609 Seeking Longevity (Finale)
Inside the Great Lu National Teacher’s Mansion, Wang Wei continued his cultivation. As the Great Lu Dynasty expanded its borders, improved people’s lives, and built more temples, he gathered more incense to help him refine his soul.
The last time Wang Wei met Kang Rong, he was 143 years old and had spent forty years with little result. And he finished the process when he was 330 years old.
A few things in the outside world caught his attention during this time. Kang Rong’s son, Kang De, who succeeded him and united the entire world, came to see him before his death. He wanted Wang Wei to give the royal family another chance at immortality, and he refused.
Meanwhile, the 13th Prince, who previously gave up on cultivating, came back asking for another chance. In his late thirties, when his body began to weaken, he had scared and feared death.
So, he tried to practice now, but his body was old, his foundation weak after years of drinking and partying, resulting in feeble blood energy. So, when he tried to practice, he needed at least ten times the effort for half the result.
Fearing for his upcoming mortality, he ran back to the temple, asking for help for the Immortal Guardian. He tried to use the pity card, asking Wang Wei to consider his late father’s last wish before his departure. Unfortunately, Wang Wei did not open the temple door or answer him. Soon after, he felt ill and died.
As time passed, Great Lu remained prosperous, and Wang Wei’s reverence kept increasing. However, one of the Sovereigns was unhappy about someone being so loved and popular amongst the people since he could easily incite a rebellion. He tried to do something, but Wang Wei immediately scared him by sending a message directly into his mind with his spiritual power.
Unfortunately, the foolishness did not stop, as his successor directly rebelled against Wang Wei. He led the Great Lu’s army to the temple. However, to all the people’s horror, a humongous palm descended from the sky and crushed the Sovereign before the people.
This event was forever scarred in the annals of history because the people heard the Immortal Guarding speak for the first time when he said: “Making me waster so much Qi.”
The royal family quickly gathered a new ruler and came to the temple for Wang Wei to decide whether he approved. After telling them it was fine and not to disturb him, he continued cultivating.
Wang Wei’s eyes were closed, looking at his soul. The thing was so weak that it could not survive under the sun for more than thirty seconds. It was so weak that he did not dare absorb even a ray of Pure Yang from the sun, so he had to use the yang energy produced by his body to nourish his soul.
‘My lifespan went from 800 to 1400 years. Now, for the next part: the Three Flowers.’ He already had the method of condensing the Three Flowers of Essence, Qi, and Spirit. However, he had to modify it a little to fit this world and his current situation.
Wang Wei also used all the little luck he gathered from the world to accelerate the cultivation process. After condensing all three, his lifespan reached 2000 years old, but he discovered something.
‘Limit. This world has a limit on lifespan,’ he thought while frowning. He could sense that he had hit a barrier on his lifespan, and nothing could remove that limit.
He walked out of his room to a tree nearby. He placed his hand on it, and an absorbing force came out, swallowing something into his body.
‘Absorbing life force does not increase life span. On the contrary, the impurities in the tree affected and reduced my lifespan.’ He frowned for a moment before proceeding to another room in the temple. He placed his hand on an altar and injected his inner energy.
Despite his lack of appearance, Wang Wei cared deeply about Great Lu’s expansion and participated in a significant way. He gave specific directions on where his temples would be built and how to do so.
His action aimed to use the entire world as a Feng Shui Qi Gathering Array. He then used all the Spiritual Qi for his cultivation. However, the array also had a purpose: to revive Spiritual Qi in this world and elevate it to a higher level.
After activating the array, the world trembled slightly, but no one detected this anomaly. People noticed that all the temples scattered in the dynasty’s territory began vibrating. This sudden change alarmed many people. So, throughout the world, mortals began to kneel and pray Wang Wei’s name since he was the only immortal in this world, and this anomaly was probably the result of his powers.
Wang Wei looked at the sky, waiting for something. Unfortunately, nothing happened. So, he stayed for a few days to even a month, but nothing occurred.
