The Path of Immortality: Starts With Creating Water Bear Gu

“Die!”

Long Xuan roared, dragging the dragon’s head as he charged forward with great speed.

Under the impact of the Dragon Form, the ground rumbled loudly. Wherever the Dragon Form passed, a deep trench was carved into the earth, and the entire ground trembled slightly.

“What is this?”

Jun Mochen’s face changed drastically, revealing a look of shock.

“This speed… it's bad…”

The dragon’s head smashed heavily into his chest.

“Pfft!”

He spat out a mouthful of blood as a cracking sound came from his chest.

Immediately afterward, his entire body was dragged by the dragon, flying backward at a high speed, smashing through wall after wall. After crashing through countless buildings, his back slammed hard against the barrier of the city-protection formation.

“Crack!”

The barrier shattered with a loud crash. He had actually broken through the barrier, sliding across the ground for an unknown distance, until he finally stopped after crashing into a mountain wall. Behind him was a straight trench, filled with thick smoke.

Everyone was stunned, standing frozen like wooden statues, unable to react for a long time.

Sensing that the aura of the Spiritual Sea stage Gu cultivator had completely disappeared, Long Dan’s wide-open mouth remained agape.

A Marrow Cleansing Stage cultivator killing a Spiritual Sea Stage master—this was unheard of. He was truly shocked.

Li Laodao's mouth twitched uncontrollably, and his hand hidden in his sleeve trembled. He was completely frightened by Long Xuan’s heaven-defying combat prowess.

At this moment, he finally understood why it was that without Long Xuan, everyone would die, but with him, everyone would live.

No one but this monstrous genius could handle that Spiritual Sea Stage Gu Cultivator. To be able to kill a Spiritual Sea Stage expert while being an entire realm lower in cultivation was something likely only Long Xuan could achieve in the entire Gu world.

His intuition had proven correct once again. As long as Long Xuan was here, this trip would be 100% safe.

After briefly freezing in shock, he quickly broke through the encirclement and fled. The city-protection formation had already been destroyed by Long Xuan’s ultimate move, and the elite guards besieging him had long since suffered heavy casualties at the hands of Jun Zaitian. They had completely lost their will to fight, and the previously hopeless situation now allowed him to escape easily.

The remaining ten or so geniuses from the Western Land finally came to their senses, showing joy as they split into different directions, madly fleeing toward the outskirts of the city.

The barrier had disappeared, and this ruined imperial city could no longer trap them.

As long as they successfully escaped the city, they would be like fish in the ocean, and the Gu Cultivators of Black Wind Nation would never be able to catch them again.

All of them wore smiles of relief as they survived the disaster…

…

In a distant cave, Long Xuan threw Jun Mochen’s storage bag onto the ground before sitting down, gasping for breath.

At this moment, his entire body felt bloated and painful, his head was about to explode, and pain coursed through every part of his body, causing him to let out a pained groan.

The side effects of opening all eight gates were immense. He finally realized just how much pain the Gate of Life and Death could cause—it was so excruciating that he wished for death.

He couldn’t help but smile bitterly. Was this really 100% safe? The fact that he hadn’t died meant it was technically safe—no doubt about it. He just wanted to say that if he ever teamed up with that cursed Li Laodao again, he would be nothing but a fool!

After swallowing a handful of healing pills, he checked his injuries and immediately felt a sinking sensation in his heart.

Burning spiritual power, blood, qi, and vitality—those were all things that could regenerate, so they weren’t much of a concern.

However, burning the things that couldn't regenerate was a different matter.

The external injuries caused by opening the eight gates could be healed with the Water Bear Gu, and the lifespan consumed could be restored by the Eternal Life Sutra.

The Water Bear Gu could restore both life force and a small amount of mental energy, but at its current recovery speed, it would probably take years to fully recover.

The damage to his mental energy, however, was a different story. It affected the very core of his being. Without the Water Bear Gu, an ordinary person’s mental energy would never recover if it was damaged at the source.

Life force was even more mysterious. After losing a large portion of it, he felt that his body’s ability to heal had slowed down. His muscles and cells seemed to have lost vitality, like withering plants, devoid of life.

Moreover, his heart, liver, and kidneys all began to deteriorate as if his organs were aging, their efficiency dropping significantly.

At the same time, his digestion, blood production, and detoxification abilities were all declining, and every bodily function was plummeting dramatically.

It felt as if all the parts of his body were failing. If not for the Water Bear Gu barely holding things together, his body would have collapsed instantly.

Although life force was mysterious, the Water Bear Gu could restore it slowly.

However, the damage to his innate potential and soul essence was something that the Water Bear Gu couldn’t restore at all.

His potential talent and soul essence were severely damaged, and these injuries were considered irreversible in the outside world, extremely difficult to recover from. Relying on time to heal them was simply impossible.

Losing potential was akin to having one’s dantian destroyed—nothing could fix that. If dantians could be repaired, those geniuses from the Bai Clan wouldn't still be crippled.

A chill ran down Long Xuan’s spine. Was he going to be crippled forever? For the first time, he panicked, quickly pulling out paper and a brush.

He recalled the Heaven-Mending Tree he had just obtained. The tree’s medicinal properties were clearly related to aptitude. Could he use the Heaven-Mending Fruit as the main ingredient to create a pill that could restore aptitude?

And the Soul-Nourishing Tree he had accidentally acquired—its medicinal properties were obviously connected to the soul. Could he use its leaves as the main ingredient to create a pill to repair the soul?

Although the world had no known method for repairing potential or soul damage, that didn’t mean such methods didn’t exist in theory. Perhaps people hadn’t found them yet, or they had been lost to time.

