A Loose Cultivator's Path to Longevity

The full moon manifested by the Moon Sword had the Six-Green Snake Hairpin suppressed.

She waved her sleeve, shooting out over a dozen streams of White Silk to block off Huoyaozi’s escape routes. She then sneered, ”If you’re going to start something, you should expect the consequences. Huoyaozi, don’t even think about escaping today!”

”You!” Huoyaozi’s regret deepened.

At that moment, an astonishing fluctuation of Spiritual Qi erupted in the distance.

A wave of incomparably pure Spiritual Qi spread out in all directions from the epicenter, gradually forming a multicolored halo.

The two of them immediately fell silent. They understood what such a halo signified.

A Nascent Soul Cultivator’s body had been destroyed!

They both looked toward where Lü Zhong and Qingding had been fighting. All they saw was a streak of green light speeding far into the distance, while a black-robed figure floated quietly in the air.

It was self-evident who the final victor was.

Lü Zhong summoned a Storage Bag into his hand, his heart swelling with an unprecedented sense of elation.

When a Nascent Soul Cultivator loses their physical body, they can possess a new one and start cultivating again. There’s a chance they can recover their cultivation level, but the process is lengthy, typically taking three to five hundred years.

Lü Zhong sneered. ’Three to five hundred years?’

’With the Gray Mist Space, how could I possibly let Qingding survive?’

He sent a voice transmission to Shuini explaining how to break the deadlock, then immediately shot forward, chasing in the direction the Nascent Soul had disappeared.

A Nascent Soul without a body was like a tree without roots.

Until it possessed a new body, every bit of Nascent Soul Qi it consumed was gone for good.

’Logically, since Qingding is escaping as just a Nascent Soul, he wouldn’t dare consume too much Nascent Soul Qi. He was already at a disadvantage during our combat and had to use his Nascent Soul Qi repeatedly, so he can’t have fled too far.’

’Most likely, he’s gone back to find Wanmu and the others,’ Lü Zhong thought as he gave chase.

Soon, his pursuit led him to a vast, snowy plain.

The plain stretched boundlessly to the horizon, with nothing to see but ice and snow. Suddenly, Lü Zhong’s gaze fixed on the ground below. Lightning flashed in his left hand, and he hurled down a Thunder Spear.

A series of detonations echoed from beneath the snow, and a streak of green light shot out in a panic.

The green light landed and transformed into a young Child.

Qingding’s expression was unstable, his small eyes filled with shock. He had no idea how Lü Zhong had managed to track him down, but he knew he was in deep trouble.

Wanmu and the others, who should have been here, were nowhere in sight.

Now, he was completely isolated and helpless.

”Fellow Daoist Lü, show some mercy. I’ve already been brought so low. Who knows how many years it will take for me to return to the Nascent Soul realm? Why must you insist on hunting me to extinction?”

Lü Zhong raised an eyebrow and said with a faint smile, ”I’m the type who prefers to pull out the roots with the weeds.”

Before the words even left his mouth, he pointed forward in a Sword Gesture without a second thought. A fiery red sword shadow appeared beside him and shot out along with streaks of starlight-blue Mirror Light, giving Qingding no chance whatsoever.

After dodging a few attacks, Qingding looked down at his fading, illusory form, his expression turning ghastly. He glanced from side to side, and a look of sudden delight appeared on his face. Relying on his Green Cauldron Sword, he transformed back into a streak of Sword Light, his speed pushing to its absolute limit as he shot off toward the northwest.

Several streaks of Escape Light had appeared in that direction.

It was Wanmu and the others!

Seeing this, a ruthless glint flashed in Lü Zhong’s eyes. An ethereal silhouette immediately shot out from the crown of his head.

He had sent his Nascent Soul directly out of his body.

’He is spent, while I am at my peak.’ Disregarding the consumption of his own Nascent Soul Qi, he used Instant Teleportation to accelerate his pursuit. He was dead set on killing Qingding. This was an incredibly rare opportunity; how could he possibly miss it?

Qingding looked back and was horrified by the sight. Unfortunately, his Nascent Soul Qi was failing, and he could only watch helplessly as Lü Zhong caught up to him.

The moment they met, Qingding’s Nascent Soul was sliced in two.

”I—”

Before Qingding could finish speaking, his uncontrolled form shattered into countless fragments. A massive amount of Spiritual Qi surged from the pieces, returning to the heavens and the earth.

A True Monarch of a generation had fallen!

Wanmu, who was watching from a distance, was shocked beyond belief.

Zhuyuan and the others beside him wore varied expressions. They had never expected to witness the fall of a Nascent Soul Cultivator with their own eyes.

One must understand that with the power of a Nascent Soul Cultivator...

...as long as they didn’t want to die, they had countless ways to escape.

Any cultivator who reached the Nascent Soul realm, provided they were cautious, could typically live for three thousand years, enjoying worldly honor and glory until they finally passed away naturally.

But now, Qingding had been slain.

”Truly ruthless!” Fire Dragon murmured.

He had never heard of anyone sending their own Nascent Soul out of their body just to doggedly hunt down an enemy. After all, the price for such an act often meant sacrificing a hundred years of cultivation.

To a cultivator, their cultivation was practically their life.

Perhaps the scene had been too astonishing. It wasn’t until Lü Zhong’s Nascent Soul had returned to his physical body that Zhuyuan and the other two finally reacted. Wanmu shot forward, immediately summoning his Lifebound Treasure. His face was a mask of alarm, grief, and indignation as he sought to eliminate this formidable foe while Lü Zhong’s Nascent Soul Qi was depleted.

Unexpectedly, upon seeing the three of them charging, Lü Zhong transformed into a blood-red meteor and fled into the distance.

However, he wasn’t fleeing in the direction he had come from.

The trio pursued for a while before Zhuyuan’s expression suddenly changed. He exclaimed in alarm:

”Not good! He’s heading for Huoyaozi!”

Qingding’s fall was already an unbearable loss for their side. If Huoyaozi also met with a mishap, then Zhuyuan’s entire expedition to the Southern Barbarian lands could be considered a failure.

He hastily stopped.

Zhuyuan took out a Puppet with a wisp of Huoyaozi’s soul refined into it. This connection allowed him to determine if Huoyaozi was alive or dead. He cast a Technique Mantra onto it, and Huoyaozi’s face appeared, looking no different than usual. Only then did Zhuyuan feel a sliver of relief.

Seeing Zhuyuan’s actions, Wanmu’s eyes flickered. He stared in the direction where Lü Zhong had vanished, his fists clenching tightly, only to slacken again in helplessness.