A Loose Cultivator's Path to Longevity

As Shuini spoke, she took off her mantle.

She looked relieved, heaving a long sigh. After downing another cup of Spirit Wine, she explained:

”The Barbarian Race has a fire in their own backyard right now. They’re too busy to look after themselves, so how could they dare launch an offensive? As for the cause of the fire, I have already sent people to investigate. We should have results in a few days.”

”But enough about that... My dear apprentice, you have no idea how bored I get over here all by myself!”

’So she tricked her apprentice into coming over because she was bored?’

Lü Zhong was speechless.

The two chatted idly, and Shuini drank more and more Spirit Wine.

Soon, she was clinging to him.

Her mature, voluptuous body was like a ripe peach, her skin whiter than snow with a rosy blush. She possessed the unique charm of a mature woman, which was truly hard to resist.

Seeing the way she looked, as if she wanted to devour him whole, Lü Zhong had no choice but to offer a well-intentioned reminder, ”Master, you need to learn to control your desires!”

”Control my desires?” Shuini downed another cup of Spirit Wine, a seductive glint in her eyes as she smiled.

”This pursuit of Longevity is itself a form of desire. A firm heart for the Dao is nothing but proof of one’s desire for Longevity.

”Besides, if we cultivators could all control our desires and create a world where no one competes, would the Cultivation Realm really be this place where the strong prey on the weak?

”My dear apprentice, you must listen to my advice. Don’t be fooled by those sanctimonious old bastards. Don’t be taken in by their immortal-like, otherworldly airs, as if they’re above mortal strife. In reality, their food, their clothes, their expenses, and the resources they use for cultivation—which of these isn’t stained with the blood and tears of those beneath them!”

Lü Zhong couldn’t refute Shuini’s words.

In a Cultivation Realm where resources were scarce, the strong preying on the weak was all but inevitable.

’And in the end, wasn’t he the same?’

...

「Half a month later.」

Dual cultivation was not easy.

Especially with a Nascent Soul Female Cultivator like Shuini; that was even more difficult.

However, she hadn’t been lying when she said it would help his cultivation.

The boost to one’s cultivation from dual cultivation was far better than consuming Pills, and it came with no side effects. If one absorbed the Yin Yuan of a Nascent Soul Female Cultivator, the effects were even more incredible.

Lü Zhong’s cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds because of it, saving him at least five years of hard work.

At the same time, after using up all his Blood Qi Pills, he successfully broke through the nineteenth Acupoint of the Barbarian Race’s Heaven-Devouring Mantra, and he wasn’t far from the next breakthrough.

At that moment in the hall, Shuini wore a heavy expression.

The reason for the upheaval in the Barbarian Race’s rear had been discovered, and the situation was more than just serious.

The Withered Tide!

That was what the Barbarian Race called it.

It was so named because wherever the disaster passed, all life would wither and die.

According to the intelligence she received, this disaster was caused by Evil Spirits. No one knew where they came from. An overwhelming, tsunami-like horde of Evil Spirits had gathered, forming the Withered Tide disaster.

It had already spread to the Extreme South Evil Land. Once it crossed the Poisonous Miasma River, it would reach the Evil Miasma Land, which the Barbarian Race considered their ancestral home.

And the Evil Miasma Land was separated from the Southern Barbarian Immortal Cultivation World by only the Hundred Illnesses Plateau.

Once the Withered Tide reached the Southern Barbarian lands, it would surely be another world-ending catastrophe.

In these troubled times, the Celestial Blade Sect to the north was also facing problems. The calamitous beast tides were growing more and more intense, and it wouldn’t be long before the second Human-Demon War began.

’What a headache!’

A short while later, Shuini convened an imperial council meeting in the temporary palace.

As her only apprentice, Lü Zhong also participated in the meeting.

After learning the true nature of the Withered Tide, the faces of all the cultivators at the meeting changed drastically. No one had expected the legendary Evil Spirits to reappear and form a full-blown disaster.

Lü Zhong, seated below Shuini, watched this scene with a blank expression, observing everyone’s varied reactions. Inwardly, however, he couldn’t help but wonder, ’Could this be a repeat of what happened in the Western Realm?’

’It’s another disaster that erupted out of nowhere. It’s hard not to connect it to *that* person.’

Yun Yao had also said that person’s goal in annihilating the entire Western Realm was very likely to borrow the ”Power of the Nai River.” By using the power of this legendary River of Ascension, they hoped to achieve their own Ascension to the Upper Realm.

Lü Zhong could actually understand this person’s thinking to some extent.

After all, it had been a very long time since any cultivator in this realm had achieved Ascension. For who knew how many tens of thousands of years, Ascension to the Upper Realm had become nothing more than a legend.

Later on, even Divinity Transformation experts gradually stopped appearing in the world.

It had reached a point where now, the only place in this realm where Divinity Transformation cultivators might still exist was Central Earth.

’Committing such monstrous slaughter just for the sake of Ascension?’ Lü Zhong thought to himself.

He did not voice this suspicion to Shuini.

After all, when one reached the Divinity Transformation Realm, merely mentioning their name could trigger a response in their senses.

Lü Zhong had the Star Shifting and Dipper Changing Divine Technique to protect himself, which guaranteed he wouldn’t be discovered by that person. However, he wasn’t sure if the Jade Pendant Shuini wore could block the heavenly fate divination of a Divinity Transformation Grand Venerable.

If it couldn’t be blocked, the consequences would be more than he could bear.

Just as Lü Zhong’s thoughts were running wild, a Foundation Establishment cultivator from the True Spirit Sect hurried into the hall, cupped his fists, and announced, ”Reporting to the Ancestor, envoys from the Barbarian Race have come seeking an audience!”

”Oh?” Shuini, who had been watching the Core Formation cultivators below bicker, was now intrigued.

”Let them in.”

”Yes!” The Foundation Establishment cultivator bowed and withdrew from the hall.

Before long, a set of footsteps of varying weight could be heard approaching.

Leading the group was a ten-foot-tall Tiger Barbarian with a tiger’s head and a human body, followed by a retinue of Barbarian Race envoys including Fox Barbarians and Bear Barbarians. They were all dressed in the robes of Immortal Cultivators and looked surprisingly proper. The Fox Barbarian envoy leaning on a staff, in particular, even had the air of a reclusive master.

These members of the Barbarian Race all possessed the strength of City Priests, which was equivalent to an Immortal Cultivator’s Golden Core Master.