills? You're overestimating yourself."

Long Xuan couldn't help but laugh at his words. He had already recognized the old man as Elder Sun, a second-grade alchemist from Starsea City, who was naturally capable of offering that many Sea Converging Pills.

Unlike Long Xuan, who was an unlicensed alchemist, Elder Sun was certified, bearing the prestigious second-grade alchemist medal granted by the Alchemy God Palace. The standards for receiving such a medal were exceptionally high.

But it was unfortunate for Elder Sun. If he wanted to compete with Long Xuan in the number of Sea Converging Pills, he had picked the wrong person. If Long Xuan had more than just fifteen days to refine pills, he could have drowned Elder Sun in Sea Converging Pills.

"I'm sorry, but I also need the ironwood. I'm afraid I can't part with it. I'll offer twenty Sea Converging Pills."

When Long Xuan made this offer, Elder Sun's expression turned dark.

Although Elder Sun could also offer twenty Sea Converging Pills, he was frustrated that he could have secured the deal with just ten pills earlier. Now, someone else had intervened, and he would need more than twenty pills to win, making it a significant loss. Even with his abundant supply of Sea Converging Pills, he wasn’t willing to waste them like this.

However, he was determined to get the nine-hundred-year-old ironwood, and he didn't want to lose face here. So, he immediately raised his offer: "I’ll offer twenty-one Sea Converging Pills! Competing with me in Sea Converging Pills? Young man, don’t let your youthful arrogance get the better of you!"

At this moment, the manor was abuzz with chatter.

"I didn't expect Elder Sun and Master Ye, this rising star, to get into a bidding war. I wonder who will come out on top."

"It should be Elder Sun. His specialty is refining Sea Converging Pills. It's his signature skill. Who can compete with him in Sea Converging Pills?"

"It's hard to say!" someone shook their head. "Although Master Ye has never sold Sea Converging Pills, the quality of the other pills he refines is exceptionally high, far surpassing Elder Sun's. I suspect Master Ye is quite skilled at refining Sea Converging Pills too."

"Haha! The bidding has already reached twenty-eight Sea Converging Pills. What a grand gesture! If I had that many breakthrough pills, I’d definitely become a Spiritual Sea stage powerhouse," someone said, their face flushed with excitement.

"I'll offer thirty Sea Converging Pills! Kid! Do you even have that many Sea Converging Pills? Don’t shout empty words!"

After shouting out this price, Elder Sun could no longer sit still. He quickly stood up and yelled angrily.

This number was nearly his limit.

Although he was a master at refining Sea Converging Pills and had a high success rate, no one would stockpile so many pills.

Both spiritual herbs and spiritual pills have a shelf life. If kept for too long, their spiritual energy would dissipate, and they’d spoil completely.

Even with Elder Sun’s high success rate, he would never hoard that many Sea Converging Pills. No one in this world would be foolish enough to do so.

"Whether I have that many Sea Converging Pills or not is none of your concern. I’ll offer thirty-two Sea Converging Pills."

Without turning his head, Long Xuan calmly continued bidding.

Elder Sun clenched his fists tightly, his face twisted as he glared at Long Xuan. "Fine! I’d like to see just how many Sea Converging Pills you really have. I'll offer thirty-four Sea Converging Pills."

At this point, Long Xuan finally fell silent. He turned his head and gave Elder Sun a strange look.

Just then, the Integrity Gu hidden in Long Xuan’s clothes suddenly became furious and was about to crawl out to devour the liar.

Long Xuan was shocked and quickly held down the enraged Integrity Gu.

Only Elder Sun had spoken just now, which meant that Elder Sun had lied. He didn’t have thirty-four Sea Converging Pills; he was inflating the numbers.

Was he crazy? Daring to lie? Was it just to make Long Xuan spend more? To deliberately disgust him?

What if Long Xuan stopped bidding at this point? How would Elder Sun back out of the situation? He was playing with fire.