When does the Longevity Stage begin? What defines the Longevity Stage? The Longevity Stage is primarily distinguished by its vastly extended lifespan, reaching a full two millennia.

Two thousand years! The Qi Refining Stage offers a maximum lifespan of just over a hundred years, perhaps two hundred at the extreme. The Body Tempering Stage grants five hundred years.

But reaching the Longevity Stage bestows a longevity of a full two thousand years. Consider that ordinary mortals live only sixty or seventy years, a century at best; a cultivator in the Longevity Stage enjoys two millennia. How could this not be called everlasting life?

In mortal dynasties, there are terms like "Ten Thousand Years" (Wansui) and "A Thousand Years" (Qiansui). Wansui, meaning boundless longevity, is held by only one person in the entire dynasty at any given time, while others of high rank are addressed only as Qiansui. Qiansui, Qiansui, Qiansui...

To reach the age of a thousand years is already an absurdly long life. To reach two thousand years is truly an age worthy of veneration; thus, calling it Longevity is entirely appropriate. In this world, reaching two thousand years earns the title of Longevity; there are no beings appearing here with lifespans stretching tens or hundreds of thousands of years.

Cultivators of the Longevity Stage form the backbone of the Great Jin Kingdom. The Six Sword Immortals of North Peak are generally the finest among the Longevity Stage experts, though Venerable Yuanyuan is the sole exception. As the Master of a Peak, he has accumulated power over time and has surpassed the Longevity Stage, ascending to a higher realm.

The other five of the Six Sword Immortals of North Peak remain in the Longevity Stage; for clarity, the others being Gentleman Sword Fang Ru, Seamless Sword Ye Yang, Great Sun Sword Sima Changbai, Lonely Heart Sword Dugu Ye, and Flying Heaven Sword Chu Fei, who officially replaced a previous member. Other Longevity Stage cultivators may not possess the prowess of these Sword Immortals, yet they still rank among the upper echelon of cultivators in the Great Jin Kingdom. Longevity Stage cultivators receive considerable favor in every Immortal Sect.

After all this discussion, the key point remains: at best, someone of Sima Changbai's caliber can only hope to recruit cultivators at the Body Tempering Stage. Correct. Many Longevity Stage cultivators are weaker than Sima Changbai, but the terms Sima Changbai could offer simply cannot compete with those offered by the major Immortal Sects; Sima Changbai has no leverage to recruit established Longevity Stage experts.

So, it is quite normal for Sima Changbai to dispatch Song Chi; in fact, Song Chi is not even the strongest under him. He commands cultivators at the tenth level of the Body Tempering Stage, but that individual long ago departed for Tongguan Pass. Once one reaches the tenth level of the Body Tempering Stage, only one thought dominates: seclusion.

Yes, achieving just one more major breakthrough into the Longevity Stage grants an immediate bonus of one thousand five hundred years of life—what an astonishing span of longevity. Moreover, the structure of the Great Jin Kingdom dictates that once you reach the Longevity Stage, your status shifts dramatically. It is difficult for someone of Sima Changbai's standing to recruit peers, and regrettably, none of his close relatives possess the rare genius required to reach the Longevity Stage.

This leaves Sima Changbai with no choice but to call upon Song Chi; he genuinely lacks anyone stronger he can reasonably deploy. How should this be framed? The Immortal Sects are like the imperial court, able to appoint officials, whereas the followers of the great Sword Immortals resemble retainers under powerful noble families.

Because the court restricts the power of these retainers, the retinues under the major Sword Immortals generally cannot be excessively formidable. The trap has been laid. Shangguan Qing and Nangong Bai, maintaining outward composure, inwardly smirked.

This entire scheme is perfectly orchestrated; now they merely await the final consolidation. When Sima Changbai achieves his objective—utterly crushing Lu Yuan—Lu Yuan’s future circumstances will be dire. Simultaneously, Sima Changbai can muddy the waters to seize substantial assets, while Shangguan Qing and Nangong Bai can opportunistically acquire industries, transitioning from mere managers to outright owners.

Shangguan Qing and Nangong Bai—they cannot be dealt with for the moment, but they absolutely must be confronted later. Lu Yuan may possess a good temper, but he is not a pushover. At that precise moment, a cultivator clad in grey robes rushed in: "Master of the Estate, Master of the Hall, this is disastrous!

Song Chi is challenging us again! Song Chi has openly declared that if we fail to meet his challenge today, he will take down our Dao Hall's main plaque. *..." A Dao Hall's main plaque represents its prestige.

Should Song Chi succeed today, the loss of face would be immense, and the machinations of Sima Changbai, Shangguan Qing, and Nangong Bai would be complete. "Go and see." When Lu Yuan arrived before the gates of the Situ Dao Hall, it was already swarming with people—spectators drawn by the spectacle. Jiangyin Prefecture harbors many cultivators, and anyone whose awareness isn't completely stagnant knows the underlying story.

They could vaguely surmise that Sima Changbai was manipulating events from the shadows. It has only been a month since Li Yuanbai ascended, and now actions are being taken against his enterprises. A portion of the crowd felt righteous indignation, but it was a small fraction.

Most were simply casual onlookers, there to watch the show. Even among those who felt incensed, there was hesitation: first, whether they could afford to provoke Sima Changbai; and second, whether Song Chi’s challenge against the Dao Hall was legitimate. The challenge was indeed procedural, following the rules.

