Longevity Begins With Zongmen Handyman

Chapter 175: Defection in Front of the Formation, Killing Jiang Rilan (Long Chapter)

In Lady She's sleeve, a small black snake poked its head out. She smiled and said, "You have something I want, to feed my little spiritual pet."

Li An was slightly surprised.

Indeed, he had some precious "spiritual food" on him!

Spiritual food was meant for feeding spiritual beasts. His Azure Flame Divine Sparrow, besides absorbing his life essence to cultivate, also needed spiritual food as a supplement.

Li An was quite proficient in beast taming techniques, and he could tell at a glance that Lady She's little black snake was on the verge of transformation, so its demand for spiritual food would be relatively high.

"I know that spiritual food is precious in this city, and many people are unable to obtain it. So, if Fellow Daoist can give me the spiritual food, in addition to telling you the location of an unclaimed third-grade spiritual vein that you can use, I can also introduce you to the 'Mountain Lord' beforehand. Only then can you truly settle in the Tiansha Mountain Range."

Lady She continued speaking.

Li An's heart stirred. Along the way, he did indeed discover that many places in Tiansha City were collecting spiritual food, which was expensive for some reason.

"Mountain Lord?"

Li An asked directly.

"Fellow Daoist doesn't know?" Lady She smiled in surprise. "I saw that you had spiritual food on you, so I thought you were aware."

"Within the Tiansha Mountain Range, there are owners."

She whispered softly, "Everything in the Tiansha Mountain Range belongs to the 'Mountain Lords'. Only with their permission can one cultivate and settle here."

"You should have encountered many spiritual beasts on your way into the city, right?"

Li An nodded.

"Those ferocious spiritual beasts also have to obey the Mountain Lords' orders."

Li An's expression turned serious.

Among those spiritual beasts, there were indeed third-grade great demons. Even third-grade great demons had owners?

Could it be that there were powerful beast tamers?

"The Mountain Lords have mysterious origins, but there is a rumor that they are all members of the Yao race."

Lady She smiled.

Li An suddenly understood!

"Now, there are one or two Mountain Lords who urgently need spiritual food. If enough spiritual food is offered, one can gain their favor. If Fellow Daoist wants to settle here, this is the most suitable opportunity."

Li An began to ponder. Lady She's words were difficult to verify, but he felt that most of it should be true.

It made sense.

Although the Yao race was different from spiritual beasts, they had similarities, so spiritual food would indeed be useful to the Yao race.

And Jiang Ribai, who had escaped here, naturally chose to collect spiritual food for the Mountain Lords in order to survive in the Tiansha Mountain Range.

Moreover, he himself was from the Jiang family and was very familiar with these things.

So, it was only natural for him to plunder the Jiang family.

Coincidentally, Li An's industries had been rapidly expanding in recent years, so it was normal for him to be targeted.

"Thank you, Lady She!"

Li An said, "When I came to the Tiansha Mountain Range, I did inquire about some information outside. I knew that spiritual food was scarce, so I brought some. I didn't expect there to be such an inside story."

He hesitated for a moment before taking out a purple box. "Thank you for your guidance, Lady She. Li An has nothing to offer in return."

Although this spiritual food was also quite precious, it was nothing to Li An.

Obtaining these things in the Jiang family was too easy for him.

The spiritual food flew gently towards Lady She, who received it with one hand. The little snake became extremely lively and excited.

"Thank you, Fellow Daoist!"

Lady She was delighted. "When will Fellow Daoist be free? Can I introduce you to the Mountain Lord now?"

Li An shook his head. "Not for now. I have no spiritual food on hand, so it wouldn't be appropriate to meet the Mountain Lord empty-handed."

Lady She seemed to sense Li An's wariness and smiled faintly. She made a solemn vow, saying, "If what I said has the slightest falsehood, I will be struck by lightning and die."

As if to dispel Li An's doubts, she flew out a token and handed it to him. "This is my token. When Fellow Daoist needs it, you can bring this token to the 'Precious Pill Pavilion' in the city, and someone will guide you to me."

"Goodbye."

After speaking, Li An turned and left.

From beginning to end, she didn't ask for Li An's name.

...

Immediately after, Li An changed his appearance in a secluded place and stayed in the city for three to five days.

He focused on inquiring about the "Mountain Lords," "spiritual food," and other related information.

With the memories and experiences of Chen Cai and others, he acted like a seasoned local in the city, so he didn't suffer any losses and obtained some information.

Basically, it confirmed what Lady She had said.

The so-called "Mountain Lords" were mysterious, and no one mentioned their origins.

But the Mountain Lords seemed to be the true owners of the Tiansha Mountain Range, with intricate connections to the Yao race.

If it were Foundation Building cultivators and below, they could still stay in the city because there were second-grade spiritual veins. But for Core Formation cultivators, they needed third-grade spiritual veins to settle here, so they had to obtain the Mountain Lords' permission.

