Eternal Life Begins with Learning

That evening, to Chu Mu’s surprise, it wasn’t Old Chen who knocked on his door, but the Courtyard Lady Cultivator named Miaoyu.

"Young Master Xu, the exchange meeting is about to begin. We should head over now."

Dressed in a long, white gauze dress, Miaoyu stood at the door with a gentle smile. If not for the worldly weariness she couldn’t quite hide in her expression, it would have been hard to believe she was a Courtyard Lady Cultivator.

Chu Mu glanced at Old Chen, Li Changping, and the others waiting outside, then nodded and stepped out of his room.

"Niu Family Brothers, Fellow Daoist He, this is Fellow Daoist Xu, who moved in recently."

"Fellow Daoist Xu, these two are the Niu Family Brothers from the two homes over there..."

As soon as they stepped outside, Li Changping started making introductions.

There were two twin brothers with similar faces, apparently Body Refiners with cultivation equivalent to the Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer, and an old Daoist with a full head of white hair, also at the Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer.

Chu Mu exchanged a few pleasantries, and just like that, they were acquainted.

The group didn’t linger. Led by Li Changping, they headed toward a small alley off the main street.

After about a hundred meters, they finally stopped before the gate of a small courtyard.

The gate opened to reveal what looked like an ordinary residence, but in the main hall directly opposite the entrance, several Cultivators had already arrived and were sitting around, chatting idly.

When they entered, a few Cultivators immediately stood to greet them. Chu Mu swept his gaze across the room. The cultivation levels were generally around the Qi Cultivation Third Layer, with a few at the Qi Cultivation First Layer sitting off to the side, practically invisible.

Among them was a refined, middle-aged man at the Qi Cultivation Ninth Layer, clearly the Cultivator He whom Li Changping had said organized these meetings.

’But... Li Changping at the Qi Cultivation Seventh Layer, and this man so openly at the Qi Cultivation Ninth Layer... both settled here in Yuning Town?’

A flicker of contemplation passed through Chu Mu’s eyes.

The group entered the hall and found their seats. Soon after, another seven or eight Cultivators trickled in, their cultivation levels also around the Qi Cultivation Second and Third Layers.

When Cultivator He spoke, the exchange meeting officially began. Chu Mu counted the attendees; including Cultivator He himself, there were a full nineteen Cultivators present.

The meeting clearly followed an established format, and the agenda was simple. It began with Cultivator He sharing his experiences with Qi Cultivation Realm cultivation.

Every Cultivator present listened with rapt attention; some were even taking notes with charcoal pencils.

From Chu Mu’s own perspective, what Cultivator He said was actually quite good. He made complex topics easy to understand, used straightforward language, and offered highly valuable insights.

However, Cultivator He didn’t speak for long. After about fifteen minutes, he stopped. "Just a few of my humble thoughts. I hope I haven’t embarrassed myself in front of you all, Fellow Daoists."

"As is tradition, the floor is now open for everyone to mingle. If you have something you want or something to trade, feel free to do so."

"We have quite a few new Fellow Daoists with us today, so you may not know, but I offer courses in the Marketplace. I primarily teach Five Elements Magic and also have some insights into Qi Cultivation."

"If anyone is interested, you can find me privately after the exchange to discuss pricing..."

It wasn’t until this sales pitch that Chu Mu understood. ’So that’s what this is all about!’

’Selling courses... in a place like Yuning Town, which is full of Low Tier Cultivators, there’s a huge market for it!’

’What Cultivator doesn’t learn Magic?’

’But learning Magic isn’t so simple!’

’Every type of Magic has its own prerequisites that you need to learn.’

’Besides, not every Cultivator is a self-taught genius like him.’

Chu Mu couldn’t help but feel tempted. In the Marketplace, a course for a Tier One Lower Grade Magic spell cost forty Lower Spirit Stones. A private class in Yuning Town could easily charge twenty or thirty Spirit Stones.

’Teach one spell for twenty or thirty Spirit Stones. Teach ten, and that’s two or three hundred Lower Spirit Stones!’