‘So, this world is isolated.’
He planned to change the world, bringing back Spiritual Qi and, in turn, elevate the level of this world and break the limitation of his life span; he would also improve his cultivation environment. However, Spiritual Qi does not come out of anywhere.
If he wanted to increase the quantity, he had to access the Source Qi Space or convert one form of energy to another. He knew he could not do the latter, so his plan focused on the former.
Wang Wei wanted to summon some unknown energy source from space and, after studying it, found a way to convert it into Spiritual Qi. Regrettably, it appeared that the trial took place in a specially created world that is heavily isolated.
‘What should I do now?’
Without changing the world, no matter what he did, he could not increase his lifespan. However, Wang Wei also did not want to spend the remaining time doing nothing.
‘I wonder if I could break into the other people’s trial to plunder their worlds?’ fantasized Wang Wei even though he knew this would not be allowed. So, he shook his head to remove these fantastical ideas from his mind.
“Lord Spirit, can I leave the trial early?” Wang Wei asked out loud.
“No,” he received a reply a few seconds later.
“Why not?”
“Lifespan does not equal how long someone can live.”
That was true. Lifespan was not an indication that someone would live exactly to that age. For example, someone with a lifespan of 10,000 years might die between 8000 to 9700 years old. The reason is that cultivators undergo many battles in their lives, leaving hidden injuries after healing. Furthermore, state of mind, emotions, and stress could also affect a person’s life span. For example, someone with a lifespan of 10,000 years might die between 8000 to 9700 years old.
“In that case, can you get me access to my body?”
“Why do you need that for?”
“I don’t want to waste time. I can use this opportunity to cultivate.”
Although Wang Wei was not in the Supreme Realm, where he did not need to access the laws of Heaven and Earth to cultivate, he had the Law Fragment from his physique as a replacement. Even if it was a thousand times worse, it was better than nothing.
Wang Wei only got an answer about five minutes later.
“The answer is no.”
“Why not? That’s a reasonable request.”
“It is, but I just checked, and it will take too much effort to accommodate you. So, continue to play by the rules. 1600 years is not long.”
Wang Wei tried to argue, but Lord’s Spirit never answered. So, he had to find something else to pass the time. After pondering for a while, something came up.
‘I just had an idea. Why don’t I use this experience to create a supplementary cultivation technique? The purpose would be to allow someone to reach the limit of a mortal lifespan: 1 Yuan Epoch.’
The Origin System sacrifices lifespan for battle prowess, and many other cultivation systems sacrifice something for another. However, he could create a supplementary cultivation system that allowed people to reach the limit of their lifespan.
Although he did not need it, such a technique would greatly benefit the Dao Opening Sect–especially the old monsters who sealed themselves before running out of lifespan; they would all kill for such a technique.
‘Even If I don’t get my hands on the Deceiving Heaven Longevity Art, this technique will slightly compensate for it.’
With excitement, Wang Wei entered seclusion to cultivate. For this [Life Limit Art], he did not have to start from scratch as he could use his experience in the trial as guidance.
Wang Wei stimulated the environment of the Myriad Emperor World in his mind to create this technique. The first step is also Essence Refining, except he used the mildest methods to temper the body.
The purpose of Essence Refining is not to temper the body to become powerful but to be extremely healthy and leave no hidden injuries. As for the Qi Refining Stage, he wanted to create a special Qi that focused entirely on nourishing the body and increasing lifespan.
He wanted to call it Longevity Qi, but considering Longevity Resources and the name might be too grand, he decided on Permanent Qi. Wang Wei did not have the time to create the Spirit Refining since the trial ended.
When he opened his eyes, he was an older man with long white hair and a long beard. And as expected, with his knowledge and never leaving his compound, he lived until 1992 years old.
When he opened his eyes, he was sitting cross-legged in a room inside the Pagoda. He sighed deeply before leaving along with the others.