Dao Companions Help Me Live Forever

Chapter 194: Yulan's Choice, the New Gold Core True Immortal

In the year 5702 of the Jiuyang calendar, on the second day of the seventh month, the weather was clear.

The calendar in Shangyang City was chaotic, with each family having their own set of algorithms, so Yu Xian had always used his age as a time reference.

Counting from the initial starting point, he had crossed over to this world when he was twenty-seven years old.

After three years of bitter cultivation, his cultivation level had not improved at all. At the age of thirty, he resolutely went to the mortal world of Yueguo to retire, thus opening up the cheat code belonging to transmigrators.

At the age of thirty-eight, he returned to the cultivation world and became an ordinary citizen in Shangyang City for two years.

At the age of forty, he was invited by Old Ancestor Zhao and became a guest of the Zhao family, sitting in their family territory.

At the age of forty-two, the beast tide broke out in Shangyang City, and Old Ancestor Zhao was seriously injured, leading to a conflict between the Zhao family and him, forcing him to kill all the Zhao family members.

At the age of fifty-one, he went to Shangyang City to obtain the Foundation Building Pill and narrowly missed Chen Yi.

At the age of fifty-three, he met Chen Yi again, and in the same year, Yulan successfully built her Foundation Building, returning to Shangyang City once again.

At the age of fifty-four, he accepted Luo Han as his Dao companion, and two years later, he peacefully broke up with Chen Yi.

At the age of sixty-one, Shangyang City encountered another beast tide. Using the blood sacrifice formation recorded in the Blood Demon Technique, he refined blood puppets and blood demon swords, greatly increasing his power.

The following year, Chen Yi and Chen Xiao left, leaving Shangyang City to be dominated by him alone.

At the age of sixty-six, he broke through to the Gold Core stage.

Now, at the age of seventy, he had one fake pill cultivator under his command, two demon kings, and a third-level blood puppet. He was wealthy and powerful, capable of becoming a local overlord.

With the corresponding Jiuyang calendar, the timeline became clear.

With a sense of time, Yu Xian found himself slowly integrating into this world and feeling a sense of belonging.

According to the True Man of Ten Thousand Beasts, the Jiuyang Domain was vast, spanning millions of miles, almost equivalent to the surface area of the planet he had lived on in his previous life.

And the Jiuyang Domain was only a part of the entire Great Realm.

Outside the Jiuyang Domain, there were many other large and small domains.

Without exception, each territory with "Domain" as a suffix had one or more Nascent Soul cultivators sitting in power.

Although the True Man of Ten Thousand Beasts had fallen from grace, he came from a genuine prestigious family and had a completely different perspective from the so-called aristocratic families in Shangyang City, which were nothing more than country bumpkins.

Yu Xian was like a sponge, absorbing the knowledge and inheritance of the True Man of Ten Thousand Beasts.

Chen Xiao, who was caught by him before the True Man of Ten Thousand Beasts, unfortunately had a low level of cultivation and was all about muscles. He couldn't squeeze out much.

On the other hand, Chen Yi's level was truly worthy of being called a genius.

But in front of her, Yu Xian really didn't want to expose his ignorance and become a country bumpkin.

In the end, he still wanted to conquer Chen Yi.

In a dominant position.

In the blink of an eye, Yu Xian had been back from the Wan Yao Mountain Range for half a year.

...

Fudi District, Mansion No. 3.

Banquet hall.

Yu Xian waved his hand, and a group of charming and alluring dancers, dressed in cool and breathable clothes, bowed and retreated, leaving behind a room filled with fragrant breeze mixed with the aroma of fruit wine, arousing people's imagination.

"Yang Daoist friend, don't you like the singing and dancing?" Yu Xian reclined, with his legs resting on the table, in a rather casual posture.

On the table, a small blood-colored metal sword was inserted upside down, with a dark red banner embroidered with many animal patterns hanging from the tip of the sword, fluttering in the wind.

At this moment, a small figure floated out from the banner, and it was none other than the Beast Master.

"Yu Xian, when will you avenge me with such an attitude? A hundred years have passed in the blink of an eye. You have great talent and are destined to compete with the geniuses of the Immortal Sect in the future. How can you indulge in wine, women, and the path of debauchery?"

The Beast Master's face was filled with sorrow and indignation.

At first, Yu Xian humbly sought his advice, and he was quite pleased, thinking that this guy could handle it and there was a greater hope for avenging him.

But within two months, the Beast Master realized that he was wrong.

Yu Xian was not a diligent cultivator at all. He clearly indulged in wine and women, and he indulged to the extreme, enjoying almost every woman he encountered.

