The Path of Immortality: Starts With Creating Water Bear Gu

“Brother Kai! No time to waste; let’s set off now! With so many of us, our harvest will surely be substantial.”

A young, fat chubby boy jumped off the boat, ingratiatingly speaking to Qin Kai.

Qin Kai didn’t reply immediately. His gaze swept over the other boats anchored on the island. With a smirk on his lips, he sneered.

“Fools! How much is picking herbs on this island really worth? We’re pirates; do you think we’d bother with such backbreaking work?”

“I’ve got a good idea. See those boats lined up on the shore?”

Qin Kai’s grin turned sinister. “Let’s push every single one of them into the water.”

“Without their boats, they’ll have no choice but to ride ours. If this Heaven Island sinks, they’ll be stranded here with no escape.”

“Only those who hand over seventy percent of their harvest can board our ship.”

“No! I want them to give up seventy percent of their wealth as a boarding fee. If they don’t agree, they can stay here and wait to die.”

“We’ll be able to easily loot the entire island’s wealth. Their gains will be nothing but gifts to us—a far more profitable haul than picking a few herbs.”

Qin Kai wore an expression of utmost wickedness.

Hearing this, the chubby boy’s eyes lit up, and he raised his thumb in admiration. “Brilliant! Truly brilliant! Why didn’t I think of something so clever? Brother Kai, you’re a genius!”

“Let’s do it! If they don’t hand over most of their wealth, they won’t get on the boat! I want to see who dares to be stingy. Haha, we’re really going to profit this time!”

Although he laughed outwardly, inwardly, he was groaning.

Pushing every boat off the island—how did he even come up with that?

It was unbelievably vicious, like the kind of malice that would fester to a rotting sore. How did the captain end up with such a wicked offspring?

Qin Kai nodded approvingly, then continued, “But we can’t act rashly. We should only do this when there are a few days left.”

“Do it cleanly; no one should know it was us.”

“There are certain groups we can’t afford to offend. Some boats we can push, others we can’t. If we provoke the wrong people, we could find ourselves facing a mob attack.”

“So, you understand which boats to push and which not to?”

Qin Kai looked the chubby boy squarely in the eyes.

The boy groaned inwardly. Since Qin Kai was saying this to him, it was clear he intended to put him in charge of the task.

It was a dangerous job. If something went wrong, he’d end up torn apart by the furious Gu cultivators.

Feeling enormous pressure, he forced a smile and agreed, “Rest assured, Brother Kai. Leave it to me; I’ll handle it flawlessly, without leaving a trace.”

“I have a colossal Gu, a Giant Toad, that can push every boat into the water. No one’s ever seen me use this high-grade Gu before, so no one will trace it back to us.”

“And given its enormous value, I’ll have to sacrifice it to ensure it never appears again.”

The chubby boy feigned a pained expression, knowing he couldn’t keep the precious Gu. He hoped his organization would reimburse him.

“Good! It’s just one high-grade Gu, let it go. Compared to our potential harvest, its value is insignificant.”

“Don’t worry; I’ll reimburse you for the Gu and even give you double compensation, plus a commendation. Just don’t mess this up.”

Qin Kai patted his shoulder in a way that was both encouraging and menacing, then led a large group of pirates away.

The chubby boy wiped cold sweat from his forehead and quickly followed…

…

Elsewhere, Long Xuan looked at a spirit fruit tree that had been chopped down, his brow furrowing.

All the fruit on the tree had already been picked, yet someone had cut it down, severing its life force.

The tree could have borne more fruit in a hundred years, but whoever took the fruit decided to destroy it so that no one else could benefit.

Along his way, Long Xuan had seen countless spirit herbs maliciously destroyed like this.

Too many Gu cultivators were selfish to the core; the world was full of such selfish people.

Now he understood why so many spirit herbs and spirit insects were extinct in this world.

While thinning spiritual energy was partly to blame, human behavior was the main factor. Too many people would rather destroy opportunities than let future generations benefit, accelerating the extinction of rare herbs.

“It’s hard to imagine Gu cultivators being so selfish. These herbs should have vanished long ago. How is it that this island still has an abundance of them?”

“This doesn’t make sense. It feels as if the spirit herbs here weren’t naturally grown, but intentionally planted, likely to attract countless Gu cultivators.”

Long Xuan fell into contemplation, finding the island increasingly mysterious. Even the four massive waterfalls seemed unnatural, as if they had been placed there deliberately.

With waterfalls positioned in the north, south, east, and west, it was too orderly to be natural.

Combined with the endless treasures of the Divine Mechanism City, Long Xuan was now almost certain: Sky Island housed a sentient being, one that had lived an incredibly long life, possibly with eternal longevity.

This being could be human or something else, but it was terrifying, and far beyond the strength of any Gu cultivator on the island.

The presence of an unknown, ancient entity on the island heightened the danger, making Long Xuan frown deeply.

Meanwhile, his crew had already spread out to gather spirit herbs. Only Di Xin stood beside him.

She turned to Long Xuan and said, “You’re right. All the spirit herbs here were planted intentionally, likely by the city’s puppets, to attract more Gu cultivators.”

“When I found the Endless Jade, I also found a letter with hidden information about Sky Island.”

“You may not believe it, but at the heart of Divine Mechanism City, there is a crystal coffin containing the soul of an ancient human. He has lived through endless ages.”

“And even tens of thousands of years later, he will not die. Because of his existence, Sky Island will undergo infinite cycles of rebirth, and no matter how many times it’s explored, its treasures will never run out.”

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