Longevity Begins With Zongmen Handyman

Chapter 13: Crisis in the Lingzhi Mountain

The three of them continued to gather in the pavilion by the Moon Lake.

Li An finally understood the cause and effect.

It turned out that the dormant Ling Beast Mountain suddenly erupted two months ago. Many Ling Beasts seemed to go crazy and rushed out, affecting various areas of the Xuan Yang Sect.

The Xuan Yang Sect issued many tasks, requiring disciples to eliminate the surrounding Ling Beasts.

But this wave of beasts was extraordinary. There were even one or two second-level Ling Beasts that appeared, causing significant casualties to the Xuan Yang Sect.

Wang Dazhu and Zhao Xianchuan encountered a seventh-level Qi Refining Ling Beast during a mission. Out of their team of ten people, only four survived!

"I heard from a reliable source that this wave of beasts may be related to the Hundred Beast Sect..."

Zhao Xianchuan's right hand was bandaged, and his head was wrapped in gauze, looking quite miserable.

"My family informed me that a medium-grade Ling Mine was discovered in Suizhou, and all major sects are fighting over it..."

The Xuan Yang Sect is not the only sect of the Great Li Dynasty. In the Southern Region alone, there are two other Foundation Building level forces, the Hundred Beast Sect and the Divine Sword Sect.

They are fiercely competing with each other.

Li An also felt a chill. A medium-grade Ling Mine can produce medium-grade Ling Stones, which are extremely rare. Even a sect like the Xuan Yang Sect would be envious!

This news should be reliable. During the fight for the Ling Mine, the Hundred Beast Sect deliberately caused the beast wave to distract the Xuan Yang Sect, which seemed reasonable.

But he became increasingly uneasy. According to what Wang Dazhu and Zhao Xianchuan said, many peripheral industries and halls were affected, but the Lingzhi Mountain remained unharmed until now?

This is very abnormal!

"The sect is also very nervous. All named disciples have been assigned to guard duty areas. If we hadn't been injured and still recovering, we would probably still be on the front lines..."

Wang Dazhu continued.

"Guard duty areas? What are the main ones?"

Li An asked.

"There are many. The three major markets under our sect's jurisdiction, several iron ore areas..."

Wang Dazhu listed them one by one.

But Li An's heart sank instantly. The iron ore areas and the three major markets under their sect's jurisdiction are all vulnerable to attacks.

But what about the Lingzhi Mountain?

Could it be that the sect doesn't consider the Lingzhi Mountain important, so they didn't assign any manpower?

No, Xu Qiuhui's previous reminder to Li An proves that the high-level of the Xuan Yang Sect has considered the risks of the Lingzhi Mountain.

They have considered it, but there has been no movement...

Unless they are luring the snake out of the hole!

Li An's heart trembled.

It is very likely that the upper echelons of the sect are preparing to use the Lingzhi Mountain to set up a trap and lure their enemies in.

Having experienced too many twists and turns in his previous life, Li An increasingly felt that this might be the case.

Moreover, elite disciples like Xu Qiuhui might already be waiting in the dark.

This trip was not in vain.

"Ange, do you have something to do this time?"

Wang Dazhu asked.

"I came here to sell some spirit talismans."

Li An immediately took out nine Spirit Gathering talismans.

"Ange, have you become a talisman master?!"

Wang Dazhu was extremely surprised.

"Not yet, but the success rate is close."

Zhao Xianchuan was also surprised, a complex expression appearing in his eyes.

In two years, Li An's spiritual roots have been restored, and there is hope of becoming a talisman master...

On the other hand, he has fallen to the bottom, even losing his status as a formal disciple. Now, he is starting from the same line as Wang Dazhu.

A touch of bitterness passed through his heart, but he didn't show it. Instead, he said, "Congratulations, Li Xiong!"

"How about this, I'll buy all these talisman papers for you?"

He immediately took out four Ling Stones and handed them to Li An.

"The market price only requires three."

Li An smiled.

"The extra one can be considered as a gift for Li Xiong. It's quite expensive to be a beginner talisman master."

Having experienced ups and downs in life and death, Zhao Xianchuan's character and mentality have clearly changed a lot. He no longer looks down on Li An but chooses to make friends with him.

"Yes, I'm so stupid. Ange, I'll give you a gift too!"

Wang Dazhu also laughed foolishly and took out two Ling Stones to give to Li An.

Li An wanted to refuse, but he is currently in desperate need of money, so he agreed, "Okay, consider it a loan."

...

Before leaving, Li An went to the sect's exchange center, but he changed his mind and didn't buy a new talisman pen. Instead, he looked at the magical instruments.

"Eight-Faced Umbrella, first-level lower-grade, can withstand attacks from the third level of Qi Refining, effectively defending against hidden weapons, etc. Fifteen Ling Stones or one hundred and fifty contribution points!"

"Flame Piercing Knife, first-level middle-grade, with flames attached during attacks. Forty Ling Stones or four hundred contribution points."

Li An looked around and found that the ones he liked were basically ones he couldn't afford.

"Hmm?"

Suddenly, his gaze fell on a dagger.

"Starlight Dagger, forged with scraps of Starlight Iron, sharp and sturdy. Eight Ling Stones or eighty contribution points."

Starlight Iron contains Starlight Dao patterns and is a second-level refining material.

But scraps are useless, and the dagger made from them doesn't have any magic power and is too short. So, although it is relatively cheap, not many people want it.

The only advantage is its sharpness and sturdiness, which far surpasses other first-level magical instruments.

