A Loose Cultivator's Path to Longevity

A wave of irritation washed over Lü Zhong.

’The tree wishes for stillness, but the wind never ceases...’

All he, Lü Zhong, wanted was to cultivate in peace, yet he kept running into one problem after another. First, it was the Loose Cultivator Shi Jing, who had his eyes on the Three Sects of Bihai. Now, it was the Buhong Mountain Fang Family.

It was truly one thing after another.

On second thought, perhaps this was just how things were.

Wherever there is profit, there is conflict.

So be it.

’I’d better focus on how to solve this problem.’

This was a matter concerning his path of cultivation. Lü Zhong was unwilling to give up the Chengde Commerce Association. It was a golden hen that could gather vast quantities of Spirit Medicine for him, its value no less than that of an entire Spirit Stone Mine.

So, no matter what, he had to put up a fight with all he had.

Even against the Buhong Mountain Fang Family!

After discussing it with Yu Feng’Er, the two quickly came up with a solution: they would take the long way around. They would organize a fleet of Flying Ships to travel to the Lingyue Domain and import supplies for their camp from there.

With his master Shuini’s Heling Sect there, gathering the necessary supplies wouldn’t be difficult.

The only drawback was that it would significantly increase their costs.

But given the current situation, it was their only option.

As for taking direct action...

Lü Zhong considered it, but ultimately decided against it.

Escalating the situation would do the Chengde Commerce Association far more harm than good. It might even intensify the conflict. If the opposing side managed to assemble three Core Formation cultivators, he would have no choice but to back down.

...

「Early winter arrived.」

The trade war between the Alliance and the Chengde Commerce Association had reached a stalemate.

During this time, both sides had their share of victories and defeats in their skirmishes.

The Chengde Commerce Association even gained a slight upper hand, making the Alliance suffer a minor loss. Unfortunately, this did little to fundamentally change the fact that they were being blockaded.

The only good news was that due to the ever-expanding influence of the Demon Hunting Order, more and more cultivators were participating. This caused the number of cultivators in the camp to grow steadily, and the daily amount of Merit earned rose accordingly. They sold a portion of this Merit for Spirit Stones.

Compared to before, the Commerce Association’s total revenue had actually increased slightly.

But Lü Zhong couldn’t bring himself to be happy about it.

He had recently confirmed for himself that the Buhong Mountain Fang Family was the mastermind behind all this. If the Fang Family hadn’t started this conflict, the Chengde Commerce Association would be earning even more.

「On this day.」

Lü Zhong decided he’d had enough.

It was as he always believed: not wanting to start trouble didn’t mean he was afraid of it.

Now that they were bullying him so openly, there was no reason to just swallow his anger and react passively!

After mulling it over, he decided to take action.

However, he wasn’t going to kill anyone. Instead, he would play the part of an Evil Cultivator. Since the Fang Family had made the first move and were resorting to dirty tricks from the shadows, they couldn’t blame him for giving them a taste of their own medicine.

Lü Zhong planned to recoup all his losses.

Farms, Spirit Medicine Gardens, mines...

’The Fang Family has countless properties. Since I can easily shatter their Guardian Arrays, it would be a real shame not to make a huge score.’

No sooner said than done!

After careful consideration, Lü Zhong selected the Fang Family’s Purple Water Copper Ore Vein.

This place was a key asset for the Fang Family, second in importance only to their ancestral lands on Buhong Mountain and a small-scale Spirit Stone Mine. It had produced Copper Mother on several occasions—a rare spiritual material that could be used to craft Magical Treasures.

「That night.」

After scouting the area, he confirmed there were no Core Formation cultivators stationed inside.

Lü Zhong used his Star Pulling Skill.

Meteor Strike.

The effect was even better than he had expected. The Grand Array protecting the Purple Water Copper Ore Vein was instantly shattered when the meteor—summoned at the cost of most of his Magical Power—slammed into it.

Without a moment’s hesitation, he charged in.

’Valuable or not, it doesn’t matter.’ He stuffed everything he saw into his Storage Bags.

He had a great many Storage Bags on him, all of them high-quality with at least ten cubic meters of space, so he had no fear of running out of room.

Anyone who dared to resist was swiftly dealt with.

After about ten minutes,

Having plundered the Purple Water Copper Ore Vein, Lü Zhong now carried over a dozen bulging bags. In a flash, he vanished into the night.

The next day, the incident caused an uproar throughout the Changchun Domain.

The current patriarch of the Fang Family, Fang Xiaoyun, was reportedly so enraged that he nearly suffered a Qigong Deviation. He immediately sent out large search parties, leaving outsiders to speculate just how much the Fang Family had lost.

As for that, Lü Zhong’s haul was quite substantial.

The two ingots of Copper Mother alone were enough to cover all the losses the Chengde Commerce Association had recently incurred because of the Fang Family’s meddling.

Adding in the Purple Water Copper ore and various other miscellaneous items...

A rough estimate put his earnings at over a hundred thousand Spirit Stones.

’I’ve already made back my losses,’ Lü Zhong thought. ’So I’ll let the Fang Family off the hook for now. When their meddling causes me to lose more, I’ll just go out and take it back again.’

