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

Wow…

A small river flows gently, its surface shrouded in a thin layer of cold mist.

Sunlight filtered through the dense branches of the trees, dispelling the mist that clung to the river.

A black spiritual herb grows on the riverbank, with a black ball resembling a fruit hanging from the top of its slender stem, drooping into the river.

A ferocious-looking fish emerged from the water, its eyes fixed greedily on the black grass and fruit.

The strange fish, shaped like an arrow, swam out and opened its blood-red mouth as if to swallow the black grass.

Suddenly, an unnamed whirlpool rose from the bottom of the river.

A dark figure was suddenly thrown violently out of the vortex!

The strange fish couldn't dodge in time and was bewildered as it was pushed out of the river by the dark shadow.

"Cough cough cough!! What did you do to me?"

The dark figure coughed violently, spitting out a mouthful of murky river water.

He casually tossed the fish off his head, and the dark figure floated on the river surface, looking around before his eyes lit up.

"Wow, a first-grade high-quality black fruit grass, I'm really lucky."

Black Fruit Grass is a spiritual herb needed for cultivating the Nine Fiends Demon Body, and this dark figure is none other than Lu Zaian.

Two hours ago.

After collecting Han Xiangzi's remains, Lu Zaian used the Xuanwen Token to leave the secret palace.

Although there may be treasures in other unexplored halls within the secret palace.

But Lu Zaian had already gained a lot from this trip and was eager to escape the vortex of the Black Soil Mountains as soon as possible.

Therefore, they did not explore the palace any further.

Moreover, Senior Han Xiangzi also said that the central location of the secret palace was transformed from a celestial pearl, which even he, with his Core Formation cultivation, had not fully mastered.

Given all these years, if anything unexpected happens, Lu Zaian is unwilling to risk his life.

The secret palace has four exits: east, south, west, and north.

Lu Zaian reasoned that since the northern exit was located deep in the Black Soil Mountains at the bottom of a lake, the southern exit must be the furthest away.

So they left through the south exit.

Immediately afterwards, he was thrown directly from the bottom of the river!

"I didn't expect the southern exit to be underwater as well. The cold fog here is thin, so it should be in the middle of the Black Soil Mountains."

Lu Zaian determined the location based on the density of the cold fog on the river surface.

The cold mist and poison of the entire Black Soil Mountain Range are all caused by the Xuanbing Cold Heavy Water in the secret realm.

The deeper you go, the thicker the cold fog becomes.

But now...

All the Xuanbing Hanzhongshui was taken away by Lu Zaian, so there will be no new cold fog waves in the Black Soil Mountains in the future.

However, the existing cold mist will gradually disappear.

However, the black soil, originally eroded by the Xuanbing Hanzhongshui, is not suitable for the growth of most non-ice-type spiritual plants.

If this environment is to be reversed, it will probably take ten to twenty years to recover.

"Hehe, I took away the Xuanbing Hanzhong Water, which can be considered a great good deed for the entire cultivation world of the Black Soil Mountains..." Lu Zaian thought to himself.

However... the northern entrance to this secret palace is located deep in the Black Soil Mountains, at the bottom of a lake.

The southern exit is located in the middle of the mountain range.

The distance spans over several hundred miles...

It was clearly caused by the teleportation array and that magical celestial bead.

Lu Zaian also harbored a slight longing for the Cave Heaven Pearl.

But he knew what he was doing.

I am currently just a minor Qi Refining cultivator.

They finally managed to escape the control of the Spirit Medicine Valley by using the secret realm.

The primary task now is to escape the Black Soil Mountains, the epicenter of the conflict, and avoid being caught in the crossfire.

If nothing unexpected happens, the Purple-Gold Divine Pill should have ended up in the hands of the Spirit Medicine Valley after Lin Feng and the others took it out.

Of course, it is also possible that they will be intercepted by the Fire Refining Sect or the Blood Burning Sect along the way.

It's even possible that it might fall into the hands of the Feiyun Sect and the Haitian Chamber of Commerce.

This concerns the ownership of Core Formation combat power.

This was enough to make the major powers fight to the death without regard for anything else.

This is the perfect opportunity for me to run away.

Lu Zaian swam ashore, picked the black fruit grass, and used his internal energy to shake off the water vapor from his body.

Followed by.

A series of cracking sounds came from Lu Zaian's body!

His figure had inexplicably shortened, his back became hunched, and he had become stooped.

His facial muscles twitched, transforming him into the appearance of a weathered old farmer.

Even though it was just a slight change in the arrangement of her facial features, it was as if she had become a completely different person.

This is the ability that Lu Zaian has after his body refinement cultivation reaches the eighth level.

When one's body is refined to this level, one can subtly control the misalignment of one's bones and the direction of muscle lines.

"Yes, it's good to be cautious. At least a Qi Refining cultivator shouldn't be able to see through it."

After changing into rough cloth clothes, Lu Zaian strode out with satisfaction...

...dusk.

Lu Zaian spent half a day finally running out of the Black Soil Mountains.

He was cautious along the way, and deliberately took a long detour to avoid some demonic beasts and sect settlements.

Otherwise, it could be even faster.

"Is Black Rock Town not far ahead? I didn't expect to be back after three and a half years."

Lu Zaian rubbed his chin, recalling how he had come here to buy a Meridian Opening Pill in order to break through to the fourth level of Qi Refining.

Unexpectedly, in the blink of an eye, he was forced to leave the Black Soil Mountains and passed through Black Rock Town again.

However, Lu Zaian is not planning to go in this time.

Lu Zaian's planned destination was a city tens of thousands of miles away from the Black Soil Mountains.

That place also belongs to the cultivation world of the Northern Sky Domain, and is a city for cultivators.

A cultivator's path to immortality always requires the support of wealth, companions, methods, and environment.

If Lu Zaian leaves the Black Soil Mountains area, he will need new cultivation resources to support his cultivation.

Although Lu Zaian now shares Xiao Yi's Heavenly Spiritual Root-level talent, his cultivation speed has been greatly improved.

But this is contingent on having a sufficient supply of resources.

Even a skilled cook can't cook without rice.

Without a rich spiritual environment, it's like putting even the most powerful water pump in a dry pool—it won't be able to pump out any water.

New spiritual veins and new resource trading venues are things Lu Zaian needs to consider...

And there is another important reason.

That city is a necessary passage between the Northern Sky Domain and the Maple Leaf Domain...

Between the Northern Airspace and the Maple Forest Domain lies a vast expanse of desolate marshes.

Among them are poisonous insects, miasma, and rampant birds of prey; one must at least have the cultivation level of Foundation Establishment to get through them safely.

With his current Qi Refining cultivation level, Lu Zaian naturally wouldn't consider crossing the two regions' waters.

That would be too dangerous.

In any case, there is no time limit for burying Han Xiangzi's remains.

Lu Zaian promised that he would do it, but he still needed to prioritize his own cultivation and safety.

"Hmm... there's a battle aura ahead? Let's go around it..."

Suddenly, Lu Zaian sensed a surge of magical energy about two hundred feet directly in front of him, which seemed to indicate that cultivators were engaged in combat!

Lu Zaian, not wanting to cause trouble, was about to take a detour.

However, the cultivators over there had clearly also detected Lu Zaian's aura and were rapidly approaching.

"Damn it, why is there so much trouble!"

Lu Zaian frowned, feeling that he needed to replace his terrible Qi-concealing technique.