When Long Xuan stepped onto that stretch of gravel road, the Eye of Heavenly Secrets quickly spotted several Gu Insects resembling broken stones lying in ambush along the path.
After magnifying them with the Eye of Heavenly Secrets, progress bars appeared above the heads of those Gu Insects. Long Xuan became even more certain that they were not gravel, but Rock Gu shaped like gravel. His heart skipped a beat as he realized that things were going badly.
The only Gu cultivator who usually traveled to Great Stone Village was himself. He did not entertain the lucky thought that this had been prepared for someone else. He understood that there was a high chance someone had set their sights on him.
He cursed inwardly. He had never made enemies—so why was someone ambushing him? Could it be because he had sold too many things?
But everything he sold had been within controllable limits. High-grade Spirit Insects were merely materials, things that could be exchanged for with Spirit Stones and were not difficult to gather. Who did not have a few High-grade Spirit Insects?
Were the things Di Xin sold not all more valuable than his? Why did no one go after her instead?
Long Xuan sighed inwardly. To gather resources, one had to sell resources. Otherwise, did one expect others to hand over resources for free? Keeping one's wealth completely hidden was simply impossible. Even if he only bought and never sold, spending too many Spirit Stones could still draw attention.
He would absolutely not stop trading resources with others in the future. Otherwise, each Gu Recipe he created would cost more than the last. Where was he supposed to gather so many resources? If he resorted to robbery, how would that differ from dealing with the situation before him?
Since there was no solution, he could only block soldiers with generals and dam water with earth.
Long Xuan took a deep breath and cursed Old Daoist Li inwardly for harming people so thoroughly. The harmful things that man had sold had ultimately been used on him.
Although his heart was far from calm, his expression did not change in the slightest. He continued humming a little tune, looking as though he were in a fine mood.
He deliberately drifted off course as if by accident, just happening to avoid the Rock Gu's ambush position.
Once he had detoured around them, he would immediately rush into Great Stone Village at top speed. Old Long was stationed there, enough to ensure his safety beyond all doubt.
However, his actions did not fool the people lying in ambush at all. The female Rogue Cultivator shouted, "Not good! He saw through us!"
The three of them immediately leaped out from the grass and blocked Long Xuan's path.
The moment he saw the female Rogue Cultivator's familiar face, Long Xuan cried out, "So it was you!"
His face turned green, then white. At the Treasure Exchange Fair, he had pondered for a long time over who the unlucky person she had targeted might be. Never in his wildest dreams had he expected that unlucky person to be himself. The Soundproof Array Disk she had bought had actually been prepared for him. Truly, the turns of fate were impossible to predict.
Long Xuan cursed inwardly. This Di Xin was no less harmful. The Soundproof Array Disk she had traded away was actually going to be used on him. Things had become troublesome now. With a Soundproof Formation in place, there was no hope of waiting for the marketplace guardians' rescue. He could only rely on himself.
"It's me! Since you know we have a Soundproof Array Disk, hand over all the valuables on you and every Gu Insect bound by blood contract. We guarantee that we'll only take your money, not your life."
Considering that Long Xuan possessed the Cockroach Gu, which was notoriously difficult to kill, even three against one might not be enough to kill him quickly. That was why the female Rogue Cultivator had not attacked from the start.
If they could truly trick him into handing over the Cockroach Gu, they could deal with him without lifting a finger.
Naturally, Long Xuan did not believe her nonsense. He glanced at the two people behind her and discovered that both were Late Spirit-Gathering Stage Gu cultivators. It was three against one. He did not know whether the Ten Extremity Physique could handle it.
"You're dealing with a mere mid Spirit Gathering stage Gu cultivator, yet you've dispatched three Late Spirit-Gathering Stage experts. Are you really that lacking in confidence in your own strength? Bullying the weak with the strong is one thing, but using many against few too—isn't that a little excessive?"
Long Xuan tried to provoke them. If they could not withstand the taunt and came at him one by one for duels, that would be ideal. With the Ten Extremity Physique's formidable combat power, his chances of victory would be extremely high.
However, his opponents were clearly not brainless villains. His words did not provoke them in the slightest.
"Hehe! Forgive our embarrassment, but we like using many to bully few. It's best to prepare for the enemy with the greatest caution. Your Cockroach Gu is notoriously fierce—we wouldn't dare let down our guard in the slightest," the female Rogue Cultivator said with a light laugh.
