Long Xuan's Way to Break the Deadlock

With a gloomy face, Old Ma looked at the group opposite him and asked, "We have absolutely no connection with Long Qilin. We just met him on the road and we don't know him at all. We have a grievance to settle and a debt to repay. Can you let us go back?"

Ma Wu looked at him with amusement, and said with a playful tone, "Let you go back? Wouldn't letting you go back expose our killing of the Long Qilin?"

"Long Qilin is the son of the head of the Long Family, a renowned genius of the Long Family. If this news leaks out, it could ignite a war between the two clans."

Do you think I should let you go back?

Upon hearing this, Old Ma said no more. He already knew it was impossible, but he couldn't help asking out of a lingering hope. Now he had completely given up hope.

"Feng San, Feng Si? I didn't expect it to be you two!"

Long Qilin scanned the two leaders, recognized them, and questioned, "Did you lure that Earth Bear that was out of stock here?"

"That's right! It's the gift that the three of us brothers prepared for you. How about it? Surprised? Unexpected?" Feng Si said with a sinister smile.

"Don't misunderstand, the Earth Bear is indeed something we prepared for you, but we really don't know if there's anything inside. You can only blame your bad luck, your bad hands. Who can you blame for not digging up anything good? Hehe!" Feng San mocked.

"You really think highly of me, mobilizing so many people to deal with me."

Long Qilin glanced at the Feng Clan Gu cultivators who had surrounded him and said sarcastically, "Your two Early Marrow-Cleansing Stage alone would be enough to take me down. Why did you have to send so many people?"

"Planting a spy in here was pointless, wasn't it? It turns out his presence was completely useless." Long Qilin looked at Ma Wu not far away.

"Hmph! If Long Xuan hadn't been fortunate enough to possess the means to kill the Earth Bear, and if he hadn't been fortunate enough to see through my Long Xuan poison technique, do you really think you could have survived the previous two calamities?"

Ma Wu was taken aback by those words and retorted angrily.

Instead of getting angry, Feng San laughed, "Trying to be lenient with the enemy? To deal with a genius of your caliber, it's natural to have several hidden measures in place."

"Even if our first two plans fail, we have other backup plans to deal with you. Besides, the Earth Bear has already worn down most of your spiritual power, hasn't it? You're doomed to have no way to escape today!"

Feng San's eyes suddenly sharpened. Without further ado, he charged towards the Long Qilin, followed closely by Feng Si beside him.

"Feng Wu! You're in charge of that group of Rogue Cultivator. Don't let a single one escape!" Feng Si said after glancing at Ma Wu.

"Don't worry! They're just a bunch of rogue Rogue Cultivator. I've already seen their pathetic fighting power! Dealing with them will be a piece of cake!"

Feng Wu revealed a cruel smile and, along with a group of the Feng Clan Gu cultivators, charged towards the Rogue Cultivator who were already surrounded in the center.

"Damn it! What I hate most in my life is when the enemy underestimates us."

Long Xuan cursed inwardly. Seeing that all his escape routes were blocked, he knew that he had no choice but to fight desperately today. So he used all of his Five Elements Jade to attack one of the invading Feng Clan Gu cultivators.

Both the Dragon and Phoenix Gu cultivators primarily employ close-quarters combat. This Feng Clan Gu cultivator conjured a massive fireball in his right hand and hurled it heavily at Long Xuan. Seeing that this rogue Rogue Cultivator, a realm lower than him, was recklessly determined to fight him head-on, he immediately revealed a cruel smile.

So he increased the power of the fireball, and it collided heavily with Long Xuan's Five Elements Jade.

"Boom!!!"

The Five Elements Jade and the fireball collided heavily, producing a deafening explosion. The shockwave from the explosion spread directly out from the center of the two people.

The force of the explosion sent both of them staggering backward.

However, Long Xuan only retreated five steps, while the Feng Clan Gu cultivator, who was a level higher than Long Xuan, was sent flying backward, retreating at least ten steps.

He barely managed to stop by stepping on a stone behind him, then looked at Long Xuan with a horrified expression and disbelief.

