Spring Autumn Sect!

The spirit boat flew for several days, crossing towering mountains and ridges, and finally arrived at a blessed land of immortal mountains, swirling with spiritual energy and veiled in clouds and mist.

Between the layers of peaks, palaces and pavilions loomed in and out of sight, with immortal cranes dancing in the air and rosy light flowing—this was the mountain gate of the Spring Autumn Sect, a grand sect of the Eastern Wasteland.

Ye Lingshuang and Zhang Ming led Li Qingshan and Er Ya straight to the Outer Sect Deacon Hall the moment they arrived.

The news of a Heavenly Spirit Root appearing in the world exploded among the high-ranking members of the outer sect like a thunderclap on flat ground!

"What? A Heavenly Spirit Root?!"

A loud voice, filled with incredulous surprise, rang out from within the hall.

Immediately following, a middle-aged cultivator wearing azure Daoist robes, with a dignified expression and an aura as deep and vast as the sea, strode out.

He was the Outer Sect Elder, a Foundation Establishment Late Stage Cultivator—Zhou Changhai!

Zhou Changhai's eyes shot out brilliant rays of light, instantly locking onto the two people behind Ye Lingshuang and Zhang Ming.

He first noticed Er Ya, who was brimming with spiritual energy and possessed an extraordinary bone structure, and a flash of excitement crossed his eyes.

"Is it her? Truly, her spiritual resonance is heaven-sent, and she possesses a root of wisdom. For my Spring Autumn Sect to have such a Heavenly Spirit Root, it is truly heaven blessing my Spring Autumn Sect!"

Zhou Changhai was overcome with excitement, observing Er Ya as if he were looking at a rare, priceless treasure.

"Cough, cough... Uncle-Master Zhou, it's not Er Ya, it's... him!"

Zhang Ming offered an awkward smile, then pointed toward Li Qingshan.

"What?!"

Zhou Changhai's eyes widened.

The Li Qingshan before him was wrinkled, with white hair and a white beard, looking even older than Zhou Changhai himself—if he wasn't a hundred, he was at least eighty.

This... this is a Heavenly Spirit Root?

Zhou Changhai's face was full of the expression: Are you kidding me?

"Uncle-Master Zhou, Er Ya has a High-Grade Spirit Root, but this Li Qingshan... is indeed a Heavenly Spirit Root!"

Ye Lingshuang also nodded with a wry smile.

"Old brother, do you just look old? It is no matter; my Spring Autumn Sect has spirit pills to replenish blood and vitality. As long as you are under sixty, it will have no impact on your cultivation!"

Zhou Changhai said with a hint of expectation.

"Well... this old man happens to be exactly one hundred years old!"

Li Qingshan said with a look of embarrassment.

"How old? One hundred?"

Zhou Changhai's entire body trembled, and he nearly blacked out and collapsed to the ground.

A hundred-year-old Heavenly Spirit Root?

Are you playing a prank on me?

Zhou Changhai's face turned livid. With a flicker of his body, he appeared instantly in front of Li Qingshan, the powerful spiritual pressure making Li Qingshan feel as if his breath were being cut off.

Zhou Changhai grabbed Li Qingshan's wrist, and a strand of pure spiritual power probed inside. The last shred of expectation on his face turned into deep disappointment the moment his spiritual power entered Li Qingshan's body!

"One hundred years old... blood and vitality exhausted... meridians like rotting wood... sea of consciousness as murky as a mud pit..."

Zhou Changhai's voice shifted from high-pitched excitement to the cold abyss, filled with endless disappointment and regret. "A Heavenly Spirit Root... to think it is a Heavenly Spirit Root... how the Heavenly Dao mocks! To let such a bright pearl gather dust in its twilight years!"

He let go of his wrist, looking at Li Qingshan with complex eyes—pity, regret, and even a trace of anger, as if questioning the heavens why they would play such a joke.

"With such talent, if discovered eighty years ago... no, even forty years ago, my Spring Autumn Sect would have exhausted all resources to cultivate a Nascent Soul True Lord, perhaps even reaching Spirit Transmutation!"

Zhou Changhai shook his head in distress. "But now... even with a Heavenly Spirit Root, drawing qi into the body is as difficult as ascending to heaven. Late-stage Qi Refining is likely the limit, and Foundation Establishment is nothing but a fool's dream! As for his remaining lifespan... ten or eight years at most, what use is that?"

The other deacons in the hall gathered around as well. Upon learning the situation, they all shook their heads and sighed, their gazes toward Li Qingshan shifting from initial shock to deep pity.

"Elder, how should we arrange him?"

Ye Lingshuang asked respectfully.