Li An hesitated for a moment, gritted his teeth, and bought it directly.

"As expected of a menial servant, lacking in knowledge, actually buying this mediocre Starlight Dagger..."

The steward of the Exchange Pavilion couldn't help but shake his head, but still accepted the spirit stones and handed the Starlight Dagger to Li An.

Then, Li An picked and chose at the stalls in front of the Exchange Pavilion.

Unlike the neatly arranged and valuable items in the display cabinets of the Exchange Pavilion, the items on these stalls were all substandard.

For example, some semi-spiritual tools, inferior miscellaneous spirit pills, and so on, were piled up haphazardly.

Li An picked and chose from a pile of miscellaneous spirit pills, and then selected three black pills.

"These are miscellaneous spirit pills produced during the refining process of the Water Element Pill, and they are highly toxic!"

The steward couldn't bear to watch and couldn't help but remind him.

Li An smiled inwardly. He bought them precisely because they were highly toxic. If the toxicity wasn't strong enough, he wouldn't want them!

But he said with a bit of hesitation, "Thank you for the reminder, Senior. My Cloud Manipulation Technique has reached a bottleneck... I can only buy some miscellaneous spirit pills in hopes of breaking through."

This reason is very reasonable.

...

He walked out of the Exchange Pavilion.

"I'm broke again."

Li An couldn't help but sigh. The spirit stones he had saved up for several months, combined with the ones Wang Dazhu and Zhao Xian gave him, were all spent, not even a single grain of spirit sand was left!

However, feeling the weight of the Starlight Dagger in his hand, he had no regrets.

It was worth spending as much money as necessary to stay alive.

Putting the Starlight Dagger in his pocket, he headed towards the Spirit Plant Mountain.

...

In the evening, as the sun set in the west.

Li An came back a bit late today because he had been deducing based on the terrain during his journey from the outer gate.

If the enemy invaded the Spirit Plant Mountain, where would Xuan Yang Sect surround them from?

In the end, the conclusion he reached was that Xuan Yang Sect would definitely not rush out as soon as the enemy appeared, but would let the enemy cross the Spirit Plant Mountain and approach the core area of the sect.

This way, the bag could be tightly tied, and the invading enemy could be completely annihilated.

But it also meant that the Spirit Plant Mountain would most likely be completely abandoned!

Thinking of this, Li An almost didn't want to return to the Spirit Plant Mountain, he might as well run away...

But he could only think about it. With the sect's strict security measures now, where could he go?

...

As soon as he arrived at the foot of the Spirit Plant Mountain, he saw Fan Jie, Zhang Susu, and Zhang Zilin gathered around a dead tiger.

"This tiger ran out from the forest over there, we need to send someone to guard it."

Fan Jie spoke in a deep voice, his gaze falling on Li An, "Li An, you have the highest cultivation level, you go."

Li An's face changed slightly.

This kind of hard work shouldn't be assigned to Li An by Fan Jie.

After all, there is still Wang Zilin, who can be easily manipulated. He shouldn't offend Li An, the future talisman master.

Unless he knows that Li An will definitely die there this time!

After all, Fan Jie definitely still wants to kill Li An, because Li An will become a named disciple in the future, the only risk leaked by Lingzhi Mountain.

Unlike Zhang Susu and Wang Zilin, who can be easily controlled.

It seems that Fan Jie knows about the sect's plan.

So, he wants to kill Li An in this matter with justification.

This surprised Li An. Zhao Xianchuan and Wang Dazhu are completely unaware of this. How could Fan Jie, a frontline cannon fodder, know? Does he have other sources of information?

Li An hesitated and said, "Elder, I'll go alone... I'm a little scared."

Fan Jie said lightly, "Then let Wang Zilin accompany you."

Li An showed a helpless expression and said, "Okay."

Wang Zilin's face changed, he actually had to stay overnight with this Li Bapi?

He was extremely unwilling!

Seeing Li An's agreement, Fan Jie couldn't help but reveal a meaningful smile.

...

Taking advantage of the fact that it wasn't completely dark yet, under Fan Jie's urging, Li An led Wang Zilin into the mountains.

As night fell, the two of them worked together and finally built a shelter with branches.

Wang Zilin originally suggested building a larger one, but Li An strictly limited the size and height of the shelter, making it appear very low. If you didn't look carefully in the dense forest, you wouldn't notice it.

So the two of them squeezed into one shelter.

The forest was quiet as death, occasionally there were bird sounds in the distance, and the tree shadows were enchanting.

"Li An, should we light a bonfire? Otherwise, we might be attacked by wild beasts at night..." Wang Zilin felt a little guilty. The tiger he encountered today on the other side of the spiritual field had left a psychological shadow on him.

After all, he was only at the Qi Refining stage and had only practiced the Cloud and Rain Technique. His leg was also broken by Fan Jie, making him a cripple. If he were to face fierce beasts like tigers, he would most likely be done for.

"We can't light a fire!" Li An said calmly.

Indeed, lighting a fire could drive away ordinary wild beasts, but it would become a target for spiritual beasts and even hidden enemies!

Upon hearing this, Wang Zilin dared not say anything. Over the past two years, he had experienced all kinds of hardships, and the arrogance he had when he first started had completely dissipated, leaving him humble and weak.

On the other hand, Li An was rubbing three dark-colored miscellaneous spirit pills in his hand, his eyes slightly narrowed...

This Fan Jie, wanting to kill him when he's desperate... The grudge from before, coupled with the current life and death enmity.

He won't let Fan Jie off... He won't let Li An off!

...

(End of this chapter)