A Loose Cultivator's Path to Longevity

"You... you wicked disciple!"

Huo Yezi struggled up from the ground.

His once-imposing body had shrunk as if deflated, reverting to the form of a little old man. It might have been an illusion, but he seemed more stooped, as if he had aged several years in an instant.

"Cough, ahem!"

He had just gotten to his feet when he lost his balance and fell to his knees again, vomiting blood.

The blow from his wicked disciple, Puhuo, had severely injured his Divine Soul. And that was with Puhuo’s skills still being unrefined; he hadn’t yet grasped the essence of the God Destruction Forbidden Talisman. Otherwise, a single Talisman could have annihilated a Divine Soul.

"I ask you, did I not treat you well? Why did you first conspire with an outsider to kill your master, and now..."

"Hmph, old bastard, search your heart. Did you really treat me well?" Puhuo’s face materialized on the tip of the Molten Earth Dragon’s tongue as he sneered.

Of the three disciples—his senior sister and junior brother—he, Puhuo, had given the most.

When the master needed something done, the disciple did the work. He had always handled the hard and dirty jobs flawlessly, never leaving any loose ends, and for a hundred years, he had done so without a single complaint.

And what did he get in return?

Next to nothing!

"I could accept you not passing the Si Fire Scripture on to me; after all, it’s a secret of your Gongsun Family that is never shared. But even if you ignored my merits, you should have at least considered my toil! I begged you time and time again, working hard for a century just for a single Golden Core Pill..."

"But how did you treat me?"

You broke your promises again and again.

As he spoke, Puhuo’s emotions were spiraling out of control.

「Suddenly!」

Huo Yezi, who had been kneeling on the ground, suddenly lunged forward in a surprise attack.

Lü Zhong, who had been watching the drama unfold from the side, silently cursed the old bastard. ’I thought I was in for a grand master-disciple drama, but it turns out it’s all just schemes and calculations.’

After launching his attack, Huo Yezi instantly swelled into a Copper Giant.

He was even larger than before.

A full fifty feet high!

THUD! THUD! THUD!

With every step the Copper Giant took, spiderweb cracks appeared on the igneous rock floor.

In the span of a breath, he had charged right up to the Molten Earth Dragon.

His massive, wall-like hand shot forward with a great WHOOSH, trying to snatch its tongue and rip Puhuo from where he clung.

"Old scoundrel!"

The Molten Earth Dragon roared and unleashed a ring of fire, blasting Huo Yezi back.

"Did you really think I don’t know you?"

Puhuo had long been prepared for Huo Yezi’s sneak attack.

The tongue retracted. Then, with incredible speed, the dragon shook its head and whipped its tail, savagely swatting the giant form of Huo Yezi. He was sent flying into a side wall, creating a crater dozens of feet deep.

Immediately after, the man and the flood dragon began to fight fiercely.

Wherever the two brutes passed, the ground was torn into gullies. Even the solid igneous rock couldn’t withstand the Giant Strength of their battle, crumbling into pebbles after just a few blows.

BANG! Another exchange of blows.

Huo Yezi was overpowered and slammed to the ground. The moment he hit the floor, a massive mouth lunged at him. Puhuo was actually trying to swallow him whole, a testament to the depth of his resentment.

To the side, Lü Zhong did not get involved.

He had already fulfilled his part of the agreement with Huo Yezi. This was now a personal grudge between Huo Yezi and Puhuo. If they wanted him to make a move, it would cost extra.

After all, cultivators never acted without the promise of profit.

As for getting stiffed on the payment?

Lü Zhong wasn’t worried. If it came to that, he would just take it himself. He figured the Artifact Refining Workshop on Zhonglong Peak would have more than enough to cover his losses. But he wasn’t doing nothing; he was secretly setting up an Array.

It was a simple Trapping Array.

But one that couldn’t be broken through in a short time.

With this Trapping Array in place, no matter who won the fight, he would hold the upper hand and could prevent any further surprises.

Once he had his contingency in place, he stood back and watched from the sidelines.

Honestly, Lü Zhong was hoping Puhuo would win.

That way, he could act in the name of "justice," logically step in as the opportunistic fisherman, and slay Puhuo for the crime of killing his master. Then he could take the Molten Rock Earth Dragon Flood Essence for himself.

If he acted from such a moral high ground, no one could criticize him.

Unfortunately, from the looks of it, experience was winning out.

The Molten Earth Dragon had been beaten half to death earlier, and its Fire-Eating Divine Technique was now useless. Although its strength was already diminished by seventy or eighty percent, it still couldn’t even defeat Huo Yezi, whose Divine Soul was severely injured.

This was something Lü Zhong hadn’t expected.

’He probably has some kind of Healing Treasure Pill on him.’

For a famous Artifact Refiner like him, with so many in the Southern Barbarian lands seeking his services, it wasn’t surprising that he would have acquired some good items.

’From this perspective, Puhuo trying to kill his master... perhaps this is really Huo Yezi’s just deserts! The old bastard is always hiding things, one scheme after another.’

’Hmph, my own cheap master is much better!’ Lü Zhong couldn’t help but think of Shuini.

Compared to Huo Yezi, Shuini was an absolute saint!

「After half an incense stick of time,」 the fight ended with the Molten Earth Dragon’s defeat.

Huo Yezi revealed another treasure: an Immortal Talisman—the Body-Fixing Talisman.

Lü Zhong’s eyes burned with envy. That was an absolutely incredible item.

The Body-Fixing Talisman was one of the most famous Talismans in the Talisman Dao passed down by the Immortals of old. It was said to lead directly to the True Intent of the Talisman Dao. Although records stated that countless Great Powers had tried to comprehend it without any real success, that didn’t stop it from being one of the most supreme Talismans.

Its effect was simple: to immobilize the target’s Divine Soul and physical body.

For the duration of one incense stick, no matter how immense the target’s Magical Power, they would be completely unable to resist.

This was the effect of the Immortal Body-Fixing Talisman.

As for the Tier One Lower Grade Immobilization Secret Talisman, that was something else entirely.

When Huo Yezi slapped the Talisman onto the Molten Earth Dragon’s forehead, the beast instantly froze as if petrified. It couldn’t move a muscle, and even the fluctuations of its Divine Soul seemed to be frozen solid, causing Lü Zhong to marvel at the wondrous power of the Body-Fixing Talisman.