A Loose Cultivator's Path to Longevity

”Mm,” Lü Zhong replied.

This had all been agreed upon beforehand.

Immediately, the two of them boarded a nearby Beast Vehicle and sped toward Cloud Medicine Lake.

Upon reaching the lakeshore, they found a Black Hall.

The area around the Black Hall was dense with Prohibitions. Its walls were plastered with countless Evil-breaking Talismans, and key locations were even fortified with Small True Yang Talismans. The Talismans flickered intermittently, their flashes coming in rapid succession. Judging by this, the situation in the Underground Palace below was likely dire. No wonder Changchun Valley had to seek outside help.

Inside the hall was a short-range Transmission Array, but it didn’t lead directly to the Underground Palace.

After three consecutive transfers, they finally arrived at the lakebed.

The moment he arrived, a flash of fire erupted on Lü Zhong’s body. A strange power had tried to seep into him, only to be counter-attacked by his Purple Nether Extreme Fire and burned to nothing in an instant.

”Senior...” Fang Zeng, standing beside him, started to speak but then hesitated.

Lü Zhong knew what he was thinking. With a wave of his sleeve, he sent a spark toward the man. While not as effective as a true Spirit Fire, it was more than enough to dispel the strange power.

”Thank you, Senior!” Fang Zeng said, bowing gratefully.

In this lakeside Underground Palace, the greatest danger wasn’t the teeming Souls of the Dead, but this omnipresent, eerie power. Many of his fellow disciples had been corroded by this power, ultimately transforming into Souls of the Dead themselves.

Breathing a sigh of relief, he led Lü Zhong to the Underground Palace’s rest area.

The rest area was quite large, a luxurious hall over a hundred feet in both length and width.

All four walls of the hall were plastered with Tier One, Two, and Three Talismans—a mix of Evil Exorcism Talismans, Evil-breaking Talismans, and precious Small True Yang Talismans—creating a safe zone. The interior was divided into several areas, separated by Array Prohibitions, for resting, meditating, or receiving guests.

Several people were gathered in the guest area, discussing something.

The moment Lü Zhong entered, all eyes turned to him.

”I am Lü Zhong. Might I ask your names, Fellow Daoists?” Lü Zhong said calmly, his eyes sweeping over the unfamiliar cultivators to gauge their cultivation.

They were all at the Core Formation Stage, with cultivators from the early, middle, and late stages present.

”Welcome, Fellow Daoist Lü. I am Golden Flame Wanderer of Qilian Mountain. I’ve been chosen to act as the Chief for this operation,” a vigorous, black-haired old man said, standing up with a warm smile.

He was the only Late-stage Core Formation cultivator in the hall.

Lü Zhong had heard of Golden Flame Wanderer’s fame. He was said to command an exceptionally potent Yang Fire. Though no one knew the name of this Spirit Fire, it was common knowledge that his Golden Flame was extraordinarily powerful against the Demon Dao and ghostly creatures.

It wasn’t strange for Golden Flame Wanderer to be here.

”So it is Fellow Daoist Golden Flame. I pay my respects,” Lü Zhong said, his tone neither servile nor overbearing, before finding a seat.

Hearing this, Golden Flame Wanderer secretly sighed in relief. He had heard tales of Lü Zhong’s fight with the Water Flood Dragon and had worried the man might challenge his authority.

From the looks of it, Lü Zhong clearly acknowledged his position.

Returning the courtesy, Golden Flame Wanderer said with a laugh,

”Fellow Daoist Lü, you’ve arrived at a good time. Allow me to introduce the other Fellow Daoists here. We should all get acquainted, which will make it easier to ask for help if needed in the future.”

”These two are the Thunder Manipulation Twins from the Xuanyang Sect, named Bin Yang and Simurgh Festival. They both cultivate a certain ’Thunder Manipulation Secret Technique’ that allows them to call down lightning to slay their foes, making them experts at dealing with Souls of the Dead,” Golden Flame Wanderer said, gesturing toward a pair of identical-looking, middle-aged men.

The Thunder Manipulation Twins, both at the Early-stage Core Formation, stood and gave a polite salute.

”Greetings, Fellow Daoists,” Lü Zhong said with a smile, clasping his hands in return.

His expression was affable, but he was secretly wondering, ’How does this Thunder Manipulation Secret Technique compare to my Wood Thunder Skill? Which is stronger?’

’The Wood Thunder Skill should come out on top,’ he mused.

”Next,” Golden Flame Wanderer continued, gesturing to a young man in a Jade Crown sitting opposite Lü Zhong, ”this is Fellow Daoist Mur Xuan, a reclusive cultivator from the Lingyue Domain. Fellow Daoist Lü, you may not be aware, but Fellow Daoist Mur Xuan is a legacy Sword Cultivator and has forged a Green Thunder Sword. Though he only has a Mid-stage Core Formation Cultivation, he is the main force in our mission to exterminate the Souls of the Dead!”

”Fellow Daoist Lü,” Mur Xuan said with a slight nod and a smile.

For some reason, Lü Zhong felt there was something odd about this man. His gaze held an inexplicable meaning, and Lü Zhong couldn’t discern his intentions.

