A Loose Cultivator's Path to Longevity

Continuing his investigation, he soon found a gigantic, fleshy insect.

Its size was absurdly large, comparable to a hundred-zhang Flying Ship.

As the fleshy insect fed, greenish-yellow eggs poured from its rear like raindrops. They were carried away by waiting Spiritual Insects and taken to a hatching chamber.

In the span of a single breath, it produced over a hundred eggs.

With such an exaggerated egg-laying speed, it was no wonder the people on the surface could never wipe out these Spiritual Insects, no matter how many they killed.

He estimated that no matter how fast they killed them, it wouldn’t be as fast as the great fleshy insect could reproduce.

Lü Zhong then took out a Spirit Contract. He had quite a few of these, all found among his previous spoils of war. Thinking it was best to be prepared, he had kept some in his Storage Bag.

Now, they came in handy.

One look at the great fleshy insect was all it took to know it was the Insect Queen.

He could sense that the entire Insect Swarm was under the Insect Queen’s control. Therefore, as long as he subdued the Queen, he could command this swarm that produced Spiritual Honey.

The process of signing the Spirit Contract was simple. The Insect Queen’s strength was merely at the Early-stage Qi Refining, and its Divine Soul was pitifully weak before a Golden Core Master. Under a combination of threats and promises, it quickly submitted, offering up a wisp of its Divine Soul Aura.

But Lü Zhong had a feeling that it had agreed so quickly because of the terms he offered.

The moment he mentioned the terms—free room and board—the Insect Queen, which had been stubbornly resisting, instantly gave in.

Lü Zhong then had the Insect Queen order the Insect Swarm to retreat into the Insect Nest. The Queen did as it was told, carrying out the command without the slightest hesitation.

And so, the war between humans and insects came to a close.

...

Lü Zhong returned to the surface.

First, he reassured the Sect’s disciples, distributing compensation to those who deserved it and making sure that all necessary rewards and punishments were carried out.

He gave the Insect Swarm the name "Great Honey Insects."

After solving the fungus problem in the Insect Nest, Lü Zhong began to test his theory. He wanted to know how quickly the Insect Swarm could convert Demon Spiritual Qi and the highest level of Spiritual Honey the Great Honey Insects could produce.

As for fertilizer, he provided demon beast inner cores.

The results came in half a year later.

The Great Honey Insects’ speed of converting Demon Spiritual Qi was similar to the time it took a cultivator to grow a season of Spirit Rice—about one season. Therefore, the simplest and most direct method to increase Spiritual Honey production was to expand the Fungus Moss Spirit Field.

The more Spirit Fields there were, the more Spiritual Honey they would naturally produce.

As for the level of Spiritual Honey produced, Lü Zhong’s repeated experiments showed that it wasn’t related to the level of the Fungus Moss or the Demon Pills used as fertilizer. Instead, it was more heavily influenced by the strength of the Great Honey Insects themselves.

If he wanted to obtain High-Level Spiritual Honey, he would first have to raise the level of the Insect Swarm.

And that, clearly, would be a long process.

Lü Zhong had hoped the Great Honey Insects could produce Spiritual Honey comparable to High-tier Pills, but it now seemed like that was just wishful thinking. He had no choice but to abandon that plan.

However, this was a huge benefit for the Sect.

Currently, the Sect was full of Qi Refining Stage disciples. For them, consuming this Spiritual Honey had the same effect as a Tier One Pill, but without the risk of Pill Poison accumulation.

’It seems I can recruit more Qi Refining disciples in the future,’ he thought. ’Even those with poor-quality Spirit Roots can be brought in. I’ll have them tend to the Great Honey Insects, which will be more than enough to cover the costs.’

’Also, the Sect’s maintenance costs can be significantly reduced. From now on, I’ll use this Spiritual Honey to replace all other Sect benefits.’

With this in mind, Lü Zhong issued a decree to the Vice Sect Leader, ordering him to begin expanding recruitment immediately.

He stayed for a little less than half a year more.

During this time, Lü Zhong gave a lecture on cultivation once a month.

His goal was simple: he wanted one of the Qi Refining Stage disciples to break through to the Foundation Establishment Stage as soon as possible, so they could become a pillar of the Sect and allow the Bihai Sect to begin operating normally.

This was also why Lü Zhong had not yet divided the disciples into Inner and Outer Disciples.

There was simply no need to do so yet.

...

「Several more months passed.」

Lü Zhong had finally obtained the complete method for making the Small True Yang Talisman.

He had worked for nearly ten years to achieve this.

’Finally got it!’

Compared to the Tier Two Flying Talisman, the Tier Three Small True Yang Talisman looked far more intricate.

Although Lü Zhong had yet to begin learning it, there was no doubt that mastering this Talisman would require an immense amount of time and effort.

After organizing the information, he began to study the Small True Yang Talisman.