As for cultivation, he didn't bother.

Apart from wasting the spiritual flowers and herbs he brought back from the Demon Bee Forest, claiming to be refining alchemy, most of the time, he would rather gaze at the sky than stop and cultivate for a while.

Of course, women were definitely indispensable.

Seeing Yu Xian squandering his talent like this, the Beast Master couldn't help but feel anxious for him.

But Yu Xian shook his head and said, "Wine and women are the desires of the human heart. I follow my inner desires, which is following human desires and following the will of heaven.

The great Dao is vast, who can say for sure that I am wrong?"

"If the Daoist friend could recognize his own inner desires like me, perhaps he wouldn't have encountered such a great calamity in the first place."

"Furthermore, the spiritual energy here is thin. If I cultivate diligently for a day, it's not as good as enjoying myself for a day. How can it be said that I am wasting time?"

"Why not join me in listening to songs and enjoying dances, and be an ordinary person?"

The Beast Master almost couldn't help but laugh.

"Since the spiritual energy here is thin, why don't you go back to the Demon Bee Forest to cultivate, or go to the Xuan Yang Realm? There are fourth-grade spiritual veins there.

With your age and cultivation, even if you join the Xuan Yang Sect, you can become a guest elder and have hope of promotion to the inner sect."

Yu Xian was very clear-minded and said, "Joining a sect means being bound, which is not what I seek. Moreover, I cultivate demonic techniques, which will never be accepted openly.

Even if I join the Xuan Yang Sect, I will only be a night pot, and wanting to enter the inner sect is wishful thinking."

"This is not allowed, that is not allowed, what exactly do you want? Or do you have no intention of avenging me at all?"

The figure of the Beast Master began to dissipate.

"I have given you everything you wanted, you can't go back on your word!"

"Hello, Yang Daoyou, please don't slander me. It was all willingly given by you, making it seem like I forcefully took it."

Yu Xian quickly corrected him.

"A hundred years have passed, even if we consider the time in the Demon Bee Forest, it has only been a little over a year. Why rush?"

"Hmph."

The True Beastman sneered.

With Yu Xian's current situation, even if another hundred years passed, he wouldn't be able to seek revenge.

Now he was like a trapped leek, unwilling to cut himself but tormented day and night.

The environment inside the Beast Soul Banner was not something a human could endure.

Even though he tried his best not to refine the beast souls within, every passing day, the blood and malevolent aura within the banner would infect him a little.

Since refining a million demon bees in the Demon Bee Forest, he clearly felt that his temper had become more irritable.

A hundred years was the most conservative estimate.

Once Yu Xian used the Beast Soul Banner to fight against others, as the main soul, he would inevitably have to join the battle. By then, the contamination he would face would be even heavier.

Seeing that the True Beastman wasn't buying it and had a stance of "Do you believe I'll kill myself right now to show you," Yu Xian quickly appeased him.

"Alright, actions speak louder than words. Let's make a bet."

"What kind of bet?"

"You said I lack ambition and am addicted to wine and women. Let's bet on whether I can break through to the mid Gold Core stage within twenty years. If I can, you owe me two third-grade demon pills. If I can't, you can consider it an early release. Even if you commit suicide, I'll send your soul back to the heavens and earth, and I won't stop you from reincarnating."

Yu Xian was very serious about freeloading.

Regardless of winning or losing, he wouldn't lose out.

However, the True Beastman wasn't so easily fooled. His only reliance now was the inheritance within the Beast Soul Banner.

Without these treasures by his side, Yu Xian could easily kill him and completely control the Beast Soul Banner.

But if Yu Xian really managed to break through to the mid Gold Core stage within twenty years, he wouldn't be unable to accept it.

"Alright, I accept the bet. How do you plan to cultivate? Fully devote yourself to the Blood Demon Path?"

This was the only possibility the True Beastman could think of.

However, the reason he could tolerate Yu Xian's absurdity and lack of ambition was twofold. One was that it hadn't been long since they met, and the other, more important reason was that Yu Xian didn't cultivate as a human.

Although he himself had once practiced the Yin Blood Demon Art, he didn't agree with the theory of the Blood Demon Path.

Humans were humans, their own kind, not food.

If Yu Xian really turned into a demon, he would willingly self-destruct.

But Yu Xian sneered, "The Blood Demon Path is just a minor path. How could I be addicted to it? I cultivate the righteous path of heaven and earth."

As for how to cultivate, you'll have to wait and see."

The Beastly True Immortal fell into a long silence.

