A Loose Cultivator's Path to Longevity

”True Spirit Immortal Quenching?” Lü Zhong said in surprise.

As Shuini had said, its value was indeed extraordinary.

True Spirit Immortal Quenching was considered the number one secret treasure of the True Spirit Sect.

From what he understood, this substance was created by disciples from three lineages who practiced a Secret Technique. They would continuously nurture Spirit Liquid within their bodies before refining it to its purest form. Its primary use was for ”foundation building,” given to newborn infants to help solidify their future cultivation foundation.

The former Heling Sect had lacked this ability; he never expected Shuini to have actually refined it.

This was a grand gift!

Even Nascent Soul Cultivators would be tempted to fight for it. Compared to this, Lü Zhong’s dozen Jia Yuan Heavenly Talismans, though valuable, were somewhat inferior.

...

To be on the safe side, Lü Zhong stayed for a few more months.

Seemingly influenced by the fall of the Demon Wolf, the Demon Court changed its ways. The border grew quiet during this time, and the Demon Beasts that frequently caused trouble vanished as if nothing had ever happened.

Once he confirmed Shuini was out of immediate danger, Lü Zhong finally bade her farewell.

After a day’s journey, he returned smoothly to Tide Cave.

When he reached the Quiet Chamber door, he saw that Yu Feng’er had not yet come out of seclusion.

For safety’s sake, Lü Zhong used the Gray Mist Space to carefully observe his wife’s condition. He was relieved to see that she was fine.

Then, a strange expression appeared on his face.

By his calculations, it had been nearly twelve years since Yu Feng’er became pregnant.

A mortal woman’s pregnancy, however, only lasts ten months.

According to ancient records, while it was extremely difficult for High-level cultivators to have children, any successfully conceived offspring would inevitably be born with divine wondrous qualities, far from being mere mortals.

Lü Zhong agreed with this point wholeheartedly.

After all, his own body had long since transformed into a Pure Spirit Body.

’Alas, it’s useless to overthink it.’

Lü Zhong went to his Quiet Chamber and sat cross-legged on a cushion to meditate. Once his mind was completely calm, he began his daily routine of Qi Refining and meditation.

The root cause of his inability to resolve the Demon Court crisis lay in his own cultivation. If he had Late-stage Nascent Soul Cultivation, that fleshy cocoon would be no cause for concern.

The days passed one by one, and Lü Zhong began his seclusion in Tide Cave.

As time went on, his progress in constructing the Singularity slowly increased.

Cultivating the Sleeve Universe was essentially a process of calculation. Without a clear understanding of its principles, there were no shortcuts; he could only follow the procedure step-by-step, with no room for clever tricks or wishful thinking.

At the same time, his cultivation was also growing steadily and continuously.

Although the lack of suitable Pills made his progress excruciatingly slow, requiring a very long period of accumulation to see any improvement, it was still better than most Nascent Soul Cultivators.

「Three years passed just like that.」

On this day, Lü Zhong abruptly opened his eyes.

He sensed for a moment and realized the sky outside was filled with auspicious rosy clouds.

A look of pleasant surprise appeared on his face.

’They’re finally about to be born!’

’No, childbirth is a life-and-death trial!’

Lü Zhong immediately got up, ready to offer whatever help he could. However, just as he pushed open the Quiet Chamber Door, he found Yu Feng’er already walking out, holding the infants.

It was a pair of twins, a boy and a girl!

Lü Zhong already knew this.

But at this moment, his heart was still filled with joy.

”Husband, have you thought of names for our children?” Although Yu Feng’er’s Primordial Qi was not harmed, her aura was still unavoidably weak, but her face was wreathed in smiles as she looked at Lü Zhong expectantly.

’As a new father, I can’t afford to lose face!’

Lü Zhong had already thought of them, and he blurted out, ”Let’s call them Tianwen and Jiuge!”

”PFFT. Husband, your naming sense is really something...” Yu Feng’er couldn’t help but laugh, but she didn’t voice any objection. Instead, she began to murmur the names, her eyes shining with excitement. ”Lü Tianwen, Lü Jiuge... They roll off the tongue. They’re actually very good names.”

’Let me hold Jiuge!’

Lü Zhong took his daughter from her.

He looked her up and down, his heart overflowing with happiness.

He wanted to hold her a little longer, but Yu Feng’er took her back, shooting Lü Zhong a look. ”The children are still small. You can’t let them get bumped or hurt.”

”Oh...”

Lü Zhong said, reluctant to let go.

