A Loose Cultivator's Path to Longevity

Thinking this could be a new source of income, Lü Zhong summoned Xia He and explained his idea to her.

”Master, this...” Xia He’s eyes lit up after hearing his plan, and she immediately took the vat of Spirit Dew away.

After tidying up the Alchemy Room, Lü Zhong went to the front courtyard.

Cultivation required a balance of work and rest. He had no interest in seeking excitement outside, feeling it was better to lie back in his Grandmaster’s Chair and quietly enjoy some tea. Besides, he could also use the time to summarize his experiences from purifying spiritual materials over the past half-month.

He had just laid down when a maidservant came forward with tea.

Some massaged his legs, others his shoulders; it was all incredibly comfortable.

Taking a light sip of the Vermilion Eyebrow Jade, Lü Zhong sighed at his own ”corruption” and ”decadence.” He still remembered how back in the Qingliu Ruins, he had to do his own laundry and cook for himself. It was nothing like his current life, where clothes were handed to him and food was served at his beck and call, with servants attending to his every need.

’The more days of this corruption, the better.’

He was very satisfied with his current life.

’Still, I should find some time to go out for a stroll!’

With that thought, Lü Zhong entered the Gray Mist Space and began to sift through his memories. He examined the purification process from a different perspective, hoping to spot any errors or omissions that he could promptly correct.

He only emerged after a long while.

This detailed review had indeed been fruitful. Once he had fully digested these insights, he would be able to purify Spirit Dew to an even higher purity.

By the time he finished, the lanterns were being lit outside.

And in his arms, there was now a warm, fragrant, jade-like softness.

He didn’t even need to look to know it was Li Hejun. His two concubines wouldn’t be so bold.

Lü Zhong shamelessly groped her a few times, and her body shuddered violently as if struck by lightning.

”M-Master, I have something to report,” Li Hejun said, panting as she struggled to hold his large hand still.

Lü Zhong withdrew his hand, cast a Cleaning Skill to tidy himself up, and then picked up a cup of tea from the table. It was the one Xia He had made according to his idea. He took a sip—it tasted quite good—before speaking slowly.

”What is it?”

”Well...” Li Hejun’s expression turned grave, her willow-like eyebrows nearly knitting together. ”The day before yesterday, the Chengde Commerce Association sent an official notice. They explicitly demand a fifty-percent stake in Lintao Pavilion, or they’ll cut off our supply of goods.”

Lintao Pavilion’s main products were Array Talismans, but that didn’t mean it didn’t sell other items.

To attract more customers, it was essential to have a wide variety of goods on the shelves. The Chengde Commerce Association was the partner Lü Zhong had previously chosen, as the goods they supplied could meet Lintao Pavilion’s needs.

Hearing this, Lü Zhong’s brow furrowed slightly.

Fighting life-and-death battles out in the open involved facing drawn blades and leveled spears, but managing a shop to acquire cultivation resources was no walk in the park either. It had its own hidden arrows and backstabbing to guard against.

With Lintao Pavilion’s business booming, it was no surprise that it had attracted the attention of predatory wolves.

He just hadn’t expected to encounter such malice, despite clearly having Mid-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivation.

He couldn’t help but find it strange.

”What’s really going on here?” Lü Zhong recalled that the Chengde Commerce Association placed great importance on its reputation—he wouldn’t have chosen them as a supplier otherwise. Why would they suddenly drop all pretenses and do something that would ruin their good name?

”It’s an internal power struggle at the Commerce Association!” Li Hejun replied confidently, having already investigated the matter.

The Chengde Commerce Association held a high status in Port City. Although it couldn’t compare to the Great Commerce Associations involved in the East Sea Route, it controlled many Artifact Refining and Alchemy Workshops and had its own sources of raw materials. Thus, among the smaller commerce associations, it could be considered quite powerful.

The problem stemmed from Zhang Hai, the Chairman of the Chengde Commerce Association.

