A deafening bell suddenly rang throughout the n, causing utter chaos. Everyone hurriedly dressed and rushed out in panic, ncing around anxiously.


    This bell only tolled when the n faced life-or-death crises, and it had not been heard in many years.


    Upon hearing the bell, everyone’s expressions changed, and a look of anxiety filled their eyes.


    Very quickly, figures darted in every direction, and powerful auras gathered at the main hall for discussion. There were even faint traces of the aura of the Gu King.


    Seeing these figures, all the Long n Gu cultivators were deeply shaken. Something serious must have happened, even rming the n’s reclusive Ancestor, who normally ignored all matters.


    They understood that something of great magnitude had urred, possibly threatening the survival of the entire n. It was destined to be a sleepless night.


    Some timeter.


    “Ancestor, we have inspected the situation. There’s a problem with the water source. The ck River, which flows through ckstone City, is filled with these invisible insects.”


    “It seems that this is not specifically targeting our Long n but is aimed at all of ckstone City.”“The ck River runs along the edge of ckstone City, and every household in the city relies on its water. Tampering with the water source like this suggests that someone intends to wipe out ckstone City!”


    Long Yuanshan’s pupils constricted as he spoke, his expression grim.


    Upon hearing this, everyone present was shocked and started murmuring to each other.


    “Who could have done such a heinous thing? To harbor such ruthless ambitions, wanting to massacre all of ckstone City! What audacity! ckstone City is the strongest fortress in the Western Lands; it has never been breached since ancient times. Does this person think they can achieve that?”


    “Thankfully, it was discovered early. It’s alreadyte at night, and not many of our n members have used the water. Otherwise, if everyone had used the water by morning, the consequences would have been unimaginable.”


    “Have all the n members been notified not to use the water?”


    “They have been informed, and the water supply has been cut off. We’re already in contact with the Qian n’s merchants to arrange for water to be transported from afar.”


    “A few people who already used the water have been infected by the Gu, but since we discovered it in time, the issue shouldn’t be too severe. They have been sent to the Yao and Dan ns for treatment.”


    “Hmph! Our n was the first to discover this; otherwise, by tomorrow morning, even the Yao and Dan ns’ superb medical skills would have been useless. They wouldn’t have been able to help themselves. We’ve saved those two ns once — no, we’ve saved the entire city. If it weren’t for our early detection, ckstone City would truly have perished.”


    The crowd continued to discuss, with everyone’s eyes turning toward an elderly man in the center, who was leaning on a cane.


    This was the n’s oldest and most powerful ancestor. Aged and nearing the end of his life, he was at theter stage of the Gu King realm and served as the spiritual pir of the Long n in the Western Lands.


    In any family, the most powerful person might not always be in charge, but they certainly held the most authority. His words were enough for the entire n to follow without hesitation.


    Long Yuan opened his cloudy eyes and cast a solemn gaze toward the ck River.


    The ck River was wide and surging, flowing through ckstone City, its sole water source.


    Although the water seemed ordinary, no one could survive without it. If a city lost its water source, it would eventually be a dead city.


    The ck River’s water could no longer be used. This was not only fatal to the Long n but also a life-threatening issue for everyone in the city.


    With ckstone City’s poption of millions, solving a water shortage on that scale would be extremely difficult.


    He sighed, looking upstream. Finally, in his aged voice, he said, “Upstream from the ck River, I believe, is ckmoon City?”


    Those aware of the situation understood the Ancestor’s implication — that the source of these insects was ckmoon City, which had already encountered trouble.


    Those who didn’t know the details were confused, unable to understand why the Ancestor suspected that the insects came from ckmoon City.


    It should be noted that upstream of ckmoon City were also viges and towns, and further upstream, more towns and viges. If someone had tampered with the river, then every city downstream would suffer. It’s possible that ckmoon City was just another victim of the upstream source.


    Long Yuanshan shared the same thought as the Ancestor. He knew that something major must have happened in ckmoon City recently.


    He had initially hoped that his n could remain uninvolved, but it seemed things hadn’t gone as he wished. The turmoil in ckmoon City had eventually affected the n, and he couldn’t help but smile bitterly.


