The Undying People's path of cultivation had not been completely cut off.
Every five hundred years, an Undying Person's body withered. During that time, their consciousness grew clouded, leaving them at the mercy of others for anywhere from a few years to nearly a century.
To survive this calamity, the Undying People often buried themselves deep underground beforehand.
Among the Undying People, this was called One Cycle—one turn of reincarnation!
If they endured nine cycles, the flaws in their bodies would not only be made whole; their bodies would become the Dao Bodies cultivators dreamed of, releasing the potential accumulated over nine cycles.
But that was far too difficult. Before that transformation, the Undying People possessed formidable vitality, but their strength was little different from an ordinary mortal's.
Their vitality had limits, too. Put simply, as long as a reasonably intact piece of their body remained—half a finger, for instance—that half-finger could grow into a complete Undying Person again over several decades.
But if all that remained was a scrap of flesh or a drop of blood, they were truly dead!
Worse, once an Undying Person was exposed, cultivators would hunt them down.
Every cultivation faction that knew of the Undying People regarded them as a rare and precious medicinal treasure, hoping to uncover the secret of eternal youth and life.
Even if they failed, they could drain an Undying Person's vital essence and blood qi and refine them into pills.
How long did it take an Undying Person to make themselves whole?
At least five thousand years.
Over such a vast span of time, too many things could go wrong.
And the Undying People had been few to begin with. By now, they had become an endangered people.
At least in the black-robed middle-aged man's nearly six thousand years