Longevity Begins With Zongmen Handyman

Chapter 113: Identity Exposed?

Black and white jade grass cannot be used for alchemy because ordinary alchemists would directly remove impurities and toxins from it.

But this would also affect the faint aura of the Great Dao within the spiritual medicine.

The aura of the Great Dao is hidden within the impurities and toxins.

It can only be swallowed together, and then slowly detoxified, ultimately leaving behind a trace of the Great Dao's aura to forge the foundation.

After swallowing the black and white jade grass, the medicinal and toxic qi erupted within Li An's body.

A green aura flowed out from Li An's life seed, helping him resist the toxins.

Li An did not use the power of his life seed to neutralize the poison because he found it to be too wasteful.

The toxins could be guided by the power of his life seed, gathering in his hands to enhance the toxicity of the Cold Yin Finger.

...

Until the next morning.

Li An opened his eyes, filled with satisfaction and excitement.

With his inner vision, a faint milky white aura had appeared above his dantian pool.

It was barely noticeable without careful examination.

But Li An was very clear that it was the aura of the Great Dao!

This strand of the aura of the Great Dao was extremely thin and fragile. Even though he had refined and purified it from various impurities and toxins, it still gave the feeling that it would dissipate soon.

This was the hope of the Gold Core!

It was still lacking and needed to be accumulated slowly.

According to Li An's calculations, he would need at least nine strands of the aura of the Great Dao to barely have enough.

"In another ten years, I will be able to reach the early stage of Foundation Building..."

He was not in a hurry, taking steady steps.

...

In the blink of an eye, seven more years had passed!

Li An had been working as an ordinary appraiser for ten years, and his age had reached 121.

During these seven years, he had taken steady steps and found three more poisonous herbs.

The benefits of being an appraiser gradually became apparent. He lacked no resources for cultivation and had a relatively high status. Even the poisonous herbs could be collected through channels.

Furthermore, under his secret guidance, Gu Hong officially became the "supplier of elixirs" for the Treasure Pavilion three years ago!

He didn't directly help her, but instead showcased Gu Hong's excellence, such as recommending her when other appraisers had alchemy needs.

With time, Gu Hong seized the opportunity, and everything fell into place naturally.

Her income had at least tripled compared to before!

"We need to acquire a batch of Heavenly Demon Stones recently!"

On this day, the three senior appraisers arranged the latest task.

However, Li An frowned slightly.

Heavenly Demon Stones were born from the intertwining of the qi of heaven and earth, in places where demonic energy thrived. They contained a large amount of demonic energy and were generally considered dangerous for cultivators!

Only some special demonic cultivators would use them. They were considered rare items.

Why would the Treasure Pavilion suddenly collect such a large quantity of them?

There were only two possibilities for needing such a large quantity:

First, a sect specializing in demonic energy cultivation had appeared and required a large amount of these resources.

Second, someone wanted to set up an unimaginable killing formation!

The demonic energy contained within the Heavenly Demon Stones could greatly enhance the power of a killing formation.

Or perhaps both possibilities were true?

Years of caution and carefulness allowed Li An to sense the strangeness.

Because he now knew that the Treasure Pavilion was actually connected to the royal palace.

The Pavilion Master, Qin Xuan, was the mistress of the Northern Town King, Li Xiaoyuan!

Every time the Treasure Pavilion collected various resources on a large scale, it was to serve the needs of the royal palace.

This time would be no exception.

The actions of the royal palace had to be paid attention to because it meant the movements of the highest level.

The things in the past that Li An had analyzed were all relatively normal resource demands. But this time, no matter how he looked at it, it seemed strange.

However, he was not in a hurry. It would take some time to collect these things, and the "big move" of the royal palace would not come so soon.

"Zuo Wen,"

Mo Rong found Li An alone and said, "You must take this matter seriously and act quickly!"

Her expression was very serious. "If you perform well in this matter, you may have the opportunity to be promoted to a senior appraiser in the future..."

Li An's heart stirred.

The competition between her and Xu Changkong for the position of Chief Appraiser was becoming increasingly intense. These items were so important, they must be a significant factor in the evaluation.

Li An calmly said, "Zuo Wen will do his best!"

Mo Rong still looked at him, "Our fortunes are intertwined. If Xu Changkong finds out about what you did back then, he will surely hate you to the core..."

