A Loose Cultivator's Path to Longevity

”...Let me see.” Lü Zhong read the Jade Scroll and saw that it did, in fact, record a recipe for an unnamed Spirit Liquid. Though he felt quite confident, he was careful not to over-promise. ”If you can give me enough time, Senior, then concocting it shouldn’t be much of a problem.”

”Excellent. Since you’ve agreed to help, it’s only right that I offer something in return.” Cangmingzi chuckled.

Then, with a flip of his hand, he produced a Document Contract.

He passed it to Lü Zhong without so much as a glance.

”This is a contract of assurance, drafted by me and Luoying and overseen by the Celestial Dao. For a period of one thousand years, as long as you, Friend Lü, do not annex the four Southern Barbarian sects—Huayi Temple, Yan Zhen Sect, Celestial Blade Sect, and Xuanyang Sect—your safety will be guaranteed. If the Gui Miao Sect violates this contract and acts against you during this time, my Celestial Origin Immortal Palace will be responsible for stopping them.”

After a pause, Cangmingzi added, ”Of course, that’s limited to me stopping Fellow Daoist Luoying. If another Nascent Soul Great Cultivator decides to break the contract, well, that’s something you’ll have to handle yourself, Friend Lü.”

’A contract of assurance?’

He hadn’t expected such a development.

’This is probably Cangmingzi’s real reason for being here,’ Lü Zhong thought. ’He must have been sent by the Gui Miao Immortal Sect, which is why he made a special trip to the Southern Barbarian lands.’

But then again...

’For Gui Miao to act like this... isn’t it beneath the dignity of an Immortal Sect?’

’Unless... they were forced into it.’

Lü Zhong quickly deduced a possible reason for the Gui Miao Immortal Sect extending an olive branch. ’It’s probably the Soul Loss Syndrome that threw Central Earth into chaos,’ he mused. ’There must have been a new development.’

That was the only explanation that made sense.

’Sign it, or not?’

Lü Zhong quickly made his decision.

Right now, what he needed most was a period of stable development.

As for annexing Huayi Temple and the other three sects, Lü Zhong had never been very interested. Even if he did absorb them and gain a massive amount of resources all at once, it wouldn’t be that significant.

After all, at the Nascent Soul Stage, quality was far more important than quantity when it came to Spiritual Objects.

Compared to annexation, a thousand years of peace seemed much more important.

So, after carefully reviewing the terms of the contract and confirming there were no traps and that the document was genuine, he left his Divine Soul Aura on it.

’I just don’t understand the Gui Miao Immortal Sect’s motive. Why are they willing to pay such a steep price to prevent me from annexing Huayi Temple and the other three sects?’

After thinking it over, Lü Zhong concluded it could only be for resources.

The Southern Barbarian lands had always been plagued by frequent disasters and were once nearly overrun by the Withered Tide. However, after the changes at the Ten Thousand Witches Hall, the Spiritual Energy Great Wall was completely repaired. With the arrival of the Ascension Spirit Tide, the output of Spiritual Objects in the region quickly recovered, even surpassing its pre-Withered Tide levels.

”I never thought things would get this serious,” Lü Zhong murmured.

Behind the Gui Miao Immortal Sect’s desperate need for the Southern Barbarians’ Spiritual Objects was likely the escalating disaster of the Soul Loss Syndrome. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have made such an uncharacteristic move.

Clearly, when compared to the minor nuisance that was Lü Zhong, protecting their own foundation was far more important.

”Friend Lü, these are the materials needed to concoct the Spirit Liquid. However, it’s missing most of the basic spiritual materials. They are all young, common Spirit Medicines, which are inconvenient to obtain in Central Earth, so you’ll need to supply them yourself. As for the delivery time, I hope you can concoct seven portions of the unnamed Spirit Liquid within ten years... As for how we’ll retrieve it, you just need to hand it over to the Gui Miao Sect cultivators. They have their own ways of bringing it back to Central Earth.”

Cangmingzi handed over a Storage Bag and left after giving his instructions.

He only took a few steps before suddenly vanishing without a trace.

”The abilities of a Divinity Transformation cultivator are truly beyond what we Nascent Souls can comprehend,” Lü Zhong remarked with a sigh. He inspected the Storage Bag and found that, just as Cangmingzi had said, it contained only the main ingredients for the Spirit Liquid. Not a single one of the supplementary materials or Spirit Medicines was included.

’Was that really necessary...?’

’Could it be that even cultivators at the Divinity Transformation Stage are still petty enough to pinch pennies?’

Lü Zhong had a faint feeling that it wasn’t entirely impossible.

He then contacted his Incarnation stationed at the Bihai Sect’s gates, gave him a list of the missing spiritual materials for the Spirit Liquid, and ordered him to gather everything and send it over as soon as possible.

