A Loose Cultivator's Path to Longevity

By the end of the year.

The Wood Thunder Skill was successfully mastered at the initial level.

Just as he emerged from seclusion, Lü Zhong received a piece of news.

Dongbu Yu had passed away three days prior.

His properties, Dongbu House and the Dongbu Refining Pill Workshop, had been transferred to different owners, with the only commonality being that they were all Elders from Changchun Valley. As for Dongbu Nan, his whereabouts were unknown, and it was unlikely he had met a good end.

This matter had almost no impact on the Chengde Commerce Association.

Once the new year passed, Lü Zhong boarded a Commerce Association Flying Ship and headed for the Heling Sect.

After a month of travel.

He arrived at the main gate of the Heling Sect.

The place was originally called Qingyang Mountain. After the Qingyang Sect was destroyed, it was occupied by the Five Spirits Sect to serve as a branch sect and was briefly renamed Zhenyang Mountain. However, as the Five Spirits Sect’s power waned, the location was seized by Evil Cultivators. After changing hands several times, passing between various families and third-rate sects, it was now known as Heling Mountain.

When Lü Zhong arrived, all he saw was a construction site.

For many of the buildings, the foundations had just been dug, and not even the cornerstones had been laid.

His gaze shifted toward the peak of Heling Mountain, where a brightly lit grand hall stood. If he wasn’t mistaken, Shuini should be in there.

Upon entering the hall, he did indeed find Shuini.

She was sitting cross-legged on a meditation cushion, her eyes closed in rest.

Seeing Lü Zhong arrive, a smile spread across her face as she called out, ”My good disciple, you’re finally here! Your master has been waiting a long time for you. Quick, sit over here!”

He took a seat, and a cup of Spirit Tea was poured.

Lü Zhong took a small sip and found the taste to be quite pleasant.

The master and disciple chatted idly for a while before getting down to business.

When the topic of the three Silver Armored Corpses came up, Shuini’s brow furrowed deeply.

The General’s Tomb was adjacent to Qingliu Market at the foot of the mountain. If the Silver Armored Corpses in the tomb couldn’t be eliminated, the reconstruction of the Workshop Market couldn’t begin. Once those three Silver Armored Corpses in the tomb grew stronger, the safety of the Heling Sect itself would be threatened.

Therefore, eliminating the hidden threat of the General’s Tomb was imperative!

”Regarding the three Silver Armored Corpses in the General’s Tomb, I have already conducted an investigation. The main tomb chamber is easy to defend and difficult to attack. On top of that, the Qingyang Sect previously tampered with it, converting the original Corpse Suppression Array into a Corpse Nurturing Array. And unfortunately, the three Armored Corpses have been hiding inside the tomb all this time, so trying to eliminate them in there will not be easy.”

’A Corpse Nurturing Array?’

Hearing this, Lü Zhong thought to himself, ’The Qingyang Sect was truly ruthless.’

’Their plan must have been to nurture a few terrifyingly powerful Armored Corpses to make the occupying Five Spirits Sect pay a heavy price.’

’But the Qingyang Sect never expected the Five Spirits Sect to suffer such a devastating blow to its Primordial Qi from that battle.’

’They didn’t occupy Zhenyang Mountain for long before it was seized by Evil Cultivators.’

’Qingliu Market has remained desolate to this day. When I passed by, I could still see Corpse Qi roiling within, a clear sign of corpse-type beasts entrenched inside. The Qingyang Sect’s venomous revenge plot had naturally amounted to nothing.’

”This is a topographical map I scouted out. Take a look, my good disciple.” With a worried frown, Shuini took a Jade Scroll from her sleeve.

Lü Zhong took it and examined it. Inside, besides a map, there were also some recorded images.

The terrain of the main tomb area was indeed complex.

To prevent tomb robbing, the Ancient Cultivators had set up numerous traps and mechanisms. Some of them were still operational and could cause considerable trouble even for a Golden Core Master. While fighting the Silver Armored Corpses, one would also have to watch out for these things, meaning a cultivator could use at most eighty percent of their full strength.

As he looked through the pieces of information in the Jade Scroll.

Suddenly, a great idea came to Lü Zhong.

Although the main tomb chamber was buried deep underground, it was only about a hundred feet down.

’Since it’s so hard to deal with the three Silver Armored Corpses inside the tomb, why not just force them out?’

”Master, I think we can do it like this...”

Lü Zhong explained his idea and immediately received Shuini’s approval. She murmured, ”I was really overthinking things. If we can’t beat the three Silver Armored Corpses inside the tomb, we can just dig it open and force them out. Why didn’t I think of that!”

With a cultivator’s abilities, digging it open wouldn’t be difficult.

”As it happens, among the construction workers, there are many who are skilled in Earth Element Magic. We can have them... No, that’s too much trouble. We could just use the Star Pulling Skill twice. That might be enough to smash it open directly!” Her mind now open to new possibilities, Shuini quickly came up with a solution.

The two of them discussed the details late into the night before finally settling on a plan.

There was no time to lose; they began immediately.

With the Escape Speed of a Core Formation Cultivator, it took less than half an ancient hour to get from the Heling Sect to the General’s Tomb.

This showed just how close the General’s Tomb was to the Heling Sect.

”My good disciple, memorize this incantation well. This is a guarded secret of the great Central Earth Immortal Spirit Sect. Only when the Star Pulling Skill is combined with this incantation does it become a complete Secret Skill.” As Shuini spoke, she transmitted the incantation to him.

She glanced at the dark clouds gathering overhead that refused to disperse and gestured for Lü Zhong to ascend with her.

Soon, the two of them were above the cloud layer.

Seeing the brilliant starlight and the vast sea of stars hanging in the sky, Shuini nodded with great satisfaction. She then held out a hand and said, ”Quick, link your Magical True Essence with mine. We will cast the Star Pulling Secret Skill together and summon a star from the heavens to blast open the General’s Tomb below!”

Lü Zhong was astonished when he heard this.

He thought to himself, ’So the Star Pulling Skill is meant to be taken literally!’

Seeing Shuini take out her Star Mirror Magical Treasure, he stopped overthinking it and extended his right hand, linking his Magical True Essence with hers. He then cast the Flying Star Qi Introduction Skill on himself and activated the ”Star Blessing” of his Star Patterned Robe. Naturally, he also made use of the Star Mirror’s Star Gathering Skill.

Shuini, for her part, had also applied numerous empowerments.

In an instant, boundless Star Force from the sky converged madly toward them, illuminating half the night sky.

The auras of the two cultivators grew steadily stronger.

”Now!”

Before Shuini’s voice had even faded, Lü Zhong, just like her, formed a hand seal and began Chanting to cast the complete Star Pulling Skill. The True Essence in his body gushed out like a flash flood, and more than half of it was gone in an instant.