With a mere sweep of his divine sense across that small Qiankun Ring, he counted over three thousand two hundred spirit stones. Exaggerated! This was truly the height of extravagance! There were actually more than three thousand two hundred spirit stones! The richest haul he’d previously encountered had been just over a thousand stones. To gain this haul of more than three thousand two hundred was a genuine windfall, and Lu Yuan felt considerably satisfied. In truth, Lu Yuan’s annual consumption of spirit stones was already immense; nurturing so many spirit beasts required a colossal amount, making an annual expenditure of two or three hundred spirit stones perfectly normal. If other cultivators in the Body Tempering stage heard of this consumption rate, they would likely be utterly stunned; this was a display of extraordinary expense. Only cultivators in the Longevity stage would consider this expenditure minor.

Lu Yuan continued to scan the small Qiankun Ring with his divine sense. Inside were large numbers of Fire-element spirit beasts, including even five massive Fire Tigers, with a greater quantity of medium and small Fire-element spirit beasts besides. These Fire beasts were quite useful; in the future, they could all be traded for Cloud-element spirit beasts. There were several cultivation manuals too, though they were all fire-attributed techniques, along with some of his own personal insights. Nothing seemed particularly exciting.

Just as Lu Yuan was thinking this, his attention snagged on a porcelain vial. A vial! The Five Elements of the Longevity Fruit feared one another, which was why this one was stored in porcelain. Many people specially prepared a porcelain vial for the Longevity Cave. Could it be... Lu Yuan felt a surge of excitement. Nan Qiu, Nan Qiu, I hope you haven't disappointed me. He then carefully drew the porcelain vial from the small Qiankun Ring. Peering inside the vial... there really was a Longevity Fruit.

To date, three colors of Longevity Fruit had appeared: the Purple Longevity Fruit, the Orange Longevity Fruit, and the Yellow Longevity Fruit. Previously, Lu Yuan had only managed to collect one Purple Longevity Fruit and one Orange Longevity Fruit himself. Now, within this porcelain vial, there was exactly one Purple Longevity Fruit and one Orange Longevity Fruit. This meant, including these, he now possessed a total of four Longevity Fruits. Lu Yuan couldn't help but feel a small surge of excitement.

There were only eighty-four Longevity Fruits in the entire Longevity Cave, and now he possessed four—not bad, not bad at all. This achievement was certainly commendable. Having finished sorting through the contents of the small Qiankun Ring, he naturally needed to discuss how to divide the Yellow Longevity Fruit atop the volcano with Fang Qingzheng. The division wasn't difficult; it would be decided by a contest of spiritual power between Lu Yuan and Fang Qingzheng. At this juncture, both Lu Yuan and Fang Qingzheng possessed the power level of the ninth layer of Body Tempering.

Fang Qingzheng practiced a different technique; he was not qualified to learn the Cloud Dragon Ten Transformations. He practiced the Moon Gazing Heart Method from the North Peak of Mount Hua. This method allowed for extremely rapid cultivation when meditating under the moonlight and was a Water-element heart method. Lu Yuan shifted his entire internal spiritual power, employing a significant transformation from the Cloud Dragon Ten Transformations that allowed him to temporarily convert his power into an Earth-element technique. Earth conquers Water. Although their raw power levels were equivalent, this move utterly neutralized Fang Qingzheng's advantage. Consequently, this Yellow Longevity Fruit naturally fell to Lu Yuan.

Fang Qingzheng was crestfallen. Following the incident at the Wu Sheng Relic Palace, Fang Qingzheng, despite his ninth-layer Body Tempering power, failed to enter the sixth layer. Lu Yuan, who was only at the sixth layer of Body Tempering at the time, succeeded in entering. Afterward, Fang Qingzheng was mocked mercilessly for this failure, leading to deep-seated resentment. His entry into the Longevity Cave this time was intended to prove that he was superior to Lu Yuan. For the past year or so, Fang Qingzheng had strived relentlessly, all for the sake of washing away this shame. Who could have predicted that Lu Yuan would become even stronger over the past year, and at such an alarming speed? Whether in swordsmanship or spiritual power, Fang Qingzheng was no match for Lu Yuan. It was precisely because of this overwhelming disparity that Fang Qingzheng felt compelled to leave.

Fang Qingzheng also wanted to seize the Longevity Fruit. At his level of attainment, acquiring the fruit was paramount. Competing with Lu Yuan in terms of technique or power had yielded no fruit; it was a complete defeat. Therefore, he chose to leave and attempt to seize the fruits alone, rather than collaborating with Lu Yuan. Alliance arose from mutual benefit. And it dissolved because of benefit.

Of course, Fang Qingzheng would not leave immediately now. He had been gravely wounded in his fight with Nan Qiu; it would be entirely normal for him to be killed if he ventured out in his current state. Fang Qingzheng inwardly resolved that once he recovered his strength, he would definitely venture out to seize the fruits alone. For now, staying near Lu Yuan offered better security.

A slender, scholarly middle-aged man and a young man in green robes flew at low altitude, deep in murmured conversation. After the battle with Nan Qiu concluded, Lu Yuan had indeed questioned Fang Qingzheng about several matters. Among them, the most crucial topic was the 'Half-Step Longevity' realm! When he overheard Nan Qiu and Fang Qingzheng mentioning the Half-Step Longevity state, it seemed to be an incredibly significant level. Lu Yuan needed to understand the combat capabilities of these individuals.

