A Loose Cultivator's Path to Longevity

But the Soul Split was picky.

In the end, he bought a recently deceased body from the relatives of the victim—a servant disciple from the Heling Sect who had just been killed in an attack.

"This one has Five Spirit Roots. Soul Split, are you sure you want to choose this body?" Lü Zhong asked from the side, confirming again and again.

This person had Five Spirit Root Talent. If the Incarnation possessed this body, its talent would no longer be Lü Zhong’s Four Spirit Roots but would instead inherit the Five Spirit Roots of the possessed body.

"My soul was just injured. I can’t delay any longer..." After explaining his reasoning, the Soul Split immediately shot out of the Spirit-Hosted Puppet, flew toward the corpse on the ground, and plunged into the space between its eyebrows.

The young man on the ground convulsed for a moment, then slowly woke up.

"How do you feel?" Lü Zhong continued to collect data.

"Main body, this feeling is incredible. My five senses are all back..." The Soul Split took a deep breath. He ignored the intense pain from his internal injuries and damaged Divine Soul, carefully examining his new body.

He could clearly feel his soul fusing with the physical body, soon to become one.

’But this way, I won’t be able to merge with you again...’ Lü Zhong thought with some regret. This wasn’t a normal Incarnation, so there was no way to reabsorb the cultivation the Soul Split accumulated.

’The Soul Forging Technique should work, though.’

’When the Soul Split dies naturally, I might be able to reclaim the Divine Sense it has developed.’

After making a mental note, he looked at the Soul Split and asked, "Soul Split, you’re about to start a new life. Have you thought of a name for yourself?"

"Hiss... I’m thinking!"

"You can take any name you want, as long as it’s not Lü Zhong." Lü Zhong thought for a moment and offered his suggestion. "If you really can’t think of one, you can just inherit the original body’s name."

That way, it would be easier to blend into the original owner’s life.

"The original owner was named Wang Sen, but I don’t want to inherit that name. After all, I just picked up a shell to use," the Soul Split said, shaking his head. But then his eyes lit up as a great idea struck him.

"Take a piece from the name ’Sen,’ and you get ’Lin.’ Yes, I’ll be Wang Lin!"

"Hmm, that’s an interesting name," Lü Zhong said meaningfully.

"Also, where do you want to start your life? What kind of beginning do you want? As your main body, this is the last help I’ll give you. After this, you’re on your own."

"I... I need to think carefully about that."

"Alright, come find me when you’ve decided." Lü Zhong handed him a Token. With it, he could come and see him.

...

Back in the Quiet Chamber.

Lü Zhong began to summarize his findings.

From what he had seen so far, a Possession Incarnation created by taking over a physical body could only be used as a high-level thug. If he wanted an Incarnation that could take his place in dangerous situations as he had originally envisioned, he would have to use an Incarnation Body.

Judging from the materials for the Incarnation Body’s refinement formation, it was clearly a consumable item better suited for combat.

’On closer inspection, it seems to be a kind of Pure Spirit Body.’

The process of a cultivator’s training involved using Immortal Spirit Qi to transform their body, eventually turning it into a Pure Spirit Body. However, the way an Incarnation Body was formed from Spiritual Qi was likely a method specifically researched for sustained bursts of power. He estimated it was different from a Pure Spirit Body in the truest sense.

’I’ll have to refine one and study it to know for sure.’

Lü Zhong turned his thoughts to the possibility of sending out a large number of Incarnations as spies.

Bodies with Spirit Roots weren’t actually hard to find at all.

If he didn’t have his own moral bottom line, he could just go out and abduct people. Geniuses with Dual Spirit Roots might be hard to find, but those with Three Spirit Roots were a dime a dozen.

For now, he could only buy them.

Lü Zhong estimated that he could probably create another eight Incarnations. This was the limit his current Realm could bear.

’I’ll reserve three slots for Combat Incarnations and use the other five for Possession Incarnations.’

Five Incarnations, each with their own different life experiences.

When they died, whether he absorbed their insights and experiences or just reaped the guaranteed benefits from the Soul Forging Technique, Lü Zhong’s investment wouldn’t be a loss.

’Perhaps I should prepare an Incarnation to infiltrate Changchun Valley and Huayi Temple. And as for Central Earth, if possible, I should send an Incarnation there in the future as well,’ Lü Zhong thought to himself.

He had to admit, if used properly, Incarnations were truly a Divine Technique with limitless potential.

Just as he was thinking, Wang Lin came in from outside.

"Main body, I’ve made up my mind. I want to go to the Huayi Domain and become an Outer Court disciple. My goal after that is to enter Huayi Temple. That way, I might be able to help you in the future."