Zhou Changhai paced the hall with his hands behind his back, eventually stopping. His tone returned to the dignity and indifference of an Outer Sect Elder: "Since he is a Heavenly Spirit Root, keeping him in the outer sect as a common handyman would damage the sect's reputation and make the Spring Autumn Sect seem petty. But allowing him to enjoy inner sect resources would be a waste and unfair to other disciples."

He pondered for a moment, his gaze shifting to a corner deep within the clouds behind the hall: "How about this. The Hall of Discarded Treasures in the back mountain needs a keeper. It is quiet there, and the spiritual energy is just enough to barely draw in qi. Let him go there, hold the title of an outer sect disciple, and be responsible for daily sweeping and guarding the... junk within the hall.

If he has spare time, he may attempt to draw in qi; the sect will not interfere, but there will be no additional resources provided. Whether he gains anything depends entirely on his own fate... and that pitiful amount of lifespan he has left."

"The Hall of Discarded Treasures?"

Zhang Ming was taken aback. He had heard of that place; it was where the sect stored discarded, damaged, unrepairable, or mysterious items—various abandoned magical artifacts, materials, and sundries.

It was neglected year-round, the spiritual energy was pitifully thin, and it was essentially a giant landfill.

Let a Heavenly Spirit Root go there to keep watch?

Ye Lingshuang also frowned slightly, but considering Li Qingshan's situation, this indeed seemed like the most appropriate arrangement.

It gave him an identity and a place to stay without wasting the sect's resources.

"We shall strictly follow the Elder's decree."

Ye Lingshuang and Zhang Ming bowed in acknowledgment.

Soon, an outer sect deacon disciple led Li Qingshan away from the bustling Deacon Hall, following a secluded mountain path toward the back mountain.

Er Ya was taken away by Ye Lingshuang to process her inner sect initiation, and as they parted, she looked back at Li Qingshan with reluctance, her eyes filled with worry.

Li Qingshan merely smiled and waved at her, signaling her to be at ease.

The mountain path was rugged, and the further they traveled toward the back mountain, the thinner the spiritual energy became, and the more desolate the environment grew.

Eventually, they stopped in front of a dilapidated hall hidden amidst wild grass and withered vines.

Hanging above the hall's lintel was a crooked plaque covered in dust and cobwebs, inscribed with three mottled ancient seal characters: Hall of Discarded Treasures.

The hall doors were half-open, and a scent mingled with dust, rust, rotting wood, and the mustiness of age rushed to meet them.

The light inside the hall was dim, and the vast space was piled high with all manner of bizarre objects.

Broken flying swords, rusted armor, fragments of cracked magical artifacts, lusterless ores, incomplete jade slips, and even strange items of unknown purpose covered in layers of dust.

They were heaped in chaotic disarray, like the dust of forgotten history.

"Li... Junior Brother Li!"

The deacon disciple leading the way looked at Li Qingshan's aged appearance, the title of "Junior Brother" sounding rather awkward on his tongue.

"This is the Hall of Discarded Treasures. Your duty is to sweep the dust in the hall daily and organize... er, actually, there is no need to organize much; just ensure nothing collapses and crushes anyone."

"There is a small room behind the hall where you will reside. Here is your identity jade token and the basic Qi-guiding technique, the Evergreen Technique."

He handed Li Qingshan a low-quality jade token and a thin booklet, his tone carrying a trace of pity, "The spiritual energy here is thin; you... take care of yourself. Don't wander about; there are restrictions in the depths of the back mountain, and it is very dangerous."

Having finished his instructions, he hurried away as if fleeing.

Li Qingshan stood at the entrance of the Hall of Discarded Treasures, gazing at the vast, desolate expanse filled with "trash," the scent of decay in the air seeming to mirror his own hundred-year life.

He tightened his grip on the Yellow-Skin Wine Gourd Er Ya had given him, which had accompanied him for a year; the surface of the gourd felt warm, and it seemed to share an extremely faint, almost imperceptible resonance with some of the dormant objects in the hall.

He stepped into the hall, his footsteps leaving shallow imprints on the dust-covered floor.

Looking around, his gaze swept over the remains forgotten by time, eventually landing on the equally dilapidated small room at the back of the hall.

On his aged face, there was no disappointment, no anger, only the calm and indifference of one who had experienced the vicissitudes of life.

"Hall of Discarded Treasures... at least it is quiet."

He whispered to himself, his cloudy eyes reflecting the dim light of the hall and the mountains of discarded items.

"The path to immortality is severed? Heh... a hundred years of time, with yellow earth already reaching my neck; to catch a glimpse of the Immortal Gate is already an unexpected joy. Since the path ahead is set, then... let nature take its course."

He gripped the Evergreen Technique booklet tightly and walked toward the small room.

In the dim light, the Yellow-Skin Gourd seemed to flicker with a faint, imperceptible shimmer that vanished in an instant.