"You like using many to bully few? What a coincidence. So do I."
Long Xuan smiled and clapped his hands. Five clones immediately split off from his body, surrounding the three of them on all sides.
Including his main body, there were now six Long Xuans in total. They could form pairs against each opponent, instantly reversing the advantage in numbers.
His clones could be released and withdrawn at will. If they were all retracted into his main body, his power would be at its most concentrated. If they were all divided, his power would naturally be split into six portions.
However, the Ten Extremity Physique possessed such an enormous amount of spiritual power that even when his strength was divided six ways, each clone's spiritual power still vastly surpassed that of others at the same level.
With such a special physique, he had more spiritual power than he could ever use up. It was better for all six of them to use it together. Therefore, releasing all his clones and using many against few was his strongest combat form.
Since it was his first battle and he was nervous, he immediately used his strongest combat form.
The female Rogue Cultivator looked around, revealing a disdainful expression. She sneered, "How can a petty clone technique make up for the difference in numbers? How naive. As long as we find your main body, the other clones will collapse without a fight."
At that moment, the bald man behind her grimly nudged her shoulder. He swallowed and said, "Those probably aren't clones. They're the legendary Externalized Clones. We may be in serious trouble!"
Ordinary clones and Externalized Clones were vastly different. The greatest difference was that many people could create ordinary clones, but those clones were merely incorporeal forms of energy. They could only confuse opponents and could not harm enemies. Once the main body was found, the other clones would naturally collapse without a fight.
Externalized Clones, however, were different. They possessed physical bodies and could effectively attack opponents. Their combat power might not be much weaker than that of the main body.
There were very few great figures with Externalized Clones, but anyone who possessed them was surely a powerhouse famed throughout a region. Refining an Externalized Clone was the lifelong dream of every Gu cultivator.
The bald man had never expected that on his first time robbing travelers, after carefully choosing what seemed like the weakest target, he had instead encountered someone hiding a tiger's claws beneath a pig's skin. At such a low realm, Long Xuan had actually cultivated Externalized Clones—and five of them at that. Even a Gu King did not possess that many Externalized Clones.
They had truly kicked an iron plate this time. Externalized Clones had offensive power, so their attacks could not be ignored. Without at least six people to fight them one-on-one, they could forget about dealing with someone like this.
"What? They're actually Externalized Clones?"
The female Rogue Cultivator's expression changed drastically. Just as she was preparing to inspect them closely, the five Externalized Clones had already launched their attack.
"Flame Jade!"
A red sphere of energy condensed from flame power appeared in the Flame Clone's right hand. He struck his palm toward the female Rogue Cultivator.
"Thunder Palm!"
The bald man reacted first and rushed in front of the female Rogue Cultivator. A spherical mass of lightning condensed in his right hand as he met the Flame Clone's incoming Flame Jade.
Boom!
Their palms collided, unleashing a deafening explosion.
The bald man felt a mountain-toppling, sea-overturning force surge from his palm. He was sent staggering back ten steps, his face turning pale. In the end, he could not help spitting out a mouthful of blood as his body swayed.
"How is this possible?"
The bald man was utterly horrified.
He was at the Late Spirit-Gathering Stage, while this Externalized Clone was only at the mid Spirit Gathering stage. Yet in a direct clash, he—the one whose realm should have crushed the other—had instead fallen into the disadvantage. He could not make heads or tails of it.
How could he know that Long Xuan possessed the Ten Extremity Physique, said to be invincible among those of the same realm? With his broad meridians, the attack power he unleashed far exceeded that of cultivators at the same level.
He could remain invincible at the same realm even against supreme geniuses. Against Rogue Cultivators with abysmal combat power, he could fight across realms—and even triumph over opponents above his level.
If he did not even possess the ability to fight across realms, how could he deserve the title of the world's greatest extraordinary physique? Long Xuan realized that he had still underestimated the Ten Extremity Physique's combat power.
His Externalized Clones each possessed only a single attribute. Yet a Flame Jade of just one attribute could make the bald man cough up blood. If his main body used the Five Elements Jade, would it not kill him in a single move?
The female Rogue Cultivator's idea of preparing for the enemy with the greatest caution had been correct. To be safe despite a realm advantage, she had brought two others to make it three against one. But her caution had still not gone far enough.
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