A Loose Cultivator's Path to Longevity

He found a purchasing house.

”What might you be looking to sell, fellow cultivator?” A white-haired old man behind the counter asked, his murky eyes glancing at the newcomer before getting straight to the point.

”Pills.”

Lü Zhong said in a low voice. He swiped a hand over his Storage Bag, and fifteen rays of iridescent light flew out, landing on the purchasing house’s counter.

They were all bottled Tier One and Tier Two Pills.

Considering the unique circumstances of the Western Realm, the Pills he brought had complex origins. They were all acquired by the Commerce Association from individual cultivators, not high-quality goods produced by an Alchemy Workshop, as the latter would obviously arouse suspicion.

Even so, the sight of these Pills still made the old man’s eyes light up.

As was customary, he didn’t ask about the goods’ origins. He uncorked the bottles and appraised the Pills one by one before saying, ”Fellow cultivator, these are all fine-quality Pills, untouched by the Crimson Spiritual Energy. How do you plan to sell them? If you want to exchange them for Spirit Stones, this old man can purchase them at market price. Alternatively, you could wait for our auction. You’d get more Spirit Stones that way, probably ten or twenty percent more.”

As he spoke, he dipped his finger in water, wrote a number on the table, and quickly wiped it away.

Lü Zhong looked away, thinking to himself.

’An eight-fold profit. That’s more than enough!’

’Market price is fine; no need to get greedy.’

’Otherwise, if I get targeted, it’ll just be a huge hassle.’

So, he said gravely, ”I’ll sell them directly, for the number you mentioned. However... I want the bulk of the payment in High-grade spirit stones. I assume a small request like this isn’t something you can’t fulfill, right?”

The old man gave a dry laugh. ”You jest, fellow cultivator. Of course it’s no problem.”

He kept his eyes on the Pills.

He took a bag of Spirit Stones from the Storage Bag at his waist, counted out three High-grade spirit stones, then added eleven Mid-grade Spirit Stones, and pushed the whole lot over to Lü Zhong.

”Take a look, fellow cultivator. Is there any problem with the Spirit Stones?”

”No problem!” Lü Zhong finished his inspection and swept all the Spirit Stones into his possession.

Goods worth four thousand Spirit Stones had just sold for thirty-one thousand.

Although it was slower than killing someone for their possessions, at least he didn’t have to risk his life.

As for trouble, there was bound to be some.

Just as Lü Zhong expected, someone started following him after he left the purchasing house.

He couldn’t shake them off, no matter how he weaved and dodged.

Storage Bag +1

Repeating this process took quite a bit of effort. Lü Zhong changed his identity several times, moving between various purchasing houses and selling off most of the Spiritual Objects he had on him.

All told, he had earned a hundred thousand Spirit Stones.

And that wasn’t even counting the Storage Bags he’d acquired.

Easier than robbing a bank!

...

Somewhere in the Secret Market.

Two figures gathered together.

”Well? Did you find him?”

”No? How is that possible!”

A jade-faced young man couldn’t help but look astonished.

Across from him was an old crone wearing a ghost-face mask. She held a Compass that was currently emitting a faint, milky Spiritual Light. The needle on its face was spinning rapidly, showing no signs of stopping.

”I’ve lived a long time, but this is the first time I’ve ever seen something like this!”

The Compass in her hand was no ordinary object.

It was called a ”Person-Finding Disc,” and as the name suggested, it was used for finding people.

It was a replica of the Spirit Treasure, the ”Celestial Secret Disc.” Though only a High-grade Spiritual Artifact, it possessed the ability to divine heavenly secrets. When used to find people within a small area, it had never failed.

”In this situation, there is only one explanation...”

”What explanation?” the jade-faced young man asked with a frown.

”This person has a way to conceal his fate from divination!”

”Granny Qian, does that mean we can only find him through ordinary means?”

”I’m afraid so,” the old crone sighed.

Hearing this, the jade-faced young man’s frown deepened.

The True Central Sect’s attacks had grown more frequent recently, and the number of injured comrades increased by the day. If they could buy Healing Elixirs from that man, their people could recover faster instead of being slowly worn down like this.

That was the very reason he had come on this trip.

’Let me think, what will he do next?’ Shii Jingxuan rubbed his forehead, forcing himself to calm down and think carefully.

In the dim firelight.

Characters flickered in and out of existence on his palm.

...

Leaving the Moshi Secret Market.

Lü Zhong flew west.

There was a Small Workshop Market there called Jingfeng Market. It was also a gathering place for cultivators in the Ye Ling Domain. From the memories of several Demon Cultivators, it seemed to be controlled by righteous-path forces, which might mean he would be collecting fewer Storage Bags.

But he hadn’t been flying for long when he suddenly looked to his left.

Two small points of light had appeared there.

As if he had realized something, Lü Zhong frowned and stopped. He then descended directly to the ground and stood there quietly, waiting for the two points of light to approach.

After a short while, two streaks of light—one cyan, one red—shot over from the distance.

In the blink of an eye, they arrived before Lü Zhong.

They landed one after the other, revealing two cultivators in white robes.

The leader was a Female Cultivator in a yellow robe. She was strikingly beautiful, a great belle at a glance, but unfortunately, her gaze was so sinister that she gave off the impression of a venomous snake.

The other was a black-faced fatty. His watermelon-like body stood ten feet tall, and he carried an enormous hammer on his shoulder.

No matter how you looked at them, these two who had chased him down did not seem friendly.

Lü Zhong, disguised as a Daoist, let a hint of frost appear on his face. He asked in a cold voice, ”You two have been following me. I suggest you give me a reason, or you can’t blame me for what happens next!”

As he spoke, he released a sliver of his cultivation.

He acted as if he truly believed the two were at the Early-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivation.

”Hmph, a mere Mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator dares to be so arrogant!” The black-faced fatty stopped concealing his aura, revealing his Late-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivation. A vicious sneer spread across his face.

With that, he prepared to swing his great hammer and teach Lü Zhong a lesson.