novelraw Chapter 313: The Tragic Tale of Shui Juanyun
Chapter 313: The Tragic Tale of Shui Juanyun
Afterward, Long Xuan took out another liquid-form Gu insect, which was another result of his research over the past four months—the Transformation Gu.
Compared to the original Face-changing Gu, the Transformation Gu had increased significantly in size and weight.
This Transformation Gu could alter a person’s physical form in any way, even turning a thin individual into a fat one.
Long Xuan threw the Transformation Gu toward one of his clones.
Since he already possessed something that could perfectly disguise him, he decided to proceed with his plan: change his appearance, assume a new identity, and live incognito for a while.
He couldn’t guarantee that framing Shui Juanyun wouldn’t backfire, so, as a precaution, he chose to stay hidden for some time.
However, during his absence, he had to make proper arrangements for the ship.
According to his earlier plan, he didn’t intend to disband the crew.
The resources required to refine the Tribulation Gu were astronomical. He needed the crew to venture into the Forbidden Sea and accumulate wealth for him to finance the refining process.
The wealth hidden in the Forbidden Sea was too tempting. Even if the Tribulation Gu wasn’t a resource-intensive project, he wouldn’t let go of such a lucrative opportunity. Moreover, since the crew already knew too many of his secrets, he absolutely couldn’t allow them to be dismissed or return to their own lives. They needed to remain firmly under his control, working for him.
But since Long Xuan’s current identity was about to disappear, he decided to fabricate a new one—a fictitious junior disciple to take command of the crew.
This didn’t require much of his attention. Occasionally, his clone could simply use the Sou Gu's small hut to make appearances and maintain the illusion.
After all, he rarely showed himself on the ship, always in seclusion working on Gu recipe. It was only reasonable for his "junior disciple" to exhibit similar reclusive behavior.
Thus, under Long Xuan’s arrangements, the clone posing as his junior disciple made a grand debut on the ship.
The crew had long known about the existence of the Sou Gu's hut. Whether someone appeared out of nowhere or disappeared suddenly, they wouldn’t find it unusual.
Long Xuan announced that his "junior disciple" would take over as the next captain while he returned to the mainland using the Sou Gu’s hut. Then, he openly disappeared from the ship.
Nobody suspected a thing—except Di Xin, who knew exactly what was going on.
Where Long Xuan intended to hide next was a secret he wouldn’t share with anyone, including Di Xin.
His plan was simple: find a deserted island, enter seclusion for a while, and reemerge only when the chaos surrounding the Repair Gu had subsided.
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One Month Later, Black Sand Archipelago.
The Black Sand Archipelago was a sea region dotted with countless islands, numbering as many as 100,000.
The Gu cultivation powers on these islands were innumerable.
The larger the island, the stronger the Gu cultivators inhabiting it; the smaller the island, the weaker the cultivators.
Among the 100,000 islands, ten were the largest, with the most powerful Gu cultivation forces dominating them.
Medium and smaller islands were all subordinate to one of the ten larger islands, creating a ten-power stalemate in the region.
Long Xuan disembarked on a small island within the Black Sand Archipelago.
He chose this location because the ten largest islands in the archipelago each had a teleportation formation directly connected to the Central Lands.
Traveling to the Central Lands via teleportation was far faster than by ship.
However, he didn’t plan to leave for the Central Lands immediately. First, he intended to find a deserted island to train in seclusion, advancing his spiritual power to its peak before seeking an opportunity to break through to the Spiritual Sea stage.
The island he selected had a few mortals but no Gu cultivators, ensuring no threats to his safety.
Long Xuan casually chose a mountain on the island, used the Earth Master Gu to carve out a cave, and fortified it with the Five-Element Reversal Formation flags. He then retreated into the cave to begin his long-term seclusion.
Of course, Long Xuan’s main body never engaged in cultivation—his clone handled all the training.
His primary focus was entirely on refining the recipe for the Tribulation Gu. With so much work to do, he had no time for cultivation.
Currently, the Tribulation Gu recipe was about 20% complete, with an estimated completion time of just over a year.
The Tribulation Gu was unique, requiring exclusively lightning-attributed materials, which were exceedingly rare.
This limitation significantly reduced the pool of materials he needed to analyze, accelerating the process of refining the recipe.
If he had to work through a million possible materials, the task would have taken far longer.
Indeed, the Tribulation Gu recipe required exactly one million materials—already the minimum number he had managed to reduce it to. It couldn’t be cut down any further.
Creating a Gu insect capable of manipulating heavenly lightning wasn’t something that could be achieved cheaply.
Hiding on this small island, Long Xuan managed to avoid the fallout from the chaos caused by the Repair Insect to the greatest extent possible.
However, he was unaware of the dire consequences Shui Juanyun was facing due to being framed.
As expected, news of the Repair Insect’s existence spread rapidly, shaking the Gu world. Everyone knew Shui Juanyun possessed the Repair Insect.
This attracted countless greedy individuals who began hunting Shui Juanyun mercilessly.
Since leaving the Sky Island ruins, Shui Juanyun had been attacked countless times.
Exhausted both physically and mentally, he hadn’t had a single peaceful night.
His crew was dwindling, his ship was sunk, and his heart bled with every loss.
Meanwhile, on a remote island in the Black Sand Archipelago, Shui Juanyun cried out in despair:
"I really don’t have the Repair Insect!"
