Immortality and Cultivation: This old man seeks enlightenment through mere survival.

The mountains rise abruptly, with sheer cliffs and shrouded in clouds and mist; this is a dangerous place that is difficult for ordinary people to climb.

However, halfway up the cliff, a slender figure was clinging to it.

"I must pick the Three Mysterious Flowers!"

Chen Yu gritted his teeth, gripped the crack in the rock with one hand, and groped his way onto a protruding rock with the other.

Directly above his head, at a height of two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters), a strange flower was blooming in the wind on the cliff face.

The three-colored petals of red, white, and purple swayed gracefully, captivating Chen Yu's gaze.

He carefully explored the cliff face, using both his hands and feet to climb and finally reached the vicinity of the wondrous flower.

"Grandma, I did it! You're saved!"

Chen Yu reached out his small hand, grabbed the root of the Three Mysterious Flowers, and pulled it out.

However, before he could even rejoice, due to inertia, his body suddenly tilted, and the rock that his right hand had been gripping suddenly broke off from the cliff!

"Ahhhhh!!"

Chen Yu's face was filled with despair as he fell backward.

At that height, he was undoubtedly doomed.

However, after a moment, the expected pain did not come. He suddenly opened his eyes and found himself in a water bubble!

The water bubble was less than ten feet off the ground, carrying him as he slowly floated down to the ground.

"This...is this?"

Chen Yu escaped death, and the huge difference in circumstances left him stunned and at a loss.

Suddenly, a figure slowly emerged from the jungle ahead.

With a gentle wave of his hand, the figure caused the bubbles around him to burst.

As he got closer, Chen Yu could see the figure clearly.

He was an old man with a full head of silver hair, a weathered face, and a few stubbles on his beard.

The old man was wearing a simple, faded cloth shirt, his hands behind his back, his eyes looking at me with unfathomable depth, yet with an air of calm and composure.

"Are you... are you a Celestial Master?" Chen Yu stammered.

"Hmm? Little kid, you know about cultivators?"

Lu Zaian was surprised and looked at the boy, who was about ten years old, with a smile, and asked.

If I hadn't happened to be hunting nearby and used magic to save the boy from a distance, he would probably be a pile of minced meat by now.

"I...I know, I've seen him before." Chen Yu nodded timidly, then actually knelt down and bowed to Lu Zaian.

"Thank you, Immortal Master, for saving my life! Thank you, Immortal Master, for saving my life!"

"Get up quickly." Lu Zaian lifted the boy up with one hand, looked at the flowers in the boy's hand, and couldn't help but marvel.

"You're gathering herbs? Tsk tsk, do you even know what kind of herb this is?"

The flower in the boy's hand had three petals of different colors, each containing spiritual energy. It was clearly beyond the realm of ordinary herbs and belonged to the category of elixirs for cultivating immortality.

This boy was clearly an ordinary mortal, yet he went to great lengths to climb such a high cliff to pick this medicinal herb; there was obviously a story behind it.

"The Three Mysterious Flowers herb is being bought up at high prices by the major pharmacies in Black Rock Market," Chen Yu replied truthfully.

"Oh? Black Rock Market? Which direction is it? How far is it from here?" Lu Zaian asked with interest.

Upon hearing this, Chen Yu made a mental estimate, "Uh... if you keep going north from here, once you get out of the mountains, it's about... ten miles or so?"

"What's the name of this mountain range? Do you know?" Lu Zaian asked again.

Chen Yu looked up cautiously at the old man's pensive face.

He doesn't know about Heiyanfang City?

You don't even know the name of this mountain?

Could he be an old hermit master living in the mountains?

“The Black Soil Mountains, this is just the very edge,” Chen Yu replied.

On the other side, Lu Zaian stroked his stubble with one hand, sighing inwardly.

Good heavens, this place I've never even heard of has actually traveled this far from Green Mulberry Forest.

Yes, a year ago, Lu Zaian was still living in seclusion by a waterfall in the Green Mulberry Forest.

Unfortunately, the body tempering process consumed too much of his vital energy, and he had hunted down almost all the ordinary beasts near the waterfall.

Lu Zaian could only maintain the blood and qi power transformed by the Blood Spirit Orb by constantly venturing deeper into the Green Mulberry Forest and changing hunting grounds.

But just three months ago, when Lu Zaian was hunting deep in the Green Mulberry Forest, a first-tier demon beast, the Mountain Demon, suddenly appeared.

That mountain demon was more than twice the size of an ordinary beast, possessed immense strength, and could also exhale demonic winds.

After several rounds of fighting, Lu Zaian realized he was no match for Lu Zaian and hurriedly fled in the northwest direction.

After shaking off that beast, Lu Zaian was extremely careful along the way, fearing he might encounter other monsters, and deliberately chose to hide in the mountains and forests where spiritual energy was scarce.

A few days ago, I finally found another decent secluded spot.

After settling in, Lu Zaian surveyed the area and hunted some ordinary beasts.

I happened to see the boy climbing the cliff to collect herbs.

The boy had actually seen cultivators, and the fact that the Black Rock Market he mentioned could buy cultivation elixirs indicated that there were indeed traces of cultivators in this place.

"You said you've seen cultivators? Where did you see them? Have you heard where those cultivators come from?"

Lu Zaian rarely encountered a living person, so he asked questions carefully, wanting to learn more about the situation outside.

Upon hearing this, Chen Yu became even more certain that the old immortal master before him was not an immortal master from the Black Soil Mountains, but he still answered truthfully:

"It's in Black Rock Market, the market built by the immortal masters, but we ordinary people can only enter the outer area."

Chen Yu paused, organized his thoughts based on his previous observations, and then continued:

"Immortal masters often come and go from the market, riding the clouds and moving like the wind. It is said that those immortal masters come from the depths of the Black Soil Mountains, where thick fog shrouds the area year-round, and it is the place where immortal masters cultivate..."

After thinking for a long time, Chen Yu realized that he couldn't say much more about the immortal masters, since those things were too far removed from ordinary people.

Upon hearing that there were cultivators deep within the Black Soil Mountains, and more than one at that, clearly forming a sect or similar entity, Lu Zaian felt a mixture of joy and worry.

The good news is that after three or four years of practicing on my own, I have finally found my group.

The presence of places where cultivators gather indicates the availability of cultivation resources; one might even have the opportunity to obtain spiritual veins, cultivation techniques, magical treasures, and more.

If these resources can be acquired, cultivation progress can be greatly improved and combat power enhanced.

The worry is that the cultivation world is often a more complex, treacherous, and dangerous place than the mortal world.

The principle of "big fish eat little fish" is one of the laws in the world of cultivation.

With his current level of Qi Refining Level 2, he can only be at the very bottom, acting as a tiny shrimp, not even worthy of being called a delivery boy.

'It's not the right time to enter the world of cultivation yet; I'll wait and see.'

Lu Zaian estimated that he would break through to the third level of Qi Refining soon, and at the same time, he had already worn away most of the internal seal of the Blood Spirit Pearl.

Everything is moving in a positive direction, so there's no need to rush.

Pulling himself out of his thoughts, Lu Zaian looked at the restless boy in front of him, thought for a moment, and then took out a silver ingot from his pocket and tossed it to the boy.

"Good, little one, thank you for the news."

Chen Yu was taken aback and hurriedly tried to hand back the silver ingot, waving his hand and saying:

"No, Master, you saved my life, how could I possibly take your money? Besides, you can easily find out all that information by asking around..."

"Please accept this as a gift; our meeting is fate... I shall depart now, lest we meet again."

Lu Zaian waved his hand and disappeared into the woods before Chen Yu could react.