Beast Tide Erupts (Illustration)

Three days passed in the blink of an eye, Long Xuan's injuries had almost healed thanks to the powerful self-healing ability of the Cockroach Gu.

He certainly couldn't write anything substantial in those three days, but he still gained something.

At least he knew that this Gu Recipe not only required nine Supreme-grade Spirit Insect, but also corresponding body parts of nine spirit beasts.

For example, if the dragon's head resembles a deer, then the Gu Recipe must contain deer antlers.

For example, if dragon scales resemble fish, then the Gu Recipe must contain fish scales.

For example, if a dragon's claws resemble an eagle's, then the Gu Recipe must contain eagle claws.

Furthermore, the material cannot be from ordinary spirit beasts; it must be from rare spirit beasts, and it must come from the Beast King.

Materials that lack the aura of a king are unacceptable.

How could the price be cheap then? Collecting nine kinds of beast king materials at the same time would be so expensive it would make you vomit blood, not to mention nine Supreme-grade Spirit Insect.

Long Xuan's scalp tingled; it was far too expensive. It was already this pricey even before listing a few ingredients. Once the Gu Recipe was complete, wouldn't he be draining half his savings? Long Xuan's face looked worse than if he'd cried.

Now that his injuries had almost healed, Long Xuan decided not to stay in the tree.

The Liver Gu Formula still requires going home to perform liver-nourishing exercises in a quiet, undisturbed environment.

This place is fraught with anxiety and distraction; it's not a good place to conduct research.

Just as Long Xuan was about to climb down the tree, he suddenly saw a cheetah carrying its prey up a nearby tree, and his pupils instantly contracted.

Who told him it was dangerous but climbing the tree was safe? I promise I won't kill him.

Long Xuan dared not move, not even daring to breathe, for fear that the cheetah would notice him, its prey.

This is a spirit beast that can climb trees. If it sets its sights on you, you'll have nowhere to run, and it might just unleash another Energy Bomb.

He dared not make the slightest sound. Many spirit beasts have hearing dozens, or even hundreds of times that of humans, and he couldn't afford to gamble with that.

Only after the cheetah had finished its delicious meal in the tree and fallen asleep on the trunk did he feel relieved. He carefully climbed down the tree and then fled the area as if escaping.

His Eye of Heavenly Secrets remained open throughout the entire journey.

His Eye of Heavenly Secrets allows him to see spirit beasts from extremely far away, enabling him to avoid danger in time, unlike other Rogue Cultivator who blindly rush into the spirit beast's perception range, only to find that by the time they try to escape, the spirit beast's terrifying speed makes it impossible for them to get away.

It has to be said that Long Xuan's eye was of immense help to him; the Eye of Heavenly Secrets combined with his cheat-like abilities was enough to help him avoid more than 90% of the dangers in the forest.

But precisely because of this, he rarely encountered any danger, which gradually made him bolder.

You should know that the Dragon Gu Recipe he is currently creating requires nine kinds of Supreme-grade Spirit Insect. If he collects them step by step, how long would it take?

So he had no choice but to take the risk and try to hunt the spirit beast.

You have to understand that he's not just guaranteed to find top- Supreme-grade Spirit Insect Supreme-grade Spirit Insect in the forest, he's absolutely certain to find them. His cheat ability is practically a bug in this world.

It's simply a matter of whether the Supreme-grade Spirit Insect talisman he finds meets his requirements, which is also a difficult task for him.

There are countless kinds of Supreme-grade Spirit Insect in this world, how could it be such a coincidence that he happened to encounter the kind he needed?

Therefore, even if he had a cheat code, finding a suitable target would not be an easy task.

Long Xuan searched for a full month.

In the past month, he encountered countless spirit beasts carrying Spirit Insect, and even several spirit beasts carrying Supreme-grade Spirit Insect.

However, these Supreme-grade Spirit Insect were not the kind he needed, and given the powerful spirit beasts, he was unsure if he could defeat them and dared not take the risk, so he left without looking back.

