A Loose Cultivator's Path to Longevity

From their descriptions, Lü Zhong felt as if he were seeing a precisely functioning machine.

Mortals, low-level cultivators, and even Core Formation Masters were nothing more than cogs in this machine, all of them existing to keep the Mysterious Dao Sect running.

It was the perfect illustration of a Sect's purpose: to serve the cultivators at the very top.

'The Nai River… Ascension…' The two words surfaced in Lü Zhong's mind.

He then recalled what his Heart Demon had said during his Tribulation.

A faint suspicion formed in his heart. It was likely that a great change was about to befall this world, so great that even Divinity Transformation Grand Venerables had to plan ahead and ascend to escape this realm.

'What kind of great change could it be?' Lü Zhong couldn't guess.

'The depletion of Spiritual Qi?'

In the Cultivation Realm, Spiritual Objects were merely hard to find. Cultivators lacked the Spiritual Objects that could be refined into Pills for rapid cultivation progress. As for Spiritual Qi, it wasn't exactly scarce, just not as dense as in the old days.

In Lü Zhong's view, it was a normal phenomenon caused by the output of Spiritual Qi from Spirit Veins being less than the amount cultivators absorbed and consumed.

At this rate, the Cultivation Realm probably wouldn't enter the End of the Dharma Era for another several hundred thousand years.

He couldn't figure it out, so he simply stopped thinking about it.

As promised, Lü Zhong gave the two a quick death. He waited on the spot for a while until their True Spirits had dissipated, then used the Soul Searching Technique to verify their earlier statements.

As expected, some of what they said was true, and some was false.

The lies were all concentrated on the part about Immortal Prison Pass.

Clearly, they wanted to use this information to trap and kill Lü Zhong.

'They must have mistaken me for a cultivator from the Western Border Alliance,' Lü Zhong thought.

The thing the Western Border Alliance hated most was, naturally, Immortal Prison Pass, which separated the Western Realm from Central Earth. If there were a chance to destroy it, he imagined that Flowing Sword and the others wouldn't hesitate for a second, eager to let the Mysterious Dao Sect have a taste of being corroded by Crimson Spiritual Energy.

Unfortunately, Lü Zhong was not one of them.

Therefore, he had no intention of attacking Immortal Prison Pass.

Since True Monarch Bai Ri was far away at Immortal Prison Pass, and a Mid-stage Nascent Soul Cultivator at that, Lü Zhong had no intention of seeking him out. Considering the True Monarch didn't know the Western Border Alliance's headquarters, and Lü Zhong himself had obtained the complete Spiritual Energy Conversion Technology, he decided to simply drop the matter.

He had done all he could. The rest was up to fate.

He then transformed into a streak of rainbow light and vanished into the layers of crimson haze.

...

「By the end of the year.」

Lü Zhong returned to the Bihai Sect.

Without resting, he immediately resumed excavating beneath Tide Cave, preparing to set up the Creation Secret Array. At the same time, he had Su Caocao gather the Transportation Array Materials needed for the subsequent Array Formation.

Setting up the Creation Secret Array was not a simple task.

In terms of structural precision, it was nearly on par with the Mist Locking Formation.

Nearly a hundred Arrays, large and small, were layered one on top of the other.

Many parts were so complex that even Lü Zhong found them baffling, but thankfully, he had the complete blueprints. As long as he followed the steps, he could still construct the Creation Secret Array.

The days passed one by one.

In the blink of an eye, half a year flew by. Outside, it was the dead of winter. During these six months, besides his daily meditation and Qi Refining practice and setting up the Creation Secret Array, Lü Zhong also found time to integrate his accumulated spiritual materials into the Star Mirror, successfully upgrading it to a Twelve-layered Forbidden Treasure.

Furthermore, his Spirit Forging Fire had achieved a breakthrough, and its cultivation speed had soared. It wouldn't be long before he perfected the Third Layer.

「Late at night.」

In the dead silence, Lü Zhong was still carving the Secret Array Foundation. Aided by his Celestial Net Secret Eye Technique, every cut he made was exceedingly steady, his movements as if guided by nature itself.

He quickly and precisely completed another Sub-array.

Looking at his handiwork, a smile couldn't help but appear on his face.

'Just another half month, and the Creation Secret Array will be complete. Then, I can use this Array to transform Spirit Medicine and successfully refine Tier Four Pills. My cultivation will no longer stagnate!'

At this thought, Lü Zhong felt a renewed sense of motivation.

He continued to work diligently.

...

DONG! DONG! DONG!

