Chapter 1773: Hall of Longevity

The houses of this Azure Immortal City aren't magical artifacts forged by Weapon Refiners? But since they aren't artifacts, how could they possibly give birth to artifact spirits?

No, this thing isn't an artifact spirit; according to the Fifth Elder, it's called a house spirit, but what the hell's the difference?

It seemed he had guessed Ye Zhangqing's doubt, so without waiting for him to ask, the Fifth Elder laughed and explained.

"I never said that a house spirit is an artifact spirit."

"Kid, do you know how this immortal city was formed?"

Huh???

Faced with the Fifth Elder's seemingly baffling question, Ye Zhangqing froze for a moment—how was this immortal city formed?

How else could it form? Isn't it just built by humans? Could it possibly grow on its own?

"This immortal city actually grew on its own."

Huh???

Just as Ye Zhangqing was thinking that, the Fifth Elder's one sentence left him completely dazed.

He had just thought that the immortal city couldn't possibly have grown on its own, when the next second the Fifth Elder said, 'This immortal city really did grow on its own.'

You're kidding—how could a city this big grow on its own? Is it viviparous or oviparous?

His eyes full of doubt, he looked at the Fifth Elder; facing Ye Zhangqing's gaze, the Fifth Elder began to explain unhurriedly.

According to the Fifth Elder, there are a total of sixty-eight immortal cities in the Immortal Realm.

Yet the boundless Immortal Realm has only sixty-eight immortal cities—are the major powers of the Immortal Realm simply incapable of building more?

No, the Immortal Realm contains many cities, far larger than immortal cities, enormously larger, absurdly so.

But no matter how large or prosperous these cities are, they cannot be called immortal cities.

The reason is simply that these cities are man-made.

The true sixty-eight immortal cities are naturally formed by heaven and earth, like the White Cloud Avenue beneath Ye Zhangqing's feet today and the various shops within sight.

Even every blade of grass and tree in the city, the street layout—all are naturally produced by heaven and earth.

Only cities naturally formed by heaven and earth can be called immortal cities.

That is why, even to this day, the Immortal Realm still has only those sixty-eight immortal cities, with no new ones added for thousands of years.

The so-called house spirit is formed slowly during the evolution of heaven and earth, unrelated to Weapon Refiners and the like; it belongs to the spirits of heaven and earth.

Furthermore, above that, immortal cities have city spirits, while every blade of grass and tree have forest spirits and flower spirits.

In short, anything in an immortal city could possess a spirit, so the city spirit Ye Zhangqing saw earlier is no surprise.

Upon hearing the Fifth Elder's explanation, Ye Zhangqing stared blankly for a while.

Cities formed by heaven and earth? No wonder powers like the Guo Clan in the Immortal Realm go berserk competing for every benefit within these immortal cities.

Although the Fifth Elder didn't go deep, he merely gave a simple overview of the basic situation of immortal cities.

This isn't any secret; given the chance, Ye Zhangqing could wander around the immortal city alone and learn all this.

So the Fifth Elder telling Ye Zhangqing these things poses no problem.

Yet from the Fifth Elder's words, Ye Zhangqing still guessed that the immortal city likely hides deeper circumstances he doesn't know.

And this might be the true reason why the major powers of the Immortal Realm fiercely contend for immortal cities.

But for now the Fifth Elder hasn't brought these up, so Ye Zhangqing naturally won't ask—he knows what to ask and what not to.

While imparting some basic knowledge of the immortal city bit by bit, the two had arrived outside a grand mansion as they talked.

Above the gate floated three golden characters, with no signboard—or rather, the vast sky itself served as the sign for those three golden characters.

Inscribed: Hall of Longevity.

"We're here."

The Fifth Elder said calmly, and at this moment, outside the Hall of Longevity gathered many cultivators of the Immortal Realm.

The line stretched so far you couldn't see its end.

Seeing so many people, Ye Zhangqing asked suspiciously.

"Elder, are all these people here to eat?"

Besides himself, Ye Zhangqing had never seen a restaurant or a Spirit Chef, nor an Immortal Chef faction, capable of attracting so many diners.

Looking at it this way, the Hall of Longevity really does seem to have something going for it—though the name is odd, it appears to be the real deal.

But facing Ye Zhangqing's question, the Fifth Elder grinned.

"Yes and no, not quite accurate."

Huh???

"The people you see really are here to eat, and the Immortal Chef's culinary skill in the Hall of Longevity is indeed excellent—otherwise it wouldn't be famous throughout the Immortal Realm."

"But if it were just about flavor, it wouldn't draw such a crowd—after all, everyone's a cultivator, and the desire for taste isn't that hard to endure."

Having said that, the Fifth Elder paused, as if suddenly recalling something, then turned to Ye Zhangqing and said.

"Of course, you little brat excepted."

He interjected a sentence, then continued.

"What truly draws people here isn't flavor, but efficacy."

"Efficacy?"

"What the Hall of Longevity has always researched is how, through dietary therapy, to help cultivators heal hidden injuries and even extend their longevity."

"After generations of effort, the Hall of Longevity has indeed developed some things."

"The food made by the Hall of Longevity has a wonderful warming nourishment effect on cultivators' hidden injuries."

"As everyone knows, hidden injuries are hard to treat; many accumulated over years don't respond well even to pills."

"But the Hall of Longevity's meals can do it, and longevity too can indeed be increased."

"The only shortcoming is that the time cycle is a bit long, not as swift as taking pills."

However, this still couldn't stop the numerous cultivators' enthusiasm; Longevity Hall even specially gave this a name, calling it Food Therapy.

So all these people are actually coming to Longevity Hall to treat hidden injuries, or to extend their lifespan.

Listening to Fifth Elder's introduction, Ye Zhangqing's expression grew stranger the more he heard; this is damn just a nursing home, right?

What the hell is this Food Therapy; could the Hall Master of Longevity Hall also be a transmigrator?

However, at this moment, after observing the queue, Ye Zhangqing discovered that the elderly indeed seemed to make up the majority, occupying more than half!

It seems Longevity Hall's Food Therapy really works.

Of course, the truly attractive aspect of Longevity Hall's Food Therapy lies in its price, a price that ordinary cultivators can afford.

Just as Ye Zhangqing was dazed, Fifth Elder lightly added a sentence.

It is precisely because of the price advantage that so many people flock to it.