The Cultivation Technique Lu Chang'an chose was called “Ancient Wood Evergreen Skill”.
This was his second life.
He obtained this ancient longevity Cultivation Technique from the Immortal Cave of the Nascent Soul Great Cultivator, Yan Donglai.
At that time, he was already four or five hundred years old, and almost lost his life fighting someone in the Immortal Cave.
His only gain was half a scroll of “Ancient Wood Evergreen Skill”, which could be Cultivated up to the Nascent Soul Stage.
The characteristics of “Ancient Wood Evergreen Skill” are cultivating one's character, extending Lifespan, and having a long and steady Qi flow.
Its disadvantage is that, as a longevity Cultivation Technique, its power is ordinary, and its Cultivation speed is slow.
In his third life, he chose this Cultivation Technique.
Lu Chang'an valued only one thing: extending his Lifespan!
“Ancient Wood Evergreen Skill” must be Cultivated from the Qi Refinement Stage and be used as the primary Cultivation Technique to increase Lifespan. Transferring Cultivation midway will not extend Lifespan!”
“The Lifespan extension effect is half a Lifespan more than Cultivators of the same Realm at each Realm.”
“Qi Refinement Stage: extends Lifespan by fifty to sixty years.”
“Foundation Establishment Stage: extends Lifespan by one hundred twenty years.”
“Core Formation Stage: extends Lifespan by three hundred years.”
Normal Qi Refinement Stage Cultivators have a Lifespan of only one hundred twenty years.
Foundation Establishment Stage has two hundred forty years.
Core Formation Stage has a Lifespan of up to five or six hundred years.
In other words, in this life, as long as Lu Chang'an returns to his previous Core Formation Stage, he will have a minimum Lifespan of nine hundred years!
If he could get some Heaven And Earth Treasure that extends Lifespan, a thousand years of Lifespan would not be impossible.
Lu Chang'an did not believe that with nearly a thousand years of Lifespan in this life, acting steadily and progressing step by step, he still couldn't advance to the Nascent Soul Stage.
After two Reincarnations, he deeply understood the meaning of Lifespan for a Cultivator.
In the Cultivation World, only those who live to the end are the true winners.
Cultivators who are severely injured in combat, including using some Secret Manuals, often affect their Lifespan and Foundation.
In his second life, Lu Chang'an wanted to advance to the Nascent Soul Stage, but due to Lifespan limitations, he had to compete for various Opportunities and experience life-and-death battles, which inevitably damaged his Foundation.
This also affected his later attempt to break through to the Nascent Soul Stage, ultimately leading to his demise during the Heavenly Tribulation.
“In my second life, I had little Lifespan left, and my main Cultivation Technique was fire-attributed, so my Spiritual Root also leaned towards fire, making it unsuitable to switch to the wood-attributed “Ancient Wood Evergreen Skill”.”
“In this life, I have a Medium Grade Spiritual Root, with higher sensitivity to fire, wood, and metal Spiritual Qi, so it's perfect to Cultivate “Ancient Wood Evergreen Skill” from the Qi Refinement Stage, increasing my Lifespan layer by layer.”
Aptitude of Cultivators is divided into:
Inferior Spiritual Root, Low Grade Spiritual Root, Medium Grade Spiritual Root, High Grade Spiritual Root, Earthly Spiritual Root, Heavenly Spiritual Root.
In addition, there are Innate Physiques outside the independent Spiritual Root system. For example, Lightning Spiritual Physique, Azure Lotus Physique, Dragon Roar Physique, etc.
Innate Physiques are too rare; Lu Chang'an doesn't know much about them.
The grade of the Spiritual Root system is determined by the sensitivity to Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi.
Normal Cultivators have all Five Elements.
The grade of a Spiritual Root mainly depends on the Spiritual Qi attribute with the strongest sensitivity.
Sensitivity ten is the minimum standard for a Low Grade Spiritual Root.
Sensitivity twenty is the minimum standard for a Medium Grade Spiritual Root.
Lu Chang'an's sensitivity to fire Spiritual Qi just exceeded twenty, reaching the minimum standard for a Medium Grade Spiritual Root.
