A Loose Cultivator's Path to Longevity

To avoid any unforeseen complications, Lü Zhong immediately set out for the Western Realm.

When he reached the crash site of the Flying Ship, he made sure to use the Gray Mist Space to review the scene. Just as he had heard, a True Central Sect cultivator had indeed used a Tier Four Talisman to destroy the Flying Ship bound for the West Extreme Sword Domain with lightning speed.

Only then was a great weight finally lifted from his heart.

Lü Zhong continued onward.

He headed toward the cave that led underground.

He only dared to proceed after scouting the entire path with scene reviews.

Unexpectedly, he encountered no attacks along the way, not even a single trap.

’Have they pulled back their forces?’

Just as Lü Zhong was pondering how to deal with his target, a cacophony of noise suddenly erupted. From a cave opening to his front-left, twelve figures burst out.

They were none other than the True Central Sect cultivators Lü Zhong had seen before.

Leading the charge was a Female Cultivator bathed in flames.

She looked wretched, her aura clearly unstable; she had obviously suffered a great loss from the incarnation’s self-destruction. Trailing behind her were two other Core Formation Cultivators, one at the Initial Stage and one at the Middle Stage. Their cultivation was inferior to the leading Female Cultivator, whose Spiritual Qi fluctuations indicated she was at the Late-stage Core Formation, on par with Lü Zhong.

When enemies meet, their blood boils.

The sprinting Female Cultivator shot toward Lü Zhong with incredible speed.

"Die!"

The Female Cultivator glared viciously at Lü Zhong, her fiery pupils filled with hatred, her expression turning ferocious.

She raised her hand and shot three Flame Long Spears at him.

The spears were all formed from the ribs of her Lifebound Treasure, the Phoenix Feather Umbrella. Tainted by the refined Evil Spirit Fire, the resulting Flame Long Spears had their lethality multiplied, capable of easily piercing a cultivator’s Protective Gang Qi.

SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! Three piercing sounds cut through the air.

Each one aimed for Lü Zhong’s vitals, her heart already consumed by extreme hatred.

In that moment, Lü Zhong was already a dead man in her eyes.

However, the Female Cultivator never would have dreamed that Lü Zhong wouldn’t dodge in the slightest, nor would he summon a Magical Treasure to defend himself. Instead, he opened his mouth and spat out a wisp of Purple Flame.

’Where did this country bumpkin come from?’

Witnessing this, the Female Cultivator almost laughed out loud.

Her Evil Spirit Fire was considered a High-grade Spirit Fire. While it couldn’t compare to the likes of Sun Essence Fire, it wasn’t something any ordinary Spirit Fire could contend with.

But seeing Lü Zhong’s resolute expression, she couldn’t help but doubt her own judgment.

Her eyes flickered, and she secretly took a step back.

With a flash of purple light,

a shocking scene unfolded. The Female Cultivator’s eyes filled with astonishment. She never expected her Evil Spirit Fire to actually be devoured by a wisp of Purple Flame, becoming fuel for its fire.

And it was devoured with incredible ease, as if it were simply eating and drinking.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

With three crisp sounds, the three umbrella-rib spears were sent flying. Lü Zhong had summoned his Flood Dragon Spirit Banner, effortlessly blocking the attack.

"Not good, he’s a Nascent Soul Seed!" A Cyan-Bearded cultivator who had rushed ahead of the woman paled and immediately stopped in his tracks.

Hearing this, the other man’s face also filled with shock and uncertainty.

They were already at a cultivation disadvantage, and now they had to face an elite cultivator with the hope of reaching Nascent Soul Formation. Even with a regular Late-stage Core Formation cultivator on their side, their chances of victory were slim.

Since defeat was inevitable, why not find another way to survive?

Seeing this, the Female Cultivator couldn’t help but curse them in her mind.

’Useless trash from the Noble Families, as expected!’

