A Loose Cultivator's Path to Longevity

As the only Workshop Market within the Golden Rainbow Sect’s territory, Yanling Mountain Market attracted numerous Loose Cultivators from all corners of the land. It was not uncommon to find experts who had mastered the Hundred Skills of Cultivation among them, so prices were naturally much higher than in Qingliu Square.

Lü Zhong ordered a table of Spiritual Food, spending a full seventy-six Spirit Stones.

For that price, the Spiritual Food that arrived was exceptional, of course.

Take the Spirit Chicken he was currently eating, for example. A Spirit Chef had stewed it for a long time with various aged Spirit Medicines, supplemented by a host of precious medicinal herbs. The sight alone was enough to make one’s mouth water. The effects after eating it surpassed even those of an Origin-Nurturing Pill; his cultivation rose at a rate visible to the naked eye.

"Not bad. This was well worth the fifty Spirit Stones!"

If he could afford it, Lü Zhong would eat here every day, no matter what.

Unfortunately, Spiritual Food was simply too expensive. Even he could only afford to splurge on a meal occasionally to vary his diet. The cost-effectiveness for increasing one’s cultivation was too low; it was far inferior to consuming Pills in that regard.

Just as he was feasting, a commotion erupted from the street outside his window.

Lü Zhong poked his head out to look and saw a grand and impressive procession of carriages slowly approaching.

Judging from the insignia on the banners, the procession was from the Luoyun Sect. They were the only ones in the vicinity who used a white cloud pattern on a blue background, which had practically become their exclusive sigil.

At the head of the procession were two columns of Luoyun Sect disciples riding Cyan-Scaled Six-legged Horses.

Cyan-Scaled Six-legged Horses were a type of Demon Beast, long since domesticated by cultivators, just like Mud Shell Pigs.

Their appearance made the hearts of many Female Cultivators flutter, but they received no response whatsoever.

On the faces of these mounted disciples, Lü Zhong saw not composure, but an arrogance that seemed to emanate from their very bones. It was a disposition that only a Sect like the Luoyun Sect could cultivate.

After the two columns of riders carrying the Sect’s banners passed, a train of three large, black carriages rumbled forward.

These large carriages were all of the same design, likely crafted from the same type of spirit wood. The compartments were immense, nearly twenty feet tall and fifty feet long, each pulled by three Cyan-Scaled Six-legged Horses trotting abreast. The curtains inside the glazed windows were drawn, and only the faint silhouettes of people could be discerned within.

Watching the procession disappear into the distance, Lü Zhong couldn’t help but speculate about the reason for their visit.

His mind connected a rumor circulating through the market with the recent price trend of Golden Light Talismans. A sudden unease gripped him. ’Could it be just as the rumors said? That the Luoyun Sect has already joined forces with the Golden Rainbow Sect, preparing to provoke a Sect war against the Heling Sect?’

If that were true, the territories under the jurisdiction of the Three Sects would inevitably be thrown into turmoil in the foreseeable future.

Once these three behemoths went to war, the intervention of Foundation Establishment Cultivators would be almost certain. One could only imagine the ferocity of such a war; it would surely be dozens, or even hundreds, of times more brutal than the battle of Ghost Cloud Valley.

’I hope I’m wrong,’ Lü Zhong thought.

...

「Huangyi Artifact Refining Workshop.」

After finishing his table of Spiritual Food, Lü Zhong hurried over, ready to pick up the ring he had commissioned.

Soon, Fatty Xu appeared, bringing bad news.

"Sigh, it’s all my fault for getting carried away..."

It turned out that after accepting the refining order that day, in order to ensure the Magical Artifact’s successful creation, he had added many leftover scraps from previous refining sessions. He never imagined it would lead to trouble.

No one could have expected that he would actually forge a Spiritual Artifact Embryo.

Spiritual Artifacts are born from Magical Artifacts. In essence, there isn’t much difference between them, except that a Spiritual Artifact possesses a faint trace of a Spiritual Attribute, making it unlike the cold, lifeless Magical Artifacts.

