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

.........

The battle is over.

Lu Zaian stood in mid-air, sensing that his clone had killed all the fleeing demonic cultivators, and then nodded to himself.

He then sat cross-legged and began preparing to create a puppet.

"Little Yi, protect me."

"Ee-woo~"

He secretly instructed Xiao Yi to be aware of her surroundings, while his clone watched over her from afar.

The physical bodies of body cultivators are as powerful as those of demonic beasts, even comparable to the hardness of refined iron, making them superior materials for puppet refining.

This wasn't just talk.

Lu Zaian took out several auxiliary second-tier materials from his storage bag, activated his innate true fire to refine them, and integrated them one by one into Chu Xiao's corpse.

.........

Below is the Xu Family Ancestral Hall.

Chief Xu originally intended to lead his clansmen forward to pay their respects and express their gratitude to Master Lu for saving their clan.

But Master Lu didn't even glance at them, instead sitting cross-legged in mid-air, beginning to craft a puppet...

Chief Xu's eye twitched slightly, and he couldn't help but feel uneasy.

Human puppetry is an extremely cruel method in the demonic path. Unexpectedly, this Master Lu, who seems to be a sage, is also proficient in this technique.

You really can't judge a book by its cover; he's a man of few words!

"Yan'er, look..."

Clan Chief Xu was undecided and dared not disturb her, so he could only look at Xu Yan'er.

Xu Yan'er shook her head slightly and said softly:

"The Pavilion Master's affairs are naturally more important than ours, so let's wait patiently."

The demonic cultivators have been eliminated. Let's rest and heal our wounds here, and also comfort our people and assess our losses..."

With Lu Zaian in charge, Xu Yan'er seemed to have found her backbone again, regaining some of her former demeanor as the steward of Chunqiu Pavilion, and began to make arrangements in an orderly manner.

Seven days later.

Lu Zaian slowly withdrew his innate true fire, and a dark red puppet covered in armor appeared before him.

"Having preserved Chu Xiao's soul and refined it into the puppet, according to the methods in the 'Heavenly Master's Manual,' this puppet should be complete..."

Lu Zaian muttered to himself.

This was the first time he had ever created a living puppet.

Previously, when I first entered the Foundation Establishment stage, it would take me forty-nine days to craft a second-tier crocodile puppet.

Now it only takes seven days.

This is naturally inseparable from his powerful divine sense and immense magical power.

A so-called "living puppet" is one that possesses a certain degree of independent consciousness, does not require the puppeteer's divine control, retains its battle memories from its previous life, but is completely under the puppeteer's control.

"From now on, you will be called Kuiyi."

"Yes! Master!"

The puppet clasped its hands together, producing a clanging sound like metal striking metal. Its face was completely covered by a mask, leaving only a pair of scarlet eyes, which looked somewhat wooden.

"Although it's far inferior to a true clone technique, it can still be considered a Foundation Establishment combatant."

Lu Zaian added several second-tier spiritual materials during the refining process, and now the physical strength of Kui Yi even surpasses that of Chu Xiao before his death.

Only then did Lu Zaian turn his gaze downwards.

After seven days of rest and recuperation, the Xu family members have now recovered most of their injuries.

During a break in the refining process, Lu Zaian also distributed some first-tier pills for everyone to heal their injuries.

"Sect Master! You've finished refining?"

Feeling Lu Zaian's gaze, Xu Yan'er said with delight.

"Ah."

Lu Zaian nodded indifferently, glancing at the remaining members of the Xu family one by one.

'It seems that in the past few years, the cultivation world in the Northern Sky Domain has been in chaos, and the ones suffering the most are the lower-level Qi Refining cultivators.'

Major events have been occurring frequently in the northern airspace in recent years.

The city of Huangze has changed hands.

Demonic ways are rampant.

The Demon Extermination Alliance was established.

Various factions are engaged in open and covert struggles, vying for power and resources...

In the end, the ones who suffer the most are always the Qi Refining cultivators at the bottom.

They will either have their resources confiscated under various pretexts by the so-called righteous foundation-building forces, becoming cannon fodder;

Otherwise, their entire family would be slaughtered by fleeing demonic cultivators and thieves, who would burn, kill, and plunder.

