Chapter 41: The Crazy Patriarch of the Long Family
The patriarchs of the seven major clans entered the auction hall and immediately headed to the front row of the VIP seats, right next to Long Xuan.
Sensing the powerful aura of the Spirit Sea Realm experts emanating from the seven, Long Xuan felt immense pressure, as if sitting on pins and needles.
His concern was justified. In such a short time, he had attracted the attention of Spirit Sea Realm experts. If things dragged on for a few more days, it could very well draw in a swarm of Gu Kings.
He couldn't guarantee that all his preparations would fool the eyes of the Gu Kings.
Seeing these powerful figures enter, the most enthusiastic independent cultivators who had been bidding fervently suddenly quieted down. They had been hesitating, but now they didn't dare to bid anymore.
"The Long Patriarch has bid 1.1 million spirit stones. Does anyone want to bid higher?"
Qian Jinjin looked around and announced, "1.1 million spirit stones going once! 1.1 million spirit stones going twice! 1.1 million spirit stones going thrice!"
"Sold! Congratulations to the Long Patriarch!"
Qian Jinjin struck the golden hammer on the table, signaling the end of the auction.
At the same time, the maid holding the jade tray walked down and completed the transaction with the Long Patriarch on the spot.
"Hehe! Long Patriarch, I am saving my spirit stones for the final auction item, so I won't compete with you. Otherwise, you wouldn't have gotten it at such a low price. I'm curious though, you just arrived and already spent 1.1 million spirit stones. Do you still have the qualifications to compete for the fossil ore vein?"
Beside him, the Feng Patriarch, who had always been at odds with the Long Patriarch, sneered.
"Hehe! No need to worry about that. The Long family is wealthy. What's a million spirit stones? It's just a drizzle, no big deal."
The Long Patriarch checked the Spirit Gathering Pills and then put them into his storage bag, glancing disdainfully at Feng.
He sneered internally. How naive. The value of the fossil ore vein is astronomical. Can you really win the bid? All the merchants from the Far West have come. Do you think you have more spirit stones than all the merchant guilds?
Even if you sell everything to get the fossil vein, are you sure the other forces won't be jealous? This is a resource that could trigger a war.
Not to mention whether you have enough spirit stones to win, even if you do, can you defend it?
Compared to the other patriarchs, the Long Patriarch was much calmer, not overwhelmed by the huge temptation.
He was equally envious of the fossil ore vein but wouldn't act recklessly.
The Feng Patriarch sneered back at him, "You call the Long family wealthy? Everyone knows you're outsiders, having only been here for less than two hundred years. What foundation do you have?"
"I think you know you're the poorest, so you want to withdraw from the competition. At least you have some self-awareness."
"Who said that? Do you believe the fossil vein will ultimately belong to the Long family?"
While they were arguing, the second auction item was brought in.
When Qian Jinjin lifted the red cover, another bottle of Spirit Gathering Pills appeared, surprising many. Another one? Since when could Spirit Gathering Pills be mass-produced?
The second auction item was beyond everyone's expectations, igniting their desires again.
This is the brilliance of the auction house. When auctioning the same item, they never tell you how many there are in total.
Otherwise, everyone would hold back, thinking the next one might be cheaper. Because there is a fallback, they wouldn't bid aggressively. Rarity increases value, and buyers should never know the exact quantity.
Without hesitation, before Qian Jinjin could start the bidding, the Long Patriarch eagerly said, "I bid 1 million spirit stones!"
Although he was already a Spirit Sea Realm expert and didn't need the Spirit Gathering Pills himself, as the head of a major family, he had to consider the family first.
The growth of the children is key to a family's future. Talents can't be delayed and shouldn't be stuck in one realm for too long.
So, as far as the Long Patriarch was concerned, the more Spirit Gathering Pills, the better. No matter how many spirit stones he spent, it was worth it.
This time, the Feng Patriarch didn't say anything, thinking Long Wanli was crazy, wasting so many spirit stones before the fossil ore vein was even up for auction.
Seeing the Long Patriarch bid again, the independent cultivators behind gritted their teeth in anger but didn't dare say anything.
They were low in status and couldn't compete with major families, but there were still some who weren't afraid of them.
"I bid 1.3 million spirit stones!" A chubby man shouted from the crowd.
Long Xuan looked over and was amused. Despite his disguise, Long Xuan recognized him as Qian Duoduo. His round physique was one clue, The most important thing was the progress. A person's appearance could be changed, but the progress would definitely not change much in a short period of time.
The progress of humans and poisonous insects before they reach adulthood represents their maturity, while the progress after they reach adulthood turns into a countdown to their lifespan.
This chubby man's disguise was excellent but couldn't fool Long Xuan.
Long Xuan found it interesting that someone from the auction house could participate in the bidding. Would this chubby man also bid for the fossil ore vein? This could be interesting.
The Long Patriarch frowned. Someone actually dared to challenge him. He looked back at the chubby man and continued, "I bid 1.4 million spirit stones!"
As soon as he spoke, Qian Duoduo didn't bid further.
Others didn't know, but he knew there were four bottles of Spirit Gathering Pills. No need to compete fiercely with the Long Patriarch. The third or fourth bottle might be cheaper. As a manager of a merchant guild, he fell into the same psychological trap as many buyers.
No one dared to bid 1.1 million spirit stones, let alone 1.4 million.
As expected, the second bottle of Spirit Gathering Pills also went to the Long Patriarch.
However, when the hammer fell and the third bottle of Spirit Gathering Pills was brought up, everyone lost their composure.
Another one! How many more? Is this a special Spirit Gathering Pills auction? Many people were shouting internally.
The Long Patriarch was stunned and became more serious.
As the head of a family, he was knowledgeable and knew ordinary alchemists couldn't produce so many Spirit Gathering Pills. Even the highest-ranking second-grade alchemist in the Far West couldn't make this many.
This indicated that the alchemist's skills were very advanced, possibly a third-grade or even fourth-grade alchemist. When did such a big figure come to the Far West?
He thought it might be an opportunity to make connections. Alchemists above the third grade were highly respected by all forces. As a patriarch, connecting with such a figure was his duty.
Who knows if this alchemist had a unique pill formula that could help Spirit Sea Realm experts break through to the Purification Realm. If so, connecting with such a person could potentially add another Gu King to the family, elevating its power.
The number of strong individuals is always a family's most important asset, without exception. He had to take it seriously.
"I bid 1 million spirit stones!"
Again, before Qian Jinjin could announce the starting price, the Long Patriarch interrupted with his bid.
Everyone else was going crazy. Another bid? When will this end? Is he trying to monopolize all the Spirit Gathering Pills? Isn't he afraid of being too greedy?
Qian Duoduo gritted his teeth and shouted, "I bid 1.3 million spirit stones!"
"1.4 million spirit stones!" The Long Patriarch decisively increased the bid, giving no one a chance to breathe.
Chapter 42: The Final Auction Item
"Alright! You're tough!"
Qian Duoduo cursed silently in his heart, reluctantly giving up on raising the bid again.
The more shrewd a businessman, the more they like to be calculative. He could offer more spirit stones, but the price for the Spirit Gathering Pill was already high. It wasn't this expensive elsewhere, so why would he want to spend more spirit stones?
He knew the inside story—that there was one more bottle of Spirit Gathering Pills left. He could only hope that the last bottle would be cheaper, giving him another chance.
"Calm down! Calm down!" Qian Duoduo took a deep breath.
However, things didn't go as he wished. As soon as Qian Jinjin's small hammer fell and the fourth auction item was brought in, the attendant was still walking over, and the red cloth hadn't been lifted yet, when the patriarch of the Long family couldn't wait to shout, "I bid 1.3 million spirit stones!"
"Poof!" Qian Duoduo was almost spitting with anger.
"This is too much!"
Qian Duoduo cursed in fury, feeling completely defeated.
He knew this was the last bottle of Spirit Gathering Pills and couldn't afford to hesitate any longer. So, he painfully shouted, "I bid 1.4 million spirit stones!"
