A Necessity

The arrival of Divine Lord Zhenyuan in Chang'an City was no less significant than the arrival of those in the Seventh Sequence or even Eighth Sequence in Western Capital City.

As the one in control of the power structure, the Empress Dowager's feelings are not hard to understand.

Zhang Xuezhou understood this contrast all too well. After he finished persuading Li Shaojun, he sensed that the Empress Dowager was still nearby.

The fact that the Empress Dowager did not leave means that the other party's emotions remained stable, and that she had even made some judgments.

This prompted Zhang Xuezhou to quickly introduce Divine Lord Zhenyuan and Li Shaojun.

"Zhenyuan, this Master Li Shaojun is a successor of Daoist School, and Daoist School was once the most prestigious school of thought in our Eastern Land!"

"Master Li, Zhenyuan is Rogue Cultivator who has traveled from the West, and this is your first time visiting Chang'an City!"

Divine Lord Zhenyuan's biggest problem is his identity. This identity is not important when facing ordinary people, but it obviously becomes a problem when facing the ruler of the Great Han Dynasty.

If the identity of Divine Lord Zhenyuan cannot be confirmed, and such a top-level cultivator is allowed to remain nearby, it is undoubtedly like having a knife next to your pillow.

"I have long admired the name of Laozi Daoist School Daoism. It is a pity that Zhenyuan was not up to par when Laozi's fame was already known throughout the world, and it was difficult for him to exchange skills with Laozi. This has always been a regret in my heart," said Divine Lord Zhenyuan politely.

"Daoist Master, have you lived for many years?" Li Shaojun asked with a dry laugh.

"Not many, I'm just a short-lived being," Divine Lord Zhenyuan shook his head and said.

"Well?"

"In the place where I practice, I was always the youngest and shortest-lived, until recently when someone else took my place!"

Divine Lord Zhenyuan never thought he had lived a long life. Although he became the number one human god in the Kunlun Sacred Land, Divine Lord Zhenyuan had the shortest lifespan and the youngest age among the great cultivators in the Western Kunlun Holy Land in the past.

When it comes to discussing age, lifespan, and other such matters, Divine Lord Zhenyuan feels no pride whatsoever.

He was not even wary of this, mentioning his regret that he had never verified Lao Tzu's teachings in the past.

Little did they know that without the conditions for cultivating life, few people outside of Western Kunlun live long lives anymore, and the magnificent scene of the cultivator Peng Zu living to eight hundred years old, as described in the classics, is no longer seen. Even living to one hundred years old is a rare and long life.

"The place where the Daoist priest resides is tens of thousands of miles away from here, and the journey is treacherous and difficult to reach," Zhang Xuezhou explained. "They need to cultivate in seclusion every day. Those who succeed in their cultivation naturally live long lives, while those who fail die young. Beneath the longevity lies White Bone!"

"Dongfang Shuo is absolutely right!"

Divine Lord Zhenyuan pondered the numerous dried corpses and withered bones beneath the Longevity Fruit Tree and couldn't help but nod repeatedly.

Those who can cultivate the Longevity Technique live long lives, while those who cannot are reduced to White Bone long ago.

On one side are long-lived beings who have already achieved spiritual cultivation, and on the other side are short-lived beings who are constantly being chased by the post-natal era.

Among them are long-lived beings whose lifespans are fading into the twilight, and short-lived beings who perish on their path of cultivation in pursuit of longevity. Life and death together constitute the extremely unique Kunlun Sacred Land.

"What a pity. I've always longed for immortality and wanted to learn a thing or two from you, Master," Li Shaojun sighed.

"It would be good if one in a hundred people could achieve immortality," Zhang Xuezhou said with a smile.

"No, no, no! In the past, those who cultivated and lived long lives were one in a thousand; now, they are one in ten thousand!"

Zhang Xuezhou's words were corrected very quickly by Divine Lord Zhenyuan.

Even in an era where cultivating one's destiny was valued, very few people could achieve longevity through cultivation.

While it may seem that many great cultivators in the Three Realms have achieved longevity, there are only a few thousand such cases in any given era, so the actual rate is not high.

After that era, it is extremely rare for someone to cultivate longevity again.

Aside from himself and Zhang Xuezhou cleverly borrowing the Longevity Fruit Tree to obtain false lifespans and becoming flawed semi-immortals, Divine Lord Zhenyuan has not yet discovered anyone who has achieved immortality through this method.

With just a few words, even if Li Shaojun had any wandering thoughts, they were quickly suppressed.

The Empress Dowager, who was listening from a distance, only heard the beginning before quickly suppressing any lingering thoughts that had arisen in her mind.

However, through this conversation, the Empress Dowager learned that Li Shaojun also had no good way to prolong his life, and even greatly envied longevity.

