A Loose Cultivator's Path to Longevity

It wasn’t that they couldn’t see Ganquan Island’s status plummeting after the chaos.

They had simply wanted to buy up the island’s shops during the flood dragon turmoil and make a fortune.

But they never expected the turmoil to end so abruptly, causing shop prices to crash. Now, the shops were worth less than ten percent of what they had paid, a complete and utter loss.

Lü Zhong felt no pity for these people. After all, many of them represented factions that had kicked the Chengde Commerce Association while it was down during the Fang Family incident. They were nothing but a bunch of money-grubbing opportunists. Seeing them suffer such enormous losses, he could barely contain his glee, so there was no way he would entertain their demands for a refund.

A refund?

Not a chance!

Far from offering refunds, he sold off Ganquan Island itself.

It couldn’t be helped.

The Water Flood Dragon’s rampage had severely damaged Ganquan Island’s Spirit Vein. It had been on the verge of advancing to a Tier Three Spirit Vein, but now it was about to degrade to a Tier One Spirit Vein.

Restoring it would cost no less than buying a brand new Tier Three Spirit Vein.

Given the circumstances, he might as well sell it off and recoup some residual value.

’After deducting the initial investment, I should have been looking at a loss of over a million Spirit Stones. But thanks to these factions that bought the shops, I actually ended up profiting by nearly a million Spirit Stones. And that’s not even counting my other income...’

A sense of satisfaction washed over Lü Zhong at the thought.

In truth, he had another reason for selling Ganquan Island.

According to ancient texts, flood dragons were petty and vindictive creatures, especially Water Flood Dragons. There was no guarantee it wouldn’t return to wreak havoc again.

When one lacked sufficient strength, the only option was to make a strategic retreat.

’It can’t be helped...’ Lü Zhong sighed to himself.

Seeing that everything had been loaded onto the Flying Ship and Yu Feng’Er was waving for him, he put the matter out of his mind, shouted a reply, and departed from Ganquan Island.

...

Another move.

Lü Zhong set up his new home in the Bihai Sect.

In fact, this was the logical place for him to settle.

What kind of sect elder would live all alone outside the sect’s domain? They would normally reside in the sect’s most vital location, continually reaping the benefits the sect had to offer.

The Bihai Sect was built on Bihai Island, its main gate situated on Bihai Peak.

The peak had originally housed a Tier Two High-grade Spiritual Vein, but after years of being nurtured regardless of cost, it had long since metamorphosed into a Tier Three Spiritual Vein. The nexus of the Spirit Vein was located within Tide Cave, which now served as Lü Zhong’s immortal’s abode.

Tide Cave contained a large complex of buildings.

An Alchemy Room, a Quiet Chamber, a Talisman Making Room...

It had every facility one could possibly need.

This place was, in fact, the immortal’s abode Lü Zhong had prepared for himself from the start.

He had simply been too sentimental to move from Ganquan Island before.

”Husband, I’d like to go and see Bidao Market,” Yu Feng’Er said, taking his arm.

The headquarters of the Chengde Commerce Association had also been moved to Bidao Market. As its Chairman, she felt uneasy not going over to check on things.

”Alright, go ahead,” Lü Zhong nodded.

Yu Feng’Er was already at the Core Formation stage; she was more than capable of protecting herself.

Besides, he had his own affairs to handle.

After seeing Yu Feng’Er off, Lü Zhong made his way to Bihai Hall. This was the symbol of the Bihai Sect’s authority, and the throne of the Sect Leader, in particular, was an object of desire for many.

Below the dais, Vice Sect Leader Yanyi and all the Stewards stood in their designated places.

However, there was one difference from last time.

A new Foundation Establishment Disciple stood in the hall, a man named Chu Dayun.

Unlike Hex Bin and the other two, this disciple with Three Spirit Roots had been nurtured by the Bihai Sect all the way from the Qi Refining Stage. His loyalty to the sect was guaranteed.

’Not even sixty years old...’

According to the sect’s records, before becoming a disciple, Chu Dayun had been just a medicinal farmer at the Qi Refining Third Layer who made a living by gathering herbs. Now, barely two decades later, he had actually succeeded in breaking through to Foundation Establishment.

No matter how one looked at it, he clearly had a secret.

But then again, who didn’t?

Lü Zhong mulled it over for a moment, then quickly came to a decision.

”Chu Dayun!”

”Disciple is present.”

”The position of Sect Leader cannot remain vacant,” Lü Zhong said, his gaze fixed intently on Chu Dayun. ”Since you have broken through to Foundation Establishment, you will take on this role. How about it?”

His words sparked a wave of envy among the others in the hall.

”Disciple...” Chu Dayun hesitated.

Then, his gaze hardened with resolve.