There was one thing he agreed with the patriarch of the Long family on: a genius's time is precious and shouldn't be stuck at a certain level for too long. Therefore, he was determined to get this last bottle of Spirit Gathering Pills at any cost.
This time, the patriarch of the Long family didn't raise the bid, surprising everyone.
He could also produce more spirit stones, but he believed his family needed spirit stones for many other things. Having already acquired three bottles of Spirit Gathering Pills was enough, and there was no need to invest more.
After all, the number of geniuses in a family is limited. Prioritizing the Spirit Gathering Pills for the few geniuses was sufficient. There were many Gu cultivators in the Spirit Gathering stage, and buying even a hundred bottles wouldn't cover all of them.
However, even though he gave up, there were plenty of wealthy individuals.
It seemed many knew the inside story. After all, Long Xuan had placed the four bottles of Spirit Gathering Pills up for auction in public, so it wasn't a secret to well-informed people.
Those who, like Qian Duoduo, were waiting and watching could no longer sit still and started participating in the bidding.
Especially other Merchant groups that were rich in spirit stones. They had the same mindset as Qian Duoduo, thinking there might be more later and maybe cheaper.
Little did they know there was such a spoiler who raised the price high before they could even mention a base price, leading to each bottle selling at a high price. They could only fight hard for this last bottle.
So, everyone thought the last one would be cheaper, but since everyone thought the same, the competition for the last bottle became fierce. It ended up being the most expensive.
In the end, the price was driven up to 2.8 million spirit stones.
Qian Duoduo looked like he was about to cry. Damn it, he miscalculated.
He had bid 2.8 million spirit stones, and his heart was bleeding. He had lost a lot.
It turned out the previous bottles were the cheapest, especially the first one, which was taken for only 1.1 million spirit stones. If he hadn't been greedy for a lower price and had taken it earlier, none of this would have happened.
Unfortunately, there is no regret medicine in the world. He was filled with remorse.
The high price of 2.8 million spirit stones made the whole venue boil, especially Long Xuan, who couldn't stop smiling. All these spirit stones belonged to him; he was about to make a fortune.
He knew that this was just an appetizer. When the fossil vein was auctioned later, the price would be even higher. These spirit stones might not even be a fraction of the vein's value. It was too early to be excited.
Once the fossil vein was successfully sold, he would not only have money to refine the divine ice flame but also enough to refine the third and fourth Gu worms, allowing him to spend freely for a long time. He eagerly anticipated the final price of the fossil ore vein.
After the auction of the Spirit Gathering Pills ended, the subsequent auctions went smoothly, and the atmosphere calmed down, far less heated than before.
The seven clan heads in the VIP seats showed little interest and didn't bid on anything.
This was not a high-standard auction. Besides the Spirit Gathering Pills and the treasure map brought by Long Xuan, the other items were quite ordinary.
Half of the auction items were antiques from the Empress's ancient tomb. Unfortunately, while antiques were priceless in the previous life, in a world where martial strength was paramount, their value was far less than items that could directly enhance one's power.
Although some people showed considerable interest and bid frequently, the prices were low.
Long Xuan watched as one antique after another was auctioned off, showing a thoughtful expression.
Unsurprisingly, he could see progress on each antique. But what did the progress on the antiques represent? Degree of damage? Shelf life? Or would there be some change after reaching full progress?
As Long Xuan was pondering, the highlight of the auction finally arrived. At this moment, all the Clan heads in the front row became spirited and sat up straight.
The audience also became excited, whispering to each other, no longer drowsy as before.
"Is it finally starting?" The patriarch of the Feng family showed a fiery gaze, licking his lips.
The patriarch of the Long family, who had been yawning, also straightened up, his eyes sharp.
"Hehe! I suppose everyone can't wait any longer," Qian jinjin said with a smile after looking around. "Although the auction house didn't have time to advertise, quite a few well-informed people are here. The fact that all the heads of the Seven Great Families of the Far West are present is beyond my expectations."
"To be honest, our Qian Clan is auctioning the fossil vein treasure map for the first time. I must declare in advance that we haven't been able to verify its authenticity ourselves and can only use the Integrity Gu to confirm that the seller is not lying."
"But you all know that nothing is absolute. There are powers in this world that can render the Integrity Gu's lie detection ineffective. Otherwise, if the Gu worms' power were so divine, there wouldn't be so many unjust cases."
"I can only guarantee that the seller didn't lie according to the Integrity Gu, but if there is any error, our Qian Clan's auction house will not be held responsible."
Her meaning was clear: the auction house could only ensure it was likely true, but if the information was false, they would not bear any responsibility.
She was right. The power of any Gu worm could be broken, including the Integrity Gu's lie-detecting ability.
But logically, a business wouldn't foolishly say this. She said this to scare off those with weak will.
As soon as she finished speaking, some people's faces became uncertain, considering whether to take the risk.
However, the heads of the seven great Clans sneered, undeterred by her words.
While her words were true, any Gu worm's power could indeed be broken, but the Integrity Gu's power was not so easily broken.
If it were that easy to break, why would so many Gu cultivators trust the Qian Clan's auction house, and why would it grow so big?
The other Merchant groups that understood the Integrity Gu best all showed disdainful smiles.
Qian Jinjin's words might fool others, but not her peers. If there were any real risk, the Qian Clan wouldn't rush to auction without any publicity.
Their actions indirectly proved that the information was 100% true, rendering further statements useless.
Chapter 43: Long Wanlis Scheme
After all, there had been no publicity about it. Those with well-informed sources knew that the finale of this auction was an unclaimed fossil mine, with an immeasurable total value. They all craned their necks, faces alight with excitement.
However, most people did not know what the final auction item was. When they heard Qian Jinjin's introduction, the whole place erupted in an uproar.
All the onlookers and rogue cultivators were stunned, gasping in astonishment.
This auction item was simply terrifying; it scared them out of their wits. In all their years of traveling far and wide, it was the first time they had heard of auctioning off a fossil vein location. It was certainly an eye-opener.
Many marveled that only the Qian Clan Commerce Association could handle such an auction item. No other chamber of commerce could manage it. First, verifying the authenticity of the information would be difficult. If the chamber of commerce were to make a trip themselves, it would be surprising if their powerful forces didn't take over the mine.
When wealth reaches a certain level, credibility becomes meaningless. Besides the Qian Clan Commerce Association, no one else could handle this.
Because of the Qian Clan's Commerce Association, most people believed the news without doubt, their faces flushed with excitement, and the auction hall buzzed with noise.
"Silence!"
Qian Jinjin made a gesture to quiet the crowd. Once the noise had subsided, she continued, "I believe you have all been eagerly waiting, so I won't ramble on. The unclaimed fossil vein starts at one billion spirit stones. Let the bidding begin!"
"Hiss!"
The starting bid of one billion spirit stones made everyone gasp. One billion spirit stones as a starting bid—who knew what the final price would be?
But the most excited was Long Xuan. The grin under his mask nearly reached his ears; he was thoroughly exhilarated.
To be honest, a billion spirit stones was still very low. After all, the various clans had little preparation time, and this was just a resource-poor small place. Here, a price breaking a billion was already enough to cause shock. No power could easily take out more than ten billion spirit stones.
If it were auctioned in a larger place, this mine could fetch tens or hundreds of billions. But this couldn't be helped. Even if he could sit in a teleportation array for free to a large region, he wouldn't dare.
Satisfied with the small profits, he was already content with selling for a few billion in a small place. He didn't dare to venture into affluent areas full of powerful people.
As soon as Qian Jinjin finished speaking, the Patriarch of the Feng clan couldn't wait to shout, "I'll bid one billion one hundred million spirit stones!"
One billion spirit stones was not a small amount for a Clan in a poor area. Once spent, many things couldn't be done.
But he understood that even spending ten billion spirit stones to get the mine would be a huge profit—a massive profit. This item wouldn't lose value no matter how many spirit stones were spent. It was guaranteed to be a sure profit.
Other Clans heads understood this too, so they all started to raise their bids.
