A Loose Cultivator's Path to Longevity

He stood guard for two days.

At noon on the third day, his Celestial Net Secret Eye caught sight of a figure.

The newcomer had a slender build, likely a Female Cultivator. Her skills in the Concealing Breath, Concealing Trace, and Invisibility Three Techniques were impressive, but they weren’t quite enough to fool Lü Zhong’s Celestial Net Secret Eye Technique.

After a moment of observation, Lü Zhong confirmed the newcomer was alone.

’How cautious!’

He remarked silently, then revealed himself.

He went in for the kill.

Storage Bag +1.

The entire sequence of movements was as smooth as flowing water.

After cleaning up the scene, Lü Zhong left without a second glance. He hadn’t forgotten the purpose of his trip: to hunt the Crystal Rock Flood Dragon, not to get rich by robbing and killing.

Although the extra loot was a welcome bonus.

After confirming the Crystal Rock Flood Dragon’s location, he transformed into a streak of rainbow light and sped northwest.

...

「That evening.」

Lü Zhong flew to a stretch of barren, rocky plains.

The sun was setting. In this unfamiliar territory, he saw no need to travel through the night. He chose a desolate mountain, carved out a temporary cave dwelling, and prepared to rest.

He also decided to take stock of his gains.

Taking out four people from Qingxu Temple had made this trip quite profitable.

The Spirit Stones alone were worth a million.

Their Storage Bags were filled mostly with various specialty Spiritual Objects from the Southern Barbarian region, which were even more valuable than the Spirit Stones. Lü Zhong estimated that selling everything would net him at least three to five million Spirit Stones.

’They’ve only been in the Southern Barbarian region for a few years, yet they’ve managed to hoard so much wealth. The ability of these Qingxu Temple cultivators to amass riches is truly something else,’ Lü Zhong thought. ’But now, it all belongs to me.’

He continued to sort through the loot.

There were miscellaneous items like Dharma Robes, Talismans, and Pills, along with an assortment of everyday supplies, all piled into a small mountain.

Selling them would probably fetch another two or three hundred thousand Spirit Stones.

Lü Zhong had no interest in the books the four had carried. They were basically "street-stall wares." He figured Qingxu Temple would never have let them bring any truly valuable texts to the Southern Barbarian region. Since he had no use for them and it would be a hassle to take them back to the Bihai Sect, he decided to get rid of them.

Next were the most valuable items.

First were the four Magical Treasures.

Lü Zhong already knew most of what there was to know about Yinn Qiao’s "Red Crow" Flying Sword, so there was no need to dwell on it.

As for the "Rain Flower Sword" from the Daoist Nun Hou Lan, its materials were too crude, leaving little room for improvement. It was also just a Four-layered Restriction Magical Treasure, so he planned to give it to his Incarnation.

He then took out the old Daoist’s Yellow Banner.

Clearly visible on the banner were three characters in Silver Tadpole Script, spelling out "Spirit-Capturing Banner."

To Lü Zhong’s surprise, this item wasn’t a Restricted Treasure.

’Interesting!’

After refining it, he learned that the banner functioned just as its name implied: it could imprison and command Spirit Bodies. It was somewhat similar to the Soul Banners of the Demon Dao. However, while Soul Banners were empowered by enslaving and "Raising Gu" with souls, the Spirit-Capturing Banner focused on cultivating the Spirit Body within it.

The stronger the Spirit Body, the more powerful the Spirit-Capturing Banner.

According to the notes left by the old Daoist, Zhang Guo, he had chosen an Earth Spirit as his target for Spirit Capturing. This type of Spirit Body was extremely rare. Just like the one Lü Zhong had encountered before, as long as it had sufficient Earth Essence Qi, it could be "Immortal and Undying," making it a Spirit Body with extremely high potential.

Unfortunately, when the old Daoist died, the Earth Spirit went with him.

Without a Spirit Body, the Spirit-Capturing Banner was useless. Unless he captured a new one, it was only good for clubbing people like a stick.

’I have to nurture another one?’ Lü Zhong thought with disdain.

By the time a new Spirit Body was fully grown, he’d probably have already achieved Nascent Soul Formation.