She was forcing Li An!

After all, when she had hoped for Li An to replace Lu Hua back then, Li An didn't offer her much help after he took over...

She understood Li An's intentions, of course.

But this time, she wouldn't allow Li An to stay out of it.

...

And at this moment.

Inside a building in Tianyang City.

A middle-aged man walked in quickly, "Leader, I have an important report, it's about Baihu City..."

This middle-aged man was none other than Teng Zhuo, the senior disciple of the Soul-Reaping Horse-Faced Mask!

Upon hearing this, the Soul-Reaping Horse-Faced Mask waved his hand and dismissed the people around him, then he activated the anti-listening formation directly.

"Speak."

Teng Zhuo said, "Master, I have completed the task you assigned to me. This is the current list of all the appraisers and managers in Treasure Pavilion!"

He handed over an envelope.

The Soul-Reaping Horse-Faced Mask took it, opened it carefully, and examined it closely.

"Master, I have been monitoring Hong Du for thirteen years. She seems to have no problems at all, and there has been no suspicious person contacting her during this period..."

Teng Zhuo's expression was complicated.

Ever since the Soul-Reaping Horse-Faced Mask entrusted him with the task of finding the Black-Hearted Talisman Master more than twenty years ago, he had been working tirelessly for this matter.

Over the years, he first investigated all the Foundation Building cultivators who succeeded within the first three years of the Baihu City battle, and identified several key targets.

He did find the most special one - Wei Ming!

Wei Ming's Foundation Building pill... came from the alchemist Gu Hong.

And Gu Hong had been captured by the demonic sect before.

Moreover, Gu Hong had left Baihu City before the siege.

So, they focused their attention on Gu Hong.

Under the guidance of the Soul-Reaping Horse-Faced Mask, Teng Zhuo had been secretly monitoring Gu Hong for thirteen years, but there was no clue at all, and the Black-Hearted Talisman Master had not appeared even once!

He was already desperate.

This Black-Hearted Talisman Master was too elusive. If things continued like this, he felt that he would die of old age before Li An appeared.

He was too patient!

If it weren't for the Soul-Reaping Horse-Faced Mask forcing him, he would have given up long ago!

Even now, he still didn't understand why his master was so determined to find this little talisman master. Was he really worth all this effort?

And he felt that his master was a bit crazy in this matter, almost like a lunatic!

Forcing him to analyze everyone who had contact with Gu Hong, and even investigate the personnel situation in Treasure Pavilion...

He clearly felt that everything was normal. Gu Hong becoming a supplier for Treasure Pavilion was also a natural occurrence... there was no problem at all.

"Hmm? Zuo Wen?"

After looking for a long time, the Soul-Reaping Horse-Faced Mask suddenly looked at a name, "An outsider..."

"This matter ends here. From today onwards, you will do something else."

Upon hearing this, Teng Zhuo was immediately overjoyed, "Yes, disciple obeys, disciple obeys!"

He was so happy!

After more than twenty years, he was finally liberated.

"Come here, I will teach you a divine technique."

The Soul-Reaping Horse-Faced Mask waved his hand, and Teng Zhuo, full of excitement, walked over and knelt in front of the Soul-Reaping Horse-Faced Mask, his eyes filled with eagerness.

The Soul-Reaping Horse-Faced Mask smiled slightly and placed his hand on Teng Zhuo's forehead.

Then...

A black light instantly entered Teng Zhuo's spiritual platform.

Teng Zhuo trembled instantly, let out a miserable cry, and his eyes showed a look of horror, "Master, master..."

He realized what was happening...

Was his master trying to turn him into a flesh puppet?

When did his master learn the Flesh Melting Furnace technique? Within the Yin-Yang Demonic Sect, weren't different techniques mastered by different subordinates?

"No, no..."

He pleaded, but the Soul-Reaping Horse-Faced Mask remained cold and unmoved.

After a long time.

The fusion of the puppet was complete.

"Don't blame your master. You know about this matter, and your master only has two choices: to kill you or turn you into a puppet..."

The Soul-Reaping Horse-Faced Mask stood up, then narrowed his eyes, "Black-Hearted Talisman Master, Li An..."

He left!

...

(End of this chapter)