A Loose Cultivator's Path to Longevity

”That’s good news!” Lü Zhong chuckled.

Next, as soon as the Western Border Alliance made new breakthroughs, the efficiency of Spiritual Qi conversion would improve even further.

Perhaps, in the process, technological advancements could even solve the problem of converting special types of Spiritual Qi—for instance, turning nature’s spiritual energy into Medicinal Spiritual Qi. If that became possible, the resource crisis would be a thing of the past.

At that point, Spiritual Qi would be as good as Pills.

If that could truly be achieved...

Then, Lü Zhong probably wouldn’t even need to rally them; cultivators would charge into the Void of their own accord.

After all, the vast, boundless Void held immense amounts of Spiritual Qi. For cultivators who craved it, that energy represented hope for breakthroughs in their cultivation and the opportunity for Ascension to the Upper Realm.

Lü Zhong shook his head, clearing his mind of stray thoughts.

He began to take stock of his spoils once more.

The Gounan Ghost Emperor’s Storage Ring had a massive capacity and was filled with items. Lü Zhong’s current task was to sort and categorize everything, starting by separating the things useful to Immortal Cultivators.

As for the items meant for Ghost Cultivators, Lü Zhong destroyed anything that was too sinister or corrupt.

He only kept the items rich in Yin Spiritual Qi, planning to send them to the Sect Treasure Vault later.

After a thorough sorting, everything was organized.

In terms of Spirit Stones, the Upper, Middle, and Lower Grades combined totaled eight million.

The number was so exact because they were all neatly packed in boxes, their seals still intact. They were tribute offered to the Gounan Ghost Emperor by his subordinate Ghost Cultivators.

’Tribute, I suppose.’

Lü Zhong continued his inventory.

There were over a dozen Magical Treasures of various sizes, but unfortunately, most had been ruined by defilement. Even the few intact ones had their Spiritual Attribute severely damaged. These were likely the relics of the cultivators who had fallen victim to the Ghost Emperor. The Prohibitions on them were generally of a low layer, indicating their original owners were of mediocre strength.

’What should I do with them?’

He decided to sell what he could and melt down the rest.

The materials used in the Magical Treasures were of decent quality; the raw components alone would be worth a considerable number of Spirit Stones.

Beyond those, there was also a jumble of various Spiritual Objects.

To avoid missing any hidden opportunities, Lü Zhong patiently inspected each item one by one.

As it turned out, he had been worrying for nothing.

”Phew, finally done sorting this mess!” Lü Zhong heaved a sigh of relief. He glanced to his side where three items remained. He had set these aside as they were either highly valuable or potentially of great use. The Gounan Ghost Emperor’s Five Directions Prison Seal was one of them.

Besides the Ghost Emperor’s Lifebound Treasure, there was also the Ancient Scroll that could communicate with the Gouchen Ghost Realm and summon the elusive Gouchen Ghost Envoy—the very item that had nearly been his undoing. However, after he defeated the Ghost Envoy that day, the scroll seemed to have lost its power, its glow completely faded, showing no trace of its former divine wondrousness.

The last item was a Spirit Seed.

The seed was a dusty gray and looked completely unremarkable, yet it couldn’t be burned by fire or split by the Green Cauldron Sword. It also emanated an extremely dense Spiritual Qi, so it was clearly no ordinary Spirit Seed.

As for how to handle these three items...

The Five Directions Prison Seal had to be powered by Yin Qi, which Immortal Cultivators could not wield. Therefore, Lü Zhong planned to use it as ”fuel,” melting the seal with his Purple Gold Extreme Fire. This would, on one hand, enhance the power of his Spirit Fire, and on the other, if the smelting was done right, he might even be able to extract the seal’s base materials.

It was a plan that would kill two birds with one stone.

As for the Gouchen Ancient Scroll, he couldn’t make heads or tails of it for the time being.

He decided to place it in the Sect Treasure Vault and wait for its destined owner to appear someday.

As for the final item, the seed...

”...” Lü Zhong was at a loss.

As an Alchemist—and an Alchemy Master capable of creating Tier Four Pills with an extremely high Pill Formation Rate at that—it was slightly embarrassing not to recognize the origin of this Spirit Seed.

’Whatever, it’s just a Spirit Seed.’

With that thought, he flicked the Spirit Seed with his finger, sending it flying.

It sailed perfectly through the protective barrier of his cave abode and landed right on the edge of the courtyard. Barring any mishaps, it would take root there, sprout, and grow by absorbing the dense Spiritual Qi.

...

In the days that followed, Lü Zhong became busy.

As his Lifebound Treasure, the Star Mirror had been stuck at the Fifteenth-Layer Prohibition for far too long, and its power was beginning to lag. He planned to take advantage of his free time to refine his accumulated materials, such as Morning Star Jade and Star Gold Stone, into the Star Mirror all at once.

The refining process took a full five years to complete.

The Star Mirror lived up to Lü Zhong’s expectations, breaking through to a Nineteenth-Layer Prohibition, just one step shy of the crucial Twentieth-Layer. The Twentieth-Layer Prohibition of a Magical Treasure was the turning point that determined if it could evolve into a Spirit Treasure, and it was also the key to the first stage of an Artifact Spirit’s growth.

If the Artifact Spirit could be awakened at this juncture, the Magical Treasure’s path of Metamorphosis would begin. In the future, once it broke through the upper limit of its Prohibition layers, it could undergo a baptism of nature’s spiritual energy and transform into a Spirit Treasure.

A Spirit Treasure born this way offered a huge advantage: the Artifact Spirit’s imprint would be almost one with its master. It wouldn’t require any ritual refinement via a Spirit Communication Mantra and could easily unleash power far surpassing that of an ordinary Acquired Spiritual Treasure.

However, if the original master perished or the Spirit Treasure was passed on to a new owner, this advantage would be lost.

Lü Zhong thought for a moment, then immersed his Divine Sense into the Star Mirror.

In the depths of the Prohibitions, he sensed a weak consciousness—the nascent Artifact Spirit of the Star Mirror.

But for some unknown reason, a layer of lightning enveloped it. This strange lightning was restricting the Artifact Spirit’s growth and constantly inflicting damage, forcing it to remain curled up in a defensive ball.

Seeing this, Lü Zhong’s heart sank.

’The darkest place is under the lamp.’

’This is big trouble!’

If he allowed this to continue without taking action, not only would he fail to awaken the Artifact Spirit, but the nascent spirit would likely perish under the lightning’s influence.

Lü Zhong scrambled to think of a remedy.

But after racking his brain, he realized he had never come across a solution for such a phenomenon in any of the texts he had read.

Left with no other choice, he had to resort to the Gray Mist Space.

He would use True Retrospection to run simulations and find a solution.