A Loose Cultivator's Path to Longevity

With the support of the Spirit Stones from the Bihai Sect and Chengde Commerce Association, he wasn’t worried about being unable to afford the Pill. He planned to wait until the bidding frenzy died down before naming a price that would force out his competitors.

When the Pill’s price rose to 160,000 Spirit Stones, the bidding finally stalled.

At that moment, Lü Zhong placed his bid, easily securing it for 170,000 Spirit Stones.

Afterward, he stayed in Changchun Immortal City for another half a month.

During this time, he frequented various trading events like exchange meets and auctions. He wasn’t particular about the type of Pill; as long as he saw one he could use, he bought it without a hint of pickiness.

In the end, he acquired a total of eight bottles of Pills, valued at nearly a million Spirit Stones.

With his shopping spree complete, Lü Zhong prepared to return to Bihai. He habitually used a retrospective scouting technique and discovered he’d stumbled into the legendary ”murder for treasure” scenario—a group of Core Formation Cultivators had him in their sights.

There were three of them in total. The one with the highest cultivation was merely at Mid-stage Core Formation, while the other two were at Early-stage Core Formation. Judging from their slightly unstable auras, they likely weren’t sect cultivators. They were probably family cultivators who knew one another, or perhaps just loose cultivators.

Upon realizing this, he was not alarmed but delighted.

When faced with these ill-intentioned Core Formation Cultivators, who were weaker than himself, Lü Zhong naturally thought of ’going fishing’. After all, why would he turn down a free delivery of Spirit Stones?

The only question now was whether the three would be blinded by greed.

’After all, under normal circumstances, a cultivator buying Pills for the Late-stage Core Formation would typically have a Late-stage Core Formation cultivation themselves. It’s not that people don’t buy for others, but such tasks are usually handled by sects or powerful families. They normally send an entourage to procure Pills, and it’s rare to see someone alone like me.’

’The bait has been cast. Now, it’s up to them...’

Lü Zhong’s expression remained unchanged. He continued to use his Concealed Breath technique to appear as if he had an Early-stage Core Formation Cultivation, then boarded a Beast Vehicle and left the city. Instead of flying toward Bihai, he headed in the direction of the Celestial Blade Domain.

He traveled at an unhurried pace, stopping and starting along the way.

On the fifth day, two figures blocked his path.

It was the same Mid-stage Core Formation Cultivator who had been targeting Lü Zhong. For some reason, his two companions were nowhere to be seen; in their place was a Late-stage Core Formation Cultivator. The pair charged toward him with malicious looks, having already summoned their Magical Treasures. The layers of Prohibitions on their treasures were not low—the weaker one was at least a Four-layered Prohibition Magical Treasure.

’Perfect timing!’

Lü Zhong sneered.

’It doesn’t matter who these two are. Since they’re ambushing me and attacked first, they can be classified as Evil Cultivators. Whether I beat them or kill them, whatever power backs them won’t have a leg to stand on.’

’I have the moral high ground!’

After a brief exchange, Lü Zhong first slew the Late-stage Core Formation cultivator, then chased down the fleeing Mid-stage cultivator and decapitated him as well.

His spoils included two Storage Bags and two Magical Treasures.

The Magical Treasures were a Flying Sword and a Dharma Seal.

The Flying Sword was a bluish-black color and felt surprisingly light in his hand, lacking the substantial weight a Magical Treasure ought to have. Lü Zhong guessed it was made from Blue Profound Ink Stone, an inferior material for crafting Magical Treasures. That was why even after its previous owner had refined substances like Iron Essence and Copper Mother into it, this Flying Sword, named ”Profound Ink Sword,” could only be nurtured to the power of a Fourth-Layer Prohibition.

He then examined the other item, the Dharma Seal, which had belonged to the Late-stage Core Formation Evil Cultivator.

The three words ”Bright Yellow Seal” were inscribed on the seal’s knob.

In terms of craftsmanship and materials, the Dharma Seal was clearly several cuts above the Profound Ink Sword. It was crafted from precious Bright Yellow Jade and mixed with a rare spiritual material Lü Zhong couldn’t identify. Even unactivated, it was incredibly heavy, weighing thousands of pounds. Its surface was covered in a dense array of Prohibitions, and faint wisps of Earth Qi could be seen flowing across it, giving it a steady, solid feeling like the earth itself. A single glance was enough to know it was a quality Magical Treasure.

Injecting it with Magical Power, Lü Zhong hurled the seal toward a nearby reef.

The Bright Yellow Seal grew as it flew through the air, quickly expanding to a hundred feet in length and width. Once it had gathered enough power, its entire body radiated an earthy yellow Spiritual Light and descended, wreathed in a tempestuous gale.

With a deafening BOOM, the reef, a hundred zhang in diameter, was obliterated.

The single strike smashed straight through to the seabed!

It even made the ocean floor tremble.

