Chapter 36 - 35: The Mystery of Longevity

Chapter 36: Chapter 35: The Mystery of Longevity

"HISS!"

Chen Jianghe gasped. Looking at the maximum lifespan that had just appeared, he was still shocked despite his mental preparation.

Three hundred and sixty years.

He didn’t know what the lifespan of the Core Formation Stage—the stage above Foundation Establishment—was, but this was already one hundred and forty years longer than the Foundation Establishment Stage.

This meant that even with his Five-Element Mixed Spirit Root, as long as he didn’t die, he would definitely reach Foundation Establishment in the future.

"PHEW!"

Chen Jianghe let out a heavy breath, calming his surging excitement. With a shift of his Divine Sense wrapping around the Spirit Platform, he discovered another piece of information had emerged.

[Spirit Pet: Lifespan 120 years.]

"???"

"Is this Little Black’s lifespan limit?"

Chen Jianghe froze in disbelief. This shouldn’t be right at all. Little Black was a turtle. They were naturally long-lived creatures, so how could his lifespan be a mere one hundred and twenty years? Even a Mortal Turtle would live longer than a century.

"Could it be that I didn’t share Little Black’s lifespan? That’s impossible! Then where did my long lifespan come from?"

Chen Jianghe had always thought he was sharing Little Black’s lifespan, which was why he had a long life comparable to a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Now, it was as high as three hundred and sixty years.

"No, my lifespan limit broke through the moment Little Black entered the Entry Tier. This definitely has to do with him.

"Little Black has a lifespan of one hundred and twenty years, and I have three hundred and sixty. Why does it feel like Little Black’s maximum lifespan should be my normal lifespan?"

Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind.

"Could it be... I didn’t share his lifespan, but swapped lifespans with him?!"

He looked at Little Black’s lifespan displayed on the Spirit Platform. One hundred and twenty years—wasn’t that the exact maximum lifespan of a Qi Refining Cultivator? At this moment, he knew for sure that he had swapped lifespans with the turtle.

"Two-Legged Beast! I did it! I’ve entered the Immortal Dao!"

Right then, an excited voice echoed from the Spirit Platform as the Spirit Turtle Mark flickered with a faint cyan-black glow.

"Little Black? Are you speaking?"

"It’s me, it’s me! I did it! Two-Legged Beast, do you know? I did it!" Little Black cheered in excitement.

Chen Jianghe was delighted. Just as he had hoped, they could communicate through the Spirit Platform now that Little Black had reached the Entry Tier. This would save him the Spirit Stones needed to buy a Spirit Beast Circle.

Wait a minute! Chen Jianghe was instantly exasperated.

"What the heck is a Two-Legged Beast?"

"A Two-Legged Beast is my Immortal Fate, and my Immortal Fate is you!"

Little Black’s sincere voice echoed. His words were filled with excitement, thrill, and above all, gratitude.

"Two-Legged Beast, did you know? I was born defective. My Turtle Shell is underdeveloped, giving me only a third of my kin’s lifespan. Eighty years—for the Black Crystal Profound Turtle clan, that means dying right after reaching maturity. Fortunately, you guided me onto the Immortal Dao!

"I now have a lifespan of one hundred and twenty years.

"Two-Legged Beast, you were absolutely right. Being different from my kin doesn’t mean I’m defective; it means I have extraordinary talent. Lord Turtle has made it!"

At this moment, Little Black seemed to have found someone to confide in, sweeping away all the gloom he had accumulated from years of being despised by his peers. Listening to Little Black pour his heart out, Chen Jianghe learned that the turtle had been bound to him right after birth. Their lifespans had been swapped at that very moment.

Furthermore, on Little Black’s Spirit Platform, there was a "Two-Legged Beast" mark—which was an exact image of Chen Jianghe. However, there was one difference: Little Black couldn’t see Chen Jianghe’s lifespan. In other words, Little Black didn’t know they had swapped lifespans; he only knew that Chen Jianghe was his Immortal Fate.

"Little Black, you can’t call me Two-Legged Beast anymore. You have to call me Master," Chen Jianghe transmitted seriously.

"You’re taking advantage of me." Little Black shook his massive head like a rattle drum.

