Seeking Immortality In The Cultivation World

Dawn,

In the deep Southwest Thousand Despair Mountains of the Great Xia Nation, there is a peaceful place called the Plains of Nostalgia.

"Chirp chirp~"

A small unknown bird broke the silence of Ping'an Market and after circling in the air for a while, landed on the eaves of a stone house in a residential area outside the market.

In the bedroom of the stone house, a man in his thirties wearing a green robe slowly woke up from his meditation. He sighed as he looked at the crystal in his palm that had turned into gray powder.

"The fire poison in my body is becoming more and more fierce!"

He stood up, pushed open the window of the stone house, and saw several huge airships slowly floating across the sky and landing at the dock in the market.

Following that, thousands of people dressed in various robes disembarked from the airships and hurriedly headed towards the center of the market under the leadership of a steward.

"Is this the 20th or 23rd batch of Independent Cultivators coming to develop the Thousand Despair Mountains?"

The Plains of Nostalgia is located deep in the Thousand Despair Mountains and originally belonged to a secluded cultivation family.

But a hundred years ago,

A Gold Core expert from the Purple Cloud Sect of the Great Xia Empire accidentally discovered a large deposit of spiritual stones here!

How can a small family with only one Gold Core expert compete against a large sect with several Nascent Soul experts?

Feeling extremely frustrated, they chose to join and became the first group of pioneers.

In the end, almost the entire family died in battles with demonic beasts.

The Purple Cloud Sect, known for protecting its own, naturally did not want the descendants of the family to become fertilizer for demonic beasts. They forcibly conscripted Foundation Building cultivators and below from within the Great Xia Empire, treating it like forced labor.

This included both domestic cultivation families and Independent Cultivators.

Lin Xiu was not originally an Independent Cultivator,

But he was abandoned by his family.

What is the lowest status in a family?

Servants, collateral branches, and unwanted sons-in-law.

Unfortunately, he was a collateral branch and had mixed spiritual roots...

Basically, from the moment he stepped onto the airship of the seventh batch heading to the Thousand Despair Mountains, his family had already cut off all ties with him.

So he became an Independent Cultivator.

As a reborn individual, encountering such a cliché situation of being a useless waste and abandoned child seemed normal to him. He didn't mind.

Thirty years in the east, thirty years in the west!

A typical story of a waste turning the tables.

When his feet touched the land of the Plains of Nostalgia, Lin Xiu still firmly believed that he was the chosen one and would find opportunities here, eventually returning to his family in a grand manner and performing a classic face-slapping drama.

But reality immediately slapped him in the face.

His meridians were infected by fire poison during a mission, burning his tendons and bones. He could only suppress it with the spiritual energy obtained through meditation every day, greatly delaying his cultivation progress.

At the same time, he was shocked by the hardships and cruel living conditions of low-level cultivators.

Who would believe that the "immortal masters" who were high above in the mortal world were sometimes not even as good as ordinary people in this place?

Every day, the number of "immortal masters" who died from demonic beasts and dangerous areas numbered in the hundreds, and the injured had an even more miserable fate.

Since then, he no longer participated in any development tasks. After hastily joining a "Talisman Master training class," he became a low-level Talisman Master and dared not leave the market area.

Now, the spiritual energy obtained from cultivation was no longer enough to fully suppress the fire poison. He needed to absorb the spiritual energy from spiritual stones as well.

Having been in the Thousand Despair Mountains for twenty-one years and in this world for thirty-nine years, he had not reached the fourth level of Qi Refining, which was a shame for someone who had crossed over!

"I can't cure the fire poison without reaching the fourth level of Qi Refining. But in the current situation, breaking through to the fourth level will inevitably require a large amount of spiritual stones for assistance, or buying the pills that can expel the fire poison!"

But the cost of buying the pills with spiritual stones was extremely high. It was likely that using those spiritual stones would be enough to break through to the fourth level of Qi Refining.

"Spiritual stones, cultivation! This world is so damn frustrating!"

Now, the path of cultivation in front of him had already been blocked, and he was in constant danger of being consumed by the fire poison!

A look of extreme helplessness and unwillingness flashed in his eyes,

After finally crossing over, is this the only outcome?

He was truly unwilling!

But in the end, his determination faded.

"Enough, this is all I can do!"

After looking at the dozen or so low-grade spiritual stones in his storage bag and the finished talismans, and checking the empty rice jar and vegetable basket in the kitchen, he tidied up his worn-out low-level robe and cautiously pushed open the door.

Ping'an Market was not peaceful.

Especially in the area on the outskirts of the market center, there were often masked cultivators who robbed and killed people.

He closed the door and turned around to see two cultivators walking towards him from a distance. One of them was at the sixth level of Qi Refining, considered to be a top expert in this area.

