If we really want to say what Li Xuanzu could gain from Huang Lao, upon careful consideration, it seems there really isn't anything.

"Tsk, this is really annoying. Since arriving in this world, why is there someone opposing me everywhere? Stop trying to take advantage of me. Going to other countries is just to expand my blood reserves. If I find out again, I'll take action against the people of the Dragon Kingdom." After thinking for a while, Li Xuanzu could only come up with such an ineffective threat.

Li Xuanzu did have something to make Huang Lao obedient, such as a heart-demon contract where if he broke it, his inner demons would enter his body. However, Huang Lao didn't cultivate immortality at all and was completely unaware of his inner demons.

There is another kind of Heavenly Dao Contract, but this is even more out of the question. He has already angered the Heavenly Dao of Blue Star. Establishing a Heavenly Dao Contract is equivalent to having the Heavenly Dao of this world certify it. Li Xuanzu doesn't think He will agree to this.

Put yourself in their shoes. Helping outsiders harm your own people—isn't that just crazy?

The master-servant contract that Li Xuanzu signed with Dahei was a purely unequal treaty. It was unrealistic for Huang Lao to sign such a thing, given his lofty ambitions.

Who knows what's watching him? Li Xuanzu wouldn't dare to use it casually during such a sensitive period.

Old Huang could tell that Li Xuanzu really intended to kill him this time, and he touched the back of his neck with some lingering fear.

"Alright, if I dare to do it again, I'll bring you my head." Li Xuanzu has been of great help to the Dragon Kingdom, so there's no need to lose sight of the bigger picture for a small gain. Naturally, Elder Huang will no longer scheme against Li Xuanzu.

The two walked slowly toward their residence. It was only half an hour until midnight, but the streets were not as quiet and dark as usual.

Lights were on in every household. The sounds of children playing on ordinary days rang out at night, but they didn't sound noisy. The lively conversations of adults and the soft laughter of the elderly blended together in a symphony, adding a touch of warmth to the brightly lit street.

"Haha, I wonder if your aloof nature would appreciate the warmth and life of this world." Old Huang stroked his sparse beard and looked at Li Xuanzu with a smile.

"Hehe, can I understand this as making the best of a bad situation?" Li Xuanzu didn't exactly like this atmosphere.

Mortals are but grains of sand in the river of time, quickly disappearing after falling in. Even cultivators, whose lifespan is at most 100,000 years, are nothing more than larger grains of sand.

He had a premonition that the search for the essence of the great calamity would be a crucial step towards his immortality.

Cultivating immortality, cultivating immortality, what is the ultimate goal if not to achieve immortality?

What comes after achieving immortality?

eternal life!

No one can escape the test of time; he must live on in this world, to live as long as heaven and earth, no, to live longer than heaven and earth.

If anyone were to tell Li Xuanzu that they didn't want to cultivate immortality or live a long life, and only wanted to live a simple and ordinary life, he would consider it foolish behavior.

Don't want to live forever? Because there is no one in this world who can live forever, there never has been!

What talk of eternal life being lonely, of eternal life being without companions.

Bullshit!

The person who said these things hasn't even lived a thousand years, what does he know!

They can claim to have a profound understanding of life simply by opening and closing their mouths, but they have no idea how great the allure of immortality truly is.

“I have a lifespan of ten thousand years, but I have not lived more than half of my life. Yet I find that ten thousand years have passed in the blink of an eye. Haha, people are all greedy. After living for a hundred years, they want to live for a thousand years. After living for a thousand years, they crave ten thousand years, a hundred thousand years, a million years!” Li Xuanzu suddenly remembered what an old friend had told him.

"Throughout history, countless cultivators have embarked on the path to immortality, but even if they ascend to immortality, can anyone prove that they have attained that longevity? What is the purpose of our cultivation? Is it for a life of constant uncertainty, where we risk our lives? Or is it for the endless pursuit of breakthroughs, only to use more lifespan to reach even higher realms?"

Li Xuanzu could never forget the expression on his old friend's face when he failed his tribulation—a mixture of resentment, anger, and greed—until he was struck by lightning, his soul and spirit annihilated, turning into ashes.

“Look, after cultivating for ten thousand years, you end up ashes. What kind of life have you lived?” Li Xuanzu erected a monument for him.

That was the first time he felt lost about his path of spiritual cultivation.

"If cultivating immortality isn't for eternal life, why?"