Immortal Mansion: With mediocre qualifications, I have no choice but to live forever

In the Zhao family mansion, Zhao Tonglai ended a day of practice and walked out of the secret room under the moonlight.

An old man from the Zhao family who was over fifty years old had been guarding the door of the secret room for some time. When he saw Zhao Tonglai appear, he hurried forward to salute.

That respectful look was totally unlike the attitude an elder should have towards a younger person. Instead, it was more like the attitude he showed towards the most distinguished person in the family.

The old man said softly, with a light of relief and expectation in his eyes.

"Young Master has made further progress today. This is truly a blessing for our Zhao family."

"If the ancestors of the Zhao family were still alive, they would surely feel extremely pleased."

Zhao Tonglai had obviously long since gotten used to the other party's submissive attitude towards him. He shook his head indifferently, without a trace of joy on his face.

"My achievements today are the result of the joint efforts and unremitting struggles of several generations of my Zhao family ancestors. I just happened to be the beneficiary."

"When I officially enter the Moon-Stepping Immortal Sect and spend a hundred years to gain full control of the entire sect, that will be the day when my Zhao family will truly be revived."

The old man was delighted and praised repeatedly.

"Young Master is wise!"

Zhao Tonglai ignored the other party's flattery, turned around and continued walking towards the pavilion in the courtyard.

A man in white was already sitting on the stone bench in the pavilion.

Seeing him enter the pavilion, the man in white stood up and spoke with a smile.

"Young Master Zhao, the training funds for this month have been delivered to the Zhao family. Don't forget what the Zhao family promised me, Xia Shuangzong."

Zhao Tonglai glanced at the other party indifferently and snorted coldly.

"This month's harvest is enough to make up for the nourishment sent by your Xia Shuang Sect. Do you want to add more?"

The man in white frowned slightly, and his face instantly became extremely gloomy.

"Zhao Tonglai, you'd better watch your tone. You are still just a mortal favored by the Moon-stepping Immortal Sect! Not a true immortal!"

"Although our Xia Shuang Sect is not a famous sect, it also has a place in this world of immortal cultivation. Cooperation with the Zhao family is a win-win situation."

"Your achievements today would not have been so fast if it weren't for the rare resources provided by my Xia Shuang Sect."

"The road to becoming an immortal is long and arduous. It is always better to have one more friend than one more enemy."

The voice of the man in white became colder and colder, until finally, it completely turned into a warning.

When Zhao Tonglai heard this, a sneer appeared on his face.

He walked slowly to the center of the pavilion, the moonlight shining on his body, adding a bit of gloomy temperament to him.

"Mr. Xia, you are wrong. The path to becoming an immortal still depends on your own efforts and understanding."

"Of course, my Zhao family is grateful for the resources provided by Xia Shuang Zong, but when it comes to a win-win situation, you, Xia Shuang Zong, know better than anyone else the price and sacrifices that the Zhao family has made over the years."

"Since my Zhao family dares to make deals with you immortal cultivation forces as a mortal family, we have naturally made all the necessary preparations."

"If the Xia Shuang Sect is still willing to continue our cooperation, my Zhao family will naturally be happy to do so. But if you want to use this matter to restrict my Zhao family, I'm afraid you've made a wrong calculation."

The man in white's face changed from gloomy to uncertain when he heard this.

Before Zhao Tonglai was noticed by the Tayue Immortal Sect, he could still act condescendingly when communicating with Zhao Tonglai.

Now the situation has changed. How could his Xia Shuang Sect, a small Jindan sect, dare to offend Zhao Tonglai, who is under the protection of the Ta Yue Immortal Sect?

After a long period of unwilling silence, the man in white finally gave in.

"Young Master Zhao is right. It was Xia who made a mistake."

"The cooperation between our Xia Shuang Sect and the Zhao family has always been based on mutual respect and trust."

"Xia will always remember the Zhao family's contributions and sacrifices, and will never dare to neglect them in the slightest."

"It's just that Young Master Zhao taught me the reincarnation technique. My master has reached a bottleneck in his practice and urgently needs the Zhao family's reincarnation flower to help him break through."

"I wonder if Young Master Zhao would be willing to make it easier for us, considering our past cooperation?"

There was a hint of pleading in the man's tone, and his eyes were fixed on Zhao Tonglai, trying to catch a hint of relaxation from Zhao Tonglai's expression.

Zhao Tonglai gently stroked the handrail of the pavilion and did not immediately agree to the man in white.

"Mr. Xia, you and I both know how precious the reincarnation flower is."

"My Zhao family is able to trade with you immortal cultivation forces as a mortal family because of this unique method of cultivating the Reincarnation Flower."

"It's not that I don't want to give you another Reincarnation Flower, it's just that the method of cultivating this thing is too difficult. With the current strength of my Zhao family, we can only barely keep a few plants alive and mature within a year."

"However, considering our years of cooperation, I can consider reserving one plant for Xia Shuang Sect during next year's harvest. What do you think, Mr. Xia?"

