A Loose Cultivator's Path to Longevity

The Thunder Pillar crashed to the ground.

The scene was apocalyptic.

Boulders and trees—everything was annihilated by the lightning.

At the cost of a carbonized arm, Lü Zhong’s sword strike carved a straight canyon a thousand miles long.

In time, this astonishing feat would surely be sung by thousands!

"Husband! I’m here..." After finishing off her opponent, Yu Feng’Er rushed over, tears streaming down her beautiful face. She caught Lü Zhong as he collapsed from exhaustion, her heart aching for him.

She then pushed her Escape Speed to its limit, preparing to leave the Thunder Field.

Lü Zhong wanted to tell her to grab the fallen cultivators’ Storage Bags while they still had time, but seeing the look on her face, he decided it was best to keep his mouth shut.

They landed on a flat mountaintop.

Unable to move, Lü Zhong was cradled by Yu Feng’Er as she fed him a Holy Essence Pill.

"COUGH, COUGH... It’s okay, I’m fine now." Lü Zhong recovered slightly and buried his head in Yu Feng’Er’s embrace. He smiled, taking in her faint, sweet scent and the softness of her body.

Although he was severely injured this time, his gains were by no means small.

Like a protagonist in a story, his Dao Heart—the most crucial aspect of a cultivator—had been forged in the thunder and fire of this battle, becoming as solid as a rock.

This would be enough to support him all the way to Divinity Transformation, and perhaps even further.

His Wood Thunder Seal had also changed; a few more Thunder Patterns had appeared on it. ’I wonder what new abilities this will bring.’

The other, more subtle benefits were too numerous to count.

"This was well worth it!" Lü Zhong laughed with satisfaction.

The two of them then remained on the mountaintop, quietly watching the Thunder Tribulation descend.

Six rounds of Tribulation Thunder fell one after the other.

Shuini had successfully passed her tribulation!

...

「One day, six months later.」

Her cultivation now stable, Shuini emerged from her seclusion and went straight to Lü Zhong’s bedside. She placed her hands on his shoulders and leaned over him.

"Master, what is this?" Lü Zhong felt a cool stream of qi flow into his body, where it merged with his Golden Core and vanished.

"It’s just a wisp of my Lifebound Infant Qi. It will help you when you face your own tribulation..." Shuini licked her lips. A blush bloomed on her cheeks, but she quickly suppressed it.

Shuini then sat on the edge of the bed, a gentle smile on her face.

"My dear disciple, you’ve seen for yourself how difficult Nascent Soul Formation is."

"It was that difficult even for someone like me, with Dual Spirit Roots. For you, with your Four Spirit Roots, the chances of successful Nascent Soul Formation are even more remote. Without this wisp of my Lifebound Infant Qi to aid you, I fear that all your efforts will end in your demise."

"And that is a scene I do not wish to see!"

’A Nascent Soul cultivator lives for three thousand years.’

’Lifebound Infant Qi is vital, but I can cultivate it back over time. The price of a few centuries of stagnant cultivation is nothing in exchange for a thousand years with the man I love.’

’To Shuini, the price was well worth it.’

「Three more years passed.」

Lü Zhong’s injuries finally stabilized, and his severed arm grew back. But while regrowing a limb was easy, restoring it to its former strength would take much more than a day’s work.

At the gates of the True Spirit Sect, Shuini and Chuu Yueyun saw them off.

"My dear disciple, and my dear daughter-in-law, you two should return to Bihai and rest. If you run into any trouble in the future, don’t hesitate to use my name."

"Leave the rest of the matters here to me. After I take over the Lingyue Domain, you two must come and visit True Spirit Immortal City often!"

At her words, Lü Zhong and Yu Feng’Er both smiled.

With Shuini’s backing, they could now leverage her authority. In the Southern Barbarian lands, at least, no power would dare to disrespect her.

After performing the traditional disciple’s bow, the two bid Shuini farewell.

They both transformed into streaks of rainbow light and shot into the sky.

Along the way, Lü Zhong did not forget to pay his respects to Li Hejun.

He stayed at her thatched cottage for a month.

Only then did he resume his journey.

...

They finally arrived at the gates of the Bihai Sect.

"We’re home," Lü Zhong said with a sigh of relief.

’The True Spirit Sect was nice, but there’s no place like home.’

"It’s true," Yu Feng’Er agreed wholeheartedly.

"Master!"

Su Caocao rushed out, followed by Luu Baokui and several others. Among them was another cultivator at the Foundation Establishment stage, who had clearly broken through recently.

Lü Zhong patted Caocao’s head and noticed that her cultivation had improved significantly. She had already reached the Qi Refining Fourth Layer. ’Clearly, my disciple has been training hard and hasn’t disappointed me.’

His gaze shifted to Luu Baouxu and the others who were approaching, finally settling on the new Foundation Establishment cultivator.