He then handed over the True Spirit Immortal Quenching and explained its effects to Yu Feng’er, telling her to feed it to the two little ones during her postpartum recovery. In the future, even if Tianwen and Jiuge had no talent for Spirit Roots, consuming such an Immortal Spirit Treasure would still prolong their lives.

Thinking of Spirit Roots, Lü Zhong fell silent.

In this world, a Spirit Root was indispensable for cultivation.

Even though he was now a Nascent Soul expert and had read tens of millions of texts, he had never heard of any Spiritual Object in the world that could allow a person to create a Spirit Root and thus gain the chance to walk the Immortal Path.

’I can only hope that after they turn three, they’ll both manifest Spirit Roots!’

It was only human nature to want one’s children to have a good life.

Lü Zhong was no exception.

In the time that followed, he never left their side.

Watching the little ones grow day by day, Lü Zhong gained many new insights.

’Is this what they call the joy of family?’

After holding the one-month-old celebration and letting his disciples meet his son and daughter, Lü Zhong finally resumed his seclusion. Unlike before, however, he would now emerge once every six months.

Having had children late in life, he naturally cherished them all the more.

「In the blink of an eye, Tianwen and Jiuge turned three.」

The results of the Spirit Root examination allowed Lü Zhong to breathe a huge sigh of relief.

The twins were no geniuses; they merely had an ordinary Three Spirit Roots aptitude. He was slightly disappointed by this but didn’t really take it to heart.

With the constantly improving Creation Secret Array, as long as this realm hadn’t deteriorated to the point of having no Spiritual Qi left, there would be no problem for Tianwen and Jiuge to cultivate to the Nascent Soul stage.

After all, when it came to resources, Lü Zhong could absolutely provide everything they needed.

As for whether they had a Spirit Body...

’Perhaps.’

At least for now, he couldn’t see any sign of one.

There were many types of Spirit Bodies in the Cultivation Realm, and many did not manifest at birth. It might take until they grew up, or until a certain opportunity arose, for a Spirit Body to reveal itself.

...

With the Demon Court having furled its banners and silenced its drums, the Southern Barbarian region suddenly grew quiet.

Previously, after news spread that a Demon Cultivator was undergoing a Metamorphosis and attempting to achieve sainthood, the Southern Barbarian Immortal Cultivation World had fallen into a panic. But now, the way things were developing was somewhat baffling.

If one were to say it was the calm before the storm, there was absolutely no sign of any gathering momentum.

The feeling was as if the Demon Court had suddenly had a change of heart.

Being in this strange atmosphere was truly agonizing.

Over at the Bihai Sect, after the patriarch had a pair of children, a new succession faction emerged within the sect—one that wanted to support Tianwen and Jiuge. For a time, numerous power struggles and schemes revolved around the twins. Though the reasons given were grandiose, the matter of ”profit” was still at the core of it all.

Lü Zhong did not put a stop to this.

The concept of bloodline succession was simply too deeply ingrained in people’s hearts. Otherwise, the succession faction would not have appeared so quickly, nor would it have immediately gained the support of so many people.

He was still focused on his cultivation.

A while ago, after long-term trading with the Gui Miao Sect, Lü Zhong had finally paid a price equivalent to ten million Spirit Stones to obtain a Pill Formula. This formula was suitable for Mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivators, and the spiritual materials used to refine the Pill did not include any Heaven and Earth Spiritual Medicine.

Its name was the Six Yang Sandalwood True Pill.

As its name implied, this Pill required six types of Supreme Yang Spiritual Medicine to be refined, and all six were main ingredients. While possessing powerful effects, this Pill also had side effects: the spiritual materials were difficult to cultivate, and the after-effects of consuming the Pill were overly potent, requiring a Clear Heart Technique to resolve them.

’No wonder... they were willing to trade it for a mere ten million Spirit Stones!’ Lü Zhong thought.

The Gui Miao Sect’s calculations were clever, but they couldn’t account for him possessing the Creation Secret Array. For Lü Zhong, refining the Six Yang Sandalwood True Pill was only a matter of time.

The bigger problem, however, was how to deal with the after-effects—the scorching heat in his Divine Soul caused by consuming an excessive amount of Supreme Yang Objects.

’Perhaps I can find a solution within the Haokong Lineage,’ he surmised.

The light of the sun, moon, and stars all originated from the same source, so it was natural that they could be converted into one another. Otherwise, no matter how capable the True Spirit Sect was, it would have been impossible for them to merge the three lineages of Sun, Moon, and Stars into one.

At this thought, the Four-Spirit True-Return Seal in his Sea of Consciousness was released.