The Path of Immortality: Starts With Creating Water Bear Gu

The first auction item finally ended with a staggering bid of 1 billion spirit stones, leaving everyone stunned.

Even the grand finale items from the first half of the auction couldn’t reach such an astronomical price, right? It was madness! A regular auction item selling for more than the grand finale one? Such a thing had never happened at any auction before.

The crowd was abuzz with discussion, and a noisy commotion spread throughout the auction floor.

Outside the doors, a group of poor wandering cultivators who were watching the spectacle grew excited. They were thoroughly entertained and became even more eager for the next auction items.

At this moment, Long Xuan in room box 5 finally understood why the Marrow Cleansing Pill could fetch such a high price. It was purely a stroke of luck. If neither the Yao family nor the Dan family—two rival clans—had shown up today, there was no way this bottle of Marrow Cleansing Pills would have sold for over a billion.

He couldn’t help but smile bitterly, realizing that improving his alchemy skills was not going to be an easy task. First, he would have to standardize the measurement units in this world. He mustn’t write vague terms like "appropriate amount" in his pill recipes.

Shao Shao showed a trace of excitement. The sky-high price of the first auction item far exceeded her expectations. This unexpected result was like a blessing from the heavens. With just this one sale, her performance had already met the quota.

Thrilled, she placed the pill bottle on a jade plate and had a maid carry it to the buyer. However, before the maid could even take a step, Shao Shao impatiently pulled out the second auction item from her storage ring and placed it on the auction table. It was clear she was eager to make the most of every possible moment.

What she pulled out was a massive wine barrel. Upon seeing it, Long Xuan couldn't help but pause—yet again, one of his own creations was up for auction! What a coincidence.

Shao Shao wasted no time introducing the item: “This second auction item is Spiritual Wine, but it’s not just one barrel—there are thirty barrels, all bundled together for the auction.”

“This wine is called Spirit Recovery Wine. It's a brand new recipe that has never before appeared in this world.”

“The function of the Spirit Recovery Wine is naturally to recover spiritual energy. It can quickly replenish the drained spiritual power of cultivators in the Marrow Cleansing stage, and its recovery effect is several times stronger than the best Spirit recovering Pills on the market.”

“It’s no exaggeration to say that Spirit Recovery Wine is the strongest recovery aid for the Marrow Cleansing stage.”

“A hundred thousand spirit stones for thirty barrels of the best recovery wine for the Marrow Cleansing stage—isn’t that a fair starting price?”

“The starting bid for Spirit Recovery Wine is now set at one hundred thousand spirit stones. Each raise must be no less than ten thousand spirit stones. Let the bidding begin!”

As soon as her words fell, a plump man in the crowd shouted loudly: “I bid one hundred and ten thousand spirit stones!”

Upon seeing this man, Long Xuan burst out laughing.

Oh, wasn’t that the guy named Qian Duoduo? And yet again, he was in disguise, this time even sporting a beard.

Qian Duoduo’s disguise could fool others, but it was impossible to fool Long Xuan. No matter how his appearance changed, his essence remained the same. Long Xuan’s keen eyes could see through him.

Long Xuan was intrigued—Qian Duoduo was playing the same trick again. A steward of a major trading company disguising himself as a customer to bid on his own auction items—it was certainly a rare sight.

This wasn’t the first time Qian Duoduo had pulled this stunt, but it seemed he was addicted to it by now.

Meanwhile, several Gu Masters dressed in robes embroidered with the character “Jiu” (酒, meaning "wine") began sniffing the air. Their eyes lit up with surprise.

“What a fine wine! I never expected to find such a peak-quality wine in this little region. This wine can easily rival the best wines of my Jiu Clan,” Jiu Kang remarked, his throat moving as he swallowed, his face showing clear desire.

The Jiu Clan was a great clan known for their winemaking and Wine Gu cultivation. Their clan possessed countless wine recipes, and they had an immense collection of rare and exquisite wines.