The woman stepped out from the crowd, took a deep breath, and looked at him with the utmost respect.

"Disciple Liu Yuqian greets the Ancestor!"

Lü Zhong nodded in satisfaction. He gave her a bottle of Foundation Establishment Pills as a congratulatory gift and smiled. "Another Foundation Establishment cultivator. It seems the Bihai Sect’s prosperity is just around the corner!"

"The Ancestor is wise!" the crowd cheered in unison.

They walked from the sect gates all the way to Bihai Hall.

Lü Zhong turned his head to Luu Baokui and asked, "By the way, while I was away and the sect had no Golden Core Master to protect it, did we run into any trouble?"

"Reporting to the Ancestor," Luu Baokui replied with a cupped-fist salute, his voice filled with pride, "while you were away, a certain power did indeed try to storm our gates. But after I announced that our Ancestor is the disciple of the Radiant Moon True Monarch, they immediately apologized and dispersed."

’With a Nascent Soul True Monarch as our patron, the Bihai Sect’s development will be completely unimpeded!’

For the next several days,

the entire Bihai Sect was enveloped in a festive atmosphere. Ingredients of all values were turned into gourmet dishes, and the entire stock of Spirit Wine was brought out for all disciples to enjoy freely in celebration of their Ancestor’s return.

The winter this year was especially pleasant.

Lü Zhong used his free time to take stock of the spoils from his journey. There were many valuable items that needed to be sorted and categorized.

The most precious items were three complete sets of the Nascent Soul Immortal Guide.

Each set was a combination of nine rare Spiritual Objects, including Purifying Spirit Liquid, Infant Essence Lingzhi, and Thunder Infant Grass. This specific combination was the result of hard-won experience, paid for in the blood and tears of previous cultivators.

Taken during Nascent Soul Formation, it could provide immense help, increasing the success rate by twenty percent.

The Nascent Soul Immortal Guide was simply too precious.

So precious that the Lingyue Sect cultivators had been unwilling to destroy their sets, even in death.

’If it were me,’ Lü Zhong thought, ’I’d probably have done the same thing.’

’One Nascent Soul Immortal Guide for me, and one for my wife. I’ll keep the last one for now. It won’t be too late to bring it out when Caocao attempts Nascent Soul Formation in the future, or when another worthy occasion arises.’

’Next up are these Secret Technique and Skill Manuals.’

The manuals from the Lingyue Sect were, without a doubt, complete and unabridged. He and his master had made copies of every manual they acquired, with each taking a set to serve as their respective sect’s legacy.

Among them was a Secret Skill Lü Zhong was eager to learn.

It was the Yue Spirit Unification Mantra, a Secret Skill recorded in the Lingyue True Scripture. It could accelerate the coagulation of one’s Nascent Soul during the Thunder Tribulation, which would increase the chances of survival and, by extension, the overall success rate of Nascent Soul Formation.

He planned to master the Star Devouring Technique of his Star Source Spirit Body before practicing the Yue Spirit Unification Mantra.

Nascent Soul Formation was incredibly difficult. Even with the wisp of Lifebound Infant Qi from Shuini, Lü Zhong still felt it wasn’t a sure thing. He wanted to make as many preparations as possible to succeed in a single attempt.

Using those manuals as a foundation, Lü Zhong planned to establish seven distinct lineage branches within the Bihai Sect. This would solve the sect’s problems of having an incomplete legacy and a collection of Cultivation Secret Techniques of uneven quality.

In essence, he would create a "miniature Lingyue Sect."

In the foreseeable future, the Bihai Sect was bound to develop at a tremendous pace.

As for the various Pills, spiritual materials, and Spirit Ores, he kept everything he could use for himself or gave it to his wife, Yu Feng’Er. He wouldn’t sell the rest, but would instead deposit it into the Bihai Sect’s Treasure Vault for future needs.

In addition to all that, there was also a massive amount of Spirit Stones.

There were Lower, Middle, and High Grades among them.

By his count, the total came to a staggering twenty million!

With these, Lü Zhong would never again have to worry about a shortage of Spirit Stones for his cultivation.

In the days to come, his focus would be on consolidating his gains.

...

The days passed one by one.

The sudden rise of the True Spirit Sect took most people by surprise.

Faced with the True Spirit Sect, led by the Radiant Moon True Monarch Shuini, neither the Guiyuan Alliance nor the Lingyue Alliance could mount any resistance.

In an instant, the two great powers collapsed.

In less than half a year, they had established absolute control over the entire region.

The Lingyue Domain was thus renamed the True Spirit Domain.

The original Lingyue Immortal City was likewise renamed "True Spirit Immortal City."

And so, the True Spirit Sect naturally took the place of the former Lingyue Sect, becoming one of the new Seven Southern Barbarian Sects.

For a time, their prestige was unrivaled.