Perhaps embarrassed by how much he had gained, Changchunzi hesitated for a while before telling Pan Long what he intended to do with the Everlasting Orchid.
Since ancient times, the world had known of the so-called "Heterodox Way of Longevity." Rather than tying oneself to the world's origins through an obsession or some other means to gain longevity, it used external things that already possessed longevity to obtain an inferior version of it.
The classic example of this Heterodox Way of Longevity was the Military Strategist School's Weapon-Nurturing Art.
By cultivating the Weapon-Nurturing Art, a True Person Grandmaster could refine himself into a divine weapon. From then on, as long as the weapon remained intact, he had effectively gained longevity.
A divine weapon's sentience was limited, but it could be nurtured and strengthened. Several divine weapons passed down through generations of the Military Strategist School were every bit as intelligent as living people. It was as though those Great Grandmasters had lived until now—and would go on living.
The Primordial Qi Gu God Method Zheng Shuang cultivated was, in theory, another Heterodox Way of Longevity. At its highest level, it could transform the practitioner into a Primordial Qi life-form. That was where the name "Primordial Qi Gu God" came from.
Primordial Qi life-forms had no known limit to their lifespan. At least, no one had yet discovered one that had died of old age. Transforming oneself into one would naturally mean gaining longevity.
There was a revered master in the world today who had successfully cultivated the Primordial Qi Gu God Method and become a Primordial Qi life-form. People called her the "Gu Immortal."
The Gu Immortal had lived for over seven hundred years, yet she still looked like a young girl. Bi Lingkong, who had met her, estimated that