The Mystery of Longevity

"Hiss..."

Chen Jianghe sucked in a breath of cold air. Looking at the lifespan limit that had appeared, he was still stunned, though he had already prepared himself.

Three hundred and sixty years.

He did not know how long cultivators at the Core Formation Stage above Foundation Establishment could live, but his lifespan was already a hundred and forty years longer than that of the Foundation Establishment Realm.

This meant that even with his Five-Element Mixed Spiritual Root, as long as he did not die, he would certainly achieve Foundation Establishment someday.

"Whew..."

Chen Jianghe let out a long, heavy breath, calming the excitement in his heart.

With a shift of his Divine Sense, he enveloped his Spiritual Platform and discovered another piece of information emerging.

[Spirit Pet: lifespan of one hundred and twenty years]

"???"

"Is this Xiao Hei's lifespan limit?"

Chen Jianghe froze, disbelief spreading across his face.

That made no sense at all. Xiao Hei was a tortoise, naturally long-lived. How could he have only a hundred and twenty years?

Even an ordinary tortoise should live more than a hundred-odd years.

"Could it be that I'm not sharing Xiao Hei's lifespan? Impossible! Where did my long lifespan come from, then?"

Chen Jianghe had always believed that he shared Xiao Hei's lifespan, which was why he had a long lifespan comparable to that of the Foundation Establishment Realm.

Now, it had even reached three hundred and sixty years.

"No, my lifespan limit increased when Xiao Hei entered a rank. This definitely has something to do with him."

"Xiao Hei has a hundred and twenty years, and I have three hundred and sixty. Why does Xiao Hei's lifespan limit feel like what mine should normally be?"

Suddenly, as his thoughts raced, an idea appeared in his mind.

"Could it be that I'm not sharing Xiao Hei's lifespan, but have exchanged lifespans with him?"

Chen Jianghe looked at Xiao Hei's lifespan displayed on his Spiritual Platform. A hundred and twenty years-wasn't that precisely the lifespan limit of a Qi Refining Stage cultivator?

At that moment, he knew there was no doubt that he and Xiao Hei had exchanged lifespans.

"Two-legged beast, I did it! I've entered the Immortal Dao!"

Just then, an excited voice came from his Spiritual Platform, and the Spirit-Turtle Mark flickered with a faint blue-black glow.

"Xiao Hei? Is that you talking?"

"It's me, it's me! I did it! Two-legged beast, do you know? I did it!" Xiao Hei cheered and shouted excitedly.

Chen Jianghe was delighted to hear this. After entering a rank, Xiao Hei could indeed communicate through his Spiritual Platform.

That saved him the spirit stones needed to buy a Spirit Beast Ring.

Wait!

Two dark lines instantly appeared on Chen Jianghe's forehead.

"What the hell is this 'two-legged beast' business?"

"The two-legged beast is my immortal opportunity, and my immortal opportunity is you!"

Xiao Hei's earnest voice came through, filled with excitement and agitation, but above all, gratitude.

"Two-legged beast, do you know? I was born defective. My shell wasn't fully developed, and I had only a third of my kind's lifespan. With a lifespan of eighty years, a Black Crystal Mystic Tortoise would die just after reaching mating age. Luckily, you led me onto the Immortal Dao."

"Now I have a hundred and twenty years to live."

"Two-legged beast, you were absolutely right. Being different from my kind doesn't mean I'm defective-it means I'm exceptionally gifted. This Lord Tortoise did it!"

At that moment, Xiao Hei seemed to have found someone to pour his heart out to, sweeping away all the gloom that had built up over the years of being scorned by his own kind.

Listening to Xiao Hei's outpouring, Chen Jianghe learned that Xiao Hei had been bound to him since birth, and that their lifespans had been exchanged at that very moment.

There was also a "two-legged beast" mark on Xiao Hei's Spiritual Platform, bearing Chen Jianghe's likeness.

However, there was one thing: Xiao Hei could not see Chen Jianghe's lifespan.

In other words, Xiao Hei did not know that he had exchanged lifespans with Chen Jianghe. He only knew that Chen Jianghe was his immortal opportunity.

"Xiao Hei, you can't call me two-legged beast anymore. You have to call me Master," Chen Jianghe transmitted solemnly.

