The Path of Immortality: Starts With Creating Water Bear Gu

The Holy Gu Academy is located at the heart of Holy Gu City. It is a cradle for geniuses and a forge for the powerful.

The academy offers a vast number of powerful inheritances open for all to study. Its resources are extremely abundant, and the probability of its graduates advancing to the Gu King level is remarkably high. Because of this, countless geniuses from across the world come from far and wide each year, sparing no effort or cost to join this academy. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Once these geniuses graduate, they disperse throughout the world, making names for themselves across various regions. The entire Gu Realm is filled with powerhouses who once walked the halls of the Holy Gu Academy.

It is no exaggeration to say that if the Holy Gu Academy were to ever face danger, even if just ten percent of its alumni returned out of loyalty, it would be enough to suppress most of the world’s powers.

Thus, the Holy Gu Academy holds an exalted position even within the Xuanyuan Empire. It need not obey the imperial family nor heed its commands. The royal court lacks the courage to provoke it.

To antagonize the Holy Gu Academy… is equivalent to kicking a colossal hornet’s nest.

Gazing at the vast architectural complex before him, Long Xuan couldn’t help but feel amazed.

This is the terrifying strength of an academic force. The Long Clan only passes down their Gu techniques to their own bloodline, never to outsiders. But the Academy? It accepts students purely based on talent, regardless of surname or background. Because of this merit-based system, the Holy Gu Academy’s strength exceeds that of most of the world's great powers.

Long Xuan used his Eye of Heavenly Secret to peer deep into the academy. He observed that the number of students easily exceeded tens of thousands, leaving him stunned.

The sheer number of students within the Holy Gu Academy was far beyond what he had expected. One must remember—every one of them had gone through an intense selection process and were all peerless geniuses. Not a single one was of mediocre talent.

Any one of them, if placed in the Far Western Regions, could dominate all local geniuses.

But what truly shocked him was this—there wasn’t just one Infinity progress inside the Holy Gu Academy.

Not only did Zhu Jiuge harbor an infinity within her body, but deep beneath the Holy Gu Academy, another infinite progress existence was concealed.

Whatever this infinitely powerful entity was, it emitted a spiritual energy so vast and dense it made one's soul tremble. Its spiritual power was like a boundless ocean—immeasurable and unfathomable.

Without exaggeration, if a Gu King’s spiritual energy was a "one", then this creature's energy was a terrifying one million plus.

And perhaps even far beyond that. With his current eye strength, that was all Long Xuan could perceive.

This monster’s spiritual power was so great that he could not estimate it. It was enough to make one's blood run cold.

Above this monster sat a nine-story black tower.

The most monstrously talented students of the Holy Gu Academy all cultivated within this Nine-Tiered Black Tower.

Those with the highest aptitude cultivated on the ninth floor, where spiritual energy was at its most concentrated.

The lower the floor, the thinner the spiritual energy—and correspondingly, the talent of the cultivators also diminished. Of course, this was only relative to those on the higher floors.

The massive source of spiritual energy for this black tower was precisely that monstrous being sealed below it.

In other words, all the Academy’s geniuses were cultivating by absorbing the monster’s spiritual energy. This was the reason for the Academy’s students advancing by leaps and bounds.

The spiritual energy quality of Holy Gu Academy students was extraordinarily high. They were nearly unmatched among peers of the same realm, and their future prospects of becoming Gu Kings were very high—all because they absorbed the terrifying spiritual power of the monster beneath the tower.

The Holy Gu Academy has a history spanning over one million years, and that monster sealed below the tower has had its spiritual energy drained by countless students for over a million years—yet it still hasn’t been exhausted!

Long Xuan’s eyes widened, his body breaking out in a cold sweat.

What on earth was that thing to possess such astronomical levels of spiritual energy? The Holy Gu Academy was playing with fire. If that horrifying entity were ever released… the consequences would be unimaginable!

If that thing escaped, not only would the Holy Gu Academy be instantly annihilated—the entire Gu Realm might face apocalyptic destruction.

Long Xuan’s lips trembled. He was completely unsettled.

The Holy Gu Academy held secrets—massive secrets. Why did they seal that monster? What was the true purpose of the Academy’s founding? Could it be related to that being?

Countless questions swirled in Long Xuan’s mind. He was utterly rattled. The presence beneath the Holy Gu Academy had genuinely frightened him.

What they had buried beneath the Academy… was a ticking time bomb. Who knew when it would detonate? If it did, the entire Holy Gu City would be reduced to ruins. The place was simply too dangerous.

Taking a deep breath, Long Xuan forcefully suppressed his inner fear and stepped toward the Academy.

Whatever was sealed below had nothing to do with him. He had no desire to investigate. His top priority was to locate Zhu Jiuge.

With the Eye of Heavenly Secret, finding her figure was not difficult. Long Xuan casually transformed into the appearance of a Holy Gu Academy student and easily blended in.

The Academy was enormous and divided into four major branches: Qin (Music), Qi (Go), Shu (Calligraphy), and Hua (Painting).

Students in the Qin Branch specialized in playing zither-like instruments; the Qi Branch excelled at chess and strategic arts; the Hua Branch focused on painting techniques…

These four schools of power were incredibly influential within the Gu Dao (Gu Path), and none were superior or inferior to the others.

At this moment, Zhu Jiuge was in the Calligraphy Branch, and so Long Xuan made his way there directly.

Upon entering the branch, he was immediately enveloped in a scholarly aura. The academic atmosphere here was thick and solemn. Along the way, he saw many students engrossed in books, heads bowed in deep study, making him wonder if he had entered an ancient world.

The power system of Book Gu was complex, including poetry, calligraphy, novels… and more.

To research Book Gu, one had to invest vast amounts of time studying these disciplines. Even now, Long Xuan was still curious how exactly these were used in Gu refinement.

Before long, he reached an elegant courtyard and saw Zhu Jiuge’s back. She was seated at a stone table, diligently writing, fully immersed in her work.

Curious, Long Xuan walked up behind her and glanced at what she was writing—his expression quickly turned strange.

Zhu Jiuge was writing a novel. As a powerful Gu cultivator, she wasn’t cultivating but rather… writing fiction? He found it strange no matter how he looked at it.

“This… can this be used to refine Gu? Could you explain how novels are used in Gu refinement?” Long Xuan asked curiously.

If novels could refine Gu, he couldn't help but think of the many classics from his past life. The thought of bringing those epic works into this world excited him—what kind of terrifying Gu insects would they produce?

Zhu Jiuge seemed to have already sensed his presence. Without turning her head, she replied:

“I possess a peak-grade spiritual insect known as a Bookworm. This type of spirit insect loves to read novels.”

“The Bookworm has an extraordinary ability—it can potentially comprehend the abilities described in a novel and reproduce them in the real world.”

“Of course, the abilities it comprehends are completely random. The more heaven-defying the ability, the harder it is to comprehend.”

“So when writing a novel, one shouldn’t intentionally create overly exaggerated abilities, or it might all be for nothing. But the story itself must be brilliant.”

“The Bookworm is extremely picky. Only when reading a truly engaging novel can it evolve into a Book Gu. Trashy novels won’t trigger any change.”

“Moreover, the strength of the Book Gu after evolution is directly proportional to the novel’s quality. As long as the novel is captivating enough, there is no upper limit to the power of the resulting Gu.”

“I plan to write a legendary masterpiece, and refine the most powerful Book Gu this world has ever seen!”

As she spoke, Zhu Jiuge’s eyes sparkled with ambition and brilliance.