Ancient Wood Evergreen

Lan Chang'an chose a cultivation art called the Ancient Wood Evergreen Art.

This was his Second Life.

He had obtained this ancient Longevity Cultivation Art from the Cave Abode of the Nascent Soul Great Cultivator Yan Donglai.

At the time, he had already been four or five hundred years old. He had fought others with spells inside the Cave Abode and nearly lost his life.

His sole gain had been half a volume of the Ancient Wood Evergreen Art, which could be cultivated to the Nascent Soul Realm.

The Ancient Wood Evergreen Art's traits were to nurture one's temperament, prolong one's lifespan, and grant long, enduring qi channels.

Its drawback was that, as a Longevity Cultivation Art, its power was ordinary and its cultivation speed gradual.

In his Third Life, he chose this art.

Lan Chang'an valued only one thing: a longer life!

"The Ancient Wood Evergreen Art must be cultivated from the Qi Refining Realm onward, and it must serve as one's primary cultivation art in order to increase lifespan. Switching to it midway will not extend one's life!"

"The lifespan extension at every realm is half again as much as that of cultivators at the same level."

"At the Qi Refining Realm, it extends one's lifespan by fifty or sixty years."

"At the Foundation Establishment Realm, it extends one's lifespan by one hundred and twenty years."

"At the Golden Core Realm, it extends one's lifespan by three hundred years."

A normal Qi Refining Realm cultivator lived no more than one hundred and twenty years.

A Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator lived two hundred and forty years.

A Golden Core Realm cultivator could live as long as five or six hundred years.

In other words, so long as Lan Chang'an returned to the Golden Core Realm of his Previous Life in this life, he would have a foundation of nine hundred years of lifespan!

If he could acquire a few heavenly treasures that extended lifespan, even living for a thousand years was not impossible.

Lan Chang'an refused to believe that, with nearly a millennium of life in this lifetime, proceeding steadily and cautiously, laying out every step like pieces on a chessboard, he still could not advance to the Nascent Soul Realm.

Having experienced two lives of reincarnation, he deeply understood the meaning of lifespan to a cultivator.

In the Cultivation World, only those who lived to the very end were the true winners.

When cultivators suffered grave injuries in spell battles, or used certain secret arts, it often affected their lifespan and foundation.

In his Second Life, Lan Chang'an had wanted to advance to the Nascent Soul Realm. Yet constrained by his lifespan, he had been forced to compete for every opportunity and endure life-and-death spell battles, inevitably damaging his foundation.

This had also affected his later attempt to break through to the Nascent Soul Realm, and he had ultimately perished beneath the heavenly tribulation.

"In my Second Life, I had little lifespan remaining. My primary cultivation art was a Fire-Type Technique, and my spiritual roots also leaned toward fire, making it unsuitable to switch to the wood-type Ancient Wood Evergreen Art."

"In this life, I have Mid-Grade Spiritual Roots. My affinity for fire, wood, and metal spiritual qi is relatively high, making this the perfect time to cultivate the Ancient Wood Evergreen Art from the Qi Refining Realm and increase my lifespan layer by layer."

A cultivator's aptitude was divided into:

Inferior Spiritual Roots, Low-Grade Spiritual Roots, Mid-Grade Spiritual Roots, High-Grade Spiritual Roots, Earth Spiritual Roots, and Heavenly Spiritual Roots.

Beyond that, there were Innate Treasure Bodies, separate from the spiritual root system. Examples included the Thunder Spirit Body, Azure Lotus Body, and Dragon's Roar Body.

Innate Treasure Bodies were far too rare, and Lan Chang'an knew little about them.

The grades of the spiritual root system were determined according to one's sensitivity to the spiritual qi of heaven and earth.

Normal cultivators possessed all five elements.

The grade of one's spiritual roots mainly depended on the spiritual qi attribute to which one had the strongest affinity.

An affinity of ten was the minimum standard for Low-Grade Spiritual Roots.

An affinity of twenty was the minimum standard for Mid-Grade Spiritual Roots.

Lan Chang'an's affinity for fire spiritual qi had just surpassed twenty, reaching the minimum standard for Mid-Grade Spiritual Roots.