’Normally, they’d risk their lives for the smallest of gains, but now, with the opportunity of a pool of Earth-Surging Golden Lotus right before them, they cower before a single Nascent Soul Seed. They don’t have the slightest intention of fighting to the death; instead, they’ve suddenly started cherishing their lives.’

Before she could think of a countermeasure,

the next moment, countless bolts of lightning materialized from the Void.

They engulfed the True Central Sect members!

BOOM! BOOM! The sound of thunder rumbled incessantly.

Accompanied by wretched screams, the True Central Sect cultivators at the Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment cultivation levels were all blasted to dust by the lightning. Three disheveled figures escaped from the Thunder Swamp.

One of them was so horribly blasted by lightning that he was a gruesome sight to behold.

After staggering just a few steps, he collapsed to the ground.

Barely clinging to life.

The Female Cultivator and the Cyan-Bearded Core Formation cultivator, seeing the situation turn sour, had dodged in time. They had only sustained minor injuries. Though they looked miserable, their actual strength wasn’t significantly damaged.

At this moment, although they still had the advantage in numbers, their hearts were filled with terror.

If Nascent Soul Seeds were divided into tiers, then in their eyes, Lü Zhong, who could suppress the three of them single-handedly, belonged to the elite among them.

Flee!

That was the only thought left in their minds.

And they had to get as far away as possible.

The Female Cultivator was filled with regret. She wondered what had possessed her to have someone ambush that Flying Ship, luring this god of death to them.

If this hadn’t happened, her path to the Nascent Soul Realm might have been clear.

But it was too late for regrets now.

Just then, the Female Cultivator felt a chill run down her spine and dodged to the side without a second thought.

By a hair’s breadth!

WHOOSH!

A Thunder Spear shot past, disappearing into the rock wall.

The Cyan-Bearded Core Formation cultivator next to her was far less lucky. He only managed to dodge one Thunderous Spear and was pierced through the chest by the other.

A Core Formation Cultivator’s powerful Life Force allowed him to cling to life temporarily.

However, the immense pain of lightning ravaging his body made the Cyan-Bearded Core Formation cultivator wish for a swift death and reincarnation. He spat out a mouthful of steaming blood, and realizing he had no hope of survival, decided to go out with a final act of defiance.

But a streak of light flashed by, and his vision went completely dark.

Lü Zhong calmly recalled his Spirit Sword. Gazing at the headless corpse on the ground, he thought, ’He even dawdled when trying to kill himself. These True Central Sect Core Formation cultivators are really a bit soft.’

He continued the pursuit.

The Female Cultivator was now forcefully stimulating her Magical Power to increase her Escape Speed, intending to shake Lü Zhong. She cursed venomously in her heart, ’If I can’t have that pool of Earth-Surging Golden Lotus, then no one can!’

’I’ll destroy the Earth-Surging Golden Lotus!’

This was the only thought left in her mind.

The moment the Female Cultivator laid eyes on the Spirit Vein,

a line of fire shot from behind her. In a flash, it struck her Protective Gang Qi. A ripple spread across its surface, and as the line of fire rapidly thickened and brightened, her Protective Gang Qi was pierced straight through.

The next moment, her entire body was engulfed in a pillar of fire.

Not only was the Female Cultivator incinerated, but the Storage Bag on her person was also destroyed by the terrifying pillar of fire. Its contents spilled out and were likewise burned to ashes.

Lü Zhong recalled the Human-Faced Flood Dragon Banner with a blank expression, but his heart ached at the loss.

’Huh? What’s this...?’

Suddenly, he noticed a Silver Page in the pile of ashes.

He drew it into his hand.

Lü Zhong discovered that although this page was in the style of a book page, and bore a slight resemblance to the pages that recorded the Outer Body Incarnation technique, it was something completely different in substance.

’Whatever it is, anything that can survive the Fire-Eating Divine Technique must be extraordinary.’

Thinking this, Lü Zhong placed a seal on it.

Of course, he didn’t forget to add a Star Shifting and Dipper Changing Seal to prevent anyone from using it to track him.

