A Loose Cultivator's Path to Longevity

One after another, he found more camps.

Lü Zhong uncovered a hidden clue: the deeper he went into the underground world, the fewer signs of destruction he found at the camps. Instead, it looked more like they had been deliberately abandoned. Considering the barrenness of the underground world, this seemed entirely possible.

Based on this information, he grew more certain that there were surviving cultivators below.

So, he had his Incarnation continue its exploration.

...

The underground world was far more magnificent than Lü Zhong had imagined.

There were worlds of dazzling, multicolored phosphorescent moss, a vast subterranean sea of molten rock that flowed like the Great River, and even forests of mushrooms and ferns. However, just as his Incarnation had seen in the underworld of his past life, everything edible or useful in the forests had been picked clean by the migrating Western Border Cultivators.

This suggested that the Western Border Cultivators had not been well-supplied during their migration.

They may have even been in a state of severe shortage.

As he delved deeper, reaching a depth of what must have been tens of thousands of feet, the expected increase in air pressure never occurred. This made Lü Zhong even more certain of one thing: the entire Cultivation Realm was most likely a dimensional plane, not a planet of unimaginable size.

Following the trail of the migration, the Incarnation continued deeper underground.

After passing through a world of shifting sands, the Incarnation finally made contact with cultivators.

To be precise, it was ambushed.

There was no helping it. The Incarnation was, after all, just an Incarnation, not a perfect copy of Lü Zhong. Without the main body’s Celestial Net Secret Eye Technique, falling into a trap was to be expected.

The ambushers were four cultivators—two men and two women—with cultivation levels ranging from the mid to late-stage Qi Refining. They looked much like cultivators from the surface, but they wore crudely made Dharma Robes, and their Magical Artifacts were so heavily worn that no surface cultivator would dare use them.

Seeing they had no killing intent, Lü Zhong had his Incarnation surrender without a fight. He then delivered his prepared lines, but as expected, no one paid him any mind.

Meanwhile, the Incarnation’s incredibly cooperative attitude gave the four cultivators a headache.

If this cultivator, a suspected True Central spy, had resisted, they could have killed him outright. But his meek surrender made the situation difficult.

A dark-faced Female Cultivator turned her head toward the horse-faced cultivator who led the group and sent him a telepathic message, ”Fellow Daoist Yu, what should we do with him? I say we just kill him. He’s clearly from the surface—that decadent stench on him is overwhelming!”

”I disagree,” someone objected.

It was a one-eyed old man. He looked at his three companions and sneered.

”’True Central spies...’ That story has been going around for years, but in all this time, has any world in the Alliance ever actually caught one of these so-called spies? I say we keep him alive for now. We might be able to learn about the changes in the outside world from him.”

”Elder Zeng, after all this time, you still want to return to the surface?” the dark-faced Female Cultivator said.

The old man glanced at her and said flatly, ”What is a homeland? Little girl, you still don’t understand.”

”Alright, alright. I think Elder Zeng has a point. Let’s take him to the outpost,” the horse-faced cultivator said, interrupting them before their argument escalated into a fight.

”We’ll report back to the Alliance. I’m sure the people in the city will decide what to do.”

”Hmph, you’re counting on that bunch of useless freeloaders in the city?” The old man sneered again upon hearing this. But regardless of his thoughts, he still followed the horse-faced cultivator’s order and tied up the Incarnation with a Spirit Rope.

They then searched him. The contents of his Storage Bag were a pleasant surprise for the four of them. Elder Zeng, in particular, teared up at the sight of the Spirit Rice and beast meat inside.

As expected, they divided all of it amongst themselves.

The Incarnation was taken about thirty miles away to a small world of rock.

Inside a cavern was a small stone fort, obviously the outpost the four had mentioned. A glowing stone hung from the cavern ceiling, but it wasn’t the Moonlight Stone commonly used on the surface, but some unknown mineral.

Lü Zhong, controlling the Incarnation, also noticed something else.

In the open area around the outpost, dozens of acres of fields had been cleared. Various types of mushrooms and ferns of unknown use were being grown there, tended by several mortals.

Seeing the patrol return with someone, the mortals all cast curious glances their way.

”Third Grand-uncle, who is this?” one of the young men couldn’t help but ask.

