Chapter 83

However, the only thing that made him feel dissatisfied was that he had not yet succeeded in cultivating the technique's divine ability.

I don't know what happened or what the reason was, but he just couldn't condense an external Dharma Idol. He had tried every method, and even with himself and his five major clones cultivating simultaneously, there was no progress. To this day, the progress of cultivating the divine ability was still zero.

This made him so anxious he scratched his head and ears, almost turning his hair white from worry.

A cultivation method without a divine ability is imperfect. How could he, a perfectionist, be willing to give up?

Something must have gone wrong; there must be details he doesn't know.

Long Xuan frowned deeply again, deep in thought.

It definitely wasn't that the cultivation method was created incorrectly. If the method were wrong, the progress would never have reached the limit of the first layer. Since there was no problem with the method, the problem must lie with himself. Long Xuan's brow furrowed even deeper.

So where exactly did he go wrong? The method clearly said to use essence blood like this, then like that, then like this again, and then like that again, and then it would be done.

He had followed the method's requirements perfectly, and the steps were all very perfect without the slightest error. How could it not succeed? Where exactly did the problem lie? He was about to die of anxiety.

"Wait!"

Long Xuan suddenly had a flash of inspiration. An external Dharma Idol is the condensation of the phantom of some powerful living creature. Does it need something from that creature as a medium?

Otherwise, how could a physical form be created out of thin air? Forcibly simulating it with soul power certainly lacks spiritual charm; how could it transfer the power of that creature?

That's not right either. The divine beast Divine Dragon has been extinct in the Gu World for I don't know how many tens of thousands of years. Where would there be so many mediums?

Then how did the Long Clan solve this problem, and how exactly did they condense this damn external Dharma Idol? Long Xuan was about to be worried to death.

Even if mediums for divine beasts were abundant in this world, why didn't the Long Clan write this limiting condition into the cultivation method?

This makes no sense. If it were for anti-theft, there would really be no need to guard against just this one thing. He was completely baffled.

In the end, Long Xuan decided to walk around to find some inspiration. If he didn't solve this problem, he wouldn't feel comfortable doing anything every day.

Big Stone Village is very large, with all kinds of stone houses standing in great numbers. On the roads, there are sounds of children chasing and playing everywhere.

The old people and women have smiles on their faces, and chickens, ducks, geese, and dogs run everywhere—a warm and kind scene, full of rustic flavor.

As soon as Long Xuan arrived here, his mood suddenly became much more relaxed, and the previous gloom was gone.

Although he was born in Big Stone Village, his interactions with the villagers were not many, and one could even say they were not close.

As a longevity practitioner, he felt it was inappropriate to have too many ties with mortals. Gu cultivators and mortals are not people of the same world and cannot associate together.

Mortals age, get sick, and die too quickly. If he really gets too involved with mortals, he is destined to frequently experience life and death separations. Experiencing such things too often might even leave him with a heart demon.

Therefore, whether it was the original owner or Long Xuan, they both chose to isolate themselves from the mortal world.

So much so that Long Xuan found many of the villagers' faces unfamiliar and couldn't call them by name. Many mortal villagers didn't recognize him either and were looking at him with curious eyes.

Today seems to be a very special day for Big Stone Village. It is very lively, and many people have smiles on their faces as they gather in one direction.

Driven by curiosity, Long Xuan also followed the crowd to a very spacious place in the center of the village. In the center, there was a high platform built of stones, on which stood two Long Clan Gu cultivators with faces full of arrogance.

Listening to the discussions of the villagers around him, Long Xuan quickly understood what was going on.

Today is actually the day the Long Clan recruits servants. No wonder the village is so lively today. He really came at the right time.

Don't ever think that being a servant for a Gu cultivator is not a good thing. For an ordinary mortal, this is a life-changing event that offers a chance to become a Gu cultivator and change one's destiny. Therefore, how could mortals not be excited?

From the original owner's memories, Long Xuan learned that the Long Clan comes to Big Stone Village every three years to recruit servants and teach Gu cultivation knowledge, giving this group of servants a chance to become a Gu cultivator.

Don't misunderstand; the Long Clan isn't that generous, nor are they lacking that bit of combat power.

It is entirely because the Gu cultivator group does not engage in production, and no matter what they do, they need a large number of mortals as labor.

For example, chopping wood, lighting fires, and cooking—can Gu cultivators do these rough jobs? Don't they need to recruit a batch of mortals to take care of their daily needs?

But some work is beyond the capabilities of mortals, such as felling spirit wood. How could mortals have the strength to cut down spirit wood?

For example, taking care of an elder's insect room—the insects and Gu worms in the insect room are so fierce that ordinary mortals going in would just be delivering food, becoming an extra meal. Without some martial strength, they are equally incapable of handling this job.

Therefore, the Long Clan also needs a batch of mortals with Gu cultivation aptitude to do various high-difficulty chores.

It's not just the Long Clan; almost all Gu cultivator families do this. Every Gu cultivator's cultivation time is precious, and all matters unrelated to cultivation must be handed over to this group of mortals with Gu cultivation aptitude to do.

Of course, this world is always stingy with its own treasures. Unique things and core things can never be passed on to outsiders. Major Gu cultivator families will only teach the most basic and common things to these mortals with Gu cultivation aptitude.

House-keeping skills can never be taught to these outsiders with different surnames, no matter how high the mortal's aptitude is.

