"First, if I cannot recognize the Gu you take out, I can only give you a Gu of the same Rank. For example, if you take out a Rank Three Gu, I can only give you a Rank Three Gu."
"Second, you can only receive each Gu once. After you have taken a Gu, you cannot ask for a second identical Gu."
"Third, I can only give you the Gu I possess. If Lang Ya Blessed Land does not have it, then I can only ask you to choose another."
"Young man, these are my three conditions. Do you agree?"
Lang Ya Land Spirit looked at Zhou Ming with a smile, anticipating his answer.
Zhou Ming's eye twitched slightly, and he feigned a difficult and hesitant expression, which secretly delighted Lang Ya Land Spirit.
Zhou Ming gritted his teeth and, with great difficulty, squeezed out a few words: "Alright, I'll do as you, Land Spirit, say!"
This reaction made Lang Ya Land Spirit feel incredibly pleased.
Hahaha, this young man is still too young. You want to contend with me? I, Lang Ya Land Spirit, am not that easy to fool!
The thoroughly pleased Lang Ya Land Spirit didn't notice that Zhou Ming had taken in his micro-expressions, and he, too, was secretly smiling.
The conditions proposed by Lang Ya Land Spirit were well within Zhou Ming's expectations.
Having provoked Lang Ya Land Spirit too severely just now, Zhou Ming didn't want him to harbor too much resentment towards him. He deliberately left Lang Ya Land Spirit an opportunity to vent, lest he become even angrier later and affect the subsequent building of favorability.
"Then, Land Spirit, I will now take out the first Gu. Please identify it!"
As Zhou Ming spoke, he pulled out an Ice Blast Gu. This Gu was refined from a magic scroll inscribed with Ice Storm magic and was a Rank Three one-time consumable Gu.
Lang Ya Land Spirit initially paid little attention, seeing it was only a Rank Three Gu. But after a couple of glances, his expression grew increasingly solemn, his eyes widened, and he stared intently at the Gu, unable to look away.
"Is it made of Ice Heart? No, it's not. Ice Crystal? Not that either. Strange, what Materials were used? How can I not see anything?"
"How is this possible!" Lang Ya Land Spirit's face turned red, and he scratched his ears and cheeks. Finally, he couldn't control himself and roared, reaching out to grab the Ice Blast Gu.
Zhou Ming quickly retrieved the Gu and said with a smile, "Land Spirit, you're not going to be a sore loser, are you?"
"Impossible! Impossible!" Lang Ya Land Spirit tugged at his long beard, exasperated. "Boy, what exactly is that Gu?"
"So, you admit you don't recognize this Gu?" Zhou Ming asked.
"I, I, I..." Lang Ya Land Spirit's eyes blazed. After stammering for a long time, he finally let out a sigh and said dejectedly, "You're right, I really don't recognize this Gu."
Immediately after, he put on another pitiful face and pleaded, "Tell me quickly, what exactly is this Gu? How was it refined?"
"Hmph hmph." Zhou Ming said with a fake smile, "Alright, give me the Gu I want first, and I'll tell you what this Gu is."
"No problem!" Lang Ya Land Spirit's spirits lifted, and he quickly said, "What Gu do you want? According to our agreement, you took out a Rank Three Gu, so you can only get one Rank Three Gu."
A triumphant smile finally appeared on Zhou Ming's face: "What Gu do I want? Longevity Gu, of course!"
The lifespan limit for humans in this world is restricted to one hundred years. Whether ordinary people, Gu Masters, or even the exalted Gu Immortals, they can only live naturally for one hundred years.
To live longer, people created countless methods to extend life, allowing themselves to exceed one hundred years.
But all created life extension methods have drawbacks, either large or small, which cannot be enumerated one by one.
There is only one life extension method in the world that has no drawbacks, and that is Longevity Gu.
Longevity Gu is not a Gu created by humans, but naturally formed. Even a Rank Nine Venerable cannot refine it. Although it is only a Mortal Gu, its value cannot be measured by Mortal Gu at all.
For some Gu Immortals facing their impending demise, they would even prefer to exchange an Immortal Gu for a Longevity Gu!
A Rank Two Ten Year Longevity Gu can increase a person's lifespan by ten to ninety years.
A Rank Three Hundred Year Longevity Gu can increase a person's lifespan by one hundred to nine hundred years.
A Rank Four Thousand-Year Longevity Gu can increase a person's lifespan by one thousand to nine thousand years... Lang Ya Blessed Land has existed for three hundred thousand years, and the Longevity Gu in Lang Ya Land Spirit's hands accumulated could reach seven or eight thousand years!
However, Zhou Ming did not gamble on Lang Ya Land Spirit having a Thousand-Year Longevity Gu, as Thousand-Year Longevity Gu are too precious and rare in the world. Moreover, even if there were a Thousand-Year Longevity Gu, Zhou Ming wouldn't be able to use it.
Therefore, he preferred to be more cautious and ask for a Hundred Year Longevity Gu, which Lang Ya Land Spirit was sure to have.
Although a Hundred Year Longevity Gu is also extremely precious, Lang Ya Land Spirit himself has no concept of lifespan, greatly reducing his demand for Longevity Gu.
So, although Zhou Ming's request made Lang Ya Land Spirit's face darken, he said nothing and readily transferred a Hundred Year Longevity Gu to Zhou Ming.
The Longevity Gu looked like ginseng roots, resembling old tree roots, rough and ancient to the touch.
The Longevity Gu Lang Ya Land Spirit gave Zhou Ming was only the lowest Rank Three Hundred Year Longevity Gu, which could only add one hundred years of lifespan after use.