"Senior Zhou, Senior Ge, hello!"

The two nodded at him.

"Fellow Daoist Lin, hello!"

After saying that, they ignored him and walked towards the center of the market.

Lin Xiu's eyes lit up, and he immediately followed cautiously from a distance, not daring to get too close.

In this world where strength determines status, the hierarchy is strict. Although there seems to be only one level of cultivation difference between the early and middle stages of Qi Refining, the difference in status is significant. If someone politely calls you "Fellow Daoist," it would be considered disrespectful if you dare to address them as "Fellow Daoist."

It's like a department head calling you "Xiao Li," and you dare to respond with "Xiao Wang"?

This is the gap in status brought about by strength.

Of course, friends are an exception.

But in this place, the word "friend" is too luxurious.

The two cultivators knew Lin Xiu's purpose for following them, but they didn't pay much attention to it, considering it a random act of kindness.

For more than ten years, almost everyone living in this area knows that this guy named Lin Xiu not only has low cultivation, but is also extremely timid.

It wasn't until they entered the central area of the market that Lin Xiu, who was on high alert, finally relaxed a little. Regardless of whether the neighbors in front of him knew or not, he bowed respectfully to the backs of the two cultivators.

After hesitating for a while, instead of going to the shops as usual to buy food, he walked towards the busiest street in the market.

"Spring Night Pavilion" is the only brothel in the entire market, a true gold mine.

After all, there are a large number of low-level cultivators and mortals in the market.

That's how business works. As long as there is a sufficient social crowd, such places will inevitably emerge openly or secretly.

"In ancient times, it was called a brothel, later it was called a club, so what will it be called in the future?"

Lin Xiu stood on the opposite side of the street, looking at this gentle paradise that was bone-chilling, and suddenly remembered this question from his previous life.

After a while, he shook his head and stopped wasting his thoughts, turning around and entering a shop called "Worry Relief Shop" behind him.

"Spring Night Pavilion" was not a place he could afford to go to. Not only was his wallet in danger, but his life as well.

If he dared to enter without considering his own abilities, it was uncertain whether he could come out alive without sufficient cultivation.

After nearly forty years of being beaten down in the lower levels of cultivation, Lin Xiu set a rule for himself, which was to stay away from any place that had even a hint of danger!

On the contrary,

This "Worry Relief Shop" seemed much safer. It had an excellent reputation and was trustworthy. It could basically solve any problem for a male cultivator at the Foundation Building stage who had no hope of progressing.

"Fellow Daoist Lin, when you were poisoned by the fire nineteen years ago, my sister told you to get married while you're young. Who knows, if you have a child with excellent spiritual roots, they might already be at the middle stage of Qi Refining!"

Sister Hong was also a famous high-class courtesan before she settled in Ping'an Market.

After being unable to compete with the establishment across the street, she started her own business and became a matchmaker.

This small shop was, on the surface, a marriage agency.

At this moment, Sister Hong was wearing a bright red festive corset, and the strong scent of rouge sprayed from her mouth made Lin Xiu dizzy.

Although her words were a bit harsh, they were the reality.

There were indeed examples of cultivators in his situation who, after marrying several wives and concubines, gave birth to offspring with outstanding spiritual roots.

And there were quite a few of them.

With the help of their children, even if the whole family didn't become prosperous, they could at least have a decent ending, with someone taking care of their funeral arrangements.

"It's just that the dowry is a bit expensive."

"Brother Lin, women with spiritual roots are priced like this. The better the spiritual roots, the higher the price. It's impossible to snatch someone who has reached the Qi Refining stage."

Seeing his troubled expression, Sister Hong knew his situation and changed the subject.

"If you find it expensive, mortal women born to cultivators are also good. They are beautiful and obedient. There are plenty of them. Spiritual roots are like gambling. What if you hit the jackpot? And it's cheap, with a dowry of at most ten spiritual stones!"

Lin Xiu's eyes lit up.

With ten spiritual stones, he could marry eight or ten wives in the mortal world. But in this Plains of Nostalgia, where there were cultivators everywhere, and in the Thousand Despair Mountains vein deep in the mountains, which had a huge spiritual stone mine, it was really not expensive.

He put down five spiritual stones as a deposit.

"Thank you for your trouble, Sister Hong!"

"No problem, no problem. I promise to find you a satisfactory match. If you're not satisfied, you can withdraw at any time!"

Sister Hong smiled and collected the spiritual stones, making promises.

After leaving the "Worry Relief Shop," Lin Xiu touched the storage bag hidden in his chest and sighed.

"Since I can't become Long Aotian, then I'll have a child who can become Long Aotian!"