Next was wood Spiritual Qi, with a sensitivity of seventeen.
Metal Spiritual Qi, with a sensitivity of fifteen.
As for water and earth Spiritual Qi, their sensitivity was less than ten, so they were not graded. This means that Cultivating Spells of these two attributes would be more difficult in the future.
...
That night, Lu Chang'an held spiritual sand in his hand and began to Cultivate “Ancient Wood Evergreen Skill”.
On the journey, a month flashed by.
The last grain of spiritual sand in Lu Chang'an's hand turned into powder.
“Ancient Wood Evergreen Skill, first layer!”
Lu Chang'an circulated the thread-like Magic Power within his body and felt a vibrant, evergreen aura.
As soon as he started, he felt that the Magic Power of Changqing Gong was endless.
Long and steady Qi flow, strong endurance!
Just this point compensated for the ordinary power of the ancient longevity Cultivation Technique.
In battles between Cultivators of the same Realm, Magical Artifacts and Divine Abilities are the most important.
Continuous Magic Power can sustain Magical Artifacts and Divine Abilities for longer. Even when escaping, there is a considerable advantage.
“However, the Cultivation speed of “Ancient Wood Evergreen Skill” is even slower than expected, not even comparable to “Open Source Sutra”.”
Lu Chang'an felt this drawback most acutely.
Of course, “Ancient Wood Evergreen Skill” also had a hidden surprise.
That was its Qi concealing effect!
When this Cultivation Technique conceals one's aura, the entire person seems to transform into a piece of rotten wood, making it impossible for others to discern their true cultivation.
Many wood-attributed Cultivation Techniques have Qi concealing effects, but they are far inferior to “Ancient Wood Evergreen Skill”.
“Not bad, this is perfect for my philosophy of low-key Cultivation and steady management in this life.”
Lu Chang'an nodded secretly.
Once he chose this Cultivation Technique, he should no longer constantly think about fighting and competing for Opportunities.
Avoid disputes and fights!
In this life, he wanted to steadily enter the Nascent Soul Stage and uncover the true secret of the Nine Imprint Tablet.
...
Lu Chang'an's spiritual sand was used up.
Before arriving at the Mu Family, he didn't bother to Cultivate anymore.
The secular spiritual barren lands had very poor Cultivation effects, not to mention that “Ancient Wood Evergreen Skill” itself had a slow advancement.
There were still two months left on the journey.
Lu Chang'an, not Cultivating, simply picked up and practiced some secular Martial Arts.
In Lu Chang'an's first life, as a Loose Cultivator, he had spent some time in the secular world, once killed several Innate Grandmasters of Martial Dao, and collected some top-tier Martial Arts Secret Manuals.
He remembered clearly that secular Martial Dao Grandmasters posed a threat to Qi Refinement Stage Cultivators. If one was careless, a Qi Refinement Stage Cultivator could also suffer a setback.
In this life, starting at Qi Refinement first layer, his Magic Power was too weak, and he had no Magical Artifacts or Talismans for protection.
“Ancient Wood Evergreen Skill” had ordinary power and couldn't be relied upon.
He severely lacked means of protection for his Dao.
For the rest of the journey.
Lu Chang'an took time to practice Martial Arts, just wanting to have more self-defense methods.
This practice brought a pleasant surprise!
Secular Martial Arts require extremely low Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi.
Lu Chang'an was already a second-rate expert in Jianghu, a Martial Arts prodigy.
The feedback from the Nine Imprint Tablet made his Soul far surpass ordinary people; his Divine Sense strength at Qi Refinement first layer was close to Qi Refinement seventh layer.
With a powerful Soul and the high-level perspective of a Cultivator, Cultivating Martial Arts was incredibly fast.
In less than two months.
Lu Chang'an's Martial Dao cultivation progressed from second-rate to first-rate, then to super-first-rate, and finally advanced to Innate Martial Dao!
At this time, Lu Chang'an had just turned eighteen.
“An eighteen-year-old Martial Dao Grandmaster, enough to shake the secular Martial Forest.”
