Long Chao's Tragedy

At the same time as this incident occurred, Long Xuan's Little Poverty Peak unexpectedly received a group of uninvited guests. A spirit boat stopped in front of the Rubik's Cube Grand Formation, and sitting on it were six Gu cultivators with the aura of the Spiritual Sea Stage.

"What a massive Binding Formation! I've never seen one this vast before. We'll probably have to take a detour," said an old man at the very front of the spirit boat.

"Taking a detour is such a waste of time. We don't have much time to waste. Can't we just jump directly over from the sky?" Another old man on the ship said as he walked to the bow.

The old man who had spoken earlier shook his head and said, "If it were that easy, I wouldn't have stopped. Powerful formations most likely have Air-Sealing Formation."

"Furthermore, I can sense that this Binding Formation is square, and it must consist of several worlds stacked together. The time taken to move upwards and to the left or right is the same."

Another old man said urgently, "Going around is such a waste of time. An array of this size must have a Cement Formation Base, it's utterly vulnerable. I think it's easier to just break it directly. You all wait here for me, give me a few breaths, and watch how I utterly destroy this small array in a flash!"

With that, the old man plunged into the formation alone, his figure quickly disappearing from everyone's sight.

The group of elderly men on the boat waited quietly, but after a long time, he still hadn't emerged from the formation. The elderly men's expressions gradually changed, and they could no longer sit still.

"Didn't you say he'd be out in a few breaths? How many breaths have passed? This useless piece of trash! He can still be trapped by a small formation. I'll go in and get him out right now. You guys wait for me on the boat."

Another impatient old man could no longer contain himself. After leaving behind a few words, he also leaped into the formation.

However, after countless breaths, there was still no movement from within the formation. At this point, the people on the ship could no longer sit still.

"Why is it so slow! So much time has passed! We don't have much time to waste!" an old man couldn't help but complain.

"Something's probably happened. This formation seems to be quite sophisticated; we underestimated it. I'll go in and bring them both out. I'll be right back."

As he spoke, the old man prepared to jump off the boat.

However, the old man standing at the bow of the boat quickly pressed him down, saying urgently, "No! Don't see me off!"

"This formation is not simple." The old man's expression changed drastically.

"Take a detour! Take a detour immediately!"

Without giving the people on the boat a chance to react, the old man hurriedly steered the spirit boat away into the distance...

The old man was rational, but they had already wasted a lot of time here, and it was too late to do anything now.

As expected, when they flew their spirit boat to the Long Family, preparing to launch a fierce attack on the Treasure Repository, the battle on the Holy Land side had already ended, and all the invaders had been wiped out.

At this moment, the experts of the Long Family were not held back by anything. The diversionary tactic had failed, and if these people rushed in again, wouldn't they be walking into a trap?

Just as the Long Family family had dealt with the invading enemy, they spotted a small boat flying by in the distance, arriving late and heading straight for the Treasure Repository.

Everyone was completely baffled, not understanding why they were sending them batch after batch. What was the scheme behind it all?

No one understood what was going on, but how dare these few people launch a forceful attack on the Long Family? How could they not devour them whole?

Everyone grinned maliciously and surrounded the group.

The final result was predictable. By the time the people on the boat realized something was wrong, it was too late. They had just turned the boat around to fly back when they were struck down by a bolt of Lei Guang.

Immediately afterwards, a group of the Long Family Gu cultivators swarmed forward and soon ended the battle. Those Soul Clan Spiritual Sea Stage Gu cultivators died a gruesome death.

"There probably won't be any more deliveries, right? This is already the third batch!" Long Lie said, looking into the distance with a strange expression.

"It's hard to say. This group likes to fight outnumbered. There might even be a fourth or fifth wave. Let's be careful! Keep an eye on the sky." Long Buhui looked at the sky and said uncertainly.

"Long Lie, we owe you a lot this time. Although these scoundrels aren't very bright, without your intelligence, the sudden influx of so many Spiritual Sea Stage experts into the Holy Land would have caused quite a bit of trouble. You've done a great service this time," Long Wanli said solemnly to Long Lie.

However, Long Lie seemed somewhat distracted by this question, frowning as he said, "I wonder what the origins of this group are? They don't seem to be a local force. The previous group was clearly weak, but this group is unexpectedly strong."

The others also looked thoughtful. This group of people who suddenly appeared was too strange. Their techniques were unfamiliar, and they had never encountered them before, let alone had any grudge against them. They had no idea how they had offended this force.

Just then, a Gu cultivator from the Long Family ran up to the patriarch, carrying a large, fat worm, and respectfully said, "Patriarch, we found this thing in the brains of those corpses."

"It seems that the brains of those people have been completely eaten by this thing; it's these things that are controlling those people in battle."

Long Wanli immediately approached, and upon seeing the large, fat worm, his expression changed drastically, revealing a solemn look.

"It's Brain Gu, there's no doubt about it. This group should be from the Soul Clan of the Western Land."

Long Wanli frowned deeply, clearly aware of how troublesome this Lineage was.

The elder of the clan walked over, gave a wry smile, and said, "If it's this Lineage, then we're in trouble. The Soul Clan is one of the strongest clans in the Western Land. They can control the corpses of many powerful beings—humans, spirit beasts, and alien races—by refining Brain Gu. They even frequently raid various tombs, using Brain Gu to control the corpses of many powerful individuals."

"Therefore, this Gu cultivator Lineage has a large number of high-level experts above the Spiritual Sea Stage, but the combat power of the corpses controlled by the Brain Gu is far less than that of the corpses in life."

"That's why you thought the previous group was easy to defeat but this group is difficult to deal with, and it's also why the previous group was able to escape from the Insect-Rearing Pouch —because those people are essentially insects, not humans."

