A Loose Cultivator's Path to Longevity

After a bath, he changed into loose clothes and slept lightly. The night passed quickly.

...

Early the next morning, Lü Zhong headed out.

Before leaving, he’d asked the innkeeper and learned that Yongling City, much like Yanling Mountain Market, had a "Store and Residence Affairs" office that handled all rental matters. Each square with properties for rent would have one.

’I won’t rush into renting a place. I’ll wait until I understand the city better.’

With that in mind, Lü Zhong started asking around.

Fortunately, plenty of cultivators had the same idea, so the city had books for sale on this very topic.

They were cheap, too. Even the most comprehensive volume, which offered a highly detailed guide to Yongling City, cost only fifteen talismanic coins.

Lü Zhong found a Spiritual Food stall, ordered a bowl of Spirit Fish Noodles, and began to read as he ate.

He skipped the irrelevant sections and quickly found the part detailing Yongling City’s various districts. He learned that the city was divided into five major regions—South, East, West, North, and Central—each with distinct functions.

The most prosperous area was the Central District, which served a function similar to the main commercial street in Yanling Mountain Market. A vast number of shops were located there. Whether one was looking to buy Pills, Magical Artifacts, or all sorts of rare Spiritual Objects, it was absolutely the best place to go.

While the Central District was great for shopping, it wasn’t a suitable place to rent and live. Although its Spiritual Qi density was the highest in the city, its rental prices were also the highest.

Next were the East and West Districts, two areas where various workshops were concentrated. The West District was older and housed large, well-established workshops that didn’t just focus on Alchemy and Artifact Refining, but also built various Beast Vehicles and Flying Ships. The East District, by contrast, was far less impressive, with fewer workshops that were mostly small, independent operations.

Both the West and East Districts had plenty of housing for rent, but they were primarily inhabited by low-level Loose Cultivators and an even greater number of mortals. Furthermore, the Spiritual Qi density in these two areas was the lowest in the city, making them clearly unsuitable as ideal rental locations.

As for the North District, it was the location of the Heling Sect’s Outer Sect and was not open to the public.

After reading everything, Lü Zhong realized his only option was the South City.

The South City was quite large, comprising thirty-six squares in total. Miaoyin Square, where Lan Yuming lived, was one of them.

The book also contained a brief description of each square in the South City.

After some consideration, Lü Zhong settled on Changle Square.

Changle Square was relatively safe, and the buildings were newer. More importantly, it had a large number of residences that could be rented with a single Yongling Order, which meant he was eligible.

Lü Zhong checked the map and found he was near the South Gate, still a few miles from Changle Square.

After a moment’s thought, he hailed a Beast Vehicle.

Unlike the wilderness, Yongling City had a flight-restricting Array. It also expressly forbade cultivators from using skills like the Light Body Skill or any Magical Artifacts to move quickly through the streets, in order to prevent massive damage within the city.

It was because of these rules that public Beast Vehicles existed for convenient travel within the city.

Lü Zhong hailed a small-sized Beast Vehicle. It was significantly more expensive than the larger ones, but the advantage was that he had it to himself.

After he stated his destination, the driver lightly patted the hairless pack animal, which looked like a cross between a pig and a deer. The creature let out a few grunts and began to move.

Compared to a cultivator’s speed, the Beast Vehicle wasn’t fast—about the same pace as a running horse.

A quarter of an hour later, the Beast Vehicle reached its destination.

After getting out and paying, Lü Zhong noticed that a crowd had gathered around a shop next to the Store and Residence Affairs office.

"Six whole lives... These Demon Cultivators are truly vicious!" a burly, dark-faced man exclaimed, his expression a mixture of shock and anger.

Just then, someone beside him tugged on his sleeve and whispered, "Shh, keep your voice down! Aren’t you afraid a Demon Cultivator will show up at your door in the middle of the night?"

At these words, a look of terror crossed the burly man’s face, and he immediately fell silent.

Witnessing this, Lü Zhong was taken aback. ’There are actually Demon Cultivators in Yongling City?’

After listening to the hushed conversations in the crowd for a while, he confirmed his suspicions: beneath the seemingly peaceful surface of Yongling City, a group of Demon Cultivators was lurking.