He cupped his fists, bowed deeply, and declared in a loud voice,

”Thank you for this honor, Elder Lü!”

Following that, Lü Zhong announced a series of sect reforms, including the abolition of the Vice Sect Leader position, the establishment of a system for Inner and Outer Sect True Disciples, and the implementation of Sect Merits.

As the sect’s Founding Ancestor, no one dared to oppose him.

...

After all the pleasantries, Chu Dayun was completely exhausted.

He now sat on the Sect Leader’s throne, staring blankly into space.

Just then, an ancient voice suddenly rang in his mind. ”Chu the Kid, congratulations on becoming the Sect Leader of the Bihai Sect!”

Chu Dayun instinctively glanced at his right hand... at the plain, black, ancient-looking ring.

He was long accustomed to the voice in his head.

Ever since Elder Yao first appeared ten years ago, Chu Dayun’s cultivation had advanced by leaps and bounds under the mysterious senior’s guidance. He had quickly shed his identity as a bottom-tier Loose Cultivator and, at Elder Yao’s instruction, joined the Bihai Sect.

Furthermore, Elder Yao had taught him a secret insect-rearing formula. Using it, Chu Dayun raised Great Honey Insects, successfully amassed a large number of Sect Merits, and exchanged them for a Foundation Establishment Pill.

In the end, he broke through to Foundation Establishment in a single attempt!

Now, he was the Sect Leader of the Bihai Sect, second to one man and superior to all others.

Before, Chu Dayun wouldn’t have dared to even imagine such a thing.

Elder Yao was responsible for all of this, so Chu Dayun placed his absolute trust in the old senior from the ring. He took a deep breath and asked with the utmost respect,

”Elder Yao, what should I do next?”

”Use the secret formula I gave you and quickly raise the Great Honey Insect Queen to Tier Two.”

Seeing Chu Dayun’s confusion, Elder Yao explained, ”The Spiritual Honey from Great Honey Insects boosts one’s cultivation with an efficiency that rivals any Pill on the market. If you want to reach Core Formation quickly, raising Great Honey Insects is your best option. Any insect raised with my secret formula will produce double the honey of a normal one. You must take all the extra Spiritual Honey for yourself. That way, even Elder Lü won’t discover our little scheme.”

”Yes, Elder Yao!”

Chu Dayun’s eyes lit up.

As if remembering something, Elder Yao added, ”One more thing... our conversations must only be conducted through Divine Thought from now on. Do not move your lips. Things are different now. Before, you were just a nobody, and no one paid you any attention. But now you’re a Sect Leader; someone is always watching you from the shadows. You cannot afford to expose even the slightest clue.”

”Understood!” Chu Dayun replied.

Unseen, Lü Zhong was using a scene-replay ability to listen in on their conversation.

Communication via Divine Thought was not, in fact, completely undetectable. Divine Sense was tangible yet formless; one could intercept a transmission by touching it with their own Divine Sense. The reason it was normally so secure was that any such interception would be instantly detected.

Thus, in practical applications, Divine Thought communication was extremely private.

Unfortunately for them, Lü Zhong possessed the Gray Mist Space.

’A Personal Grandpa...’

What an old-fashioned novel trope.

Lü Zhong never in a million years thought this kind of storyline would happen so close to him.

For a moment, he was utterly speechless.

’How to deal with this?’

Should he eradicate the problem, root and stem, or...

’Caution is the parent of safety. It’s best to be prudent.’ Lü Zhong decided to observe for a while longer. At the very least, he had to figure out exactly what kind of powerful entity was hiding inside that ring.

This would also buy him some time to accumulate more Small True Yang Talismans.

For a soul, that talisman’s effect was comparable to Tribulation Thunder.

...

「In the days that followed.」

Aside from his daily cultivation, Lü Zhong spent all his remaining time monitoring Chu Dayun and the mysterious entity in the ring that called itself ”Elder Yao.”

He gleaned a great deal of information from their conversations.

Elder Yao’s background was clearly anything but ordinary.

This much was evident from how he guided Chu Dayun in handling the sect’s internal affairs and in his strategies for dividing and winning over the Bihai Sect’s cultivators to prepare for an eventual takeover.

He had to be from a major clan, at the very least.

Or perhaps, he was the founding elder of some other sect.

Otherwise, he couldn’t possibly be so calculating, his methods so impeccable.

’Old monster,’ Lü Zhong thought.

But an even greater shock was yet to come.

During one of their talks, Elder Yao casually mentioned the function of Sun Essence Qi.

Few cultivators in the Southern Domain knew about this.

’Perhaps he’s from Changchun Valley, or even...’ Lü Zhong locked onto a target, stunned by his own hypothesis.

If it were true, then things were about to get *very* interesting.