The surrounding Mangcang Mountain Range belonged to different Mountain Lords.

"The Yao race..."

Li An frowned slightly.

Actually, after learning about the Tian Sha Mountain Range, he was quite longing for it.

There are indeed many unowned spiritual veins here.

Most of these unowned spiritual veins are inaccessible due to the gathering of evil spirits, but for Li An, they are truly a treasure trove.

However, the depths of these mountain ranges are unknown...

And he also thought of Tan Qingxue, who was also possessed by a powerful demon. It's better to be safe than sorry.

"Let's explore further ahead!"

Li An didn't rush to make a decision.

Because he was worried about the matter of Jiang Clan's expedition, Li An returned to Jiang Clan after staying for a few days.

After all, there were still many things he needed to prepare on Jiang Clan's side.

...

Half a month later.

He returned to Yan Kingdom.

But he didn't go directly to Jiang Clan.

Instead, he crossed the Four Scenic Mountain Ranges on the edge of Dali and Jiang Clan and sneaked into the northern part of Dali.

The war between Jiang Clan and Dali was about to come, and Li An always planned and laid out in advance.

Although he had already traveled this route before, Li An was still extremely cautious and deduced it again and again.

In his opinion, the last time Jiang Riba took power, it was either because there were internal problems within Jiang Clan and Jiang Rilan was planning to kill Jiang Riba, or because Yan Kingdom did not participate.

This time, Jiang Clan was united and Yan Kingdom also attached great importance to it, so the scale would obviously be larger and the war would be more intense.

Li An carefully considered that if Jiang Clan's situation was stable, they would definitely keep him at Xing Luo Mountain and not let him leave.

But if the front line collapsed and even Nascent Soul stage experts were needed to fight, he might also be sent to the battlefield.

He had to be prepared for both possibilities.

He hovered in many places repeatedly, and in the end, he set up many formations along the way!

Over the years, Li An still had dozens of second-order formations on him, as well as two sets of third-order formations, all arranged in critical locations.

After doing all this, he found his puppet Zhao Yi and learned about the recent situation in Dali.

Dali was now flourishing. In the northern part of Dali, the former Sword God Sect and Hundred Beast Sect had been completely swallowed by Dali. It was said that there were Nascent Soul stage experts stationed in the city of Tianyang.

After doing all this, it was more than ten days later when Li An finally returned to Jiang Clan in Qingzhou.

...

He reported to Jiang Rilan about the investigation of Jiang Riba, but gained nothing. However, Jiang Rilan didn't say anything either. After all, Jiang Riba had already escaped from Jiang Clan for a long time, so it was obviously not easy to catch him in a short time.

"Jiang Clan's expedition is imminent, you need to prepare a large amount of spiritual food... This is of utmost importance, at all costs."

Back at Nanling Peak, he immediately found Sun Jinxue and arranged a series of things.

Procuring spiritual food, purchasing a large number of talisman papers, talisman pens, pills, formation materials, and various divine metals.

Preparing for the subsequent escape from Jiang Clan.

At the same time, he went into seclusion directly, making formations and talismans.

Now, he had nearly a thousand high-quality third-order talismans on him!

But he was lacking in third-order formations, with only two left in Dali.

Mainly because of the inheritance of talismans given by Shangguan Xiaoxiao, which came from the demonic sect and had strange and extraordinary formations. Even though Li An was quite accomplished in formations, it was still not easy to learn them.

The difficulty of making them was not small.

Of course, the power of these formations was far greater than ordinary third-order formations, and they could even reach the level of "pseudo fourth-order".

Even a late True Dan stage expert would have to pay a considerable price when encountering these formations!

Li An's goal was to have ten sets of third-order formations and two thousand third-order talismans!

Coupled with the four third-order treasures he currently had, he would have the power to fight against a late True Dan stage expert.

Li An deeply felt that time and energy were not enough!

Crazily making talismans and formations, he couldn't help but slow down in absorbing the Yin Qi and practicing the Golden Treasury Art...

And he also had to go out from time to time to plan and prepare for the escape.

After all, if he didn't go to the battlefield and stayed in Jiang Clan, when Dali attacked, he needed to consider where to escape from and how to arrange the route, etc.

"Why has the cultivation speed of the Divine Bird slowed down?"

Li An was also quite puzzled.

The Qingyan Divine Sparrow was originally able to travel a thousand miles in a day, and its cultivation progress far surpassed that of human cultivators. But now, it seemed to be getting closer to him inexplicably...

Could it be that it was also affected after absorbing the aura of the Life Seed?

After all, the characteristic of the Life Nurturing Immortal Art is... slow.

The cultivation speed would be very slow!

However, Li An didn't pay much attention to it and focused on preparing for the big battle.

