A second life, An Eternal journey to Immortality

....

Early the next morning, Jiang Cheng's stomach rumbled again, pulling him from his delusions of grandeur. His dream palace flickered, the beautiful attendants vanishing like smoke. With a groggy groan, he stirred, his body sore yet thrumming with newfound strength.

His eyelids fluttered open, revealing the inside of the now-drained cauldron. The thick medicinal residue clung to his skin, leaving behind a faint crimson sheen. He flexed his fingers, feeling a surge of power run through his limbs. His entire body felt denser, stronger—like tempered steel wrapped in flesh.

"So this is what it means to be reborn through suffering, huh?" he muttered to himself, stretching his arms. His joints cracked like thunder, a testament to the strengthening of his bones and muscles. Even the lingering exhaustion couldn't overshadow the satisfaction of his progress.

But first—food.

His body had burned through an immense amount of energy, and now it demanded sustenance. He climbed out of the cauldron, stumbling slightly as he adjusted to his enhanced physique. He reached for his storage bag, retrieving a roasted spirit beast leg he had prepared earlier. Without hesitation, he tore into it, savoring the rich, Qi-infused meat.

As he ate, he closed his eyes, focusing inward.

The results of the medicinal bath were beyond his expectations. His Qi channels felt wider, his muscles more compact, and his bones... almost unbreakable.

He clenched his fist tightly, feeling the surging force within. Based on his estimation, each of his arms now carried a strength of at least a thousand kilograms. If he were to strike a Second Stage Qi Refining cultivator, a single punch would shatter them into pieces.

The thought sent a shiver of excitement through him.

" Although I'm not a fan of fighting, if some blind bastard provokes me this time… I will definitely—ahem—keep an even lower profile and try not to stand out from the crowd.

What are you expecting from me? To go wild and fight enemies everywhere? To cut down arrogant young masters left and right?

No, no, that is not our path!

As long as we act cautiously and always adhere to the essence of Gou Dao—the Way of the Hidden Dog—sooner or later, we will rise to the top!

With a solemn and righteous expression, Jiang Cheng placed his hands behind his back, nodding sagely as if he had comprehended the ultimate truth of the universe.

Then he to take a dignified step forward to the market to sell the talisman that he still has with him

Then, with renewed determination (and only a slightly bruised ego), Jiang Cheng took a dignified step forward toward the market to sell the talismans he still had with him.

As he walked, he muttered to himself, "From the 5,000 spirit stones I had yesterday, only a thousand and a few hundreds remain… I need to make more money."

His eyes flickered with ambition.

"The Foundation Establishment Pill… I'll need one sooner or later. Although, with my qualifications, I could break through easily…"

He slowed his pace, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"But just to be safe… who knows what could happen, right? What if some heavenly tribulation decides to make my life difficult? Or worse—what if I get stuck at the last moment and become one of those cultivators who fail at the threshold of Foundation Establishment and turn into wandering drunks?"

A shiver ran down his spine at the thought.

"No, no, that won't be me. I'll prepare everything in advance! Resources, pills, safety precautions—I'll leave nothing to chance!" Jiang Cheng thought in his way

Normally, with his income from running a stall, if he saves a little, he can have a lot of spirit stones left in a year. It's just because Jiang Cheng has to buy talismans, spirit rice, spirit gathering pills, monster meat etc., it costs too much, so he doesn't. It can save spiritual stones.

The spiritual farmers in Puchan town is really miserable. He has worked hard for a year to farm, and the harvested spiritual rice is sold to Qinglin Sect, which is barely enough to pay for the rent of a fourth-class cave, so he can barely survive.

This was despite the spiritual farmer working hard day and night to cultivate the land. If he slacked off a little and didn't collect enough spiritual stones, he might be expelled from the cave.

Therefore, many farmers moved to the shantytowns sold by the gray-robed Taoist priests and rented caves in the shantytowns. The spirit stones needed were much less, and they could save a lot of it.

At first, most monks were waiting and watching, worried that the Qinglin Sect would take action to rectify the shanty town.

But as time went by, the Sect had no intention of taking care of these shantytowns.

All the spiritual farmers couldn't wait to move to the shantytowns. Many even spent all their savings to buy cave houses in the shantytowns.

"I always feel that Qinglin Sect is going to make a big move."

Jiang Cheng had a vague guess in his heart.

Qinglin Sect did not rectify the shantytowns at this time, perhaps because it felt that leeks were not enough.

How can one or two leeks be as good as cutting a large wave of leeks?

