Name: Meng Nan
Lifespan: 0/9
Faction: Cha Mountain · Tianlin Cave
Cultivation: Qi Accumulation, True Qi Stage
True Qi: 22
Root Bone: 1
Cultivation Method: Thunder Illumination Scripture, Seventh Layer
Techniques: Hundred Transformations, Thousand Illusions Cloud-and-Mist Movement Technique (Proficient), Palm Thunder (Skilled), Blood Arrow Secret Technique (Skilled), Gale Thunder Sword Technique (Skilled), Giant Spirit Mysterious Technique (Not Started);
Skills: Alchemy (Beginner: Qi Circulation Powder);
Death Log: Available
"Huh?"
Meng Nan spotted something off about the panel at first glance. "Did my lifespan increase by a year?"
[Lifespan: 0/9]
It had gone from eight years to nine!
In reality, his lifespan was eighty years, so when he first entered, it had been eight years.
But now it had increased by one year.
Ordinary people could live anywhere from a few decades to over a hundred years; the very old could even reach 120 or 130.
But cultivators generally had a fixed lifespan.
Embryonic Breath, Internal Qi, True Qi, True Essence.
These various powers nourished the body, but they also strained and damaged it.
As a result,
those at the Embryonic Breath and Internal Qi stages normally lived to around eighty.
Those at the True Qi Stage lived to somewhere between ninety and a hundred.
For every additional Sense Imprint attained at the True Essence Stage, one could gain another five or six years of life, with the limit falling around 130.
That was the price of cultivation.
There were also those who focused on health-preserving cultivation methods and enjoyed longer lives. But their True Qi and True Essence had no offensive power, and they might not even practice any techniques. In this world of the strong preying on the weak, few were willing to spend time and effort on such methods.
What use was it to live a few more years in spineless misery?
Better to press forward and carve a path to the heavens and immortality.
Normally, breaking through from Internal Qi to True Qi added ten or twenty years to one's lifespan.
"So if I break through here, I can increase my lifespan by ten percent too?"
Meng Nan was thrilled.
This was wonderful news!
As his cultivation continued to improve, opening the future would surely grow harder each time, and every moment in the future would become more precious.
Gaining an extra year or two in the future was a profit—something invaluable.
And this was only the True Qi Stage.
"If I reach True Essence, I'll gain another three or four years."
"And if I break through to Qi Refining, an immortal master's lifespan will be even longer."
"In theory, as long as I keep breaking through in the future, I could stay here indefinitely, cultivating all the way to immortality—or even the realm of the Dao Ancestor!"
Meng Nan's thoughts surged.
He had reached the True Qi Stage!
His lifespan had increased!
Today had brought him double joy.
After savoring his good fortune and indulging in a little daydreaming, Meng Nan calmed himself and resumed cultivating.
In this life, he was still following the path of his third life—
cultivating techniques,
and studying alchemy.
The technique he worked hardest at was the Giant Spirit Mysterious Technique.
In his third life, Meng Nan had cultivated it to the eighteenth stage without truly mastering it. Continuing his work in this life, he had already reached the nineteenth stage in the first six months.
Now that he had advanced to the True Qi Stage, with the experience and insights from his third and fourth lives, he found cultivation even easier.
The twentieth stage.
The twenty-first stage.
The twenty-second stage.
Step by step, he was steadily progressing toward the thirtieth.
Once he completed the thirtieth stage, the foundation would be laid. Then he could devour spiritual energy and spirit sand, quickly master the technique, and turn it into combat power.
It was thanks to this technique that Meng Nan could stand above his peers at the same stage in this life.
"Giant Spirit God!"
Meng Nan eagerly awaited the day he would truly master this technique.
Time flew by.
His cultivation had regressed, and he felt uneasy, so he stayed in the mountains and cultivated in seclusion, rarely going out.
As for the city's construction, he paid close attention to lining his own pockets, taking bribes, and cutting corners. Everything else he handled with a wave of his hand.
It was only ten years, after all.