After all, his goal was simply to retaliate.

But for now...

’It’s time to cultivate in peace.’

With that thought, Lü Zhong took out a Pill and swallowed it.

He began his daily routine of seated meditation and Qi Refining.

’My aptitude isn’t as good as others, but I still want to achieve something on my cultivation path. The only way is through diligence. Only by persisting for hundreds of years as if it were a single day can I go further than the average person.’

’There is no other way.’

Only when his daily cultivation was finished did he head to the Central Courtyard.

’What’s the best thing to eat in winter?’

’Hot pot, of course!’

The Changchun Domain had a similar dish, but they hadn’t yet thought of adding sliced mutton. This fact made Lü Zhong rather smug and drew exclamations of amazement from Yu Feng’Er.

”Mmm, this is delicious!”

”Don’t just eat the meat plain. You have to dip it in the sauce, like this. Try some of this fresh Spiritual Honey.” Lü Zhong picked up a cooked slice of mutton and dipped it into the fine Spiritual Honey, a tribute from the Bihai Sect.

The mutton was from the tenderest cut of a Tier Two Cyan Steel Sheep, a delicacy in the lands of the Southern Barbarians that was incredibly hard to come by. Only an organization as wealthy and powerful as the Chengde Commerce Association could afford to acquire such a creature.

Even so, a single Cyan Steel Sheep yielded just under four pounds of fine meat.

The moment he took a bite, he knew the flavor was extraordinary.

There wasn’t the slightest hint of gaminess. Instead, there was a rich burst of Spiritual Qi, tinged with the unique, sweet fragrance of the Spiritual Honey. The flavor was no less exquisite than a Spiritual Food dish meticulously prepared by a top-tier Spirit Chef.

Slice after slice, the two of them quickly devoured all the mutton.

This was just the appetizer.

Cultivators had large appetites, and High-level cultivators even more so. Lü Zhong and Yu Feng’Er ate from morning until midnight, finally putting down their chopsticks, still not quite satisfied.

It wasn’t that they couldn’t eat more, but that there was no need to overindulge their desires.

It was enough to simply satisfy one’s appetite.

”Darling, why don’t we go visit Master? She’s always writing to us, saying she misses us. It’s been a while; we really should pay her a visit,” Yu Feng’Er suggested, looking at Lü Zhong.

”Yes, of course,” Lü Zhong agreed.

Shuini had provided a great deal of help when the Commerce Association needed to procure supplies. From any perspective, it was right for them to visit.

Besides, the Fang Family was currently scrambling to deal with the fallout from the Purple Water Copper Ore Vein. It was unlikely they could extricate themselves quickly enough to cause more trouble for the Chengde Commerce Association.

Still, what needed to be kept secret must be kept secret.

「Early the next morning.」

Lü Zhong and Yu Feng’Er transformed into a streak of rainbow light and flew directly toward the Lingyue Domain.

They traveled at lightning speed.

With his Mid-stage Core Formation Escape Speed, it took them just under half a month to reach their destination. However, instead of going directly to the Heling Sect, they first made a stop at Qingliu Square.

They returned to a familiar place, only to find that everything had changed.

Although the new Workshop Market was still called ”Qingliu,” it had been rebuilt in a new location, not on the original site. The Lio River, once famous for its Peach Blossom Mandarin Fish, had been rerouted during a cultivator combat, and now the name ”Lio River” was nothing but a memory.

He wandered through all of Qingliu Square but couldn’t find a single familiar face.

That was to be expected, of course.

A hundred years had passed; it was only natural that the people he knew were gone.

Afterward, they arrived at the Heling Sect.

It was completely different from their last visit. The sect’s buildings were now complete, and a thriving atmosphere filled the grounds. It was said that one disciple had already reached Late-stage Foundation Establishment and was about to break through to the Fake Pill Realm.

Lü Zhong couldn’t help but feel a pang of envy.

They soon met with Shuini.

”My good disciple! My good daughter-in-law! Quick, come inside!” She personally came out to greet them, her face beaming with joy. Seeing Lü Zhong and Yu Feng’Er, she grinned from ear to ear.

Shuini was still the same as ever.

She was her old self, calling Lü Zhong ”my good disciple” at every turn without a hint of unfamiliarity. To her, a few years likely passed like a few days.

The three of them chatted as they walked.

Shuini smiled, her gaze shifting between Lü Zhong and Yu Feng’Er. One moment, she was playfully chiding Lü Zhong for not having gotten Yu Feng’Er pregnant yet. The next, she was sending a mental message to Feng’Er, sharing some secret tips that made Feng’Er blush crimson and stammer for a long while before finally managing a ”yes.”

”Master, your sect is becoming more and more prosperous!” Lü Zhong remarked to Shuini, observing their surroundings.

Hearing this, Shuini’s smile grew even wider. With a confident expression, she boomed, ”Hahaha, of course! Your master’s skills are nothing to scoff at. But it’s also thanks to the help from you, my good disciples.”

In the early days of the Heling Sect’s founding, if not for the Chengde Commerce Association’s help, its development would never have been so rapid.