When he passed by Taoist Yan cave, he saw him waiting for him.

"Fellow Daoist Jiang , I have been waiting for a long time."

Back at the cave, Taoist Yan was waiting at the door with a pot of spiritual wine.

Spiritual wine is similar to ordinary medicinal wine. The monks mix various spiritual medicines with various spiritual waters according to secret recipes, seal them for months or years, and ferment them.

Taoist Yan is good at brewing spiritual wine. The cold spring nectar he brews has a unique taste. It has a sweet and long aftertaste and can also increase the monk's magic power.

In Puchan Town, it is quite popular, with a price tag of fifteen low-grade spiritual stones per pot.

It is precisely because of this craft that Taoist Yan can live a comfortable life in Puchan town.

"Fellow Taoist Yan , is there cold spring nectar in your hand?"

Jiang Cheng's eyes lit up when he saw the specially made wine flask in Taoist Yan's hand.

This kind of special wine pot is only used by Taoist Yan to hold cold spring nectar.

Taoist Yan smiled and said, "I have important matters to discuss with fellow Taoists, naturally I don't dare to neglect them."

"That being the case, why don't we discuss it in detail at Seihong Residence ?

Jiang Cheng 's expression changed and he immediately invited.

"Fellow Taoist, please !"

The smile on Taoist Yan's face became even wider.

Seihongju is a restaurant in Puchan City. There is a spiritual chef in charge. The spiritual food cooked can also nourish the monk's body and increase his mana.

The two of them went to Seihong Residence together, and Jiang Cheng spent more than a dozen low-grade spiritual stones to set up a table of spiritual delicacies.

In the private room, Jiang Cheng and Taoist Yan were eating and drinking while talking about the recent events in Puchan .

The atmosphere in the elegant room quickly heated up as the glasses were exchanged.

Seeing that Taoist Yan never mentioned the purpose of looking for him, Jiang Cheng happily chatted with Taoist Yan and asked about some things that he didn't know.

Over the past three months , under Jiang Cheng 's deliberate management, he got along well with Taoist Yan .

From Taoist Yan's mouth, I learned many secrets.

Taoist Yan couldn't help it and broke the deadlock: "I have a business here. If it succeeds, I can earn a lot of spiritual stones. Fellow Taoist, are you interested in participating?"

"what business?"

Jiang Cheng 's expression remained unchanged and he asked.

"Fellow Taoist, have you ever heard about the fifth-class caves that have opened outside Puchan town in the past two years?"

Taoist Yan sold a pass.

There are only four levels of caves rented and sold in Puchan town . In the shantytowns that have arisen outside of Puchan Town, the caves among them are jokingly called fifth-level caves due to environmental problems.

"Have heard a little bit."

This business is related to these caves. Several Taoist friends and I plan to purchase all the remaining fifth-class caves and then sell them to those spiritual cultivators at a higher price."

Taoist Yan lowered his voice and said mysteriously.

"..."

Jiang Cheng was speechless for a moment, calling him a good guy in his heart.

Isn't this just real estate speculation?

Taoist Yan asked: "Fellow Taoist, are you interested in participating?"

"To be honest with you fellow Taoist, I also want to participate. However, I have been trying to refine the fireball talisman recently. It costs a lot of money. I am a little nervous and I am really powerless."

Jiang Cheng looked helpless and annoyed.

This business was not reliable no matter how you looked at it.

First, the "fifth-level cave" in the shantytown was at risk of being demolished at any time. Once problems occurred with the spiritual stones invested by Taoist Yan and others, they might be wasted.

Moreover, the real estate speculators would not have a good death!

This kind of business was inherently harmful to others and not beneficial to oneself, and it was very easy to offend those spiritual plant farmers .

If any spiritual plant farmer was not happy and attacked from behind, he might be caught by mistake and lose more than he gained.

He did not need to get involved in this matter.

"That's a pity. You missed a chance to make a fortune."

Taoist Yan saw that Jiang Cheng 's expression did not seem to be fake, and felt sorry for Jiang Cheng.

The two continued to chat for a while, and after sweeping away the spiritual food and cold spring nectar, they ended the party and said goodbye.

"I wonder how many unlucky people will be this time?"

Looking at Taoist Yan who left in a hurry and seemed to be looking for partners, Jiang Cheng shook his head.

Then he continues in his way to the stalls area, after saying hello to the monks in the area, he sit up a stall and sit across legged, A meal of spiritual food, plus a pot of cold spring nectar, he stored a lot of spiritual energy in his body, which must not be wasted.