...

In the blink of an eye, a year had passed.

In one year, Li An finally formulated four escape routes from Jiang Clan.

If Dali really attacked, Jiang Clan would undoubtedly unite to face the enemy.

Then he would find an opportunity to slip away!

"After a year, our clan's preparations are complete. In ten days, we will march towards the Li Dynasty!"

Jiang Rilan summoned the core elders for a secret discussion.

Li An learned that besides Jiang Clan, many other forces in Yan Kingdom would also participate in this battle.

This war may well evolve into a decisive battle between Dalai and the Yan Kingdom.

After studying for a long time, the battle plan was finally formulated.

Just as Li An expected, he was not sent in the first wave!

Jiang Rihua is responsible for the vanguard attack, Jiang Richu and Jiang Ridong, the two true Dan elders, are responsible for the flanking support, and other forces from the Yan Kingdom are also advancing together.

Li An didn't say anything about this. All he needs to do now is wait calmly for his escape.

...

Ten days later.

The Jiang army invaded Dalai.

Both the Yan Kingdom and Dalai were shaken.

In the first three days, the Yan Kingdom's troops penetrated deeply and swept through the undefended northern border of Dalai.

But just one day later, the latest battle report shocked the entire Jiang clan:

The Yan Kingdom coalition suffered a disastrous defeat.

A Nascent Soul-level ancestor of the Jiang clan was killed, and the true Dan elders Jiang Rihua and Jiang Ridong died tragically, with only Jiang Richu escaping back, and he was injured!

The battle report left Jiang Rilan sitting in silence in the council hall for a long time, unable to speak!

A Nascent Soul-level ancestor died!

Such a thing hasn't happened in the Jiang clan for many years.

The Jiang clan only has three Nascent Soul-level cultivators in total.

Now one of them is directly lost.

Everyone can feel that the Yan Kingdom has kicked an iron plate.

Dalai is strong, very strong!

"The lord has ordered a decisive battle with Dalai..." Jiang Rilan said heavily, "Our clan is on the front line in Qingzhou and cannot avoid the battle. This battle... can only be won!"

"Our clan, prepare for battle!"

He gave the order.

Li An also felt a chill in his heart.

The death of a Nascent Soul cultivator directly raised the intensity of the war to another level.

The decisive battle between the two countries is imminent.

For a while, the Qingzhou region was filled with troops, and experts from other major forces flocked in, forming a stronger coalition.

Even Li An couldn't escape this time. As an elder of the Jiang clan, he led a few hundred elite soldiers and followed the Jiang clan's ancestor Jiang Qingcang to the battlefield.

Obviously, Jiang Qingcang also had some concerns about him, so he kept him by his side.

Before leaving.

"The great battle has come, since the peak master is going to the front line, we should naturally follow," said Sun Jinxue, the chief steward of the Southern Spirit Peak, and a group of trusted subordinates.

Over the years, they have been extremely loyal to Li An.

Li Hua and Er Niu were also present in the hall. Li Hua's eyes were filled with worry, but she didn't say a word. She knew that she was already useless, so going to the front line would only burden Li An.

Li An shook his head, "No, I can just take Er Niu with me this time."

He looked at Er Niu, "You have my true transmission. If you can achieve meritorious deeds with me this time, when we return, I can request the clan to let you formally marry the daughter of the Jiang clan and enter the Jiang clan. You can even compete for a core position!"

Er Niu's heart trembled at his words, but a hint of guilt flashed in his eyes, followed by excitement, "Thank you, Master... Er Niu will do his best!"

"Good, go and prepare quickly."

Li An waved his hand and said, "Li Hua, Jinxue, the two of you stay, I have something to explain."

Everyone dispersed.

Only Li Hua and Sun Jinxue remained.

"After I leave, the affairs on the Southern Spirit Peak will be entrusted to the two of you," Li An said, lifting a cup of tea and taking a sip, "Especially when I'm not here, and the other elders are not here... you should take the opportunity to seize their resources and industries!"

As he spoke, he took out a brocade pouch and handed it to Li Hua, "After I set out, you can open it. There are some arrangements regarding this matter inside."

"Sun, Li Hua's dantian is shattered and her cultivation is damaged. You should assist her when the time comes."

Sun Jinxue felt a slight sourness in her heart. Li An gave the brocade pouch to Li Hua, showing that he trusted her more...

But just as this thought arose, Li An also handed her a brocade pouch, "After I leave, you can open this brocade pouch."

Sun Jinxue's heart warmed at this moment.

"Yes, I will remember," she said.

She spoke, feeling inexplicably gratified. After so many years on the Southern Spirit Peak, perhaps at this moment, she finally had some rewards...

"You can go now. This matter is about seizing other people's resources and industries, so it must not be leaked to a third party!" Li An added another instruction.

"Understood!"

