A Loose Cultivator's Path to Longevity

After making ample preparations, Lü Zhong gave his instructions to Hong Fu and the other woman, telling them to continue printing storybooks. He then left Yongling City with the Spirit-Seeking Rat to begin his search for a Soul Nourishing Land.

The first location was just over a hundred li northwest of Yongling City.

Being so close to Yongling City, the result was predictable.

The second location was Shuixian Lake, on the border between Yongling City and the Luoyun Sect’s territory.

Just like before, he failed to find a fully-formed Soul Nourishing Land.

Time trickled by. During the day, Lü Zhong used Concealing Breath and Traces to move through the mountains and forests, avoiding other cultivators and Demon Beasts lying in ambush for their next meal. He checked each location one by one.

He spent a full month searching the entirety of Yongling’s territory but still found no Soul Nourishing Land.

He was neither discouraged nor surprised by this.

It was a commonly accepted fact that Spiritual Lands were difficult to find.

Otherwise, a Geomancer like Gao Lian would have already struck it rich. After all, the definition of a Spiritual Land included mineral veins, so how could he only be moderately wealthy?

He found nothing in Luoyun or Yanling Mountain either.

Another four months passed. With the Heling Sect’s ranking tournament drawing near, there were less than three months left.

Lü Zhong’s arduous journey was not without its rewards.

The Spirit Medicine he collected and the various Demon Beasts he slew along the way had already netted him over a thousand Spirit Stones.

Not to mention, the trials he faced had tempered him, allowing his cultivation to break through.

Lü Zhong was now a Qi Refining Seventh Level Cultivator.

Upon reaching Late-stage Qi Refining, his total Spiritual Power had tripled. This was merely the start of the path to Foundation Establishment; in the next two Small Realms, his Spiritual Power would increase by the same amount each time.

At the same time, his physical constitution had also improved significantly.

In terms of speed, he could reach four hundred li per ancient hour at a full sprint.

Though he could only maintain it for a brief moment, this burst of speed was enough to be a fearsome advantage in combat.

...

「Night.」

In his camp, Lü Zhong had started a campfire and was roasting the meat of a freshly hunted Demon Beast. The fat SIZZLED, releasing a tantalizing aroma. After he sprinkled on some seasoning, the rich scent was enough to make one’s mouth water.

Nearby, the Spirit-Seeking Rat, which had grown another size larger, wrung its paws in excitement.

"Here you go." Once the meat was cooked, he handed the Spirit-Seeking Rat a skewer as a reward.

The Spirit-Seeking Rat had found quite a lot of Spirit Medicine for him lately.

While keeping an eye on his surroundings, Lü Zhong contemplated his next course of action. The ranking tournament was about to begin, and now that he had broken through to Late-stage Qi Refining, there was no way he could afford to miss it.

After all, at the Qi Refining Seventh Layer, the internal conflicts of his Spiritual Power were becoming more intense. Not even a Harmonizing Spirit Pill could suppress them for long.

’One more month. If I still can’t find a Soul Nourishing Land by then, I’ll head back.’

He silently set a deadline for himself.

Suddenly, the surrounding temperature dropped. Lü Zhong was slightly startled. ’I’ve run into another one of those unclean things,’ he thought.

He formed a hand seal for Malice Detection, and the warning it gave was palpable.

Over the past few months, he had encountered many of these "unclean things." Most were harmless wandering spirits. Only a small fraction were ghosts capable of threatening a cultivator. The most dangerous one he had come across was a Soul of the Dead wandering the forest.

It had happened so often that he could now immediately gauge the strength of any unclean thing he came across.

’It should just be a common ghost, the kind a single Evil Exorcism Talisman can take care of,’ Lü Zhong estimated.

Through his Qi Observation Skill, he could see a large mass of black Yin Qi behind a withered tree to his front left. It was vaguely humanoid and was greedily staring at the living person by the fire.

He wasn’t foolish enough to look directly at it. Some ghosts possessed hallucinogenic abilities capable of trapping a person in an inescapable illusion. Even a cultivator could be ensnared for several breaths, and a lot could happen in that short amount of time.

He quickly formed three Hand Seals, using the Talisman Summoning Technique to send an Evil Exorcism Talisman flying.

A moment later, there was a muffled BANG as the activated Evil Exorcism Talisman exploded.

Golden rays of manifested Yang Qi pierced the body of the ghost lurking behind the tree. The rays immediately ignited its Yin Qi, and its entire form instantly erupted into a golden torch.

Before long, only a pile of white ash was left on the ground.

The white ash was a type of material known as "Spirit Calming Dust."

A pile like this was worth around Five Spirit Stones.

Lü Zhong had already collected more than ten such piles on his journey.

