The skirmish quickly turned into a one-sided situation. Long Xuan's five external clones had incredible explosive power. After suffering losses, his opponents no longer dared to confront directly and could only fight while hiding. However, with fewer numbers on their side, could they evade the attacks of two people while dodging the attack of one?
They had external Gu insects to assist them, each having refined a snake Gu insect, which they had already released.
However, Long Xuan possessed the undying ability of the Little Strong Gu. All his powers, apart from the golden finger, could be duplicated by his external clones. This included the power of the Eye of Heaven's Secrets, though the eye on the clones' foreheads, its magnification ability is far less than that of the original body.
The five clones, relying on their undying ability, endured the snake Gu's bites and attacked their opponents recklessly, exchanging injuries for injuries. As long as they could kill the Gu cultivators, the blood-bonded Gu insects would die instantly. Therefore, the five clones ignored the snake Gu's attacks, focusing all their efforts on attacking without any defense.
This strategy caused great suffering for the three opponents. Flame Jade, Metal Jade, Wood Jade, Water Jade, and Earth jade were relentlessly attacked. Most of their attacks were dodged, leaving the ground with numerous round pits. However, many attacks still hit them, causing severe injuries.
Long Xuan planned for a quick victory. Although there was a soundproofing formation, he was still concerned that too much commotion might attract the market guards. Even though he was the victim, the current situation looked like he was the aggressor. If the three opponents twisted the story and accused him of robbery, with him unscathed and them covered in injuries, it would be hard for him to explain.
After a long time, his Origin realm was ready. Without hesitation, he activated it. The consciousness of the three opponents was instantly drawn into an illusion. One must understand that only their consciousness entered the illusion, not their bodies. Once their consciousness was in the illusion, their bodies outside could not move and were torn apart by external attacks.
When the three were turned into dust by various jades, Long Xuan quickly collected their storage bags and fled the scene.
These three were unlucky. In their first attempt to kill and rob, they chose what they thought was the weakest target, taking extreme precautions, even arranging stone Gu insects and soundproofing formation. But despite their caution, they failed in the end.
Shortly after Long Xuan left, a group of people arrived at the scene. The seven leaders were all at the peak of the marrow cleansing stage. They were the market guards.
The Far Western Land had seven major Gu-cultivating families: the Long family, Feng family, Mu family, Miao family, Lei family, Shi family, and Gu family.
Each family sent a master to guard the Far Western Market and it's surrounding.
Gu Dalong retorted, ""What do you mean I cheated him? The incomplete prescription I gave him was genuine and it was real. It was his own lack of understanding that caused him to waste ten years here. Can you blame me?"
"I didn't force him to make up for it. He can give up at any time. He is stubborn on his own. How can he blame me?"
...
Long Xuan returned home and casually checked the three rogue cultivators' storage bags, finding nothing valuable. Disappointed, he tossed the bags aside.
Rogue cultivators were generally poor, investing most of their resources in Gu insects. When the host died, the Gu insects died instantly. With the Gu insects dead, Long Xuan gained little.
From this incident, Long Xuan understood that killing and robbing for resources was not a viable method. The gains might not match the risks.
Taking such a big risk, only to gain a pile of junk, one should not assume constant success. No one is invincible. Killing and robbing many times will eventually lead to failure, and a single failure means losing one's life.
The cautious female rogue cultivator still died despite her precautions. Farming is the true path. Cultivation is not all about fighting and killing.
After summarizing his experience, Long Xuan took out his greatest gain from the Treasure Exchange Event—a incomplete treasure map.
According to his plan, he placed the remnant map on a similarly sized piece of white paper and began drawing on the missing parts of the map.
The map originally had a 90.98% completion rate. After his random drawing, the completion rate instantly disappeared.
Instead of being alarmed, Long Xuan was pleased. He realized his method was feasible. He wasn't worried about the disappearance of the progress but feared no change. As long as the progress changed, whether it increased or disappeared, it meant his method of supplementing the map with white paper was viable. As long as he works persistently, he believed he could eventually complete the map.