Each Gu Master of the Jiu Clan was a wine lover through and through.

While others wouldn’t spend fortunes on fine wine, the Gu Masters of the Jiu Clan were known to splurge vast sums for a sip of extraordinary wine.

The Gu Masters of the Jiu Clan were skilled in discerning the quality of wine. Just by catching a whiff of its aroma, Jiu Kang immediately recognized that this wine was extraordinary. His eyes sparkled as he made up his mind to secure this wine at any cost.

An elder of the Jiu Clan stared intently at the wine barrel on the auction table, his eyes burning with excitement as he declared, “Indeed, this is fine wine! I always thought that our Jiu Clan was the best at winemaking and that all wines from outside were trash.”

“However, this time I’ve realized that I underestimated the world. There are indeed good wines outside. This wine, even among all the fine wines of my clan, could rank near the top.”

“This wine is made with a different winemaking technique, one that our clan is unfamiliar with. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that this technique rivals—if not surpasses—our own.”

“I must study the brewing method of this wine. No one is allowed to outbid me!”

A cute-looking girl from the Jiu Clan licked her lips, her face filled with craving. “That’s impossible! I’ve refined a Wine King Gu, and the more types of fine wine it devours, the stronger it becomes.”

“I left on this journey specifically to collect the world’s finest wines.”

“This wine is a type that has never appeared in this world before. If I miss this chance, I may never find it again. How can I give it up?”

“So I’m sorry, but I’m determined to win this wine!”

At that moment, a young man from the Jiu Clan suddenly chimed in, “None of you can compete with me! I’m going to use this wine to refine my Wine Gu. If anyone tries to outbid me, we’ll have a problem!”

“I’m the youngest, so you should all let me have it!”

The price had already risen to three hundred thousand spirit stones. Although it was quite a high price, considering there were thirty large barrels, it was still an acceptable price. The young man hurriedly shouted, “I bid four hundred thousand spirit stones!”

“You think being the youngest gives you an excuse? That won’t work! I bid five hundred thousand spirit stones!” the Jiu Clan girl immediately countered.

The elder from the Jiu Clan followed closely: “I bid six hundred thousand spirit stones!”

“I was the first to notice it!” Jiu Kang shouted, “I bid seven hundred thousand spirit stones!”

With the involvement of these four, the price rapidly skyrocketed to an astounding seven hundred thousand spirit stones.

Everyone was astonished. They turned to see who was raising the bid so quickly, wondering how these people could be fighting amongst themselves over this.

When they saw that the four were all wearing robes embroidered with the character “Jiu,” everyone immediately understood.

If it was the Jiu Clan, then it made perfect sense.

The Jiu Clan, a great winemaking family, were all alcohol lovers. For the chance to taste a wine they’d never had before, there was nothing they wouldn’t do.

Once they encounter an exquisite wine, it’s like a lecher seeing a peerless beauty—they are truly willing to spend a fortune to buy it.

Even a layman would know that today’s wine is no ordinary brew. It’s no wonder that the members of the Jiu Clan are going so crazy over it.

Upon seeing a group of Jiu Clan Gu cultivators join the bidding, and even fiercely competing among themselves, pushing the price directly to seven million spirit stones, Qian Duoduo was instantly stunned.

Why is my luck so bad? Every time I disguise myself as a customer, I always run into such troublesome opponents, forcing me to spend excessively.

The Jiu Clan is from a distant region, and he had never encountered them before. Yet, here they were, showing up today, of all days. If they had come earlier or later, it wouldn’t be a problem, but today? This feels like they’re toying with him!

If the Jiu Clan is here today, then this is going to be a big problem.

When this group spots good wine, they turn into madmen—willing to bankrupt themselves just to buy it.

If the Spirit Recovery Wine catches their eye, the price will surely skyrocket. If I don’t bleed heavily this time, there’s no way I’ll be able to win the bid for the Spirit Recovery Wine.

No, I might not even get the chance to make a heavy bid. These lunatics will offer any price for good wine, even if it’s grossly inflated. How can I possibly compete with them?