He decided to keep a close watch on him.

”There is one more, Fellow Daoist Gu, who is an expert in the Talisman Dao,” Golden Flame Wanderer explained. ”She has a rather reclusive personality and rarely interacts with us, but she has an excellent reputation.”

”Oh, I see,” Lü Zhong said, nodding in understanding.

The Underground Palace consisted of eight major zones, arranged in a fan shape around a central core. Changchun Valley had named them after the Eight Gates. According to the plan, Changchun Valley itself would guard the two most critical gates, Life and Death. Lü Zhong and the other five guest cultivators would each guard one of the remaining zones, responsible for slaying any Souls of the Dead that appeared.

He glanced at the map.

He found that he was assigned to guard the Jing Gate.

The adjacent zones were assigned to the Talisman Cultivator with the surname Gu, and the Sword Cultivator, Mur Xuan.

...

The evil-extermination mission.

It occurred once every six months and lasted for half a month.

Lü Zhong began to fulfill his obligations as per their agreement.

This lakeside Underground Palace was not a recent construction; it had existed for an unknown number of years, its crumbling walls evoking a profound sense of ancient history. It had been repaired by Changchun Valley after a great explosion.

Now, the Underground Palace was filled with a black miasma.

The strange power was constantly eroding him, growing stronger the closer he got to the core area.

As someone in the know, Lü Zhong was not as ignorant as Golden Flame Wanderer and the others about the source of the breeding Evil Spirits. He was secretly alarmed. ’I never expected the power of a Late-stage Nascent Soul evil entity to be this intense, even while suppressed.’

It was clear that if it ever fully revived...

...the entire Southern Barbarian Cultivation Realm would face annihilation.

’Good thing it’s still suppressed,’ Lü Zhong thought, sighing in relief.

He then cast a Magic Skill to bolster himself, though unfortunately, his Star Force couldn’t penetrate the thick layers of earth. He brought out his rouge and the Star Mirror, and only then began to search for targets.

Lü Zhong’s first target was a group of Souls of the Dead wandering at the edge of the zone.

These Souls of the Dead were all manifestations of the burgeoning Evil Spirits. Judging from their still-insubstantial forms, they must have been born recently. ’Perfect for a warm-up,’ he thought.

’The number is just right.’

One or two Souls of the Dead were no threat; he could deal with them easily.

But a large number would be extremely troublesome. As a type of Evil Spirit, even suppressed by the natural laws of the world, they possessed terrifying soul-devouring abilities.

If surrounded by a group of Souls of the Dead, even a Golden Core Master could perish.

Lü Zhong didn’t let his guard down. He stealthed closer.

When he was a hundred zhang away, he began to activate the Wood Thunder Seal in his Sea of Consciousness, preparing to first cast a ”Thunder Swamp” to gauge the Wood Thunder Skill’s effectiveness against the Souls of the Dead.

Magical Power flowed from his body like a river.

In an instant, innumerable bolts of lightning materialized from the Void, blanketing the area where the Souls of the Dead were gathered. Thunder boomed. When the light of the electricity faded, all the Souls of the Dead, along with the black miasma in the air, were gone—save for two that had been on the very edge of the attack.

Lü Zhong was quite satisfied with the result.

’I didn’t expect that forming the Thunder Roar Pattern would also enhance the power of Thunder Swamp...’

That was something he hadn’t anticipated at all.

A pleasant surprise.

With a flick of his hand, he fired off two bolts of Palm Thunder, finishing off the two half-dead Souls of the Dead.

In this manner, taking on six or seven at a time and never provoking more, Lü Zhong rapidly cleared the Underground Palace of the existing Souls of the Dead.

In less than three days, the black miasma pervading the Underground Palace had thinned considerably.

Just as Lü Zhong was about to take a break, an inexplicable chill washed over him.

He looked toward the core area and saw a woman in white, nearly ten feet tall. She wore a wide-brimmed white hood, and her white dress fluttered as she floated through the air toward him.

As she advanced, her strangely long and heavy black hair remained plastered to her body, not fluttering with the air currents.

Lü Zhong’s expression flickered. ’What is this thing?’ he thought.

Just then, a Soul of the Dead happened to be in its path.

The Soul of the Dead was enveloped in a layer of red light, followed by a GRINDING sound. Strangely, the Soul of the Dead remained motionless, its predicament a mystery.

A look of astonishment appeared on Lü Zhong’s face.

With a soft POP, like a bursting bubble, the Soul of the Dead vanished completely.

Then, a familiar voice sounded by his ear.

”Master.”

”Master...”

Lü Zhong looked up to find that Li Hejun had appeared before him at some point. She was dressed in white, her form somewhat ethereal, looking very much like a ghost.

Gazing at her figure, a flicker of hesitation crossed his eyes.

Then, the Celestial Net Eye appeared between his brows, and his gaze immediately hardened.

The rouge in his hand became coated in a layer of lightning.

He slashed down viciously!

The sound of a popping bubble echoed, and the image of Li Hejun before him shattered, revealing her true form: the woman in white.