’No wonder the city’s entry requirements are so strict. Is this the reason?’ Lü Zhong mused.

Yongling City claimed to have a population of a million. While that number was probably inflated, it still gave a sense of the city’s massive scale. If Demon Cultivators had really infiltrated the city, finding them would be incredibly difficult.

It would be like finding a needle in a haystack.

What Lü Zhong couldn’t understand was why these Demon Cultivators, who were universally hunted, would deliberately infiltrate Yongling City and then commit murder so brazenly. It just didn’t make sense.

The fortified towns outside the city would have been far better targets.

Whether they were after living souls or the flesh and blood needed to cultivate their Demon Techniques, those towns offered an abundance of mortals.

He didn’t dwell on it, simply assuming some Demon Cultivator had gotten audacious enough to commit a crime right under the noses of the Yongling City Law Enforcement Team. ’That one certainly has a death wish,’ he thought.

Considering how unhinged some Demon Cultivators were, such an act wasn’t entirely surprising.

Shaking his head, he walked into the Store and Residence Affairs office and stated his purpose for being there.

"Fellow Cultivator, are you looking to rent? That’s wonderful! Please, have a seat over here." Upon hearing he wanted to rent, a red-haired Female Cultivator in the office beamed. She eagerly poured him a cup of tea before clapping her hands. "Oh, I almost forgot to ask! How many Yongling Orders do you have? You can’t rent a place without one, you see."

"Just one," Lü Zhong replied, presenting his Token.

Seeing the Yongling Order, the red-haired Female Cultivator’s smile widened. "One is enough! The residences here are nothing like those in Miaoyin Square, just ordinary little courtyards."

She took out an illustrated catalog showing all the currently vacant properties in Changle Square.

The Female Cultivator casually flipped to a page, pointed at a layout, and smiled. "What kind of layout are you looking for, Fellow Cultivator? I can help you narrow it down, or I could just give you a recommendation."

"A recommendation would be great, thank you," Lü Zhong said after a moment’s thought.

His gaze shifted toward the doorway, where he could just make out the white-cloth-covered bodies on the ground. For some reason, the Law Enforcement Team still hadn’t shown up, leaving the six corpses unattended.

"What’s going on in the city? Demon Cultivators murdering people in broad daylight?"

The red-haired Female Cultivator’s expression became a bit unnatural when she heard this. She glanced at Lü Zhong for an extra moment before replying, "Yes, I heard that Demon Cultivators have infiltrated the city and killed quite a few people. No one knows what they want."

"...So, what do you think of this one, Fellow Cultivator? It’s south-facing and has a spacious courtyard, the largest you can get with a single Yongling Order. It’s also right next to a river, which is very convenient for laundry and fetching water. Most importantly, this place only costs Three Spirit Stones a month."

’Something this good? It’s too good to be true.’

Lü Zhong found it hard to believe. It was just too cheap.

’When something seems amiss, there’s usually a catch.’

He discreetly activated Malice Detection, and an intense warning signal immediately flared in his mind.

’Is it because of the rental property, or is it...’

Just then, the image of the six white-shrouded corpses flashed through his mind, and his heart skipped a beat.

’It can’t be, can it?’

’Did I just walk right into a trap?’

Glancing at the red-haired Female Cultivator out of the corner of his eye, Lü Zhong used his Qi Observation Skill. However, his vision revealed nothing out of the ordinary; no Demonic Qi was seeping from her body.

’How strange...’

Seeing this, Lü Zhong began to doubt his earlier judgment.

In the end, he didn’t choose the one the red-haired Female Cultivator had recommended. Instead, he picked a small courtyard that better suited his tastes. It was also by the river, with a living space that was only slightly smaller.

Once he paid the first year’s rent, the key to the small courtyard was placed in his hand.

As Lü Zhong walked away, the red-haired Female Cultivator watched his departing figure. The corner of her mouth split into an unnaturally wide grin, revealing a tongue dripping with saliva. It twisted and writhed like a snake, flicking out to taste the air.

"So fragrant... such a fragrant scent of flesh..."