Eternal Life from the Golden Needle Technique

"Junior Brother Changchuan, we’ll be counting on you."

In the External Affairs Hall,

A hint of apology on her pretty face, Senior Sister Wei Yuting said to Shen Changchuan.

"Your Cultivation Realm is only at the Soul Emergence Third Layer Peak. It’s not normally time for you to go to the front lines."

"But we have no choice right now. The Sect is short-handed and can’t manage."

"You’re the only one available on short notice who has sufficient strength!"

"Senior Sister, you’re being too kind."

Although he was a bit taken aback to be handed an escort mission right after returning, Shen Changchuan quickly adjusted his mindset.

He didn’t hold much resentment about it.

’If it weren’t for the senior brothers and sisters, and the crowd of new junior brothers and sisters fighting and bleeding on the front lines, how could I have lived so peacefully in the Tian Nan Domain for the past three years?’

’Compared to the senior and junior brothers who risk life and limb on the front lines, my life these past three years can only be described as a luxury.’

’The Sect needs me, so it’s naturally my time to contribute.’

These weren’t just empty pleasantries.

Shen Changchuan knew in his heart how he had obtained his relatively "peaceful" life over the past three years.

Shen Changchuan was not a heartless, ungrateful person.

He wouldn’t be the type to hide in the rear for three years while others fought and died on the front lines, only to complain the moment the Sect needed him to contribute after those three years.

"Actually, it’s not a big deal. For this escort mission, we of the Dragon Cloud Sect won’t be the only ones traveling, right?"

"We’ll just travel together then. Compared to what the senior brothers and sisters on the front lines face, my mission is countless times simpler..."

"It’s good that you can think of it that way."

"But regardless, thank you!"

A good while later,

Shen Changchuan walked out of the External Affairs Hall.

In his hand was a mission scroll.

The contents of the mission were simple: within half a month, he was to escort a new batch of Outer Disciples and recruited Loose Cultivators from the outside world to Barbaric City.

Shen Changchuan was lost in thought.

Although he didn’t mind accepting the mission assigned by the Sect, he still valued his own life dearly. So, just now, he had taken the opportunity to ask Senior Sister Wei for some details about the mission.

Missions like this, escorting Outer Disciples and hired Loose Cultivators at the Qi Introduction Realm, were practically a monthly routine for the Dragon Cloud Sect.

In the past three years, the Sect had issued it more than thirty times.

The Soul Emergence Realm Cultivators within the Sect had also acted as escorts over thirty times, either taking large numbers of Qi Introduction Realm Cultivators to the front lines, or bringing back those who had earned enough compensation or had been injured.

When there weren’t enough people, they even used the spare capacity on the Flying Ships to carry some independent Cultivators.

It could be considered one of the Dragon Cloud Sect’s regular operations.

And for such an operation, the danger wasn’t actually that great.

In the thirty-plus times the mission had been run, aside from potential bad weather or attacks from some brainless Demon Beasts from the Demon Beast Forest below, there had only been about six or seven actual ambushes by Demon Cultivators.

Moreover, thanks to the Defense Arrays inscribed around the Dharma Boat, the escorts themselves held a geographical advantage.

As a result, of those six or seven ambushes, only two had resulted in truly heavy losses.

In those two instances, a Demon Cultivator at the Soul Emergence Seventh Layer had personally taken action. They had snuck past the front lines, hidden themselves along the transport route to set up an ambush, and defeated the escorts with a Cultivation far surpassing their own, leading to disastrous consequences.

However, this also enraged their fellow sect members on the front lines.

It was said that after that attack, Senior Brother Hong Yang personally intervened.

He relentlessly pursued that Soul Emergence Seventh Layer Demon Cultivator for a thousand miles, finally killing him and hanging his head outside the gates of Barbaric City.

With such precedents, this time around, the problem wasn’t actually that big.

It was just as Shen Changchuan had said.

His escort mission was incomparably safer than plunging deep into enemy territory to fight, like his senior brothers and sisters on the front lines.

Shen Changchuan’s heart was put at ease.

’This trip to Barbaric City is also a good opportunity to find Master and resolve the matter of the Gold-Devouring Spirit Butterflies.’

’And there’s Senior Brother Wu Tianhao’s breakthrough Secret Technique. I can use this chance to ask him about it...’

’But in that case, I’ll need to prepare some ’payment’ first. I can’t just expect to get it for free, can I?’

Shen Changchuan was lost in thought for a moment.

Dealing with his master, Master Wandering Dragon, would be easy.

But what about Wu Tianhao?

’What price will I have to pay to obtain that Secret Technique for breaking through a realm from him?’

His mind occupied with these thoughts, Shen Changchuan left the Sect.

...

Ten days passed in the blink of an eye.

During these ten days, Shen Changchuan barely did any Cultivation.

Instead, he did everything he could to prepare for the upcoming journey.

This included gathering information on the Nanyue Kingdom, studying the escort route, and preparing various contingency plans in case of an attack.

He prepared as much as he possibly could.

In fact, for the past three years, Shen Changchuan had long been preparing for the day he would have to step onto the Nanyue Kingdom battlefield.

So, in his spare time, he had his grandfather, Han Qinhu, use Dawan Village’s resources to collect information on the Nanyue Kingdom.

It could be said that, right now, Shen Changchuan’s understanding of the Nanyue Territory was perhaps no less than his understanding of the Tian Nan Domain!

The Nanyue Kingdom was a part of the Nanyue Territory, and also its core.

Its area was no smaller than the Tian Nan Domain.

But unlike the Tian Nan Domain, its harsh natural environment and living conditions had led to a culture that was almost entirely different.

It was a barbaric and bloody land, where semi-savage tribes that practiced large-scale blood sacrifices still existed in the remote regions!

It was precisely this environment that had bred a world where the Demon Dao ran rampant and human lives were worth less than those of pigs and dogs.

Furthermore, unlike the Tian Nan Domain, which was almost completely developed, with nearly every place that had a Spirit Vein occupied by some person or power, the Nanyue Kingdom contained vast, uninhabited jungles, swamps, and areas shrouded in a dense fog that never dissipated.

Even a Cultivator at the Soul Emergence Realm could get lost in that endless wilderness without a local guide!

And within this vast Barbaric Land, the most famous and powerful Demonic Forces consisted of one creed, two sects, and four clans.

Among them, the Seven Extremes Sect, with whom Shen Changchuan had dealings in the past, was one of those two sects!

The other sect, on par with the Seven Extremes Sect, was called the White Bone Sect.

It was said that the strength of its White Bone Ancestor was comparable to that of the Seven Extremes Ancestor.

As for the four clans, they were ancient, native clans of the Nanyue Territory.

Unlike the families of the Tian Nan Immortal Cultivation World, the four clans were not four great families, but the Four Major Clans!

That’s right—tribes of barbarians!

Although the Four Major Clans were slightly weaker than the two sects, they had ancient lineages and were skilled in barbaric methods like Poisonous Insects, Gu Techniques, tattoos, sacrificial rituals, and so on. They could not be underestimated.