Even if this mortal has an ancient and brilliant monstrous aptitude and is sure to become a Gu King if cultivated, they will not be taught everything by the major clan.

Remember, the organizational unit of power in this region is the family, not the sect.

Major clans will only pass on their heritage to clan members with the same surname. Outsiders without blood relations are excluded, no matter how high their aptitude is, it's useless.

It is precisely because the wind of stinginess with one's own treasures is so strong in this world that a large number of mortals have nowhere to go, leading to over 95% of the Gu cultivators in this world being composed of scattered cultivators.

But even if they aren't taught core things, it is enough to make mortals in major mortal villages flock to it, fighting to do any kind of work.

The original owner had excitedly participated in this kind of servant selection assembly before, but he went happily and returned with a gray face.

He was the first to be eliminated, getting off as soon as he got up, because he was a Ten Extremes Body...

At this moment, Long Xuan had considerable interest in this Long Clan servant selection assembly.

He was currently considering whether to send a clone to plant a nail inside, let the clone mix into the Long family, secretly use the Original Realm to copy the Long family's library pavilion, sweep up all the Long family's various non-transferable secrets, and steal them all.

Perhaps the essentials for condensing an external Dharma Idol are hidden in the Long Clan's library pavilion. If he sends a clone to mix into the Long family, it is really possible to solve the problem of his inability to condense a Dharma Idol.

The more Long Xuan thought about it, the more he felt this plan was feasible and worth a try. Perhaps the turning point for whether he can cultivate the Dharma Idol divine ability lies here.

Long Xuan showed a look of joy, and the gloom of many days was swept away.

He looked around, found a wall corner without anyone's line of sight, then released the Shui clone and ordered him to participate in the Long Clan's servant selection assembly, telling him to infiltrate the Long family and play the role of an undercover agent.

So the Shui clone went up happily, seemingly enjoying the thrill of being a spy. However, he went up quickly and came back just as quickly. After getting up, he came down, then looked at the main body with a bitter face.

Long Xuan was stunned. Why was he eliminated so quickly? This script isn't right, is it? He is the protagonist; according to plot tropes, he should definitely be selected as a servant. Why don't they play according to the script?

The bewildered Long Xuan hurriedly checked the Shui clone's memory, and soon his expression became very awkward, finally understanding what was going on.

After the Shui clone went up, the Long Clan Gu cultivator saw that he was a Ten Extremes Body and immediately kicked him off with disgust, not even assigning him a job cleaning toilets.

Long Xuan was dumbfounded on the spot. Who did his Ten Extremes Body offend? Why is it even disliked by dogs, not even worthy of cleaning toilets?

It seems that the last time the original owner participated in the servant selection assembly, he was also kicked off the stage for this reason.

The Long Clan Gu cultivator in charge of the selection happened to be the same group of people. Long Xuan's familiar face was exposed as soon as he went up, so he was kicked off on the spot, losing face once.

Long Xuan sighed bitterly. With no other choice, he could only leave this place that made him sad.

He could not give up on this plan. No matter what, he had to let a clone infiltrate the Long family.

It was not only to find the secret of condensing a Dharma Idol, but also because he was truly interested in the Long Clan's various heritages.

Whether it was the "Xuanyuan Dragon Art," "Reverse Dragon Art," "Force-Releasing Art," or the Ascending Dragon Gu and Earth Gu in Long Qilin's hands, or Old Long's Evil Dragon Emperor Eye.

He discovered that this major clan's heritage was truly too fierce, giving him too much reference.

The profoundness of this Gu cultivator family's various unique heritages simply didn't look like they came from a small place; they definitely had big secrets and big origins.

Therefore, he was very interested in this major clan and planned to send a spy inside to pack up all the unique secret techniques.

Then sneak away again. He couldn't help but praise himself for being such a clever ghost. Why is he so smart?

However, going through the servant selection assembly wouldn't work, so he could only look for other methods.

Long Xuan quickly thought of a way and walked straight in the direction of Old Long.

That's right, he planned to seek a way through Old Long's side.

After so many years, that Hundred Flowers Pill formula that was about to torture Old Long to death was finally successfully repaired by him. It was truly not easy, making him laugh for three days in a row.

However, although Old Long's Hundred Flowers Pill formula was finally successfully repaired, the materials used were clearly different from Long Xuan's, and the efficacy of his Hundred Flowers Pill was several percent weaker than Long Xuan's.

Perhaps because his mood had brightened and the gloom in his heart was swept away, he actually completed a breakthrough quickly, becoming a Spirit Sea stage Gu cultivator and having become a rare expert in this region.

Coupled with his special status as an alchemist, after he advanced to the Spirit Sea stage, it was possible for him to become a Third Grade Alchemist. One must know that the entire Far West region didn't have a single Third Grade Alchemist.

When that time comes, it will be when his value skyrockets, and his future prospects will be bright.

Therefore, Long Xuan had a premonition that the day he leaves Big Stone Village is not far off.

A Spirit Sea stage alchemist could never stay in a small mortal village; that would be too much of a waste of talent. The Long Clan head would definitely let other Long Clan Gu cultivators take over his position.

Therefore, Long Xuan wanted to hug the thigh of this future potential Gu, let his clone leave Big Stone Village with him, follow him to the Long family, continue to take care of the medicine garden for him, and then wait until everything has been stolen and learned before finding an opportunity to leave.

But he didn't know if Old Long still cherished old feelings, nor did he know if he still needed servants.

(End of chapter)