One morning, the great bells of the Bihai Sect rang out.

They rang nine times in succession!

Signifying that something major had occurred.

In Bihai Hall, Lü Zhong took control of his Incarnation the moment he heard the bells. After listening to Su Caocao's report, a flash of anger flickered in his eyes before vanishing.

Just recently, the natives of the Nether Abyss Continent had attacked a settlement. The fate of the mortals inside was easy to imagine. Even seven of the Sect's low-level disciples had fallen. Including the previous investment in environmental modification and the associated losses, the damage amounted to at least several hundred thousand Spirit Stones.

The Spirit Stones were nothing; it was the resulting decrease in Spirit Medicine production that he could not tolerate.

"You may leave. I understand," Lü Zhong said, his face devoid of expression.

After Su Caocao left, he searched his memories.

The "natives of the Nether Abyss Continent" referred to a group of humanoid creatures living in the jungle who resembled lizards. Because their appearance bore some resemblance to a Flood Dragon, and they worshiped Flood Dragons as totems, they were often called the "Flood Dragon People."

The Flood Dragon People were not weak; their strongest were comparable to an Immortal Cultivator at the Core Formation level.

But that was the extent of their power.

Lü Zhong then contacted Yinn Li and ordered him to deploy the Mountain Shaking Ship to deal with the situation.

He then turned his focus back to the Creation Secret Array.

After a period of burning the midnight oil, the main body of the Array was complete. An inspection revealed no problems, and now only a few minor details needed to be added.

He placed the materials into their designated positions and used a Spirit Gathering Array to channel Spiritual Qi from the Spirit Vein into the Creation Secret Array.

A low WHIRRR sounded as the vast Mystery Lock Array began to operate. All the component Arrays activated in an orderly fashion, and for a moment, the entire underground space was filled with a brilliant, five-colored Spiritual Light.

Lü Zhong looked at the Creation Secret Array before him.

He raised his hand and tossed in a Tier Three Demon Pill.

Then he activated the Array.

In his Qi Observation Skill's field of vision, the Demon Spiritual Qi, originally blood-red, was rapidly being converted into nature's spiritual energy.

'It's just this efficiency…' Lü Zhong really didn't know what to say.

He then continued his experiment, tossing in a low-year Spirit Medicine.

After a round of conversion, he indeed obtained the Medicinal Spiritual Qi he wanted, and it was extremely pure, without a trace of impurity. If this kind of Medicinal Spiritual Qi was condensed into a Spirit Liquid, it would be sufficient for Alchemy.

Although the conversion rate was a little low.

Lü Zhong made a quick calculation and found that to gather enough medicinal power equivalent to a thousand-year-old Spirit Medicine, he would have to spend at least ten times the cost. It had to be said that relying on this method of Alchemy to advance his cultivation was purely burning Spirit Stones—and burning them wildly by the hundreds of thousands.

However, compared to his cultivation stagnating, he felt this price was still worth it.

'Unfortunately, this Array can currently only perform one-way decomposition. It can't yet achieve reverse synthesis, so there's no way to convert nature's spiritual energy into the specific Medicinal Spiritual Qi I need,' Lü Zhong thought with regret.

But he quickly came to terms with it.

Reverse-synthesizing Spiritual Qi was clearly something no cultivator in this realm could achieve. He would be content if he could just increase the Creation Secret Array's efficiency in converting Medicinal Spiritual Qi.

As for reverse-synthesizing Medicinal Spiritual Qi, that was likely something that could only be researched after ascending to the Spirit Realm, by the legendary Void Refining Stage cultivators.

...

「Time flowed like water.」

The days passed peacefully.

The day the Ten Thousand Witches Hall would break through the boundary was drawing ever closer, yet Lü Zhong still had no intention of making a move. He simply relied on the Creation Secret Array to continuously refine Pills, which he then consumed and assimilated to advance his cultivation.

Limited by the supply of raw materials, the production of Pills was intermittent.

He felt quite helpless about this.

But there was nothing to be done. Spirit Fields couldn't be established in a day.

Over on the Nether Abyss Continent, due to harassment from the Flood Dragon People, the pioneering process remained incredibly slow, severely dragging down the construction speed of the settlements, even with the protection of the Mountain Shaking Ship and a significant number of reinforcements.

Under these circumstances, establishing Spirit Fields to plant Spirit Medicine was naturally out of the question.

Left with no other choice, Lü Zhong had no choice but to shift his focus to the Barbarian Ancestor Heaven-Swallowing Mantra.

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