Even if he lived longer than ten years in this life, he would have to flee with Immortal Master Zheng by then. And even if he survived a few more years, by the time Angming City's glittering exterior and rotten core were exposed, both the city and the entire Tianlin Cave would already belong to Sky-Scraping Cliff.
Perhaps Immortal Master Zheng and Cha Mountain would even praise him for his foresight and commend him for a job well done.
Ha!
That was nonsense.
But because he knew how things would turn out, Meng Nan went all in on shoddy construction, without the slightest shame or hesitation.
Bold and brazen.
Fearless.
His attitude instead put Zhu Keda, You Neng, and the other two chief engineers at ease. They became utterly convinced that Meng Nan was truly working for Immortal Master Zheng—otherwise, why would he be so brazen about it?
So they threw themselves into the work, coming up with one clever scheme after another.
Using Immortal Master Zheng's name as cover, Meng Nan pocketed the lion's share, keeping eighty percent for himself.
Even so, the remaining twenty percent was enough for Zhu Keda and the others to feast until their mouths gleamed with grease. They couldn't compare to a prophet like Meng Nan; their fortunes were meager.
This time, they ate their fill, every one of them beaming.
Amid this atmosphere, all was harmony in Angming City, and construction proceeded in orderly fashion.
Time slipped by.
Three years passed.
Meng Nan had sent out the second and third teams to fence the stolen goods long ago.
Qin Zhongjie, Meng Nan's eldest disciple, led the second team.
He came from a background much like Xu Rong's, and his cultivation talent surpassed even that of his junior sister. He had already reached the third level of Sense Imprint.
Meng Nan had carefully selected every disciple under him, and all were worthy of trust.
But one could never truly know what lay in another person's heart. Chen De, Wang An, and Chu Zhongliang had gathered information in his previous life, but it might not have been accurate. So Meng Nan used this venture to get a closer look at his disciples' character.
Whether they had kept their intentions too well hidden or the stakes simply hadn't been high enough, if anything went wrong, his losses would be limited to this life. He could still avoid the danger in reality ahead of time.
It was a good bargain.
The third team was led by one of Meng Nan's four close friends in Tianlin Cave, a man named He Weiyang. He had just turned sixty and had reached the fifth level of Sense Imprint.
There were plenty of upright True Essence disciples in Tianlin Cave.
But Meng Nan was close only with He Weiyang and the other three because they were good people without being stuffy. The five of them discussed the scriptures and the Dao, each harboring grand hopes for immortality.
Meng Nan was embezzling from Tianlin Cave, bleeding it dry. By all rights, He Weiyang and the others would never have joined him. But Meng Nan approached He Weiyang, whose temperament most closely matched his own, and swore on his life that Immortal Master Zheng had privately revealed the Tianlin Immortal Master's limit was near and that Sky-Scraping Cliff was poised to attack. Tianlin Cave would be hard-pressed to hold its ground.
Within ten years, the place would surely fall.
After laying out the details and weighing the pros and cons, Meng Nan managed to convince He Weiyang for the time being, and he agreed to work with him. But if events later proved otherwise, their friendship would probably be over.
That was fine, though.
As it turned out, Meng Nan's prediction had been right. Even if he had used Immortal Master Zheng's name as a pretext, there was nothing to argue about.
Besides,
Meng Nan might not even still be around ten years later.
Better to focus on the present.
No need to think too far ahead.
Meng Nan planned the routes for all three teams. That way, when Qin Zhongjie had made it halfway, he would run into Zhao Xiaoshuang and Xu Rong on their return journey. Then Zhao Xiaoshuang would bring the spoils back, while Xu Rong took Qin Zhongjie onward to Ghost Mother Mountain. When they returned, they would run into He Weiyang. He would then travel with Qin Zhongjie, while Xu Rong came back.
This rotation kept things efficient.
It was also because Meng Nan simply didn't have many people he could rely on.
He had even sent Zhao Xiaoshuang out.
Someone also needed to stay in charge at Angming Mountain. With only Qian Yu and his other three friends, Meng Nan still felt they were far from enough.
That was the best he could manage.
Three years had passed in the blink of an eye.
On this day,
Zhao Xiaoshuang returned.
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