Li Hua and Sun Jinxue both left.

Li An watched their figures and sighed softly.

I hope you can escape safely...

The brocade pouch doesn't contain any plans to seize other people's industries. It's just a cover-up. It contains a way to escape!

And, he was afraid that Li Hua and Sun Jinxue would not trust each other, so he gave each of them a sealed letter, allowing them to control a portion of the information themselves. In this way, the two of them could only cooperate with each other.

In this vast Jiang family, for several decades, only Li Hua and Sun Jinxue could make him slightly concerned!

Even Er Niu... Although Li An had not shown any signs in these years, he knew very well that Er Niu was actually a spy for the Jiang family!

Er Niu would report many of the news about Nan Ling Peak to the Jiang family at any time.

But instead of exposing Er Niu, Li An used him to pass on many false information, which greatly reduced the Jiang family's vigilance against him.

Now, since they were going to the front lines, they might as well take this kid with them to die...

As his thoughts churned, he couldn't help but think of the words Li Hua had said to him many years ago when she went to battle in Da Li...

"Master, you are the only good person I have ever met in this cultivation world..."

Li An picked up the clear tea and took a sip, feeling a slight bitterness.

To be able to survive until today, to have come this far, there were no good people left... The real good people, like Wang Dazhu, had long been killed!

...

Several tens of days later, the allied forces arrived at the front lines of the battlefield.

This time, Jiang Qingcang appeared in person. With his fourth-stage Green Flame Divine Sparrow, he was unstoppable. He quickly slaughtered two large armies of Da Li, leaving corpses strewn across the field. Li An followed behind, picking up countless spoils of war.

In addition to Jiang Qingcang, many Nascent Soul-level experts from Da Yan also came, dominating the battlefield.

The Da Li army experienced a brief defeat, but soon, several Nascent Soul-level experts from Da Li appeared, and a terrifying battle erupted directly.

"The enemy is attacking from the left, I will go stop them!"

Li An finally found an opportunity and led his troops towards a mountain range.

"Wu Guardian, do not act recklessly!"

Jiang Rilan, the family head, changed his expression. The ancestor had given him a secret order not to let Li An leave the battlefield.

He hurriedly followed.

Indeed, there was an enemy army in the left mountain range, led by two True Dan cultivators. Li An fought against them with the Green Flame Divine Sparrow.

For a while, spiritual power shook the sky.

"Family head, help me—"

Li An shouted.

Jiang Rilan joined the battle.

The terrifying battle between the True Dan cultivators caused the mountains to be filled with flying grass and trees, rocks crashing through the air, and constantly erupting runes, making it extremely fierce.

In the blink of an eye, both sides were almost at their limits. The two True Dan cultivators of the enemy army probably used a fourth-stage talisman, attacking with a bang. Li An and the divine bird were directly blasted to the ground. He shouted:

"Family head, escape quickly! I will stop the enemy. If you die, our Jiang family is finished!"

The two True Dan cultivators surrounded Jiang Rilan upon hearing this, using all kinds of means to attack.

Jiang Rilan's face turned ugly, but he had a strong foundation and persisted. Li An seemed to be seriously injured and could only occasionally lend a hand from the side, but it was of little use.

"You all seek death—"

Jiang Rilan shouted, unleashing a fourth-stage magic treasure.

The two True Dan cultivators also displayed various magic tools.

Boom!

Dust billowed, and both True Dan powerhouses were heavily injured. Jiang Rilan's cultivation was unstable, and he coughed up blood.

"Quick, Wu Guardian, command the divine bird to kill them!"

He shouted at Li An.

Li An said, "Okay!"

Li An rushed over with the divine bird, but as he passed by Jiang Rilan, various runes suddenly erupted from his body!

"You!"

Jiang Rilan's face was filled with horror. At this moment, Li An directly detonated over a hundred third-stage runes!

At the same time, the small ice sword and the black poison sword also attacked.

Jiang Rilan was caught off guard and only managed to let out a miserable scream before being instantly killed.

...

On the other side, the two True Dan cultivators were shocked and looked at Li An in disbelief.

Li An quickly replenished Jiang Rilan's body with dozens of swords, then turned around and stared at the two True Dan cultivators.

"Let's go, retreat—"

These two True Dan cultivators were already heavily injured and didn't want to fight anymore. They prepared to escape.

But at this moment...

Boom!

The aura of a third-stage formation suddenly swept over, directly trapping the two True Dan cultivators!

At the same time, Li An's aura finally released without any concealment.

"This is... Gold Core?!"

These two True Dan cultivators were dumbfounded.

Li An, as well as this bird... were both Gold Core level.

And when was this formation set up??

They had completely failed to notice!

In their stunned eyes, they were immediately overwhelmed by the radiance of hundreds of third-stage high-quality talismans erupting...

...

(End of this chapter)