According to the Talisman Making Book, the Small True Yang Talisman was similar to the Evil Exorcism Talisman. The amount of Yang Qi was a crucial factor in determining its power, and this required a Secret Skill called the Gathering Sun Secret Technique to collect and store Sun Essence Qi.

During Talisman Making, channeling this Supreme Yang Essence Qi into the talisman would grant the Small True Yang Talisman astonishing power.

For anyone else, collecting Sun Essence Qi would be a troublesome matter.

But Lü Zhong could simply delegate the task to the Bihai Sect disciples, having them turn it in annually. That would surely be enough to meet his Talisman Making needs.

The only problem was the need for secrecy.

Otherwise, it would be troublesome if Changchun Valley found out.

As for the Talisman itself, its three parts—the Talisman Head, Talisman Core, and talisman foot—were all incredibly complex. The brushwork involved was erratic and ever-changing, making Lü Zhong’s head ache just looking at it.

Fortunately, by calming his mind and studying it, he could begin to make some sense of it. It wasn’t so difficult that he didn’t know where to begin.

From then on, Lü Zhong added a new task to his daily schedule.

Practicing the Small True Yang Talisman.

...

The years passed peacefully, and in the blink of an eye, a new year arrived.

The Demon Hunting Order was still in effect.

The war against the demons showed no signs of stopping anytime soon. In fact, it was only growing more intense. It wasn’t just the Changchun Domain; even the neighboring Inference Realm was beginning to be affected by the beast tides and had to adopt measures similar to those of Changchun Valley.

As a result, the prices of certain Spiritual Objects on the market began to shoot up.

The Chengde Commerce Association had both gains and losses, but on the whole, they earned more than they lost. As a result, they accumulated Changchun Valley’s Merit even faster.

「One morning.」

Lü Zhong arrived at Changchun Valley’s Ten Thousand Treasures Hall, preparing to exchange all the Merit he had recently accumulated for Pills.

The Core Formation Elder in charge of this matter was named Luo Jianshen. He was one of Changchun Valley’s six Late-stage Core Formation cultivators, but he looked old and decrepit, his face covered in age spots. It was clear he had no hope of reaching Nascent Soul Formation.

Because of this, Luo Jianshen had come to the Ten Thousand Treasures Hall to live out his remaining years in peace.

Hearing Lü Zhong’s request, he looked up in surprise and subconsciously tried to persuade him, "Fellow Daoist Lü, are you sure you don’t want to consider exchanging for Cultivation Secret Techniques? There are many good Cultivation Techniques in the Treasure Vault. As a Loose Cultivator, exchanging for a good Cultivation Technique would be much better than getting Pills to increase your cultivation!"

Hearing this, Lü Zhong shook his head. "Thank you for your kind intentions, Fellow Daoist."

Seeing Lü Zhong insist, and since he had only been making a casual suggestion, Luo Jianshen didn’t press the matter.

After verifying the authenticity of the Merit Token, he picked up a Jade Scroll from the table and began tapping and writing on it, selecting Pills suitable for the Mid-stage Core Formation.

A moment later, a Transmission Array on the table lit up.

A Storage Bag appeared.

"Go ahead and check it. Make sure you count everything carefully. Once you walk out that door, any losses or errors will be your responsibility, Fellow Daoist," Luo Jianshen said, handing over an inventory list. He then closed his eyes to rest.

Lü Zhong quickly finished his count. There were seventeen bottles of various sizes in total, and both the types and quantities matched the inventory list.

The quality was also fine.

His goal achieved, Lü Zhong cupped his fists and took his leave.

After leaving Changchun Valley, he rushed to Changchun Street without stopping.

He participated in three consecutive auctions, all to bid on Tier Three Pills suitable for the Mid-stage Core Formation. The competitors came from all over the Southern Barbarian lands, and the bidding was incredibly fierce, as everyone fought to further their cultivation.

Even Lü Zhong, with his deep pockets, was taken aback by the frantic bidding.

Considering the costs and benefits, he ultimately only won the bid for a single bottle of Quenching Truth Pills.

This bottle of Quenching Truth Pills was of rather poor quality, so it came with significant side effects. In particular, it contained a large amount of impurities, and just expelling them would require considerable effort.

Lü Zhong only dared to bid on it because he had the Spirit Forging Fire, which could negate the side effects of the Quenching Truth Pills.

Once the Pills were in hand, he immediately rushed back to Ganquan Island.

He spent some tender moments with Yu Feng’Er and handled all the necessary arrangements before heading to the Quiet Chamber in Ganquan Cave.

He sat down cross-legged and meditated.

Once his aura had calmed, he took out a Quenching Truth Pill and consumed it. A warmth soon spread from his abdomen, and he began to operate his Cultivation Body, refining the Spiritual Qi within the Pill.