Longevity Begins With Zongmen Handyman

Chapter 18: Third Level of Qi Refining

Returning to Lingzhi Mountain, Li An took out a brush and paper talisman.

The brush he bought from Xu Qiuhui was not completely unusable yet, but Li An still put it away for safekeeping.

Then he took out a new brush.

"Flame talisman, cold wind talisman, and earth shield talisman, the more the better!"

Li An whispered. In his battle with Fan Jie, he was only 95% confident in killing him.

First, he poisoned Fan Jie to prevent him from using his cultivation, and then he used all his talismans... but there was still a risk.

If Fan Jie hadn't pushed him too far, Li An actually didn't want to take the risk of killing him.

Immediately, he began making three high-quality talismans.

Now, his technique has become more proficient, and his success rate has increased. He used up all one hundred sheets of talisman paper and made ten flame talismans, four cold wind talismans, and three earth shield talismans.

Seventeen in total!

Even though they were low-grade first-tier high-quality talismans, the success rate was close to 20%.

This success rate, even in Xuan Yang Sect, would be considered excellent for a talisman master.

"With my spiritual power, I can continuously draw one hundred sheets of low-grade first-tier talismans without feeling tired. In battle, I can activate ten low-grade first-tier talismans at the same time!"

Li An nodded happily. With the talismans in hand, he felt much safer.

He used the remaining forty-three sheets of talisman paper to make other talismans.

"It has been a year since I made Spirit Gathering talismans. I can now make Qi Recovery talismans!"

Qi Recovery talismans were also low-grade first-tier talismans, slightly better than Spirit Gathering talismans and more popular.

Their function was to allow cultivators to quickly recover spiritual energy from spirit stones.

Especially useful for low-level cultivators during battles.

The price was also better. Three Spirit Gathering talismans could be sold for one spirit stone, but three Qi Recovery talismans could be sold for one and a half spirit stones, with a unit price of half a spirit stone!

The difficulty of making Qi Recovery talismans was not great for Li An, but in order to conform to the time it takes for an ordinary talisman master to grow, he had been delaying until now.

Holding the brush, focusing his mind, the talisman characters slowly took shape under his brush...

That night, Li An used the remaining forty-three sheets of talisman paper to make fifteen Spirit Gathering talismans and five Qi Recovery talismans.

...

Time flew by.

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

During this peaceful period, Li An regularly sold Spirit Gathering talismans and Qi Recovery talismans in the trading market, gaining some small reputation.

After all, a menial servant becoming a talisman master was also news among the low-level disciples.

During this time, Li An had visited the Daoist Residence three times but still hadn't seen Xu Qiuhui.

During this period, Li An's cultivation speed had increased because he finally had enough spirit stones and could cultivate daily.

Just daily cultivation alone cost him about five spirit stones per month.

With higher purity spirit stones and faster absorption speed, the second leaf he planted became longer and thicker!

At the same time, he continued to strengthen his Water Arrow Technique and Light Body Technique.

Although limited by his realm, he couldn't make further progress, but he could control the Starlight Dagger as skillfully as controlling water arrows. This dagger, which only had the advantage of sharpness, became his flying sword!

Four months later, the sect assessment was finally approaching.

On this day, Li An took stock of his gains over the past year.

Through continuous sales of talismans and the accumulation of monthly allowances and additional rewards from Lingzhi Mountain, he had twenty-three spirit stones left after deducting the consumption of daily cultivation.

At the same time, he had thirty flame talismans, ten cold wind talismans, and ten earth shield talismans in his possession. Among low-level cultivators, he could be considered "dominant"!

Most importantly, his second leaf had reached perfection, and the third leaf had sprouted.

He closed himself off and began to break through to the third level of Qi Refining!

...

Half a month later.

Li An walked out of his residence, his aura reaching a new level.

In his dantian, the third leaf of his planted seed had grown.

He felt refreshed and clear-minded!

"My current lifespan should be around 180 years!"

