A Loose Cultivator's Path to Longevity

He walked over to the Transmission Array.

A careful inspection revealed that the Transmission Array was still in normal working order.

Considering the sudden demise of his incarnation, Lü Zhong didn’t dare to teleport over directly. Instead, he prepared to send another incarnation to scout ahead. He could only hope things hadn’t reached the worst-case scenario. Otherwise, the hard-won trade route to the Western Realm would be completely severed.

’Losing such a source of income will probably make my path to the Nascent Soul realm much more difficult.’

After a series of preparations, the Transmission Array activated.

Once the incarnation disappeared, Lü Zhong immediately performed a Technique Mantra and removed the Azure Sky Stone from the Transmission Array.

This way, even if someone on the other side tried to teleport back, the absence of the Azure Sky Stone would cause a massive deviation in their destination, or even cause the teleportation to fail outright.

After a while, seeing that he hadn’t lost contact with the incarnation, Lü Zhong took control of its body.

...

「On the other side in the Western Realm.」

Lü Zhong observed his surroundings. Noticing no signs of the Prohibitions having been triggered, he couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. This at least meant no one had broken into the Underground Palace.

Next, he conducted a thorough search, not missing a single corner.

Then, Lü Zhong directly used the Spirit Fusion Secret Technique. Although this would cause the incarnation to perish, it allowed him to borrow the power of his main body, temporarily granting him the strength of a Late-stage Core Formation cultivator. With this, he could mobilize his powerful Divine Sense to scan everything within a radius of nearly a thousand zhang.

The results were still good; he found no trace of any enemies.

At this point, he could preliminarily conclude that no enemies had discovered the Underground Palace where the Transmission Array was located.

In light of this, Lü Zhong dispatched a second incarnation.

After another round of careful probing, he once again confirmed that there were no enemies lying in ambush in the Underground Palace. So, Lü Zhong had his incarnation pilot the spare Flying Ship, following the previous route to find the scene of the incident. If he could find the cargo, he would proceed to complete the trade.

Based on the time of the incident, Lü Zhong could roughly deduce the location. It was about ten thousand li from the Transmission Base Palace.

This led him to certain speculations.

After more than half a day, the Flying Ship arrived at the scene.

It was a Corruption Lake. The missing Flying Ship was floating on the putrid matter, its bottom severely corroded. In the uncorroded areas, Lü Zhong saw marks of being melted by a Magic Skill.

From these marks alone, it was impossible to tell much, not even how the Flying Ship had crashed.

Since his main body couldn’t come over, he had no choice but to begin investigating like a detective solving a case.

He could see that everything the previous incarnation had been carrying—be it the goods for the Western Border Alliance or the self-defense Profound Ink Sword—had vanished without a trace.

Subsequently, Lü Zhong discovered a cave entrance.

Without a second thought, he went straight in.

The tunnel had been dug quite some time ago. Corruption had already seeped in, and wisps of red mist floated in the air. It was pitch-black inside, but thankfully, a faint glimmer of light from the outside penetrated the entrance. Lü Zhong had his incarnation use the Qi Observation Skill, which allowed him to proceed without a light source.

He proceeded with extreme caution.

Yet, forget about attackers, he didn’t even encounter a single trap.

Lü Zhong couldn’t help but find this strange.

’Could it be... that when the Flying Ship crashed by accident, it was chanced upon by some survivors in the Western Realm, who then came out and took everything?’

Unable to figure it out, he simply continued to explore deeper.

Soon, he entered an underground world.

At first, the areas he passed through were barren, with only some inedible moss remaining. In these places, Lü Zhong saw some footprints. The tracks were very fresh; the most recent ones were from just three days ago. This made him wonder if people frequently came here to gather things.

He passed through one underground cavern after another, descending about another thousand zhang.

Lü Zhong finally saw a camp.

And his lost cargo was being cooked in a pot by a group of cultivators.

According to the results of his Qi Observation Skill, this group of over a hundred cultivators of unknown origin had a strongest member who was only at Mid-stage Foundation Establishment. No matter how he looked at it, they didn’t seem capable of taking down a Flying Ship.

Seeing them completely unguarded, Lü Zhong decided to sneak over.

With his current mastery of the Breath Concealing Skill, as long as he wasn’t directly seen, it was quite easy to slip into the camp unnoticed.