    “Ancestor, with your vast knowledge, do you have any idea where these insectse from? I’ve never seen such invisible water-dwelling insects before, nor can I trace their origin,” Long Yuanshan suddenly asked.


    “I have a theory, though I can’t be 100% certain. But given the magnitude of this crisis, which concerns the survival of the entire city, I will share my thoughts.”


    Long Yuan scanned the faces of his n members before finally speaking gravely: “Do you know, there are countless types of invisible insects in this world, and they are everywhere.”


    “The air we are breathing right now is full of these tiny insects. When we eat, they fall into our food and enter our bodies.”


    “All of us here have these invisible insects inside us, and there are quite a few of them.”


    “But these countless tiny insect species are harmless to humans, so few people ever notice them. Even if they did, they wouldn''t need to worry about it.”


    Upon hearing this, everyone was shocked. Some of the more timid members covered their mouths and noses, afraid that the air’s insects would enter their bodies. But then they heard the Ancestor say that such insects were already in their bodies inrge numbers, and their faces turned pale.


    The Ancestor’s sudden words shattered their understanding of the world. It was the first time they had heard such a statement.


    Invisible insects in the air, everywhere — this terrified everyone.


    The Ancestor was highly respected, and they didn’t believe he would joke about such matters.


    Of course, many still found it hard to believe, as it sounded so absurd.


    The idea that invisible insects were everywhere, inescapable, was frightening. They simply couldn’t ept it.


    Upon hearing this, Long Xuan''s gaze grew thoughtful. He understood what the ancestor was referring to.


    It seemed that in this world, all tiny organisms were ssified as "insects." What were referred to in the previous life as bacteria, fungi, and viruses were likely all lumped together under the term "insects" in this world.


    It appeared that microscopic organisms weren''t unknown here, but they were simply categorized as "insects" and not deeply researched. Moreover, studying them was difficult.


    Noticing the expressions of his n members, Long Yuan sighed softly, "I know many of you don''t believe me. You think I''ve lost my mind and am speaking nonsense, but what I''m saying is the truth."


    "In this world, there are indeed species of ''insects'' invisible to the naked eye, and they are everywhere. Their variety is countless, and every person has them inside their body."


    "However, these tiny insect species are harmless to the human body. They are difficult to use for Gu refinement and even harder to find, let alone capture."


    "That''s why there are very few people who study these types of Gu insects, but it''s not non-existent in this world."


    "To this day, I only know of one Gu insect that can harness this kind of power, and that is the famous gue Demon Gu from the Era of the Gods."


    At this point, Long Yuan''s pupils contracted slightly, a hint of fear in his eyes as he looked towards ck Moon City. He spoke slowly again, "Many people probably don''t know what the gue Demon Gu is. It disappeared from the annals of history long ago."


    "If it weren’t for the unprecedented gue that broke out in ckmoon City fifty years ago, I might never have thought of the terrifying existence of the gue Demon Gu."


    "It is said that during the Era of the Gods, there were Ten Forbidden Gu. Each of these Forbidden Gu required an enormous amount of materials—millions, even tens of millions—and possessed the power to destroy the world. Obtaining just one could make someone invincible."


    "But don’t be deceived by the absurd amount of materials needed to refine a Forbidden Gu. Many of the materials ovep heavily. For instance, one of the materials listed in the form for the Forbidden Gu is living humans—millions or even tens of millions of them."


    "Thus, refining a Forbidden Gu requires mass ughter. Every attempt to refine one demands the sacrifice of an entire city. If the Gu refinement fails, the process continues, sacrificing city after city until sess is achieved."


    "Can you imagine how many people need to die to refine just one Forbidden Gu? How many cities need to be sacrificed? The numbers are beyond your wildest imagination."


    "What''s more exaggerated is that killing people during the refinement process is just the beginning. The evolution of the Forbidden Gu requires further killing. The more it evolves, the more people must die."


    "Once the Forbidden Gu reaches its final stage of evolution, it requires ughtering an entire domain’s poption. Who knows how many billions of humans will perish?"


    "Many people know about the "Dark Period" during the Era of the Gods, a time when nearly all knowledge and legacies were lost, including most Gu techniques. Even many historical records were destroyed, leaving us with very little knowledge of the ancient world."


    "I’m telling you, the reason for this was the Forbidden Gu."