Even then, the Spirit-Capturing Banner would be useless to him. He might as well leave it at the Bihai Sect as an Inheritance Treasure. He could let his disciples and their descendants nurture it, and if his Incarnation needed it in the future, it would be readily available.

Having made his decision, Lü Zhong put away the Spirit-Capturing Banner.

Next was a Magical Treasure Long Spear. It had belonged to the unlucky fellow who was ambushed and was a Magical Treasure with a Fifth-Layer Prohibition. He planned to give this to his Incarnation as well.

Holding his breath, he flipped his hand over and produced a Jade Box.

"Sword Summoning Box"

Lü Zhong couldn’t immediately figure out the origin of this treasure, but he was certain of one thing: it wasn’t a Magical Treasure.

’An imitation Spirit Treasure?’

’Apparently not.’

’It seems more like some special product, something between the two,’ Lü Zhong mused.

Using the Sword Summoning Box was remarkably simple.

All he had to do was shout "Treasure, reveal yourself!" just as the old Daoist Zhang Guo had done, and a small, spectral sword would be summoned. However, the sword he summoned was pitifully weak, not even on par with a Lower-grade Magical Artifact. The difference in power compared to the one the old Daoist had summoned was like the difference between the heavens and the earth.

Lü Zhong took out the old Daoist’s notes and went through them carefully again.

He discovered that the sword needed to be "nurtured."

The longer the sword was nourished, the stronger its power!

The terrifying power of the sword the old Daoist had summoned, for instance, was the result of thirty years of refinement. He had used the sharp, unparalleled Sword Intent of a Sword Cultivator as its foundation, cleansing it daily with Sword Qi.

This was the orthodox method.

There was also a heretical method.

This method was much simpler, with very clear advantages and disadvantages.

To nurture the sword this way, one only needed to infuse the Jade Box with an endless supply of Sword Qi. It didn’t require a Sword Cultivator’s Sword Intent as a foundation. The more Sword Qi infused, the stronger the summoned sword would be.

The drawback was that, unlike with the orthodox method, it couldn’t be controlled at will.

According to the old Daoist’s experiments, the sword summoned via the heretical method would often kill its own wielder before harming the enemy. Because its power accumulated so easily, it would frequently go on to slaughter every living thing within a hundred-zhang radius after killing its summoner—not even sparing the ants.

Reading this, Lü Zhong’s eyes lit up.

’How is that a drawback? That’s clearly a massive advantage!’

In a flash of inspiration, he had already thought of a use for the heretical method: have his Incarnation unleash its full power, rush up to an enemy, and summon the sword from the box.

’It’s a perfect suicide attack!’

After sorting and storing his gains, Lü Zhong sat on a cushion and began to meditate and refine his Qi.

Even in the wilderness, he couldn’t neglect his daily practice.

’If my cultivation can’t advance, I’ll refine my Magical Power instead.’

Time ticked by, and soon it was the middle of the month.

Suddenly, he felt a tremor in the ground.

’An earthquake?’ Lü Zhong wondered, a puzzled look on his face.

He got up and walked out of his cave dwelling. A hundred *li* away, he noticed some lights that hadn’t been there before. Looking closer, he saw a group of cultivators Casting spells. They were repeatedly striking the ground with the Earth-Shaking Skill.

’What kind of bizarre behavior is this?’

As he continued to watch, Lü Zhong understood their purpose.

They were trying to capture Sand Worms.

As the Desert Sea continued to tremble, Sand Worms were drawn to the surface. They looked similar to earthworms, their bodies covered in dark carapaces. They came in various sizes: the largest were nearly a zhang long, while the smallest were like noodles. Their colors ranged from gray to white.

Seeing the Sand Worms emerge, the group of cultivators cheered.

They all descended and began casting nets to catch the worms.

Lü Zhong quietly watched this scene.

But before the cultivators could catch their fill, the unexpected happened.

A geyser of yellow sand erupted, and a colossal figure burst from beneath the ground. It was even larger than a Water Flood Dragon; the part of its body visible above ground was a hundred zhang long alone. It looked like a giant Sand Worm. Suddenly, it opened its massive, three-lobed maw, revealing rows of dense, sharp teeth, and attacked the cultivators.

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