The only one who remained calm was the Patriarch of the Long Clan, who sat there leisurely, drinking tea and watching the excitement as if uninterested in the fossil vein.
The price quickly climbed to two billion spirit stones. Despite the clans' inadequate preparations, they managed to offer two billion spirit stones, showing the extraordinary foundations of the Seven Great Clans of the Far West.
If given time to sell treasures and Clan assets, two billion spirit stones might just be a fraction.
However, even with the unprepared state of the various powers, acquiring the mine for two billion spirit stones was impossible.
At this moment, major Merchant guild also joined in. Their wealth and ability to mobilize funds were superior to the Clans, quickly pushing the price to three billion spirit stones.
But three billion spirit stones were still far from enough. At this moment, Qian Jinjin made a secret gesture, and the disguised Qian Duoduo finally made his move, raising the bid directly to four billion spirit stones, shocking everyone. They wondered where this chubby man came from, able to take out so many spirit stones in one go. His background must be unusual.
None of the seven Clan heads had a chance to speak now, except for the Long clan Patriarch. The other heads' faces turned pale, fists clenched in extreme reluctance.
With inadequate preparations, they couldn't take out four billion spirit stones. The price had far exceeded their limits, not even giving them a chance to hesitate. They were entirely out of the auction.
All the Clan head's faces turned extremely grim.
"Damn it! Where did this fat man come from, with so many spirit stones? I'll kill him for his treasure when we get out," said the Feng clan head, slamming the table in frustration.
The only calm one was the Long family patriarch, who gave Qian Jinjin on stage a meaningful look, his eyes filled with deep meaning.
He had a guess but no evidence.
In terms of wealth, how could the families compete with the Merchant guild association? He had mentally prepared for this before coming; this scene didn't surprise him.
Even if the Qian Clan Commerce Association didn't bid, he believed the Long clan couldn't compete with the other large merchant guilds.
The Long clan patriarch turned to the other heads, smiling, "Heh! You see the situation now. We can't compete with those Merchant guilds. Look, the price has already reached four billion five hundred million spirit stones and hasn't stopped."
"In terms of total wealth, our families might not lose to those Merchant guild's, but the special nature of Merchant guild's means they always reserve large amounts of spirit stones for transactions. In emergencies, they can quickly gather a large amount of spirit stones from their shops."
"In this unprepared state, how can we compete with a Merchant guild's association?"
"Now, our only option is to unite. Each Clan puts in one billion spirit stones, a total of seven billion spirit stones to secure this fossil mine."
The Long Clan patriarch squinted, his eyes gleaming with wisdom, "The profits from the fossil mine are immense. Even divided into seven parts, it's enough for us to share."
"If we unite to exploit this fossil mine, at least we can get one-seventh each. If we don't unite, we won't even get a piece of fossil. I'm sure you can do the math!"
"Most importantly, if we unite, we can avoid unnecessary wars. Even foreign powers would think twice before targeting us."
The Long Clan patriarch confidently scanned the other heads, certain they would agree. They had no choice but to agree.
This was his strategy devised on the way here. He never intended to take the mine with just his Clan's strength.
Otherwise, even if they could secure the mine, the risk would be too high. With Feng Qingyang's sinister nature, how could he let the Long Clan grow without causing trouble?
So, he dared to spend so many spirit stones to buy a large number of Spirit Gathering Pills. It wasn't that he wasn't interested in the fossil vein. His plan, if successful, wouldn't require spending so many spirit stones.
As soon as he finished speaking, the other family heads showed thoughtful expressions, exchanging glances and looking tempted.
Indeed, uniting at least meant getting one-seventh. Without uniting, they wouldn't get anything.
Besides, one-seventh was substantial. If the fossil mine was large, the seven Clans might even find it insufficiently manned.
The head of the Shi Clan slapped his thigh, excitedly saying, "Great idea! Let's do it. I agree. Whether you agree or not, we weren't well-prepared, but neither were the chambers of commerce. I think two or three Clans joining forces is enough to secure the fossil mine. Seven Clans aren't necessary."
With this, the other heads were startled, daring not to hesitate. They had no choice but to agree. Otherwise, they'd be left behind, widening the future gap with the other Clan. They wouldn't want that.
So, all the Clany heads quickly expressed their agreement, afraid of missing out.
Only the Feng Clan head's face was dark, unhappy.
At this moment, he finally understood why Long Wanli spent so many spirit stones on Spirit Gathering Pills. He was planning this all along.
If the seven Clan joined forces, they wouldn't need to deplete their strength. Each Clan would only contribute a small part of their spirit stones, leaving plenty for buying more resources.
What a brilliant plan. If he had known the Clan would unite, he wouldn't have saved those spirit stones. He was equally interested in the Spirit Gathering Pills. Every family had their talents. If he had known, he would've competed for the Spirit Gathering Pills.
Now, Long Wanli had gained a huge advantage, becoming the biggest winner of this trip.
"what a scheme! Truly well calculated!" Feng Qingyang thought angrily.
Chapter 44: Obtaining the Spirit Stones
Since the conversation among the group was conducted through sound transmission, no one else noticed anything.
After each Clan head secretly handed one billion spirit stones to the head of the Long family, he stood up triumphantly and shouted loudly, "I bid seven billion!"
The entire venue fell silent instantly.
At this point, no one else continued bidding. Everyone was stunned, completely overwhelmed by this number.
Qian Duoduo's face turned ashen, glaring at him with a look that could kill. It's him again! Where on earth did he get so many spirit stones?
Qian Jinjin's expression also changed, showing a trace of surprise, but it quickly vanished.
Seven billion spirit stones far exceeded her limit. The limited time had restricted all clans from preparing enough spirit stones, but it had also limited her as well. She hadn't had time to prepare either.
She could only hastily draw all the liquid assets from her shops, but it was still far from seven billion spirit stones.
She glanced at the other clan heads and noticed that they did not appear overly shocked. She had already guessed where the seven billion spirit stones came from.
As such, even if she managed to gather seven billion spirit stones, it would be pointless. They could easily pool together ten billion or eleven billion spirit stones. Continuing to bid would be meaningless.
"What should we do? Where did this head of the Long clan get so many spirit stones? Could he be bluffing?" Qian Duoduo anxiously transmitted.
Qian Jinjin did not reply immediately, contemplating whether to cooperate with the other merchant guilds. But she quickly dismissed the idea.
After all, the Qian Commerce guild was an outsider. They had already offended all other guilds by entering this territory. Even if the other guilds agreed to unite, they would most likely exclude the Qian guild.
Thinking this, she sighed inwardly and replied, "The situation is already lost. But this was always a matter of mixed benefits and disadvantages. Even if we obtain this vein, it would offend the local forces, making business difficult."
"With several guilds stirring trouble secretly, the Qian guild might become a target and invite disaster."
"So be it. Since we have no fate with this vein, there's no need to insist."
Qian Jinjin was quite open-minded. Not securing the vein did not disappoint her too much. She looked around and smiled, "The head of the Long Clan bids seven billion spirit stones. Any higher bids?"
"Seven billion spirit stones, going once!"
"Seven billion spirit stones, going twice!"
"Seven billion spirit stones, going thrice!"
"Sold! Congratulations to the head of the Long clan!"
Qian Jinjin struck the small hammer heavily on the table.
"Damn it!" The heads of several guilds stood up in panic, cursing loudly.
They were discussing whether to join forces to secure this vein when Qian Jinjin spoke too quickly. The hammer fell before they could finish their discussion, catching them off guard, causing each one to feel frustrated to the point of spitting blood.
She did it on purpose, absolutely on purpose. Despicable! All the guild heads looked livid.
"Hahaha... Much obliged!"
The head of the Long clan complacently cupped his hands to those around him and strode to the auction platform to receive the prize.
Since the map was not in the auction house's possession, Long Xuan also stood up and walked to the platform.
Everyone was puzzled about his actions until he placed a rolled-up map on the table. They realized that he was the seller of the fossil vein.
This rolled-up map was not the original enigmatic map but a true terrain map drawn by him. He was not afraid of the little medicine boy recognizing it.
