A Loose Cultivator's Path to Longevity

’Fake Infant Realm strength!’

An expression of interest appeared on Lü Zhong’s face. He activated the Wood Thunder Seal in his Sea of Consciousness and thrust his hands upward. His Magical Power drained away like a torrent as he unleashed a ”Thunder Swamp” at the Outer Heaven Demon.

Countless arcs of electricity appeared out of thin air, and thunder rumbled without end. A thundercloud, even larger than before, suddenly materialized and instantly enveloped the Celestial Demon’s head.

CRACKLE! Under the painful barrage of lightning, black smoke billowed from the Outer Heaven Demon, its pale shell blackening and becoming pockmarked. However, it didn’t wail in agony. Instead, it seemed to grow excited. To Lü Zhong and Shuini’s surprise, its two hooves suddenly dug in, and with a speed that defied its massive frame, it nimbly charged out of the Thunder Swamp’s range.

”AHHHH!” A crazed shriek erupted from it.

A tangible soundwave swept outward. Even from thousands of feet away, the True Spirit Sect cultivators in mid-air who couldn’t dodge in time exploded into mists of blood and rained down from the sky. Those at the Qi Refining Stage bled from every orifice, grievously wounded by the terrifying sonic attack.

But it wasn’t finished. The Celestial Demon raised its tail.

After a flash of light, a pillar of purple light shot out from its tip.

The beam tore across the ground, kicking up pillars of dust hundreds of feet high and carving a deep ravine in its wake. It then rapidly swept toward Lü Zhong, about to strike him.

Lü Zhong’s expression was calm, as if certain it couldn’t hit him.

Just then, a streak of light spiraled through the air. As easily as slicing through tofu, it severed the Celestial Demon’s hundreds-of-feet-long tail at the root. It was Shuini who had deployed her Magical Treasure, effortlessly crippling the Outer Heaven Demon.

The streak of light darted up and down, dismembering the creature in an instant.

Chunks of its body, each weighing tens of thousands of pounds, crashed to the ground, making the very earth tremble violently.

Even so, the Celestial Demon wasn’t dead. It used its one remaining pincer to painstakingly drag itself forward. The remaining half of its scorpion-like head still let out fanatical shrieks, showing not the slightest fear of death. In fact, one could read from its expression that death was the ultimate reward.

’Agile, and unafraid of death...’

Lü Zhong glanced at the deep ravine carved out by the beam, then recalled the wide-ranging sonic attack from before. He mentally added another note: ’Its offensive capabilities are versatile, covering both long and short ranges, and its power is extraordinary.’

The only reason this Celestial Demon fell so quickly was that Shuini herself had intervened.

’If it had been me...’ he thought, ’...it would have been much trickier to handle. After all, the Celestial Demon was absurdly fast. One wrong move, and I might have ended up paying the price with an injury.’

Then Lü Zhong looked up at the sky. He saw that the Void Channel was gradually shrinking, and the gushing Spiritual Qi had dwindled to a trickle. At the same time, a small black dot appeared high above the Southern Barbarian lands. It slowly grew larger, manifesting more clearly.

With his powerful eyesight, Lü Zhong made out what had appeared in the sky.

It was the Ten Thousand Witches Hall!

He wasn’t the only one who was inwardly astonished. Even Shuini beside him had an awestruck expression, her beautiful eyes shimmering. As for the other cultivators, they were dumbstruck, to say the least. Some stared blankly, unable to believe that a continent had actually appeared in the sky.

That’s right. The Ten Thousand Witches Hall was, in essence, a floating continent.

When Lü Zhong came to his senses, he noticed that the Ten Thousand Witches Hall looked ethereal, not as if it had been truly pulled over. Moreover, there had been no phenomenon of Breaking the Boundary. He couldn’t help but guess that it was still in the Void. Shuini confirmed his suspicion and explained,

”What we’re seeing now is just a projection of the Ten Thousand Witches Hall in this realm. The real Ten Thousand Witches Hall is still in the Void. We have to wait until the thirteen Traction Towers are built and the Profound City Celestial Attraction Secret Array is successfully deployed. Only then will we have a chance to make the hall’s true body Break the Boundary and emerge.”

She then glanced at the devastated scene.

”That’s enough for today. Finishing the foundations for the Traction Towers is just the first step of a thousand-mile journey. It will be some time before the Profound City Celestial Attraction Secret Array is complete, and it remains to be seen if we can even pull the Ten Thousand Witches Hall down. Let’s head back for now...”

...

「Three days later.」

”A Tier Three Fire Source Pill, suitable for those with Late-stage Core Formation Cultivation! This is a Top-grade Pill from Central Earth, refined from a seven-hundred-year-old Fire Spirit Ginseng and a variety of rare supplementary medicines. While it enhances cultivation, it can also remove Pill Poison impurities from the body... Starting bid, eighty thousand Spirit Stones!”

Inside the Changchun Immortal City auction house, Lü Zhong was participating in an auction.

Perhaps because he’d spent too much time in seclusion, he recently felt his supply of Pills was insufficient. He had to pause his journey and attend several auctions in a row, hoping to win some Pills that could advance his cultivation and prevent it from stagnating due to a lack of Spiritual Objects.

Before long, he won the Fire Source Pill with a bid of one hundred thousand Spirit Stones.

Honestly, the price was a bit steep, but Pills that advanced one’s cultivation were rare finds that couldn’t simply be sought out. Lü Zhong felt it was better to focus his energy on increasing his strength than to fret over ten or twenty thousand Spirit Stones. After all, once he broke through to the Nascent Soul Stage, wouldn’t he be able to get anything he wanted?

...

”A Tier Three Spring Mist Returning Essence Pill, meticulously refined by the Alchemy Master, Elder Baodan! It’s made from five-hundred-year-old Spirit Medicines like Spring Splendor Dragon Fruit, Silver Mist Grass, and Guiyuan Lingzhi. Its effects are significantly more potent than other Pills of its tier! Although there is a risk of Pill Poison accumulation, it is still considered an excellent Breaking Through Pill...”

”There are two bottles of this Pill in total! The starting bid is one hundred thousand Spirit Stones!”

The moment the auctioneer’s voice fell, a cultivator immediately placed a bid.

”One hundred and ten thousand!”

”One hundred and fifteen thousand!”

Lü Zhong didn’t rush to bid. Instead, he continued to sip his tea, the very picture of leisure.