”Don’t ask what you shouldn’t!” The horse-faced cultivator’s face darkened as he scolded him.

But the young man just smiled, showing little fear. He knew his grand-uncle had a sharp tongue but a soft heart, and that the scolding was for his own good.

Taking the hint, he didn’t ask again. Instead, he pointed to a field behind him and said proudly, ”Look, Third Grand-uncle! I got the grain seeds to sprout. Maybe we’ll really be able to grow Spirit Rice in the future!”

The horse-faced cultivator said nothing in reply.

Growing Spirit Rice was a demanding process that especially required irrigation with Spiritual Qi.

The cavern where the outpost was located had no Spirit Vein to provide Spiritual Qi, making it so sparse as to be virtually nonexistent. In such an environment, even if the seeds sprouted, they would never successfully produce Spirit Rice. In the end, they would only be growing grass.

But he didn’t point this out.

After all, it was always good to have hope.

To send a message, the dark-faced Female Cultivator released a bat, which quickly vanished into the darkness.

An hour later, an Escape Light appeared in the distance.

’A Foundation Establishment cultivator? Looks like I don’t have to give up on this Incarnation just yet. If they were going to execute it, they wouldn’t go to all this trouble, would they?’ Lü Zhong thought to himself.

Soon, the Escape Light landed.

The newcomer was a buxom Female Cultivator. There were traces of powder and rouge on her face, and she wore a finely crafted Dharma Robe. Her complexion was rosy and healthy, lacking the sallow, withered look of the people at the outpost.

It was obvious that no matter where one was, high-level cultivators always managed to live comfortably.

After sizing Lü Zhong up and examining the Storage Bag the horse-faced cultivator handed her, the buxom Female Cultivator had little doubt about his origins.

”Alright, untie this Fellow Daoist at once and apologize.”

When the four hesitated, her expression soured. She released a sliver of her Foundation Establishment True Cultivator aura and said with displeasure, ”What, are you going to ignore my words now too?”

”Yes, ma’am.” The horse-faced cultivator gave Elder Zeng a look, and the latter immediately untied Lü Zhong.

However, the four of them pretended not to have heard the buxom Female Cultivator’s command to apologize.

Though furious, the female cultivator restrained herself. Instead, she cupped her hands toward Lü Zhong and said, ”I apologize for the trouble you’ve endured, Fellow Daoist. Master Yongming has prepared a banquet in Black Night City. I hope you will accompany me.”

”Oh, and how should I address you, Fellow Daoist?”

”Li Dong,” Lü Zhong said, picking a random name. He remained unfazed by the Foundation Establishment aura the female cultivator had released.

The buxom Female Cultivator found this strange. She secretly used a Qi Observation Skill, only to confirm that the man before her truly had the cultivation of a mid-stage Qi Refining cultivator.

She didn’t dwell on it. After all, her superior, Master Yongming, was waiting in Black Night City.

She took Lü Zhong and traveled at lightning speed.

Along the way, they passed through many Little Worlds. A lot of them had been developed: some had irrigation canals and vast stretches of fertile farmland, while others had workshops producing all sorts of daily necessities.

The mortal population was quite large; Lü Zhong saw tens of thousands of people just during their journey.

Extrapolating from this glimpse, Lü Zhong guessed that the total population of Black Night City was likely no less than a million. Indeed, only such a massive population could support a Golden Core Master.

Soon, Black Night City appeared before them.

It was a fortress situated in the Mushroom Forest Great World. Its walls were lined with all kinds of War Magical Artifacts, and the muzzles of Primordial Cannons even jutted out from the towers behind them. In terms of firepower, it was perhaps no less formidable than a Mountain Shaking Ship.

The population was even denser in front of the fortress.

The houses were orderly, and the cleared farmland was crisscrossed with paths. A central avenue teemed with people, and its sides were lined with numerous shops. As far as Lü Zhong could tell, it was not much different from a Workshop Market on the surface.

They then landed and entered the city.

From the outside, Black Night City’s defenses appeared lax, but this was a deceptive strategy of being relaxed on the outside and strict on the inside.

The interior could be described as having a sentry every five steps and a guard post every ten.

Lü Zhong could clearly feel countless gazes, both seen and unseen, converging on him. If he dared to make a wrong move, he would likely be met with devastating force.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say he could even be hit by a Primordial Cannon.