It was also possible that these methods already existed, but those who knew kept it a secret.

Thinking this, hope arose in Long Xuan’s heart. What might be a dead-end for others could potentially have a solution for him.

He quickly scribbled on the paper:

“Heaven-Mending Pill Recipes”

Effect: Restores aptitude, repairs the dantian.

Main Ingredient: Heaven-Mending Fruit.

As soon as he stopped writing, a progress bar appeared on the paper, and Long Xuan's heart leaped with joy.

As long as there was progress, it meant that the effects he designed for the pill could be achieved.

Indeed, using the Heaven-Mending Fruit as the main ingredient could yield a pill that restored potential!

Long Xuan was overjoyed. He couldn’t wait any longer and hurriedly pulled out a second sheet of paper. He quickly wrote on the second sheet:

"Soul Restoring Pill Recipe"

Effect: Repairs the soul.

Main Ingredient: Soul-Nourishing Tree Leaf.

As his brush fell on the paper, progress appeared once again. As expected, a pill that repairs the soul could theoretically be developed using the Soul-Nourishing Tree, which is related to the soul's power.

Long Xuan was ecstatic once again and couldn’t help but laugh out loud, “Haha! Heaven never seals off all paths! Heaven never seals off all paths! It’s not my time to die!”

The two issues threatening his life were now completely resolved. He only needed to rest for a period of time, and once he had completed the development of these two pill recipes, his body would recover as if nothing had ever happened.

It was also due to his good fortune that pills for repairing one’s aptitude and soul were theoretically possible. However, to refine such heaven-defying pills would certainly require equally heaven-defying materials—materials that most people would never find in their entire lifetime.

Once again, Long Xuan's good fortune shone through. He just so happened to have both a Heaven-Mending Tree and a Soul-Nourishing Tree.

Without these two divine trees, he wouldn’t have been able to figure out how to develop pills that could repair aptitude and the soul, no matter how hard he worked.

With these two matters settled, Long Xuan finally sighed in relief, feeling as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He no longer had any worries.

Although his injuries were quite severe this time, in a way, it could be considered a blessing in disguise. He had just discovered that his Water Bear Gu had suddenly completed its evolution, transforming into a powerful Spirit Gu.

He couldn't help but smile bitterly. He finally understood what the conditions were for the Water Bear Gu to evolve.

The Water Bear Gu's evolution condition turned out to be to "break down before rising again." Every time he was on the verge of death, the Water Bear Gu would complete another transformation.

He despised this method of evolution. He wasn’t some sort of masochist and had no desire to go courting death and then barely survive to evolve.

Being on the brink of death meant his life hung by a thread, and if the "breaking down" process didn't go well, it would lead to true death. Why would he want to gamble with his life?

He let out a bitter smile, then took out the Ice and Fire Hut from his insect bag and placed it on the ground. Soon, the Sou Gu that had been sleeping inside walked out and shook its head at him.

“Still can’t teleport, huh?”

Long Xuan frowned and took a deep breath.

His body was in terrible shape—problems everywhere. He desperately needed to return home to recuperate.

Right now, he felt most vulnerable. Staying out in the open, where dangers lurked everywhere, gave him no sense of security.

But since the Sou Gu’s small hut couldn’t teleport in this area, it was truly a life-threatening situation.

After a brief rest, Long Xuan instructed the Fire Clone to carry him and continue running eastward.

He didn’t dare to linger here for long. The appearance of the Heaven-Mending Fruit was bound to be exposed soon.

When that happened, countless Gu cultivators would swarm to this area. The Heaven-Mending Fruit was enough to attract hordes of powerful experts.

The Black Wind Nation would soon be engulfed in a storm, with innumerable greedy individuals pouring in.

If he stayed here any longer, it would be courting death. He had to leave Black Wind Nation as quickly as possible.

Moreover, heading west was not an option. Anyone with a brain would know that the geniuses of the Western Lands would be returning home, and would intercept them along the way.

He had to go in the opposite direction, moving away from the Western Lands.

The farther he moved away from the Western Lands, the more likely he would be to escape the influence of the Realm Pearl.

The Far Western Region was unaffected by the Realm Pearl, and the Sou Gu would be usable there.

Once he reached a place where the Sou Gu could teleport, he could instantly return home and comfortably recover.

If he tried to head west and walk all the way back, even if he managed to avoid being hunted down, it would take years to make it home.

Long Xuan’s only plan now was to run as far as possible, until he could use the Sou Gu’s hut and return to his comfort zone.

For the next three months, his five clones took turns carrying him non-stop, with no rest, running who knows how far.

He didn’t dare fly on his spirit boat because the sky was wide open, making him a large and vulnerable target. To be safe, he only flew at high speed through areas with trees.

In fact, his caution was a bit excessive. The mortal nations were isolated from the world, and there was no way the news would spread so quickly to external Gu cultivator forces.

Moreover, space teleportation in this area had long been restricted, so even if outside forces were desperate, they wouldn’t be able to learn about the situation here immediately. Long Xuan had plenty of time to escape.

During these three months, Long Xuan hadn’t been idle either. His consciousness was constantly immersed in the Soul Library, working on developing the pill recipes.

The first recipe he researched was for the Heaven-Mending Pill. His dantian had cracked, and energy was leaking out, putting him at constant risk of losing his cultivation level. Repairing his aptitude was the most urgent problem to address.

Although the soul was equally important, it could be dealt with later.

Despite his soul’s origin being damaged, which prevented him from refining pills or using soul techniques, he had clones. Whether it was the Soul Library or pill refining, he could borrow the power of his clones.

Thus, the issue of damage to the origin of his soul’s could wait. It wasn’t immediately life-threatening.