A Loose Cultivator's Path to Longevity

In the blink of an eye, it was the height of summer.

Inside the Quiet Chamber.

’Whew. To think I’d break through the third Acupoint so easily. This Barbarian Ancestor Heaven-Swallowing Mantra, combined with the Gray Mist Space, really gives me a taste of what it’s like to be a genius...’

Lü Zhong let out a long breath.

A pleased expression graced his face as he closed his eyes, sensing the changes in his body.

After opening the third Acupoint, his qi and blood surged to a new level.

With it came an increase in physical strength.

By over a thousand pounds, roughly.

’If opening each new Acupoint has this kind of effect, then by the time I’ve opened all of them, my physical power will probably rival that of a Mystic Cultivator of the same tier.’

For a Magic Cultivator, this was an absolutely incredible achievement.

After savoring the moment for a while, Lü Zhong finally got up.

He left the Quiet Chamber.

And turned to enter the Alchemy Room.

Recently, the Commerce Association had gathered a good number of Spirit Medicines, and the Bihai Sect was also starting to show some output. The accumulated materials were now enough to refine several batches of Pills or Creation Liquid.

Seeing that his own supply of Pills was running low, he decided to fire up the furnace and begin Alchemy.

He first tossed the Purple Nether Extreme Fire into the furnace’s core to preheat the Alchemy Furnace.

He skillfully cast a series of Blessing Magic and Divine Techniques on himself. Moments later, starlight filtered through the skylight of the Alchemy Room and fell upon Lü Zhong, granting him a considerable boost in power.

Immediately after, he activated his Celestial Net Eye.

By the time his preparations were complete, the Alchemy Furnace had finished preheating.

The steps of the process flowed one after another. Spiritual materials were either successfully refined into Pills or failed and turned to dregs. The entire procedure was as smooth as flowing water, without a single pause.

With the aid of the Celestial Net Eye, his Alchemy success rate increased considerably.

Even for Pills he was refining for the first time, he surprisingly achieved a ten percent Pill Formation Rate. The more he practiced a recipe, the higher the rate climbed. In one batch, he even managed to produce a High-grade Pill.

Two of them, in fact.

Although he knew it was just a fluke, Lü Zhong was still delighted for quite some time.

He continued his Alchemy.

Through successes and failures, he soon exhausted all the spiritual materials.

After three months of work, he had obtained a total of seven vials of Pills—each containing one to five Pills—and nine portions of Tier Three Creation Spirit Liquid, enough to support his cultivation for nearly half a year.

Adding to that the Pills he had acquired from Changchun Valley.

Lü Zhong wouldn’t have to worry about his supply of Pills for at least two or three years.

"It wasn’t easy!"

He had paid no small price to acquire these Pills. The Chengde Commerce Association’s development was one thing, but the fledgling Bihai Sect was a money-devouring beast, its output nowhere near proportional to the investment.

’Fortunately, I have the Great Honey Insect Swarm.’

’Once the Insect Swarm is up and running and starts producing honey in large quantities, the investment required for the Sect can be drastically reduced. I might even be able to turn a profit.’

This thought brought him a great deal of comfort.

"Husband!" Yu Feng’Er’s voice rang out.

Today, she wore a beautiful gown with ruffled sleeves. With her willow-like brows, vermilion lips, and rosy cheeks, it was clear she had dressed up with care, looking far more enchanting than usual.

Seeing her worried expression, Lü Zhong couldn’t help but ask:

"What’s wrong?"

"There’s trouble at the Commerce Association!" Yu Feng’Er said sullenly.

"Hm?"

Lü Zhong had been wondering what kind of trouble could possibly befall the Chengde Commerce Association.

But after Feng’Er finished explaining the situation, he realized just how serious the matter was.

The whole affair had to be traced back to the camps established for the Demon Hunting Order.

During this Demon Hunting Order event, the initial strategy for all factions was to trade Spirit Stones for Merit. However, not all factions were as wealthy as the Chengde Commerce Association. After exhausting their Spirit Stones, many began to show their true colors, resorting to trickery and force to acquire what they wanted. This, in turn, led to a mass exodus of cultivators from their camps.

As a result, the few camps that continued to trade fairly, like theirs, became targets of intense jealousy and hatred.

No one dared to provoke the major powers, so they began to target the Chengde Commerce Association instead.

This time, three Golden Core Clans had joined forces, backed by five supportive Foundation Establishment Clans, forming an Alliance. Together, they moved against the Chengde Commerce Association, catching it completely by surprise.

Maintaining the camp required a massive daily consumption of supplies.

The supply chains for most of those resources had now been cut off by the Alliance. If this continued, the camp’s supplies would soon run short.

The thought of the potential consequences made Yu Feng’Er’s heart race with anxiety.

"Husband, what do you think we should do?"

"Don’t panic." Lü Zhong pulled her into his arms and comforted her. "It’s just three Golden Core Clans. If that’s all there is to it, I can handle them easily. It’s just..."

"Just what?"

Lü Zhong paused before saying, "I suspect it’s not that simple. The patriarchs of the three Golden Core Clans leading this are all in the Early-stage Core Formation realm, and one of them is even approaching the end of his lifespan. Logically, they shouldn’t be picking a fight like this, especially not when I’m personally backing the Chengde Commerce Association."

That was why he suspected someone else was pulling the strings from behind the scenes.

Prompted by Lü Zhong’s words, Yu Feng’Er’s eyes widened in realization. His reasoning made perfect sense, and she quickly voiced a suspect: the Buhong Mountain Fang Family.

"The Fang Family?" Lü Zhong was puzzled.

’How could the Fang Family be involved in this?’

If that were true, then the crisis facing the Chengde Commerce Association was no small matter. One misstep could wash away decades of hard work.

He found it hard to believe that the Buhong Mountain Fang Family, the number one Cultivation Clan in the Changchun Western Region, would be satisfied with just a camp that earned Sect Merits. It was impossible that they weren’t interested in the Chengde Commerce Association’s assets and the East Sea Route under its control.

He recalled that the Fang Family was a clan with three Core Formation cultivators.