The head of the Long clan curiously examined the man opposite him, finding him tightly wrapped up. He couldn't see his appearance, age, or gender, making it hard even to address him. Calling him wrongly might offend him, so he remained silent.
At this moment, Qian Jinjin placed a gold-colored toad on the table, solemnly saying, "In the presence of the integrity Gu, is it true that this map marks an unclaimed vein?"
Long Xuan curiously examined the adorable-looking integrity Gu, resisting the urge to touch it.
Is this the integrity Gu? Legend says it feeds on the power of honesty and detests dishonest beings. If someone dares lie in its presence, it would angrily devour the liar.
Even its owner is not exempt and It would not suffer backlash from a blood contract if it devoured it's owner, making it terrifying.
Long Xuan considered refining one himself to avoid being tricked in transactions but dismissed the thought, knowing it was the exclusive treasure of the Qian Clan, with their unique method of creating it. Same-type Gu could sense each other, so he gave up the idea.
"Of course, it's true. If there's any falsehood, may I be struck down by heaven!" Long Xuan immediately swore.
The integrity Gu nodded in satisfaction, not showing any anger, indicating that he was telling the truth.
The head of the Long clan smiled even more, knowing that although Long Xuan could alter his voice to hide his age, he could still be identified by gender. He decided to address him as 'sir' and said kindly, "Sir, here are seven billion spirit stones. Please count them!"
Long Xuan took the storage bag.
Qian Jinjin watched his hand closely, noticing he wore black gloves, feeling annoyed at how cautious he was.
Long Xuan swept his soul force through the storage bag, almost blinded by the glitter of the seven billion spirit stones.
However, he realized a dreadful fact: as a lone cultivator, he had no means of obtaining a large-space storage bag.
These seven billion spirit stones couldn't fit into his small storage bag, but he couldn't admit it. Claiming to have a grand background but using the smallest storage bag would expose him.
Quickly thinking, he said calmly, "No need to count. I completely trust the clan of the Long family."
He trusted nothing. He didn't even know the head of the Long family. His trust was in the integrity Gu, believing it would ensure no deceit.
Long Xuan then said, "But my large storage bag is filled with spirit pills. I don't know if it can hold so many spirit stones."
"How about this? Give me the large storage bag, and I'll give you a bottle of Spirit Gathering Pills in return. How about that?"
After boasting, he placed a bottle of Spirit Gathering Pills on the table.
"Of course, that works!"
The head of the Long family smiled even more, quickly taking the pill bottle, opening it, and smelling the fragrance.
Storage bags were common items, even those with the largest spaces, and were of limited value. Trading one for a bottle of Spirit Gathering Pills was a great deal.
At the same time, Qian Jinjin handed Long Xuan a storage bag, saying, "Here are the 6,700,000 spirit stones from the recent sale of your Spirit Gathering Pills."
"After deducting the 5% commission, 6,365,000 spirit stones remain."
"As for the seven billion spirit stones from selling the vein, our auction house won't charge a commission this time since the price wasn't high, considering it as making a friend."
"This storage bag is also complimentary."
Long Xuan smiled wider, taking the storage bag and saying, "You're considerate. Rest assured, if I find another vein, I'll auction it at the Qian guild."
Qian Jinjin smiled, but inwardly she was ranting. Another vein? Does he think veins are like cabbage, easily found? Finding one is already extraordinary, and expecting to find another is absurd.
Chapter 45: The Wine Insect
With the spirit stones in hand, Long Xuan hurriedly left without even saying goodbye. The onlookers who were still watching the commotion made way for him. By now, they had already realized that this person was the source of a large number of Spirit Gathering Pills and must have an extraordinary background. They were eager to curry favor with him, not daring to offend him.
Seeing that this person was merely a clone, they harbored no other thoughts.
Just like that, the fire clone arranged by Long Xuan left the market safely. Along the way, he looked back from time to time. With the farsight ability of the Eye of Heaven's secret, it wasn't easy for anyone to follow him. Even if they released tiny Gu to track him, it would be impossible to escape his eyes.
After confirming that no one was following him, the fire clone reunited with the main body and immediately returned to Great Stone Village.
The various clan heads indeed had no intention of following him. They were too excited after acquiring the fossil veins, summoning all the experts in their families to head to that desolate area. They had no time to make trouble.
Over a month had passed since he set out. Long Xuan returned to his cozy little home, seeing the vibrant sea of flowers and the spirit bees dancing above them.
He also saw the proud, fat chicken bro, which made him feel a sense of warmth. Long Xuan couldn't resist trying to pet it, but it agilely avoided him.
"Nothing unusual happened while I was away, right?"
Seeing the busy figure in the herb garden, Long Xuan smiled as he approached, placing his hand on its body and quickly assimilating wood clone's memories.
Finding nothing noteworthy in the memories, Long Xuan finally began his serious task.
His so-called serious task was naturally to refine an peak-grade Gu insect. Having found an peak-grade spirit insect by chance in the mine, when else would be a better time to refine it?
Long Xuan took out a small white snake from the insect-rearing bag, revealing an excited smile.
This was the peak-grade spirit insect extracted from that fossil. It was a type of snake spirit insect, entirely white and extraordinarily cute. The strangest thing was that its body emitted a faint aroma of wine.
Although Long Xuan was not well-versed in spirit insects, he recognized very few peak-grade spirit insects, but he did know this one.
This little white snake was the famous Wine Insect. As the name implies, it was a type of insect that liked to drink wine.[1]
The Wine Insect came in four qualities: low-grade, mid-grade, high-grade, and peak-grade. Unlike traditional Gu refining methods, Wine Insects were transformed into different Gu insects by tasting various wines.
One could say the quality of the wine represented the strength of the Wine Gu. Different wines would endow the Wine Insect with different abilities and transformations.
One could say the rarer the wine, the stronger the Wine Gu produced.
So, Long Xuan had an idea. The brewing techniques of this world were different from those of his previous life. What would happen if he used distillation techniques from his past life to refine a Wine Gu?
With this thought, his heart itched like a cat scratching. He couldn't wait to try it.
Long Xuan immediately took out paper and pen, sat at the table, enjoying the breeze and the floral fragrance while seeking inspiration.
He quickly wrote down the two large characters "Wine Gu" on the white paper and, inspired by novels from his past life, wrote four flavors of wine: sour, sweet, bitter, and spicy.
At this moment, the progress on the incomplete formula shot to 100%.
Long Xuan was stunned on the spot. Had he just created a Gu formula in a few seconds? That couldn't be right. Only four ingredients? Wasn't that too hasty? How could a Gu insect be strong with so few ingredients? He was deeply skeptical.
But he soon realized that the few ingredients might be just the appearance.
It seemed that this Gu formula only required four flavors of wine: sour, sweet, bitter, and spicy. but how many ingredients are needed for each of these four wine recipes?
1. The little white snake In Chinese, "Xiao Bai" (小白) is a common name, and "Bai" (白) means "white". However, "Bai" is also a character used in the name of a famous Chinese liquor, "Baijiu" (白酒), which literally means "white alcohol" or "white wine". Basically a word play on the name.
Chapter 46: Immortal Wine
In this world, there are mortal wines for ordinary people, and there are spiritual wines brewed from a vast array of heavenly materials and earthly treasures. Each natural treasure contains immense spiritual power, which leads to various incredible effects when these spiritual wines are consumed.
For example, they can enhance a Gu Master's strength, speed, and most commonly, cultivation level. Due to this, the recipes for spiritual wines are closely guarded secrets, never shared publicly.
The spiritual wine recipes available in the market are often low-quality, while high-quality recipes are impossible to buy. Taverns rely on their exclusive recipes for profit, so they wouldn't sell them. Furthermore, this barren land doesn't have good recipes to begin with.
Creating one's own recipes is a necessity, and even more challenging, as four different kinds are needed.
If your goal is merely to satisfy your taste buds, then the spiritual wines on the market are not very expensive. However, if you seek quality spiritual wine, you need to use various invaluable natural treasure, making the cost unlimited and potentially very high.