    "During the Era of the Gods, a demonic sect called Demonic Sky Sect existed. Each of the Ten Demon Lords created one of the powerful Forbidden Gu."


    "They obtained immense power through the ritual ughter of cities. As their strength grew, so did the killing. Before long, they were annihting entire domains of living beings to strengthen their Forbidden Gu, eventually causing a catastrophe that swept across the world."


    "In that disaster, blood flowed for thousands of miles, cities were left empty, and mountains of white bones piled high. Entire regions werepletely exterminated, and their legacies vanished from history."


    "During the height of that glorious era, when all kinds of magical techniques flourished, many forms of cultivation were wiped out due to their massacres—spear cultivation, archery cultivation, and the crafting methods of famous artifacts were lost."


    "Humanity faced an extinction event during that dark period. It was the darkest era for humankind. Countless powerful professions and legacies disappeared forever into the river of history."


    "Under the ughter of the Ten Demon Lords, corpses littered thends, blood rivers flowed, and many ces were left utterly devoid of life. Vast tracts ofnd turned barren and lifeless, with nothing but deathly silence remaining."


    "ording to records, more than half of the human poption perished in this human extinction event. Half of all magic techniques were lost in this catastrophe."


    "The Demonic Sky Sect, in its quest to refine Forbidden Gu,mitted innumerable atrocities that enraged both heaven and earth, causing the world itself to tremble."


    "In the end, they provoked universal outrage. The Divine Court and the Heavenly Court, along with many other forces, united to eradicate them. In the apocalyptic war that followed, the Ten Demon Lords were killed, and all records of the Forbidden Gu recipes were destroyed."


    "However, the Divine Court and Heavenly Court also paid a heavy price for this victory, losing more than seventy percent of their power. They were crippled, and it took tens of thousands of years for them to recover their strength."


    "Thus, the ten Gu insects created by the Ten Demon Lords were ssified as the Ten Forbidden Gu, and from that point onward, no one was allowed to touch them."


    "After the war, the Divine Court and Heavenly Court issued a decree throughout the world, banning the refinement of Forbidden Gu. Anyone who defied thisw would be hunted down by all powerful cultivators under heaven. Any strong cultivator was obligated to participate in the extermination of demons."


    "This decree is eternal, and no one can vite it. Those who fear the demons and avoid battle will be exterminated along with the demons."


    "I now suspect that this Shi Haojun has refined the tenth-ranked gue Demon Gu among the Ten Forbidden Gu!"


    Long Yuan''s expression turned grim, and he spoke with a chilling tone, "The gue Demon Gu’s power doesn’t just createrge-scale gues—it can also control all living creatures smaller than itself."


    "The gue Demon Gu''s domain is the Mutation Domain. Within the domain, all living creatures smaller than the gue Demon Gu undergo mutations, transforming from harmless microorganisms into harmful ones."


    "Once the Mutation Domain is activated, all the invisible insects in the air will swarm the surrounding Gu practitioners, easily piercing the spiritual armor of even high-grade Gu cultivators."


    "And it doesn''t stop there. Remember, every Gu cultivators’s body already contains countless tiny insects. Once these insects mutate in the Mutation Domain, changing from harmless to harmful, the fate of any Gu practitioner caught within it is easy to imagine. They''ll either be devoured alive by the revolting insects inside their own bodies or forced to use a significant portion of their power to suppress them."


    "The human body is fragile and defenseless. Once the countless insects inside start gnawing on the internal organs, even the strongest Gu cultivators will face a gruesome death."


    "In such a situation, mere survival bes a challenge. How could anyone hope to fight against the master of the gue Demon Gu?"


    "In the face of such terrifying power, a swarm of people is useless. For the wielder of the gue Demon Gu, ughtering the poption of a massive city, numbering in the millions, is effortless. With such power, how could a human armypare to the number of insects the gue Demon Gumands?"


    "The ck River is vast and wide, but only the gue Demon Gu could easily produce enough insects to fill the entire river."


    "Other than the gue Demon Gu, I refuse to believe any other force could aplish something so terrifying!"


    "Now it makes sense why Shi Haojun is so powerful that he can easily ughter an entire city. It’s because he has refined the gue Demon Gu!" Long Yuan dered, his eyes filled with fury and determination.