Longevity Begins With Zongmen Handyman

Chapter 112: Rising to Success

After a month, there was finally a conclusion regarding the matter of Lu Hua and Jin Duo embezzling funds. Both Lu Hua and Jin Duo were expelled from the Treasure Pavilion.

Clearly, there had been a fierce struggle over the handling of Lu Hua and Jin Duo between the two sides.

For Mo Rong, this outcome was not at all unfavorable. Both sides had lost an ordinary appraiser, but she had gained the trust of the pavilion master.

At the same time, the long-awaited news about Li An was finally announced—Li An officially became an appraiser, taking over Lu Hua's previous position!

Everyone in the treasure vault was surprised, and many people congratulated Li An.

But he remained indifferent.

From the time he arrived in Tianyang City, made the decision to enter the Treasure Pavilion, to this day, it had taken him a total of twenty-two years!

He was already 112 years old.

To spend twenty years setting up the situation just for a position, it was hard for anyone to believe.

But in Li An's eyes, all the hard work and sacrifices were worth it for the path to the Gold Core.

All of this was within his expectations.

Entering the clean and bright appraisal room, sitting on the chair made of spiritual velvet, a servant came over to prepare tea for him. Li An felt a sense of trance, as the face of the peak years from many years ago vaguely appeared before him.

"Finally, I can begin..."

By taking on the position of an appraiser, he now had the resources and power to support his dreams.

...

Next, Li An carried out his appraisal business as usual.

His current level was unparalleled among the ordinary appraisers in the entire Treasure Pavilion, but he did not show it off. Instead, he remained moderate.

At the same time, he began to restrain his own sharpness and tried not to get involved in the struggle between Mo Rong and Xu Changkong, not taking sides but not rushing into battle either.

For him, the stage of struggle had already passed.

Before this, there were only so many positions for appraisers, and he had to fight for them. So, Li An had to scheme and fight as if he were in a palace intrigue.

Struggle and compromise were actually two sides of the same coin. Compromise was also a means of struggle. If compromise was not possible, then one had to go all out.

After he left, he did indeed use his influence to recommend Wang Zi to take charge of the treasure vault. However, Wang Zi was soon replaced, and it was said that the pavilion master personally arranged for someone else to take the position. Wang Zi was given another position.

After all, through this incident, the higher-ups in the pavilion had already realized the problem.

For Wang Zi, being in charge at this level is the same anywhere, except for not being in a core position like the treasure vault, which may make things easier.

...

In the blink of an eye, two years have passed.

On this day.

"Master Zuo, Master Luo has sent a spiritual medicine over, please take a look!"

A servant led a guest inside.

Now, in the Treasure Pavilion, there are only two people mainly responsible for identifying spiritual medicines: Li An and Luo Ming.

In the past two years, Li An deliberately showed his interest and expertise in poisonous medicines, so whenever they encountered complex spiritual medicines with poison, Luo Ming would simply hand them over to Li An and no longer inquire about them.

This guest is a middle-aged man, somewhat nervous, handing the box in his hand to Li An: "This spiritual medicine has a strong spiritual energy, I believe it is no less than a second-grade spiritual medicine, Master, please take a good look..."

Li An opened the box and glanced at it, and his heart suddenly stirred.

It was a jade grass with a mixture of black and white colors.

A large amount of spiritual energy mixed with a large amount of poison...

What excited Li An was that this was exactly the "toxic medicine" he had been looking for.

Since he took on the role of an appraiser, this was the first one he had encountered!

He remained calm and said, "In terms of spirituality and medicinal properties, this is definitely considered a second-grade spiritual medicine."

"But as you can see, this medicine contains a large amount of toxicity!"

"If you want to use its medicinal properties, you must first remove the poison, but removing the poison will also cause the medicinal properties to be lost, and the cost is too high..."

He shook his head, "If you want to sell it directly to us, we can only offer three hundred spiritual stones. I don't have the qualifications to enter the auction."

He wasn't exaggerating, no one really wanted this kind of thing, and according to the rules of the Treasure Pavilion, he really didn't have the qualifications to enter the auction.

In fact, the purchase price of three hundred spiritual stones he offered was already considered very generous, and it was at the top end of the Treasure Pavilion's standards.

"Ah?"

The guest's face was filled with disappointment!

"However, I do know that the owner of the Yun Dao Inn is very fond of these things, perhaps he can offer you a higher price..."

Li An casually spoke.

