Sitting cross-legged atop the Fairyland of White Clouds, Lu Fang felt the surging primal energy continually descend upon him.

At this moment, he had achieved the Immortal Body, reached the Longevity Stage, touched the Gate of Heaven and Earth, and accomplished the extraordinary.

However, Lu Yuan knew this was merely the beginning. According to the records of his predecessors, the Longevity Stage was further divided into ten levels: the First Level, Primal Energy of Heaven and Earth; the Second Level, Two Thousand Years of Lifespan; the Third Level, Condensation of the Divine Soul; the Fourth Level, Achievement of the Nascent Spirit; the Fifth Level, Command of Twin Swords; the Sixth Level, Formation of the Void Core; the Seventh Level, Great Completion of the Golden Core; the Eighth Level, Tempering of the Spirit Sword; the Ninth Level, Unification of the Three Extremes; and the Tenth Level, Great Perfection.

The First Level needed no further introduction. The Second Level, Two Thousand Years of Lifespan, truly granted a lifespan of two millennia. From this point on, life essence expanded greatly. While this level offered little direct aid in combat, cultivation was not solely about fighting; it required long life. Only upon reaching this stage could one truly settle down to cultivate with peace of mind.

The Third Level, Condensation of the Divine Soul, was also immensely important. Prior cultivation of Qi and body had honed the magic power and physical form throughout, but the formless, intangible Divine Soul had been neglected. This level focused on tempering the Divine Soul, causing it to grow stronger.

The Fourth Level, Achievement of the Nascent Spirit, was even more significant. Once the Nascent Spirit was achieved, the Divine Soul became incomparably robust, laying the foundation for the Fifth Level, Command of Twin Swords.

The Fifth Level, Command of Twin Swords, allowed one to simultaneously wield two swords, one potentially specializing in defense while the other handled offense.

The subsequent Sixth and Seventh Levels each held unique advantages. The Eighth Level, Tempering of the Spirit Sword, allowed for the refinement of one’s own Spirit Sword. It had been stated that swords possessed three tiers: Flying Sword, Spirit Sword, and Immortal Sword. Since the Ninth Level of Longevity utilized Spirit Swords, it was evident that, apart from Daoist Master Yuanyuan, all the Six Sword Immortals of the North Peak had reached the Eighth Level of Longevity.

The Ninth Level, Unification of the Three Extremes, and the Tenth Level, Great Perfection, each possessed their own profound uses.

Naturally, Daoist Master Yuanyuan stood uniquely above the other Sword Immortals, having ascended to a higher major realm: the Great Dao Realm.

Lu Yuan sat above the Fairyland of White Clouds, contemplating casually.

A great Dao lay before him.

The Questioning of Longevity, the Questioning of Longevity.

Descending from the Fairyland of White Clouds into the desolate Changchun Residence, he reflected that he still possessed quite a few Longevity Fruits. Having used five, he retained nine, enough to potentially assemble a complete set of the seven-colored Longevity Fruits. He decided to keep them for now; they were treasures beyond measure.

Just as he was thinking this, Martial Uncle Ye Yangrong personally arrived. Lu Yuan instructed the maid to serve tea, but Ye Yangrong shook his head, "No need. I'm here to inform you of a few matters. Although you are still at the level of a True Disciple, due to reaching the Longevity Stage, according to North Peak custom, you will now receive one hundred Spirit Stones as a monthly stipend." For Lu Yuan, this was negligible, as he had inherited Li Yuanbai’s vast fortune and paid no mind to a mere hundred a year. However, this custom was quite beneficial to the other North Peak Elders, as not everyone possessed an estate as immense as Li Yuanbai’s.

"Furthermore, Senior Brother Yuanyuan requests your presence," Ye Yangrong said before leaving. He hadn't specifically come for Lu Yuan; he had his own business and merely passed by to relay the message.

Lu Yuan accepted the command and proceeded directly to the Hall of Moderation and Peace.

The Hall of Moderation and Peace remained unchanged. Daoist Master Yuanyuan gestured for Lu Yuan to sit. "Now that you have reached the Longevity Stage, there are some things you must know sooner or later. Do you know what the greatest crisis facing our North Peak is right now?"

"Crisis?" Lu Yuan was momentarily startled. Having spent a year cultivating with Ancestor Yan and then diligently practicing, followed by a visit to the Longevity Cave, he hadn't detected any immediate danger. Could it be related to Daoist Master Yuanling? But given Senior Uncle Yuanyuan’s shrewdness, that seemed unlikely.

"The Sword Sect," Daoist Master Yuanyuan uttered the two words softly. "That is right. The Sword Sect."

"For many years past, our Three Sects existed in a relative balance. Our Sword Qi Sect has always been the weakest of the three, while the Sword Sect and the Qi Sect were relatively balanced against each other. However, this equilibrium abruptly ceased a thousand years ago; balance no longer exists."

"A thousand years ago, the Sword Sect amassed countless talents. Among the Eighth Generation, the top five in strength included Senior Martial Uncle Yan, ranked first, and Senior Martial Uncle Chu Duan, ranked fourth, who hailed from the Sword Sect. The second-ranked individual and Senior Martial Uncle ranked fifth came from the Qi Sect. However, the third-ranked individual perished, thus strengthening the Sword Sect further."

"Of course, even more crucial a thousand years ago was the decline of the Central Peak of the Qi Sect. You haven't heard much about the Central Peak recently." Hearing Senior Uncle Yuanyuan mention this, Lu Yuan realized it was true; the Central Peak had been remarkably low-key in recent years.

