Chapter 122: Sudden Change

The No. 1 Gu Pit would naturally not be left empty. After the two stepped down, Long Wanli immediately shouted toward the bottom: "Long Ziyan, Long Long, enter the No. 1 Gu Pit."

As soon as his voice fell, the crowd perked up again. Long Ziyan was the clan's number one genius and a hot favorite to win the Gu Fighting Tournament. Coupled with her high attractiveness, her Gu fight would naturally pique everyone's interest.

Thus, everyone focused their gaze on the No. 1 Gu Pit once more, filled with great anticipation for the upcoming fight.

Long Xuan also perked up at this moment, his attention focused on the No. 1 Gu Pit.

He had long been curious about what kind of Gu worms Long Ziyan possessed; now was the perfect time to find out.

However, just as his interest was piqued, Long Long suddenly raised his hand and shouted spinelessly, "I concede!" Long Xuan was stunned on the spot.

Such a coward?

The rest of the crowd also felt a breath catch in their throats, feeling stifled. They all looked at Long Long with contemptuous gazes, secretly cursing him as a coward.

Long Long saw the contemptuous gazes of the crowd and snorted coldly in his heart. He wasn't stupid; why fight a battle he was destined to lose? It was better to save some stamina and focus his full strength on dealing with the next fight.

If he were to fight the number one genius and end up with his Gu worms severely injured, causing him to lose the next fight as well, that would be truly stupid.

With no excitement to watch here, Long Xuan turned his gaze to other battlefields. By now, the other Gu pits had already started fighting. Various Gu worms were colliding with each other, and the major Gu pits were in chaos, the battle situation extremely intense.

The Gu cultivators were shouting instructions from outside the pits, their emotions stirred. Such a game was indeed highly entertaining; even Long Xuan was momentarily mesmerized.

Each Gu cultivator's worms varied in strength and quantity, and it was common to see situations where a smaller number fought a larger one in the pits, yet miraculously achieved victory in the end.

There were also tactical masters who, despite their Gu worms not being particularly strong, could reasonably combine their abilities and use a bit of strategy to unexpectedly defeat opponents much stronger than themselves. Even Long Xuan found this fight thrilling to watch.

No wonder so many people loved watching others fight Gu. The chaotic battle of Gu worms had both visual impact and required brainpower to formulate tactics. It was a game that tested wisdom, making participants unable to stop and onlookers addicted.

At the same time, this kind of game allowed one to learn many things. Those participating in the Gu fight could hone their practical experience, and those watching could learn tactics to borrow for their own Gu worm systems.

However, although he was confident in his high IQ and superior strategy, he actually didn't like using his brain; thinking was just too tiring. He preferred to simply release a bunch of top-grade Gu worms, crush his opponents with absolute strength, and resolve the battle in a destructive manner—simple and crude.

In the face of absolute strength, any tactics or strategy were useless. He was too lazy to burn his brain during a fight; cultivating his Gu worms to be the strongest was the true path.

Next, his clone entered several more Gu pits, but relying on the massive swarm of bees, bullying the few with the many, he achieved victory in almost every instance in a destructive manner.

It was true that the Earth Mover Beetle could defend against the Ice Bee's ice needles, but don't forget that Long Xuan also possessed an Earth Mover Beetle.

Moreover, his Earth Mover Beetle was the first one ever born in the world, the ancestor of all Earth Mover Beetles in the Long Clan, and it was the largest with the highest growth level.

Furthermore, his Earth Mover Beetle had completed its metamorphosis by consuming superior spirit soil, and the metamorphosis effect was the strongest among all Earth Mover Beetles in the Long Clan.

If it came to a one-on-one fight between Earth Mover Beetles, who here could compare to him?

It wasn't that no one had thought of using the Earth Mover Beetle's defense to withstand the Ice Bee's damage, but after being beaten up by Long Xuan's Earth Mover Beetle ancestor, they all became obedient.

Until finally, whenever anyone faced him, they would directly raise their hands in surrender, no longer having the courage to compete with the Earth Mover Beetle ancestor.

Of course, it was unrealistic to sweep the entire field relying solely on the bee swarm and the Earth Mover Beetle.

Many people could break his bee swarm and Earth Mover Beetle, such as Long Ziyan and those geniuses who possessed top-grade Gu worms.

But such people were destined to be in the minority. Long Xuan simply conceded whenever he encountered an opponent who was difficult to fight.

He wasn't competing for first place; just securing a spot in the top twenty was enough. He didn't care about losing a few matches occasionally.

Time passed bit by bit, and more and more matches in the Gu Fighting Tournament concluded. Before he knew it, it was already noon.

For such a long time, Long Xuan had been staring at Long Ziyan, wanting to see what kind of Gu worms she used, but he never got the chance. Every Long Clan Gu cultivator who faced her, without exception, surrendered before the fight even started.

Long Ziyan had just stood there without moving, not fighting a single match, and then just lay her way into first place. This was absurd. Did it have to be this exaggerated? Was this Senior Sister truly that ferocious? Long Xuan was stunned.