Next came wood spiritual qi, with an affinity of seventeen.

Metal spiritual qi had an affinity of fifteen.

As for water and earth spiritual qi, his affinity was below ten and did not qualify for any grade. This meant cultivating spells of those two attributes would be relatively difficult in the future.

That night, Lan Chang'an held Spiritual Sand in his hand and began cultivating the Ancient Wood Evergreen Art.

On the road, a month flashed by in the blink of an eye.

The last grain of Spiritual Sand in Lan Chang'an's hand turned to powder.

"Ancient Wood Evergreen Art, First Layer!"

Lan Chang'an circulated the threadlike sliver of spiritual power within his body and felt an exuberant, evergreen aura.

The moment he entered the gate, he sensed that the Evergreen Art's spiritual power was inexhaustible.

Its qi channels were long and enduring, and its staying power was formidable!

This trait alone made up for the ancient Longevity Cultivation Art's lackluster power.

When cultivators of the same level fought with spells, magical artifacts and divine abilities mattered most.

Boundless spiritual power could sustain magical artifacts and divine abilities for longer. Even when fleeing, it offered no small advantage.

"However, the Ancient Wood Evergreen Art cultivates even more slowly than I imagined. It is actually inferior even to the Open Source Scripture."

Lan Chang'an felt this drawback most keenly.

Of course, the Ancient Wood Evergreen Art also held a hidden surprise.

That was its qi-concealing effect!

When this cultivation art concealed one's aura, the entire person seemed to turn into a piece of rotten wood, making it impossible for others to discern one's true cultivation.

Many Wood-Type Techniques had qi-concealing effects, but none came close to the Ancient Wood Evergreen Art.

"Not bad. This perfectly suits my philosophy in this life: cultivate quietly and build my foundation steadily."

Lan Chang'an nodded to himself.

Once he had chosen this cultivation art, he could no longer keep thinking about fighting and killing with spells or competing for opportunities.

Avoid contention, avoid battle!

In this life, he would enter the Nascent Soul Realm steadily and uncover the Nine Imprint Tablet's true secret.

The Spiritual Sand in Lan Chang'an's possession had been used up.

Before reaching the Mu Family, he could not be bothered to cultivate any further.

The spiritually barren lands of the mortal world offered abysmal cultivation results, not to mention that the Ancient Wood Evergreen Art already advanced at a slow and steady pace.

There were still two months left on the journey.

Since Lan Chang'an was not cultivating immortality, he simply picked up the martial arts of the mortal world and practiced them.

In his First Life, Lan Chang'an had spent some time in the mortal world as a Rogue Cultivator. He had once slain several Martial Arts Innate Realm grandmasters and collected several manuals of supreme martial arts.

He remembered clearly that Martial Arts Grandmasters of the mortal world could threaten Qi Refining Realm cultivators. If one let down one's guard, even a Qi Refining Realm cultivator could suffer an upset.

In this life, he began at the Qi Refining First Layer. His spiritual power was too weak, and he had neither magical artifacts nor Talismans to protect himself.

The Ancient Wood Evergreen Art's power was mediocre, so he could not rely on it.

He severely lacked methods to protect his path.

For the remainder of the journey,

Lan Chang'an practiced martial arts whenever he had time, merely hoping to gain a few more means of self-defense.

But this training brought no small surprise!

Mortal martial arts had extremely low requirements for the spiritual qi of heaven and earth.

Lan Chang'an had originally been a second-rate martial artist in the jianghu, a prodigy of martial arts.

Nourished by the Nine Imprint Tablet, his soul far surpassed that of ordinary people. The strength of his divine sense at the Qi Refining First Layer already approached the Qi Refining Seventh Layer.

With a powerful soul and a cultivator's commanding view from the heights, his martial arts training advanced a thousand miles in a single day.

In less than two months,

Lan Chang'an's martial cultivation advanced from second-rate to first-rate, then to super first-rate, and finally broke through to the Martial Arts Innate Realm!

At this time, Lan Chang'an had just turned eighteen.

"An eighteen-year-old Martial Arts Grandmaster... enough to shake the mortal martial world."

