Eternal Life Begins with Learning

"It should be... fine..."

Chu Mu muttered to himself. A wisp of Great Sun True Flame floated before him. In its flickering light, Chu Mu's brow was tightly furrowed as he stared at the flame, clearly pondering something.

After a long while, he finally dispersed the True Flame. He took a step and sat down in the stone pavilion, all traces of his previous contemplation gone, replaced by a leisurely calm.

He casually took out a book and began to slowly flip through it.

The book's contents were rather interesting, documenting the processes and methods for several types of physical modification.

This so-called "physical modification" referred to performing transplant modifications on the bodies of Bloodline Cultivators.

The transplant subjects were Demon Beasts that shared the same bloodline origin as the Bloodline Cultivator.

For example, one transplant case recorded in the book described how to transplant the eyes of a Moonlight Beast onto a human body.

According to the book, under circumstances of a shared bloodline origin, transplanting a specific body part from a Demon Beast of the same origin could increase the probability of a Bloodline Divine Technique manifesting.

Take the Moonlight Beast's Bloodline Divine Techniques, for instance. The most common among them was the Luminous Moon Spirit Gaze. If a Cultivator possessed the Moonlight Beast bloodline and transplanted the eyes of a Moonlight Beast that had this Bloodline Divine Technique, the Cultivator's own chances of awakening the Luminous Moon Spirit Gaze would increase significantly.

Moreover, due to the presence of the Moonlight Beast's eyes, the awakened Luminous Moon Spirit Gaze would be far more powerful than one awakened in human eyes.

However, the transplanted Demon Beast part could only retain its original demonic appearance. It couldn't be freely retracted and released between human form and the Demon Beast's true form, unlike with a Demon Transformation Body.

After browsing for a short while, he reached the last page of the thin book. Chu Mu casually closed it and took another book out from his Storage Ring.

From a trade on Crescent Island, he had collected a wide variety of Jade Scrolls and books, all belonging to the demon-centric system of the Vast Sea Cultivation Immortal World.

For the better part of a month, Chu Mu remained cooped up in his Cave Mansion, not taking a single step outside, wholeheartedly engrossed in those books and Jade Scrolls.

It wasn't until the end of the month, when a voice transmission arrived, that he finally sauntered out of his Cave Mansion.

He already knew the city's layout by heart. His Tunneling Light streaked across the sky, and in just a few short moments, he landed on Jinghua Street in the northern part of the city.

Compared to the other Cultivation Immortal Marketplaces he had visited, Chixia City was vastly different.

In other cities and marketplaces, there would inevitably be a most prosperous central area—be it a certain street or a specific district.

But in Chixia City, this was almost nonexistent.

The root cause lay in the city's intricate web of factions, which had created a rather strange equilibrium in Chixia City.

For instance, the city center housed the Teleportation Hall that connected to various locations. To the north was the Sea Port, while the south had the city's largest Auction House and the most expansive Housing District...

The various factions were deeply entangled, with the Chen Family reigning supreme from above, not directly participating on the "chessboard." Coupled with Chixia's unique geographical location, this forged Chixia City's omnipresent prosperity.

Jinghua Street was a main road in the northern part of the city leading to the outside. As he recalled, a street-side shop that had once belonged to some unknown firm now bore the plaque of the Hundred Treasures Pavilion.

In Chixia City, there were countless firms, big and small. The Hundred Treasures Pavilion, mixed in among them, was undoubtedly insignificant.

"Mercy, have mercy!"

"I was wrong, I don't want it anymore..."

Amid the clamor, a noisy commotion from the side caught his ear. Several severely mutated Bloodline Cultivators were punching and kicking a man curled up on the ground.

Although they weren't using Magical Power, the sheer Physical Strength of Bloodline Cultivators was terrifying. After just a few punches and kicks, the man cowering on the ground and begging for mercy was already a mess of torn flesh and split skin, blood pooling around him.

Despite this, the man clearly didn't dare to fight back, only continuing to beg for mercy.

Chu Mu glanced over before looking away. This sort of thing was common.

Low Tier Bloodline Cultivators lacked the resources to eliminate or suppress the corruption eroding their bloodlines, so their personalities and temperaments would naturally grow more paranoid and crazed.

This kind of incident was a dime a dozen in Chixia City. As long as no one was killed outright or too much of a scene was made, even the city's Law Enforcement Team couldn't be bothered to intervene.

Chixia City had hundreds of thousands of Cultivators, and ninety-nine percent of them were low-level, bottom-tier cultivators. Even if they wanted to manage them, it would likely be impossible.

Even if they tried to enforce control, the cost would be enormous, and clearly not worth the effort.

He certainly had no intention of righting injustices or helping a stranger in need. Like the other Cultivators on the street, he paid it no mind and continued on his way.

"Elder, Elder, save me!"

Chu Mu had only taken a few steps when a vaguely familiar voice called out from behind him.

He paused briefly and turned around. Amidst the blood, a somewhat familiar face came into view.

At that moment, perhaps because the beaten man had cried out "Elder," the few Cultivators who were punching and kicking him stopped their assault. They almost subconsciously looked toward Chu Mu, who had just turned around.

With a single glance, upon sensing the terrifying aura of Chu Mu's cultivation, the crazed expressions on their faces instantly turned deathly pale.

"Elder, it's me, Chang Er! I'm the one who..."

Seeing Chu Mu look over, Chang Er acted as if he'd found his savior, hurriedly trying to identify himself.

When he said this, the paleness on the faces of the trembling Cultivators, who stood frozen in fear, deepened several shades.

Paranoia and madness were one thing, but as long as they hadn't completely lost their minds to Demon Transformation, faced with this terrifying power that could decide their life or death in a single thought, even the most paranoid and crazed would sober up in an instant.

Chu Mu glanced at the pale-faced men. The features of a Demon Beast were already extremely clear on them, a clear sign of severe mutation. Although they weren't on death's door just yet, if they continued down this path, that door wouldn't be far off.

"Scram!"

With a wave of his sleeve, Chu Mu swatted the men away as if they were flies. Then, with a beckoning gesture, an invisible force helped Chang Er to his feet.

"Thank you for saving my life, Elder!"

As soon as he was on his feet, Chang Er dropped to his knees with a THUD and began to kowtow repeatedly.

"Get up."

Only when Chu Mu spoke again did Chang Er stagger to his feet. Covered in blood, tangible scales had appeared all over the exposed parts of his body. A single glance was enough to evoke a sense of horrific disgust.

As for his cultivation, so many years had passed, yet it was clearly the same as before, without the slightest improvement...

"Still working as a guide for people?"

Chu Mu asked casually.

"You must be laughing at me, Elder. This is all a junior like me can do to get by..."

"It's been over ten years. How did you manage to end up looking like this?"

'Wasting over a decade only to become more and more destitute... what the hell is that about?'

Chang Er couldn't hide his bitterness. "How could a nobody like me ever have a chance to turn things around?"

"Every month, I have to hand over half of my meager earnings to the people above me, just to be allowed to keep working as a guide in the city..."

"My cultivation is low, so sometimes I get bullied and my Spirit Stones and resources are stolen..."

"It's gotten even worse in recent years. The Law Enforcement Team demands tribute, and my Steward above me also demands tribute..."

Chu Mu was slightly taken aback, but then he had a flash of understanding. His own days of trembling at the bottom were so far in the past, so distant that he had almost forgotten the difficult struggles of those at the lowest rungs of the Cultivation Immortal Realm.

The great have their interests, and the small have theirs.

Layer by layer, down to the very bottom...

...are countless... Chang Ers, struggling bitterly and wasting away.

...

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