In fact, most of Long Ziyan's opponents were like Long Long; they didn't dare let their Gu worms get injured. The Gu Fighting Tournament was a round-robin system; the more matches won, the higher the ranking, so one had to fight an unknown number of matches in a day.

Once a Gu worm was severely injured, the subsequent matches would lead to continuous losses due to the reduction in Gu worm numbers. This price was truly too high for anyone to bear.

Therefore, let alone facing the clan's number one genius, Long Ziyan, as long as they faced any invincible opponent, most people would choose to concede directly.

This result also made the Gu Fighting Tournament proceed very quickly. Soon, it was lunchtime, and a mid-session break was about to begin.

At this time, Long Xuan was finally scheduled to face another opponent, an opponent named Long Chen.

However, upon seeing this opponent, Long Xuan was suddenly taken aback and truly startled.

Because this person's progress was not displayed above his head, but in the middle of his brain. This was the first time he had seen such a situation. For some reason, he suddenly felt a sense of horror.

There must be a reason for this situation; it couldn't be for no reason.

Upon seeing that the progress in this person's brain was a four-digit decimal, he was first startled, and soon a feeling of scalp-numbing dread arose.

This was definitely not the progress a Spirit Refining stage Gu cultivator should have; it looked more like the progress of a bug. Could this person's brain have already been eaten by a bug?

So, the one displaying progress was this bug, not this person. This person was already dead; it was a bug controlling this corpse to move. This person was like a corpse yet not a corpse, not any existing being, so the progress appeared in the center of the head, not above it.

Long Xuan's eyes widened. He was thoroughly startled by this speculation, feeling a chill down his spine.

What was this? Could it be a spy planted in the Long Clan by an outside race? It was just that this method of planting a spy was too horrifying!

He immediately looked at the person's face and eyes, finding a faint smile on his face, his eyes bright and piercing.

From his appearance, he was completely a living person, and his eyes didn't look like those of a dead corpse, but this person was indeed already dead. If he didn't have his golden finger, he really wouldn't dare to imagine that this was a corpse.

This bug was truly too good at disguising itself; not only did it obtain this person's memories, but it probably also inherited all of his abilities. No one could see its flaws. If his golden finger weren't special, he would probably have been deceived by it too.

Long Xuan felt wary of this kind of bug. Who sent this bug? What was its intention in mixing into the Long Clan? What was its purpose in participating in this Gu Fighting Tournament?

But it surely couldn't be anything good. Long Xuan's eyes rolled. Trouble for the Long Clan only had disadvantages for him, no advantages. He really couldn't stand idly by in such a matter.

But he couldn't think of a way to expose this person for the time being. He couldn't expose his own secrets just to ferret out this spy.

Just as he was frowning in thought, the battle between his clone and him had already ended. It was this Long Chen who conceded, leaving the clone unable to test his depth. It seemed this person only wanted to secure a spot in the top twenty, also not caring about the ranking like Long Xuan.

Watching the back of the person as he left, Long Xuan thought it over and walked toward Long Lie, who was shouting the loudest.

At this moment, Long Lie was showing off his top-grade Gu worm, the Fierce Gu. A circle of people surrounded him, revealing expressions of envy. Long Lie laughed continuously, his heart greatly satisfied.

Long Xuan walked over, patted his shoulder, and after signaling him with his eyes, walked toward a deserted corner.

Long Lie was stunned, not knowing what Long Xuan wanted with him, but he followed anyway.

After getting away from the crowd, Long Xuan looked at him and said straight to the point: "I've discovered a spy planted by an outside race within our clan. I overheard that he intends to do something detrimental to our clan's Holy Tree, but I didn't hear clearly what kind of detriment, and I have no evidence of his collusion with the enemy."

"In the absence of any evidence, can the clan forcibly inspect a person?"

Although he didn't know what this bug wanted to do, since it risked exposure to participate in the Gu Fighting Tournament without being obsessed with the ranking, its goal was likely related to the Holy Tree. Long Xuan didn't think the lie he fabricated would wrong him.

Hearing this, Long Lie instantly revealed a grave expression. He had already realized the seriousness of the problem.

"No evidence? If there's no evidence, doing anything is against the rules. Moreover, it's very difficult to inspect a clever mole."

"Don't end up failing to report him and instead becoming a false accuser yourself; that will only implicate you," Long Lie said seriously.

"Of course I understand this principle, which is why I came to you. My meaning is that I won't take the risk; you go and expose him. As a Spirit Sea stage Great Gu cultivator, even if it turns out to be a false accusation, the clan won't do anything to you," Long Xuan said.

Long Lie slowly turned his head toward him, eyes wide, looking completely bewildered. Good fellow, so this was the reason he called him over. He knew that whenever he called him over so mysteriously, it was never anything good.

He was cunning; he hid himself and let him be the one to expose himself. How could he be so cunning? He was simply full of schemes.

"Don't say I'm pitting you. If you truly succeed in reporting him, that's a great merit. You can obtain a huge amount of contribution. This kind of thing might not be a bad thing for you; it might even be a good thing," Long Xuan coaxed.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 123 =====