Long Qian chuckled and said, "To be honest, this whole Shi Haojun incident is actually an opportunity for our Long Clan from the Western Lands."
"Originally, to gather enough experimental materials would have cost us dearly, perhaps even straining our entire clan's resources, and still, it wouldn't have been enough."
"But now, with Blackstone City under complete lockdown, everyone is trapped inside, unable to leave, with water and food supplies running out. The more they use, the less they have."
"In this situation, who would dare to use a large amount of food to feed those insects?"
"So, all the clans have started to crazily dump their spirit insect resources, and they're selling them off at rock-bottom prices, practically giving them away."
"Even at such low prices, no one wants to buy them. Right now, a single cabbage is more expensive than a high-grade spirit insect in the city. It’s that outrageous."
"And thanks to our clan’s ability to communicate with the outside world, we don’t lack food at all. We can buy up all the spirit insect resources in the city at absurdly low prices."
"You heard that right, we’ve bought up all the spirit insect resources in the entire city for almost nothing."
"Hahaha... This time our clan has hit the jackpot. This calamity in Blackstone City is simply an opportunity for us."
"Researching the Dragon Blood Battle Gu formula requires a massive amount of resources, and now it’s like we’re conducting our research at zero cost, using the entire city’s resources for free, hahaha..."
Long Qian burst into maniacal laughter, his voice thunderous.
Long Xuan moved a bit farther away, stunned by what he was hearing. Could this really be happening?
His eyes widened. Was the Long Clan of the Western Lands really going from rags to riches overnight, upgrading from old rifles to modern artillery?
He could only imagine that the piles of insect rearing bags weren't all they had. The Long Clan was truly making a killing this time.
No wonder Long Qian was laughing so heartily. If it were him, he’d be laughing like crazy too.
After his laughter subsided, Long Qian continued, "Now we have almost enough resources to experiment with the Dragon Blood Battle Gu formula."
"The defensive power of the Dragon Blood Battle Gu would be sufficient to withstand the damage from the Plague Demon Gu. If we can refine the Dragon Blood Battle Gu, we could essentially ignore the tiny airborne insects, including the Plague Demon Gu itself."
"By then, our clan wouldn’t need to fear the Plague Demon Gu too much. Even if the city falls, our high-ranking members could withstand the Gu's damage and force their way out."
"That’s why the Dragon Blood Battle Gu is so important to the clan. We must research it as quickly as possible and at all costs," Long Qian said seriously, looking at Long Xuan.
Long Xuan asked in surprise, "Why not just break out through the spatial hut? You’ve been holding on for two months over there."
Long Qian shook his head and said seriously, "We can’t leave yet. If the other clans discover the secret of the spatial hut, our Long Clan would become the target of everyone’s hatred, and the consequences would be unimaginable. More importantly, if we leave, we won’t be able to make money."
"Don’t worry, Blackstone City’s situation hasn’t reached the point where we must flee. Blackstone City is the most fortified city in the Western Lands. Even if Shi Haojun has countless plague zombies, it won’t be easy for him to breach the city."
"Because of an auction, there are plenty of spirit stones in the city, enough to sustain the defensive formation for a long time."
"The only shortage is food and water. Blackstone City is too far from the Central Region. Even the fastest reinforcement from there would take two or three years, and there’s no way the food and water in the city can last that long."
"Frankly speaking, without the spatial hut, Blackstone City definitely wouldn’t hold."
"But with the spatial cabin, we can secretly transport food and supplies into the city. Blackstone City can totally hold out for a few years."
Calling it a basin might be an exaggeration; it was just a giant natural pit.
His cultivation cave covered such a large area that finding such terrain was not difficult.
This time, he couldn’t use a vessel to refine the Gu, as the number of spirit insects, reaching hundreds of thousands, was too overwhelming, and no vessel could accommodate such a large number. Thus, Long Xuan could only use this large pit to refine the Gu.
He planned to reinforce this area and keep a barrier active all day to prevent rainwater from ruining the refining process and wasting his efforts.
It was his first time refining a Gu with such a large quantity of materials, and for a moment, he was at a loss.
Finally, with the help of his clones, all preparations were completed. He then ordered the clones to pour all the prepared spirit insects into the basin.
The number of spirit insects was about 530,000, and they filled the basin densely, making one’s scalp tingle.
With so many spirit insects fighting and devouring each other, the scene would be thrilling and extremely brutal.
Long Xuan first used an illusion technique to capture all their consciousnesses into an illusionary space to prevent them from fighting and losing his materials prematurely.
Some of these materials were endangered species, and he didn’t have many of them in hand; he couldn’t afford to lose them.
Afterward, he released the mantis with ten arms. As soon as (Xiao Yue) Little moon entered the basin and saw countless spirit insects, it immediately realized that its master had prepared these as evolution materials.
It became excited instantly, full of fighting spirit, and fearlessly charged at the massive number of enemies with its ten blades swinging confidently.
Long Xuan kept observing the progress of the Gu refining site. His golden finger technique was based on the host’s perception, so it was enough to classify this place as a Gu refining vessel.
When he saw Little Moon enter the basin without any progress in refining, he quickly pulled it back.
Little Moon turned its head to look at him curiously, then charged towards the basin again.
Very soon, it was pulled back by Long Xuan again. This one person and one insect repeated this back-and-forth several times until Long Xuan finally saw progress in the Gu refining site. Only then did he let Little Moon rush into the insect swarm smoothly.
At the same time, Long Xuan lifted the illusion he had placed on the insect swarm, and the various insect species instantly began killing each other.
He didn’t even need to use the Hunger Refining Gu method. They had been almost starved when they were bought.
Moreover, many of these insect species were born predators, and even without any means, they would actively attack the surrounding insect species.
So the scene instantly became chaotic, with fights and battles all over the basin.
In one moment, a giant spider killed a centipede. In the next, a scorpion cut a snake in two, and in another moment, a toad swallowed a beetle in one gulp.
Among them, the most ferocious was a silver mantis, wielding its scythes, killing one after another, with no insect able to get close to it.
It had entered the battlefield with ten blades; who could defeat it? It wasn’t long before the ground beneath it was covered with insect corpses, many of them cut in half.
Seeing its ferocity, over a dozen powerful insect species began to surround and attack it, but it wasn’t afraid at all. It slashed through a spider web with one strike and, with another slash, cut against another mantis’s blade. They fought back and forth, each side having its turn.
This was a grand battle of hundreds of thousands of spirit insects, with extremely intense combat. The scene was spectacular as the spirit insects fought and devoured each other. Long Xuan was so mesmerized that he stood there watching for a long time, enjoying the sight before finally leaving.