A Loose Cultivator's Path to Longevity

The days passed, and Lü Zhong kept a close eye on Yu Feng’Er’s progress.

Perhaps the Ice Spirit Grass had worked wonders. Her condition was steadily improving, and it seemed she had a great chance of reaching the Nascent Soul realm.

「Three more years passed.」

During this time, in addition to his unwavering daily meditation, Lü Zhong found time to further refine the Shattering Star Finger Secret Skill. He managed to reduce its massive side effects without diminishing its power, so it no longer heavily injured his finger with a single use.

His next step was to continue refining the Shattering Star Finger.

His goal was to create a Divine Power Technique, one that was uniquely his own. However, this would take a great deal of time, and he wouldn’t see results anytime soon.

Just as the Southern Barbarian lands were growing peaceful and disputes were fading, a sudden disturbance arose.

...

It was early spring.

Bihai was already a vast expanse of lush green.

Lü Zhong finished a night of cultivation, rose, and pushed open the doors of his Quiet Chamber.

A fine drizzle was falling outside.

He took a deep breath of the fresh air and followed a small path to the Waterside Pavilion. After breakfast, he planned to process the spiritual materials that had arrived the previous day, which he would later refine into Pills.

Today, it was wontons again.

They were made with Fire Lotus petals as the main ingredient, blended with demon beast essence meat. They had a refreshing texture and a faint, delicate lotus fragrance.

Rich Spiritual Qi dissolved in his stomach, boosting his cultivation considerably.

He downed three bowls in a row.

Only then did Lü Zhong reluctantly set down his bowl and chopsticks, still wanting more.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want more. The Fire Lotus petals were simply too scarce, and he had also previously extracted their essence for Alchemy, leaving the Spirit Chef with only enough to make three bowls of wontons.

Suddenly, an unknown ripple swept through the area.

Lü Zhong’s expression changed. He rose, strode out of the Waterside Pavilion, and executed the Shooting Star Escape. His figure flashed repeatedly until he stopped, hovering ten thousand feet in the air.

A look of horror spread across his face as he gazed northward.

In that direction, he saw a ”black wall” that reached a hundred thousand feet into the sky and touched the ground. It was rapidly sweeping toward him, its speed no less than that of a Nascent Soul Cultivator in flight.

Wherever it passed, the sky and earth were enveloped in gloomy clouds.

’What’s happening?’ Lü Zhong was bewildered.

Before long, the black wall surged forward.

With lightning speed, it completely engulfed Bihai Island.

At the same time, Lü Zhong sensed a familiar aura intensifying at an exponential rate.

’The Nai River?’

’Someone has drawn upon the power of the Nai River!’

Lü Zhong immediately thought of the master from the Mysterious Dao Sect, horrified. ’Has he already begun his plan for Ascension?’

’It would be nearly impossible to explain such a phenomenon unless a Divinity Transformation expert was mobilizing the powers of heaven and earth.’

His face clouded over with uncertainty.

’To use the power of the Nai River to achieve his own Ascension...’

’Such an act was utterly monstrous.’

’It was obvious that this would lead to a massive catastrophe.’

’What’s going to happen now?’

Lü Zhong had no idea.

He observed from high in the sky for a while. Seeing no further anomalies, he descended back to the ground, filled with worry. His gaze fell upon his maids, and he noticed their faces were all unnaturally pale.

The cause was simple: the power of the Nai River had manifested in the mortal world, and the pervasive Yin Spiritual Qi was beginning to cause corrosion.

If a cultivator was continuously eroded by Yin Qi, they would inevitably show signs of becoming a Corpse Ghost.

’If even Bihai is affected this way, the situation in the Southern Barbarian lands must be far worse.’

At this thought, Lü Zhong connected to his Incarnation stationed at the Bihai Sect.

Unexpectedly, according to his Incarnation’s report, the Southern Barbarian lands were unaffected. The Spiritual Energy Great Wall erected by the Witch Cultivators not only blocked the Withered Tide spreading from the south but had also, surprisingly, blocked the power of the Nai River, sparing the inhabitants of the Southern Barbarian lands.

The manifestation of the Nai River lasted for a full six days and six nights.

At dawn on the seventh day.

The gloomy clouds that had enveloped the world suddenly vanished without a trace!

Then, a terrifying aura that made one’s heart pound swept in from the north.

The higher one’s cultivation, the more distinct the sensation.

’The Celestial Tribulation is descending!’

Lü Zhong, who had been meditating in his Quiet Chamber, suddenly opened his eyes, his face slightly pale.

’I can’t believe it... he actually managed to trigger a Celestial Tribulation!’

This was an event unseen in this realm for hundreds of thousands of years.

For some unknown reason, this world had not seen a Divinity Transformation expert ascend for a very long time. And yet, the Divinity Transformation master from the Mysterious Dao Sect had successfully triggered the Ascension Tribulation by using the power of the Nai River.

’Will he succeed?’

As a cultivator, Lü Zhong felt a deep-seated hope that this severed path could be restored.

This hope had nothing to do with good or evil.

He still had his own moral principles and would never resort to such a monstrous method—harming countless living beings to fulfill his own selfish desires. However, if the Western Sect’s Divinity Transformation master truly succeeded in his Ascension, it would prove that the path forward was not completely severed. It would mean that cultivators of this realm still had hope of ascending to the Upper Realm.

If he could one day reach the Divinity Transformation Realm, perhaps he could find another way to ascend as well.

Time ticked by, second by second.

The Celestial Tribulation Aura continued to hang over the realm.

Mortals and most low- to mid-rank cultivators could not perceive this change. They only felt that the weather had been unpredictable lately, but life went on as usual.

The sun rose and the sun set, all of it having nothing to do with them.

Only cultivators like Lü Zhong, whose cultivation had reached the upper echelons of this realm, were closely monitoring the situation.

「Several months passed in the blink of an eye.」

The Lantern Festival was approaching.

Lü Zhong stood atop a mountain peak, gazing at the Celestial Tribulation Aura that continued to surge from the north. A strange feeling crept over him. ’This Celestial Tribulation,’ he thought, ’is lasting far too long.’