The Path of Immortality: Starts With Creating Water Bear Gu

Chapter 153: Long Panpan’s Plot

At this point, the competition had already gone through eleven rounds, with just one final round left.

The geniuses of the Far West Long Clan had won three rounds and lost two.

The geniuses of the Western Land Long Clan had won three rounds and lost three.

Overall, it was six wins and five losses.

As for the Bai Clan, they had five wins and six losses.

The Long Clan had won one more match than the Bai Clan.

The heads of the other clans watching the competition were thoroughly entertained. Even though the Long Clan had been cunning in the last few matches, and none of their geniuses had been crippled, the Bai Clan had lost eleven of their top geniuses.

Moreover, these eleven were the best talents of their generation. After this battle, it was clear that the Bai Clan's line of geniuses had essentially been cut off. The direct consequence of this was a greatly reduced chance of producing a Gu King in this generation, which might lead to the Bai Clan losing their position among the Ten Great Clans of the Western Territories.

At this moment, the final match of the tournament was about to begin, and everyone showed signs of anticipation.

The City Lord’s voice once again rang out in the arena: "For this final match, there’s no need for me to call out names. Just come up on your own!"

The crowd from the Long Clan immediately looked towards the cutest girl in their group.

“Panpan! Good luck. If things start to look bad, just surrender. We won’t blame you!”

“Panpan, your priority is your safety. If you’re not a match for the opponent, make sure to surrender immediately!”

“Exactly! Safety first. Don’t get hurt!”

...

The crowd chattered among themselves, surrounding Long Panpan in the center.

Long Xuan couldn't help but twitch his mouth. Every other member of the Long Clan was expected to win when they went up, but when it came to Long Panpan, everyone was hoping she'd surrender.

Goodness! Isn’t this a bit of a double standard? From the looks of it, Long Panpan's adorable appearance had captured everyone's hearts, and none of them wanted her to get hurt.

Looks truly are justice. It seems that no matter which world, those with good looks are always favored.

Long Ziyan was too cold, making everyone afraid to approach her. On the other hand, the lively and cute Long Panpan had become the beloved of the group the moment she arrived.

However, don't be fooled by her cute exterior. This girl was quite sneaky. Last time, when Long Xuan was buying a Golden Dragon Fish, he had been duped by her.

Although her strength was weaker than Long Yan and Long Bao in the same realm, her craftiness made up for it. Long Xuan felt that she might not lose this final match, and he couldn’t help but show a look of anticipation.

On the Bai Clan's side, a dark cloud hung over all of them.

Bai Zhan turned his head towards a young man behind him and said, “This is the last match. Be quick. Don’t give her a chance to surrender. Use your full strength and cripple her. This is our last opportunity, and it’s also our final shred of dignity.”

Bai Chen nodded, showing a cruel expression towards the girl before leaping onto the arena first.

Long Panpan finally broke free from the overly enthusiastic Long Clan members and walked towards the arena with a smile. However, as she looked at Bai Chen, a subtle and devious glint appeared in her eyes, one so faint it was almost undetectable.

But Long Xuan noticed it, and his expression turned odd. He knew it! He knew that this Long Panpan, despite her innocent facade, was quite scheming. Clearly, she was up to something again.

Long Xuan grew curious, wondering what kind of trickery she had in mind this time.

Long Panpan walked towards the arena slowly, and as soon as her first foot touched the stage, her aura suddenly surged. In the blink of an eye, her cultivation jumped from the early stage of Marrow Cleansing to the mid-stage.

She paused for a moment, with an expression of feigned surprise.

“I’m terribly sorry, I just happened to break through at the last moment. Shall we begin now?”

By this time, Long Panpan had fully stepped onto the stage. She looked playfully at her opponent in front of her.

Mid-stage Marrow Cleansing versus early-stage Marrow Cleansing—she had a guaranteed win.

Bai Chen was completely stunned. His expression was no longer calm.

Your so-called last-minute breakthrough?

Most people break through during the battle itself, but you just stepped onto the stage and instantly broke through. What impeccable timing! Who are you trying to fool?

It was clear that she had been suppressing her cultivation, waiting for the moment she stepped onto the stage to "break through." Then she put on a shocked face, pretending it was accidental.

He almost died from anger.

How is this even a fight anymore?

She’s in the mid-stage of Marrow Cleansing, while he’s in the early stage. How was he supposed to fight her?

Bai Zhan felt completely numb. The rest of the Bai Clan’s Gu Masters were also dumbfounded, and then one by one, they began cursing in frustration.

“You Long Clan are so shameless! Bringing in external help was bad enough, but now you want to overwhelm us with superior cultivation? That’s just bullying!”

“Suppressing your cultivation only to break through at the last moment? You Long Clan sure know how to play this game. Do you think we’re all idiots? Are you going to claim she wasn’t intentionally holding back?”

“Shameless! Absolutely shameless! I have never seen someone as brazen as her. This match doesn’t count!”

All the Bai Clan’s Gu Masters were fuming, standing up in unison and filling the air with curses.

The Long Clan’s Gu Masters hadn’t expected Long Panpan to pull off such a trick either. After a brief pause, they nodded in approval, then stood up and began arguing back with the Bai Clan.

Even though they weren’t in the right, there was no way they would lose in terms of morale. They had no justification, but they would still argue their case.

“My Panpan had a breakthrough during the battle! So what? Bite me if you can!”

“Exactly, who said you can’t have a breakthrough during a fight? Can anyone really control when it happens?”

