The Path of Immortality: Starts With Creating Water Bear Gu

The appearance of the Shenlong vessel gradually caught the attention of people on the island.

So many ships were headed here that it was a common sight.

However, when a ship stands out by being the largest or the smallest, it inevitably draws attention. The Shenlong, being the latter, was clearly the smallest ship present and stood out among the fleet of large vessels. Many people on the island instinctively fixed their gaze on this small ship.

"Hey! A ship this small? Are you sure it can withstand the gravity of this sea?" someone on the island called out in surprise.

"Haha! This tiny boat—I could blow it over with a sneeze."

Laughter immediately erupted along the shore.

A distinguished-looking young man on a seven-story treasure ship nearby glanced at the person standing at the prow of the small ship, his expression becoming unusually serious.

"I advise you not to underestimate that ship," the young man cautioned. "Not all ships are what they seem. A vessel that can safely pass through the Endless Sea without a single scratch cannot be simple. Do you even know who the person standing on the prow is?" he continued.

Upon hearing this, the laughter around him finally ceased, and everyone turned to look at the speaker.

"Luo Hongchen, what is it? Do you know this person? From your expression, it seems you are quite wary of him. Is he from your region, perhaps?" someone asked.

"I heard the Great Yin Dynasty suffered a crushing defeat in that war and was even driven back to its homeland. The conflict only ended after you ceded territory and paid reparations. That person wouldn’t happen to be from the side that defeated you, would he?"

Cai Shao approached with a group surrounding him and looked at Luo Hongchen with a mocking smile.

Glaring at the man dressed in luxurious clothing, Luo Hongchen replied defiantly, "That was only because the war dragged on for too long. The Emperor’s lifespan ran out, and he passed away, leaving the country without a leader. Internal conflicts came to light."

"Given the uncertain circumstances, all parties chose to preserve their strength rather than give it their all, which led to our defeat," he explained. "Otherwise, the Western Lands would have already been part of the Great Yin Dynasty’s territory."

Cai Shao laughed. "Defeat is still defeat—no need for excuses. Launching a war with the Emperor’s limited lifespan left... that was never the best time to start a conflict. With such flawed decisions from the beginning, was it any surprise that it ended in failure?"

"Now tell me more about this person. It’s rare to see someone that even a so-called ‘top talent of the Great Yin Dynasty’ fears, and I’ve never seen you give me that expression before," he added, now clearly intrigued as he gazed at the man on the ship's prow.

“I wouldn’t dare claim the title of the greatest talent,” Luo Hongchen admitted with a sigh. “The real first genius of the Great Yin Dynasty was killed by Long Dan. This person, however, is even more terrifying than Long Dan.”

Lo Hongchen’s eyes filled with dread as he continued solemnly, “I’ll spare you the rest of his accomplishments.”

"I’ll simply tell you this: during a time when our forces were spread thin, he infiltrated the palace of one of our vassal kingdoms, killed Jun Zaitian with only a few punches, and then crossed realms to defeat a Spiritual Sea Stage Gu Cultivator from the Jun clan before leaving at his leisure."

"How could I not fear such a person?"

With these words, the entire crowd fell silent. Everyone stared in shock, struggling to believe what they had just heard.

The ship, a seven-story treasure vessel belonging to the Cai Clan’s Trading Association, was filled with people from the Western Region. They knew of the brutal figure who had once swept through the Thirty-Six Lands of the West and became the top talent there. How could they not be familiar with such a figure? His name alone was enough to make their ears ring.

Yet that figure had reportedly been killed in a few moves? Just how powerful was this man?

That he killed Jun Zaitian alone was astonishing enough, but to also cross realms and eliminate a Spiritual Sea Realm Gu Cultivator was borderline unbelievable. Everyone was stunned.

They could hardly trust their ears and wondered if they’d heard wrong. Some even started rubbing their ears.

“Are you kidding?” someone exclaimed incredulously. “Not only did he instantly kill Jun Zaitian, but he even crossed realms to take down a Spiritual Sea Realm Gu Cultivator? Are you sure you’re not exaggerating? How could anyone do such a thing? Your words sound absurd!”

“Hmph! This incident caused quite a stir at the time, and plenty of people knew about it. If you doubt me, you can ask some of the well-informed people on the ship.” Luo Hongchen sneered.

A Marrow Cleansing Stage Gu Cultivator crossing realms to defeat a Spiritual Sea Stage Gu Cultivator was nearly impossible. Such a feat was so extraordinary that he couldn’t imagine there was anyone on the ship who hadn’t heard about it.

“No need to ask anyone else,” Cai Shao said, squinting his eyes and gazing at the man with a deep sense of dread. “The Cai Clan’s Trading Association is well-informed. I know of this incident fully well—I just didn’t expect the main character to be him!”

"The gap between a Marrow Cleansing Realm Gu Cultivator and a Spiritual Sea Stage Gu Cultivator is insurmountable," Cai Shao mused, "like a chasm between heaven and earth. I imagine he must have used some powerful forbidden technique to achieve it!”