That's just his personality; his life and safety are paramount. No matter how great the treasure is in front of him, don't even think about luring him into taking risks. Unless it's 100% safe, he won't even consider it if there's a 10% chance of danger.

After searching for a month, just when he was about to give up, his hard work finally paid off, and he found a spirit beast that perfectly matched his criteria.

When his Eye of Heavenly Secrets saw the spirit beast, they lit up immediately. Long Xuan then quickly ran over. He had been searching for Supreme-grade Spirit Insect for a whole month, and it had been quite a long and difficult search.

In the vision of the Eye of Heavenly Secrets, a large, emerald-green fish was lying on the shore, basking in the sun.

This large fish was already as tall as a person, with bright green scales all over its body. Its two pairs of fins were large and powerful, enough to support it walking on the shore. It had an underbite, a pouting lower lip, and fierce-looking eyebrows.

It was the fish species he was looking for called the Great Dragonfish. After repeated attempts, he found that the material for the Dragon Gu could only be the parasite of the Great Dragonfish; no other fish species would work. Otherwise, why would he have gone to such great lengths, taking a whole month to find his target?

And coincidentally, a Supreme-grade Spirit Insect was perched on the Spirit Core of this Great Dragonfish; it was truly a stroke of luck.

Long Xuan became excited. As he approached his target, he began to walk carefully, making sure his footsteps made no sound so as not to scare the Great Dragonfish back into the water.

Once the Great Dragonfish returns to the water, it's like a fish entering the ocean; catching it again will be extremely difficult.

Finally, Long Xuan leaned against a large tree to block the Great Dragonfish Great Dragonfish's view and began to think about how to kill it.

This Great Dragonfish possesses the aura of a peak first-tier spirit beast, comparable to a Gu cultivator at the Peak Spirit-Gathering Stage stage.

Long Xuan possesses the Ten Extremity Physique Techniques, enabling him to fight opponents of higher levels. He has a fighting chance against this Great Dragonfish.

However, Long Xuan's overly cautious nature began to resurface. Although he possessed the strength to fight, what if something unexpected happened?

Under the same level, a spirit beast is a cut above a Gu cultivator; how can it be treated like a Gu cultivator at the Peak Spirit-Gathering Stage? What if I'm no match for it, or it simply doesn't fight and escapes back into the water?

Long Xuan had a million possible scenarios in his mind.

In his view, there is no battle in this world with a 100% chance of victory. So far, all his opponents have believed they would win, making all sorts of overconfident predictions. But what has been the result?

The grass on their graves had grown so tall, and this batch was completely wiped out, with no remains even left behind.

Therefore, Long Xuan did not intend to rush in recklessly. The biggest difference between humans and beasts is the vast difference in intelligence. He wanted to resolve the battle using the safest method and would never take any risks, even if there was a 90% success rate.

Long Xuan pondered for a moment, realizing that he didn't have many things he could use. The Origin Realm probably wouldn't work, as this guy was a Beast King and his cultivation level was higher than his own.

After much thought, he finally placed a large jar of distilled liquor on the ground and then hid himself in a secluded spot in a tree.

The Spirit Wine contains immense spiritual power and possesses the effects of a elixir, making it extremely attractive to spirit beasts.

Especially since this is a jar of spicy wine, which has the effect of permanently increasing strength after drinking it, making it even more attractive to spirit beasts.

At the same time, the spicy liquor is also the strongest among his four types of liquor.

Despite its enormous size, this Great Dragonfish wouldn't be able to stand still once it swallowed that jar of wine. Even Little White Wine Gu couldn't withstand the strength of distilled liquor, let alone a spirit beast.

Once it drinks, it will definitely get drunk, and then this Great Dragonfish will become his prey, at his mercy.

Even if it knew to restrain itself and only take a small sip without getting drunk, the plan was still successful as long as it was led away from the beach.

Fish are definitely the best at water warfare, so you must keep them away from the sea. Fighting inland will definitely reduce a fish's fighting ability by more than ten times. Even if you are discovered and forced to fight head-on, your chances of winning will be much greater.

This also prevents it from quickly escaping back to the sea if it is defeated, achieving multiple benefits in one fell swoop.