Lu Chang'an felt the abundant Innate True Qi within his body and his reborn, strong Physique.
Of course, compared to a Cultivator's Magic Power, Martial Dao True Qi was quite inferior.
...
“Cheer up! We'll reach the Mu Family's stronghold in half a day.”
On the official road, Mu Family Head's spiritual horse led the way, followed by over a dozen other horses.
After two or three months of long travel, the Spiritual Root youths were physically and mentally exhausted.
Only Lu Chang'an, who Cultivated “Ancient Wood Evergreen Skill”, had abundant energy and strong recovery capabilities.
During this time, he even had time to practice Martial Arts.
Mu Family Head, Mu Maode, watched Lu Chang'an practice Martial Arts but said nothing.
Lu Chang'an was originally a Jianghu person, so practicing Martial Arts fit his persona.
As for whether it would delay his Cultivation, Mu Family Head didn't care.
He wasn't truly interested in nurturing Lu Chang'an and the others; he only cared about how many Spiritual Root Bloodlines they could bring to the Family.
It was even better if Lu Chang'an “neglected his proper duties”.
When the path to Immortality seemed hopeless, it would be easier for him to stay in the Mu Family and contribute more effort in the future.
...
“We're here! Emerald Moon Lake!”
A few days later, several Mu Family Cultivators' spirits lifted.
Lu Chang'an and the others gazed into the distance; the outline of a lake, under the faint moonlight, shimmered with a jade-like luster.
“That's the spiritual lake water resource controlled by the Mu Family. It's said to produce spiritual fish…”
A gentle breeze brushed their faces, and everyone felt a hint of moist air.
The surrounding Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi far surpassed the spiritual barren lands of the secular world.
Emerald Moon Lake was not far.
They were already close to the Mu Family's territory.
The Mu Family members, who had been vigilant all the way, couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.
This mission of escorting the immortal seedlings was finally completed.
Just as everyone felt a sense of relief.
Whoosh—
A piercing whistle sounded, and a scorching aura assaulted them.
Boom!
In an instant, dozens of lantern-sized fireballs smashed down on the Mu Family's team escorting the immortal seedlings.
“Enemy attack!”
Mu Family Head's expression changed drastically, and he roared.
Except for his own spiritual horse, the other horses screamed with weak legs or fled in terror.
For a moment, people and horses tumbled, and dust flew everywhere.
“Protect the immortal seedlings!”
Amidst the roar, Mu Family Head and four Family Cultivators each used their methods.
Water screens, golden light shields, earth wall Spells, Magical Artifact umbrellas… they tried their best to protect the ten immortal seedlings.
However, there were dozens of fireballs, and they couldn't provide airtight protection.
“Ah…”
A scream came, and a scholarly young man was hit by a lantern-sized fireball, his body burning fiercely.
Soon, his body charred, and he stopped struggling.
The other nine youths shivered and dodged clumsily.
A Cultivator's Physique surpasses that of ordinary people, but several were still injured.
“Oh my god! The Cultivation World is too terrifying…”
Li Ergou's face was pale, and he almost wet himself.
He was dragged by Lu Chang'an's arm, sliding seven or eight meters on the ground, dodging the explosion radius of a fireball.
Lu Chang'an's Divine Sense perception was strong, and with Martial Arts skills, he was relatively much calmer.
“Hahahaha… Mu Maode! You want to bring back this batch of immortal seedlings? You'll need my Zheng Family's permission first!”
From the hill on the left, seven Cultivators flew out, each holding a Magical Artifact.
The black-skinned strong man leading them, stepping on a large red flame blade, had a centipede-like scar on his cheek that almost extended to his neck, adding a touch of ferocity.
The Magic Power fluctuations on this person's body had clearly reached Qi Refinement ninth layer!
“Zheng Family Cultivators! Zheng Centipede!”
Several Mu Family Cultivators couldn't help but exclaim.
The Spiritual Root setting draws inspiration from the single-player game “Guiguan Eight Desolations”, which is slightly different from traditional Mortal Cultivation.