"Senior, that night was a storm of wind and rain. This spirit herb was something I painstakingly picked from the top of a cliff!" Chen Xun was on the verge of collapse, tears welling in his eyes. "To preserve its medicinal properties, I suffered severe injuries, just to deliver it to you as quickly as possible."
Faced with such a dramatic display, the sect elder hesitated for a moment before giving Chen Xun ten more spirit stones.
"Senior, your discerning eye! Truly, your discerning eye!" Chen Xun exclaimed excitedly, as if he had never seen spirit stones in his life.
The sect elder examined Chen Xun, causing his heart to tremble. This young man was actually a cultivator at the seventh level of Qi Refinement! So young!
Under the elder's astonished gaze, Chen Xun bought thirty more herb boxes and carried them away in a snakeskin bag.
"Is this really a seventh-level Qi Refinement cultivator?" The sect elder was stunned for a long time. This person's behavior and demeanor were completely unremarkable, more like a common street dweller.
Chen Xun hunched his back and slowly wandered through the valley, stopping at various stalls run by rogue cultivators to haggle for a long time. He bought three bags of spirit herb seeds, but this time he carefully inspected the spirit stones before handing them over.
He was inconspicuous, especially with the torn hole in his snakeskin bag, which occasionally revealed empty herb boxes, making the rogue cultivators feel unlucky.
Chen Xun wandered around some more before entering another sect pavilion, where he told a different version of his story.
Between the lines, there was no trace of embarrassment, yet it was filled with awkwardness. His back seemed even more bent under the weight of the snakeskin bag.
Chen Xun's mournful expression, as if his family had lost a cow, never changed. At the stalls, he argued fiercely over the price difference of a single spirit stone.
In the alchemy pavilion, he bought a better alchemy furnace for fifty low-grade spirit stones and inquired about the issue of furnace explosions.
"So that's how it is." Walking along the road, realization dawned on Chen Xun. It turned out that alchemy furnaces needed to be nurtured with magic power; he had always just left them aside after using them.
Every hour, he would visit different sect pavilions to sell century-old spirit herbs. Four such herbs were quickly sold out.
His snakeskin bag now contained over a dozen bags of spirit herb seeds, though all of them were materials for Qi Refinement stage pills—he couldn't find anything better.
He continued his 'scavenging,' unhurriedly. Seeing his seventh-level Qi Refinement cultivation, many rogue cultivators treated him with considerable respect and dared not cheat him.
Soon after, Chen Xun quickened his pace, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his mouth, and disappeared into Nine Star Valley, returning to his mountain cave without incident.
"Old Bull, I'm back!"
Chen Xun moved a giant rock aside with one hand, and a dark shadow darted out. The big black bull rushed over instantly, mooing incessantly.
"Haha, let's go inside and talk."
Chen Xun hugged the bull's head, glanced around, then sealed the cave with the giant rock and went inside.
"Moo moo~~"
The big black bull circled around Chen Xun, eyes filled with joy, tugging at him with its mouth.
"Alright, just this once. I promise I won't leave you behind again." Chen Xun said happily, looking at the snakeskin bag. "Quick, take a look at the treasures inside!"
"Moo!"
The big black bull's eyes lit up. It seemed to smell the scent of many spirit herb seeds and hurried to check, only to be dumbfounded!
"Moo~~"
The big black bull stared at Chen Xun in shock. There were over twenty bags—unbelievable!
"Haha, Old Bull, I'll leave them to you. There are quite a few spirit herbs for Vital Energy Pills in there."
Chen Xun, meanwhile, examined the alchemy furnace, cherishing it like a treasure. This time, he was determined to take good care of it.
"Moo moo!"
The big black bull's eyes gleamed with excitement. It stood up and carried the seeds to another part of the cave—it loved planting spirit herbs.
Together, their combined essence of all things now totaled 40, enough to cultivate three spirit herbs over thirty years old in a month.
"Old Bull, get to work!"
"Moo!"
Man and bull, filled with passion for the future, began their respective tasks, never stopping for a moment.
...
White clouds drifted leisurely, time flew by, and another year passed. Life is short, leaving behind countless memories and stories.
