A Loose Cultivator's Path to Longevity

According to the classics, the Ascension Tribulation was supposed to be nothing more than a formality.

Not like this one, which had lasted for nearly half a year.

...

Ever since the Ascension Tribulation descended, Lü Zhong had been enduring a daily ordeal. Shrouded by the Celestial Tribulation Aura, he found it impossible to even calm his Heart and Spirit, let alone practice meditation and Qi Refining.

Left with no choice, he could only try to adapt to it.

’As for my cultivation, if it stagnates, so be it.’

’It’s better than forcing myself to cultivate and suffering a Qigong Deviation.’

Time flowed like water, and in the blink of an eye, three years had passed.

「One late night.」

Lü Zhong was startled out of his Meditation.

His figure flickered, and in an instant, he was high in the sky.

’He succeeded...’

Gazing at the colorful clouds rolling in from the north, he felt a storm of complex emotions. On one hand, he was overjoyed from the bottom of his heart to know the path forward was not severed. On the other, he lamented how the Divinity Transformation cultivator from the Mysterious Dao Sect could still successfully ascend, even after committing such an immense slaughter.

’Could it be that the Celestial Dao is truly flawed?’

He quickly pushed the thoughts aside and focused on carefully sensing the tide of Spiritual Qi—the first of its kind in hundreds of thousands of years.

A Spirit Tide appeared after a cultivator successfully ascended. It was proof that someone from this realm had achieved Ascension. Once the ”formality” of the Ascension Tribulation dissipated, the Upper Realm would provide a reward.

As if in repayment, the Ascension Gate would pour out a truly massive amount of Pure Spiritual Qi to replenish the Spiritual Qi of the Lower Realm that the Ascension Cultivator had consumed during their cultivation.

Generally speaking, the more Divinity Transformation cultivators who ascended from the Lower Realm,

the more abundant the realm’s Spiritual Qi would become after receiving this feedback.

According to the Immortal Transmission Classics, if this continued, the world could even be upgraded. It could transform from a low-grade Small Realm barren of Spiritual Qi into a Spirit Realm brimming with it—a realm capable of supporting cultivators in the middle and upper Realms, such as Void Refining, Integration, and even the Mahayana Stage.

Feeling the ”fresh Spiritual Qi” wash over him, even his Primordial Spirit trembled with comfort.

At this moment, Lü Zhong couldn’t help but think again.

’With the arrival of the Spirit Tide, perhaps in the hearts of some cultivators, the Daoist Sect’s Divinity Transformation cultivator—who just a moment ago was a mass murderer who brought great hidden dangers to this world—has now become their savior. All because he brought an immeasurable supplement of Spiritual Qi to this depleted realm.’

...

「Since the arrival of the Spirit Tide.」

The concentration of nature’s spiritual energy grew stronger with each passing day.

Affected by the Spirit Tide, the yield of Spirit Plants in the various domains of the Southern Barbarians increased dramatically. This, in turn, triggered a wave of price drops for Pills. Low-tier Pills that were once expensive were now affordable for ordinary cultivators.

And that wasn’t even mentioning Spirit Rice.

After the rise in nature’s spiritual energy, many varieties of Spirit Rice could now be grown in the wild. This was especially true for Cyan Rice Spirit Rice, which had an extremely low demand for Spiritual Qi and could even survive in the Mortal Realm.

Many factions that had hoarded Spirit Rice suffered heavy losses as a result.

The Spirit Tide’s influence didn’t stop there. As the concentration of Spiritual Qi increased, the lands once barren of it would, in the future, be called Low Spirit Areas. Although the Spiritual Qi concentration there would still be insufficient for High-level cultivators, it represented an opportunity for those in the Qi Refining Stage—especially Early-stage Qi Refining cultivators—to escape exploitation.

In his Quiet Chamber, Lü Zhong was flipping through a scroll.

According to the statistical report submitted by Su Caocao, a massive migration wave of low-level cultivators had formed in both the Bihai Region and the Seven Domains of the South Barbarians. Countless Loose Cultivators were choosing to leave the Immortal City Markets and disperse into the Low Spirit Areas, where they began to gather and live in communities.

In the foreseeable future, a large number of ”Cultivation Villages” would surely spring up across the lands of the Southern Barbarians like bamboo shoots after a spring rain.

Having lost this ”cheap labor,” the workshops in the various markets and Immortal Cities experienced widespread shutdowns. Many of the families whose interests were harmed had already begun to take action.

Some implemented conciliatory policies, improving the treatment of their workers.

Others... resorted to strong-arm tactics.

Conflicts and contradictions arose from this.

The question now before Lü Zhong was: how should the Bihai Sect respond to this situation?

Should they allow the low-level cultivators to continue migrating?

Or should they side with the Sect Clans and obstruct the spread of the migration wave?

No matter which choice he made, there were both pros and cons.

Permitting the migration would undoubtedly be an act of betraying his own interest class.

As a Nascent Soul Sect, the Bihai Sect essentially represented the interests of the various Sect Clans. While they supported him, a Nascent Soul True Monarch, there were plenty of scraps left over for the various factions to take what they needed. This was why they could work together to maintain stability in the region.

Once the Loose Cultivators were allowed to migrate, the Sect Clans under his rule whose interests were harmed would undoubtedly become alienated from the Bihai Sect, leading to a great deal of trouble.

In Lü Zhong’s eyes, this was a decision that would undoubtedly decrease stability.

However, if he stood firm with his own class and issued a decree banning the migration of Loose Cultivators, that would inevitably cause other problems. Cultivators, after all, were beings whose great power belonged to themselves alone. Unless he used a Magic Ban to restrict their freedom of movement, there was no chance of successfully stopping the migration.

Compared to allowing it, forbidding it was undoubtedly far more difficult.

Moreover, such an act would go against the great trend of heaven and earth.

After thinking it over and over, Lü Zhong decided to go with the flow and follow the great trend.

Besides, the migration wave actually had more pros than cons for the Bihai Sect. Once more Spiritual Objects were produced in the Spirit Fields, the future Bihai Cultivation World would surely prosper and flourish.

’As for those vassal factions, if they become alienated, so be it.’

’In the Cultivation Realm, strength reigns supreme in the end.’

’With a Nascent Soul holding them down,’

’the Sect Clans below can’t stir up any real trouble.’

...

The will of the Nascent Soul was the will of the Sect.

In accordance with Lü Zhong’s will, the Bihai Sect issued the ”Free Migration Decree.”

In short, the decree stated that within the territory governed by the Bihai Sect—with the exception of resource points like Spirit Vein Mines—any cultivator with a clean background simply had to recognize the Bihai Sect’s authority. Regardless of their origin, they could purchase a corresponding area of land with Spirit Stones, with the size based on their level of cultivation.