A so-called Spiritual Artifact Embryo is a Magical Artifact that has the potential to develop a Spiritual Attribute.

Even though it was just a possibility—whether it could actually grow into a true Spiritual Artifact was another matter entirely—it was enough to make an ordinary Magical Artifact skyrocket in value.

And for this very reason, the newly forged "Earth Wood Spirit Ring" was targeted by someone.

Upon hearing this, Lü Zhong couldn’t help but sigh. The Cultivation Realm truly was a world where the strong preyed on the weak.

He hadn’t felt it so keenly before. Even after personally witnessing Bai Xiaohan murder someone for their treasure, it hadn’t left a deep impression on him. Only now that it had happened to him did he truly understand this principle.

The source of Lü Zhong’s current trouble was the Kang Family, a Foundation Establishment Clan from the Cangtie Plateau.

A Kang Family Member who had come to commission a Magical Artifact happened to learn about the Spirit Ring’s creation. He immediately revealed his identity and bought the Earth Wood Spirit Ring on the spot. Despite being a Spiritual Artifact-grade item worth over a thousand Spirit Stones, he left behind only one hundred.

This was a blatant forced sale!

Art truly imitates life. The whole affair was just like something out of a storybook.

There were many rumors circulating in the markets about the Cultivation Clans.

They all had one thing in common: like the Sects, their rules were extremely strict. But this couldn’t prevent scoundrels from appearing. What had just happened to him was the best proof of that.

"Where is this person now?" Lü Zhong asked, suppressing the rage in his heart.

He had thought his temperament wasn’t sufficiently cultivated, but only when this happened to him personally did he understand what it felt like to have a grievance that was impossible to swallow.

"What an undeserved disaster!"

Fatty Xu sighed. He didn’t ask Lü Zhong why he wanted the information, but simply stuffed a slip of paper into a Storage Bag and handed it over. "The workshop’s compensation, and the information you wanted, sir... it’s all... all in here."

...

After leaving the Huangyi Artifact Refining Workshop, Lü Zhong opened the Storage Bag that Fatty Xu had given him.

Inside the bag were two piles of Spirit Stones. One pile contained a hundred, obviously the payment from the Kang Family member’s forced purchase. The other was two hundred Spirit Stones, which was the workshop’s compensation.

The compensation wasn’t a small amount; its purpose was clearly to protect their reputation.

Once a forced sale like this occurred, it would inevitably affect the workshop’s business, so they had to offer a significant sum. If their reputation was ruined, the losses would amount to far more than just two hundred Spirit Stones.

Of course, that was looking at it from the perspective of compensation.

From another angle, this was likely the Huangyi Artifact Refining Workshop’s way of paying him off.

For the Huangyi Artifact Refining Workshop to have established a firm foothold in Yanling Mountain Market, it must have had a powerful backer. Most likely, a Foundation Establishment Cultivator was supporting them from behind the scenes. The workshop probably figured that offending the Kang Family, a Foundation Establishment Clan from the Cangtie Plateau, wasn’t worth it. It was better to just pay Lü Zhong off with Spirit Stones and wash their hands of the matter.

After all, Lü Zhong was just a mere Loose Cultivator. So what if they offended him?

As for the old adage about never bullying a young man for his poverty?

Fat chance.

The tales of "thirty years east of the river, thirty years west" were widely known in the Cultivation Realm primarily because they were entertaining and dramatic. But this also proved just how rare such an occurrence was.

In the Cultivation Realm, where knowledge was tightly controlled, it was incredibly difficult for a Loose Cultivator to make a name for themselves.

This was also why the Huangyi Artifact Refining Workshop was unwilling to offend a Foundation Establishment Clan like the Kang Family for the sake of a single Loose Cultivator. The reason was simple: the latter had a much higher chance of producing a Great Cultivator. Anyone with eyes could see which was the better choice.

Opening the slip of paper Fatty Xu had given him, Lü Zhong learned of a location. Coincidentally, it was near his solitary courtyard in the bamboo forest.

A murderous glint flashed in his eyes. He decided it was time to do something drastic.