’This must be a Six-layered Prohibition Magical Treasure,’ Lü Zhong mused, watching the seawater churn with sand and silt.

’Once the Bright Yellow Seal gathers its power, the force it can unleash in an instant surpasses even that of the Ninth-Layer Prohibition Star Mirror. It looks like it could fetch a good price in Spirit Stones.’

He never considered keeping it for his own use.

During his fight with the treasure’s previous owner, Lü Zhong had noticed that if the seal didn’t charge up in advance, its power was quite ordinary. Compared to a typical Magical Treasure with the same number of Prohibition layers, it held no real advantage. Moreover, it was too clumsy to control and completely incompatible with his agile and fluid combat style.

As for using it to break through tough defenses—to crack ”turtle shells”—

Lü Zhong had better options for that. His Star Pulling Skill was more than capable of the task, so there was no need to keep the Bright Yellow Seal. The Profound Ink Sword, on the other hand, was more valuable to him. Its ”Mountain-Cutting Sword” Divine Technique could manifest a colossal sword body, making it ideal for dealing with gigantic foes.

Upon inspecting the two Storage Bags, he found the spoils were meager.

This was to be expected. The two didn’t seem like Loose Cultivators, so of course they wouldn’t carry all their wealth on them. The absence of any items that could reveal their identities meant they had clearly planned for the possibility of failure.

All the miscellaneous items added up to a value of about a hundred-some thousand Spirit Stones.

The two Magical Treasures were probably worth another six or seven hundred thousand.

’Too bad such windfalls don’t come along often...’ Lü Zhong thought. ’There’s a finite number of Core Formation Cultivators in the Southern Barbarian lands. For two to perish so suddenly will inevitably draw a lot of attention. An incident where even a Late-stage Core Formation Cultivator died will surely make other nefarious cultivators wary. I probably won’t get another chance like this for a while.’

Then, he chuckled.

’I’m getting greedy!’

...

Lü Zhong then returned to Changchun Immortal City.

He first explained the situation to Changchun Valley, submitting a Memory Stone that had recorded the combat. Then, he found a reputable auction house and arranged for them to auction the Magical Treasure, the Bright Yellow Seal, on his behalf.

A few days later, the Bright Yellow Seal went up for auction.

”The Bright Yellow Seal, a pre-owned Six-layered Prohibition Magical Treasure! Its primary material is Bright Yellow Jade, infused with rare spiritual materials such as Earth Lung Gold, Iron Essence, and Silver Essence. It was smelted in the Earth Lungs Fire and then steeped in the Spirit Blood of an Earth Flood Dragon. When unleashed, it possesses the power to sunder mountains and cleave valleys... The starting bid is three hundred thousand Spirit Stones, with a minimum increment of ten thousand Spirit Stones!”

The moment the auctioneer finished speaking, cultivators immediately began placing bids.

Lü Zhong was also present, seated in a private box overlooking the hall.

He sipped his tea, waiting quietly.

”Wait! I demand an explanation!”

Just then, an incandescent voice erupted from the auction floor. A cultivator had shot up from his seat, his face flushed with fury as he shouted, ”That is my clan ancestor’s Magical Treasure! Why is it here?”

Lü Zhong watched the man. ’Good,’ he thought. ’I came to the right place.’

’If I interrogate him later, I might be able to learn the origin of his clan.’

’One must pull the weeds up by the roots.’

’If they aren’t some faction with a deep background, I’ll definitely uproot them completely. It’ll save me from future trouble, where fortunes reverse and some hidden danger comes back to haunt me.’

Seeing someone accuse them of selling stolen goods, the auctioneer remained completely unfazed. With a flick of his hand, he cast a Water Mirror Technique, displaying a formal notice of authentication from Changchun Valley. It included the recording Lü Zhong had submitted, and they had certified the item as the belongings of a slain Evil Cultivator.

In other words, the auction of the Bright Yellow Seal was perfectly legal within the Changchun Domain.

When this evidence was presented, the face of the cultivator who had stood up went pale, then red. He looked so ashamed he probably wanted to use the Drilling Skill to disappear into the floor on the spot. Daring not to say another word, he hastily slunk out of the hall.

Lü Zhong saw this and turned to follow him.

He intercepted the man outside the city, on a small, rocky hill.

The man was only at Early-stage Foundation Establishment, so Lü Zhong subdued him with ease. Using the Soul Searching Technique, he found the information he was looking for. The man was from the Qin Family of Thousand Needle Forest, a newly-established Golden Core Clan located near the Northern Great Forest Sea, bordering the Changchun Domain. The clan had two ancestors, who were precisely the two men he had just killed.

’Well, that saves me a lot of trouble!’

Lü Zhong hadn’t expected such a convenient discovery.

Needless to say, he would proceed with his plan. He would spend some time dealing with the Qin Family before returning to Bihai to resume his cultivation.