A Loose Cultivator's Path to Longevity

Lü Zhong tried to activate it with Magical Power, but failed as expected.

’It seems I have to use Yin Qi to power it, just like a Demon Cultivator’s Demon Artifact...’

Then, lightning flashed in his hand. With a CRACKLE, the Ghost Treasure unleashed a massive amount of Yin Qi to resist the lightning, but it quickly failed. The blood-red color and Runes on its surface faded before he crushed it to dust between his fingers.

This incident taught Lü Zhong a great deal about Ghost Cultivators.

’With the Wood Thunder Skill and the Purple Gold Extreme Fire, I have nothing to fear from Ghost Cultivators. In fact, by leveraging the restraining effect my Spirit Fire Secret Skill has on them, I could even fight someone a little above my level. If I were to face a Ghost Cultivator comparable to a Late-stage Nascent Soul expert, I could easily retreat even if I couldn’t defeat them.’

At this thought, his gaze shifted down to the Ghost Bride.

The Ghost Bride had just been struck by his Thunder Skill. She had only been wounded, not killed, because her Divine Soul was still inside her physical body; she wasn’t a Ghost Cultivator who had abandoned her flesh. Otherwise, assaulted by the immense Celestial Tribulation Aura and bombarded by the Wood Yang Thunder, her soul would have been utterly obliterated.

With a grasping motion, Lü Zhong retrieved a Storage Bag from her.

He gave it a casual glance. It was surprisingly full, but there was little of value to an Immortal Cultivator. It was all items for Ghost Cultivators: food like human flesh, hearts, and livers; Ghost Dao materials like human skin, blood, and bones; and a few Ghost Artifacts.

To a Ghost Cultivator, a human’s entire body is a treasure.

After rummaging for a moment, he found what he was looking for.

It was a Jade Scroll dyed with blood and soaked in Corpse Oil and spices, giving off a pungent, bizarre odor. ’Ghost Cultivators certainly have abnormal tastes.’

Lü Zhong was unfazed and shattered the Prohibition on the Jade Scroll with his Divine Sense.

Blood Wedding Robe

This was a Ghost Cultivation Technique.

It detailed a method for embarking on the Ghost Dao: one had to perform a bloody wedding ceremony that mimicked the rites of the Evil Spirit known as the ”Ghost Bride.” The purpose of the ritual was to gather resentful energy in the Dantian, thus ”introducing Qi into the body.” Unlike Immortal Cultivators, the Ghost Dao involved drawing Yin Qi into the body.

The rest of the scroll detailed the specific Techniques.

Different paths are worlds apart. The Immortal and Ghost Daos were two completely different Cultivation Systems. As an Immortal Cultivator, even a Nascent Soul True Monarch like Lü Zhong with his profound Magical Power could only grasp the basics.

He was most interested in the section on the Rule Illusion Realm.

The idea that Ghost Cultivators could use rules to kill was inconceivable to Immortal Cultivators.

Even Immortal Cultivators at the Divinity Transformation realm could only manipulate the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi. They were still a long way from being able to interfere with the fundamental rules of the world.

But Ghost Cultivators were different. They could create a Rule Illusion Realm as soon as they reached the Foundation Establishment Realm.

Though the ”rules” in each case were clearly different in meaning, Lü Zhong was still deeply curious. Yet even after reading the entire scroll, he remained completely baffled.

At this point, Lü Zhong had no choice but to give up.

Just then, he sensed a gaze upon him.

It was the Sword Cultivator.

Lü Zhong had seen the man trying to kill himself earlier and had casually intervened.

Chu Xun stared at Lü Zhong with an incredibly complex expression. He had assumed Lü Zhong was just some arrogant young master from a Noble Family, never imagining he was a Nascent Soul True Monarch. No wonder he’d been watching the events unfold like a spectator. A Nascent Soul Cultivator’s ability to crush a Core Formation cultivator certainly gave him that right.

Remembering that the man had saved his life, Chu Xun bowed deeply, cupped his fists, and said,

”This junior, Chu Xun, thanks Senior for saving my life!”

Lü Zhong waved a dismissive hand, unconcerned.

He had only bothered to save the man because he saw a shadow of an old acquaintance in the Sword Cultivator. That person, too, had once been so ”self-righteously noble.”

Noticing the emotion in Chu Xun’s eyes, Lü Zhong couldn’t help but ask,

”What? You want to finish her off yourself? Be my guest.”

”...Thank you, Senior!” Chu Xun said after a moment of silence.

He then took out a broken Jade Disc from his robes and presented it with both hands. ”I can never truly repay you for saving my life, but please, Senior, accept this. This Jade Disc has a significant history; it’s said to be connected to an ancient secret. Forgive my incompetence, for I was unable to uncover its mysteries. I can only trouble you to investigate it, Senior.”