"The Huayi Domain?" Lü Zhong thought for a moment and suggested, "In that case, I recommend you go to the Ancient Dragon Temple. They primarily cultivate the Ancient Dragon Scripture, which values comprehension over innate talent. A strong Divine Soul would be a great help, so the Soul Forging Technique will be quite useful there."

"Then I’ll leave the matter of the Daoist registry to you." Wang Lin bowed deeply.

In the regions controlled by the Daoist Sect, the Daoist registry was extremely important.

It was a requirement for entering the Outer Court.

...

Three days later, a carriage came to pick up Wang Lin. After more than ten transfers, he would finally arrive in the Huayi Domain and join the Ancient Dragon Temple, part of Huayi Temple’s Outer Court, as a Daoist Disciple.

Another day passed, and news came from Shuini.

She had already found a channel to make contact with two Elders from Changchun Valley.

The meeting was set for half a month later.

Late one night, Lü Zhong and Shuini appeared together in Ghost Cloud Valley on Yanling Mountain.

This was the place they had agreed to meet the Elders from Changchun Valley.

Returning to a familiar place after so many years stirred up a wave of emotion.

Lü Zhong still remembered the little details of his time at the Yanling Mountain Market.

Back then, he had just been a Junior Cultivator focused on the arduous practice of Talisman Making, yet he was repeatedly dragged into incidents. Although he always managed to turn peril into safety, each time left him breaking out in a cold sweat.

"Master, they’re here," Shuini reminded him.

The newcomers were an old man in a purple robe and a withered woman. Their cultivation was at the Fake Infant Realm and Mid-stage Core Formation, respectively. They seemed extremely confident in their strength, approaching after only a brief observation.

"I am Zhang Daoyun of Changchun Valley. It is a pleasure to meet you, fellow Daoists!"

"I am Muu Yunzhi of Changchun Valley."

After both sides exchanged names, they immediately got down to business.

"Fellow Daoist Zhang, Fellow Daoist Muu, I wonder what you think of the proposal I made the other day?" Shuini’s expression was calm, but she couldn’t help but feel a little anxious.

After all, if they refused, the difficulty of her plan to merge the sects would increase dramatically, and the chances of success would become slim.

"I want to confirm one thing, Fellow Daoist Lü. How committed are you to intervening in this matter?" Zhang Daoyun stroked his long beard, his gaze burning as he looked at Lü Zhong.

The withered woman beside him also turned her gaze on him. The two seemed to have reached a silent understanding.

"Me?" Lü Zhong glanced at Shuini and smiled. "I will give it my full support!"

"Good. In that case, on behalf of my Sect, I agree to Fellow Daoist Shui’s proposal." Zhang Daoyun gave his answer directly, while inwardly cursing the spies his sect had sent to the Lingyue Domain.

’They didn’t even discover that Lü Zhong was backing the Heling Sect. What a bunch of useless gluttons.’

Compared to Lü Zhong, who could slay flood dragons, the patriarchs of the Three Heling Sects holed up in the backwoods were nothing but a disorganized mob in his eyes. The only reason he had chosen to unite with them before was because he had no other choice—it was a matter of picking the best of a bad lot.

The future of the Sect was at stake, and Zhang Daoyun was well aware of the task on his shoulders.

He absolutely could not let the Daoist Sect expand!

Hearing this, Lü Zhong and Shuini exchanged a look, both seeing the delight in the other’s eyes.

The next moment, the expressions of all four people changed at once.

"We have uninvited guests! As expected, it should be the Daoist Sect." Lü Zhong could clearly sense that the Prohibitions he had set up on the perimeter had been triggered.

Zhang Daoyun, who was opposite him, nodded. He had noticed it too. He immediately looked at Lü Zhong and Shuini. "Fellow Daoists, it’s time to show me your strength! Changchun Valley is a large place, and there will inevitably be dissenting voices. I need to use facts to shut those short-sighted fools up for good."

"No problem," Shuini said confidently.

Lü Zhong also nodded. Although there were seven newcomers, nearly twice their number, many of them were ordinary Core Formation cultivators just there to fill the ranks. They were likely reinforcements hired on short notice.

They weren’t as strong as they looked.

This was normal.

Although the Daoist Sect had a three-digit number of Golden Core cultivators, not all of them were skilled in combat. The Elite Core Formation cultivators among them mostly had their own assignments and couldn’t be mobilized at will.

It was a situation where pulling one hair could move the whole body. There was no reason for them to neglect important locations everywhere just to intercept the four of them.

The fact that the Daoist Sect could scrape together seven Core Formation cultivators this time was already the limit of their ability.