A Loose Cultivator's Path to Longevity

Half a year passed in the blink of an eye.

He had accumulated a considerable number of Poisonous Insect carcasses, enough to fill ten ten-cubic-zhang Storage Bags. It was a good thing he had so many on hand; otherwise, he never would have been able to fit them all. They would be enough to feed him for a very long time.

’If only I could get a Cave Heaven Treasure!’

Lü Zhong gazed at the Storage Bags he was carrying and thought with a hint of dissatisfaction.

A Cave Heaven Treasure’s storage capacity was far greater than that of a Storage Bag.

Their smallest dimensions were a hundred zhang, giving them a volume starting at a million cubic zhang.

A treasure like that wasn’t just for storing items; it was large enough to house an entire Sect.

Unfortunately, Cave Heaven Treasures were difficult to find; the number of them recorded in ancient texts could be counted on two hands.

Those that did exist were the treasured heirlooms of the Major Sects. They were often used to store a sect’s most valuable treasures and resources, and they were personally safeguarded by Nascent Soul True Monarchs, making it impossible for one to fall into outside hands.

He remained vigilant, standing guard in the Poisonous Insect Valley for half a year.

Only after confirming that no outsiders were watching did Lü Zhong step onto the Transmission Array.

...

’How many times have I come here now?’

Lü Zhong thought back as he gazed at the dark red sky.

’This is the fifth time!’

’Ah, Western Realm... It’s true you’re a land of opportunity, but you’re also riddled with hidden dangers. The slightest misstep here can be fatal,’ Lü Zhong mused.

If it weren’t for his goal of Nascent Soul Formation, he never would have braved the dangers of this place.

’Wouldn’t it be better to just stay put in the Changchun Domain and enjoy what I’ve built?’

’With the Chengde Commerce Association, enjoying five hundred years of peace and prosperity would be no problem at all.’

’With beautiful companions, I could sire an entire clan.’

’If I was lucky, I might even be able to accumulate enough resources for one attempt at Nascent Soul Formation. Even with just a single chance, I’d already be doing better than ninety-nine percent of all other Core Formation Cultivators.’

’A thousand years from now, I’d be hailed as a legendary cultivator.’

Sometimes, Lü Zhong wondered what all this hardship was really for.

’For Longevity?’

’Not entirely.’

Longevity was an ethereal concept. Even reaching the apex of this world only meant attaining Divinity Transformation Cultivation. There were many more Realms after Ascension to the Spirit Realm, as the ancient texts had recorded.

Void Refining, Integration, Mahayana...

Legend said that only by becoming a true immortal could one attain longevity in its truest sense.

He had pondered this question for a long time, but still had no answer.

Before he knew it, he had arrived at his first destination.

The Western Realm was significantly larger than the Southern Barbarian lands, but it was divided into just five domains: Ye Ling Domain, where the Transmission Array was located; Liluo Domain, which neighbored Immortal Prison Pass; and West Extreme Sword Domain, which was close to the Crimson Demon Land.

The two remaining domains were the Illusionary Sound Realm and the True Central Domain, both of which were connected and situated in the center of the Western Realm.

This time, Lü Zhong had arrived at Rolling Stone Camp in the True Central Domain.

Due to the Western Border Alliance’s retaliation, the True Central Domain had also become a Ghost Realm. The vassals of the True Central Sect in this area had either migrated or been wiped out, leaving only a small number of cultivators and mortals struggling to survive.

Rolling Stone Camp was one such place.

He had just released his Spirit Puppet when he was met with a ’warm welcome’ from a group of walking ’Storage Bags’.

Lü Zhong felt rather helpless about it, but he had no choice but to accept their ’gifts’.

Storage Bags +3

’This Western Realm is getting more chaotic by the day!’

Lü Zhong clearly remembered that on his previous trips to the Western Realm, the Evil Cultivators had at least kept a hundred li away from any Workshop Market before daring to rob anyone. But now... it was better left unsaid.

The root cause was the ever-increasing concentration of the Crimson Spiritual Energy.

Under these conditions, it was no surprise that Evil Cultivators would resort to desperate measures just to survive a little longer.

After entering Rolling Stone Camp, Lü Zhong changed his identity several times. He sold some of the Pills and Spirit Rice he had brought with him, then purchased a number of the Western Realm’s local specialties, which were mostly various types of Spirit Ore.

Even so, he still attracted the attention of certain observant parties.

Among them was a spy from the True Central Sect.

Through a Soul Search, Lü Zhong learned that his activities during his trips to the Western Realm—especially selling large quantities of High-tier Healing Elixirs and massive amounts of Spirit Rice with an unknown origin—had indeed caught the attention of the True Central Sect. They had since increased their surveillance.

’Good thing I caught on early. If I’d ended up on their high-priority list, I’d have been in serious trouble!’

After making a profit of several thousand Spirit Stones, he left Rolling Stone Camp.