He was clearly a level above the other, yet in a head-on confrontation, he was at a significant disadvantage and completely outmatched. How could this not surprise the other?

Not only him, but everyone stopped in their tracks and looked over with disbelief.

As a Gu cultivator from a powerful clan, Feng San was well-informed and immediately shouted upon seeing the situation, "His spiritual techniques are abnormally powerful; he could very well be using the legendary Ten Extremity Physique!"

"Be careful! The Ten Extremity Physique have the ability to fight beyond their level, but in this era, they can only show their power at the Spirit Gathering Stage; they have no chance of breaking through to the Marrow Cleansing Stage!"

"If you can't beat him, hold him off until Feng Si and I take care of the Long Qilin together, then we'll deal with him!"

As he spoke, he intensified his attack on the Long Qilin.

"It's you again! It's you again! Every time something goes wrong, it's because of you. Do you think I'll let you ruin my good time for the third time?"

Feng Wu glared at Long Xuan with resentment, pulled out the long sword that was stuck in Old Daoist Li's heart, and was about to kill Long Xuan. He couldn't quell the hatred in his heart if he didn't kill this man first.

However, as he drew his longsword and turned around, he suddenly sensed something was wrong and instinctively tried to dodge, but he was still a beat too slow and was slashed on the shoulder by Old Daoist Li from behind.

Feng Wu, in pain, kicked Old Daoist Li away, leaving the low-grade spiritual sword on his shoulder.

"Damn it! It's the Cockroach Gu!"

Feng Wu cursed angrily, pulled out the spirit sword deeply embedded in his shoulder, and threw it heavily to the ground.

A normal person would certainly die if stabbed through the heart by a sword, but one day a kind of Gu Insect called Cockroach Gu suddenly appeared in this world, making this common sense no longer valid.

He had heard of the sudden appearance of the Cockroach Gu, and in theory he should have been on guard against it. However, he was blinded by anger this time and influenced by his habitual thinking, so he was caught off guard and fell into the trap.

Being tricked by a rogue cultivator who seemed like Rogue Cultivator fueled his rage, causing him to completely lose his mind and his face to become increasingly ferocious.

"You forced me to this! Isn't the Cockroach Gu supposed to be immortal? I'd like to see if you can revive on the spot after being eaten by the insect!"

Feng Wu patted one of his Insect-Rearing Pouch, and immediately a large number of black insects flew out of it, forming a cloud of insects that flew towards Old Daoist Li.

Old Daoist Li terrified. He knew the weakness of the Cockroach Gu very well. If he were devoured by a group of insects, he would definitely not survive.

Gu cultivators don't necessarily use Gu Insect in battle; Spirit Insect can also be deadly weapons in their hands. However, because they are far weaker than Gu Insect, even poor rogue Rogue Cultivator disdain using them.

However, you have to admit one advantage of Spirit Insect: compared to Gu Insect, Spirit Insect can reproduce on a large scale through self-mating.

Quantity is also an advantage; once a certain type of Spirit Insect has spread to an overwhelming number, it is perfectly normal to surround and kill a Supreme-grade Spirit Insect.

Controlling such a massive swarm of insects only requires a blood pact with the king of that insect species, occupying only one slot.

However, while this fighting style of Gu cultivators may have the potential to surpass even the supreme-grade Gu worm, its drawbacks are also obvious.

Feeding hundreds of thousands or even millions of Spirit Insect would consume an enormous amount of food and resources; anyone without a fortune simply couldn't afford it.

Furthermore, Spirit Insect inevitably have extremely poor individual combat capabilities. This poorness is reflected in various aspects such as attack and defense, making them easily wiped out by a powerful attack, thus wasting the huge investment made in the early stages.

Therefore, there are very few insect species suitable for developing swarm tactics. It is definitely not possible to breed hundreds of thousands of insect species and use them in battle. Otherwise, they will be wiped out by the opponent's large-scale attack capabilities, resulting in a huge loss.

