Starting at the Nascent Soul stage, a rogue cultivator is incredibly poor.

Back in his cave, Qingyouzi paced back and forth in the quiet room, his brows furrowed.

difficult.

The conditions offered by Tianxian City were far too generous.

"If one continues this methodical and arduous cultivation without consuming the Celestial Fruit, it will take at least one or two hundred years to reach the mid-Nascent Soul stage... and that's assuming everything goes smoothly without encountering any bottlenecks."

He stopped and looked out the window at the drifting clouds.

"Opportunities at the Nascent Soul stage are not easily obtained. Everyone fights for them, snatches them, and risks their lives."

"Joining the Heavenly Immortal City alliance certainly means being sent to the front lines, where life and death are uncertain. But at least I won't be alone. I'll have cultivators of the same level to fight alongside me, Golden Core and Foundation Establishment cultivators to support me, and Heavenly Immortal City as my powerful backer. The danger is great, but the rewards... are great too."

The bigger the waves, the more expensive the fish.

He shook his head and smiled bitterly.

"But that's risking your life..."

But then Jiang Taiyuan's voice echoed in my mind:

"All Nascent Soul cultivators who participate in the battle will receive an annual offering of ten thousand spirit stones. If you wish to participate, Heavenly Immortal City will gift you one Nascent Soul Pill and open the Nine Revolutions Spirit Pool for three days..."

Nascent Soul Pill! Nine-Turn Spirit Pool!

These two items are enough to drive any cultivator stuck in the early Nascent Soul stage mad. The former can greatly increase the probability of breaking through to the next realm, while the latter is a treasure trove for tempering the Nascent Soul and consolidating one's foundation, something ordinary cultivators simply cannot hope to see.

"Besides, there's also the exchange of battle merits..." Qing Youzi's eyes flickered slightly. "The 'Azure Awakening Technique' I'm currently cultivating is only a fourth-tier technique, which can only be cultivated to the peak of the late Nascent Soul stage at its highest. If I want to glimpse the path to the Divine Transformation stage, I need a fifth-tier technique. Heavenly Immortal City has been guarding Nanxuan for thousands of years; it must possess fifth-tier techniques."

He sat down heavily and rubbed his temples.

contradiction.

So contradictory.

He wanted those resources, those opportunities, and that faster path to heaven.

Yet they also feared death, feared becoming souls beneath the iron hooves of Beiting, feared that centuries of arduous cultivation would vanish in an instant.

but……

"I'm poor."

He muttered to himself.

They lacked elixirs, materials, and cultivation techniques.

The resources needed by Nascent Soul cultivators are extremely rare on the market, almost entirely controlled by major sects. Even when a few items do manage to leak out, they command astronomical prices, and most are only at the Golden Core level. Obtaining them through ordinary means is virtually impossible.

"Ugh."

With a long sigh, he got up and left the quiet room.

Never mind that for now. We're almost out of fire-attribute materials for the Crimson Fire Demon Insects; we need to go to the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion to restock.

Tianbao Pavilion, second floor, elegant room.

Chu Zhengshan personally brought over the spiritual tea, his smile unchanged, but a lingering weariness was hidden between his brows.

"Senior Qingyou, here are the Crimson Flame Sand, Fire Phosphorus Crystal, and three bottles of 'Flame Heart Pills' you requested." He pushed a storage bag in front of Qingyouzi. "It costs four thousand two hundred spirit stones in total. I'll round it down to four thousand for you."

Qingyouzi accepted it and scanned it with his divine sense. The materials were all of superior quality, and the pill was also a fine example of fire-attribute pills for the Golden Core stage.

"Thank you for your trouble, Pavilion Master Chu." He took out a spirit stone and casually asked, "How has business been at the pavilion lately?"

Chu Zhengshan chuckled and stroked his beard:

"Thanks to your help, senior, things are going alright. However... the output from Crimson Flame Valley has been somewhat unstable lately, and the price of fire-attribute materials is likely to rise further."

He paused, then suddenly sighed:

"However, these things are no longer of any concern to me."

Qingyouzi looked up: "Oh?"

Chu Zhengshan's smile faded slightly, his gaze fixed on the street scene outside the window, his voice carrying an indescribable desolation:

"To be honest, senior, I've reached the end of my tenure as the head of Tianbao Pavilion. In a few days, I'll step down and return to my hometown to enjoy my grandchildren."

Qingyouzi was slightly taken aback: "Fellow Daoist Chu, what makes you say that? Your cultivation is still in its prime, why not give it another shot?"

"In your prime?" Chu Zhengshan shook his head and smiled bitterly. "Senior is joking. I am already 437 years old. The lifespan of a Golden Core cultivator is 500 years... It sounds like I have more than 60 years left, but in reality, I fought with others in my early years and suffered many hidden injuries. My foundation is damaged. It is already a stroke of luck that I can live another 20 or 30 years."

He looked down at his well-maintained hands, which already showed faint signs of age spots:

"The path of cultivation is like rowing against the current. My talent is limited and my opportunities are few. Reaching the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm is already the result of my best efforts. Further... I dare not hope for it."

He looked up at Qingyouzi, a hint of envy in his eyes, but mostly a resigned calm:

"Now I only want to take advantage of the energy I still have to secure some assets for my children and grandchildren and protect their peace for life. As for the path of cultivation... let the young people go and explore it."

Qingyouzi remained silent.

437 years old.

For mortals, this is an unimaginable lifespan. But for a Golden Core cultivator, it is already the faint sound of an old age bell. Caught in hidden injuries, with no way forward, they can only watch helplessly as their lifespan slips away day by day, eventually turning into a handful of dust.