Especially for spiritual wines used to refine Gu, cheap wines are out of the question. You would need the best spiritual wine, and the cost for the best is naturally high.
Therefore, even though the Gu recipe only requires four flavors of wine—sour, sweet, bitter, and spicy—if you use the best materials, the cost would be exorbitant, and the number of materials required would be overwhelming.
The materials for these four wine recipes combined might be more than what is needed to refine the Eye of heavenly secrets, making the cost even higher.
Long Xuan took a deep breath, feeling numb all over. It's not just about the cost; he also needed to create the four spiritual wine recipes from scratch.
Who knows how long it will take, but certainly longer than the time consumed refining the Eye of Heavenly secret Gu recipe.
Long Xuan couldn't help but swallow hard.
Of course, the choice is his. If he uses cheap wine, he won't need many resources or much time, and no one is forcing him. However, with Long Xuan's personality, he either doesn't do something or does it to the best of his ability. How could he compromise?
He decided to go all out!
Long Xuan gritted his teeth and prepared to continue working tirelessly.
Having already successfully created the Gu recipe, he put away the recipe that only required four materials and took out new paper to create the wine recipes.
The Gu recipe required four flavors of wine: sour, sweet, bitter, and spicy.
So what wine is sour? Long Xuan thought of fruit wine from his previous life.
What wine is sweet? He thought of glutinous rice wine from his previous life.
What wine is bitter? He thought of absinthe from his previous life.
What wine is spicy? That would be baijiu from his previous life.
Fortunately, Long Xuan knew how to brew all these wines.
However, the materials for these wines were too cheap. Using them to refine Gu wouldn't work; he needed to keep the same templates but replace all the materials with various natural treasure from this world.
Long Xuan decided to start with the sour wine, which is fruit wine.
As the name suggests, fruit wine naturally requires various fruits. The materials should be based on fruits.
But in this world, fruits are called spirit fruits, each containing a large amount of spiritual energy.
Because spirit fruits are rich in spiritual energy, they are considered a type of spiritual medicine and can be used for alchemy, making them extremely expensive.
So which spirit fruit is most suitable for sour wine? With trembling fingers, Long Xuan wrote down the most expensive spirit fruit...
Time flew by, with spring, summer, autumn, and winter changing continuously outside the window. Sometimes the wind blew in, sometimes rain swept in, sometimes there was heavy snowfall outside, and sometimes the scorching sunlight shone through the window onto his manuscript...
He forgot about the passage of time, often too focused to remember to close the window, letting the wind and rain batter his face. Only at these moments did he feel the flow of time...
Until one day, he stretched lazily, wiped his beard, revealing a hint of fatigue, but his eyes were bright and full of excitement.
"Already in the late stage of spirit gathering?"
He felt his own cultivation and his joy grew even more.
Unknowingly, two years had passed. During these two years, although he neglected his cultivation and indulged in non-productive activities, his cultivation progress had not fallen behind, thanks to his five clones pushing him to the late stage of spirit gathering.
The feeling of being able to cultivate just by sitting was incredibly satisfying.
However, this was not his greatest achievement in the past two years. His greatest achievement was the four spiritual wine recipes on the table.
Seeing these four spiritual wine recipes filled him with a sense of accomplishment, making the two years of effort worthwhile.
These were no ordinary wines; in mythological stories, his wines could be called immortal wines.
His sweet wine enhanced spiritual power.
His spicy wine increased strength.
His sour wine improved agility.
His bitter wine healed injuries.
His fine wines were not spirit pills, but better than spirit pills.
After all, they were made from thousands of natural treasure rich in spiritual energy. How could they not have some miraculous effects?
Indeed, to pursue the highest quality, he used an immense amount of materials, with each wine recipe using thousands of heavenly materials and earthly treasures, including thousand-year spirit fruits. If used to refine Gu, who knows how many spirit stones it would consume.
But the cost far exceeded that of the Eye of heavenly secret.
With such an exorbitant cost, the spiritual wine was naturally extremely delicious. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it the wine of the gods, and it was a hundred times better than the wines from his previous life.
In short, Long Xuan can became completely addicted after one sip, planning to drink it for a long time. Considering it permanently enhanced his physical attributes, it was worth using all the spirit stones he gained from auctioning fossil veins to brew the wine.
Over these two years, he secluded himself to create the wine recipes while ordering his clones to go to the market in different disguises to collect the various materials for the recipes. Whenever he encountered them, he bought them at high prices, even several times the market price, as he had plenty of money and didn't hesitate to spend spirit stones.
Thanks to his financial power, he collected materials quickly, and thus, he brewed the three flavors of sour, sweet, and spicy wines, even distilling them several times with modern distillation techniques. The aroma was so strong that he almost got drunk just from smelling it, not daring to drink it himself, leaving it for his wine bug instead.
Now, only the bitter wine's final material was missing. The last material for the bitter wine had just been discovered by chance, and he was waiting for his clone to buy it back to start brewing the bitter wine.
Once the bitter wine was ready, he could start refining the wine Gu, and the thought of it excited him.
"Fire Clone! Go! Buy me the bitter wormwood fruit, then brew the bitter wine. After brewing the bitter wine, distill it, and after distilling the bitter wine, refine the wine Gu."
Long Xuan shouted out the window, and the Fire Clone, who was training in the sunlight, immediately got up and ran out.
Ever since Long Xuan had clones, he would lie down rather than sit, sit rather than stand, and delegate everything to his clones, living more bossy than a boss himself.
Chapter 47: Forbidden Technique
Brewing the bitter wine would take some more time, requiring only patience. Bored, Long Xuan checked the cultivation results of his various clones over the years. He had assigned numerous tasks to his clones, such as reading books, body training, and enhancing their proficiency in spiritual techniques.
Their schedules were packed, with no days off. Now that he had some free time, it was naturally time to inspect their progress.
All their cultivation results were integrated within him, making it convenient to check. The results were standard in most aspects, but the clones had perfectly inherited his expertise in cultivating health-preserving techniques. The progress in the cultivation of the "Eternal Life Sutra" was impressive.
When Long Xuan discovered that his clones had already cultivated the "Eternal Life Sutra" to the fifteenth level, his smile broadened. This meant he had gained an additional six hundred years of life span compared to his peers.
At this moment, a bold idea struck him. He liked to be prepared for any eventuality. What if he encountered an opponent who was a whole major realm above him, someone from the Gu cultivation world, who wanted to kill him and seize his treasures? This was not mere paranoia but a theoretically possible scenario. In the Gu world, the strong killing the weak was a common occurrence.
Should he not develop a powerful forbidden technique, capable of threatening a Gu cultivator one major realm above him?
Long Xuan thought this idea was very necessary. Achieving it was not difficult; by sacrificing his life span, he could gain unimaginable power.
Moreover, he was particularly suited to learning such a forbidden technique. Others with shorter life spans would be courting death by using such a technique, but he was different. Having cultivated the "Eternal Life Sutra," he essentially had an endless life span, and using it a few times would have no impact on him.
This forbidden technique would be a perfect match for the "Eternal Life Sutra."
Feeling a surge of excitement, he quickly decided to go for it. He wanted to design a complementary forbidden technique for the "Eternal Life Sutra."
The forbidden technique would involve concentrating his life span into his palm, creating immense destructive power through an explosion. The more life span expended, the greater the destructive power. If the life span was sufficient, the attack's power would be limitless.
This technique was definitely powerful and seemed tailor-made for the "Eternal Life Sutra."
Anyone else practicing this forbidden technique would die, but only those who had cultivated the "Eternal Life Sutra" could safely practice it. It was an absolutely complementary spiritual technique.
It perfectly matched the characteristic of a complementary spiritual technique being usable only by oneself, with significant restrictions for others.
Long Xuan's eyes grew brighter. This technique was incredibly strong and could definitely serve as a trump card in battles against higher-level opponents.
He was very satisfied with this idea!
