Chapter 371: Chapter 340: Old Acquaintance_1

“Sir, are you looking to rent a cultivation chamber? Our superior rooms only cost ten medium-grade spirit stones per month!”

Seeing Xu Mu come in, the old man put down his book and spoke.

“It’s been a long time, friend Long!” Xu Mu greeted, smiling cordially.

“Hmm?”

The old man was taken aback, scrutinizing Xu Mu. After a moment of understanding, his eyes widened in surprise.

“You’re Mu…Friend Muyu?!” The old man exclaimed, astounded.

“I didn’t expect you to remember me!” Xu Mu replied with a smile.

When he first arrived at Pursuing Wind City, he had assumed the alias of Mu Yu and joined Four Seas Immortal Palace, and the person who had introduced him was none other than the old man, Long Ye, who stood before him now.

At that time, Long Ye was refined and elegant, a prodigy that radiated youthful energy.

Who could have expected that within a mere century, he would have aged so drastically? Even Xu Mu hadn’t foreseen this.

“You…”

Long Ye scrutinized Xu Mu again, even resorting to using his Divine Intent, and finally hesitantly asked, “You couldn’t possibly have advanced to the Golden Core Stage, could you?”

Xu Mu, who was standing before him, hadn’t aged a day since they first met. According to human years, even if he had taken Stay Age Pill, it would not have been possible for him to look so young.

However, the Golden Core Stage? Was that even possible?

To ordinary cultivators like them, the Golden Core Stage was an unattainable realm.

Their lifespan could exceed five hundred years. In Pursuing Wind City, they were at the top of the pyramid, capable of establishing their own sects. Even in the three major powers, they belonged to the top echelon, ranked above thousands.

Attaining the Golden Core Stage would be a truly monumental achievement.

In response to Long Ye’s question, Xu Mu did not directly answer. Instead, he retorted, “Given your cultivation level, you should not look like you do. Have you encountered some sort of problem?”

Based on his age, Long Ye should be around 170–180 years old. He was currently in the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment, with a lifespan of at most 250 years. This would make him appear middle-aged, even without having used any Stay Age Pills.

However, Long Ye’s current appearance was that of an old man. Although he was not on the brink of death, it seemed he was not far from it.

“What problems could I have come across? Other than rushing my cultivation and getting injured while searching for treasures, I’ve done nothing. Since advancing further has become an impossible dream, I returned to doing what I used to,” Long Ye explained with a bitter smile.

Only a few among the common cultivators could peacefully live until their natural deaths. For someone like him to be able to live for a few more decades up to the age of 200 was already pretty good.

“I see!”

Xu Mu nodded in understanding.

The two chatted about trivial matters. Xu Mu asked about the city and some old acquaintances, then he left behind a bottle of pills and departed.

“These are tier six pills!”

Long Ye opened the bottle, sensing the rich and pure energy contained within, and exclaimed in surprise.

“He really has advanced to the Golden Core Stage! Otherwise he wouldn’t be so generous!”

Long Ye sealed the bottle, sighing helplessly.

Looking back to when they had first met, he had thought that Xu Mu had good aptitude, on par with his own. But now, in the blink of an eye, the difference between them was vast.

He stared blankly at the pill in his hand until another customer came in and had to call out to him a few times before he came back to his senses.

After looking at the pill a few more times, he put it away. If consumed by him, this pill could potentially increase his life by ten years, but he chose not to use it for himself. Instead, he decided to trade it for resources to aid his descendants.

Even if he consumed it, it would only extend his life by a few more years. However, his descendants might have a chance of reaching the Golden Core Stage.

Xu Mu’s appearance had rekindled a glimmer of hope in him.

If Xu Mu could do it, why couldn’t he? And even if he couldn’t, his children definitely could!

Xu Mu didn’t know what Long Ye was thinking, and even if he did, he would probably just dismiss it with a smile.

To him, he had simply met an old acquaintance and, in high spirits, had given him a bottle of pills.

As for what the other party chose to do, it wouldn’t affect him in the slightest.