Even if it slightly violated the third tenet of the Huashan Immortal Sect's regulations—concerning disputes between members—it still danced along the very edge of compliance. "This time, the faction of Hidden Sword Manor seems doomed," remarked one onlooker. Not everyone knew Lu Yuan's reputation.

Compared to the long-established Sword Immortal Sima Changbai, Lu Yuan's fame was negligible. Those who didn't know his name simply referred to him as Hidden Sword Manor, which is how most cultivators in the Great Jin Kingdom uniformly referred to him. "Indeed.

I heard Lu Yuan is quite promising among the younger generation, but alas, he is still too young and green *..." "When pitted against an elite figure from the previous generation, he is bound to be helpless *..." "Hidden Sword Manor might even disintegrate because of this." "That's why Hidden Sword Manor is in trouble. I heard Sima Changbai was seriously wounded by the Yellow Dragon Demon King Xuanyuan Yi recently. Even while heavily injured, he could orchestrate a plot to dismantle Hidden Sword Manor.

Such means, such power—it is simply no match for this young fellow Lu Yuan ..." "......" The air was filled with varied discussions, and not a single person favored Lu Yuan. Lu Yuan spotted the Flourishing Sword Guest, Song Chi. He had previously heard about Song Chi's swordsmanship style.

As someone groomed by Sima Changbai, his technique carried the heavy imprint of Sima Changbai's school. His swordplay was intricate and complex, every strike infused with a degree of fiery aggression. But ultimately, all these sparks of aggression merged into a single technique, a single move—this move was called "Blaze" (Chi).

Numerous complex strikes (Fan) coalescing into one Blaze (Chi); this is how the 'Flourishing Blaze Sword Style' (Fan Chi Jian Fa) originated. Lu Yuan observed him: Song Chi looked like an ordinary, slightly lean middle-aged scholar. Song Chi noticed Lu Yuan and spoke, "It appears to be Martial Nephew Lu." The proper address should have been 'Master Lu,' as Lu Yuan now presided over his own domain with considerable assets.

However, Song Chi deliberately chose this familial address within the Huashan Sect hierarchy to belittle Lu Yuan and undermine his morale. Song Chi knew he was guaranteed to win, but he was also a man of immense combat experience; undermining Lu Yuan's spirit before the fight was clearly preferable. He planned to secure victory within ten moves.

If he succeeded, the morale of Hidden Sword Manor's faction would utterly collapse. With Shangguan Qing and Nangong Bai aiding internally, crushing Lu Yuan would not be difficult. A pity, Lu Yuan, I must admit you are a genius, but unfortunately, such a talent must be extinguished at the hands of Senior Brother Sima.

Senior Brother Sima has prepared numerous schemes to deal with you, many of which even Senior Brother Yuanyuan would find hard to intervene against. Song Chi wasted no time. "Today, I come to challenge the hall again.

If no one can best me, I will have no choice but to take this main plaque away *..." At this, everyone turned to Lu Yuan, eager to see his reaction: how this young man would handle such pressures, what methods he would employ. Would he simply be powerless, allowing Song Chi to seize the plaque, or had he arranged some contingency, perhaps invited a renowned Sword Immortal from North Peak? Aside from inviting a famous North Peak Sword Immortal, no other solution seemed conceivable.

Many in the crowd silently speculated on Lu Yuan's move. Shangguan Qing and Nangong Bai, being central to the plot, knew Lu Yuan had not invited any famous North Peak Sword Immortals. This meant the situation was a true deadlock—an unsolvable dilemma.

Intrigued, both Shangguan Qing and Nangong Bai offered slight smiles. "What to do? *..." Lu Yuan's lips curled into a smile.

"Allow me to accompany Martial Uncle Song for a bout. I hope Martial Uncle can withstand a few more moves under my sword." Although he addressed Song Chi as 'Martial Uncle,' there was no deference in the tone. He appeared entirely confident, as if victory was already his.

The entire assembly fell silent upon hearing this. Shangguan Qing and Nangong Bai were utterly stunned; Lu Yuan intended to fight himself. While talented, he was too young to possibly overcome Song Chi.

Situ Hong also paused, surprised by the Master of the Estate's decision. Uncle Song, standing nearby, was equally taken aback. The onlookers, after their initial shock, began to secretly laugh.

Lu Yuan was demonstrating the recklessness of a newborn calf unafraid of a tiger. Did he know who Song Chi was? This man was on the cusp of the Sword Immortal realm, far beyond what Lu Yuan could handle.

They judged him as hopelessly arrogant. Before these observers could voice their derision openly, several individuals who accompanied Song Chi burst into loud laughter. "How ridiculous!

He actually thinks he can defeat Martial Uncle Song *..." "Truly laughable *..." "He clearly doesn't understand the meaning of disparity *..." Peals of laughter erupted, mocking Lu Yuan frantically. The loudest among them was a young man in white named Sima Hao, who held the identity of Sima Changbai's second grandson and was ranked the eleventh disciple of North Peak in the Huashan Immortal Sect. (This novel differs from typical Xianxia cultivation stories; it leans closer to the ancestor of cultivation myths, like the Shu Mountain lineage.

In later cultivation works, beings spanning tens or hundreds of thousands of years are common, but regrettably for this story, similar to Shu Mountain, merely living for a few millennia is already remarkable.)

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