A Loose Cultivator's Path to Longevity

These were sensitive times.

Lü Zhong had no doubt that Changchun Valley was racking their brains to find him. Leaving Changchun Immortal City at a time like this would surely draw their attention.

Fortunately, he had the perfect excuse to move.

「Half a month later.」

An explosion rocked Lintao Pavilion, blowing a good portion of the courtyard sky-high.

The Changchun Valley Law Enforcement Team rushed over when they heard the news, only to find a crater several yards deep. They were all struck speechless. Gazing at the figure hovering in mid-air, not a single one of them dared to step forward.

According to Sect Laws, causing a disturbance in the city was punishable by at least a month of penal servitude.

But everyone knew the Master of Lintao Pavilion was a Golden Core Master.

A being who stood above tens of thousands of others.

They had no choice but to make an exception.

...

Using the explosion as a pretext, Lü Zhong moved to Ganquan Island.

In fact, if he hadn’t been worried about arousing suspicion, he would have moved directly to Bidao. Although it was far from the Southern Barbarian lands, the island itself was quite large.

Including the surrounding waters, the Bihai Island Group was as large as two Changchun Domains.

If he established a long-term presence there and developed it, the returns would be no less than what the Chengde Commerce Association currently generated.

’Forget it. I’ll stay on Ganquan Island for a while first.’

Even so, he was already calculating how to accelerate development over at Bihai. At the very least, he had to increase the mortal population. After all, a Sect’s foundation wasn’t its cultivators, but the number of mortals under its rule.

Only by strengthening the Mortal World there could the Three Sects of Bihai truly establish themselves.

With this in mind, Lü Zhong wrote three letters.

In his capacity as the founding patriarch, he ordered the Sect Leaders of the Three Sects of Bihai to spare no expense in recruiting people from overseas, striving to increase the population to one million within ten years.

’And I’ll need to implement policies that encourage growth and stability to go along with it...’

The letters would be delivered via the Flying Ship route between Ganquan Island and Bidao.

He expected them to reach Bidao in two or three days.

Lü Zhong wasn’t worried about the Three Sects being unable to meet the population target. After all, as their founding patriarch, he hadn’t started demanding tribute from them yet. How could they possibly lack the Spirit Stone resources to bring in mortals from the Southern Barbarian lands?

’I also need to gather some Cultivation Method Manuals and send them over. Hmm, it would be best if the techniques I give them create a balance of power, so the Three Sects keep each other in check. That should prevent them from causing trouble for me down the road. Yes, that’s the plan!’

...

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

Thanks to the relocation of the Chengde Commerce Association, Ganquan Island grew more bustling with each passing day.

At Ganquan Commercial Harbor, which was built from giant stone blocks and had waters dozens of yards deep, a hundred or so ships of various sizes were already moored at the docks. The Port City on the shore was also beginning to take shape, gradually starting to resemble a Workshop Market.

Lü Zhong had personally designed Ganquan Commercial Harbor, making it very different from other ports in the Cultivation Realm. Its functional zoning was comprehensive, with distinct areas designated as the wharf district, warehouse district, and so on. This solved the shortcomings of places like Changchun Immortal Harbor, whose unclear divisions made management difficult.

The same was true for the Port District. All the buildings were built into the mountainside in neat, dense rows. The district was divided into commercial and residential zones. The style of the residences varied depending on their distance from a Spirit Vein node, but even the humblest multi-story buildings were designed like the two-bedroom apartments of his past life, complete with modern amenities.

They all had plumbing, kitchens, and bathrooms.

Judging from the feedback so far, the reviews for these residences were quite positive.

Occasionally, a passenger ship would dock.

Loose Cultivators would disembark, their eyes lighting up at the sight of the Port City built into the mountainside. But they only spared it a second glance. With heavy burdens on their shoulders, they hurriedly followed their companions out of Ganquan Harbor.

These Loose Cultivators were all here to hunt Sea Beasts.

The Ganquan Islands were newly developed, so the Sea Beasts in the nearby waters had not yet been hunted to extinction. There might also be a wealth of undiscovered rare and natural treasures, making it a land of opportunity.

If they could find a great opportunity here, they might even be able to reach Foundation Establishment.

「Ganquan Mountain.」

The former platform on the mountaintop had been built into his new home.

Lü Zhong didn’t plan to stay long, but he had made all the necessary preparations. Everything was in place, from a Defense Array on par with a Mountain-Protecting Grand Array to all manner of Restriction Traps.

The new home was built in a traditional three-courtyard style.

It was divided into a front courtyard, a Central Courtyard, and a rear courtyard.

The front courtyard was for receiving guests.

The Central Courtyard was the largest. It contained living quarters for maids and concubines, as well as dedicated areas for relaxation, appointed with ponds, gardens, and decorative rockeries.

Only Lü Zhong and Yu Feng’Er were permitted in the rear courtyard, which connected to Ganquan Cave.

「Night fell.」

Lü Zhong sat cross-legged in his Quiet Chamber, deep in cultivation.

Suddenly, his heart clenched with a sense of foreboding.

’What’s happening?’

He burst out of the Quiet Chamber and looked to the west.

Against the pitch-black night sky, a blinding, blood-red sun suddenly rose. It then transformed into a roaring, phantasmal shadow that vaguely resembled a human face, yet was grotesquely distorted. A vast, bloody light spilled across the sky for thousands of miles.

HUMMM!

An indescribable wave of energy swept past.

Lights flared to life across the Port City as countless cultivators and mortals were jolted from their sleep. An unbroken cacophony of crying and shouting arose, instantly throwing the entire area into chaos.

’It looks like something major has happened!’

Lü Zhong didn’t know the specifics, but recalling his earlier premonition, he couldn’t help but feel fortunate that he had made the right decision to escape the vortex of trouble early on. Otherwise, there was no telling what fate he might have met.

’A phenomenon this astonishing... I fear a great calamity has befallen Changchun Immortal City.’

It was a sleepless night.

News arrived early the next morning.

A massive, inexplicable explosion had occurred at Changchun Valley’s main gate. According to images from a Water Mirror Technique, the aftershock had destroyed most of the inner city, with casualties among mortals and cultivators numbering in the hundreds of thousands.

But that was not all.

Something even more terrifying followed. Inexplicably, countless Souls of the Dead appeared and began to slaughter the city’s survivors, causing the death toll to multiply several times over.

As for Changchun Valley, which should have been maintaining order, they had their own problems because of the explosion at their main gate.