A Loose Cultivator's Path to Longevity

When she saw the bodies of Zhao Lin and the two others laid out neatly on the deck, even she, who had always been calm and composed, couldn’t help but reveal a look of shock.

Su Caocao couldn’t identify the three, but from the lingering aura of power on the bodies, she could tell their owners had been extraordinary individuals in life—their strength had been comparable to her master, Lü Zhong, who stood before her.

”Master, shall we begin the search immediately?”

”Search?” Lü Zhong stopped his train of thought. ”There’s no one to save. Just cremate them once they’re recovered.” He then gave an order: ”Collect everything of value with all your effort. Once it’s all been inventoried, add it to the Sect Treasure Vault.”

He had already claimed the three Storage Rings, and he couldn’t be bothered to personally inspect the Storage Bags of the other Core Formation and Foundation Establishment cultivators. ’There wouldn’t be much in them that I’d want, anyway. Besides, once the inventory is compiled, I’ll have first pick,’ he thought, which was why he had given the order.

”Yes!” Su Caocao replied.

With the order given, the disciples of the Bihai Sect sprang into action.

A flurry of activity began.

...

「Back at the Sect」

Lü Zhong recounted the day’s events to Yu Feng’Er. She was stunned to learn that the Bihai Sect had nearly faced annihilation.

But when she heard about the Lii Sea Great Saint’s involvement, Yu Feng’Er, who managed the Chengde Commerce Association, suddenly realized a crucial issue.

”My love, if the Lii Sea Great Saint remains camped out there, doesn’t that mean the East Sea Route is...!”

”That’s what I’m afraid of,” Lü Zhong said, his heart heavy.

For the Southern Barbarian Immortal Cultivation World, most of the goods produced in Central Earth were indispensable.

And the only way for those goods to reach the Southern Barbarian lands was via the East Sea Route.

Regardless of the Lii Sea Great Saint’s motive for attacking the Immortal Sect’s Flying Ship—whether it was to make an example out of them or for some other reason—as long as that Demon Cultivator occupied the Lii Sea, the East Sea Route would remain closed. An interruption in the East Sea trade would be an unmitigated disaster for the Southern Barbarian Immortal Cultivation World.

But as the saying went, there was only one road to Central Earth. To bypass the Lii Sea, home to a Half-Step Divinity Transformation master, any fleet would have to venture into the perilous depths of the Boundless Sea. And with their current strength, the Southern Barbarians clearly lacked the power to organize a sufficient escort, unlike the Celestial Origin Immortal Palace.

As for crossing the Heaven-Swaying Plateau?

From what Lü Zhong knew, that was even more difficult than bypassing the Lii Sea.

The only solution he could conceive of was to either forcibly carve a passage through the Heaven-Swaying High Wall where the plateau met the sea, or to install hundreds of Transmission Arrays to reconnect the Southern Barbarian lands with Central Earth and restore the broken trade link.

”Still, the ones in the biggest hurry right now should be the Gui Miao Immortal Sect,” Lü Zhong said with a sudden laugh.

The East Sea trade brought in enormous profits each year; even for a great power like the Gui Miao Immortal Sect, it had to be an indispensable source of resources.

If he were in their shoes...

Lü Zhong thought, ’If I were in this situation, I’d almost certainly ask a Divinity Transformation Grand Venerable to immediately go and slay the Lii Sea Great Saint blocking the route.’

After all, every day the East Sea trade remained severed meant millions of Spirit Stones lost, a matter concerning the interests of the entire Southern Sect Land of Central Earth.

’But if Luoying Grand Venerable does take action, will she make a detour to crush a ”little bug” like me in the process?’

The possibility occurred to him almost immediately.

It wasn’t very likely, but to be on the safe side, Lü Zhong decided to lay low for a while.

...

「Three years passed in a flash.」

Under the pretext of avoiding calamity, Lü Zhong had actually been living a life of leisure and pleasure with Yu Feng’Er and Shuini, and had been quite happy for some time.

Just as he had predicted, the Lii Sea Great Saint’s appearance had indeed severed the East Sea Route.

What Lü Zhong hadn’t expected, however, was that the Gui Miao Immortal Sect had yet to make a move. It was as if they were completely indifferent, content to watch the East Sea trade remain at a standstill.

It wasn’t until a ship, having miraculously survived a perilous detour through the Boundless Sea, finally arrived that they learned the reason why.

In Bihai Hall, Lü Zhong took control of his Incarnation.

Due to the gravity of the situation, the Core Formation cultivator who had served as the ship’s escort was summoned.

He was a black-faced Core Formation cultivator.