”Mm.” Lü Zhong nodded and accepted it without ceremony.

At the same time, a thought crossed his mind.

’I have a piece of a Jade Disc just like this one. Judging by the fractured edge, they must be from the same object. To think it might be connected to an ancient secret... this trip has been quite fruitful!’

’I wonder what will happen when the Jade Disc is pieced back together?’

Chu Xun then walked over to the Ghost Cultivator. Without hesitation, he raised his Magical Treasure longsword and plunged it into her Dantian, using his Sword Qi to shatter the Ghost Pill within. A plume of pure Ghost Qi immediately shot into the sky.

Yet he did not deliver the killing blow. Instead, he sat down cross-legged beside her, as if waiting for something.

”What’s this about?” Lü Zhong asked.

”Reporting to Senior, I am waiting for the two family caravans to leave. This Ghost Cultivator was part of the Gounan Ghost Emperor’s harem and was highly favored, which is how she managed to form a Ghost Pill in just ten years. If I were to kill her now, I fear it would draw the wrath of that old Nascent Soul ghost, Gounan. So, I plan to wait a few days, and then...” Chu Xun trailed off.

No matter how Chu Lin had changed, in Chu Xun’s heart, she was still his beloved little sister. The few days of waiting were, in reality, time for him to convince himself.

Lü Zhong nodded at his words.

He had no intention of getting involved. Whatever happened with Chu Xun and Chu Lin was none of his business.

’Besides, so what if this Ghost Cultivator managed to survive and brought the Gounan Ghost Emperor here?’

’Worst case, I’ll just kill them both, young and old.’

’I came out to gain experience, after all. I have to kill *something*.’

Afterward, Lü Zhong found Lin Ying and negotiated with the Lin Family Patriarch to take the young girl. He didn’t have to give them anything; the Lin Family offered her as repayment for his life-saving grace.

As he watched the streak of light disappear into the distance, a complex expression crossed Lin Ying’s face.

’For a Nascent Soul Cultivator to personally ask for her, she must be extraordinary. And yet, in our Lin Family, she was nothing more than an overlooked servant with a different surname—a pearl gathering dust.’

’In the future, even if Yaoyun achieves great things, she probably won’t have anything to do with the Lin Family.’

At this thought, his feelings grew even more complex.

...

Qingbu Square was named for an ancient riverside wharf. It was once an unremarkable place in Wunan Prefecture, but since the disaster began, it had gradually grown to become the largest Workshop Market in the region.

When Lü Zhong and Yaoyun arrived at Qingbu Square, they found the smoke of battle still lingering in the air, as if a great fight had just ended. The ground before the main gate was littered with the remains of the Soulless.

He asked the cultivators at the gate and learned that an attack of this magnitude from the Soulless was nothing unusual; Qingbu Square experienced one every few days.

There was no fee to enter the square, just an identity check.

As long as you weren’t a Ghost Cultivator, you could enter with ease.

Passing through the gatehouse and the barrier of the Tier Four Defense Array, a crowded, cramped, and oppressive vista unfolded before Lü Zhong. The streets twisted like a jagged-toothed saw, flanked by haphazardly constructed shanties interspersed with the original pavilions of the Workshop Market, all of it snaking up to the distant mountain peak.

The first word that came to Lü Zhong’s mind upon seeing Qingbu Square was ”slum.”

It bore no resemblance to the prosperous Immortal Port of Central Earth he had imagined.

This was to be expected, however, as it was a time of great turmoil.

Once the Soul Loss Syndrome was quelled and the Ghost Cultivators were suppressed once more, the cultivators here would recover and rebuild, and the place would regain its former glory.

Perhaps he was heading in the wrong direction, as he saw few cultivators. His path was filled only with mortals who had no cultivation whatsoever. The streets here were awash with raw sewage. Household garbage and animal waste mingled together, left uncleaned for so long that it all gave off a putrid, sickening stench.

There were women standing under the eaves. They would glance up at the sound of footsteps, but upon seeing a cultivator and a young Daoist Child, they would quickly lower their heads and shrink back behind their doors.

None of them tried to solicit him. They knew that even if they offered themselves for free, they wouldn’t be wanted.

The situation only began to improve after he had walked for quite some time.

But only in that it was slightly cleaner.

Passersby hurried along the narrow streets, most with their heads bowed and faces etched with misery. Many shops lined the sides of the street, but most were deserted. Only a few Pill Shops, Magical Artifact Shops, and grain stores were thriving, with lines of cultivators waiting to make purchases spilling out into the street.

Lü Zhong traveling with the young child drew some attention.

But no one dared to make a move on a Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

He walked on a bit further and passed through a large gate guarded by cultivators. Here, the streets finally widened, and the surroundings were much better than before. Traces of the area’s former prosperity were visible everywhere.

He found an inn to stay at.

Lü Zhong prepared to take care of something.