Suddenly realizing that the Spirit Wine might not be able to lure the Great Dragonfish over, Long Xuan placed honey and a large amount of spirit pills on the ground, including Spirit-Gathering Pill, before hiding back up in the tree.

He learned the art of overestimating the enemy long ago, just like his enemies.

To be honest, this trap is really childish; any normal person wouldn't fall for it.

There was nothing around just a moment ago, and suddenly treasures appear, all sorts of treasures appearing together—who are they trying to fool? Even a fool wouldn't believe it.

But believe it or not, a spirit beast might actually believe it. Such a rudimentary trap wouldn't fool even a seven-year-old, but a spirit beast could easily fall for it.

Especially fish and spirit beasts, they are not blind, they will bite the sharp hook in the water and then be caught by humans. Isn't that strange?

Its traps are far more sophisticated than fishhooks; they might not fool humans, but swindling a foolish fish is a piece of cake.

And just as Long Xuan had predicted, things unfolded exactly as he had foreseen.

The Great Dragonfish that was sunbathing on the shore suddenly sniffed the air, and its eyes lit up. It then crawled over following the scent of wine.

Long Xuan was overjoyed. What a silly fish! As a fish, it dared to run inland. Who else but you would die if you weren't eaten? Wouldn't that affect its intelligence?

The Great Dragonfish waved its two pairs of large fins and quickly splashed over to the wine jar. It sniffed inside and immediately showed a look of intoxication.

Suddenly, its fierce brows furrowed, as if it sensed something was amiss. It immediately looked around warily, but couldn't find anything above it.

Seeing that no one was around, it finally felt relieved, thinking that it had been overthinking things, and began to enjoy the delicious Spirit Wine with a blissful expression.

Despite its large size, it has a really low alcohol tolerance. Before it could even take a few sips, it was already swaying unsteadily, then collapsed to the ground and fell fast asleep.

From the treetop, Long Xuan could hear its deafening snoring, its belly rising and falling with the sound.

"Success!"

Long Xuan was overjoyed. It really was a stupid fish, too easy to fool. With a little trick, he captured it without bloodshed.

Long Xuan slowly climbed down from the tree, trying his best not to make a sound. Even though the Great Dragonfish was completely drunk, he would not let his guard down.

Long Xuan tiptoed cautiously to the side of the Great Dragonfish, and then...

"Life-Urging Palm!"

"Life-Urging Palm!"

"Life-Urging Palm!"

And that was it.

Long Xuan skinned and gutted the Great Dragonfish, enjoyed a delicious meal of fish meat, and then left with the remaining fish meat and the top-grade emerald green Supreme-grade Spirit Insect.

Having acquired another top-grade Supreme-grade Spirit Insect Supreme-grade Spirit Insect, he was in a very good mood, humming a little tune as he made his way to find a third.

It has to be said that he was completely addicted to finding Supreme-grade Spirit Insect.

Driven by greed, he actually planned to collect all nine Supreme-grade Spirit Insect here in one go.

However, not long after he had this thought, he suddenly heard a slight tremor in the ground, as if a large group of things were running.

His expression suddenly changed slightly, and he hurriedly used his Eye of Heavenly Secrets to look into the distance. Sure enough, he saw a familiar face.

They saw Old Daoist Li and the Little Apothecary running frantically towards them, their expressions panicked, glancing back every now and then.

Long Xuan looked behind them and, good heavens, there was a whole swarm of black rats chasing after them, a dark, dense mass.

But aren't these black rats a bit too big? Many of them are almost half a person's height! You call these rats in your house? They're practically sentient!

Although Long Xuan had seen the group of rats beforehand, he did not choose to hide in time.

The rats seemed numerous, but they were all ordinary spirit beasts at the early stage of the first tier, so they were not a threat to him at all. Just as the rats were about to approach him, he unleashed a Flaming Blazing Flame Palm attack, and a sea of fire instantly engulfed the rats.