"Old Bull, keep the herb boxes well-preserved. Nurture them with magic power so the bugs don't chew them up."
"Moo moo!"
"Old Bull, remember to categorize the spirit herbs. Don't be careless in your work. If you don't develop good habits now, what will you do in the future?"
"Moo~~ Moo!!"
...
In a mountain cave on the outskirts of the Ningyun Mountain Range, even two seekers of longevity were working tirelessly, making the most of their time to do meaningful things, with far fewer sighs and regrets.
Meanwhile, this year's Qian Kingdom seemed even more turbulent. There were even cultivators wreaking havoc among mortals.
The ten great sects dispatched large numbers of disciples, vowing to stabilize the mortal realm. After all, it was the source of countless disciples—how could they allow their successors to dwindle?
Cultivators revealed their divine presence among mortals, causing countless commoners to rejoice, burning incense and praying for protection.
With the ten great sects personally intervening, the Qian Kingdom seemed to grow even more chaotic, with demons and monsters appearing as well.
More mortals came to the Ningyun Mountain Range seeking immortality, exciting the beasts deep within the mountains and adding countless corpses to the mix. Even the Ascension Conference became somewhat chaotic.
Inside the mountain cave.
[Ding, the host can now allocate points.]
The voice of the Longevity System echoed in Chen Xun's mind, and his eyes gradually lit up with excitement.
"Old Bull, this year we can try enhancing our magic power." Chen Xun called out to the big black bull. "Perhaps we'll achieve a breakthrough!"
"Moo."
The big black bull ran over with wide eyes, its entire body pitch black like coal. If not for its pair of horns, one might not even recognize it as a bull.
"Come on, this lord is ready to ascend!"
"Moo moo~~!"
Chen Xun and the big black bull, eyes filled with excitement, sat cross-legged and began allocating points.
Their current longevity points:
Magic Power: 1
Strength: 21
Speed: 21
Essence of All Things: 20
A surge of heat flowed through their bodies. Chen Xun and the big black bull grew increasingly tense, their eyes half-closed as they focused on sensing the magic power within.
Half an hour passed...
"What? That's it?!"
"Moo?"
Chen Xun was dumbfounded, and the big black bull was equally puzzled. There was no noticeable change—they were still at the seventh level of Qi Refinement.
The cave remained as dark as ever, illuminated by candlelight. The faint breeze through the crack in the giant rock was still as gentle as before.
"Did we allocate too few points?"
"Moo."
The big black bull nodded at Chen Xun, agreeing that more points might yield better results.
"Then let's try again next year. For now, back to work—we're busy."
Chen Xun said indifferently, and the big black bull nodded along, heading back to the herb field without a care.
Two months later.
Chen Xun and the big black bull were using Fireball Technique to dry their clothes when suddenly flames engulfed the cave, thick smoke billowing everywhere.
"Shit... Put it out!!"
"Moo!!"
Chen Xun and the big black bull roared in panic. Though the Fireball Technique was stopped, their clothes were completely burned.
The big black bull hurriedly pushed the giant rock aside, and Chen Xun dashed out wearing only his underwear, his eyes filled with despair.
"What... what just happened?"
Chen Xun muttered numbly, slowly turning to look at the big black bull. "I was using Fireball Technique, wasn't I?"
"Moo moo?"
The big black bull shook its head, its eyes wide with suspicion as it stared at Chen Xun. Did you secretly learn some other spell? Was that really Fireball Technique?
"Moo."
The big black bull nudged Chen Xun aside, stood up, and prepared to demonstrate what Fireball Technique truly was.
Chen Xun stared blankly at the big black bull, still unable to figure it out.
"Moo!"
The big black bull let out a loud cry, gazing into the distance with a serious expression. Its physical and magical power surged from its hooves, forming an enormous fireball.
Boom—crackle crackle, flames roared, engulfing the area. Countless dry branches and leaves were incinerated, smoke rising into the air.
"Old Bull, put it out! Go save the fire!"
Chen Xun was horrified. They hadn't learned any water-based spells yet—this was practically setting the mountain ablaze!