Even though the Blood Demon Dao lineage had a notorious reputation, it still thrived in the demonic path. Many demonic powerhouses were even born from the Blood Demon Dao, known for their ferocity and tenacity.

Could this be considered a minor path?

And yet, in Yu Xian's eyes, indulging in sensual pleasures and alcohol was the grand path?

What kind of twisted logic was this?

But upon careful consideration, compared to practicing cannibalism, indulging in sensual pleasures and alcohol seemed more acceptable.

The Beastly True Immortal no longer tried to advise him and sank into the Soul Banner.

After all, he was just a soul slave, not Yu Xian's master. It was already a kindness for Yu Xian to allow him to be by his side and nag at him.

...

Another month passed.

Yu Xian continued to revel every night. With the Jiang and Wu families as his allies, ruling Shangyang City, and the Taxation Bureau serving as an intelligence organization, his days were leisurely.

The Beastly True Immortal no longer nagged, but instead hid in the Soul Banner, secretly observing. It seemed like he really wanted to gain some insight from Yu Xian's daily life.

It's also worth mentioning that Yulan had returned. She refused to go out and hunt down Foundation Building cultivators anymore.

Faced with cultivators who fought to protect their people, even at the cost of their lives, the shining humanity within them made her unable to find a reason to persist.

This contradicted her nature.

She was not the decisive and ruthless Chen Yi, nor was she Zhao Shiwen, who would do anything to climb higher.

She was just a simple woman who wanted to live quietly under her husband's protection.

Back then, she could fight side by side with the Moon True Sect.

That was because they shared a common enemy, and there was nothing pitiable about those who had insulted women.

But this time was different.

She understood that this was just a game, a game designed specifically for her.

She thought she could endure it.

Even if it was for the expectations in her husband's eyes.

But when she saw a mother holding her child, kneeling in front of her, willing to sacrifice everything for a glimmer of hope for her child's future.

When she saw the ugly faces of the cultivators chasing after her, their mockery and torment of their prey, engaging in the most disgusting acts imaginable.

She felt that many people were innocent, just caught in the crossfire.

She was on the verge of collapse.

So she came back, exhausted, standing in front of Yu Xian, her eyes dim and lifeless.

"Darling, I'm so tired."

Yu Xian felt a pang of heartache as he realized he had done something foolish. But at this moment, all he could do was smile and open his arms to embrace her.

"Then don't do it anymore."

"I'm sorry."

Yulan shed tears in Yu Xian's embrace, feeling extremely inadequate.

Yu Xian comforted her gently, "We don't need to say these things between us. If anyone should apologize, it should be me. I always make assumptions and plan your life without considering your happiness or preferences. But I won't do that anymore."

He thought it would be a replication of his experience with Yue Zhenpai back then, but he didn't consider the pressure Yulan would bear as the person in charge. Moreover, facing more than a dozen Foundation Building cultivators and their families, the situation was more than ten times more complicated than it was with Yue Zhenpai.

Given Yulan's personality, it was already incredible that she had persisted until now.

He was grateful that Yulan had informed him of everything in time instead of bearing it alone. Otherwise, by the time he realized it, Yulan might have already changed.

When Yulan heard that Yu Xian didn't blame her at all and instead apologized to her, her nervousness and unease disappeared instantly.

She quietly buried herself in Yu Xian's embrace and unknowingly fell asleep.

Yu Xian looked at Yulan's peaceful sleeping face and couldn't help but sigh.

Cultivation requires a heart of courage and diligence, and one must tread as if on thin ice. Without going through the forging of intense flames, how can one cultivate a precious and beautiful Dao heart?

After all, not everyone can be as lucky as him.

But if he couldn't even achieve these things, how could he expect Yulan, who was as delicate as a flower, to do so?

"I just want you to accompany me a little longer, but I want to see you happy even more. That's when I'll feel like I'm still a person."

Yu Xian gently smoothed out the furrow between Yulan's eyebrows and secretly thought to himself,

"I entered the Dao because of you. Even if you enter the cycle of reincarnation in the future, after I become an immortal, I will definitely seek you out."

With this thought firmly in mind, Yu Xian felt as if the sea and sky were boundless, and his heart was filled with determination.

Yes, if it couldn't be achieved in one lifetime, he would seek it in the second or third lifetime.

Since there was immortality and eternal life, how could there not be the underworld and reincarnation? With reincarnation, there would be past lives and present lives.

...

Wu Mansion, alchemy room.

Wu Laozu sat down with fear and dared only to sit on half of his buttocks.

There was no room for any carelessness.

