Longevity Art

The Scripture Pavilion was the place Lu Yang spent the most time in besides Tianmen Peak. The cultivation arts of the world were all compiled by predecessors, but Lu Yang's cultivation art was written by himself. In order to compile his cultivation art, he had lived in the Scripture Pavilion, reading extensively, gathering the strengths of a hundred schools to fuse into himself, and finally composed an earth-shattering art—the Art of Illuminating the Heart and Seeing Nature. In the process of reading extensively, he vaguely remembered that there was a spell related to longevity. He had not paid it much mind back then, only giving it a hurried glance. He was only at the Golden Core stage, young and vigorous, with surging vitality, and the issue of lifespan was still an unimaginably distant prospect for him. "Fairy, do you know any longevity spells or cultivation arts?" As an immortal, even if she did not cultivate them herself, she ought to know a few longevity spells and cultivation arts, right? The Immortal Fairy hummed softly from her throat, "Mm...", and pondered seriously. "Longevity ones, no. But I do know a few spells that burn lifespan to temporarily boost combat strength in battle. I even used them a few times before becoming an immortal." Lu Yang could tell without asking that for the Immortal Fairy to resort to a lifespan-burning spell, the situation back then must have been dire. Seeing how nonchalant she looked, he chose not to pry into the details of what happened back then. "What about after becoming an immortal?" "After becoming an immortal, there's no point! Think about it: a half-immortal definitely can't beat an immortal, so an immortal's opponent can only be another immortal. And immortals have infinite lifespan. If two immortals both burn their lifespans during a fight, what's the difference between that and not burning it at all?" Lu Yang thought about it, and it really made sense. When immortals clashed, their main methods ought to be their respective Dao fruits. "Though burning lifespan is useless, self-detonation is still very powerful," the Immortal Fairy giggled. When an immortal self-detonated, the power was enough to sweep across an entire galaxy or even farther—earth-shattering, showing just how terrifying it was. And her Dao fruit was the most suitable for self-detonation. Immortal Ying Tian and the others would be finished after self-detonating once. She was different; after self-detonating, she could resurrect immediately and keep self-detonating without even catching her breath. If no one called a halt, she could not even stop. Lu Yang looked at the Immortal Fairy with a bizarre expression. It was the first time he had ever heard of "continuous self-detonation." The Immortal Dao fruit truly was terrifying. If she fought like that, who would not be frightened out of their wits? One person and one ghost arrived at the Scripture Pavilion. On duty at the Scripture Pavilion today was Senior Sister Zhou Lulu. Senior Sister Zhou lowered her head, reading. A few strands of glossy black hair hung down, complementing her pretty face. Seen from afar, it resembled an exquisite painting, carrying a serene sense of peaceful years. If the Immortal Fairy could learn even a tenth of that temperament, her standing in Lu Yang's heart would rise significantly. "Senior Sister Zhou, long time no see," Lu Yang greeted her with a smile. When he had first joined the Dao Seeking Sect, this Senior Sister Zhou had helped him a lot. When he first entered the sect, he had first been poisoned unconscious by the aroma of Senior Brother's pills, then made to soak in boiling water by Eldest Senior Sister, spending all day lifting water vats and pinching tofu to practice fundamentals. By contrast, Senior Sister Zhou's advice on which book to study to get started quickly, which book was crucial for traveling outside, and telling him that weapons in the cafeteria were cheaper than those in the Mission Hall... seemed especially precious. Zhou Lulu had been absorbed in her book. Hearing Lu Yang's greeting, she let out a startled soft gasp, subconsciously covering half her face with the book, her eyes darting away evasively. "Ah, it's Junior Brother Lu." Lu Yang looked at Senior Sister Zhou rather helplessly, afraid that speaking too loudly would frighten her. Senior Sister Zhou was the daughter of Fifth Elder Zhou Xin. With a Nascent Soul stage cultivation, she was outrageously strong. During the exchange with the Five Elements Sect, Senior Sister Zhou had been the main force in the Nascent