"Think about it, Little Black. I am your Immortal Fate. Only after following me did you reach the Entry Tier and become a Spirit Beast, increasing your lifespan to one hundred and twenty years.

"And this is just the beginning. As long as you’re obedient, you’ll have plenty of Spiritual Pills and Elixirs to eat in the future. By then, your lifespan might increase to three hundred years, five hundred years, or you might even become a thousand-year or ten-thousand-year-old turtle..."

"Master!" Little Black blurted out.

People often felt the need to flaunt whatever they lacked. Little Black was different. Whatever he lacked, he simply wanted. His thoughts were perfectly straightforward.

"Mm, very good. Now that you’re a Spirit Beast, raising the Little Cyan Fish should be even easier for you. Work hard, and once this batch is fully grown, I’ll reward you with a Qi Nourishing Pill." Chen Jianghe nodded in satisfaction.

"Two-Legged Beast..."

"Hmm?!"

"Rest assured, Master! I couldn’t suppress the adult Cyan-Scaled Fish before, but now dealing with them is a piece of cake," Little Black said, raising his head high with absolute confidence.

"Since you’ve become a Spirit Beast, do you have a corresponding Cultivation Technique?" Chen Jianghe asked.

"I do. After condensing my Spirit Core, a Cultivation Technique called the Third Transformation Demon Ascension Technique appeared in my mind."

Little Black hid nothing. He even tried to pass the Third Transformation Demon Ascension Technique to Chen Jianghe, only to find that the technique couldn’t be transmitted out of his mind. It seemed to be permanently branded into his memory; any attempt to share it would just result in a blank void.

Chen Jianghe’s expression froze. Spirit Beasts actually had their own Cultivation Techniques!

He had initially guessed that Spirit Beasts lacked Cultivation Techniques, relying entirely on Absorbing Spiritual Qi and eating various Cultivation Resources to improve their Cultivation.

"Alright. Work hard, and once we get rich, I’ll buy a bunch of Spirit Pills for you to eat like jelly beans."

"WOO WOO WOO!"

Little Black was so excited he became incoherent, rolling and spinning in circles, kicking up countless grains of sand and gravel from the lakebed.

"Becoming a Spirit Beast really makes a difference. He can even swallow empty promises now," Chen Jianghe thought to himself. He then left the bottom of the lake and floated to the surface.

Returning to his Upturned Boat, Chen Jianghe calmed his mind and quietly pondered his future plans.

Little Black entering the Entry Tier had caused his lifespan limit to break through, reaching a terrifying three hundred and sixty years. However, as the Spirit Platform Mark reached Perfection, he also learned that he wasn’t sharing Little Black’s lifespan, but swapping it.

This meant that if Little Black broke through, his lifespan limit would also break through. And if he successfully achieved Foundation Establishment, Little Black’s lifespan limit would break through as well.

Currently, Little Black’s lifespan was one hundred and twenty years, and he was about to turn ten. Under normal circumstances, this meant he still had one hundred and ten years left to live. In other words, Chen Jianghe had to successfully reach Foundation Establishment within one hundred and ten years, or Little Black would die of old age.

As long as he still wanted to break through his lifespan limit, he had to rely on Little Black. While focusing on his own Cultivation, he also had to prioritize nurturing his pet.

Furthermore, there was one crucial point. He and Little Black had swapped lifespans. If Little Black were to meet a tragic end and die prematurely, would his own lifespan permanently freeze at three hundred and sixty years? Or would the Spirit Turtle Mark on his Spirit Platform disappear, allowing him to bind a new Spirit Pet?

The mark on the Spirit Platform didn’t provide much information, leaving Chen Jianghe knowing very little about his so-called Golden Finger. The most critical issue was that he couldn’t exactly test this out.

"Under the premise of keeping myself alive, my Cultivation is the most important thing. Little Black comes second, and everything else is completely unimportant," Chen Jianghe thought to himself.

He didn’t believe he would fail to reach Foundation Establishment in a hundred years. Therefore, the prerequisite for everything was simply staying alive. Keeping a low profile to survive, managing his affairs steadily, and acting with utmost caution was the true path to success.

Once he became a Foundation Establishment Ancestor, it wouldn’t be too late to act arrogant and domineering.