Just the day before, he heard the news that most of the cultivators who followed Miss Yulan had met a tragic end.

He knew very well that those dead cultivators who had been following Miss Yulan were not clean-handed. Especially those who had confronted Miss Yulan face-to-face, their deaths were even more miserable.

He knew that the Lord Manager had been in a bad mood lately.

In this situation, as the guardian, he naturally bore the brunt and would be punished if he made any mistakes.

"Don't be so afraid. I don't eat people. I came to find you because I have something for you to do."

Yu Xian smiled faintly, concealing his emotions.

Wu Laozu respectfully replied, "I will do my best to fulfill the Lord Manager's request."

"Here are the materials for the Five Elements Yuan Dan. Can you refine another one? Is that okay?"

Yu Xian tossed a storage bag to him.

Wu Laozu didn't dare to answer immediately.

The materials for the Five Elements Yuan Dan were not easy to come by.

The Wu family had encountered some fortuitous encounters and obtained the inheritance of a Gold Core cultivator. After three hundred years of accumulation, coupled with the convenience of his position, he had barely managed to gather the materials for one furnace.

Even if the Lord Manager had astonishing strength, how much time had passed?

Not to mention anything else, just the Gold Core of a Gold Core cultivator or the third-level demon pill of a demon king, how could they be easily obtained?

So he couldn't easily agree. If the Lord Manager held him responsible, he wouldn't have the Five Elements Yuan Dan to compensate him.

Even if he dug out the fake pill, it would be useless.

But when he probed his divine sense into the storage bag, he saw a dense array of alchemy materials and a momentary dark golden third-level demon pill that was as dazzling as a pearl.

"This...?"

Wu Laozu was almost speechless, his eyes widened in disbelief.

"A third-level demon pill?!"

Yu Xian smiled modestly, "I went to the Ten Thousand Demon Mountain a few days ago, just casually strolling around. As a result, I picked up a demon pill. Is there a problem?"

Where would Wu Laozu believe such nonsense about picking up a demon pill?

Although it was true that some demon kings, when their lifespan was about to end, would find a hidden place to sleep and then, due to changes in the terrain or the breaking of a natural formation, their resting place would be exposed to the world.

But a third-level demon pill was also a rare and precious tonic for demonic beasts. Once it appeared, it would have long been fought over. How could it wait for a human cultivator to pick it up?

But looking at the demon pill, which had completely converged its aura and was quite old, it didn't look like a freshly killed pill. Could it really have been picked up?

Damn it, how many times had his Wu family members risked their lives to go to the Ten Thousand Demon Mountain to collect herbs? How come they never had such good luck?

"No, no problem."

Wu Laozu sighed.

"Since the Lord Manager has prepared the materials, I am 80% confident in refining this furnace of pills."

It is not advisable to speak too much, otherwise, in case of any unexpected situation, there will be no room for recovery.

Yu Xian said, "Rounding up to eighty percent is basically a hundred percent. I'll wait for good news from Wu Daoist friend."

After speaking, he got up and left.

Wu Laozu had not yet reacted. By the time he understood the relationship between eighty percent and a hundred percent, Yu Xian had already disappeared.

"Now it's impossible not to succeed."

He sighed and took out the third-grade demon pill that had lost its radiance, carefully studying it.

The previous Five Elements Yuan Dan could succeed, which was also related to the long-term research of the Wu family's previous generations in charge. After all, it was the only opportunity and there was no room for carelessness.

Now that the Gold Core had been replaced by a demon pill, it was still quite unfamiliar. Even though he had become an outsider Gold Core, the task was still arduous.

...

Time flew by and it was already half a year later.

Facing the compulsory task of the supervisor, Wu Laozu finally dared not be perfunctory and carefully studied before starting the alchemy.

Today is the day when the pill is completed.

Yu Xian pulled Yu Lan, who had recovered well, to stand aside and whispered about the information regarding the Five Elements Yuan Dan in her ear.

Yu Lan's ears were tickled by the hot breath Yu Xian exhaled, leaning against his chest and giggling softly.

In this half year, they almost returned to the time when they first came to Shangyang City, with only her and her husband.

Xiao Yi had already left, and Luo Han's sister had not returned from the Ten Thousand Demon Mountains. She almost had her husband all to herself, squeezing every day to the fullest.

"Supervisor, the pill is completed."

Wu Laozu's face showed a hint of fatigue. In this half year, he was almost mentally tense the whole time, afraid of making any mistakes.

Fortunately, the result was good.

