Chapter 146: Night Talk with the Family Head

At this moment, Long Xuan's eyes could no longer hold any other mantis. He immediately said, "No need to choose anymore. I feel it has a connection with me. This is the one!"

Long Xuan pointed at the mantis that had grown ten arms.

His words not only stunned Long Ruoxue, but even that ten-armed mantis was taken aback. It hadn't expected anyone to actually choose it, and it soon revealed a look of pleasant surprise.

"Are you sure you want to choose it? This Silver Moon Mantis was born with eight more arms than a normal Silver Moon Mantis. It's a deformity."

"Not only is it ostracized by the other Silver Moon Mantises, but even all the Long Clan Gu cultivators despise it and are unwilling to take it."

"Who knows what kind of complications might arise from using a deformed mantis to refine Gu? No one dares to take the risk," Long Ruoxue reminded him with good intentions.

In this world, not only could humans give birth to deformed children, but insects could also produce deformed offspring. Let alone growing a few extra arms, even growing a few extra heads was a common occurrence.

But physical deformity was never a good thing. She had never seen any deformed human become a powerhouse, so she didn't think highly of this congenitally deformed Silver Moon Mantis, nor did she suggest Long Xuan choose it.

She didn't know that Long Xuan, a novice in the Blade Path, chose this mantis for the reason that the more blades, the better; a multi-blade style was definitely stronger than a single-blade style.

If she knew that this was Long Xuan's reasoning, she would have burst out laughing. If everyone understood it the way he did, then everyone would choose the dual-blade route; who would still choose the weaker single-blade style?

Long Xuan, of course, wouldn't reveal his reasoning. He continued, "My mind is made up. No need to persuade me. I only want this freak!"

"I think you're the freak. Fine! Since you insist on choosing this deformity, then I won't persuade you anymore. You can just take that deformity away. I hope you won't regret your choice later," Long Ruoxue said.

The Silver Moon Mantis was indeed a high-IQ spirit insect; it could actually fully understand what humans were saying.

Upon hearing that it now had a master, the mantis immediately showed a look of wild joy and then ran toward Long Xuan.

For Silver Moon Mantises, humans were the key to them becoming stronger. All Silver Moon Mantises longed to be chosen by a human, especially for a freak that no one wanted; the desire to be picked was even heavier.

After Long Xuan touched its head lovingly, he smiled and said, "I'll name you Little Moon. Don't worry, I will definitely cultivate you into a Gu worm."

After saying this, he put the ten-armed mantis into his insect breeding bag, as if afraid that a long night would bring more troubles.

Seeing this scene, Long Ruoxue sighed inwardly. Although he had made a wrong choice, it was fine this way. This deformity was unwanted by everyone anyway and the clan had already decided to dispose of it. Now that someone had chosen it, it could be considered saving the clan a top-grade spirit insect.

She suddenly looked at Long Ziyan again and smiled, "Long Xuan has already made his choice. Now it's your turn."

"Although they all belong to the top-grade spirit insects, their aptitude is completely different, and the gap between them can be quite large."

"Whether you can pick the Silver Moon Mantis with the strongest aptitude depends entirely on your eye for talent."

Long Ziyan nodded, showing a look full of interest, and walked toward the dozen or so top-grade Silver Moon Mantises with a smile.

This group of top-grade Silver Moon Mantises already knew that someone was going to pick them, so they all excitedly surrounded her, looking at Long Ziyan with expectant eyes, hoping that they would be the one picked.

Long Ruoxue was shocked at this moment. It was the first time she had seen Silver Moon Mantises be so fond of a person.

Silver Moon Mantises were all high-IQ spirit insects; they knew that only by following the right master could they soar into the sky.

Especially top-grade Silver Moon Mantises had even higher standards, and they were very picky when choosing their masters.

Only Gu cultivators who were wealthy and had great talent could win their favor.

Every time someone came to pick a top-grade Silver Moon Mantis, it was already good if a few ran over. Most would turn their backs, showing looks of disdain, not wanting to follow this person, as if following them would lead to no future.

Yet, as soon as Long Ziyan arrived, all the top-grade Silver Moon Mantises actually ran over, and all of them had excited eyes, showing looks of fawning, as if following Long Ziyan would definitely lead to a boundless future.

They were all fond of Long Ziyan and all wanted to be chosen by her. It was the first time she had encountered such a thing, the first time she had met a Gu cultivator so welcomed by Silver Moon Mantises. When she was picking her own Silver Moon Mantis back then, she didn't have such treatment at all.

What kind of magic did Long Ziyan have to make them love her to such an extent that all the top-grade Silver Moon Mantises were captured?

Long Xuan couldn't help but sigh inwardly. Was this a full house? Long Ziyan was actually this charming? She could even win over insects.

"Sword Bone! It's the Sword Bone! They can sense the Sword Bone inside Long Ziyan, so they believe Long Ziyan is the most suitable master for them. Long Ziyan is about to be crazily snatched up by all the Silver Moon Mantises!"

Long Ruoxue suddenly guessed it and exclaimed.

Long Ziyan wore a smile, looking at this Silver Moon Mantis and then touching that one. For a moment, she was dazzled and didn't know which one to choose.

Clearly, there were only a dozen or so top-grade Silver Moon Mantises, and the room for choice was very small, but she suddenly developed a case of indecision.

In the end, she touched the head of a certain Silver Moon Mantis and smiled, "I think this one has a connection with me. I'll choose this one."