The reason for his urgency was that although the unnamed Spirit Liquid wasn’t difficult to concoct, the process was incredibly complex and time-consuming. If he didn’t start preparing early, he was afraid ten years wouldn’t be enough.

...

The days passed, one by one.

Perhaps upon learning that the ”fierce beast” had been caged, the Daoist Sects and the Xuanyang Sect—which had once belonged to the Changchun Valley faction—who had been living in constant fear, could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Beneath this facade of peace, the Southern Barbarian lands grew more prosperous with each passing day, thanks to the Spirit Tide.

In the blink of an eye, it was the Lantern Festival again.

Over the past six years, Lü Zhong had managed to concoct several portions of the unnamed Spirit Liquid. During that time, he’d also tried using the True Retrospection ability of his Gray Mist Space to determine the liquid’s true effects. But even after all that effort, he could only conclude that it offered a minor boost to one’s cultivation.

Clearly, this couldn’t be what a Divinity Transformation cultivator was interested in.

Aside from concocting the Spirit Liquid, his progress in other areas—be it advancing his cultivation, further improving the Shattering Star Finger, or obtaining a suitable Pill Formula—had been minimal.

But regardless, he was more than satisfied just to have a peaceful environment for his development.

The annual Lantern Festival was always a major, can’t-miss event in the Southern Barbarian lands.

Over in Bihai Immortal City, the streets were already full of lanterns.

Tide Cave was, naturally, no exception.

The maids had long since hung lanterns crafted by masters all over the treetops and branches, turning the area into a sea of lights.

But, as was usually the case, the times Lü Zhong, Yu Feng’Er, and Shuini came out of seclusion never aligned.

And so, he spent this year’s Lantern Festival alone again.

...

「Three years later.」

Lü Zhong finally finished concocting the unnamed Spirit Liquid.

While letting out a long sigh of relief, he recalled what Cangmingzi had told him and couldn’t help but grow curious. ’I wonder what method the Gui Miao Immortal Sect will use,’ he thought. ’How will they transport the Spiritual Objects they need back to Central Earth, now that the East Sea Route is cut off?’

So he made a special trip to the Southern Barbarian lands and discovered that they were actually using a Transmission Array.

After careful observation, Lü Zhong realized this was no simple Transmission Array; it was an ultra-long-range one. He had no idea which grandmaster of the Array Dao could have been capable of refining such a massive array into a portable Array Disc. Even though it only allowed for one-way transport, it was still an incredible achievement.

Such a masterpiece of the Array Dao was, of course, something he could not replicate.

Disappointed, Lü Zhong returned to Tide Cave.

With the concoction of the Spirit Liquid finished, his life returned to a state of calm.

Every day, besides his cultivation, was spent improving his Secret Skills.

In addition, Lü Zhong was also slowly extracting the True Flood Dragon Ancestral Blood from the Black Flood Dragon’s body.

After consuming and refining this Ancestral Blood, his understanding of the Flood Dragon transformation grew deeper. Once he had refined it all, he would even be able to assume the form of a Flood Dragon. Although this transformation was purely cosmetic and possessed no real power, it was still remarkable progress.

”HUUUU...”

Lü Zhong exhaled a dragon-like stream of Dense Qi and slowly opened his eyes.

”Now that the tasks at hand are complete, and since the research on Spiritual Energy Conversion Technology in the Western Realm isn’t likely to see a breakthrough anytime soon, it’s about time I made a move.”

After a period of information gathering, although he still hadn’t found a suitable Pill Formula, he had unexpectedly discovered the whereabouts of the main ingredient for the Yellow Extreme Celestial Dust Pill—the Yellow Extreme Spirit Exhausted—in the Western Realm.

As a Spirit Medicine nurtured by Earth Spiritual Qi, it wasn’t surprising for the Yellow Extreme Spirit Exhausted to appear deep underground.

Lü Zhong prepared to make a trip to the Western Realm.

...

He spent some extra time to replenish his lost Incarnations.

Afterward, he arranged all necessary affairs.

Early the next morning, Lü Zhong transformed into a streak of rainbow light and shot into the sky, quickly becoming like a shooting star as he sped toward Bihai Immortal City. From there, he flew straight north without stopping.

Upon entering the Northern Great Forest Sea, he landed on the ground for the sake of secrecy.

He concealed his aura, hiding his cultivation down to the Core Formation Stage. Despite traveling at a leisurely pace as if he were sightseeing, it was only just noon when Lü Zhong arrived at the Transmission Base Palace.

After checking the Underground Palace and finding nothing out of the ordinary, Lü Zhong stepped onto the Transmission Array.