After strolling around the city for a while, Xu Mu left the city. He hopped on a tier three flying sword and flew toward the spatial passage.

“I didn’t receive any news about the spatial passage in Pursuing Wind City. There can only be two possibilities for this situation. Either the spatial passage has not yet been exposed, or someone has blocked the news.”

Xu Mu preferred the former, but life always likes to throw curveballs.

The distance from Pursuing Wind City to the island where the spatial passage was located was not too far, just over two thousand miles in a straight line.

If Xu Mu flew at full speed, he would get there in the blink of an eye. But, since he was currently operating a magic artifact and needed to conceal his cultivation, it would take significantly longer.

Furthermore, out of caution, he would stop from time to time during his journey to observe the surroundings.

So, it took him a whole day of flying. Only under the moonlight that was illuminating the ocean did he finally see the familiar island.

Xu Mu didn’t rashly fly over because he had long noticed that something was off about the nearby waters.

There were too many residual auras of cultivators in the vicinity!

He had passed through spatial cracks more than once before, so he couldn’t be more familiar with the surroundings.

The spiritual energy in this sea area was sparse. You couldn’t find high-tier cultivators, let alone monster beasts.

When he first arrived, the first cultivator he met was a Qi Cultivation beginner in his eighties or nineties, who was often referred to as an Immortal Master in the neighborhood.

This was the kind of place where only ordinary people would frequently pass by. Occasionally, one or two Qi Cultivation Stage cultivators could be seen. If a Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator appeared, that would certainly be an extraordinary stroke of luck.

But now, within his sensing range, there were at least a few dozen traces of Foundation Establishment Stage auras.

The residual aura would dissipate over time, and the longest it could last would be no more than a month, which meant that in the past month, at least a dozen or so Foundation Establishment cultivators had passed through here.

What was even more incredible was that there were traces of Golden Core Stage auras.

Given that the nearby spiritual energy was sparse and could not produce spiritual medicine, and that there wouldn’t be any monster beasts nesting here, the sudden emergence of so many high-tier cultivators’ auras suggested that there was definitely something off. Xu Mu would never believe otherwise.

Although these people were inconsequential to him, he couldn’t ignore this phenomenon.

This was not the Outer Sea, and there weren’t many forces that could mobilize a large number of high-tier cultivators. Basically, they all had something to do with the three major factions.

Although Xu Mu wasn’t afraid of the three major factions, if possible, he didn’t want to invite trouble.

Just as he was preparing to hide his aura and squat for a while to observe the situation, a divine intent suddenly brushed past him and then stopped on him. It was obvious that he had been discovered.

“Golden Core stage?”

Xu Mu’s brow furrowed. He sensed that the intensity of the divine intent had reached the mid-Golden Core stage.

Since he was already discovered, he might as well go see what was happening.

Xu Mu continued to fly as if he hadn’t noticed anything. In normal circumstances, a Qi Cultivation Stage cultivator would not be able to sense the divine intent of a Golden Core Stage cultivator, so his behavior wasn’t weird.

“Stop!”

A voice was conveyed into Xu Mu’s ears through divine intent.

“Who’s there?”

Filled with fear, Xu Mu sent out a tier three attacking magical artifact, adopting a defensive stance.

The next moment, a white light flew out from the island where the spatial crack was located and quickly approached him. At the same time, a spiritual pressure of Golden Core Stage came along with it.

The white light flickered twice. It traversed tens of miles and reached Xu Mu.

Xu Mu showed a terrified expression. The magic artifact beside him seemed to be a bit out of control.

The white light vanished, revealing an absolutely beautiful woman wrapped in white silk, with a red flower mark in the center of her forehead.

The woman exhibited two completely different qualities. Her body was tantalizing, subtly concealed beneath the white silk, her face, however, was cold as ice, giving a sense of sacred inviolability.

The two contrasting qualities perfectly merged, exuding a charm reminiscent of ancient savage deities.

While appearing panicked, Xu Mu was secretly puzzled.

Why does this woman look so familiar?