He then arrived at the Spirit Vein node.

Gazing at the pool of Earth-Surging Golden Lotus, even Lü Zhong, who prided himself on his well-cultivated temperament, couldn’t help but feel his breath quicken and his heart beat a little faster.

To be cautious, he used a scene review to inspect the Golden Lotuses in the pool.

As expected, he found something!

The three True Central Sect Core Formation cultivators had actually placed a strange poison on the lotus leaves. The three toxins mixed together, becoming colorless and odorless, and showed no signs of toxicity.

If he hadn’t been so meticulous, he might have really fallen for it.

Medicine and poison were two sides of the same coin.

Since Lü Zhong could see what kind of toxins the three had used in the scene review, creating the corresponding antidote was naturally a simple matter for him.

He spent half a month completely cleansing the toxins from the lotus leaves.

’Next, all I have to do is wait for the Earth-Surging Golden Lotus to mature!’

Lü Zhong suppressed his excitement.

Afterward, he cleaned up the traces of the crashed Flying Ship outside, as well as the cave. Although the Crimson Spiritual Energy in the Western Realm was growing stronger by the day, making it nearly impossible for cultivators to be active outside, one could never guarantee that an accident wouldn’t happen. It was better to be extra cautious.

...

「Half a year later.」

Lü Zhong hastily returned from the Western Realm.

He spent half a year straight performing Alchemy in his Alchemy Room before emerging.

From then on, he spent every day meditating and cultivating.

The Creation Spirit Liquid refined from the Earth-Surging Golden Lotus was even more effective than Lü Zhong had anticipated. After consuming it, the speed of his cultivation progress increased dramatically, changing at a rate that was almost visible to the naked eye.

If not for the fact that his meridians had a limit to what they could endure, he would have continued taking it without stopping.

He didn’t let his spare time go to waste, either.

Although he had mastered the Star Devouring Technique, he had not yet learned the Yue Spirit Unification Mantra. Because he hadn’t practiced the Lingyue Inheritance Skill, Lü Zhong needed to put in extra effort to cultivate this Secret Skill.

Meanwhile, the flames of war ignited by the Daoist Sect’s attack on Changchun Valley showed no signs of stopping anytime soon. Fortunately, both sides had now reached a stalemate, and the situation had unexpectedly calmed down.

In these circumstances, time flew by.

「In the blink of an eye, five years had passed.」

On this day, the door to the Quiet Chamber finally opened.

"Finally! I’ve finally reached the Fake Infant Realm!" Lü Zhong looked up at the sky outside his Quiet Chamber and suddenly burst into laughter, the joy in his heart impossible to describe with words.

He originally thought it would take him thirty to fifty years of arduous cultivation to reach this Realm.

He never imagined he would achieve it ahead of schedule thanks to a pool of Earth-Surging Golden Lotus.

The Fake Infant Realm was, in essence, still part of the Late-stage Core Formation. However, the difference before and after the breakthrough was not small. His Divine Sense had expanded to 907 zhang, and his Magical Power had also seen a significant boost. It was like an all-around enhancement.

From this, it was clear that when a Fake Infant Realm cultivator faced a Late-stage Core Formation cultivator, as long as the former used their full strength, they could easily defeat the latter. It wasn’t even impossible to kill them in an instant.

’Next, it’s time to prepare for Nascent Soul Formation!’ Thinking of this, the smile on Lü Zhong’s face faded.

In truth, he didn’t have much confidence in this matter.

Reaching Nascent Soul Formation was no different from facing a Life and Death Pass.

’I’d better make more preparations!’ Lü Zhong thought to himself.

He contacted his various Incarnations and found that in the past five years, two of them had successfully reached Foundation Establishment. They had both received Steward positions in their respective Sects, climbing from the bottom of the Sect hierarchy to the lower-middle ranks.

The plan had progressed another step!

If he continued to execute it like this, he might actually be able to obtain the Nascent Soul Secret Techniques of various sects.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!