The Path of Immortality: Starts With Creating Water Bear Gu

As soon as these words were spoken, many poor Gu cultivators in the crowd, who were strapped for cash, showed expressions of disappointment and, with self-awareness, began to retreat from the crowd.

However, a good portion of the people didn't leave. Even standing at the entrance was enough to catch the excitement, and even from a slightly farther distance, they could still hear the sounds. Getting them to leave wasn’t going to be that easy.

Many among them were here to witness the legendary peak-grade spiritual medicine, the Living Wood. Even if they were completely broke, they had traveled a long distance just for the chance to see this mythical treasure.

Although the Living Wood might not appear until much later, they still wanted to secure a good spot in advance, afraid that if they left, someone else would take their place.

Seeing the fat man shouting in front of the auction house door, Long Xuan was slightly stunned. This man looked very familiar. Wasn't he Qian Duoduo, whom he had encountered a few times before?

Wasn’t he supposed to be in the Far Western Lands? How did he end up here?

Qian Duoduo was a trusted aide of Qian Jinjin, her right-hand man. It was impossible for him to show up here casually. Could it be that Qian Jinjin was here as well? Did she get a promotion? Long Xuan suddenly paused, puzzled.

"Did the Qian clan's head in the Far Western Lands change?" Long Xuan asked Long Ziyan beside him.

He was not well-informed, but Long Ziyan should know something about such major news.

Long Ziyan glanced at him and said, "Just as you thought, Qian Jinjin has long since been promoted and left the Far Western Lands. She’s now leading her own team in the Western Branch of the Qian Clan Chamber Of Commerce."

"As I understand it, the head of the Qian Clan has more than ten children, and they are all competing for the position of family head. The current clan head assigned each of them to manage a part of the clan's business in different regions. Whoever accumulates the most wealth in the set time will be the next head of the family."

"Because of gender bias, Qian Jinjin was sent to the impoverished Far Western Lands, a place ten times poorer than what the other contenders were managing."

"By all accounts, she should have had no chance to outdo the other candidates. But in this world, unexpected things happen all the time."

"Not long after, the profession of Insect Armor Masters emerged for the first time in the Far Western Lands. She had sharp foresight and seized the opportunity to expand into this new industry before it took off, even stretching her influence into other regions."

"By the time Insect Armor Masters became popular worldwide, she had already captured most of the market."

"She gained the upper hand and recruited most of the talented individuals with potential for Insect Armor Mastery. By the time the other contenders realized it, it was already too late to compete with her."

"Thanks to this opportunity, she rose rapidly. Even though she was managing the poorest region, she became the fastest-growing candidate in terms of wealth."

"Because she brought vast amounts of wealth to the clan, she was promoted and relocated here, becoming the head of the Western Branch. Currently, she has the greatest advantage in the competition for family head."

Hearing this, Long Xuan suddenly understood. So, her promotion was due to her seizing the opportunity during the rise of Insect Armor Masters. The Far Western Lands were, after all, the birthplace of that profession, so it was natural that she would have the upper hand. Come to think of it, she owed a part of her success to him.

"Let’s go. There are too many people, and if we’re too late, we might not get good seats."

Having satisfied his curiosity, Long Xuan was worried that they would miss out on seats if they delayed further, so he started walking forward.

Although Qian Duoduo had set an entrance requirement of 8 million spirit stones, there were still far too many Gu cultivators in the Marrow Cleansing phase with that kind of wealth. The people in front were crowded together, shoulder to shoulder.

Suddenly, Long Xuan noticed a filthy hand reaching out toward Long Ziyan. Someone was attempting to take advantage of the crowd to grope her. Long Xuan became furious and, with quick reflexes, grabbed the hand. With a light squeeze, a pig-like squeal of pain rang out from the crowd.

"How dare you! I haven't touched her enough, and you think you can?"

Ignoring the man, now kneeling in pain and begging for mercy, Long Xuan grabbed Long Ziyan’s arm and continued walking forward.

Long Ziyan glared at him angrily but still followed along.

This time, Long Xuan was more cautious, afraid that Long Ziyan might be jostled by the crowd again. He sent out all his clones to create a barrier between them and the crowd, like bodyguards escorting a celebrity, clearing out a large space for them to walk through.

Before long, they reached the entrance of the auction house. Long Xuan swiftly handed over 16 million spirit stones, covering Long Ziyan’s entrance fee as well.

"This is my Dao Companion. We’re together. Arrange a private room for us. I have some valuable treasures to auction," Long Xuan called out to Qian Duoduo.

At most auction houses, there was a rule that if someone consigned particularly valuable items, they would be given a private room on the second floor.

However, not just anyone could qualify for such treatment. Only those who consigned some of the most valuable treasures for that auction would enjoy such privileges.

If it were just himself, Long Xuan wouldn’t mind squeezing in with the crowd. But now that Long Ziyan was with him, and after the incident just now, he didn’t want her to be crowded by so many people.

