Chapter 441: Mutual Scheming

Shui Juanyun's eyes flickered slightly. The reason he had followed Long Xuan into the Metal Path instead of following Elder Shui into the Fire Path was entirely because he wanted to act alone; only then would the Heavenly Water fall into his own hands.

Even he coveted the power of Heavenly Water.

If he joined forces with Elder Shui to eliminate Long Xuan, how would the Heavenly Water be divided? Such a thing could not be split evenly at all; in the end, conflict would most likely arise from an unequal division of the spoils.

Acting on this thought, he had chosen to follow Long Xuan into the Metal Path.

But now it seemed this Long Xuan was far too unfathomable; even with a surprise attack, he dared not claim certain victory.

He could only suppress the impulse to strike, alter his original plan, and prepare to rendezvous with Elder Shui first.

Long Xuan, running ahead, glanced back; seeing he could not shake off Shui Juanyun, he secretly frowned.

He did not trust this Shui Juanyun; firstly, Shui Juanyun excelled at manipulating Water Attribute power, making him best suited for the Fire Path, yet he insisted on following him into the Metal Path, which filled him with great suspicion.

Even if he intended to form a team, would it not be better to team up with Elder Shui, a member of his own Tribe?

Long Xuan was naturally suspicious; a single point of doubt was enough to make him wary.

There is no principle of guarding against thieves for a thousand days when one can be a thief for a thousand days; since the two had already formed a deadly feud, Long Xuan decided it would be best to find an opportunity to eliminate this trouble.

Long Xuan narrowed his eyes slightly and accelerated toward Gravity Mountain.

The further forward they went, the greater the gravity became; gradually, Long Xuan's movements began to slow, far from his earlier swift stride.

Although Gravity Mountain was clearly not far from him, he moved at a snail's pace, taking a long time to struggle to the foot of the mountain.

Unconcealable excitement flashed in Long Xuan's eyes.

After traveling for so long, he had finally arrived; for this First Stage, the most astonishingly valuable treasure must be this Gravity Mountain, correct?

Long Xuan looked up at the summit of Gravity Mountain, a slight smile appearing; next, this Gravity Mountain would belong to him.

"Hehe, what a huge Gravity Mountain; if we move this mountain away and sell it, the two of us will never have to worry about cultivation resources again for the rest of our lives."

Shui Juanyun walked to Long Xuan's right, standing shoulder to shoulder with him, gazing at the massive Gravity Mountain before them with burning eyes.

"Oh? It seems Brother Shui is confident he can move this mountain away?"

"The power to move mountains is not something ordinary people can achieve; Brother Shui actually possesses such a Heaven-defying power."

Long Xuan smiled at Shui Juanyun and asked probingly.

Since this Shui Juanyun was so excited, he certainly did not intend to take just a few Gravity Stones; it was not out of the question that he possessed a method to move the entire mountain.

"Hahaha... The power to move mountains? What difficulty is there?" Shui Juanyun laughed loudly and said confidently, "You know I come from the Shui Clan; within the Shui Clan, there is a unique Cultivation Method called Ocean Accepts All Rivers."

"This method has a Heaven-defying Divine Ability that can store all things of heaven and earth within the Spirit Sea, including those absurdly large objects; that is precisely why the method is named Ocean Accepts All Rivers."

"Though I am unworthy, I have cultivated this method; the Spirit Sea within my body is truly like a vast ocean; what difficulty could there be in containing this Gravity Mountain?"

Shui Juanyun withdrew his gaze from the mountain peak, looked at Long Xuan again, and said enthusiastically, "Since we both discovered this Gravity Mountain, let us two brothers split it evenly, shall we?"

"Let this Gravity Mountain temporarily reside within my body; once we exit, we two will sell the Gravity Mountain and split the proceeds equally," Shui Juanyun proposed.

Long Xuan gazed solemnly at the location of Shui Juanyun's Spirit Sea; good heavens, a tiny Spirit Sea could actually contain something of such astonishing volume—this truly shocked him.

How exactly was this done, and what was the principle behind it?

This method's Divine Ability could contain all things of heaven and earth; it was truly terrifying, and quite possibly no worse than the method he had created himself; he suspected such a fearsome method was far from being used merely for storage and must possess Heaven-defying might.

Long Xuan withdrew his curious gaze and finally said, "No need; let me do it instead; I too possess the ability to move mountains; how about we temporarily place this Gravity Mountain on my person?"

"Once we reach the outside world, I will personally sell this mountain, and we two will then split the proceeds equally, provided you trust me," Long Xuan said with a smile.

Shui Juanyun was slightly startled internally; this Long Xuan actually possessed the ability to move mountains; the capacity to move a mountain of such astonishing weight was something most people lacked; even among all the Gu Kings, few possessed such a Heaven-defying ability.

Therefore, upon hearing Long Xuan say he wanted to place the mountain on his person, Shui Juanyun immediately became curious; he wanted to see exactly how this person would move this massive mountain.

Additionally, he could observe another of his hidden cards.

Originally, Long Xuan was the person he intended to kill, so he naturally did not care if the Gravity Mountain was placed on him; it was merely being held for him temporarily.

Shui Juanyun broke into a smile and laughed, "Brother, what kind of talk is this? How could I possibly not trust you?"

"With the Gravity Mountain on your person, I am one hundred percent at ease; I trust your character; go ahead and store this mountain now, lest the night grows long and dreams multiply."

"Good! Since you trust me so much, I shall not stand on ceremony; please step back, and I will now store the mountain."

Long Xuan looked at Shui Juanyun with a smile on his face, yet in his heart, he was sneering coldly.

If earlier he had been uncertain whether this Shui Juanyun harbored ill intentions toward him, now he was one hundred percent certain that Shui Juanyun intended to kill him.

Because this Shui Juanyun had agreed far too readily, without a moment's hesitation.

Who would feel at ease placing a priceless treasure on someone else's person? Would they not fear the other party fleeing with the treasure?

Moreover, the two were not close at all, far from reaching a state of mutual trust.

Even the most broad-minded person would hesitate at such a moment; how could one agree so readily without even thinking?

Unless Shui Juanyun was certain the Gravity Mountain would inevitably fall into his hands; regardless of whether he kept his promise, the Gravity Mountain would ultimately end up with him.

Taking things from a corpse, he naturally would not worry about whether a dead man would keep his word.

A trace of imperceptible cold light flashed in Long Xuan's eyes; regardless of whether his guess was accurate, he prepared to strike first.

Since this Shui Juanyun planned to make a move against him, he absolutely would not remain passively defensive.

But before that, he must first store this Gravity Mountain.

Long Xuan still wore a smile, making it impossible for anyone to read his inner thoughts from his face; without moving a muscle, he reached for the Insect Breeding Bag at his waist and took out the Heaven-Devouring World Toad.

As soon as the Heaven-Devouring World Toad landed, gazing at the towering peaks of Gravity Mountain before it, its eyes glowed with golden light; its throat bobbed, and it heavily swallowed a mouthful of saliva. (End of Chapter)