If someone were to breed a species of insect that is immune to being wiped out by powerful attacks, and then multiply it to tens of thousands, it would be a nightmare for all enemies, with few rivals of the same level.

There aren't many things that the Cockroach Gu is afraid of, but this sea of insects is definitely one of them.

Old Daoist Li hadn't expected that Feng Wu was actually a rare insect-type Gu cultivator, someone who was extremely effective against him. His expression changed drastically.

"Oh no!"

Old Daoist Li cried out in alarm and turned to run away.

However, how could he be faster than the Spirit Insect? He hadn't run more than a few steps before he was devoured by the swarm of insects.

Just as the black worms were tearing through his clothes and biting his skin, about to burrow into his body, in the nick of time, at this critical moment of life and death, a massive fire engulfed him instantly.

Old Daoist Li possesses Cockroach Gu; he might not die even if he's in a sea of fire.

But the swarm of Little Black insects was different. Although their numbers were overwhelming and countless, they were all burned to ashes by the sudden fire.

The Black-armored Beetle that Feng Wu had carefully cultivated were naturally unafraid of fire attacks, but the sea of fire unleashed by Long Xuan's Blazing Flame Palm was no ordinary sea of fire.

That was an enhanced sea of fire fueled by Mutated Spiritual Power of four different attributes, and it had been enhanced four times over, making its power far beyond that of ordinary flames.

Coincidentally, the Feng Clan Gu cultivator who had just been fighting Long Xuan refused to believe that he would be defeated by a Rogue Cultivator of a lower realm in a head-on confrontation. Unwilling to give up, he wanted to fight Long Xuan again, so he charged at Long Xuan once more with a ferocious expression.

Little did he know that Long Xuan had no regard for martial ethics and had no intention of continuing to fight him. As he charged straight at him, he was met with a sea of fire, becoming a living target.

Since this was Long Xuan's first time using the Blazing Flame Palm in actual combat, he couldn't control the force at all, resulting in an attack range that was too large. The sea of fire not only engulfed his opponent but also affected his other teammates.

Old Daoist Li wasn't the only one accidentally injured by the fire; the Little Apothecary and his opponent were also caught in the flames.

And so the scene just now unfolded, coincidentally saving Old Daoist Li's life.

Wu Feng's eyes were bulging out of their sockets, and he was about to vomit blood.

Those were Black-armored Beetle he had painstakingly cultivated, taking countless days and nights and consuming mountains of resources.

To cultivate these 100,000 Black-armored Beetle, the resources he expended far exceeded those of a single supreme-grade Gu worm.

He had invested most of his wealth, hoping to become invincible among his peers with this swarm of insects. However, he was burned to ashes in the very first battle, returning to square one. All his initial investment of real money was wasted.

His vision went black, and he was about to faint.

I'll fucking kill you!

He was completely enraged and had lost all reason. His face was contorted with rage, his eyes gleaming with murderous intent, and he charged at Long Xuan like a madman.

He no longer cared about his opponent Old Daoist Li.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the battlefield, Long Qilin, despite facing two opponents, held his own for a short time. His heavy punches weighed tens of thousands of pounds, and neither of his opponents dared to take them head-on. They could only temporarily avoid his attacks and fight while moving around.

"Heh! Long Qilin, your spiritual power is almost depleted! I'd like to see how long you can hold out!"

As Feng Si spoke, he moved behind the Long Qilin, occasionally launching a sneak attack.

Unfortunately, Feng San was holding the reins directly in front of the Long Qilin and the qilin, which annoyed him greatly.

Long Qilin's expression was grave. He knew his own situation and that if he continued to fight a protracted war, he would surely be defeated. He had to use his trump card.

He let out a roar, and at that moment, his aura began to rise steadily. In the blink of an eye, he reached the Mid Marrow-Cleansing Stage Realm and instantly became a Mid Marrow-Cleansing Stage Realm Gu cultivator.

His cultivation level increased by one level out of nowhere, and his combat power immediately multiplied many times over. As a result, the battlefield quickly changed, and he began to suppress his two opponents by relying on his cultivation level.