Looking down at the anxious man, Lü Zhong appeared perfectly calm, but inwardly, he found the man’s story to be utterly absurd.

He couldn’t help but ask again, ”Are you certain that Central Earth has truly fallen into chaos because of ’Soul Loss Syndrome’?”

It was no wonder Lü Zhong found it absurd.

After all, from his perspective, Soul Loss Syndrome was merely a bizarre illness.

Central Earth was a land where the Immortal Dao flourished, presided over by at least three Divinity Transformation cultivators. How could it possibly descend into chaos over a mere illness?

”I am certain. If I have spoken a word of falsehood, may I be punished by Celestial Tribulation!” the black-faced Core Formation cultivator swore. He then presented a white Jade Scroll, explaining, ”This is a Gossip Jade Scroll, which records rumors and anecdotes from the Southern Sect. It contains an entry on Soul Loss Syndrome. You will understand once you see it, Senior.”

Lü Zhong knew of Gossip Jade Scrolls; they were things created by incredibly bored Central Earth cultivators to pass the time. ’In my past life, they were basically just newspapers,’ he thought.

He took it and looked. Sure enough, there was a long passage describing ”Soul Loss Syndrome.”

The so-called Soul Loss Syndrome referred to a condition where the physical body lost its soul.

The onset of Soul Loss Syndrome was sudden, and its cause was unknown. The symptoms were unmistakable: the afflicted would become violent and aggressive. They would then attack any creature possessing a soul, driven to plunder it, and would not stop until their victim was dead.

If they survived after absorbing a large number of souls, over time, their strength would actually increase.

Some afflicted high-level cultivators retained a portion of their original cultivation and even some combat experience. After absorbing many souls, they became exceptionally difficult to handle.

Regarding the cause of this strange affliction, the scroll’s author attributed it to the recent manifestation of the Nai River, a phenomenon triggered by the Ascension of a Divinity Transformation cultivator from the Mysterious Dao Sect. The theory was that the Nai River’s appearance in the mortal world caused the souls of countless cultivators and mortals to vanish, ultimately leading to the great chaos now sweeping through Central Earth.

Reading the contents of the Jade Scroll, Lü Zhong had no choice but to accept that the sudden appearance of Soul Loss Syndrome had indeed thrown Central Earth into chaos.

He surmised that the Gui Miao Immortal Sect must be dealing with a fire in their own backyard, leaving them with no spare attention for anything else.

’Is this the catastrophe born from the misuse of the Nai River’s power?’ Lü Zhong had anticipated something like this, but he never imagined it would manifest in this particular way.

Soul Loss Syndrome was incredibly bizarre. It could infect not only mortals and low-level cultivators, but there were even documented cases among Core Formation cultivators.

Then again, Lü Zhong felt the truth of the matter was surely not that simple.

How could such a vast Cultivation Realm suffer such a grave disaster simply from the misuse of the Cinai River? There had to be a deeper reason for the appearance of Soul Loss Syndrome.

Bad news seemed to follow bad news.

But it wasn’t all bad news. At least, the Gossip Jade Scroll clearly stated that Soul Loss Syndrome was unable to affect Nascent Soul Stage cultivators, the reason for which lay with the Primordial Spirit.

”Truly a tumultuous time,” Lü Zhong lamented.

...

Information about Soul Loss Syndrome, including how to identify its symptoms... Lü Zhong held nothing back, publicizing all of it.

He didn’t care what opinions the various Sects and Clans of the Southern Barbarian lands might have after learning that Soul Loss Syndrome had thrown Central Earth into chaos.

If the sky fell, the tallest people would be the ones to prop it up.

He might as well focus on improving his cultivation.

Once he confirmed that the Gui Miao Immortal Sect had its own fires to put out and wouldn’t be free for the foreseeable future, Lü Zhong was able to relax for the time being.

On one hand, he sent his Incarnation to the Heaven-Swaying High Wall.

It began setting up Transmission Arrays, hoping to reconnect Central Earth and the Southern Barbarian lands.

His goal was to use this hidden channel to stay informed about the situation in Central Earth. As a bonus, it would also establish a way to acquire indispensable Spiritual Objects from there.

On the other hand, Lü Zhong also began to prepare for a rainy day.

The emergence of Soul Loss Syndrome gave him a strong sense of crisis.

The frequent disasters made this world feel like a leaky, sinking ship.

You never knew when it would finally be swallowed by the waves of catastrophe.

As he thought of this, Lü Zhong had a sudden epiphany. ’The Divinity Transformation masters of this realm, who were once content with the status quo, are all suddenly scrambling to achieve Ascension. I’m afraid it’s because they’ve already sensed what’s coming!’