A Loose Cultivator's Path to Longevity

The sight made the team members’ scalps tingle. They all turned to Lü Zhong, their gazes questioning.

A rat swarm of this size was beyond their ability to handle. Their only options were to retreat or call for reinforcements.

Facing everyone’s gazes, an idea suddenly occurred to Lü Zhong.

With a flip of his hand, he summoned the Earth Wood Spirit Ring and aimed it toward the passageway.

Countless Yin Scythe Rats were crammed into the narrow passage, making them the perfect target for the Sharp Wood Spear.

He quickly injected Spiritual Power into it. The Earth Wood Spirit Ring began to glow green, and a moment later, a cyan beam of light blasted out, plunging deep into the blood-red Demon Spiritual Qi.

A series of bloodcurdling screams echoed from the passage.

Lü Zhong didn’t know exactly how many Yin Scythe Rats he had killed with that single strike. All he knew was that the Spiritual Power in his body was being consumed at an astonishing rate. If it weren’t for the vast reserves of Spiritual Power granted by his Four Spirits Technique, that one attack would have drained him completely.

While the Heling Sect disciples beat back the swarm with a volley of Fireball Bullets, he ordered the Array Control Disciple to reconfigure the Flow Gathering Wave Array for two-way passage.

As he drew back his left hand, the one holding the ring, he felt an unprecedented weight.

When the ten-zhang-long Sharp Wood Spear retracted, it was skewering a long line of Yin Scythe Rats.

He flung them to the ground and called out, ”Finish off any survivors! Keep doing what you were doing before!”

The others were stunned for a moment, then, overjoyed, they exclaimed:

”Yes!”

One Tier One Yin Scythe Rat, even if not a high-value Demon Beast, could be sold for at least thirty to fifty Spirit Stones.

That last haul was seventeen Yin Scythe Rats.

Based on how Lü Zhong had distributed the spoils before, everyone present would pocket at least five Spirit Stones from this alone.

With such a rich reward, how could they not be motivated?

Spearful after spearful, they repeated the process. A few unexpected incidents occurred, but Lü Zhong dealt with them promptly each time.

Meanwhile, the pile of Yin Scythe Rat carcasses in the underground hall grew at a visible rate, soon forming a small hill. Several large vats were filled with the collected beast blood.

Gradually, Lü Zhong began to reach his limit.

Spiritual Artifacts weren’t meant for prolonged use by Qi Refining cultivators, and the same was true even for Half-Spiritual Artifacts. His Spiritual Power had already dropped to forty percent, hitting the personal warning threshold he had set for himself.

To be safe, he ended the frenzied slaughter.

Gazing at the mountain of Yin Scythe Rat carcasses and imagining the rewards to come, every team member’s face broke into an ecstatic smile.

Just then, a Heling Sect team appeared.

The leader was a young man wearing a Jade Crown.

Hou Yulin had arrived on Li Changxuan’s orders. The extermination campaign had provoked the Yin Scythe Rat swarms into a counterattack, so some of the weaker positions required reinforcements. He had deliberately slowed his pace on the way, hoping to teach Lü Zhong a lesson by letting him struggle. But he never imagined he would walk into a scene like this.

’So many Yin Scythe Rats... how did he kill them all?’

Gazing at the Yin Scythe Rat carcasses, a flash of jealousy appeared in Hou Yulin’s eyes, but he quickly hid it. ’If a former Loose Cultivator like Lü Zhong can do this,’ he immediately began scheming, ’then surely I, from a Golden Core Clan, can replicate his success.’

Lü Zhong didn’t miss the fleeting expression.

”S-Senior Brother Lü,” Hou Yulin said, an idea sparking in his mind. He decided to slightly alter Li Changxuan’s orders to take over this ”gold mine.” ”I’m here on the Eldest Senior Brother’s command to relieve you.”

”This...” Lü Zhong glanced at his team members. Most of them looked exhausted, their Spiritual Power all but depleted.

He instinctively felt Hou Yulin was lying.

However, considering the large number of Demon Beasts they still had to deal with, Lü Zhong decided to play dumb. This was the perfect opportunity to offload the Yin Scythe Rat carcasses before they sat around for too long and lost their value.

”Thank you for coming to our aid, Junior Brother Hou. In that case, it would be rude of me to refuse.”

The two teams quickly switched posts.

Lü Zhong led his team away, their haul of spoils completely loaded up.

***

Arriving at the surface, merchants had already heard the news and rushed over.

Seeing the mountain of bones and pelts, and what must have been at least ten thousand pounds of Demon Beast meat, every single one of them stood with their mouths agape, expressions of utter shock on their faces. They had never seen so many Demon Beast Materials in one place.

”Huh? Talisman Master Lü?” A merchant recognized Lü Zhong.

”Ah, Shopkeeper Feng!” Lü Zhong responded familiarly.