But even so, if Zhou Ming were to walk outside with this Longevity Gu, he would likely be reduced to ashes by a group of Gu Immortals in no time, fighting fiercely over this Longevity Gu.
Zhou Ming carefully took the Hundred Year Longevity Gu and refined it, storing it in his Aperture.
He didn't need this Longevity Gu yet, but in the future, when he became rich, he would rely on this Longevity Gu!
Seeing Zhou Ming put away the Longevity Gu, Lang Ya Land Spirit rubbed his hands, a long-awaited smile appearing on his face: "Young man, can you tell me what that Gu is now?"
A Land Spirit is the obsession of a Gu Immortal from their lifetime, and Old Ancestor Long Hair loved Gu Refinement the most during his life. Therefore, Lang Ya Land Spirit, formed after his death, also loves Gu Refinement and collecting Gu recipes the most.
This is why Zhou Ming used this strategy to lure Lang Ya Land Spirit, because he knew Lang Ya Land Spirit would absolutely not be able to resist such a temptation.
"Of course." Zhou Ming smiled. "This Gu is called Ice Blast Gu. It's a one-time consumable Gu. After use, it will explode, freezing an entire area into a world of ice and snow."
"Mhm mhm, and then?" Lang Ya Land Spirit nodded repeatedly, waiting for the rest.
"What then?" Zhou Ming asked, feigning ignorance.
"How is this Gu refined? What Materials are used?" Lang Ya Land Spirit glared.
"I only promised to tell you what this Gu is, not to give you the Gu recipe." Zhou Ming smirked cunningly, "That's a different price."
"Ah! This, this, this," Lang Ya Land Spirit stiffened all over, then immediately came closer, fawning, "This can be discussed, young man, name your price and sell me the Gu recipe!"
"Don't rush!" Zhou Ming quickly held out his hand to block Lang Ya Land Spirit, preventing him from getting closer.
"I still have other Gu, let's look at them first, and then we can talk about other things!"
"Do you still have Gu that I don't recognize?" Lang Ya Land Spirit gritted his teeth and said, "Alright, let's look at the Gu first, then we'll talk about other things!"
His curiosity had been completely piqued by Zhou Ming, and he wanted to see how many more Gu Zhou Ming had that he didn't recognize.
And so, for a period of time, Lang Ya Land Spirit suffered perhaps the greatest blow to his self-confidence in his three hundred thousand years of existence.
Zhou Ming took out more than a dozen Gu, and without exception, Lang Ya Land Spirit had never seen any of them!
Not only had he never seen them, Lang Ya Land Spirit couldn't even identify a single Gu Refinement Material, which made him deeply doubt whether he was truly outdated.
When did the Gu World develop so quickly?
"How about it, Lang Ya Land Spirit, do you submit or not?"
Zhou Ming, while counting his gains from Lang Ya Land Spirit, looked at Lang Ya Land Spirit, who was sitting on the ground, looking utterly defeated and disheartened.
This time, his gains were immense.
Amethyst Relic Gu, Slave Gu, Resurrection Gu, Invincible Gu, Yin-Yang Reversal Gu... more than a dozen rare Gu that were hard to find outside, impossible to buy even if one wanted to!
Amethyst Relic Gu can directly raise a Rank Five Gu Master's cultivation by one minor Realm!
Slave Gu can directly enslave a Gu Master, turning the opponent into one's most loyal servant!
Resurrection Gu can bring people back from the dead; as long as death has not exceeded seven hours and the body is intact, resurrection is possible!
Invincible Gu can make a Gu Refinement succeed with one hundred percent certainty!
... Zhou Ming's first step of his plan, to come to Lang Ya Blessed Land by all means and assume the identity of a demonic venerable's descendant, was finally achieved.
Next, it was the second step of the plan.
"Young man, since you said you've shown me all the Gu you wanted me to see, can we start trading Gu recipes now?"
At this moment, Lang Ya Land Spirit was even more humble than before, his face beaming with smiles, constantly fawning over Zhou Ming.
Having seen more than a dozen Gu in a row that he had never encountered completely convinced Lang Ya Land Spirit.
At the same time, his desire for the Gu recipes of these Gu grew even stronger. The accumulated desire almost drove him mad; he wished he could get his hands on these Gu recipes immediately, then go into seclusion, disregard everything else, and first understand these Gu recipes.
Zhou Ming gave an awkward smile, shrugged, and said, "Actually, I don't have the Gu Refinement secret recipes for these Gu."
"No problem, no problem, whatever you want can be discussed... What! You don't have them!"
Lang Ya Land Spirit's originally gentle voice suddenly rose by an octave, and he shrieked, shouting loudly, saliva spraying everywhere.
"That's right, I really don't have the Gu recipes for these Gu." Zhou Ming said with a righteous air.
"However, I can sell these Gu to you. You can research them yourself. Whether you can figure them out depends on your own ability."
Lang Ya Land Spirit was about to get angry, but hearing the latter half of Zhou Ming's sentence, he couldn't help but freeze. The anger that had just risen vanished, replaced by a joyful smile.
"I can research them myself, too. A few mere Mortal Gu, give me some time, and it won't be difficult to figure out the Gu recipes."
"Very good." A smile identical to Lang Ya Land Spirit's earlier one appeared on Zhou Ming's face.
"Lang Ya Land Spirit, I can sell you the Gu, but I must first make three agreements with you!"
This time, it was Lang Ya Land Spirit's eye that twitched, and he showed an expression of difficulty and hesitation.