Shui Juanyun's face darkened with anger as he roared at the crowd blocking his path.
"Heh! Do you think I'll believe you?"
"All the Spiritual Sea stage fighters around you are already dead. Hand over the Repair Insect obediently, and I'll spare your life!"
An elderly man at the front stroked his beard and sneered.
"Enough nonsense with him. Who knows how many reinforcements are on their way? We must end this quickly!"
"The Repair Insect can recover from any injury. Don't worry about accidentally damaging it. Attack with full force!"
As soon as the old woman finished speaking, she charged toward Shui Juanyun, with the elderly man close behind.
The group of Gu cultivators following them grinned wickedly and lunged at the exhausted Shui clan's Gu cultivators.
"Courting death! Do you think I've survived until now on sheer luck? You dare challenge me with just one Spiritual Sea realm Gu cultivator? Ignorance!"
Shui Juanyun shouted fiercely, and his aura surged in an instant. He transformed into a Spiritual Sea stage Gu cultivator and charged at the elderly leader.
The old man's face changed dramatically as he exclaimed, "No! He's already broken through to the Spiritual Sea stage!"
Before he could finish his sentence, Shui Juanyun closed the gap, his body transforming into water and ignoring the old man's attack. With a single sword strike, he decapitated the elder.
Shui Juanyun showed no signs of being a novice who had just entered the Spiritual Sea stage, effortlessly slaying a cultivator of the same level.
The group behind the elder panicked and turned to flee.
However, how could Shui Juanyun let them go?
"Chase them down! Not a single one must escape, or they’ll reveal our whereabouts!"
Shui Juanyun shouted and dashed toward the fastest fleeing old woman.
The Shui clan's Gu cultivators, aware of the dire consequences of letting anyone escape, gritted their teeth and pursued despite their exhaustion.
After a while, the Shui clan's Gu cultivators sat on the ground, gasping for air.
The continuous high-intensity battles had left them utterly drained, their bodies reaching their limits.
Yet, before they could rest for long, another group descended from the sky on a Spirit Boat.
Despair filled everyone’s faces.
"I really don’t have the Repair Insect!" Shui Juanyun roared unwillingly.
"Hmph! Still lying? If you don’t have it, who does?"
"Enough talking! Who knows how many more people are rushing here? We must finish this quickly!"
The leader, a man exuding the aura of a peak Gu King, ignored Shui Juanyun’s protests and led his group in an attack.
As the peak Gu King-level expert rushed toward him, Shui Juanyun felt utter despair.
Some time later.
"Island Lord, he feared we’d torture him for information and took his own life. However, we didn’t find the Repair Insect on him."
A young man respectfully reported to the Island Lord.
The Island Lord frowned, disappointment flashing across his face.
"It’s not here? Could the information have been wrong? Maybe the Repair Insect wasn’t on him to begin with."
An elder beside him stroked his beard and said, "It’s been four months since the incident. Who knows where he might have hidden the Repair Insect along the way?"
"Or perhaps he secretly sent it back to his clan."
The Island Lord appeared thoughtful. "So, you’re saying the Repair Insect is now in the Shui clan’s hands? That’s possible."
"Looks like we’ll need to visit the Central Lands Shui clan to find out," the Island Lord said, his gaze turning cold and malicious.
At that moment, another Spirit Boat descended from the sky and landed steadily below.
A group of Gu cultivators disembarked, their gazes shifting between Shui Juanyun’s corpse and the Island Lord.
"Island Lord Xue, hand over the Repair Insect. Don’t force me to act."
The leader, a peak Gu King cultivator, made no attempt to hide the menace in his eyes as he released his aura.
Island Lord Xue froze for a moment before snapping angrily, "I don’t have it!"
"That brat had already sent it back to his clan before he killed himself when I captured him!"
Island Lord Xue felt a sinking premonition as frustration bubbled within him.
"Hmph! Still lying? Do you think you can fool me?"
"You killed him, and his body is right there. If you didn’t take it, who did?"
"Since you refuse to cooperate, don’t blame me for being ruthless!"
The newcomers ignored his protests and charged forward, plunging both sides into a chaotic battle.
Island Lord Xue felt so frustrated that he wanted to vomit blood.
Not far away, a stream of water slowly seeped out from the ground, gradually forming into a human figure.
The water figure’s face shifted continuously until it settled into Shui Juanyun’s likeness.
Watching the chaotic battle among the Gu cultivators, Shui Juanyun smirked coldly.
"Abandoning a physical body to shift the crisis onto others—this was worth it. Don’t blame me; I learned this trick from that brat."
"Many factions are still heading here, completely clueless about who truly has the Repair Insect."
"This chaos is just the beginning. The Repair Insect will drag even more people and factions into this turmoil."
"This will become a calamity, one that will claim countless lives."
"The Black Sand Archipelago is on the brink of upheaval!" Shui Juanyun’s eyes gleamed.
"Hmph! Even the clan leader didn’t believe me when I said I didn’t have the Repair Insect. Otherwise, why would I have ended up like this?"
"Now that my physical body is destroyed, I have no choice but to find a perfect vessel."
"I hope there’s a genius in the Black Sand Archipelago that meets my standards."
With his decision made, Shui Juanyun stopped watching the distant battle, transformed into a stream of water, and flowed away into the distance.