"Originally, the balance among the Three Sects meant the Sword Sect and the Qi Sect were close in strength, with our Sword Qi Sect acting as a neutral force. Over the past millennium, the Sword Sect’s strength has steadily grown, while the decline of the Qi Sect’s Central Peak has made the Qi Sect increasingly weak. By the Eighth Generation, this gap reached its extreme, and it remains so in the Ninth Generation."

"Previously, there was Ancestor Yan alone, his sword holding all defiance in check."

"However, Ancestor Yan has ascended, and Senior Martial Uncle Chu Duan of the Sword Sect has taken over as the Sect Master. Now, the situation leans even further toward the Sword Sect."

"And the Sword Sect at this juncture is rife with ambition, intending to annex the Qi Sect and the Sword Qi Sect, achieving a unified status under the Sword Sect banner."

Lu Yuan’s heart gave a sharp lurch. It seemed the anxieties Master held upon his death, the foresight Ancestor Yan possessed before ascending, were nearing realization.

The turmoil of the Three Sects—Sword, Qi, and Sword Qi—might already be subtly beginning.

Though Daoist Master Yuanyuan’s tone suggested signs of the conflict were already surfacing, Lu Yuan was inherently an optimist.

Thus, these looming matters did not weigh heavily on his mind.

His current strength was still low; if the sky fell, the taller figures would bear the weight.

What he needed to do now was quite simple: eat when hungry, drink when thirsty, sleep when tired, and practice his sword when time permitted.

Life continued just as before, much like the clouds above the North Peak.

One day, having slept through the daylight hours, he found himself unable to sleep any longer. He headed to the library in the Changchun Residence to read. Master had left behind some books, which he now took out to study. Perusing Master’s old collection, he came across several exquisite sword techniques. He glanced through them casually, lacking any immediate interest in practicing them.

Lu Yuan never bothered with false modesty; he knew that in terms of sword techniques, he was certainly superior to his Master, though he was still far behind in magic power. Therefore, he only scanned these sword arts briefly, holding little genuine interest.

As he read, he discovered a cultivation method.

Condensing Spirit Beast Art. About spirit beasts? Lu Yuan flipped through it casually, then paused, piqued by interest. What kind of technique was this Condensing Spirit Beast Art? It turned out to be a method for fusing spirit beasts. For instance, one could combine numerous small spirit beasts into one medium-sized one, or many medium-sized ones into one large one.

This technique was actually not of great use—it merely consolidated spirit beasts.

To give an example: Cloud-type spirit beasts, whether Cloud Chickens, Cloud Rabbits, or Cloud Cats, were essentially condensations of cloud essence, not truly living beings. This technique allowed one to reorganize this cloud essence into a vastly larger spirit beast.

Lu Yuan's interest stemmed primarily from the fact that the spirit beasts within his Spirit Sealing Plaque were growing numerous; he couldn't keep track of them without consolidating.

Accordingly, Lu Yuan began circulating the technique. Previously, Lu Yuan possessed: Large Cloud Beasts: four Cloud Tigers, eight Cloud Lions. Medium Cloud Beasts: sixteen Cloud Wolves, eighteen Cloud Foxes. Small Spirit Beasts: ten Cloud Cats, twenty Cloud Rabbits, ten Cloud Dogs.

Now, activating the Condensing Spirit Beast Art, he began the fusion process. After a moment, the small and medium spirit beasts within the Spirit Sealing Plaque began converting into large spirit beasts. Generally, ten small spirit beasts were equivalent to one medium one, and ten medium ones could form one large one—there were minor variations, but this was the general conversion rate.

As a result, the spirit beasts within his body rapidly transformed. In the end, all the small and medium spirit beasts collectively formed five new large Cloud Tigers.

At this point, Lu Yuan possessed nine Cloud Tigers and eight Cloud Lions, totaling seventeen large spirit beasts.

Actually, above the Large Beast level were Giant Beasts, Exotic Beasts, Legendary Beasts, Mythical Beasts, and Ancient Beasts. However, Lu Yuan found that he currently had relatively few large beasts, so there was no need to merge them into Giant Beasts yet. If he had dozens or a hundred large beasts, making them difficult to count and troublesome to maintain, then he would use the Condensing Spirit Beast Art to form Giant Beasts.

Practicing the Condensing Spirit Beast Art seemed to be the only thing Lu Yuan had done recently. In the time that followed, Lu Fang lived comfortably on the North Peak, enjoying leisurely freedom. Sometimes he would nap atop the Fairyland of White Clouds; it was quite pleasant.

"Excellent wine," the young man in green laughed, lying amidst the clouds, his chin smeared with wine stains.

The empty wine bottles were tossed to one side, his sword, clear as autumn water, lay beside him.

Lu Yuan sometimes wondered if he should travel far and wide, perhaps even to other nations, to hone his sword skills. This was what Ancestor Yan had done, claiming it could accelerate the achievement of his Five Emperors Reincarnation Sword Dao. Or perhaps he should seek out more spirit beasts, as reaching the Longevity Stage required far more Cloud-elemental Qi to advance his magic power, and his current number of spirit beasts was insufficient.

Although he had planned several excursions, in the end, he remained languidly reclining in this spot.

Human nature is hard to change!

(I struggled immensely with writer's block today, as this is the start of a new volume, requiring me to map out many plot lines and stories. I have been thinking since ten this morning and have only vaguely set the upcoming outline; the details are far from finalized. I might only manage one chapter today. If so, I apologize and promise three chapters tomorrow to make up for it.)