A Loose Cultivator's Path to Longevity-Chapter 78 - 77: Spirit Seeking

Life returned to its usual calm.

Aside from his daily Talisman Making and seated meditation, Lü Zhong also spent his free time training his Spirit-Seeking Rat. He wanted to improve its ability to distinguish Spirit Medicines so that the next time they went out, it wouldn’t just run after all sorts of "junk."

During this time, Huang Shuyuan also paid him a visit.

He could tell she was very happy that day. She mentioned she had mastered a new type of talisman and was finally able to balance her income and expenses. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Lü Zhong was, of course, happy for her.

Three months later, a gentle winter rain was falling.

A copper kettle sat on a small clay stove, the water inside bubbling and gurgling as it boiled.

Lü Zhong sipped his tea while flipping through the Body Refining Technique manual in his hands.

This Body Refining Technique was called the "Spiritual Universe Dharma Body." It was passed down from a Body Refining Sect that had been destroyed long ago. Although it wasn’t a particularly profound Body Refining Method, it didn’t have any hidden traps either.

It had cost him two hundred and fifteen Spirit Stones to acquire.

According to the book, cultivating this technique was rather slow and required the use of the Spiritual Universe Secret Pill. Once mastered, one could cultivate the Spiritual Universe Dharma Body, which made the user difficult to harm with Magical Artifacts and impervious to fire and water.

The downside? It was probably that consuming the pills was expensive.

All in all, the Spiritual Universe Dharma Body was a decent Body Refining Technique.

Lü Zhong had already commissioned an Alchemist to refine the Spiritual Universe Secret Pills needed to practice this technique.

The Spiritual Universe Secret Pills weren’t cheap. Including the commission fee, each one was slightly more valuable than an Origin-Nurturing Pill, costing a full ten Spirit Stones.

Practicing this technique was different from ordinary Body Refining Techniques; it was actually quite similar to seated meditation.

The Spiritual Universe Dharma Body had a specific Technique Mantra. When cultivating, one would circulate energy to slowly refine the Spiritual Universe Secret Pill, using its medicinal power to temper the body.

The more Spiritual Universe Secret Pills one refined, the better the effects of the Spiritual Universe Dharma Body.

After refining a bottle containing three Spiritual Universe Secret Pills, Lü Zhong found that this Body Refining Technique was quite effective. His physical constitution had improved across the board, with the most noticeable change being his strength.

Compared to before he took the pills, his strength had increased by at least two or three pounds.

And this was only from his first time cultivating it.

...

About half a month later.

Lü Zhong was growing restless from the tranquility. Seeing that his Spirit-Seeking Rat was more or less trained, he decided to leave the workshop to test the results and, while he was at it, add a little variety to his boring life.

After all, while making money from Talisman Making was reliable, it was also undeniably dull.

Besides, cultivation wasn’t just about burying one’s head and training hard; it also required some necessary life experience.

This was precisely why one would occasionally hear stories about a Sect Disciple or a child from some great family getting injured or even killed while out gaining experience.

Even in winter, Yanling Mountain remained a swath of verdant green.

As far as Lü Zhong knew, it wasn’t just Yanling Mountain where he was. Even the Yongling Area further north was a place where snow never fell in winter, though the temperatures were slightly lower there.

Along the way, Lü Zhong still gave a wide berth to mortal villages and any cultivators he encountered.

Once he reached his destination, he immediately began his Spirit Seeking.

The Spirit-Seeking Rat’s efficiency at finding Spirit Medicines had improved greatly after its training.

Before long, Lü Zhong found a cluster of Spirit Medicine.

"It’s Red Silk Grass, and it’s all fully matured. My luck is pretty good!"

He quickly dug up the Red Silk Grass, roots and all, and stored it in a jade box.

His mood instantly brightened at having such a harvest right at the start.

Afterward, he harvested two more clusters of Red Silk Grass, both growing far from any path in unexpected places.

’So much Red Silk Grass. Could Yanling Mountain be a natural habitat for this kind of Spirit Grass?’

Lü Zhong decided that when he had time, he would look for some Spirit Medicine Atlas Books to read. He wanted to avoid the embarrassing mistake of stumbling upon a treasure without recognizing it.