In the days that followed, Lü Zhong traveled throughout the five domains of the Western Realm to sell his goods. He was never greedy, making sure to never sell more than five thousand Spirit Stones’ worth of merchandise at a time. He chose his destinations with extreme caution, and his movements were completely unpredictable. Sometimes, even he didn’t know where he was headed next.

「A year passed in the blink of an eye.」

In a small, unnamed mountain cave, Lü Zhong took stock of his earnings.

On this trip, he had brought a large number of Tier One, Two, and Three Pills—over a hundred bottles containing more than three thousand pills in total. After selling them, his profits ranged from three to ten times his initial cost. The biggest portion came from two Tier Three Healing Pills, which alone brought in a total of 120,000 Spirit Stones.

The Spirit Rice provided a steady profit of around eight times its cost, earning him nearly another sixty thousand.

Half of the Spirit Stones he earned were exchanged for local specialties from the Western Realm. Bringing them back to the Southern Barbarian lands would generate another stream of income, but offloading them would be an issue, since it would be difficult to legitimize their origins.

No one was a fool, especially not High-level cultivators, every last one of whom was incredibly shrewd.

They wouldn’t just stand by and watch someone make a fortune without investigating the source. A sudden influx of specialty Spiritual Objects from the Western Realm would inevitably attract prying eyes.

Lü Zhong could use the East Sea Fleet as a cover for this. As long as he sold the goods off slowly, he would be fine.

’And then there are the unexpectedly acquired Storage Bags...’

Lü Zhong felt a major headache coming on as he gazed at the thick stack of Storage Bags.

The more places he visited, the more Evil Cultivators he inevitably encountered.

This trip, his haul of Storage Bags had set a new record: two hundred and five in total.

’It’s like I’m here on a supply run!’

”This is a problem,” Lü Zhong muttered in frustration.

After all, the number of Storage Bags transported via the East Sea Route was no more than three thousand per year—a fact that could be verified in the customs documents. Central Earth might be vast, but its annual output of Storage Bags was limited.

Dumping over two hundred of them on the market at once would surely cause a disruption.

’Forget it. I’ll pick out the larger ones, and the rest—those smaller than one cubic zhang—can just be a bonus for the Sect.’ Lü Zhong made his decision quickly. They wouldn’t sell for many Spirit Stones anyway.

Just as he was thinking this, a loud RUMBLE echoed from outside.

He used his Celestial Net Eye and saw a battle unfolding in a valley a hundred li away. The Western Border Alliance was fighting a vassal of the True Central Sect. The highest cultivation level among them was Foundation Establishment, and there were over a hundred people in total.

Lü Zhong had witnessed scenes like this many times over the past year.

The escalating otherworldly changes in the Western Realm had intensified the conflict between the two factions to a fever pitch. They could always find a reason to fight—perhaps the Western Border Alliance wanted a certain Spiritual Object, or the True Central Sect had discovered some of their cultivators, or maybe they just wanted an all-out brawl.

Every fight cost a dozen or more lives.

Lü Zhong simply watched in silence, waiting for it to be over.

’Fight all you want, as long as it doesn’t involve me.’

The result was the same as always: the Western Border Alliance lost. They had always suffered more defeats than victories. If not for their unwavering conviction, they would have collapsed long ago under the True Central Sect’s relentless assault.

He waited for a day. Only after the True Central Sect had finished clearing the battlefield did he resume his journey.

...

「It was time for the annual Lantern Festival once again.」

Lü Zhong timed his return perfectly, arriving the day before it began.

The Changchun Domain had many festivals, including one similar to the New Year’s Eve of his past life, but the only one that held any real significance for him was the Lantern Festival.

A nightless sky of fiery trees and silver flowers.

A major event had recently taken place in the Southern Barbarian lands.

Rumors began to circulate that Junling True Monarch was on the verge of death from his grievous injuries.

The news sent shockwaves through the region.

Regardless of whether it was true or false, the rumor itself was a significant omen.

The state of the Lingyue Domain—chaotic, yet intact—was bound to change because of it.

For Lü Zhong, this was naturally a good thing.

As long as the Lingyue Sect stood, his master Shuini’s Heling Sect would be in danger of being destroyed. The Heling Sect’s previous fate had already proven this. The Lingyue Sect, which controlled the vast Lingyue Domain, would never tolerate the emergence of any power that threatened its position and would stamp out any such threat at the first sign.

Shuini’s reaction to this news was that of a seasoned veteran.

In her correspondence with Lü Zhong, she expressed her belief that it was most likely a trap.

It might be true that Junling True Monarch’s old injuries weren’t healing, but that didn’t necessarily mean he was at death’s door. The news had likely been spread by the Lingyue Sect itself for the express purpose of luring out Li Qionghua.

In the eyes of the Lingyue Sect, she had probably become their single greatest threat.

Unlike the turbulent Lingyue Domain, the other six domains of the Southern Barbarian lands were peaceful. Even the Barbarian Race to the south, which constantly harassed the borders, had quieted down considerably. If anything, it felt like the calm before the storm.