He had always been fair. Since the "Ten Absolute scripture" had complementary spiritual techniques, how could the "Eternal Life Sutra" lack one? He had to ensure balance and fairness, so he decided to proceed!
Creating a complementary spiritual technique for a health-preserving method, he could probably be considered the first person in history to do so!
He was indeed pioneering a new path in history.
He immediately took out pen and paper and began creating a terrifying forbidden technique that consumed life span as the cost.
Since this technique did not consume spiritual power, it shouldn't be called a spiritual technique. "Forbidden technique" was more fitting. A technique that kills its practitioner is indeed a forbidden technique, isn't it?
While he was creating the forbidden technique, his Fire Clone did not disappoint him and quickly bought the bitter herb fruit. Then, following the recipe for the bitter wine, it began brewing the wine in the courtyard.
The wine brewing method was entirely Long Xuan's creation. He had memorized all the steps, so he wasn't curious to watch. He continued hiding in his room, researching the forbidden technique.
Several months later, the bitter wine was finally brewed successfully. Using the distillation tools Long Xuan had made, the clone began distilling the bitter wine.
Long Xuan, still preoccupied with his forbidden technique research, didn't pay attention until the strong aroma of the distilled wine wafted into the room, making his nose twitch. Only then did he leave his chair and go outside to help the clone prepare to refine the wine Gu.
He had to participate in this step. Firstly, he was very interested in the process of refining Gu. Secondly, the clones, despite replicating everything from the main body, lacked his special golden finger. His avatars could not see the progress of all things.
Without his golden finger indicating right or wrong, he couldn't trust the clones with such an important task. If they messed it up, it would cost him a lot of spiritual stones.
By now, it was getting dark. Long Xuan moved all the jars of the four exquisite wines to a large wine vat in the courtyard.
Truth be told, the longer the wine aged, the better. But he didn't have the patience to wait, nor could he afford to.
The best wine aged for ten thousand years. Was he supposed to wait ten thousand years? Nothing is perfect in this world. Since the refinement of the wine Gu couldn't achieve perfection, there was no need to be overly demanding. He didn't have obsessive-compulsive disorder.
He poured jar after jar of distilled fine wine into the vat. Instantly, the aroma of the wine spread everywhere, attracting the curious gaze of the spirit bees and the chickens in the coop.
First, he poured in the sour wine, which was made from various spiritual fruits and was red in color.
Next was the sweet wine, which was yellow.
Then came the bitter wine, which was green.
Lastly, the spicy wine, which was white.
His wines not only used distillation techniques but also many modern brewing techniques, resulting in each type of wine being very clear, free of impurities.
Long Xuan poured numerous jars of wine into the vat until it was full. The four types of wine did not mix for some unknown reason, resembling the layered cocktails made by bartenders.
From bottom to top, the first layer was red, the second was yellow, the third was green, and the final layer was white.
Long Xuan marveled at this. What kind of wine Gu would be produced from multi-colored wine? He was secretly looking forward to it.
After filling the vat, he pulled out little white, who was still asleep in the insect-rearing bag, and threw him into the vat with a splash.
Awakened from sleep, little white flailed around in the wine like a drowning insect until it realized it was wine, and extremely high-quality wine at that. It had never tasted such delicious wine in its life.
It was extremely excited, opening its mouth wide to greedily drink the wine, swimming happily in the vat. Sometimes it swam in the yellow sweet wine, sometimes in the green bitter wine, and other times in the white spicy wine.
It enjoyed all the wines equally, finding this place to be heaven. Once it entered, it didn't want to leave.
Seeing the wine insect so thrilled, Long Xuan nodded in satisfaction. This was indeed the top-quality fine wine he had brewed. Even the insect loved it.
He slowly covered the vat, waiting for the wine insect to finish the wine and transform into a Gu insect.
No one in this world had ever brewed wine using distilled spirits. This was his innovation. He eagerly anticipated what changes would occur in the wine insect refined from distilled wine.
He didn't know how long it would take for the wine insect to transform into a Gu insect, so he sat by the vat, continuing to research his almost-completed forbidden technique while waiting for the wine Gu to emerge.
Another six months passed in a flash. Flowers bloomed and withered. Long Xuan had been waiting for so long that the flowers had almost withered. By this time, his forbidden technique had reached 50% completion, but the wine vat showed no signs of activity, stuck at 50% progress.
Long Xuan began to worry. This was taking far too long. Even when he refined the Eye of heavenly secret, it only took eighty-one days.
This wine Gu, however, had already taken half a year with no signs of progress, far exceeding the time taken to refine the Eye of heavenly secret.
Chapter 48: The Drunken Wine Insect
"Could something have gone wrong?" Long Xuan was extremely anxious and could no longer focus on studying the forbidden technique. He pushed the lid of the jar slightly open and peeked inside.
To his shock, he saw a small white snake belly-up, eyes closed, floating motionless on the surface of the liquor as if it were dead.
If not for the progress indicator, he would have thought the snake was truly dead.
Long Xuan's expression became animated as an unbelievable thought crossed his mind: Could this wine insect have passed out drunk? He wondered incredulously.
Innovation is always unpredictable. No one had ever used distilled liquor to refine a wine Gu before, and he recklessly decided to throw the wine insect into distilled liquor, not knowing what changes might occur.
In this world, spiritual liquor is made from various heavenly natural treasures, resulting in extremely potent drinks.
But he went further, distilling the spiritual liquor several times, making it extraordinarily strong—likely strong enough to kill someone. Even a wine insect, known for its high tolerance, might not withstand it and would simply pass out drunk.
Long Xuan blinked, utterly bewildered.
Could it be? Had this wine insect really gotten drunk?
How was this possible? This was a wine insect, famous in this world for its immense drinking capacity, said to never be fazed even after three large jars.
And now it was passed out drunk? What happened to its legendary tolerance? What kind of wine insect was this? How shameful!
Long Xuan was completely at a loss. He had never heard of a wine insect getting drunk. The fact that a wine insect could actually pass out from drinking was a once-in-a-lifetime oddity, something unheard of, opening his eyes to a new phenomenon.
What should he do now? Should he fish it out? He dared not act recklessly, fearing that he might ruin everything.
But if he left it, and it died from the alcohol, he'd be in big trouble! This jar of liquor had cost him an unimaginable amount of resources, far exceeding the cost of the Eye of Heavenly secret! The most crucial thing was that he only had one peak-grade wine insect.
Long Xuan hesitated, almost worrying himself sick.
In the end, he dared not make any unnecessary moves.
Since he didn't understand what was happening, he decided to just leave it be. Long Xuan resigned himself to fate, thinking, "Whatever happens, happens. If it dies, so be it—it's just one peak-grade spiritual insect, I can afford the loss."
With this pragmatic thought, he felt a bit more at ease. He sealed the lid tightly and returned to his chair to continue researching the forbidden technique.
Time flew by, and another hundred days passed. By this time, Long Xuan had developed 80% of the forbidden technique, just a step away from completion.
Rubbing his sore neck, he couldn't resist taking a break. He stood up slowly and walked to the wine jar, carefully pushing the lid open a crack, peeking inside nervously.
To his dismay, the little white snake was still floating belly-up, eyes closed, as if dead.
Long Xuan sighed softly.
It was still there, soaked and thoroughly marinated.
Still not waking up.
Anyone who didn't know better might think this was a jar of snake wine.
However, he noticed that the liquid level in the jar had noticeably decreased, giving him a sliver of hope.
The decreasing liquid meant it was still drinking, and drinking meant it was alive.
But it would drink, pass out drunk, wake up a bit, drink a few sips, and pass out again. This cycle seemed to be unending.
Long Xuan was beginning to wonder if it might actually drink itself to death, becoming the first wine insect in history to die from drinking.
After some contemplation, Long Xuan resealed the jar, leaving the wine insect to its fate.
Using the distillation method from his previous life to refine a Gu was an unexplored path, full of uncertainties. Whether it would succeed or not, he didn't know. All he could do now was wait; its fate was up to it.
Long Xuan sighed, returned to his seat, picked up his pen, and eagerly resumed his research on the forbidden technique.