Recalling his encounters along the way, he couldn’t help but find it strange. Logically, there shouldn’t be so many ghosts. Nascent Soul Cultivators had researched and verified that this world was unsuitable for their long-term survival.

But now...

Shaking his head, Lü Zhong didn’t dwell on it.

With his current Realm, he was destined to find no answers to such questions.

...

Early the next morning, Lü Zhong set out on his journey. After traversing a high, cold mountain path, he officially entered the Lanyue Region.

He hadn’t been there for long before the local "specialty" came knocking.

"Wild dogs"—fallen Wilderness Independent Cultivators.

There were seven of them, men and women, and he slaughtered every last one.

When he was finished, Lü Zhong couldn’t help but reflect, ’I’m getting more and more decisive.’

’Back when I first arrived, I probably would have hesitated. Not anymore.’

’This is the right way to be, though.’

’After all, to go far in the Cultivation Realm, you can’t afford misplaced compassion. You might hold on to a sense of pity, but it can only be a charity doled out when you’re bored. Only the decisive and ruthless can adapt to the cruel Cultivation Realm.’

’And cautious,’ Lü Zhong added in his mind.

Checking his map, he headed toward a mountain ahead called Pen Holder Peak. There was a fissure in the earth there, which might have formed a Soul Nourishing Land. It was worth investigating.

Before long, he was standing at the edge of a cliff.

Looking down, all he could see was a thick fog. Through his Qi Observation Skill, he saw the mist was tinged with black wisps, a clear sign of a high concentration of Yin Qi. This meant he was highly likely to encounter wandering spirits or ghosts below.

He checked the pouch of Evil Exorcism Talismans he carried, as well as the Evil-breaking Talisman tucked in his robes. Once he confirmed everything was in order, he formed a hand seal for the Light Body Skill, leaped forward, and began to descend the cliff face.

The further he descended, the thicker the fog became.

At the same time, the concentration of Yin Qi rose sharply.

After descending for a full three hundred-some zhang, the fog suddenly vanished. Revealed before Lü Zhong was a narrow strip of land, a thousand zhang long and over a hundred zhang wide, glowing with a faint phosphorescence. In a depression at its center lay a pool of water.

He landed softly on the ground. The soil was sandy and completely barren.

Now that he was on the ground, he could see the glow came from moss clinging to the rocks.

Looking around, he saw numerous skeletons scattered on the ground. He sensed an aura similar to that of a Skeleton Demon coming from them. ’They must be some kind of Low Tier ghosts,’ he figured.

He walked slowly toward the pool of water. Lü Zhong needed to confirm whether this place was truly a Soul Nourishing Land.

The method was simple: all he had to do was circulate his Nourishing Spirit Skill.

He formed the hand seals and began Chanting. Lü Zhong’s expression first went blank, then erupted in elation.

It took a great deal of effort for him to calm down, but he finally managed, letting out a long sigh of relief.

"Whew, I finally found it!"

Next, he had to scout the area and clear out any potential threats.

Divine Sense was linked to the Divine Soul, and Lü Zhong had no desire to be disturbed by outside forces while performing the Soul Nourishing Technique.

First, there was the pool of water.

As the place where all the surrounding Yin Qi had settled, he absolutely refused to believe there was nothing inside it.

He crept closer and used a technique to replay the scene’s recent past, easily discovering what was inside.

It was a zombie, with an aura comparable to a Late-stage Qi Refining cultivator.

At the moment, it was in a deep sleep.

This was the normal state for most ghostly creatures.

’In that case, I won’t be polite!’

Lü Zhong released an Iron Wolf Mechanical Beast and began stuffing its belly with Evil Exorcism Talismans.

He had no intention of fighting the tough-skinned zombie head-on. Since it was still asleep, a dishonorable sneak attack was the best option.

One dozen... two dozen... a full five dozen Evil Exorcism Talismans.

He also added an Evil-breaking Talisman.

Lü Zhong then took out his Talisman Brush and Talisman Ink to draw five Summoning Talismans covered in straight lines.

As a Talisman Maker, he knew exactly how to detonate a large number of talismans at once. These Summoning Talismans acted as a bridge; the instant the Evil-breaking Talisman activated, they would detonate all the connected dozens of Evil Exorcism Talismans.

This was a technique known only to Talisman Makers.

This method not only stacked the power of all the talismans but could even amplify the effect.

An ordinary cultivator would simply stack all the talismans together, causing them to activate at different speeds. This would affect the final blast, resulting in a significant loss of power.

With one method amplifying the power and the other diminishing it, the difference in outcome was obvious.

Once his preparations were complete, the Iron Wolf Puppet charged forward with a CLANK-CLANK and leaped into the pool with a SPLASH.

Three breaths later, a pillar of golden light erupted from the water.