A Loose Cultivator's Path to Longevity

The wares sold in the shops of the larger market were clearly much more valuable than those in the smaller ones.

He arrived at the street stall area, and it felt just like the one back in Yanling Mountain. The only difference was that the haggling here was louder and more intense. This was likely due to the immense pressure of living in Yongling City, driving both buyers and sellers to push for their own interests.

It made him wonder how he should price the Secret Talismans to maximize his profits while minimizing the need to haggle.

Lü Zhong sighed. ’It would be nice to be a hands-off boss...’

He recalled why he’d come to Yongling City in the first place. Initially, it was to resolve the latent issues with his Four Spirits Technique, perhaps even find a way to join the Heling Sect. But now, the pressures of survival forced him to focus all his energy on earning Spirit Stones.

Sometimes, Lü Zhong wondered if he should just change his way of life.

Maybe he should become a Beast Hunter. Or, just like in those pulp novels, get actively or passively embroiled in a series of conflicts. Then, cultivation resources and fortuitous encounters would just fall into his lap. He wouldn’t have to struggle so hard just to get by.

’Too bad reality isn’t a novel. Where would I even find that much ridiculous trouble?’

He had heard plenty of rumors about things like Ancient Secret Realms and the Cave Mansions of Great Cultivators. They were always hyped up to be legendary, fraught with perilous trials one could only survive by the skin of their teeth. But when you tallied up the rewards at the end, you’d find they weren’t even worth more than the Talismans and Pills you’d spent getting there.

In fact, the biggest haul was most likely to come from a companion’s "inheritance."

Just as Lü Zhong was lost in thought, he heard the sound of sobbing from nearby. It sounded vaguely familiar.

’Oh, it’s her?’

He shifted his gaze to an alleyway and saw a small, skinny girl. It was the daughter from the father-daughter pair who had kindly given him a ride the other day. She was now crying over a corpse. Judging from the blood on the ground that had yet to congeal, the man must have died very recently.

’A revenge killing? Or...’

Whatever the reason, Lü Zhong had no intention of getting involved.

In this dog-eat-dog Cultivation Realm, there were countless mortals with fates far worse than this little girl’s. Take the struggling mortals of Yanling Mountain, for instance. Any one of them was ten times more miserable than she was now.

He had just lifted his foot to leave when he saw a large, scabby-headed man emerge from the end of the alley.

From the look on the man’s face, it was clear he meant the little girl harm.

Lü Zhong sighed. ’Sigh, couldn’t he have waited until I was gone before showing up?’

He could have pretended he didn’t see anything, but now he couldn’t just walk away. After all, he had accepted a ride from them. It wouldn’t be right not to return the favor, small as it was.

"Help... Help me! Daddy, save me!" A heart-rending scream echoed from the alley, reaching the ears of the pedestrians on the street.

A few mortals stopped in their tracks, looks of pity on their faces, but their companions shot them warning glances, urging them on.

Meddle in other people’s business, and your corpse could turn up in a ditch the next day.

The cultivators who passed by would cast a curious glance, but upon seeing it was merely a mortal affair, they would quickly lose interest. Though they didn’t show it, in the eyes of most cultivators, mortals were not kin. They were tools, nothing more.

When there was nothing to be gained, a cultivator’s attitude toward a mortal was nothing short of cold-blooded.

"A real shame. From her bone structure, she’ll be a beauty, but she’s still too young, her body hasn’t filled out yet. Guess I can only sell her to Nanny Zhang for a few talismanic coins to blow." The scabby-headed man lifted the gagged little girl like she was a baby chick, sizing her up with a disappointed look.

But when he turned, he was met with the sight of a young man dressed in black, his aura transcendent.

And a longsword that pulsed with an azure light, radiating a dangerous aura.

"Imm... Immortal Master, spare me!"

The scabby-headed man couldn’t have imagined that trying to snatch a stray would provoke a lofty Immortal Master. In his extreme panic, he soiled himself and, before Lü Zhong could even make a move, stopped breathing altogether.