Lu Zaian was glad that he had seized the opportunity and successfully established his foundation before the chaos ensued.

Otherwise, even with an immortal body, one would find it difficult to move an inch in this chaotic world... one could only find a secluded corner to hide in.

People like Xu Yan'er are already considered quite good; they only managed to preserve their family bloodline by attaching themselves to him.

Xu Yan'er was also moved, so she stepped forward, knelt down, and bowed her head, saying timidly:

"It's all Yan'er's fault for being so useless, breaking the crocodile puppet bestowed upon her by the Pavilion Master, and troubling the Pavilion Master to come and rescue her... Yan'er is flattered and grateful, please punish her, Pavilion Master."

The Xu family members behind him all prostrated themselves, performing a deep kneeling ceremony and reciting Lu Zaian's kindness.

"Thank you, Master Xie Lu, for saving my life!"

"Thank you, Master Xie Lu, for saving my life!"

"..."

Lu Zaian waved his sleeve, and a gentle breeze lifted everyone up.

"Get up. It's not your fault, Yan'er. It was because I left in a hurry that I didn't have time to take care of you subordinates."

Lu Zaian thought of the maid Xueyi, and Gu Xi from Dan Pavilion...

They had all served him, but unfortunately, when the city of Huangze was in chaos, he managed to escape, unable to take them with him.

Later, his clone was pursued by the male and female bandits, and he couldn't care less about anything else.

I wonder how they are doing now...

Has he already died? Or has he joined another faction?

Such is life...and so is the cultivation of immortality, with gatherings and separations, joys and sorrows, and the impermanence of the world.

He possesses the body of immortality, and all those he encounters are merely passersby.

Lu Zaian shook his head slightly, deciding not to think about it anymore.

He then told Xu Yan'er about his plan to establish his own sect and begin a period of seclusion.

Xu Yan'er's eyes lit up, and she immediately understood the meaning.

"If the Pavilion Master does not abandon me, please allow Yan'er to continue serving you to repay your kindness."

"Yes, that's exactly what I meant. I trust you to do things right." Lu Zaian nodded.

He has no one else to rely on right now, and Xu Yan'er has been with him the longest and is the one who understands his instructions the best.

At this moment, the Xu family members behind Xu Yan'er looked at each other and exchanged glances.

Finally, Chief Xu gritted his teeth, stepped forward, and bowed deeply.

"I dare to ask Master Lu, are there any suitable locations for secluded cultivation?"

Lu Zaian glanced at him and said indifferently.

"I have a few alternative locations in mind, feel free to speak your mind..."

Chief Xu answered nervously:

"In my humble opinion, the Changli Mountains to the southeast of my Xu family's residence are actually a good place to go."

"Changli Mountains?"

Lu Zaian fell into deep thought; he naturally knew about the Changli Mountains.

This is almost the southernmost mountain range in the northern airspace, stretching for tens of thousands of miles, with one end bordering a barren marshland and the other end extending to the eastern coast.

Once you cross the Changli Mountains, you will enter the territory of the Liushi Domain.

I heard it's a small area even less developed than the northern airspace.

Therefore, most of the landforms in the Changli Mountains also bear the characteristics of the Liushi region.

That place was barren, with withered vegetation, jagged rocks, scarce spiritual veins, and extremely poor resources for cultivation.

There are few traces of cultivators in the mountains; it is a place that is disliked by both humans and ghosts.

This also shows that having a vast territory in the cultivation world does not necessarily equate to abundant resources.

Just like the Black Soil Mountains, which, despite covering only a few thousand miles, are rich in spiritual veins and have given birth to several Foundation Establishment forces.

Although the spiritual energy in the Changli Mountains is thin, it doesn't matter because I have the Seven Treasures Tree.

What others avoid like the plague is indeed a good place for me to live in seclusion.

Even if, hypothetically, a major upheaval were to occur in the northern airspace that I would avoid at all costs, I could simply head south and infiltrate the Liushi region...

This way, there's no need to risk crossing the marshland to seek refuge in the Maple Realm...