A trace of unnaturalness appeared in Long Ruoxue's eyes. Good fellow, the Silver Moon Mantis with the highest aptitude here was actually picked by her at a glance. What a great eye for talent.

Long Ruoxue showed a look of heartache. Back then, she had also set her sights on this Silver Moon Mantis King, but it refused to pay her any mind, despising her temple for being too small. That was why she had settled for the next best thing and chose a slightly inferior one. Was she really that much worse than Long Ziyan?

"Fine! I'll give you credit for your eye for talent. The Silver Moon Mantis King was actually picked by you. Those old guys are really generous. I thought they would hide the Silver Moon Mantis King. I didn't expect them to actually dare to put it inside. Now that it's lost, their hearts will ache."

"Since both of you have already made your choices, let's leave. I'll take you to visit other places."

After saying this, Long Ruoxue turned and walked downstairs.

The group behind her slowly followed.

And that Silver Moon Mantis King showed a look of pride among its own kind. After waving goodbye to its peers, it followed Long Ziyan downstairs, hopping happily.

Time flew to the evening. At this time, the lights were on in the Family Head's pavilion.

Family Head Long Yuanshan and Long Qian sat opposite each other at a table, having a long talk.

"Family Head, those geniuses have all been settled. In view of what happened today, I sent three Spirit Sea Stage peak powerhouses to guard their safety nearby. It is absolutely impossible for any problems to occur."

"It's just that Long Ziyan picked away that Silver Moon Mantis King. What were they thinking? Did they not hide that Silver Moon Mantis King beforehand?" Long Qian asked, puzzled.

The Silver Moon Mantis King was the insect king of the Silver Moon Mantis tribe. It was much stronger than a normal top-grade Silver Moon Mantis, and its value was more than ten times higher.

It was a pity that the Silver Moon Mantis King was too arrogant. It didn't look up to anyone, feeling that everyone's temple was too small to accommodate it. No one had ever been able to successfully take it away.

After all, this was a high-IQ spirit insect. If one were to force it away, it would inevitably lead to a lack of loyalty, so it had just been left there.

Unexpectedly, it was taken away by a genius from an outside clan without paying attention. Their loss was too great this time. Thinking about it now made their hearts ache.

Long Yuanshan showed a trace of embarrassment, which he quickly restrained. Previously, when something happened to Long Dan, he rushed to the City Lord's Mansion in a hurry and forgot about this matter. He didn't expect that a moment of negligence would lead to the loss of the Silver Moon Mantis King.

His heart was aching to death now. That Silver Moon Mantis King was something he had prepared to leave for Long Dan.

His face was terribly dark, and he roared, "It's all because of that Long Biao! If he hadn't insisted on letting Long Ziyan also choose one, and even brought up something about favoring boys over girls, saying it wouldn't do not to give her one, could this have happened?"

"This matter is all his fault! It's all his fault! This spendthrift thing, wait until I have a chance to see how I deal with him!"

"Just as you said, cross out his quota. Don't let him participate in this genius arena tournament."

Long Yuanshan was so angry that his beard was twitching. He shifted all his dereliction of duty onto Long Biao, which made him feel a little better.

"But fortunately, Long Xuan picked the least valuable Silver Moon Mantis, which can be considered as recovering a little loss for the clan. Are you sure that person is him? Don't make a mistake."

Long Yuanshan suddenly showed a serious look, looking at Long Qian and asking.

"There is absolutely no possibility of a mistake!" Long Qian said very confidently, "I have spoken with Long Wanli. Although he has been tight-lipped about who invented those Gu formulas, from the information in his words, I have enough to lock onto who the target is."

"Long Wanli once said, 'The tree that stands above the forest will be destroyed by the wind.' Only after he grows up will his identity be announced."

"From this sentence, it is enough to judge that this person's current realm is not high. He is a figure of the younger generation, and he must be a monster-level genius without a doubt. The scope here is already very small."

"Long Wanli said that Long Xuan doesn't participate in the clan competition every time because he has too many contribution points and looks down on the little contribution reward of the clan competition. How could a normal person have so many contribution points that they even look down on the high contribution reward of the clan competition?"

"Once this sentence comes out, Long Xuan is undoubtedly that person. It's eight or nine out of ten."

"I think it can't be wrong, so I plan to let him refine the Blade Gu of our clan. Not only can it sell a favor and make friends, but it is also enough to drag him here for a long time."

"Blade Gu is not so easy to refine. Even if it is truly refined, it still needs to let the Blade Gu learn a massive amount of blade techniques, and only our clan has a massive reserve of blade techniques."

"Because of the Blade Gu, our clan is the great clan with the most complete collection of blade techniques. In the Western Lands, there is no one else. If he doesn't stay here to learn blade techniques, where else can he go?"

"He won't be able to go back for at least three years. As long as he can stay here for a long time, then everything will be easy to handle."

A sharp light flashed in Long Qian's eyes.

"If that's the case, then it is highly likely to be this person."

Long Yuanshan nodded and said, "You did well. This plan is very clever. Blade Gu is enough to drag him here for a long time."

"But does he really have the ability to modify the Dragon Blood Battle Gu formula? I still can't make up my mind. Researching Gu formulas requires consuming massive resources. Once it fails, our clan will inevitably suffer a great injury."

Long Qian sighed, "Who can guarantee 100% success in such things? Who can say for sure whether he can modify the Dragon Blood Battle Gu formula?"

"However, I think if even he can't do it, then it's even more impossible for others!"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 147 =====