"It's actually supreme-grade Gu worm, the Ascending Dragon Gu! Hahaha!" Feng San looked at Feng Si and laughed, "See, my preparation to overestimate the enemy was correct, wasn't it?"

As he spoke, he turned to look at the Long Qilin and laughed triumphantly, "I knew you might have more than one supreme-grade Gu worm, so I took a lenient approach and made special preparations for you!"

"Look what I've brought you! It's the very thing that best counters your Ascending Dragon Gu!"

Amidst laughter, Feng San took out a black Gu Insect and placed it in his palm.

Upon seeing the Gu Insect, Long Qilin's pupils shrank, and his expression changed drastically.

As the mortal enemy of the Feng Clan, he knew all too well about their unique Feng Clan Gu Insect.

This is the Withering Gu, one of the strongest unique Gu Insect of the Feng Clan. The Withering Gu possesses Weakness Domain, which will unconditionally reduce the level of people and Gu within the Weakness Domain by one level. It is completely unreasonable and is an extremely unfair ability.

So he managed to use the power of the Ascending Dragon Gu to temporarily advance one level, but after the Gu Insect appeared, he immediately dropped back down, falling back to the original Early Marrow-Cleansing Stage.

Feeling his own weakened power, the Long Qilin felt a deep sense of powerlessness; his greatest trump card had been so easily broken.

His opponent was far too adept at anticipating his moves. Even if he managed to dodge the first two attacks by chance, his opponent still had a backup plan that would ensure his victory. Today, he feared he was doomed.

At the same time, Long Xuan, who was fighting a mad dog, suddenly felt the battlefield being enveloped by a huge dark light curtain, and then his cultivation level began to drop rapidly.

The Weakness Domain" refers to the situation where opponents are all at the same level. A higher level will render the Weakness Domain ineffective, while a lower level will cause opponents to be downgraded by a factor of two.

Long Xuan was a whole realm lower than the user of the Withering Gu, so his realm dropped two levels directly under the Weakness Domain, instantly falling from a Late Spirit-Gathering Stage Gathering Gu cultivator to Early Spirit-Gathering Stage Gu cultivator.

Long Xuan was completely bewildered. Wasn't this the realm he had when he first arrived in this world? How did he go back? What on earth was going on?

Now, his opponent is a Gu cultivator at the Spirit Gathering Peak Stage, three whole levels higher than him, a mere Early Spirit-Gathering Stage Gu cultivator. What's the point of even trying?

Even if the Ten Extremity Physique were incredibly powerful, it wouldn't allow him to directly leap three levels and fight beyond his level.

Long Xuan's face darkened. He realized that if he didn't find a way to break the deadlock, he would probably be doomed. He had no choice but to steel himself and prepare to use that move.

This Gu Insect's ability is merely to downgrade an opponent's level, but lifespan has no level distinctions, and this ability will never reduce a person's lifespan.

At this moment, Long Xuan was finally ready to unleash the forbidden technique that came with the "Scripture of Longevity"—the Energy Bomb.

The Energy Bomb is a forbidden suicidal technique that sacrifices lifespan to gain power for a short period of time, possessing the power to threaten those at higher realms.

At this point, this is the only way to break the deadlock. While the Long Qilin can hold out for a while longer, they must use the Energy Bomb to create an opening and break out of the encirclement as quickly as possible.

Otherwise, once those two Gu cultivators at the Marrow Cleansing Stage finish off the Long Qilin and turn their attention to him, he will surely die.

Long Xuan steeled his resolve and immediately decided to fight.

So far, his clone has helped him cultivate the "Scripture of Longevity" to the seventeenth level, adding seven hundred years to his lifespan out of thin air, not including the first ten levels.

With such a large amount of lifespan at his disposal, he could squander it recklessly for once.

Without further hesitation, Long Xuan dodged Feng Wu's attack and immediately condensed a white ball of light in his right hand. It spun rapidly, constantly compressing, flashing a faint white light, and releasing a terrifying power.

The white light instantly drained Long Xuan of a hundred years of his lifespan, causing him to feel slightly unwell.