How could a first-stage early-level spirit beast withstand the attack of the Blazing Flame Palm? A large swarm of rats can be terrifying at times. Despite being a first-stage early-level spirit beast, it was able to overwhelm and kill a Gu cultivator at the Peak Spirit-Gathering Stage by virtue of its numerical advantage.

It could even kill Gu cultivators in the Marrow Cleansing Stage; if the numbers were larger, even Gu cultivators in the Spiritual Sea Stage would have to temporarily avoid its attacks.

But sometimes rat swarms aren't so scary. Just like the swarm of Black-armored Beetle that Long Xuan wiped out, the scary thing about social creatures is their numbers. In fact, a single rat is not strong at all and can be easily wiped out by a large-scale attack.

Long Xuan happens to be one of the few Gu cultivators who possesses heaven-defying ultimate moves, and he is completely unafraid of these swarms of creatures, whether they are insects or beasts.

With just one move, the Blazing Flame Palm, he burned the massive swarm of rats to ashes, and also rescued the two extras in the process.

"I saved your lives again, so now you each owe me two lives. You'd better think carefully about how to repay my life-saving grace," Long Xuan joked.

Old Daoist Li and the Little Apothecary plopped down on the ground, panting heavily. They looked exhausted, almost at their limit. If Long Xuan had been a little slower, the old man and the boy would have been swallowed up by the rat swarm, and even the Cockroach Gu would have been useless.

It took Old Daoist Li a long while to catch his breath. He cupped his hands to Long Xuan and said, "Thank you for saving me, young friend. I am deeply grateful and will always be in your lap."

The Little Apothecary also said, "Thank you very much! What kind of spiritual technique was that you just used? I've never seen it before!"

"Any attack has an inverse relationship between attack range and attack power. Single-target spells have high attack power, while area-of-effect spells have low attack power. To pursue attack range, you must disperse your power and sacrifice attack power."

"Your spiritual technique not only has a wide attack range, but its attack power is also surprisingly high. It's definitely not an ordinary spiritual technique." The Little Apothecary looked at Long Xuan with surprise.

"Is it powerful? Maybe it's because of the Ten Extremity Physique Technique," Long Xuan replied casually.

Both Old Daoist Li and the Little Apothecary wore expressions of disbelief. They weren't stupid; every ability Long Xuan had used along the way was one they had never seen before.

Especially those white energy balls that exploded and nearly killed them—they had never seen such a powerful spiritual technique before; it was simply too exaggerated.

If they hadn't seen one or two of them, it might be due to their ignorance. But if they hadn't seen any of them, then they couldn't help but suspect one thing: could all those incredible spiritual techniques have been created by this kid himself?

Old Daoist Li and the Little Apothecary exchanged a glance, both seeing the shock in each other's eyes.

Long Xuan didn't want to dwell on this topic, so he changed the subject and asked, "Tell me about you guys. Why were you chased around by a bunch of rats? Why did you provoke them in the first place?"

"These things are no different from those rabbits. Don't be fooled by their large size; they don't drop anything good. Provoking them is a thankless task."

Old Daoist Li shook his head and said with a wry smile, "It's not that I want to provoke them, it's just that a rat swarm has occurred, no, to be precise, a Beast Tide has already occurred, and the rats are just one group within that Beast Tide."

"Besides, we only encountered a small part of the rat swarm. We were lucky; we didn't run into a large horde of rats, and there weren't any Flying Rat, Fire Rat, or even the rat king—those troublesome creatures."

"Otherwise, you won't be able to save us; instead, you'll get yourself killed. No matter how powerful your spiritual arts are, you can't withstand that level of rat swarm."

"That's right!" The Little Apothecary stood up, his expression very solemn. "The predictions of those Gu King were correct. Beast Tide has now broken out in the Hundred Thousand Mountains, and it's unprecedented in scale. It will flow into all parts of the human world. The scale of this Beast Tide is extremely rare in the last thousand years."

"The Hundred Thousand Mountains are in complete chaos now; it's no longer a place to linger. We must leave as quickly as possible."

"We were lucky to run into a small swarm of rats this time. If we encounter a large rat swarm next time, we won't be so lucky to escape alive."