Longevity: Starting as a menial servant in the Green Wood Sect

Inside, the room was deathly silent, like a grave.

Gu An held the dark red, low-quality Qi Gathering Pill in his palm. The surface of the pill was pitted and uneven, emitting a pungent sulfurous odor, and a few unrefined black spots could be vaguely seen.

That's a sign that the poison in the pill hasn't been completely eliminated. If it were a legitimate cultivator, they wouldn't even glance at such a useless pill.

But in the Ghost Market, in the eyes of the lowly cultivators, this is a life-saving medicine. It's cheap and usable, and that's enough. As for other things, they are simply insignificant in the face of the price.

After all, such pills that can enhance cultivation would sell for ten or even fifteen low-grade spirit stones in a reputable shop, even if they were of ordinary quality. As for those of higher quality, that goes without saying.

"Eat it or wait to die." Without any hesitation, Gu An tilted his head back and swallowed it in one gulp.

Immediately afterwards, he grabbed the small packet of Qingxin Powder, and without diluting it with water, poured the dry powder directly into his throat to protect the last bit of clarity in his heart meridian.

The pill entered my stomach, but instead of soothing me, it made me extremely restless.

It felt as if he had swallowed a red-hot coal; the violent and mixed medicinal power exploded in his stomach instantly. The hot current carrying the fire poison surged and crashed through his meridians, tearing at the fragile meridian walls as if they were being ruthlessly sanded by sandpaper.

"cough!"

Gu An suddenly covered his mouth, and a few streaks of blood seeped out between his fingers.

Even more dangerously, this surge of heat disturbed the cold, dark energy lurking in the heart meridian.

The hidden energy left behind by Zhao Feng, which had been slowly eroding Gu An, suddenly went berserk due to external stimulation. Two completely opposite forces, one hot and one cold, engaged in a fierce battle on Gu An's body.

Gu An's vision went black, and he almost fainted from the pain.

The panel popped up automatically, and the already alarming red text now jumped wildly:

[Warning: Internal energy conflict, accelerated loss of vitality]

Lifespan: 19/78 (Under Damage: -2 days/half an hour)

Half an hour will cost you two days!

At this rate, he will be depleted of his vital energy and lose a large amount of his lifespan in less than three days. If he suffers a qi deviation, the consequences will be even more dire.

"Don't faint... If you faint, it's really over."

Gu An bit his tongue hard, using the excruciating pain to forcefully regain consciousness. He sat cross-legged, his hands forming a twisted hand seal, forcibly mobilizing the meager spiritual power in his dantian to begin circulating the Green Wood Everlasting Technique.

The first time, the spiritual energy was immediately dispersed by the violent medicinal power as soon as it left the dantian.

Gu An ignored him and focused his attention once more.

The second time, the spiritual energy barely passed through the two acupoints before being frozen by the cold, dark force.

Gu An ignored him and continued.

He was like a drowning man, desperately clinging to a straw called proficiency. Even as his meridians cracked and black blood began to flow from his seven orifices, his gaze remained fixed on that line of data on the panel.

[Aoki Changchun Kung Fu Experience +1]

[Aoki Changchun Kung Fu Experience +1]

As long as the number keeps jumping, he can still live.

The pain gradually becomes numb, replaced by a mechanical obsession.

Gu An didn't know how many cycles he had circulated his energy; he only felt as if his body had been thrown into a millstone, crushed, and then reassembled. With each breath, his lungs seemed to emit a broken, hissing sound.

Sweat mixed with blood soaked through the bed beneath him, dripping onto the muddy floor.

Finally. Just as Gu An's consciousness was about to completely dissipate, the familiar yet monotonous number on the panel reached its end.

[Qingmu Changchun Gong: Level 1 (100/100)]

A buzzing sound, and in that instant, it was as if the world stood still.

The originally dry and scattered gaseous spiritual energy in Gu An's body suddenly collapsed towards the center of his dantian at this moment.

The violent medicinal power and the chilling, hidden force seemed to be drawn by this collapsing power.

"break!"

Gu An let out a low growl that sounded inhuman.

His dantian trembled. The originally thin gaseous spiritual energy disappeared, replaced by strands of fresh spiritual energy, lush and vibrant, as dense as mist.

Mist-like spiritual energy! This is the mark of the third level of Qi Refining. Spiritual energy transforms into mist, endlessly regenerating.

With the emergence of this new power, Gu An felt as if a withered tree had come back to life. This azure mist was both domineering and gentle, rapidly circulating through his meridians.

The previously invincible poisonous fire energy melted away rapidly in the face of this high-level spiritual power, like snow meeting the sun, turning into pure nourishment.

Immediately afterwards, Gu An manipulated the spiritual energy, now several times stronger, and directed it straight for his heart meridian. There, the hidden force left behind by Zhao Feng was like a venomous snake coiled up.

"Get out here!"

The blue mist surged like a tide, instantly enveloping the venomous snake, then strangling and tearing it from its body.

"Wow--"

Gu An's body suddenly lurched forward, spitting out a mouthful of foul-smelling black blood onto the ground, which even contained a few small fragments of internal organs.

As the stagnant blood was expelled, the heaviness that had been weighing on my heart for days vanished. In its place came an unprecedented sense of clarity and lightness.

Gu An collapsed on the bed, panting heavily, greedily inhaling the blood-scented air.

He trembled as he lifted his eyelids and looked at the panel floating in the darkness.

Name: Gu An

Life expectancy: 19/91 (Status: Healthy)

[Realm Level: Qi Refining Level 3 (1/400)]

[Technique: Evergreen Spring Technique (Second Level: 1/400)]

[Divine Sense: Doubled (Range 20 zhang)]

He survived. Not only did he survive, but his lifespan was also blessed by the misfortune, increasing by thirteen years to reach the ripe old age of ninety-one—a long life for ordinary people, and an even greater luxury for lowly laborers.

Gu An lay in a pool of filthy blood, a smile that looked more like a grimace tugging at the corners of his mouth.

This is true cultivation. All that talk about immortality and ethereal grace, about riding swords and soaring through the wind, that's for big shots.

For someone like him, a lowly ant, cultivating immortality is like wallowing in the mud, struggling to survive amidst excrement and piss, with each breakthrough a life snatched from the jaws of death.

After a long while, Gu An slowly sat up, a ball of azure spiritual light condensing at his fingertips.

It was no longer a faint candlelight, but a solid mass of azure light, containing a vitality many times stronger than before. Extending his divine sense, he could see every rustle of grass within a twenty-foot radius.

He could even clearly feel Old Zhang next door turning over, his yellow teeth grinding together in his sleep; and a black threadworm gnawing on grass roots three zhang away in the soil outside the house.

This feeling of being in control of everything was intoxicating. But the intoxication in Gu An's eyes lasted only a moment before quickly cooling down.

"Qi Refining Level 3..."

On this Miscellaneous Service Peak, although the third level of Qi Refining is not considered top-tier, it is definitely considered "veteran".

If he had made progress step by step in his daily routine, he could have simply reported to the management office and even applied for better treatment.

But not now. Just a few days ago, he was a sickly fellow who had been kicked half to death by Zhao Feng and whose spiritual power was weak. Now, less than a few days later, he has recovered from his injuries and broken through to a higher realm.

Even a fool would suspect that he has some great fortune or has eaten some rare and precious treasure.

Once Zhao Feng notices you, what awaits him is not interrogation, but direct soul-searching or dissection for study.

Therefore, we must conceal our shortcomings.