Under his gaze, nothing could be hidden from his eyes. Soon, he noticed something strange about a young man from the Lei Clanâs camp.
This young man was clearly not very old, with a youthful appearance. As a genius Gu cultivator from a prestigious clan, he had just reached the peak of the Spirit Gathering stage. How could his age be that advanced?
Yet, the progress bar above his head astonishingly displayedã91.7381%ã
Long Xuan was shocked.
How could this young man be so close to death? He looked so young on the outside, yet his lifespan was nearly exhausted.
This situation quickly led Long Xuan to a possible explanation. It was known that any Gu King had one opportunity for taking over another's body, but the lifespan would not increase because of it.
If that Lei Clan Gu cultivator had been possessed by an old monster, the displayed progress would naturally be the remaining lifespan of that old monster. This would explain everything.
In other words, that young man was a Gu King, a wolf about to mingle among the sheep.
Damn, the Lei Clan was playing dirty.
Long Xuanâs pupils immediately contracted.
He looked again at the other clans' Gu cultivators, and his pupils contracted once more.
In both the Feng Clan and the Gu Clan, one person each had a progress bar showing four decimal placesâsomething only possible for those with over a thousand years of lifespan.
A mere Spirit Gathering stage Gu cultivator, yet possessing over a thousand years of lifespanâwho were they trying to fool?
The lifespan of a Spirit Gathering stage Gu cultivator was no different from that of an ordinary person. A Gu cultivator in the Marrow Cleansing stage had a lifespan of 200 years, and in the Spiritual Sea stage, it was 400 to 500 years. Only a Gu King could surpass a thousand years.
Good heavens, there were only a few people here, yet three of them were Gu Kings.
Long Xuan hurriedly tugged on Long Lieâs sleeve.
âStop fooling around!â
Long Lie shook off his sleeve, releasing Long Xuanâs hand.
At that moment, Feng Yuâs loud laughter echoed, âHahaha⦠Why wouldnât I dare? Whoever doesnât dare to bet is a coward! Iâve never lost a bet, so why would I fear you?â
âIâll bet with you! Just like last time! Weâll wager a high-grade Gu insect!â
âBut this time, the high-grade Gu insect has to be different. Last time, we bet on a spiritual Gu that had only undergone one evolution.â
âNow that weâve both reached the Spiritual Sea stage, our bet must naturally be on a rare Gu that has undergone two evolution!â
âDo you dare to accept my bet?â
Long Lieâs laughter followed, âHahaha⦠Why wouldnât I dare? Itâs just a mere rare Gu. If it werenât for the fear of you reneging on the bet, Iâd double it!â
âIâll bet with you. Long Xuan! Why are you pulling me? Donât hold me back from striking it rich!â
Long Xuan couldnât help but slap his forehead. This was itâthe end of the Qing dynasty!
Long Xuan felt exhausted. This brilliant fool still wanted to double the bet. If he knew that the Lei Clan had a reborn Gu King, and both the Gu Clan and the Feng Clan had Gu King clone, who knows what heâd think?
His guess had come true. Many people had indeed thought the same as the Long Clan, planning to cheat in various ways to maximize their gains. Clearly, one should never underestimate the cleverness of people in this world.
But that wasnât the end. The greedy Long Lie then turned to the other clanâs leading Gu cultivators and laughed, âYouâve seen the bet Iâve made. Do you dare to join us in a round?â
âWhichever family brings out the most valuable treasure from the tomb can take all the high-grade rare Gu insects on the table.â
âThis is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get rich overnight! Donât miss out,â Long Lie coaxed in a tempting voice.
Long Lieâs greed was insatiable. Winning one high-grade rare Gu wasnât enough; he wanted to take everything, aiming at everyoneâs heads.
The Spiritual Sea stage Gu cultivators from the other clans were all taken aback. Originally, this was a conflict between two people and had nothing to do with them, but Long Lie had used the word âdareâ to challenge them.
If they didnât dare, wouldnât they be ridiculed? After all, they were Spiritual Sea stage Gu cultivators, and as powerful individuals, they cared greatly about their reputation. Moreover, with so many people present, how could they let their prestige falter?
The key was that the winner would get all the high-grade rare Gu insects on the tableâa temptation too great to resist.