This Shopkeeper Feng was from a purchasing house, and the prices he offered were quite fair. In the past, when Lü Zhong had trouble selling his Talismans, he would choose to offload them to Shopkeeper Feng. Over time, the two had become closer.

”I never thought Fellow Daoist Lü would become a disciple of an Immortal Sect!” Shopkeeper Feng sighed in admiration. His gaze shifted to the Demon Beast Materials, and he asked cautiously, ”All these Demon Beasts... were they all hunted down below?”

Seeing the merchants’ shocked and disbelieving looks, Lü Zhong chuckled. ”Of course!”

Then he added, ”If anyone here wants to buy this entire lot of materials, you can give me your quotes now. Furthermore, you can all see the quality of the bones and pelts—they’re absolutely top-notch. So I ask that you please don’t make any ridiculous lowball offers.”

”Of course, of course!” the merchants replied.

Soon, the first merchant called out a price, followed by a second.

Because it was a bulk sale and the seller was from the Heling Sect, the batch of Yin Scythe Rat carcasses sold for a decent price. Even the person who contributed the least walked away with sixty-three Spirit Stones.

Having received their share of the profits, all the team members were grinning from ear to ear, and their faith in Lü Zhong grew even stronger.

As for Lü Zhong, he directly pocketed three thousand five hundred Spirit Stones.

It was not a small amount; enough to buy one-tenth of a Foundation Establishment Pill.

Compared to the Spirit Stones, his greatest harvest was actually the Essences.

While killing the Yin Scythe Rats, Lü Zhong had given a Sacrificial Artifact to his teammates and had them collect the Essences. In the end, he had obtained over a hundred of them.

With so many Essences, he had several good options: he could use them to nourish his Spirit Ring’s Spiritual Attribute, or he could craft them into Mechanical Souls.

***

The extermination campaign was still ongoing.

The matter of Hou Yulin faking an order was quickly exposed.

The reason was simple: he was exposed by the Heling Sect disciples under his command.

He had faked an order to take over Lü Zhong’s team’s defensive sector, but he failed to replicate their feat of slaughtering massive numbers of Yin Scythe Rats. On the contrary, the immense defensive pressure led to several of his own teammates being killed by the rats. This caused widespread resentment among his subordinates, which ultimately led to them exposing and reporting him.

However, none of this had anything to do with Lü Zhong.

After Hou Yulin was exposed, Lü Zhong’s rest period ended. He was reassigned to the extermination teams, and Li Changxuan’s orders quickly came down: he was still responsible for defending an entrance to the lower waterways.

With his Earth Wood Spirit Ring and the coordination of his team, hunting Yin Scythe Rats became an easy and enjoyable affair for Lü Zhong.

Every day brought in a huge sum of Spirit Stones.

For Lü Zhong, this meant obtaining dozens, even hundreds, of Essences.

「Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.」

The vast swarm of Yin Scythe Rats ultimately could not withstand the cultivators’ slaughtering blades. The counterattacking swarms dwindled daily, and the day to charge into the lower waterways was fast approaching.

Everyone was rubbing their hands in anticipation, hoping to charge into the lower waterways soon.

In terms of rewards, hunting Yin Scythe Rats was only a small part of the prize; the real jackpot was hunting the Moon-Gazing Toad.

Given the scarcity of Ice Magical Artifacts in the Southern Barbarian region, the spiritual materials from a single Moon-Gazing Toad could sell for at least three to five hundred Spirit Stones—a full ten times more than a Yin Scythe Rat. It was a perfect opportunity for everyone to make a huge profit.

***

Ending the day’s extermination, Lü Zhong sat cross-legged in his tent.

Popping a Secret Pattern Pill into his mouth, he began his daily cultivation.

’At this rate, I should be able to break through to the Qi Refining Ninth Layer in just three to five years. When that time comes, with all the Spirit Stones I’ve saved, I might be able to use a Foundation Establishment Pill to break through to the next realm successfully...’

But he also knew that things couldn’t possibly go so smoothly.

After all, with just Four Spirit Roots, the probability of encountering a bottleneck when breaking through to the Qi Refining Ninth Layer was extremely high.

As he contemplated ways to overcome this, he circulated his Four Spirits Technique to refine the Pill.

Just then, footsteps sounded outside, stopping in front of his tent.

”Senior Brother Lü, I’ve brought you dinner.” A woman’s voice came from outside. A blushing female Outer Sect disciple entered, holding a food box.

The food box was carved from a single piece of spirit wood and contained Spiritual Food, which was a Sect benefit.

Although a single Fasting Pill could keep one from feeling hungry for a month, it contained a negligible amount of Spiritual Qi and couldn’t restore Spiritual Power at all. Spiritual Food was different; not only could it restore Spiritual Power, but it also tasted delicious.

”Thank you for the trouble. Just put it over there,” Lü Zhong replied.