’And how many Cultivators were gathered in Yuning Town? Judging by the number of residences, there had to be at least eight or nine hundred.’

’And with the growth of Jade Emperor Valley, that number would only increase!’

’As for being discovered and eliminated by the Jade Emperor Valley Law Enforcement Team...’

’With profits this huge, the Longevity Sect’s rules are a joke!’

"Thinking about the courses, Fellow Daoist?"

Li Changping seemed to notice Chu Mu’s contemplation and turned to ask. Before Chu Mu could reply, he continued on his own, "Fellow Daoist He’s courses really are a great value. A course for a Tier One Lower Grade Magic spell is only twenty-three Lower Spirit Stones."

"I learned a spell from Fellow Daoist He before. He’s a very good teacher..."

Chu Mu glanced at the rambling Li Changping but didn’t interrupt. ’He wasn’t thinking about learning Magic. He was thinking about how to steal Cultivator He’s business.’

"How many others like Fellow Daoist He are there in town?"

After a moment’s hesitation, Chu Mu asked tentatively.

"Besides Fellow Daoist He, there are probably five others. There’s Fellow Daoist Niu on East Street, Fellow Daoist Chu in Da Pai Lane..."

Chu Mu hesitated. "Doing this... Won’t the Longevity Sect..."

"You don’t have to worry about that."

Li Changping said with conviction, "Anyone who breaks the rules like this without a powerful backer would have been slaughtered by the Law Enforcement Team long ago."

"The Law Enforcement Team is incredibly strict about this stuff. They’ll come running at the slightest whisper of trouble."

"Take Fellow Daoist He, for example. Rumor is he has to pay a monthly tribute to one of the captains in the Jade Emperor Valley Law Enforcement Team. Otherwise, he would’ve been taken out long ago. I’m not too sure about the others, but I imagine it’s a similar situation..."

Chu Mu was speechless. ’Wang Mazi was right. All crows under heaven really are black!’

’Well then. His budding business plan was over before he’d even started to flesh it out.’

’I should just stick to being a behind-the-scenes Alchemist. Maybe try to branch out and become a Puppet Master, too. It’s a good way to earn Spirit Stones. The only downside is that the risk is a little higher.’

’After all, opening up his own revenue stream would cut into someone else’s.’

’Unless he was willing to pay tribute, like renting a shop in the Marketplace for an exorbitant fee in Spirit Stones.’

’Or find a powerful figure in Jade Emperor Valley to be his backer and become their dog.’

’Or he could choose to join the Longevity Sect and subject himself to their rules and commands. That would probably avoid a lot of the risk, too.’

’Otherwise, that risk would always be there. It would only end the day he no longer feared the risk, but the risk feared him.’

"Let’s stop talking for now. The trading is starting."

As he spoke, Li Changping pointed to a Cultivator walking to the front of the hall, motioning for Chu Mu to watch.

"A piece of Blood Drop Stone, Tier One Lower Grade, Middle Grade quality. It weighs one jin and three liang. I’m selling it for three Spirit Stones."

"Any Fellow Daoists interested?"

The speaker was a young man at the Qi Cultivation Third Layer. He held a fist-sized piece of Ore Material, looking nervously at the seated crowd.

However, raw materials like Spirit Ore were clearly not in high demand at an exchange for Low Tier Cultivators. In the end, the young man could only return to his seat, disappointed.

One after another, Cultivators went up to present a wide variety of Low Tier items, which was quite an eye-opening experience for Chu Mu.

For instance, a Cultivator at the Qi Cultivation Fourth Layer put up a bomb for trade—a literal bomb!

Its explosive energy, however, was derived from Spiritual Qi. The blast was equivalent to a full-power strike from a Qi Cultivation Third Layer Cultivator, and it dealt area-of-effect Spiritual Power damage.

If not for the fact that it was a single-use item, it could almost be considered a decent Broken Spiritual Artifact.

In the end, he acquired the Spiritual Bomb for the price of eight Lower Spirit Stones.

The power of a mere Qi Cultivation Third Layer’s full-power strike was only equivalent to a single Tier One Lower Grade Talisman, which was obviously useless to him.