"The Half-Step Longevity is a barrier situated between the tenth layer of Body Tempering and the Longevity stage. Some cultivators pass through it, while others do not. The realm of Half-Step Longevity itself isn't inherently amazing; it offers no assistance in breaking through to the Longevity stage. Its greatest characteristic is high combat power, significantly higher than even someone like Nan Qiu's fighting strength," Fang Qingzheng explained. Lu Yuan’s heart gave a jolt. His victory over Nan Qiu had not been easy. At the time, he believed Nan Qiu's fighting capacity was already quite high. Now, it appeared that in Fang Qingzheng’s estimation, Nan Qiu's combat strength still fell short of a true Half-Step Longevity cultivator. This meant that against an actual Half-Step Longevity expert, he might not necessarily win.

Lu Yuan pressed for more information: "Then, among the human cultivators, how many are currently at the Half-Step Longevity stage?" "There should be about five or six Half-Step Longevity cultivators on the human side," Fang Qingzheng replied. "The demon/fiend side should also have five or six Half-Step Longevity experts." Lu Yuan’s heart sank further. This meant there were roughly ten Half-Step Longevity experts in total. And yet, his current combat power might not surpass even one of them. The use of 'might not' was precise; since he hadn't fought one directly, he couldn't be certain, but if several Half-Step Longevity experts joined forces, he would certainly lose—that was undeniable. This was not good news for him. It implied that within the Longevity Cave, his combat strength might not be the absolute peak.

The competition for the later Longevity Fruits was likely to become even fiercer. This was only the third day inside the Longevity Cave, and only the Yellow Longevity Fruit had appeared, yet cultivators at the ninth and tenth layers of Body Tempering had already perished. The intensity of later conflicts could be easily foreseen, and with the involvement of the demon/fiend forces, the casualties would likely be even greater. If he didn't significantly boost his combat ability, ensuring his survival later might not be difficult, but competing for more Longevity Fruits would become a major problem.

He needed to increase his combat strength. In terms of swordsmanship, there was little room for improvement; his sword skills were already exceptionally high. As for spiritual power, if he could advance from the ninth layer of Body Tempering to the tenth layer, one thing was certain: he would definitely be able to defeat experts at the Half-Step Longevity realm. Once he could surpass them, wouldn't he be invincible within the Longevity Cave? Seizing the Longevity Fruits would then become simple. What he urgently needed now was not to search for Longevity Fruits, but to raise his spiritual power!

He practiced the Cloud Dragon Ten Transformations, so any advancement in spiritual power would have to come from working within that technique. The ninth layer of Body Tempering was 'Limb Regeneration.' The tenth layer was 'Great Perfection' (Dacheng). What constituted Great Perfection? He recalled that at the tenth layer of Qi Refining Great Perfection, spiritual energy flowed inexhaustibly throughout the body, and every meridian was perfectly smooth; that was called Qi Refining Great Perfection. What then was Body Tempering Great Perfection? Body Tempering focused on refining the physical body, achieving thorough communication throughout every part of it. Was that the definition of Great Perfection? How many parts of his body were currently fully attuned? The five viscera and six bowels, skin, bones, and brain—these areas were already connected. What about the parts yet to be fully attuned? The eyes, the nose, and both ears. These were likely the areas he hadn't reached yet. If he could attune these as well, that should mark the Great Perfection of the Body Tempering stage, the stage of physical body cultivation. But how could he attune these specific structures?

Lu Yuan decided to ask the nearby Fang Qingzheng—it was pointless not to ask. Fang Qingzheng replied, "Indeed, reaching the tenth layer of Body Tempering requires working on these areas, but it is not easy. I reached the ninth layer of Body Tempering thirty years ago, but I haven't broken through in these three decades. To achieve a breakthrough in a matter of days is wishful thinking." Fang Qingzheng believed Lu Yuan was being overly ambitious. Even if Lu Yuan was a genius, how could he achieve in a few days what Fang Qingzheng hadn't managed in thirty years? Fang Qingzheng was the first to disbelieve it.

Regarding Fang Qingzheng's skepticism, Lu Yuan simply smiled without replying. Since his line of thinking was confirmed to be correct, the next step was figuring out the method of cultivation. He channeled his spiritual power toward his eyes. Wrong. As soon as the power gathered, he felt a sharp stinging pain. It seemed this couldn't be done with simple brute force. After all, the eyes, like the brain, were exquisitely delicate. If he wasn't careful, the consequences could be dire. Limb Regeneration never included the restoration of intricate organs like the eyes; once damaged, they were truly ruined unless one reached a much higher realm for recovery. He needed to devise a proper strategy. Lu Yuan fell into deep contemplation.

Let's use the training of the eyes as the first example. What should he do to train his eyes? The function of the eye is to perceive light and see objects. To strengthen and train the eyes, he should look at brighter light and finer objects. This should be the direction of his efforts. Lu Yuan pondered for a moment and had essentially fixed on a method for training his eyes. Of course, this method stemmed from a story. It was a tale Lu Yuan had heard as a child in Donglin Town.