’He just got scared to death?’ Lü Zhong dismissed his Late Sun Magic Sword, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

Still, this was for the best. It saved him a lot of trouble.

Glancing at the bound girl on the ground, Lü Zhong condensed a strand of Spiritual Power at his fingertip and sliced through the hemp rope with a light touch. This was his extra bit of help.

He said nothing, simply turned, and walked away.

RUMBLE... The sound of rolling wheels approached.

A stooped, white-haired old woman in black robes approached, pulling a flatbed cart. She was one of Yongling City’s designated corpse collectors. Seeing two grown men’s bodies on the ground, she couldn’t help but silently curse her bad luck.

This trip was supposed to be for one body, but now there were two.

"Ptooey! Ptooey! Ptooey!" She spat on the scabby-headed man’s corpse and, still not satisfied, gave it a few good kicks.

Her gaze shifted to the dazed little girl. A flash of greed flickered in the old woman’s eyes, but it was quickly replaced by the fear of death. She had seen the entire incident clearly and knew the girl might have a connection to the Immortal Master. She was not someone to be trifled with.

After all, the cautionary tale of the scabby-headed man was right there before her, his blood not even cold yet.

...

He made another trip to the central district, which also had an area for street stalls.

After careful consideration, Lü Zhong decided to set up his stall in the South City Market for now.

He made this decision because of the stall fees.

Unlike in the Yanling Mountain Market, setting up a stall in Yongling City required a fee. Although the fee was priced in talismanic coins, it would add up to a significant amount over time.

The South City Market’s fee of ten talismanic coins was much cheaper than the central district’s fee of one Spirit Stone per session.

However, he planned to try both locations to see how Talisman sales compared. If there was a huge difference, he would have to rethink his strategy.

Back at his small courtyard by the river, the setting sun scattered flecks of gold across the water’s surface, creating a beautiful scene.

But his good mood quickly vanished.

Perhaps the Spirit-Seeking Rat’s Spiritual Wisdom was still too low. It simply couldn’t handle a complex task like printing books. Of the five-book printing goal he had set, only one was successfully completed.

The other four had started with errors that grew progressively more ridiculous as the printing went on.

Analyzing the problem, he figured the Spirit-Seeking Rat could only imitate the actions of printing; it didn’t actually understand them. As a result, its mimicry became less and less accurate over time.

"This must have been tough for your little brain," Lü Zhong said, stroking the dazed Spirit-Seeking Rat.

So, how do I solve this?

’Doing it myself is out of the question.’

Given the rudimentary printing tools, the process was bound to be slow.

Selling Talisman Making Books was a viable way to earn Spirit Stones. In addition to the Qingyang Body Protection Secret Talisman Making Book, Lü Zhong planned to expand his business. Once he managed to secure a storefront, he could potentially sell books for the Seven Profound Arrow Avoidance Talisman and the Cleaning Talisman.

’Maybe it’s time I started cultivating my own faction.’

Lü Zhong had been considering this for a while. After all, a cultivator’s path was one of constantly increasing their cultivation and breaking through Small Realms and major ones, all in pursuit of the ultimate goal: Longevity.

Doing everything yourself along the way was simply not practical.

Many tasks could be completed with much less time and effort by paying a small price.

That would free up more of his energy to focus on improving his cultivation.

’So, how should I go about it?’

As Lü Zhong pondered this, a certain figure came to mind.

’Alright, you’ll be my first... tool.’

He returned to the South City Market, but the little girl was no longer in the alley.

’What a hassle. Well, I guess this is a good chance to test the Spirit Medium Tracing Technique.’ Lü Zhong picked up a scrap of cloth that carried the girl’s scent and cast the technique he had just recently learned.

He expended a bit of Spiritual Power and only succeeded on his third attempt.

Because the connection between the medium and the target was weak, the resulting Tracing Spirit Light was faint. Fortunately, it seemed the target wasn’t far—only half a kilometer or so—so it wouldn’t take long to get there.

He followed the trail, and the Tracing Spirit Light finally led him to a pavilion named "Yichun Courtyard."