The lid of the pill furnace was lifted, and a pill with a golden color as the main color and slightly lighter shades of the other four colors rose slowly, emitting bursts of colorful light.

"This demon pill should originally belong to the King of the Gold Element, so the Five Elements Yuan Dan refined from it is most suitable for cultivators who practice gold attribute techniques," Wu Laozu explained.

The demonic race cultivates and develops their bloodline, with True Spirits as their goal, so their racial characteristics are particularly prominent. Unlike orthodox human cultivators, who generally have all five elements, even if they have a preference for a certain element, it won't be too dominant.

"It doesn't matter, it's already good enough to have something to eat. I dare not ask for too much," said an old man with a lifeless aura standing in front of the pill furnace, his eyes fascinated as he looked at the Five Elements Yuan Dan floating in the air, holding it with both hands almost devoutly.

This person's name was Wan Tianchou, the hidden ancestor of the Wan family, who was already over one hundred and ninety years old, approaching the limit of a Foundation Building cultivator.

It should be noted that during the cultivation process, cultivators often have various hidden injuries, and living to one hundred and fifty or sixty is already considered good.

To truly live to the theoretical age of two hundred, one is a genuine long-lived star.

If it weren't for the temptation of the Five Elements Yuan Dan, the Wan family would not dare to reveal the existence of this old ancestor, after all, he was too old, and almost every time he made a move, he would die.

Originally, Yu Xian had first approached Jiang Wang.

After all, he was young, and even after breaking through the External Dao Gold Core, he could still work for a few more years. But Jiang Wang was someone with dreams. He wanted to break through the Gold Core himself and didn't want his life to be controlled by others. After much hesitation, he still refused.

On the other hand, the Patriarch of the Wan Family quietly broke through the later stage of Foundation Building. When he came looking for him, the Wan Patriarch unexpectedly gave this hard-earned opportunity to his own ancestor, Wan Tianchou, who was the ancestor of the ancestor.

It can only be said that there are indeed advantages to cultivating in a family. The sense of family honor can even surpass one's own future path.

Wan Tianchou stared at the Five Elements Yuan Dan and suddenly took a deep breath. His full head of white hair instantly turned black, and his hunched figure swelled up like a balloon. A vigorous vitality emanated from him, indicating that he was using a life-risking technique.

He was able to live for such a long time all because of a fortuitous encounter in his youth, where he learned a technique of manipulating qi and blood. On ordinary days, he could compress his entire body's qi and blood to an extremely weak level, preserving his own vitality as much as possible. As a result, his lifespan was extremely long, but he also suffered from excessive sleepiness.

Living long meant sleeping long as well. In terms of waking hours, he didn't have much more than those who lived to be a hundred or a hundred and sixty.

At this moment, he released all of his qi and blood. If he failed to break through, his qi and blood would immediately dry up and he would die.

But with the opportunity to break through right in front of him, how could he hesitate for even a moment?

Wan Tianchou swallowed the Five Elements Yuan Dan, and a powerful momentum immediately triggered a thunder tribulation.

Boom!

Dark clouds suddenly appeared in the sky, and the sound of thunder rolled. The momentum contained within caused the entire city to boil.

"It's another Gold Core thunder tribulation!"

"Huh? Why did I say 'another'?"

"Damn it, what's even more infuriating is that the location for Transcending Tribulation is once again the Wu Residence! Wu Patriarch actually mastered the method to break through the Gold Core?"

"Could it be that the fortune of Shangyang City has arrived, and there is an endless stream of Gold Core cultivators?"

"Ah, I'm going to bleed again. I haven't even caught my breath from the Gold Core congratulatory gift I gave to Wu Patriarch last time."

"If only I could also become a Gold Core..."

A crowd of people arrived along with the thunder tribulation, surrounding the Wu Residence. They looked at the tribulation clouds with envy, jealousy, anticipation, and a sense of awe in their eyes.

Jiang Wang stood among the crowd and saw the thunder tribulation descending. Suddenly, a hint of regret arose in his heart.

Perhaps he should have agreed to the Lord Manager's request.

An External Dao Gold Core is still a Gold Core after all!

But soon, he cut off this regret. What he wanted was a true Gold Core realm, and he didn't want to be controlled by others.

What meaning would breaking through the Gold Core have if he couldn't have freedom?

Jiang Wang decisively turned around and decided to leave Shangyang City's cultivation world, cross the Wan Yao Mountain Range, and go to the Xuan Yang Realm to seek an opportunity for the Gold Core.

Different people made the same choice.

Lin Zhanlong did so back then, and Jiang Wang did so today.

(End of this chapter)