Zhang Hai was a man of great talent and ambition. He had married into the Yu Family, the previous owners of the Commerce Association, but successfully turned the tables and seized control of the Chengde Commerce Association for himself. To elevate the association to a higher level, he grew dissatisfied with the profits from simply supplying goods. He spared no expense to assemble a fleet, intending to venture onto the more lucrative East Sea Route to seek the immense profits of maritime trade.

Take Storage Bags, for example. These items couldn’t be manufactured in the Southern Barbarian lands, as they involved the secrets of space, and had to be imported from Central Earth.

A half-cubic-meter Storage Bag, for instance, was recorded in the texts as costing a mere ten Spirit Stones in Central Earth, but its price would skyrocket in the Southern Barbarian lands, jumping straight into the triple digits.

There were many other such Spiritual Objects, like Spirit Contracts and the like.

And traveling to Central Earth via the East Sea was the primary—or perhaps the only—way for Southern Barbarian Cultivators to get there.

Although the Southern Barbarian lands and Central Earth were connected by land, they were separated by the cloud-piercing Heaven-Swaying Plateau. Even during the era of ancient Human Race expansion, it was a near-impassable chasm of despair, a natural barrier fraught with peril.

Even the ancient Human Race, with their legions of Divinity Transformation experts, had no choice but to open up the East Sea Route. Only by using the numerous islands scattered like a string of pearls across the vast East Sea could they land in the wild southern lands, far from Central Earth.

Only after hacking through thorns and clearing brambles did they establish what is now the Southern Barbarian Cultivation Realm.

Trying to open up the East Sea Route to acquire resources from Central Earth was by no means an easy task.

A cultivator who wanted to travel to Central Earth could simply pay Spirit Stones to board a sea vessel; the fleets of the Great Commerce Associations operating on the East Sea Route all offered such services. However, if one wanted to bring goods *back* from Central Earth, it would infringe upon the interests of the Great Commerce Associations, and they would be refused passage for their cargo.

The Great Commerce Associations controlled the East Sea Route and were naturally unwilling to let anyone else have a slice of the pie.

Not only were they unwilling, they would even take action to suppress competitors.

Anyone trying to enter the East Sea trade not only had to deal with Sea Beast attacks along the way, but also face the malice of the Great Commerce Associations.

Therefore, latecomers had two choices: either form a powerful armed fleet to fight back against the raids of the Great Commerce Associations’ fleets, using force to carve out their own piece of the maritime trade pie...

...or find an alternative path and attempt to open up new shipping routes.

Zhang Hai had chosen to open up a new route, but he and his ships ended up buried in the icy sea.

With him gone, the Chengde Commerce Association was immediately thrown into turmoil.

”Right now, three factions are fighting for control of the Chengde Commerce Association. They are: Zhang Miao, Zhang Hai’s son and the association’s current acting Chairman; Yu Feng’Er, from the family that originally owned the Chengde Commerce Association and also Zhang Hai’s Dao Companion; and Lin Fangyun, the association’s Grand Steward. The one who sent the notice to Lintao Pavilion was Lin Fangyun. It’s said he’s losing the power struggle, so he’s started using unscrupulous means to gather power for one last gamble.”

Li Hejun laid out all the information she had gathered.

Lintao Pavilion, it seemed, had been caught in the crossfire.

Lü Zhong listened, then closed his eyes to think.

Lintao Pavilion’s importance to him was self-evident. It generated a net profit of at least thirty to fifty thousand Spirit Stones per year. Now that he was learning Alchemy, he needed a large investment of Spirit Stones just to purchase spiritual materials for practice.

Therefore, he could not afford to lose Lintao Pavilion.

After thinking it over, he concluded that it was more practical to just find a new supplier.

He might earn fewer Spirit Stones, but it was better than being at someone else’s mercy.

Worst-case scenario, he could just dip into his savings.

Just then, a maidservant came to announce that Zhang Miao had come to visit.

’What’s he doing here? Is he trying to win me over? Is there a need for that?’ Lü Zhong was puzzled, but he stood up nonetheless and prepared to go to the reception hall to meet his guest and find out his intentions.

Upon entering the reception hall, he saw a modest gentleman dressed in white, who had an Early-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivation.

It was none other than Zhang Miao, the acting Chairman of the Chengde Commerce Association.