A Loose Cultivator's Path to Longevity

After leaving Ningyun Market, Lü Zhong moved stealthily, circling the market several times with his breath concealed. Once he confirmed that no one was following him, he flew off in a direction leading away from the city.

He flew for thousands of miles before the knot of anxiety in his chest finally loosened.

’Selling off a large quantity at once is just too conspicuous. I need to figure out a different method,’ Lü Zhong thought. This time, he had been targeted by the Western Border Alliance. They clearly wanted something from him, so their attitude could still be considered friendly. But if it had been spies from the True Central Sect...

Given the True Central Sect’s policy of completely exterminating the Western Border Alliance, they might have ambushed him with several Core Formation Cultivators.

If that had really happened, he wasn’t sure he could have escaped.

’I have to change my approach. Selling off large batches of scarce Spiritual Objects is no longer viable,’ Lü Zhong plotted internally. ’But using Spirit Stones to purchase specialties from the Western Realm shouldn’t attract too much attention. As long as I make small purchases multiple times in different locations, it will be practically impossible for either the True Central Sect or the Western Border Alliance to track me.’

And it didn’t stop there. He could also use a Spirit Puppet to handle the transactions.

After several repairs, the Spirit Puppet’s strength had already reached the late-stage Foundation Establishment.

He could even attach a Spirit-Hosted Array to it.

As long as he used high-grade materials, he could even control it from over a thousand li away.

That would guarantee his safety.

’Even better, I can set up a Transmission Array first!’ An idea began to form in Lü Zhong’s mind. He couldn’t create a medium or Long-distance Transmission Array, but for a short-distance one, spanning less than ten thousand li, the precision and complexity required would be drastically lower.

With his current proficiency in the Array Dao, it was possible for him to learn how.

Transmission Arrays were known as the pearl of the Array Dao.

They involved the mysteries of space, and mastering them was as difficult as ascending to the heavens.

Lü Zhong wasn’t greedy. As long as he could set up multiple thousand-li Transmission Arrays, he could instantly teleport thousands of li away. That way, even a Nascent Soul True Monarch wouldn’t be able to touch him.

’That’s right, this is the way!’

Having found a solution, he let out a long sigh of relief.

To be on the safe side, Lü Zhong chose to take the long way around, which would also serve to broaden his horizons. He first traveled to the border of the Liluo Domain, then continued on while concealing his traces until he reached the Illusionary Sound Realm, home to the Illusionary Sound Palace. He spent a year and a half on this journey, his footprints covering the five domains of the Western Realm.

After this period of tempering, he was pleasantly surprised to find that the True Essence in his body was significantly more stable than before.

’Knowledge from books is shallow, after all. It seems I’ll have to temper myself more like this whenever I have the time,’ Lü Zhong thought, overjoyed by this discovery. A smile spread across his travel-worn face.

His gaze shifted to his waist, and he couldn’t help but sigh.

Because he had deliberately traveled while concealing his breath and traces, he was inevitably targeted by others as a fat sheep. After a few such encounters, his Storage Bag was stuffed to the brim, his haul amounting to fifty thousand Spirit Stones.

In addition, he had acquired over a hundred other Storage Bags, which could also be sold for tens of thousands of Spirit Stones.

’The world is in a moral decline! You really can’t blame me for this.’

Lü Zhong sighed again, activated the Transmission Array at his feet, and teleported back to the Southern Barbarian region.

...

The moment he stepped into Lintao Pavilion, a figure rushed toward him.

Who else could it be but Yu Feng’Er?

”Husband!”

”Mm.” Lü Zhong embraced her, giving her a familiar squeeze. She felt just as he remembered.

”Why were you gone for so long this time?” Yu Feng’Er asked, her heart aching as she looked at how much darker and thinner he’d become. Tears welled in her eyes.

”I ran into some trouble on the road, so it took a bit longer.”

Lü Zhong sniffed his Star Patterned Magic Robe. Even though he had used Cleaning Skills to maintain it throughout his journey, it had still picked up an odor. He took it off and handed it to a nearby maidservant before asking, ”How have things been? Any trouble at the Commerce Association?”

”After you left, a few clowns tried to stir up trouble, but I’ve already handled them!” Yu Feng’Er said, her face full of pride as she lifted her head and puffed out her chest.

The emotion was written all over her face, stopping just short of having the three words ”Praise me now” carved on her forehead.

”Well done!” Lü Zhong didn’t hold back his praise.

Sometimes, voicing your approval is better than simply warning someone to not get arrogant.

Sure enough, as soon as Yu Feng’Er heard his words, her heart felt as sweet as honey, and her face bloomed into a radiant smile.

After that, her passion became almost too much for him to handle.

Perhaps because he had been away, tempering himself for so long, that night, Lü Zhong felt that their reunion was even sweeter than a honeymoon.

「Before dawn the next day.」

Lü Zhong did not linger in the pleasures of their bed. He slipped out of Yu Feng’Er’s embrace, rose, and dressed. After eating the seafood Wontons prepared by a maidservant, he went to his Quiet Chamber.

He touched his Storage Bag and took out a small jade box.

Opening it, he found ten portions of Star Stone lying inside.

Each portion was about the size of a die and shone with a captivating light.

A single portion of Star Stone this size was equivalent to five years of hard work nourishing a Magical Treasure. Ten portions, therefore, were worth fifty years. If he refined all of them into the Star Mirror, it might allow the weapon to break through from a Three-layered Restriction Treasure to the level of a Fifth-Layer Prohibition.

A Magical Treasure with the power of a Fifth-Layer Prohibition was the kind of asset only a veteran Early-stage Core Formation Cultivator would possess.

He began the refining process, which proved to be exceptionally difficult.

Lü Zhong had to simultaneously control the speed at which the Star Stone merged into the Star Mirror while also using his Purple Nether Extreme Fire to purify its impurities. The task was incredibly painstaking and laborious, and the drain on his Divine Soul was immense.

Day and night blurred together as time flew by.

By the time he had finished refining the first portion of Star Stone, over a month had passed.

Seeing that the Lantern Festival was approaching, Lü Zhong first made a trip to the small valley before returning to celebrate with Yu Feng’Er.

It was another sleepless night of fiery trees and silver flowers.

He continued refining the Star Stones.

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, two years had passed.