Moreover, since no high-level Gu cultivators were participating in this auction, Long Xuan felt he could freely bid on many items. To do so, he would need spirit stones, so he planned to auction off some of his possessions to ensure he had enough funds later.

Qian Duoduo finally noticed the familiar face. Of course, he recognized Long Ziyan, the renowned genius from the Far Western Lands.

Upon seeing Long Xuan refer to her as his Dao companion, and Long Ziyan not refuting it, he was immediately stunned. What merit or capability could this Long Xuan possibly have to win the heart of such an outstanding woman? He was utterly shocked.

Long Ziyan actually has a dual cultivation Dao companion? This would definitely be major news in the Fqr West, causing endless gossip.

"What item do you have for auction? Let me tell you in advance, only one private room remains. The quality of the treasures in this auction far surpasses previous ones, and only treasures of very high value are eligible for a private room."

Qian Duoduo walked over, his gaze sweeping back and forth between the two before finally speaking.

"What kind of treasure could be discussed out here? Let’s enter the private room first." Since they were acquaintances, Long Xuan spoke more casually.

"That’s true." Qian Duoduo nodded. Perhaps out of trust in his acquaintances, he really did lead the two of them to the last available Room 5.

"Now you can show us the treasure, right? The standard for treasures in this auction is extremely high, but I believe that even if you can’t produce something that meets the requirements, the person beside you certainly can."

Qian Duoduo glanced at Long Ziyan next to Long Xuan. It was likely that he had brought the two of them to the last room based on Long Ziyan's reputation, trusting her wealth.

As for what to bring out, Long Xuan found himself in a bit of a dilemma. He had only decided to sell something on a whim to gain access to the private room and hadn’t really thought about what to auction.

In truth, Long Xuan had plenty of treasures on him that would qualify for the private room; anything he brought out would be a showstopper.

However, those items clearly couldn’t be casually taken out. The item he selected couldn’t be too valuable, but it couldn’t be too cheap either—choosing was proving difficult.

"I don’t know what the minimum standard for this auction is, but I think a treasure that helps with Spirit Recovery during the Marrow Cleansing stage should suffice. These are things I acquired by chance; have a look at them."

After some thought, Long Xuan brought out barrels of Spirit Recovery Wine and placed them on the ground—thirty whole barrels of ordinary, non-distilled wine.

His Ice Bees had long exceeded a population of ten thousand, producing so much honey that it couldn't all be consumed. The resulting Spirit Recovery Wine was similarly overflowing.

This was a good opportunity to sell the excess Spirit Recovery Wine that was taking up space.

One mustn't underestimate this Spirit Recovery Wine. Though it wasn't enough to be the showstopper of the auction, it was definitely in the upper middle tier among all the items and would surely spark a frenzy among the auction participants.

In battle, the most important auxiliary medicines for Gu practitioners were, first, healing medicines, and second, spirit recovery medicines. Some even believed spirit recovery medicines were more crucial than healing medicines.

Long Xuan was confident that his Spirit Recovery Wine was the best among all Marrow Cleansing stage spirit recovery medicines. How could it not be in high demand?

Hearing Long Xuan’s words, Qian Duoduo was momentarily taken aback. To claim it was the best spirit recovery medicine during the Marrow Cleansing stage? That was quite an audacious statement.

If his wine truly had the effects he claimed, then he certainly qualified to stay in this private room.

With a skeptical look, Qian Duoduo opened one of the barrels, and instantly, a rich fragrance filled the room. He couldn’t help but take a deep sniff, his face showing a hint of shock.

As a businessman, he had tasted countless fine wines, but this was the first time he had encountered a spirit wine with such a potent aroma. He finally set aside his earlier disdain.

Qian Duoduo looked seriously into the wine barrel and found the wine inside was crystal clear, without a trace of impurities. He had never seen such a clear wine before—no matter how high the quality of the wines he had encountered in the past, they were all somewhat cloudy. This wine was on another level.

Qian Duoduo glanced up at Long Xuan in surprise, unable to resist taking out a cup from his storage bag. He lightly scooped half a cup of wine and downed it in one gulp.

As soon as the wine entered his throat, his eyes lit up. As a skilled businessman, his ability to appraise treasures, including wines, was top-notch. Just from that small sip, he could tell Long Xuan hadn’t been exaggerating—the wine was indeed the best spirit recovery medicine for the Marrow Cleansing stage.

The effects of this Spirit Recovery Wine were far superior to Spirit Recovery Pills.

The key difference was that consuming a Spirit Recovery Pill required time to refine it, whereas the wine dissolved instantly upon entering the mouth, needing no refinement. In comparison, the Spirit Recovery Wine was vastly superior to the pills.

Once this wine appeared at the auction, it would undoubtedly cause a stir.

In any other auction, this wine would be the highlight of the event.

However, this particular auction was filled with competing treasures, akin to gods clashing. As miraculous as this wine was, it still couldn’t reach the level of the final showstopper, leaving Qian Duoduo feeling a bit regretful.