“Exactly! My Panpan is a genius, and it’s perfectly normal for geniuses to break through in the middle of a battle, don’t you understand?”

The members of the Long family, all Gu cultivators, were incredibly skilled at making excuses, shamelessly lying without batting an eye.

The Bai family’s Gu cultivators were all fuming. Yes, it’s common for geniuses to have breakthroughs in battle, but did Long Panpan even fight earlier? She hadn’t even exchanged blows before suddenly breaking through! How can you call that a battle breakthrough? Are you trying to fool idiots?

Other clans watching could only twitch their lips in disbelief. You can play the game like that? They were certainly witnessing something new today.

It was obvious that the Long family was cheating, but the competition rules didn’t explicitly forbid breakthroughs during battle, so it was up to the city lord’s judgment. Everything now depended on the city lord’s decision.

However, since both clans had been playing dirty in every previous round, and all those actions had been permitted, there was no reason why this one shouldn’t be allowed.

As long as no surface rules were broken, all actions would be permissible in this tournament.

The city lord, after thinking it over, declared, “The match begins now.”

He paid no attention to the already enraged Bai family members.

“Damn it! You win this round! We admit defeat! The Bai family concedes this time, but we’ll get our revenge in the future!”

Bai Zhan, his face turning green, glared at the Long family and announced his surrender before leading his team away. All the Bai family’s Gu cultivators hung their heads, with dark expressions and gloomy faces.

Behind them, the victorious cheers of the Long family’s Gu cultivators rang out, as piercing as ever.

“We won a total of seven matches and claimed seven out of twelve Spirit Metal ore veins. It’s still not enough!”

Long Yuanshan sighed, not entirely satisfied with the result.

Long Qian laughed, “It’s already plenty. The Bai family only secured five out of twelve, and most of their current generation of geniuses has been wiped out. They’re in a much worse state than we are.”

“But we’ve made a serious enemy now. Making enemies with a powerful clan is never a good thing.”

Long Yuanshan sighed helplessly, “It couldn’t be helped. They crippled our family’s genius first; how could we not retaliate?”

“If we had chosen to endure it this time and not retaliated, we would have given other major clans the impression that we’re easy to bully. In the long run, that wouldn’t be a good thing either.”

“Between two evils, you choose the lesser one. Even though I know the other major clans are waiting for us and the Bai family to fight until both sides are wounded, ready to watch the show, we still had no choice but to make an enemy of the Bai family.”

“As head of the family, I have to consider too many things. A single sentence can determine the fate of the entire clan. It’s not an easy burden to bear.” Long Yuanshan sighed deeply, his face showing signs of fatigue.

This two-clan tournament, which had shaken the entire city, had finally come to an end. There were only twelve matches in total, and it didn’t take much time.

Especially since every match either ended in a one-hit knockout or a quick surrender, the competition proceeded even faster.

Many spectators had come to watch the excitement, but it ended so quickly that they all left unsatisfied.

As the tournament concluded and people began to disperse, the Gu cultivators from the major clans sitting in the front also prepared to leave.

However, at that moment, an explosive piece of news suddenly spread through the crowd.

The Qian Auction House was planning to auction off the legendary Living Wood in three months. This news was earth-shattering. Everyone who heard it froze for a moment, then their eyes gleamed with intense greed, and their breathing quickened.

That was Living Wood, a legendary treasure! Just by eating the bark, one could extend their lifespan by five hundred years. The allure of such a treasure was simply too overwhelming, and not even a Gu King could resist.

What’s more, the value of an entire Living Wood tree went far beyond merely extending one’s life by five hundred years. Just nurturing it could generate endless wealth. For any faction, this treasure was worth obtaining at any cost.

Long Yuanshan clenched his fists suddenly. Even he, the family head who could remain unshaken in the face of anything, couldn’t help but show a rare moment of excitement upon hearing this news.

“Patriarch, calm down. The Living Wood is clearly something that can generate far more wealth if kept, so selling it would be a huge loss. Whoever is selling it must be a fool. Let’s investigate the situation first.”

“Even if there’s no conspiracy and the Living Wood is real, it would be incredibly difficult for our Long family to obtain it. If we lose too many powerful clan members in the process, it wouldn’t be worth it.” Long Qian said gravely, his expression serious.

“I’m only excited because several of our clan’s elders are nearing the end of their lifespan. If we could get just a few pieces of Living Wood bark, those Gu King elders could live for at least another five hundred years.”

“But those Gu King-level elders aren’t ones I can easily command.”

“With their lifespans running out, they might risk participating in the fight for the Living Wood. Whether that will be a good or bad thing for the clan is beyond my control.” Long Yuanshan smiled bitterly.

“But you’re right. Only a fool would auction off such a treasure as the Living Wood.”

“The Living Wood has eternal life. If kept in the clan and passed down through generations, its value would be billions of times greater than its auction price. Auctioning it off would be a massive loss.”

“Also, advertising the auction for three months is too long. That’s more than enough time to attract all the Gu Kings in the Blackstone City region, and even those from beyond could make it using special methods.”

“With so many Gu Kings gathering here, who knows what kind of disaster might unfold?”

“Whether it’s intentional or not, if someone deliberately gathers all these Gu Kings in one place, what are they planning? There must be some sort of earth-shattering conspiracy behind this.”

“Warn all our clan members to stay indoors more often. Blackstone City will soon be crawling with powerful experts, and I fear a storm is coming.”

Long Yuanshan’s expression grew thoughtful, and his gaze became increasingly grave..

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