He once again lost track of time, sitting there for what could be an entire day.
Sometimes, he even forgot to sleep, pulling all-nighters. Besides drinking water and eating, he spent nearly all his time on his research. This was the daily life of a dedicated researcher.
Thanks to his tireless effort, the progress was gratifying.
After working tirelessly day and night for a hundred days, he finally succeeded in developing a forbidden technique that exchanged life force for immense power.
Life force is the most crucial element of a person and the most mysterious form of energy. Most ordinary people have less than a hundred years of life force; depleting it means reaching the end of life.
The price for such powerful offensive capabilities was indeed terrifying.
However, precisely because the power of this forbidden technique was so immense, it could also affect the user, potentially causing severe injury.
He calculated that even with the resilience granted by his Little strong Gu, simply detonating a hundred years of life force could still injure him, even if he ran far away in advance.
But this very danger was why it was called a forbidden technique; otherwise, why call it forbidden?
The danger of the forbidden technique was one aspect; the other was the immense cost of using it. It consumed life force, a non-renewable resource, unlike spiritual power which could regenerate. Once life force was used, it was permanently lost.
Only Long Xuan could afford to use a forbidden technique that consumed life force. Anyone else attempting it might not have many years left even if they weren't killed by the technique itself.
Even Long Xuan dared not use it lightly. His life force was precious and couldn't be squandered. He wouldn't even be willing to use a year's worth of life force for a test.
This technique was destined to be a rarely used trump card, reserved for life-and-death situations.
While he wouldn't use this forbidden technique lightly in the real world, it was a different story in the Origin Realm.
The Origin Realm had a 100% reality simulation; the forbidden technique's destructive power in the real world could be perfectly replicated there, including environmental damage.
And since everything in the Origin Realm was illusory, using the forbidden technique there wouldn't consume real life force.
Thus, he could indulge in testing the forbidden technique's power in the Origin Realm, satisfying his curiosity.
At this moment, Long Xuan entered the Origin Realm again, conjuring a white energy ball in his hands, which he then spun, compressed, and detonated, creating deafening explosions and blasting huge craters into the ground.
Some craters were as large as football fields, showcasing terrifying destructive power.
This was the horror of using life force for power, far surpassing the destruction caused by spiritual power.
Long Xuan laughed maniacally in the illusionary realm, like a mad bomber, destroying everything around him.
Since he was at home and closest to Elder Long's residence, the Origin Realm was limited by distance, so he could only replicate Elder Long's house, blowing it to bits.
He continued until his life force was depleted, his hair turning white. Only then did he reluctantly leave the illusionary realm.
Looking at the forbidden technique book he had created on the table, he felt immense satisfaction, still riding the wave of excitement.
After closing the not-so-thick book, he wrote "Spirit Bomb" on the cover.
This was the name he gave to the forbidden technique.
Lastly, he added "◎Written by Long Xuan," in the lower right corner of the cover, before stopping his pen, a proud smile on his face.
How much could this forbidden technique book be worth?
Curiosity sparked within Long Xuan; he wanted to test its value at an auction house.
But reason told him not to. Forbidden techniques must not be casually shared. The fewer who knew, the stronger the technique remained.
The more people knew, the more likely he would encounter enemies who could counter the technique. The unknown was always the most terrifying.
After calming down, he carefully stored the "Spirit Bomb" book away.
Suddenly, a thought struck him, and he hurriedly walked outside.
He had finally remembered the wine insect still soaking in the jar and decided to check on it immediately.
Despite being prepared for failure, hope still lingered in his heart. What if it succeeded? No one wants to give up until the last moment.
After all, it was a peak-grade Gu insect. Just the thought of possibly owning one excited Long Xuan, filling him with high hopes.
Chapter 49: An Encounter with the Great-Uncle
Long Xuan hurried to the large wine jar, gently pushing aside the lid. Instantly, an adorable little white snake appeared in his sight.
This little white snake was significantly larger than before, but the wine in the jar was completely gone. At this moment, the little white snake was curled up in the center of the jar, sleeping soundly, and Long Xuan could even hear its faint snores.
Although it was still asleep, seemingly not yet sober, Long Xuan was overjoyed.
The progress on the little white snake's head had changed, now showing [0.00000%].
Gu insects follow a different growth system. When a spiritual insect transforms into a Gu insect, the progress resets to zero, indicating that it has completely transformed into a Gu insect.
However, the distilled liquor was too potent, and it still hadn't sobered up.
But that was a good thing.
Taking advantage of its deep sleep, Long Xuan sneakily dropped a blood droplet on its head, immediately establishing a blood contract with it.
Soon, through the blood contract, Long Xuan learned of its abilities.
The wine insect would acquire different abilities depending on the quality of the wine it consumed—the better the wine, the stronger the abilities.
Long Xuan's self-created four-flavor wine—sour, sweet, bitter, and spicy—was of the highest quality. The abilities the wine insect gained from this wine could not be simple. Although Long Xuan had already prepared himself for strong abilities, he was still shocked by the wine insect's powers.
The little white snake carried domain abilities.
A domain, essentially, makes one invincible within its range; it is the most formidable ability.
Domain abilities are exclusive to peak-grade Gu insects and are extremely rare even among them. Lower-grade Gu insects can never possess domain abilities.
Not only did the little white snake carry a domain, but it carried two domains at once.
Historically, no Gu insect had ever carried two domains. Long Xuan's wine Gu was the first, setting a historical precedent.
The reason for this, Long Xuan attributed to the distilled liquor. Unlike traditional wine-making methods for Gu insects, he used distilled liquor.
With no other explanation, it seemed his innovative wine-making method was indeed correct. Long Xuan's eyes sparkled with excitement.
The two domains the little white snake carried were the Slow Domain and the Speed Domain.
As the names suggest, the Slow Domain slows down opponents within its range, while the Speed Domain accelerates allies and the user.
These two domains can be activated simultaneously, slowing opponents and speeding up oneself—a clear advantage in battle.
Do not underestimate this ability. The slow domain was already the ceiling of combat power in the novel in the previous life, and with the Speed Domain, the little white snake directly exceeds the standard.
Ecstatic, Long Xuan hurriedly picked up the little white snake, cherished it for a while, and then placed it into his insect-rearing pouch.
The insect-rearing pouch was dark, silent, devoid of spiritual energy, and had stale air—not a comfortable place to stay.
But Long Xuan had no better option. Carrying a peak-grade Gu insect openly would be unwise, as the entire market did not have a single peak-grade Gu insect. The little white snake was invincible from birth.
There are spatial treasures in this world that have their own realms, but Long Xuan had never seen one. He couldn't obtain one anytime soon, so he had to temporarily inconvenience the little white snake.
After refining the wine Gu, Long Xuan felt great. He shaved his beard and finally stepped out of his long-neglected small house. After being cooped up at home for so long, he was ready to see the outside world.
He planned to relax, stretch his muscles, and visit the market to see if he could find some millennium ice essence.
Speaking of the millennium ice essence, it exhausted him.
Anything over a thousand years old is incredibly difficult to find.
For years, after creating the formula for the Divine ice Flame, he had been unable to find the primary ingredient, the millennium ice essence. Despite his immense wealth from auctioning off the fossil vein location and having gathered all other materials for the Divine ice Flame, he couldn't find any trace of the millennium ice essence.
The Divine ice Flame not only greatly aids in alchemy but also significantly boosts combat power, potentially surpassing Gu insects in destructive power.
Long Xuan had long yearned to witness the flame that could emit cold air, as described in novels. After being stuck for so many years, how could he not be anxious?
Although Long Xuan hadn't been to the far west market in years, his clone frequently visited, collecting various materials for him. Thus, Long Xuan was still very familiar with the market despite the years that had passed.
As soon as he arrived, he eagerly began browsing the stalls, inquiring about any trade fairs or auctions.
But he was soon disappointed. There were no auctions or trade fairs, and the stalls lacked any decent treasures. He found nothing valuable, let alone the elusive millennium ice essence.