Upon hearing this, the guest was immediately overjoyed and said, "Okay, okay, thank you, Master!"

He immediately got up and left.

Li An rubbed his head and said, "Xiao Wu, make sure to register."

"I'll leave first."

His servant Xiao Wu replied, "Alright!"

Over the years, Li An had been collecting poison, which was not a secret within the Treasure Pavilion.

Everyone knew that he was practicing some kind of poisonous technique, so his research on poison was extensive.

- This was intentionally created and revealed information by Li An!

Furthermore, he asked Cai Chao, the owner of the Yun Dao Teahouse, to help as an intermediary. He would introduce some poisons to Cai Chao, who would then sell them at a high price.

But nothing had gone wrong so far because he followed all the rules in doing this!

For every poison he handled, he would make detailed records and leave behind crystal imprints, strictly following the standards of the pavilion for valuation - he would only inform customers about those he was interested in, which Cai Chao could purchase at a high price.

Of course, for poisons of excellent quality with special effects, he would never touch them and would still keep them in the pavilion.

So, he had been very stable all this time, and no one had made any trouble in this matter.

Even if they wanted to, they couldn't!

Moreover, Li An rarely did this. In two years, he had only collected nine spiritual herbs using this method.

To divert attention and conceal his true purpose, those nine poisons were just ordinary poisons. Over time, no one paid attention to his hobby.

...

The carriage he was riding stopped in front of Wu Yang Street.

After becoming an appraiser, he had acquired a house with a small courtyard here.

"Master, Mr. Cai is waiting for you in the study..."

The only gatekeeper in the mansion, "Old Song," respectfully spoke up.

Old Song was already ninety years old and at the seventh level of Qi Refining. Li An had carefully selected him because the mansion still needed servants.

"Mm,"

Entering the study, Cai Chao respectfully waited. "Master Zuo, here are the spiritual herbs you wanted..."

Cai Chao handed over the box.

His mood was quite complicated as he reminisced about more than twenty years ago when Li An used to drink tea and read books in his Yun Dao Teahouse. Although he was only at the Foundation Building stage, he lived in poverty. But now, he had become a prominent figure, even Cai Chao had to treat him respectfully...

Of course, this was just a feeling, a good thing for him.

After Song Mingzhang's death, being able to win over Li An meant he still had a backer!

Li An took the box and nodded slightly, "Thank you, Mr. Cai."

"By the way, the alchemist you helped me find last time, the poison pills he made were pretty good. What was his name again?"

Cai Chao said, "Reporting to Master, the alchemist's name is Gu Hong. He is a wandering cultivator, and he's a decent person."

Li An nodded, "Please ask her to refine poison pills for me with these two herbs... and ask her to do her best!"

He took out two more poisons and handed them to Cai Chao.

Over the years, besides working as an appraiser for the Treasure Pavilion, Li An had also been paying attention to Gu Hong's situation.

Gu Hong had opened a spiritual herb shop in the city, and business was decent.

But with her current business situation, it would be difficult for her to reach the Foundation Establishment stage...

It might be very challenging.

So, since Li An became an appraiser, he had been asking Cai Chao to find an alchemist to help refine poison pills while collecting poisons.

He didn't specify who to find, but he expressed dissatisfaction with the alchemists Cai Chao had previously found. Cai Chao had been changing alchemists until he found Gu Hong.

- Although no one in Tianyang City knew his identity and his relationship with Gu Hong, he still had to be extremely cautious!

As an appraiser, he could be of some help to Gu Hong.

Of course, all this help needed to be done under the premise of safety, so he wouldn't let Gu Hong know his identity.

"Alright, Master, please rest assured!"

Cai Chao respectfully left.

After he left, Li An activated the second-level formation in the study!

This second-level formation was carefully crafted by Li An and usually remained dormant, not actively functioning. Therefore, with the support of the second-level spiritual vein in Wu Yang Street, it hardly consumed any spiritual stones.

This was the advantage of cultivating in Tianyang City.

Previously, in the Cuiyue Valley, it was also a second-level formation, but for safety reasons, it had to be constantly activated for detection and other functions, which consumed a lot of spiritual stones.

But here, overall, it was safe. It only needed to be activated when necessary, which saved a lot of trouble.

Then, he opened the box.

Picking up the black and white intertwined jade grass, he had a hint of intoxication in his eyes...

Then, he directly opened his mouth and swallowed the jade grass!

...

(End of this chapter)