"Furthermore, the intelligence of the Brain Gu is no less than that of humans. After devouring a person's brain, it can gain all of that person's memories and abilities. Once planted as a spy in another Lineage, it is extremely difficult to detect."

"Long Chen did this because his brain was eaten by this thing. It's really lucky that we were able to sense that something was wrong with him."

The second elder then said, "It is true that the Soul Clan has many high-level Gu cultivators, but we don't need to fear them. Even a powerful dragon can't suppress a local snake. The Western Land are too far from here; they can't launch a large-scale invasion."

"Moreover, it's said that they're currently at war with the Ghost Clan and don't have the energy to deal with us. We can use this time to form an alliance with the Western Land Long Family, and then we won't have to fear them at all."

Long Wanli, his worry undiminished, said, "That's true, but without absolute power, there is no absolute safety. We cannot entrust the safety of our Lineage to speculation."

"It would be best for the Lineage to have a second Gu King. With two Gu King guarding the place, unless the Soul Clan doesn't leave Gu King to watch over the house, we can be 100% safe."

Long Wanli's suggestion caused all the Lineage's senior members to fall into deep thought.

Speaking of which Lineage has developed rapidly in recent years, with total revenue reaching new highs year after year. The wealth earned is enough to cultivate a Gu King.

With this in mind, all the clan elders were very tempted; the benefits of having a second Gu King in the Lineage were obvious.

For every Lineage, the most important thing is always the power of Gu King. Having an additional Gu King is an irresistible temptation for any Lineage.

Furthermore, the Long Family now possesses more and more wealth and things that others covet, so they do indeed need more Gu King to protect them.

The elder clansman said with interest, "Our clan should indeed begin the plan to cultivate a second Gu King. Even without the threat of external enemies, this plan must proceed."

"The question is whether we should spend a lot of money to trade for Realm-Breaking Pill, or have Long Ao refine them. Although he is already Third-Grade Alchemist, he has only recently become Third-Grade Alchemist and lacks experience. We don't know if he can refine the most difficult breakthrough pills."

The second elder stroked his beard and said, "Then we can only ask Long Ao how confident he is in this matter. But among our group, Long Buhui the only one who has reached the bottleneck of the Gu King?"

The two elders looked at Long Buhui, and everyone else also turned their attention to him.

Everyone understood that, barring any unforeseen circumstances, this person would be the second Gu King in the clan, and he would become another pillar of the Long Family.

Long Buhui somewhat flattered and hurriedly waved his hand, smiling modestly, "No, no! I haven't done much for the Lineage, it's not appropriate, absolutely not appropriate. Please consider someone else."

He already knew in his heart that the opportunity to break through to the Gu King was his, and he was so excited that he was about to go crazy, but on the surface he still had to put on a humble appearance, make some excuses and then reluctantly accept it.

"Brother Bu Hui! Don't underestimate yourself. You've already made a tremendous contribution by protecting the Sacred Tree for the Lineage for so many years. Your merits are more than enough. The Gu King is rightfully yours, so don't refuse."

The elder patted him on the shoulder and laughed loudly.

Long Buhui shook his head, and just as he was about to modestly decline again, someone shouted, "Oh no! Something's happened to the Sacred Tree!"

At that moment, all the Lineage's high-ranking members changed their expressions and rushed towards the holy land like madmen.

The other ordinary Gu cultivators from the other Lineage also changed their expressions drastically and hurriedly followed.

Before long, the quiet holy land became noisy again. A large group of people rushed in like madmen. When they saw the state of the Sacred Tree, everyone's eyes widened in fury, and they were so angry that they were about to go crazy.

No one knows the Sacred Tree's place in the hearts of the Long Family.

"Who on earth did this? Who did this?" The elder rushed to the Sacred Tree Sacred Tree, stroking the broken branches with great emotion, tears streaming down his face.

"That Soul Clan! How dare they treat my clan's Sacred Tree so cruelly! I swear I will never let them get away with this!" Long Lie roared excitedly.

Long Buhui's face was grim as he suppressed his anger. He had guarded the Sacred Tree for fifty years without incident, but on this last day, something had happened. He was furious.

The second elder took a deep breath, patted Long Lie on the shoulder, and said with a sharp look in his eyes, "Don't be impulsive. It might not have been done by the Soul Clan Soul Clan. If it were, why didn't they destroy the entire tree or take it all away? Why did they only destroy such a small part? I think the culprit is someone else."

A sharp murderous intent flashed in the eyes of the two elders.

"You mean...?" Long Buhui pressed, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Hmph! If it wasn't the Soul Clan who did it, then it could only have been one of our own."

"The protective barrier around the Sacred Tree has been breached; not only has the formation here been destroyed, but the Lineage's protective formation has also been damaged."

"Who else could have destroyed our clan's protective formation so silently but without a trace? It's true what they say, you can guard against a traitor within your own ranks, and you can never truly tame a heartless wolf."

The second elder's face was contorted with rage; he was on the verge of fainting from anger, his eyes burning with fury.

Long Wanli, his face ashen, looked around and roared furiously, "Who? Who did this?! Who was the last one to leave?! Step forward!"

Upon hearing this, the group of the Long Family Gu cultivators who had just entered the area exchanged bewildered glances.

Long Xuan also wore an angry expression, looking left and right.

He wasn't flustered at all. To avoid suspicion, he wasn't the last one to leave. Besides, it was Long Xuan who stole the Sacred Tree branch; what did that have to do with his Flame Clone? He could investigate however he wanted.

Just then, Long Chao, who was lying on the ground, was finally awakened. He opened his eyes in a daze and mumbled, "Huh? What happened?"

The next moment, everyone turned to look at him with strange expressions.

If anyone was the last to leave, it would definitely be this person. He never actually left and had been alone here for an unknown amount of time.