But, unless things reach a final dead end, he clearly wasn’t one to give up easily. Trembling, he raised his hand and, steeling himself, said, “I bid seven million one hundred thousand spirit stones!”

Spending seven million one hundred thousand spirit stones on wine definitely isn’t worth it, but spending that amount to refine a peak-grade Gu? Now, that’s worth it. So, he absolutely had to keep bidding.

The four members of the Jiu Clan turned their heads toward him and, in unison, shouted:

“I bid eight million spirit stones!”

“I bid nine million spirit stones!”

“I bid ten million spirit stones!”

“I bid eleven million spirit stones!”

The price instantly broke the ten-million mark.

Good heavens, they were raising the bid by one million each time. With every bid, the price shot up by four million spirit stones. Qian Duoduo’s head was spinning.

And this was just their internal competition, completely ignoring everyone else—utterly arrogant.

“I bid eleven million one hundred thousand spirit stones!” Qian Duoduo gritted his teeth and said.

At this point, the price was severely inflated. If he didn’t happen to have a peak-quality wine Gu, and the fact that winning the bid would allow him to refine another peak-grade Gu, he would never have bid such a high price.

The four members of the Jiu Clan looked at each other in astonishment. They hadn’t expected that someone from the impoverished Western Lands would be even more obsessed with wine than they were.

But scaring off wine-crazed Jiu Clan Gu cultivators with just a little over ten million spirit stones was clearly impossible.

Jiu Kang chuckled bitterly and said, “Who would have thought that someone from this poor region of the Western Lands could still have so much money? We’ve been traveling for too long, and our spirit stones have only been going out, not coming in. If we really go all out to get this wine, one of us might end up begging for food.”

“I see that this wine comes in a set of thirty barrels, enough for the four of us to share. How about we each chip in three million spirit stones and split the wine among us?”

The other three nodded in agreement.

“That sounds good.”

“I was thinking the same thing!”

“Then let’s join forces and buy the wine together.”

The other three echoed in unison.

Seeing his three companions agree, Jiu Kang smiled, raised his hand, and shouted, “I bid twelve million spirit stones! Anyone going higher?”

This announcement caused a stir throughout the audience.

Spending twelve million spirit stones to buy thirty barrels of wine—this was pure madness in everyone’s eyes.

What kind of wine could be so expensive?

It’s just for recovering spiritual energy! Is it really worth all this frenzy?

Today’s auction was getting more and more interesting. First, someone had spent a billion spirit stones to buy the vastly overpriced Marrow Cleansing Pill, and now someone was willing to pay twelve million spirit stones for a similarly inflated-priced spiritual wine.

This truly lives up to its reputation as the highest-spec auction in the Western Lands in a thousand years. The first two auction items alone have fetched such outrageous prices. Who could imagine how high the total transaction amount will be by the end of the event?

Qian Duoduo’s face turned ugly. Twelve million spirit stones! Twelve million! These Jiu Clan Gu cultivators really are willing to pay any price for good wine—they’re complete lunatics.

The price had already been inflated to a ridiculous level. Although he could still bid thirteen million, he was, after all, a businessman. He valued things being worth their price and didn’t want to engage in a losing deal. Who would want to join them in their madness?

Moreover, there was too little wine to guarantee that he could refine a wine Gu insect. Even if he managed to refine one, it would be the weakest of the peak-grade Gu. High risk, low reward—he absolutely wouldn’t invest more spirit stones in this.

Forget it. Wine made from a single brew results in the weakest peak-grade Gu. Spending eleven million spirit stones was already the limit; I absolutely won’t bid higher to be a fool.

Besides, even if I bid twenty million, these lunatics would likely keep up. How could I compete with a bunch of wine-crazed maniacs?

The situation is already lost. It seems this wine is destined to have no connection with me, and I cannot force it.

Qian Duoduo sighed heavily, his face full of disappointment, and finally turned and left the auction house...