This is why he always created Gu formulas after obtaining peak-tier materials. This materials were extremely difficult to find. If he made the formula first, he might never find the materials, potentially wasting years or even a lifetime.
After another round of browsing with no success, Long Xuan was about to leave when a muscular man approached, sniffing the air around him. The man's eyes lit up, and he exclaimed, "Good wine!"
Long Xuan sniffed his own clothes but couldn't detect any wine scent.
He was meticulous about his appearance, shaving, bathing, and changing clothes before leaving. How could this man smell wine?
"Stop sniffing. I have an animal Gu with canine senses. Scents are hard to eliminate completely. Humans can't smell it, but dogs can."
The man gave a smug smile and continued, "What a fine wine! I've never smelled such a delightful aroma in my life. It must be a newly created unique brew."
"I pride myself on my tasting skills. Let me taste your wine, and I might offer you some valuable advice."
Hearing this, Long Xuan widened his eyes in disbelief. Did he hear correctly? Someone wanted to taste his wine? Did he need such help? This man was just looking for a free drink! How thick-skinned!
But Long Xuan didn't dare voice his thoughts. The man's aura suggested he was at the peak of marrow cleansing, far beyond what Long Xuan could contend with.
However, the man's gaze was kind, reassuring Long Xuan slightly. He couldn't shake the feeling that the man's look was like an elder admiring a talented junior.
Ignoring this odd feeling, Long Xuan cautiously asked, "I am an apprentice under Elder Long Lao. May I know who you are?"
Long Xuan invoked a protective charm, leveraging his alchemist status, which was not to be trifled with. He hoped mentioning Elder Long Lao would deter any rash actions, as Long Lao's reputation was formidable in the market.
Chapter 50: Elder Longs Creditor
After Long Xuan said those words, the man's eyes immediately lit up, and he smiled, "So you're one of us, nice to meet you. I was going to just ask for a cup because I'm shy, but now I wouldn't mind drinking dozens."
"That old man owes me five million spirit stones. A master's debt is to be repaid by his disciple! Bring out the good wine quickly!"
Upon hearing this, Long Xuan was dumbfounded. He never expected his words to have the opposite effect. Not mentioning Elder Long would have been better, but mentioning him only doubled the request!
However, the good news was that this person seemed to be an acquaintance of Elder Long. This meant he wouldn't cause trouble for Long Xuan. Feeling more at ease, Long Xuan said,
"Um… Senior, you may not know this, but my wine is not something normal people can drink. It's extremely potent, and anything that reaches an extreme can be harmful. Once the wine becomes potent enough, it can be deadly!" Long Xuan kindly reminded him.
He wasn't exaggerating. Even the wine bug, known for its drinking capacity, almost died from it. Let alone a human?
Long Xuan himself almost got drunk just from smelling it and hasn't dared to touch a drop since.
Distilled wine was drinkable, but Long Xuan had his own plans.
He knew he couldn't avoid this ordeal today, so if he had to serve this person wine, it couldn't be ordinary wine.
Otherwise, what if he got addicted and kept coming back for more every day?
The only solution was to serve wine potent enough to scare him off, so he wouldn't bother him again.
Sure enough, upon hearing Long Xuan's words, the man became even more interested.
"What? Wine that normal people can't drink! Wine so potent it can be deadly! What a boast! Are you bluffing?"
"Or do you look down on me!"
"I've loved strong wine since I was a kid, and my drinking capacity is renowned far and wide. I'm known as the God of Wine!"
"I'll drink what humans can't! Come on, let me see how strong your wine is. I've never found a wine strong enough for me to feel its strength!"
"Do you know my name? I'm called Long Lie, because I'm particularly good at drinking strong wine! Today, I want to see what kind of strong wine can knock me down!"[1]
Long Lie felt challenged and was determined to test this potent wine today.
Long Xuan's mouth twitched. It seemed today he had encountered a wine enthusiast who even named himself after strong wine. No wonder his nose was so sharp; he could smell good wine from so far away.
Could this guy really have such an incredible drinking capacity? Long Xuan wasn't sure if his distilled wine could knock him down.
But there was no turning back now. He had to go through with it. He braced himself and said, "Alright, let's go to the Qian Clan restaurant over there."
Long Xuan pointed to a Qian clan restaurant ahead.
He couldn't take out the spirit wine in public and needed a secluded place.
"If there's good food to go with the wine, even better. Let's go!" Long Lie didn't hesitate and strode toward the Qian clan restaurant.
The two weren't far from the restaurant. Before they even got close, the waiter inside rushed out to greet them with a fawning smile, "Welcome, esteemed guests! What would you like to drink? We have everything you could want at Qian's restaurant!"
With Long Xuan's good wine, Long Lie had no interest in the restaurant's offerings and immediately declined, "No need, we brought our own wine!"
The waiter was stunned on the spot.
Bringing your own wine to a restaurant? This guy must be here to cause trouble!
Long Xuan couldn't bear it anymore and quickly said, "First, bring out all your signature dishes!"
The waiter's eyes lit up. No longer bothered by the previous comment, he hurried to serve all the signature dishes, which weren't cheap. Even without the wine, he could make a good profit.
"Right away, esteemed guests! This way, please!"
The waiter led them to a private room on the second floor by the window. After they sat down facing each other, Long Xuan didn't hesitate and took out a small bottle of bitter spirit wine.
Although bitter wine had its own charm, if he had to rank the four wines, bitter wine would be his last choice based on personal taste. So, he naturally offered it to others.
But to his surprise, Long Lie waved his hand and said playfully, "Don't be stingy! I can smell you have four types of wine. Bring them all out!"
Long Xuan's arm froze, cursing inwardly. Does this guy have a dog's nose?
Helpless, he had to take out the other three wines and place them on the table.
"Don't say I'm stingy. My wine really isn't for ordinary people. To avoid waste, I'll pour you half a glass of each. If you can handle it, I'll pour more."
With that, Long Xuan reluctantly poured small half glasses of each wine.
Calling them half glasses was generous; they were more like tiny sips, enough to rinse a cup.
Don't blame him for being stingy; his wine was extremely expensive. These four small cups alone cost about ten thousand spirit stones.
He was already thinking about how to recoup his costs. He was not one to take losses easily and wouldn't let this shameless man drink for free.
Long Lie looked at the four tiny cups with disdain and said, "What's this? Are you doubting the drinking capacity of a God of Wine? I used to down bottles in one go, and you're giving me this to rinse my mouth!"
He took a deep sniff of the wine's aroma, making a gurgling sound in his throat, and couldn't help but swallow his saliva.
"Damn! This wine smells so good! Too good! What on earth is it made of!"
He wanted Long Xuan to pour more, but now he couldn't wait any longer. He grabbed the spicy wine and gulped it down.
The spicy wine was the strongest, and he downed it in one go. Long Xuan instinctively shrank back.
The fiery wine burned his throat and set his stomach ablaze. His whole body became hot, and his pores opened, releasing heat.
Long Lie's face turned red, and he looked like he was breathing fire, his eyes wide open.
"Delicious! Absolutely delicious!"
"I've traveled far and wide for years and never had such strong wine. It's so strong it's burning me! This is the wine for men. What I drank before was nothing but water! My life has been wasted until now!"
Long Lie shouted excitedly, his eyes growing brighter. His loud shouts attracted the attention of people downstairs and on the street, curious about what kind of wine could be so good.
After shouting for a while, Long Lie suddenly felt dizzy, as if he was about to get drunk. He held onto the table to keep from falling.
Long Lie was shocked. This was a feeling he hadn't experienced in years. He didn't expect to get drunk again in his lifetime, and he had only drunk a small half glass. What a powerful wine.
No, I can't get drunk! There are still three types of wine left…
Long Lie's eyes widened, and he stared at the remaining three glasses. Using his strong willpower, he resisted the urge to pass out and downed the remaining three glasses in one go.
Long Xuan was stunned. He had to admit, this guy was really tough!
1. So the lie "烈" from Long Lie name is play on word as it means strong alcohol. That's why he can take strong alcohol lol.