Lan Chang'an felt the abundant Innate True Qi within his body and his powerful physique, transformed as though remade from the marrow outward.

Naturally, martial arts true qi was still far inferior to a cultivator's spiritual power.

"Keep your spirits up! We will reach the Mu Family's territory in half a day."

On the official road, the Mu Family Head's Spirit Steed Horse led the way in front, followed by more than ten swift horses.

After two or three months of long travel, the youths with spiritual roots were exhausted in both body and mind.

Only Lan Chang'an remained brimming with energy and possessed strong recovery thanks to cultivating the Ancient Wood Evergreen Art.

He had even found time to practice martial arts along the way.

The Mu Family Head had noticed Lan Chang'an practicing martial arts, but he said nothing.

Lan Chang'an had originally been a jianghu man; practicing martial arts fit his persona.

As for whether it would delay his immortal cultivation, the Mu Family Head cared even less.

He did not sincerely intend to nurture Lan Chang'an and the others. He cared only about how many descendants with spiritual roots they could bring to the Lineage.

It was fine if Lan Chang'an neglected his proper duties.

When the path of immortality proved hopeless, he would be more likely to remain in the Mu Family and devote more of his energy to it in the future.

"We're here! Jade Moon Lake!"

Several days later, the spirits of the Mu Family cultivators lifted.

Lan Chang'an and the others gazed into the distance. Beneath the faint moonlight, the outline of a lake glimmered with a jade-like, emerald sheen.

"That is the spiritual lake water resource controlled by the Mu Family. They say it can produce Spirit Fish..."

A breeze brushed over their faces, and everyone sensed a trace of moist, watery aura.

The spiritual qi of heaven and earth in the surrounding area far surpassed that of the spiritually barren mortal lands.

Jade Moon Lake was not far away.

They had already entered the vicinity of the Mu Family's territory.

The Mu Family group, who had maintained vigilance all the way, could not help heaving a long sigh of relief.

Their mission of escorting the Immortal Seedlings had finally been completed.

Just as everyone began to relax,

Screech—

A piercing howl rang out, followed by a blazing aura rushing toward them.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

In the blink of an eye, dozens of lantern-sized flames came crashing down upon the Mu Family's group escorting the Immortal Seedlings.

"Enemy attack!"

The Mu Family Head's expression changed drastically as he roared.

Aside from the Spirit Steed Horse beneath him, all the other horses were so frightened that their legs went weak. They neighed in terror or fled in panic.

For a moment, men and horses toppled over, while dust filled the air.

"Protect the Immortal Seedlings!"

Amid furious shouts, the Mu Family Head and four Lineage cultivators each employed their own methods.

Water Curtain, Golden Light Shield, Earth Wall Technique, Artifact Umbrella... they did everything they could to protect the ten Immortal Seedlings.

Yet there were dozens of fireballs, and they could not form an airtight defense.

"Ah..."

A scream rang out as a scholarly-looking youth was struck by a lantern-sized flame. His body burst into raging fire.

Before long, his body was charred black, and he stopped struggling.

The remaining nine youths shuddered with fear and dodged in utter disarray.

Cultivators possessed physiques superior to ordinary people, but several of them were still injured.

"Mother of heaven! The Cultivation World is too terrifying..."

Li Ergou's face turned deathly pale, and he nearly wet himself in fright.

Lan Chang'an grabbed his arm and dragged him seven or eight meters across the ground, dodging the blast range of a Fireball.

Lan Chang'an possessed powerful divine sense and martial skill, so he remained comparatively calm.

"Hahaha... Mu Maode! You want to bring this batch of Immortal Seedlings back? You will need the Zheng Family's consent first!"

Seven cultivators flew out from the hills on the left, each holding a magical artifact.

The dark-skinned, brawny man at their head stood upon a Crimson Flame Great Blade. A centipede-like scar ran across his cheek, nearly reaching his neck and lending him several more shades of ferocity.

The fluctuations of spiritual power around this man had clearly reached the Qi Refining Ninth Layer!

"Zheng Family cultivators! Zheng Wugong!"

Several Mu Family cultivators could not help crying out.