He continued his Spirit Seeking with the Spirit-Seeking Rat, venturing deeper into Yanling Mountain.

The deeper he went into the mountains, the higher the concentration of Spiritual Qi in the air became, which also meant he could run into an Evil Cultivator at any moment.

Unlike the miserable Wilderness Independent Cultivators of Qingliu Square, the Evil Cultivators entrenched in Yanling Mountain were not to be trifled with. They used the abundant Spiritual Qi deep in the mountains, so their cultivation progress wasn’t much slower than those in the Workshop Market.

Furthermore, the mountains were fraught with danger. Not only could Demon Beasts appear at any time, but one also had to be wary of the malicious intentions of other Evil Cultivators. As a result, those who survived had all honed their combat skills, and their combat experience was nearly on par with that of Sect Disciples.

If possible, Lü Zhong had no desire to confront these Evil Cultivators.

After all, according to the rumors, there were actual Demon Cultivators among them.

He leaped over a stream and, under the Spirit-Seeking Rat’s guidance, found a Spirit Mushroom this time.

A Spirit Mushroom wasn’t considered a Spirit Medicine, but it could be cooked into delicious Spiritual Food.

Seeing the sky gradually darken, Lü Zhong decided to find a place to spend the night.

This was, in fact, his first time spending the night alone in the wilderness.

To ensure his safety, Lü Zhong didn’t save time by simply finding a random tree hollow to make do. Instead, he ordered the Spirit-Seeking Rat to dig a hole in the cliffside.

Despite being as big as a pig, it was not at all slow when it came to digging through rock. In the face of its sharp claws, the cliffside was barely harder than tofu.

The tunnel it dug was in a "Z" shape.

This method of digging had quite a few advantages. It could prevent things from being thrown directly inside, and it also blocked any direct line of sight into the cave.

The Spirit-Seeking Rat hadn’t been digging for long when it suddenly broke through into a hidden karst cave, which connected to a subterranean Dark River in its depths.

He investigated the Dark River for a while and didn’t sense any Demon Qi in the water. Instead, he managed to catch a fat, massive catfish, which would go perfectly with the Spirit Mushroom for an extra meal.

GURGLE GURGLE...

Soon, the Spirit Mushroom and fish stew was ready.

Lü Zhong tasted a spoonful of the broth and found it to be exceptionally savory.

The catfish had no earthy taste, and its meat wasn’t mushy as he had expected. Instead, it was slightly firm. Enhanced by the Spirit Mushroom, its delicious flavor was taken to another level.

In short, it was absolutely delicious.

After eating his fill, he didn’t forget to share some with the Spirit-Seeking Rat.

Considering he was outside the Workshop Market and it was only for a single night, Lü Zhong decided to simply meditate until dawn to avoid any accidents while he was asleep.

He blocked the entrance of the cave with a rock and began to meditate, Replenishing Qi to restore his condition.

As night fell, the mountain forest gradually grew noisy.

From time to time, the roars of beasts, some near and some far, could be heard.

During the fourth watch of the night, he heard footsteps stop outside, followed by the sound of something scraping at the rocks.

Fortunately, whatever it was only scraped for a short while before giving up and leaving.

After that, it was quiet again, but he didn’t dare to relax.

Being deep in mountains like these was to be surrounded by danger; he couldn’t let his guard down for even a moment.

Malice Detection!

’Hm, no reaction.’

Slightly relieved, Lü Zhong continued to meditate.

Soon, dawn arrived.

Moving the rock aside, he saw the traces left behind by last night’s visitor.

There were distinct vertical gashes on the stone wall, evidently made by sharp claws. In the vision of his Qi Observation Skill, wisps of black energy were rising from these scratches.

"Corpse Qi?" Lü Zhong’s expression changed.

He looked toward the cave entrance and, sure enough, saw extremely faint traces of residual Corpse Qi.

’It seems the rumors are true!’

Lü Zhong became even more vigilant, his face grim as he stared out at the mountain forest.

’To be safe, I won’t go any deeper today.’

He decided to change direction slightly and continue his Spirit Seeking.