The winner wouldnât just gain wealth overnight; theyâd soar to new heights. With a handful of high-grade Gu insects, who could stand against them? Whoever swept the board today would likely become an unrivaled force in the region.
The allure was so immense that many Spiritual Sea stage Gu cultivators began breathing heavily, their eyes filled with greed.
âIâll bet! Whoâs afraid of whom? Anyone who doesnât bet is a dog!â
Finally, the Lei Clanâs Spiritual Sea stage Gu cultivator couldnât resist the temptation and took out a high-grade rare Gu from his Gu pouch. He immediately severed the blood contract and joined the bet.
Everyoneâs faces darkened. If anyone didnât participate in the bet today, would that mean they were a dog?
He did it on purpose! That statement was definitely on purpose, forcing more people to join the bet so he could make a bigger profit.
âHmph! You talk as if victory is guaranteed! Do you really think you can secure the win? Be careful not to bite off more than you can chew!â
The Gu Clanâs Spiritual Sea stage Gu cultivator gave him an unhappy look and then added, âItâs just a rare Gu, right? Iâll bet too! Whoever doesnât bet will be cursed with no descendants!â
Everyoneâs faces darkened again. What had they done to deserve this?
âSuch arrogance! If youâre going to put it that way, then I have no choice but to bet. Count me in. Anyone who doesnât bet will get cheated on!â
Shi Jian finally joined the fray, his face pale with anger.
Long Xuan was completely dumbfounded at this point. Were they just stacking buffs on each other?
And the worst part was that their statements were all curses. Couldnât they limit this to the Spiritual Sea stage and spare us poor Spirit Gathering stage Gu cultivators? These buffs were too brutal.
Getting cheated on? He was genuinely afraid of that! Shi Jian was just too ruthless.
Finally, under Long Lieâs clever manipulation, one Spiritual Sea stage Gu cultivator after another joined the bet, making Long Lie grin from ear to ear.
Even those Spiritual Sea stage Gu cultivators who werenât confident in their clanâs talents had no choice but to join the bet under the pressure of the othersâ words.
In the end, seven high-grade rare Gu insects were placed on the table, making everyoneâs eyes turn red with greed.
Finally, each Spiritual Sea stage Gu cultivator severed their blood contract with their precious Gu insects, cast spells to put them to sleep, and placed them in a large Gu pouch that was tossed onto the table.
The final winner could take the entire Gu pouch and its contentsâa simple and direct arrangement.
Many were full of confidence, kissing their precious Gu insects before sending them into the pouch, claiming theyâd bring them home later. But who knew if this would be their final farewell?
There could only be one winner, no matter how confident they were.
Long Xuan was helpless. This brilliant relative of his just couldnât stay out of trouble, creating such a massive bet.
If they lost, theyâd lose a key asset, a blow that would be hard to recover from. But if they won, theyâd rise to prominence, with their combat strength soaring several times over, enough to become a top-ranked power in the region, with a well-known reputation.
However, the bet didnât stop there. His brilliant cousin had cleverly roped everyone into it, placing seven high-grade rare Gu insects on the tableâa fortune so immense it was bound to make anyone envious.
If his senior sister performed exceptionally well and managed to win the bet under the pressure of several Gu Kings, could he truly take away such a massive fortune peacefully?
It was possible that everyone would honor the bet and let him take it safely, but there was also the chance of an unexpected eventâperhaps someone would grow envious and ambush him midway, or even start a conflict on the spot. Who could say for sure?
Long Lie had just broken through to the Spiritual Sea stage and was still a novice, while the others were mostly in the mid-Spiritual Sea stage, far more powerful than he was.
If they could crush him with their strength and take the treasure without any risk, wouldnât it be normal for them to ambush him?
Though the bet had nothing to do with Long Xuan, it could easily affect him. If someone grew greedy and decided to target Long Lie, he would inevitably be dragged in as well, potentially being killed to silence witnesses. There were a hundred people on the boatânone of them would be left alive.
With these thoughts, Long Xuan broke into a cold sweat. Such a scenario was entirely possible, and he had to think of a way to break the situation in advance.
He knew it. He knew that getting involved with such a 'bad' relative would only lead to disaster. Long Lie was definitely trouble, and it seemed heâd be busy in the future
It seems there's a reason why this branch of the family has so few membersâthey inherited the self-destructive gene. Long Xuan looked at the smug Long Lie and thought helplessly.
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