A Loose Cultivator's Path to Longevity

Chapter 661: Chapter 361: Sleeve Universe

“Hmm, so you plan to travel for a while?” Lü Zhong looked at Su Caocao.

“I plan to travel to the lands of the Gui Miao Immortal Sect first, to seek my opportunity for Nascent Soul Formation… If I don’t find it there, I will try other places in Central Earth, be it the Northern Sect Land or the Eastern Sect Land… So, please, Master, allow me to leave the Sect and travel.”

When Su Caocao finished speaking, her heart jumped into her throat.

Lü Zhong couldn’t help but give Su Caocao a scrutinizing look. It was the first time he realized just how steadfast his eldest disciple’s determination to follow the Immortal Path truly was.

He smiled faintly.

“Go ahead.”

The two simple words struck a chord deep in Su Caocao’s heart.

She had originally thought her master wouldn’t let her go so easily.

Su Caocao never believed the Bihai Sect couldn’t function without her. But she had always been convinced that she was, by far, the most suitable candidate for Sect Leader. If someone else were to take her place, the Bihai Sect’s operational efficiency would undoubtedly plummet.

That was why she had been so worried.

But now, it seemed her worries had been completely unnecessary.

“Oh, right. Take these with you. They’ll give you more protection on your journey.” As Lü Zhong spoke, he took out the Jia Yuan Heavenly Talismans he had previously created. He set aside three for emergencies and handed all the remaining thirty-seven sheets of Talisman Paper to Su Caocao.

Besides, they were talismans he’d made himself, so he felt no heartache in giving them away.

And when compared to a pile of inanimate objects, Lü Zhong felt his disciple was far more important.

Besides, this disciple had always been dutiful and devoted.

“Master, what are these?”

Su Caocao stared at the Spirit Talismans in her hand, stunned into silence.

She could tell this entire stack was made of Tier Four Spirit Talismans.

Their value was simply incomparable to that of Tier Three Spirit Talismans.

“They are all Jia Yuan Heavenly Talismans. Activating them can draw out the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi inside. With your current strength, even an Early-stage Nascent Soul opponent wouldn’t dare to take your attacks head-on.”

While explaining, Lü Zhong took out several other items.

Tier Four Healing Elixirs and Replenishing Qi Pills, the Magical Treasure Red Crow Sword, and other items he had no use for, like Teleportation Talismans he’d taken from other cultivators’ Storage Bags.

He pushed the entire pile of items onto Su Caocao.

“When you’re out traveling, it’s best to have a few trump cards up your sleeve.”

Looking at this pile of things, Su Caocao was so moved she was about to cry.

“Oh, right, and this.”

Lü Zhong took out a Storage Ring. He had also gotten it from another cultivator. It was shaped like a Flower Ring, unsuitable for a man to wear, which made it perfect for Su Caocao.

Using a Storage Bag during combat between High-level cultivators is risky. With the slightest mistake, the bag could be destroyed, so a Storage Ring is absolutely essential.

“And…”

Lü Zhong had almost forgotten something and only just remembered. In an instant, he condensed a Dharma Seal—the Star Shifting and Dipper Changing Seal—and pressed it onto the center of Su Caocao’s forehead.

Still not feeling at ease, he condensed several more.

He did this to reinforce the Dharma Seal, enabling it to withstand more Inference Celestial Secret Techniques.

With that, Su Caocao was armed to the teeth, both inside and out.

After all that, Lü Zhong didn’t forget to double-check everything several times. Only when he was certain there were no oversights did he finally breathe a sigh of relief. When he looked back at his eldest disciple, Su Caocao, he saw she was already drowned in tears.

“Silly girl, what are you crying for?”

“Ma-Master, I’m not crying!”

Despite her words, tears betrayed her, streaming from her eyes. For an accomplished Core Formation Master to lose control of her emotions like this was truly unbecoming.

It was only now that she understood.

Her success hadn’t been a matter of pure chance.

Whenever she had faced a difficult trial, she had always sensed those mysterious shifts in her favor, or the help that arrived at the perfect moment. She had always noticed, but she could never be certain.

But now, she was finally sure.

After a little while, once Lü Zhong had calmed Su Caocao down, the Spiritual Food was served. Since it was a rare reunion for master and disciple, he invited her to stay and share a meal.

The spread was lavish and delicious.

However, Lü Zhong’s favorite was still the Wontons. The filling was made from Sturgeon Dragon Emperor Essence Meat, and the wonton wrappers were also quite extraordinary, made from the ground powder of a Thousand-year-old Spirit Fruit.

A single bite was the very pinnacle of worldly delicacies.

As usual, Lü Zhong only had a few bites to satisfy his craving.

‘Good things should be savored slowly. If you eat your fill all at once and grow tired of it, you might never want to eat it again.’

‘Otherwise, the Immortal Path itself would become tasteless.’

…

After resting for a while, Lü Zhong had just returned to his Quiet Chamber.

Just then, his Incarnation in the distant Western Realm sent good news. Thanks to the Spirit Patterns from the previously acquired Exotic Beast, the Spiritual Energy Conversion Technology had finally achieved another breakthrough.

As for its effect on the Creation Secret Array, the improvement was minimal. However, the significance of the breakthrough was that the Western Border Alliance had finally found the correct research direction.

This was exceptionally important for technological research.

The wrong direction was equivalent to wasted effort.

Take, for example, the research direction in the East Sea: they were trying to find a perfect, inexhaustible catalyst to achieve their goal of utilizing Demon Pills.

This research direction wasn’t necessarily wrong.

It could only be said that, compared to the universally applicable Creation Secret Array, the East Sea Cultivators’ perfect catalyst was only suited for converting Demon Spiritual Qi.

Soon, Lü Zhong received the new Array Map.

After upgrading the original Creation Secret Array with the new map, he found that the Spiritual Qi conversion efficiency, which started at ten percent, had improved to nearly twenty percent after two technological breakthroughs.

There were other minor benefits as well.

For example, it now had lower energy consumption and ran more quietly.