“Hmph! Young Master Cai, whether he used a forbidden technique or not is beside the point. You only need to know that he can kill Spiritual Sea Stage Gu Cultivators,” Luo Hongchen replied. “And judging by his current condition, the backlash from the forbidden technique doesn’t seem to have affected him much at all!”

Seeing the person at the bow completely unharmed, Luo Hongchen was stunned and said in an unsteady tone.

Cai Shao said gravely, “Indeed. No matter what kind of power he’s using, as long as he can summon it at will, that’s enough.”

“This is definitely not someone we can afford to provoke easily. It seems we’ve encountered a terrifying competitor.”

“All of you on the ship, listen up!” Cai Shao suddenly shouted to everyone around him. “From now on, do not provoke that person in any way. If you see him, keep your distance and avoid causing any trouble.”

Upon hearing this, everyone nodded. They didn’t need the reminder; they had already decided to avoid this person at all costs.

Only a fool would dare provoke someone who could easily kill a Spiritual Sea-grade Gu cultivator.

By this time, the Shenlong had approached the shore. Leng Yan, whose ears were sharp, overheard the discussion on the shore and looked at Long Xuan in disbelief with her beautiful eyes.

“You even managed to kill a Spiritual Sea-stage Gu cultivator?”

Waves of shock surged through Leng Yan’s heart. This captain truly hid his abilities well. She never expected him to have such achievements. For someone at the Marrow Cleansing stage to kill a Spiritual Sea-stage opponent was terrifying. Was this the captain’s strength? Leng Yan was shaken.

And it wasn’t just her—few others on the ship could remain calm upon hearing this. They all stared at the captain in shock.

Wu Yaoyao couldn’t help but complain to herself: I knew it. I knew this guy, who will one day challenge every Forbidden Gu refiner, is absolutely extraordinary.

He’s still so young and can already kill a Spiritual Sea-grade Gu cultivator; who knows what heights he’ll reach in the future? It wouldn’t be surprising if he could go toe-to-toe with Forbidden Gu Refiners in the future.

Even Di Xin looked at him with surprise, her mouth slightly agape, clearly stunned.

Yang Zhan’s mouth twitched uncontrollably. This captain was simply beyond human. He finally understood why this captain wasn’t afraid of him in the slightest.

Long Xuan hadn’t expected his reputation to have spread so widely in the Western Lands, or that his background would be exposed like this. He’d always preferred to keep a low profile, and this sudden attention caught him off guard.

“Let’s keep things low-key; it’s all in the past, nothing worth mentioning,” Long Xuan said with a wave and a smile.

At this point, the Shenlong had docked. Long Xuan said no more, dropping the anchor and quickly jumping off the ship, followed by over a hundred other crew members.

Long Xuan took a quick look at the Gu cultivators on the island. They came from various regions and clans.

The Gu cultivator clans from the inland didn’t have shipbuilding skills, so they usually shared boats to get here.

Here, the main competition lay in who had the largest ship. Though the ship’s various factions weren’t under the captain’s control, being on his ship gave the captain some authority.

Three large ships stood out here. One was the Qian clan’s seven-story treasure ship, the Golden Fortune.

The Shenlong and the Golden Fortune had set sail at the same time.

But the Shenlong had encountered a Heavenly wind storm and had to stop at Big Lonely Island, which caused significant delays. They also spent a month in the Death Sea region dismantling a ship, and the voyage was full of unforeseen events, so the Golden Fortune reached here before the Shenlong.

Now, the massive Golden Fortune had already docked nearby.

The Cai Clan Chamber of Commerce Golden Treasure was a ship of the same type as the Golden Fortune, and they carried a similar number of Gu cultivators. Their strength was almost on par.

It’s worth noting that rivals often travel the same path. The Cai Clan Chamber of Commerce and Qian Clan Chamber of Commerce were major competitors in many commercial domains and frequently clashed, making them long-standing enemies. Every time they met, it was guaranteed to be a conflict.

This rivalry could perhaps be used in the ruins here.

The last large ship was the Red Demon, from the Red Demon Pirate Crew.

The Red Demon was an eight-story treasure ship, similar in size to the Zhu Clan's Candlelight Ship and Jing Clan's Surging Waves Ship, the ships they’d encountered previously.

These five ships were the largest here and, therefore, the Shenlong’s main competitors, so Long Xuan kept a close watch.

However, while Candlelight and Surging Waves had rivalries, and Golden Fortune and Golden Treasure were also enemies, the Red Demon was unchecked, causing Long Xuan to frown.

Undoubtedly, the Red Demon Pirate Crew hailed from a major region, far stronger than the Black Dragon Pirate Crew, and not easily dealt with or provoked.

Seeing the Red Demon Pirate flag with the red demon figure, Leng Yan frowned and said seriously, “The Red Demon Pirate Crew comes from the Central Region, a major pirate group. Compared to them, the Black Dragon Pirate Crew is like a younger brother.”

“If they casually sent a small division, they could easily annihilate the Black Dragon Pirate Crew.”

“It’s unexpected that a pirate group from the Central Region would be here. The Red Demon Pirate Crew is notorious for their bloodlust, bringing slaughter wherever they go.”

“With this pirate crew joining the Sky Island ruins exploration, the danger level will certainly rise. Everyone should be extra cautious.”