"You're taking advantage of me." Xiao Hei shook his enormous tortoise head like a rattle drum.

"Think about it, Xiao Hei. I'm your immortal opportunity. Only after following me did you enter a rank and become a Spirit Beast, increasing your lifespan to a hundred and twenty years."

"And this is only the beginning. As long as you behave, there'll be plenty of miraculous pills and medicines for you to eat in the future. Then your lifespan might increase to three hundred years, five hundred years, or you might even become a thousand-year tortoise, a ten-thousand-year..."

"Master!" Xiao Hei blurted out.

People wanted to flaunt whatever they lacked.

Xiao Hei was different. Whatever he lacked was what he wanted, his thinking simple and direct.

"Mm, very good. Now that you're a Spirit Beast, raising Small Blue Fish should come even more naturally to you. Work hard. Once this batch of Small Blue Fish is grown, I'll reward you with a Qi-Nourishing Pill."

Chen Jianghe nodded in satisfaction.

"Two-legged beast..."

"Hmm!"

"Rest assured, Master. Before, I couldn't subdue the grown Azure-Scaled Fish. Now, dealing with them is child's play." Xiao Hei held his tortoise head high, brimming with confidence.

"After becoming a Spirit Beast, did you gain a corresponding cultivation art?" Chen Jianghe asked.

"Yes. After I condensed my Spirit Core, a cultivation art appeared in my mind: [Three-Turn Demon Ascension Art]."

Xiao Hei hid nothing and even wanted to pass the [Three-Turn Demon Ascension Art] to Chen Jianghe, only to discover that he could not transmit it out of his mind.

It seemed to have been branded into his mind; any attempt to pass it on produced nothing but a blank.

Chen Jianghe's expression stiffened.

Spirit Beasts really did have cultivation arts!

He had initially guessed that Spirit Beasts had no cultivation arts and relied entirely on absorbing spiritual energy and consuming various cultivation resources to improve their cultivation.

"Good. Work hard. Once we're well-off, I'll buy you a pile of spiritual pills to eat like candy."

"Woo! Woo! Woo!"

Xiao Hei was so excited that he could no longer speak coherently. He rolled and spun in place, stirring up countless grains of sand and stones from the lakebed.

Becoming a Spirit Beast really does make a difference. He can swallow grand promises now.

With that thought, Chen Jianghe left the lakebed and rose to the surface.

He returned to his black-canopied boat.

Chen Jianghe settled his mind and quietly considered his future plans.

Xiao Hei's entry into a rank had broken through his lifespan limit, bringing it to a staggering three hundred and sixty years.

But as the mark on his Spiritual Platform became complete, he had also learned that he was not sharing Xiao Hei's lifespan; they had exchanged lifespans.

This meant that when Xiao Hei broke through, his own lifespan limit would increase.

If he successfully achieved Foundation Establishment, Xiao Hei's lifespan limit would increase as well.

At present, Xiao Hei had a lifespan of a hundred and twenty years and was about to turn ten, which meant that under normal circumstances, he still had a hundred and ten years to live.

In other words, Chen Jianghe had to achieve Foundation Establishment within a hundred and ten years, or Xiao Hei would die of old age.

As long as he still wanted to break through his lifespan limit, he had to rely on Xiao Hei. While cultivating himself, he also had to pay attention to nurturing Xiao Hei.

And there was one most important point.

He and Xiao Hei had exchanged lifespans. If Xiao Hei met with misfortune and died suddenly along the way, would his lifespan remain fixed at three hundred and sixty years, or would the Spirit-Turtle Mark on his Spiritual Platform disappear, allowing him to bind a new Spirit Pet?

The mark on his Spiritual Platform provided little information, leaving Chen Jianghe with very little knowledge of this so-called cheat of his.

Most crucially, this was not something he could test.

Provided I can stay alive, my cultivation comes first, and Xiao Hei comes second. Nothing else matters, Chen Jianghe thought.

He did not believe that he would fail to achieve Foundation Establishment in a hundred years.

So, staying alive was still the prerequisite for everything. Keeping a low profile and clinging to life, managing his affairs steadily, and being cautious in word and deed were the true way forward.

Once he became a Foundation Establishment Ancestor, there would still be time to swagger around and throw his weight about.

(End of chapter)