”Hahaha, like welcome rain after a long drought!” someone exclaimed, chugging Spiritual Honey.

”Yeah! Our mouths have been bland for so long, who would’ve thought someone would deliver such a generous gift!” another chimed in, holding a bowl of Spirit Rice and wolfing it down.

”Speaking of which, this is all thanks to Senior Brother Yan. If you hadn’t shot down that Flying Ship with a single strike, how could we be living so carefree... That talisman was incredibly precise. This junior brother toasts you!”

”Hahaha, it was just luck,” laughed a long-bearded cultivator. As he raised his cup, he didn’t forget to tug at his tattered Dharma Robe, trying to maintain his composure at all times.

Looking at the pattern on the Dharma Robe, Lü Zhong knew the origins of this group.

’I can’t believe I’ve run into disciples of the True Central Sect here! And, if I’m not mistaken, these must be the very same True Central Sect cultivators who were forced to abandon ship after the Mountain Shaking Ship malfunctioned...’

Recalling the long list of crimes they had committed, even Lü Zhong found it unbearable to watch. He decided he would wipe them all out later.

But right now, he had more important things to do.

The group had just mentioned that there were also Core Formation Cultivators among them, but those three were currently cultivating on a Spirit Vein down below. Moreover, during their conversation, the True Central Sect cultivators had mentioned some kind of treasure below, but they were vague, making it impossible to determine what it was.

Emboldened by the fact that he was in an incarnation, Lü Zhong crept towards the Spirit Vein.

’Since there’s a treasure, and it’s being hogged by a bunch of True Central Sect cultivators, it’s clearly time for me to enact justice on behalf of heaven. I’m on the moral high ground anyway, so I don’t have to worry about being called a robber who kills for treasure.’

Passing through a forest of stalagmites, the concentration of Spiritual Qi began to gradually increase.

The entrance to a karst cave appeared ahead. Using the Qi Observation Skill, he could clearly see a small amount of Spiritual Qi gushing out from within.

’The Spirit Vein is obviously inside the cave!’

Seeing a True Central Sect disciple guarding the entrance, he condensed a Shocking God Needle and shot it out, silently obliterating the man’s Divine Soul, leaving only an empty shell of a body.

He snuck into the cave and passed through a protective barrier. The concentration of Spiritual Qi rose sharply.

’It’s at least a Tier Three Spiritual Vein,’ Lü Zhong thought to himself.

He continued through the karst cave, encountering a total of five True Central Sect cultivators along the way. They were all in seclusion, so engrossed in their cultivation that they were completely defenseless. They couldn’t detect Lü Zhong in his Concealed Breath state, and so they all walked the road to the Yellow Springs.

The deeper he went, the higher the concentration of Spiritual Qi became.

Finally, he reached the end.

”Earth-Surging Golden Lotus!”

Lü Zhong stared at the entire pool of golden lotuses at the Spirit Vein’s node, his Heart and Spirit momentarily thrown into disarray, and he couldn’t help but cry out.

It wasn’t that his mental state cultivation was poor, but that what he was seeing was simply too shocking!

”Who’s there?!” a woman’s sharp cry rang out.

Immediately after, a wave of fire erupted from the edge of the pool. A fiery-red figure flew out from within. It was a beautiful Female Cultivator with disheveled hair. At this moment, she was stark naked, a layer of scorching flames enveloping her body. She instantly released her powerful Divine Sense, sweeping it toward the source of the voice.

In the very next moment, it swept over Lü Zhong, who was still in his Concealed Breath state.

’I’ve been discovered!’

Without hesitation, he self-destructed!

...

「In the Underground Palace.」

Lü Zhong, who was sitting cross-legged on the ground, slowly opened his eyes.

”Earth-Surging Golden Lotus!”

His breathing couldn’t help but quicken. To his current self, this object was no less than an Immortal Pill and Spiritual Medicine. After all, it was one of the few Spiritual Objects that could directly enhance one’s cultivation with extremely low side effects.

A Spirit Medicine like this, one that seizes the very Creation of heaven and earth.

Had been on the verge of extinction since ancient times.

It wasn’t just cultivators who had a need for Spirit Medicine; Demon Beasts also devoured them to achieve rapid advancement.

But now, he had actually stumbled upon it!

Lü Zhong took a deep breath, his mind made up.

If it had been any other cultivators there, he might have hesitated. But since they were from the True Central Sect, there was no need for restraint.