He was, however, genuinely curious about the Spiritual Bomb, and a mere eight Lower Grade Spirit Stones was a trivial price to pay.

Another item, presented by Cultivator He, was also quite novel: a Flying Insect Spiritual Artifact. It was a Lower Grade Spiritual Artifact, priced at two hundred Lower Spirit Stones.

Its function was similar to the drones of his previous life, used mainly for reconnaissance.

According to Cultivator He, it could operate independently of one’s Divine Sense, actively observing its surroundings within a radius of about three li.

If its capabilities were genuine, it was undoubtedly an incredibly ingenious and useful little gadget.

After all, despite his Qi Cultivation Seventh Layer and having his Divine Soul tempered day and night by the Divine Soul Long Saber, his Divine Sense could only cover a radius of about a hundred meters. His maximum detection range was just over two hundred meters.

A three-li range, combined with the insect’s tiny size and its Concealing Breath Restriction, made it a portable Celestial Eye.

Chu Mu was tempted, but in a place like this, given the Qi Cultivation Third Layer he was currently displaying, he could only suppress his desire.

’If he actually splurged two hundred Lower Spirit Stones on this Flying Insect Spiritual Artifact, his new identity would probably be blown.’

’He wasn’t too worried about it, though. Since the Flying Insect Spiritual Artifact existed, Cultivator He couldn’t be the only one who had one. It wouldn’t be too difficult to spend some time and find another one later.’

As for the other items up for trade, they were far more ordinary—common trinkets worth only a few Spirit Stones, none of which caught Chu Mu’s interest.

This continued until the Niu Family Brothers, whom he had met earlier, took the stage. The appearance of a Body Refining Technique immediately captured Chu Mu’s full attention.

The Wild Bull Technique, a Body Refining Technique for the Qi Cultivation Realm!

From what the Niu Family Brothers said, there was nothing particularly special about the Wild Bull Technique itself. It was just billed as a technique from some Ancient Cultivator—a claim of dubious authenticity. In the current Cultivation Immortal Realm, such titles were hardly worth a second thought.

But...

The Wild Bull Technique was recorded on a Jade Scroll.

A Jade Scroll...

Chu Mu’s pupils contracted. The Jade Scroll in Eldest Niu’s hand now completely filled his vision.

At a glance, the Jade Scroll looked no different from an ordinary one.

But...

Chu Mu knew the subtle differences all too well.

Ever since the incident with the mysterious creature at East Lake, he had studied the two Jade Scrolls he’d obtained countless times.

He knew their subtle differences by heart!

And now, those same subtle differences were appearing once more.

The Jade Scroll in the Niu Family Brothers’ hands, the one recording the Wild Bull Technique, bore a striking resemblance to the one he possessed that recorded the Puppetry Skill.

Several key features surfaced in his mind.

Chu Mu carefully analyzed it.

Soon, what he had almost been certain of was completely confirmed.

Their asking price—a steep one hundred and twenty Spirit Stones—was met with dead silence from the room.

Seeing this, Chu Mu calmed down. After a moment of thought, he subtly flexed his Divine Sense, using Telepathy to send a message directly into Eldest Niu’s ear.

Normally, using Telepathy in a gathering of Cultivators was an easy way to get noticed.

But the Cultivators present were all at the Qi Cultivation Second and Third Layers. The only one at the Qi Cultivation Ninth Layer, Cultivator He, had already left after failing to sell his Flying Insect Spiritual Artifact.

As such, Chu Mu wasn’t worried.

Upon receiving the telepathic message, Eldest Niu, who had looked dejected, suddenly brightened. He glanced at the other Cultivators in the room, then promptly left the stage without another word.

Then, even before the exchange meeting had concluded, the Niu Family Brothers departed.

Chu Mu remained composed, waiting until the exchange meeting was over. Only when people began to leave in twos and threes did he head back with the neighbors he had arrived with.

It wasn’t until the middle of the night that Chu Mu slipped out of his room, heading straight out of town.

...