"Thirty years constitute one generation, twelve generations constitute one cycle, thirty cycles constitute one gathering, and twelve gatherings constitute one era. The Immortal Court once extended this saying, stating that a person who can obtain one era can enjoy a long life. Such a person is named Zhenyuan, and only by having the belief to suppress the number of eras can one obtain such longevity and power!"

The Empress Dowager was less than a hundred years old, and her cultivation had only lasted for a few decades.

She felt that her skills were inferior to those of Divine Lord Zhenyuan, and that the gap between them was so great that she was almost in despair.

But once she understood that Divine Lord Zhenyuan had spent years in seclusion and cultivation, she could understand the reason for this difference.

Some seek rapid development in the short term, while others seek longevity and then gradually advance their cultivation. The Empress Dowager is the former, while Divine Lord Zhenyuan is the latter.

The former pursued the attack aggressively, while the latter took a gradual approach.

Compared to the former, the latter has a lower chance of success, but the latter is also more likely to be more powerful. For example, dozens of cultivators like the Empress Dowager may appear in the Great Han Dynasty in a hundred years, while there may only be one or two cultivators like Divine Lord Zhenyuan in a hundred years.

The probability of this happening is so low that few people would particularly envy or pursue it.

In the short time they spent talking, the Empress Dowager's wariness of Divine Lord Zhenyuan gradually decreased. She felt that such a person who had achieved longevity through cultivation should be a wise and insightful person who would not get caught up in the quagmire of worldly power struggles.

The other party was even on good terms with Zhang Xuezhou, and also gathered with many vulgar people.

The Empress Dowager glanced at the long wooden table in the Zhang residence and saw that there were bowls and chopsticks in front of Divine Lord Zhenyuan, with millet and pork in the bowls, and Rong Tianding sitting beside him. The breath she had been holding in her heart completely relaxed.

"What are you doing here? Don't cause me trouble for no reason. This time you've angered the Empress Dowager again. What have I ever done to offend you in my life?"

When Zhang Xuezhou started shouting and it was confirmed that the Empress Dowager's spirit was far away from the Zhang residence, Li Shaojun's calm demeanor immediately crumbled.

"Grandpa, Uncle, I call you Uncle, you can't abandon me!"

Li Shaojun glanced at the Zhang Household Village people who were helping to build the wall, then at Divine Lord Zhenyuan, before approaching Zhang Xuezhou to complain.

"You abandoned me and left me to fend for myself. These past few days have felt like I've been in jail," Li Shaojun whispered.

"Tch!" Zhang Xuezhou replied dismissively.

"I'll benefit from it, I really will benefit from it, all you have to do is put in a little effort!"

Seeing that Zhang Xuezhou was unyielding, Li Shaojun had no choice but to offer him benefits.

"I don't want to exert myself at all lately," Zhang Xuezhou said. "I'm going to sleep tonight, and I have to go on a long trip in half a month. I simply don't have time to mess around with you!"

"Then what am I supposed to do?" Li Shaojun gritted his teeth and said, "I have a very high reputation in Chang'an City right now. All the civil and military officials are inviting me to banquets, and they'll even show me their treasured possessions. Without your help, I can't see any of them!"

What's the use of just looking but not taking anything?

Zhang Xuezhou originally thought that Li Shaojun's benefit would come from getting money from Anle Palace, and that it might also involve the Purple Gold Red Gourd, which made him very uninterested. After all, Zhang Xuezhou had already advanced the Longevity Technique to the Divine Ability Realm, and his current need for external objects was not high.

It wasn't until Li Shaojun mentioned visiting different households for banquets, where one could see many rare and precious items, including various ancient artifacts and heirlooms from previous dynasties, that Zhang Xuezhou became more interested.

However, he was indeed unable to attend to everything at the moment, since Zhang Xuezhou had promised to guide Divine Lord Zhenyuan to the Yedie River Holy Land to visit Daojun.

This involves the Law Treasure and formations that Divine Lord Zhenyuan relies on for his survival. If he hadn't fallen into a deep sleep, Divine Lord Zhenyuan would definitely have set off immediately.

"I'll take it anyway," Li Shaojun gritted his teeth. "As long as I can identify something useful, they'll give me some gifts. Doing this kind of thing won't cause any trouble or repercussions, and we can profit from it. It's much safer than plotting against Anle Palace!"

What kind of gift?

"Pills and medicinal herbs... You're a cultivator from the Yin-Yang School, and I've never seen you set up an array in all these years. Even if you don't lack pills, you must lack the materials for array formations. I can give you those materials after I've taken some benefits!"

Zhang Xuezhou was fond of pursuing profits and would not do anything without benefit. When Li Shaojun mentioned the word "elixir" and saw that Zhang Xuezhou's face did not change at all, he quickly changed his target to tempt him.

His words had no effect on Zhang Xuezhou, but they did attract Divine Lord Zhenyuan, who desperately needed array materials.