On the path of spiritual practice, how many people grow old and pass away silently, without even making a ripple?

He suddenly remembered himself; at over three hundred years old, he was still considered "young" within the thousand-year lifespan of a Nascent Soul cultivator. But if he couldn't break through, would he, like Chu Zhengshan, be trapped in his cave, waiting to die in five or six hundred years?

My heart tightened.

"Fellow Daoist...take care."

He stood up and clasped his hands in greeting.

Chu Zhengshan also stood up to return the greeting, his smile now as smooth as ever:

"Take care, senior. If you need anything in the future, please don't hesitate to ask."

Stepping out of Tianbao Pavilion, the streets were bustling with people, cultivators coming and going, some full of vigor, others walking hurriedly.

Qingyouzi, however, felt that the sunlight was a bit too bright.

Back in the cave, before he could even enter meditation, the restrictions outside the door were suddenly activated.

With a sweep of his divine sense, Qing Youzi raised an eyebrow slightly.

The visitor turned out to be Hong Kaishan.

He hesitated for a moment, then activated the restriction.

Hong Kaishan strode in, still imposing, but his aura was not as flamboyant as before. His brows were furrowed with a lingering weariness, and even... a hint of dejection.

"Fellow Daoist Qingyou," he said, bowing slightly in a low voice.

"Fellow Daoist Hong," Qing Youzi said warily, "What is it?"

Hong Kaishan remained silent for a moment, then took out a jade slip and a storage bag from his bosom and placed them on the stone table.

"This is the body-forging technique 'Mountain-Opening Strength,' which I, Hong, mainly cultivate. Although it only reaches the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm, it is still considered a superior body-forging technique. This bag contains some fire and earth attribute spiritual materials, which are no longer useful to me, but may be of some help to you, fellow Daoist."

Qingyouzi didn't accept it, but just looked at him.

Hong Kaishan took a deep breath and continued:

"I, Hong, have come today not to cause trouble. As for what happened in the Celestial Immortal Cave... I acted rashly and offended many people. I hope you will not hold it against me, fellow Daoist."

He paused, his voice even lower:

"My lifespan is less than sixty years. I have been summoned by the Heavenly Immortal City and have decided to go to the front line in the North. Whether I live or die is up to fate."

Qingyouzi's eyes flickered slightly.

Hong Kaishan looked up, his eyes no longer filled with the arrogance of the past, but only with a heavy sense of gloom.

"I, Hong, have no other request but to ask that you not take your anger out on Kaishan Island. The island is inhabited by my descendants and disciples; they are innocent."

He clasped his hands and bowed deeply:

"Please do me this favor."

In the quiet room, only the sound of breathing could be heard.

Looking at the old Nascent Soul cultivator before him, who had once been arrogant and domineering but now had a slightly hunched back, Qing Youzi felt a surge of complex and indescribable emotions.

Is it pity? Is it lament? Or... a feeling of shared sorrow?

After a long while, he reached out and picked up the jade slip and the storage bag.

"I'll accept the cultivation technique and materials." His voice was calm. "Kaishan Island... as long as they don't provoke me, I won't touch them."

After receiving the definite promise from the other party, Hong Kaishan trembled slightly, and when he looked up, his eyes were a little moist.

"Thank you... fellow Daoist."

He said no more and turned to leave.

His back was somewhat hunched.

The quiet room returned to silence.

Qingyouzi sat on the stone bed, with two items placed in front of him.

On the left is the covenant jade tablet of Tianxian City, made of warm white jade with simple cloud patterns.

On the right are the jade slip titled "Kai Shan Jin" and a storage bag left by Hong Kaishan.

He closed his eyes.

Chu Zhengshan's gloomy, bitter smile and Hong Kaishan's hunched back with a deep bow alternated in his mind.

Four hundred years of golden elixir, waiting for the end of my lifespan.

Nine hundred years of nascent soul, fighting for life on the front lines.

What about yourself?

A three-hundred-year-old Nascent Soul cultivator still has seven hundred years to live. But if things continue as they are, one day they will also reach that point. They may be trapped in a bottleneck and pass away peacefully; or they may be forced to fight desperately as their lifespan is about to end.

The path of cultivating immortality is inherently a struggle against fate.

If you can win, the world is your oyster; if you can't, you're just a handful of dust.

He opened his eyes and his gaze fell on the jade tablet of the covenant.

The fingertips gently stroked the surface of the jade plaque.

Cold and hard.

But... there is a hidden path.

A dangerous road, but one that may take you further.

He recalled Jiang Taiyuan's words:

"The trend is overwhelming; those who follow it will prosper."

Thinking of Chu Zhengshan's helplessness:

"The path of spiritual practice is like rowing against the current."

Remembering Hong Kaishan's plea:

"I only hope that you will not take your anger out on Kaishan Island, fellow Daoist."

In the quiet room, a very soft sigh escaped.

"When the nest is overturned, no egg remains unbroken..."

Qingyouzi reached out his hand, his fingertips touching the jade tablet.

The magic power was slowly poured in.

Within the white jade, a spark of light quietly ignited, like a newly kindled fire, gradually spreading until it illuminated the entire jade plaque with a warm and radiant glow.

The light shimmered, illuminating his calm eyes.

Outside the window, night was falling and the stars were gradually becoming brighter.

Inside the cave, only a single point of jade light burned silently.

[If you have anything to say, please feel free to share it. The author will read it all. For example, you can suggest a name or point out any issues with previous chapters.]