Soul division, and the participating Five Elements Sect cultivators had been beaten to a pulp. If he were to fight Senior Sister Zhou, he would be the one unilaterally thrashed. It was just that Senior Sister Zhou was too timid and afraid of talking to people. Considering her personality, using the Invincible Core might not be unable to defeat Senior Sister Zhou. Lu Yang noticed the book Senior Sister Zhou was reading was titled *One Hundred and Eight Hammer Methods*. It did not fit Senior Sister Zhou's image at all, but it matched her background perfectly. "Did you come to the Scripture Pavilion to study?" Senior Sister Zhou plucked up her courage to ask, wanting to see if there was anywhere she could help. "Looking for a spell related to extending lifespan." Lu Yang did not elaborate. Emperor Xia's lifespan issue would trigger chain reactions on many fronts; the fewer people who knew, the better. "A spell to extend lifespan... let me think. Is it the *Everlasting Verdant Art*, which lets you turn into a tree, take root in the earth, and watch the winds and clouds roll by?" "Or the *Tortoise Longevity Method*, which extends lifespan by mimicking the behavior of a tortoise?" "Doesn't sound like either of them." Lu Yang found both unfamiliar; they did not match the spell in his memory. "Then I don't know." Zhou Lulu shook her head gently. She had not read all the books in the Scripture Pavilion either. The books in the Scripture Pavilion were vast as the sea. The only person who might have read them all was probably Elder Tao, the retired pavilion keeper. Lu Yang thanked Senior Sister Zhou and walked into the Scripture Pavilion. Zhou Lulu stared at Lu Yang's back the whole time. Seeing that Lu Yang had no intention of turning his head, she finally felt safe enough to boldly continue reading, soon immersing herself in her own little world. Many senior brothers and senior sisters chose to study in the Scripture Pavilion, delving into spells and cultivation arts to modify them, making them better suited to themselves. However, there were also pigheaded senior brothers and sisters who stubbornly insisted on learning spells that did not suit them at all. Lu Yang had heard that there was a senior brother fond of wealth who, a few years ago, specifically borrowed the *Turning Stone to Gold Technique* from the Scripture Pavilion. This senior brother cultivated diligently, poking stones every day, meditating and contemplating, cultivating his mind and body, studying the principles of the spell, and asking around for guidance. Day in and day out, he never slacked for a single day. Finally, after a full cycle of spring, summer, autumn, and winter, Heaven did not fail the diligent, and his efforts bore fruit: he mastered the One Finger Zen. Once mastered, one finger could sever mountains, one finger could shatter the earth, and poking someone left a bloody hole per jab. Truly terrifying, it could be used as a trump card. It was not that senior brother's fault for failing to learn it either. The principle of the Turning Stone to Gold Technique involved dismantling and reorganizing the internal structure of matter—extremely difficult, certainly not something an ordinary person could master. If one could not learn it, there were other ways. A certain senior sister had once achieved the heroic feat of crushing stone into diamond—no fluctuation of magic power, purely relying on immense grip strength. For a time, it was widely talked about with great relish throughout the Dao Seeking Sect. Bypassing the senior brothers and sisters who were studying, Lu Yang followed his memory to a corner of the Scripture Pavilion and squatted down to search. The books were all coated in a layer of dust, clearly having gone uncleaned for a long time. The Scripture Pavilion was too large, with too many books. That some books were simply forgotten over time was only natural. For instance, when Lu Yang first came to the Scripture Pavilion, he had found the banned book *Dragon Phoenix Transformation*. "I remember it was right here..." "Found it!" Lu Yang's eyes lit up. From a narrow crevice, he pulled out a book with an archaic, grand, yet simple and easily understandable title. *Longevity Art*. "I knew I didn't remember wrong." Lu Yang was somewhat excited. The Scripture Pavilion was truly a treasure trove, containing even legendary spells like this. "There's actually a spell like this?" The Immortal Fairy clicked her tongue in wonder. This really was good stuff. Although she had no use for it, Lu Yang would be able to use it in the future.