Jiang Yang had suspected it from the start. Now, after a chance use, it proved to be just as he had expected.
No wonder his own True Person and Prince Jing treated the elder with such respect. With a lifespan like that, outliving two generations of Purple Mansion True Persons would be no trouble at all. His seniority was plain to see.
The turtle-backed elder did indeed cultivate the path of "longevity qi." Jiang Yang had felt that familiarity because he cultivated broadwood himself. The innate resonance between these Dao lineages naturally drew longevity qi close to him as well.
As for the unfamiliarity, that was because he had never seen what longevity qi looked like, leaving him unable to recognize it at all.
Combining his master Xuan Guang's explanation with scattered passages in the records, Jiang Yang had learned that the path of longevity qi was blighted, that all living beings beneath heaven had suffered damage, and that cultivating it was inauspicious.
Yuanzhu was already eight hundred years old and had yet to break through to the Purple Mansion realm. Although Monster Beasts naturally lived longer than humans, even among Monster Beasts, this age meant he was entering his twilight years.
His thousand-year lifespan owed not only to the benefits of the longevity qi path, but also to his origins as a turtle demon who had assumed human form. An ordinary Monster Beast would have become dry bones by now.
Jiang Yang sipped his spirit tea, his thoughts drifting. Seeing this, the clam maiden attending him hurried over with the Jade Pot. As she bent to refill his tea, she stole glances at him with her wide, darting eyes.
He was happy to remain unnoticed, but the tent could not be allowed to fall silent. Stroking his long beard,