Completing the Map

The chaotic melee between both sides instantly became one-sided. Long Xuan's five Externalized Clones had explosively high combat power. After suffering enough, the three no longer dared to take the attacks head-on and could only dodge as they fought.

But they were at a disadvantage in numbers. They might dodge one person's attack, but could they dodge attacks from two?

It was not as though they lacked External Gu to assist them. Each had refined a Snake Gu and released it long ago.

But Long Xuan possessed the Cockroach Gu's undying ability. Apart from his golden finger, his Externalized Clones copied every one of his abilities.

This included the Eye of Heavenly Secrets' ability. It was simply that the eyes between his Externalized Clones' brows were conjured illusions, and their amplification ability was far inferior to the original body's.

Relying on their undying ability, the five Externalized Clones endured the Snake Gu's bites and attacked their opponents like madmen, utterly disregarding their lives in a style of trading injury for injury.

As long as the Gu cultivators were killed, the Gu insects bound to them by blood contract would naturally die on the spot. Thus, the five Externalized Clones completely ignored the Snake Gu's attacks and launched an all-out assault without any defense.

This fighting style made the three suffer miserably. Flame Jade, Metal Jade, Wood Jade, Water Jade, and Earth Jade smashed toward them without regard for their lives.

Most were dodged, leaving one round crater after another in the ground.

Yet quite a few attacks still struck them, inflicting no light injuries.

Long Xuan intended to end this quickly. Although there was a Soundproof Formation here, he still feared that too much commotion would draw the market's guardians over.

Although he was the victim, the present scene was him beating these three senseless. If they bit back and claimed that he was the one robbing travelers, then with one side uninjured and the other covered in wounds, he would not be able to clear himself even if he had a hundred mouths.

After all this time, his Origin Realm was finally ready. Without the slightest hesitation, he activated it.

The consciousness of the three was immediately drawn into an Illusion Realm.

One had to know that only consciousness entered the Illusion Realm, not the body.

Once their consciousness entered the Illusion Realm, the bodies left outside could only remain motionless and be torn apart by attacks from beyond.

When the three were instantly blasted into mush by the various jades, Long Xuan swiftly collected their storage bags and fled the scene.

Speaking of which, these three were truly unlucky. It was their first time killing people and seizing treasure, so they had been cautious, cautious, and cautious again. They chose someone they believed to be the weakest and made all sorts of preparations while expecting the enemy to be stronger. They had even arranged Rock Gu and a Soundproof Formation.

Yet even with such caution, they still capsized in the end.

Not long after Long Xuan left, a group appeared here. The seven people at the front were all at the peak of the Marrow Cleansing Stage.

As expected, they were the market's guardians.

There were seven great Gu cultivator families in the Far Western Lands: the Long Family, Feng Family, Mu Family, Miao Family, Lei Family, Shi Family, and Gu Family.

Each of the seven great Gu cultivator families sent one expert to guard the Far Western Market.

The seven experts currently stationed in the market were Long Lie, Miao Zhuang, Mu Tie, Feng Lan, Lei Li, Shi Jian, and Gu Dalong, who was known as Alchemist Gu.

The seven great Gu cultivator families all possessed extensive holdings in this market. It was one of the economic lifelines of the great families, so the seven Gu cultivators sent to guard this place were all formidable.

Long Lie examined the round craters left in the ground, his expression turning solemn. He said gravely, "What domineering mutated spirit power. These five types of mutated spirit power are extremely powerful. In the Far Western Lands, there are only a few types of mutated spirit power stronger than them."

"Mm!" Miao Zhuang beside him pondered for a moment before saying, "I have never heard of these five types of mutated spirit power. This is my first time seeing them, but every one of them is extraordinarily domineering and devastatingly destructive. It seems these five culprits are foreign Gu cultivators."

Mu Tie stepped forward and pinched the soil in one of the craters. "I have never seen the spirit techniques they used. Which family are they from? Feng Lan, you are widely traveled and knowledgeable. Can you identify the origin of these spirit techniques?"

He turned to look at the voluptuous middle-aged woman beside him.

"This is also my first time seeing them. They may be newly created spirit techniques, or the five culprits may come from a very distant place. It is normal that I cannot discern their origins."

"However, whoever they are, they dared to kill people and seize treasure here, even killing three in succession. They have broken the rules here and must be captured, bound in the market, and beheaded in public as a warning to others," Feng Lan said sharply, frowning.

Lei Li had a fiery temper. He said angrily, "That's right. They dared to commit violence on territory under our charge. They clearly do not take us seriously. We must investigate this thoroughly. Since they could commit such a crime once, they will commit it a second time. We absolutely cannot let this go unchecked, or the market's prestige will inevitably be damaged. Some people may even grow bolder."

"I think this is the road leading to Great Stone Village. Those five people may very well be hiding there. We might as well go over and search it. Perhaps we can capture them immediately."

Gu Dalong laughed. "Hehe! There is no need to search there. Long Ao is in secluded cultivation in that place. If they dare to run wild there, they are simply courting death."

"If they really went there, we will not need to lift a finger. They will play themselves to death."

Shi Jian laughed loudly. "That's true. Ten years ago, you tricked him into coming here to repair the remnant formula by giving him an Ancient Remnant Formula. He has stayed in seclusion for ten years now. You really gave that old fellow a miserable pit to fall into. How could repairing a remnant formula be so easy? With only those three materials, he might be trapped here for the rest of his life."

Gu Dalong said dissatisfiedly, "What do you mean, I tricked him? The remnant formula I gave him was genuine. He simply lacked the comprehension to complete it, wasting ten years here. How can that be blamed on me?"

"I never forced him to repair it. He could give up whenever he wished. He is the one being stubborn. How can he lay the blame at my door?"

After Long Xuan returned home, he casually inspected the storage bags of the three Rogue Cultivators. Finding nothing of value, he immediately revealed a disappointed expression and tossed the bags aside.

Rogue Cultivators were poor to begin with, and they had to spend most of their wealth on Gu insects. The Gu insects died instantly with their hosts, and once the Gu insects were dead, Long Xuan had even less to gain.

From this battle alone, Long Xuan understood that acquiring resources through killing people and seizing treasure was not advisable. The rewards might not be proportional to the risks.

After taking such enormous risks, he might only end up with a pile of junk. He must never assume he could keep succeeding forever. No one was invincible. After killing people and seizing treasure countless times, he would eventually fail once, and the price of failing even once would be his life.

That female Rogue Cultivator had acted so steadily and prepared for the enemy's strength so thoroughly, yet had she not still died with her feet in the air?

Therefore, farming was the true path. Cultivation was not all about fighting and killing.

After drawing his conclusions, Long Xuan took out the greatest gain from his trip to the Treasure Exchange Fair—the Treasure Map Fragment.

Following the plan he had made long ago, he placed the Treasure Map Fragment on a sheet of white paper of roughly the same size, then began scribbling blindly over the missing portions of the treasure map.

The Treasure Map Fragment's progress, originally at 90.98%, vanished instantly after Long Xuan's wild scribbling.

Rather than being alarmed, Long Xuan was delighted. He understood that his idea was feasible.

He was not afraid of the progress disappearing. What he feared was that the progress would remain unchanged. As long as the progress changed, whether it rose or vanished, it meant that his method of placing white paper beneath the fragment to mend the map would work. So long as he persevered, one day he would successfully complete the remnant map.