For cultivators, a year is not a long time. Although the man in white was unwilling, he also understood that this was the best result.

"In that case, thank you very much, Young Master Zhao."

"This month's nourishment has been placed in the old place. Xia will not bother you any more. I will take my leave first."

The man in white bowed, then turned around, turned into a stream of light, and disappeared into the night.

Zhao Tonglai looked at the direction where the man in white left, suddenly sneered, and then ordered the old man who had been silent beside him to clean up the pavilion, and he slowly walked into the courtyard deeper in the mansion.

In the familiar room, Zhao Tonglai once again opened the mechanism of the secret room and disappeared into the darkness.

Inside the altar, under the dim light, several members of the Zhao family were carrying bags of seven-foot-long cloth. Their movements were very cautious, as if the bags contained something extremely precious and fragile.

Zhao Tonglai did not say anything, but stood aside and watched coldly, as if he was just a bystander of this mysterious ceremony.

The items in the cloth bags were placed one by one in the center of the altar as the tribesmen moved. The bags began to move slightly, exuding an ominous yet vibrant breath.

"Young Master, the 'spiritual soil' is ready. Shall we start cultivating it immediately?"

An elderly tribesman asked respectfully, his voice echoing in the empty altar, sounding particularly solemn.

Zhao Tonglai nodded slightly, a deep light flashing in his eyes.

"You all should leave first. I will take care of the rest myself."

Everyone followed the lead of the young man Zhao Tonglai. After hearing his instructions, they all nodded their heads and quickly retreated.

When the door of the secret room slowly closed, Zhao Tonglai took a deep breath and finally took action.

He walked quickly forward, walked around the altar, and chanted complicated spells.

This action lasted for half an incense stick of time, until he had circled the altar nine times before finally stopping.

As Zhao Tonglai stopped, the cloth bag on the altar began to undergo amazing changes.

I saw the cloth bags gradually expanding, as if something was struggling violently inside.

Suddenly, a tear appeared in one of the cloth bags, and a dry hand stretched out. Then, a man with a haggard face and hollow eyes crawled out of the bag.

"This...this is..."

Zhou Yiqiao and Du Yiling had already followed Zhao Tonglai into the secret room. After hiding in the dark and witnessing this scene, huge waves of emotion surged in their hearts.

Zhou Yiqiao had seen this method of sacrificing mortals for the purpose of spiritual practice before, so he was able to regain his composure.

Du Yiling, who was standing by, was obviously witnessing such a cruel scene for the first time and cried out in surprise.

He could hardly believe his eyes. Those cloth bags actually contained corpses. Moreover, it seemed that these corpses started moving again under the influence of some secret technique.

Although the movements of these corpses were stiff, they were incredibly powerful. They began to move slowly around the altar, and each step caused the ground to shake slightly.

Zhao Tonglai jumped to the center of the altar, formed seals with his hands, and muttered something, as if he was controlling the corpses.

"It turns out that the so-called 'spiritual soil' actually uses the corpses of mortals as a medium to improve the quality of one's spiritual roots through some forbidden secret method."

Zhou Yiqiao raised his hand and cast a ban to prevent Du Yiling's voice from being discovered by Zhao Tonglai, and then sneered.

"It seems that the so-called reincarnation flower mentioned by Zhao Tonglai and the Xia Shuang Sect disciple should also be a similar method."

As the last syllable of the spell came out of Zhao Tonglai's mouth, the entire altar suddenly shook, as if some power was awakening underground.

The corpses on the altar seemed to have received instructions and began to rotate around the center of the altar, getting faster and faster until they turned into blurry black shadows.

Suddenly, an invisible force pulled the corpses violently. They screamed and struggled, but could not resist the pull of this force.

The body was pulled to the edge of the altar, or more precisely, to the location of the head that had been there the longest.

The vitality of all the corpses was quickly drained away, their bodies began to shrivel up, and eventually turned into mummies covered in skin and bones.

The life force was extracted and transformed into the purest energy, which was slowly injected into the soil beneath the head.

The soil began to roll, as if something was about to break out.

Then, a grayish-white thing broke out of the shell on the head, growing at a speed visible to the naked eye, branching out, and sprouting, and finally blooming into a breathtakingly beautiful flower.

This flower is crystal clear, its petals seem to be carved from the purest crystal, its stamens twinkle with starlight, emitting a soft and mysterious light.

The two of them immediately understood that this thing should be the reincarnation flower that Zhao Tonglai and the disciples of Xia Shuangzong had mentioned.

When Zhao Tonglai saw the reincarnation flower, a flash of ecstasy appeared in his eyes, and he couldn't wait to reach out and pick the flower.

However, at this moment, a cold voice sounded in his ears.

"Zhao Tonglai, your Zhao family is indeed just as the senior expected. You use the lives of ordinary people to practice evil arts and pursue your own selfish desires!"

As Du Yiling's voice appeared, Zhou Yiqiao and the other man, who had been hiding for a long time, finally appeared in front of Zhao Tonglai.