A Loose Cultivator's Path to Longevity

”What’s hiding in that darkness?” someone cried out.

Wherever the darkness passed, it devoured everything in its path.

In just a few moments, it was upon them.

Only then could the others finally see it clearly. That was no darkness; it was a pitch-black monster.

It was now opening its massive, Taotie-like maw. Tentacles surged from its throat, greedily pulling everything they touched into its mouth.

Instantly, the faces of every cultivator present turned pale. Without a moment’s hesitation, they turned and fled.

Everyone immediately reversed course—from Nan Cang and his group from the Daoist Sect, to the remaining Zhuyuan and Huoyaozi of the Eternal Life Hall, to the other Nascent Soul True Monarchs from Central Earth. They transformed into streaks of rainbow light, rushing toward the side of the passage that hadn’t yet collapsed.

Surprise flashed across the faces of Lü Zhong and Shuini.

Then, Lü Zhong decisively grabbed Shuini and shot through the air as a streak of crimson light. In the process, he went so far as to burn his own Essence Blood, pushing his Escape Speed to its absolute limit.

The streak of light suddenly elongated, and the scenery on either side blurred as it flew backward.

But just then, everyone suddenly found their Magical Power spiraling out of control. An instant later, like headless flies, they lost all flight control and went plummeting headfirst into the ground or walls, their screams echoing one after another.

If their bodies as Nascent Soul Cultivators hadn’t been so powerful, that impact alone would have wiped them all out.

Even so, no one escaped unscathed.

Those with weaker constitutions surely suffered torn meridians and broken bones; it was impossible to say how long they would need to recover.

Even the cultivators with slightly stronger bodies coughed up mouthfuls of blood. Their bodies were inevitably damaged in multiple places—hairline fractures and deep bruises were the norm for everyone.

Even Lü Zhong, with his exceptionally strong physique, felt dizzy and his vision swam. He forced himself to his feet and looked up just in time to see the massive maw lunging toward him.

In the next instant, innumerable tentacles shot toward him.

A jolt of fear shot through Lü Zhong. He frantically tried to summon his Magical Power to defend himself, but his Dantian felt as if it were frozen solid. There was no response whatsoever, and a chill spread through his heart.

Completely powerless to resist, he was instantly engulfed by the tentacles.

Then, everything went black.

...

Lü Zhong woke from the darkness with a splitting headache. He found himself lying on something soft—a body. The scent was deeply familiar. After a moment of fumbling, he confirmed it was Shuini.

For some reason, however, she was still fast asleep.

If not for her steady breathing, Lü Zhong would have thought something terrible had happened to her.

He tried to sense his Magical Power. While it was no longer spiraling out of control, it felt sealed. No matter how he tried to summon or direct it, it remained as still as a pool of stagnant water, giving no response.

Using the Gray Mist Space to perform an Introspection, Lü Zhong discovered the source of the problem. At some point, tendrils of black qi had appeared in his Dantian. They had manifested as chains, tightly sealing all of his True Essence.

Meanwhile, in his Sea of Consciousness, the same strange black qi had appeared, forming more chains that imprisoned his Nascent Soul.

At this moment, he was no different from a mortal.

Forcibly suppressing his unease, Lü Zhong turned his attention to his surroundings.

After some careful probing, he got a rough idea of his location. If he wasn’t mistaken, he was inside a stomach. The strong, acrid stench of decay in the air was the best evidence.

Evidently, after being swallowed, this was where they had been sent.

But what struck Lü Zhong as odd was that, apart from some fragments of the devoured passageway and the unconscious Shuini, there were no other cultivators around.

’Strange... Does that monster have multiple stomachs?’ It seemed like the only reasonable explanation to Lü Zhong.

Suddenly, a violent tremor ran through the ground beneath him.

Before Lü Zhong could process what was happening, he was overcome by a powerful sensation of falling. The whistling of wind filled his ears, and a light shot up from below. At first, it was just a faint glimmer, but it quickly intensified into a blinding glare, which then resolved into a patch of azure.

GUSH!

Amid the gushing of blood, the two of them were caught in the torrent and spat out.

Only then did Lü Zhong realize he was tens of thousands of feet in the air.

And he was plummeting downward at an incredible speed.

Looking up, he saw a mountain-sized black silhouette. Blood-red mist spewed from its body as it battled a luminous figure. Neither side seemed to be able to gain the upper hand.

The attacks exchanged by the two combatants were utterly terrifying.

Lü Zhong felt a surge of pure terror.

He knew with chilling certainty that in his current state, he couldn’t possibly withstand the aftershock from even a single one of their attacks.

Without a doubt, the two beings fighting above had to be legendary Divinity Transformation existences. Only figures of such a Realm could command the vast power of heaven and earth with a mere gesture.

In the blink of an eye, Lü Zhong had fallen far from the battlefield.

He then plunged into a layer of thunderclouds. After passing through the flashing lightning and roaring thunder within the Cloud Qi, he finally saw the ground. At the same time, he estimated his altitude was over sixty-five thousand feet.

From such a height, landing without any Defense would be fatal.

Forget a Nascent Soul True Monarch; even a Divinity Transformation Grand Venerable would likely be killed on impact.

Lü Zhong immediately tried to summon his Magical Power again. He found that after escaping the stomach, the black qi sealing his True Essence had loosened slightly, but it still held him firmly in its grip.

As the ground rushed up to meet him, thoughts raced violently through his mind.

Lü Zhong racked his brains, desperate to find a way out of his predicament.

But for now, his True Essence and Nascent Soul remained sealed.