Li An's heart became even more indifferent. By steadily advancing and seeking longevity, there might be a glimmer of hope!

Moreover, as the seed grew, his vitality and spiritual power became more vigorous.

His spiritual roots were also slowly changing. Although they were still low-grade first-tier yellow roots, he could feel that his sensitivity to the Dao and spiritual energy had become sharper than before.

Generally speaking, the sensitivity value of a low-grade first-tier yellow root to the Dao was around 30.

Now, Li An felt that his sensitivity value had increased to around 40!

When the sensitivity reached 60 points, it would be a middle-grade yellow root, comparable to Mu Qingwan, who ranked first when they entered the sect.

In the following period, Li An continued to consolidate his realm.

On this day, in the mountains.

Li An sat on a stone about a hundred meters away from a mountain stream, listening attentively to the subtle ripples in the pool. Suddenly, eight water arrows condensed and shot towards a small target at extreme speed.

Splish, splish!

Eight fish flapped in the water a few times and all floated to the surface, dead.

"His hearing is so sharp that he can hear the chirping of insects from a hundred meters away... The range of his water arrow technique is also a hundred meters, and he can shoot eight water arrows at once!"

Li An whispered, then his spiritual energy surged, causing the starry dagger in his palm to float in the air, and with a burst of energy, it shot out!

Thirty meters away, a thick tree was pierced through, and a crimson hole appeared in the tree trunk.

Two woodpeckers in the tree, who were in the middle of their intimate activities, were caught by him, and then both were killed with a single sword strike!

"When in battle, use runes for cover, and use the 'Flying Dagger' for a surprise attack. Even a cultivator at the fourth level of Qi Refining may not be able to defend against it."

Li An stood up satisfied, walked over to the forest, picked up the dagger, and then returned to the foot of the spiritual plant mountain.

That night, he took a hot bath, slept soundly, and the next morning, he packed two brushes, several unsold Qi replenishing talismans, and the remaining four spirit stones into a bundle and set off.

After three years on the spiritual plant mountain, it was time to say goodbye.

"Li An, are you going to participate in the sect assessment?"

Wang Zilin limped over, his eyes seemingly filled with various emotions.

"Yes."

"The three of us came to the spiritual plant mountain together. Now that Susu is dead and I'm crippled, only you can still make it out. That's great..."

Wang Zilin's eyes were filled with sadness and a hint of reluctance. When Li An left, he would be the only one left.

"I picked this rice from the field these past few days. It's the best!"

He took out a small bag of fine rice and handed it to Li An with both hands.

His hands were calloused, only three years had passed, but he had become weathered. He looked like a farmer from the mortal world, not much different from one who practiced cultivation.

Li An sighed softly in his heart and accepted it.

"Keep this talisman. If the new steward of the spiritual plant mountain withholds your monthly allowance, give him this rune."

Li An took out a Qi replenishing talisman and gave it to Wang Zilin.

Wang Zilin instantly became excited, "No, this is too valuable, I can't accept it... I gave you the rice not for this."

"Don't be polite."

Li An stuffed it into his hand and then turned and left.

After walking a hundred meters, Li An suddenly stopped and turned around, "Remember, your monthly allowance is one spirit stone per month, not half a stone!"

Then he left without looking back.

Wang Zilin, who was still immersed in a state of emotion, was stunned when he heard this.

What the hell?

"Li Bapi, Li Bapi, you've been withholding my allowance all this time? You're not even human."

He gritted his teeth, stared at Li An's figure, his eyes turned red, and shouted, "Li Bapi, come back and visit when you have time!"

His voice echoed in the empty spiritual plant mountain.

...

As Li An stepped out of the spiritual plant mountain and arrived at the outer gate, it was already noon.

The gate was bustling, and on a wide open space, the alchemy hall, the refining hall, the talisman hall, the physician hall, and other halls had set up their areas to welcome applicants and conduct screenings.

Especially in front of the three major halls, there were particularly many people, and the queues were long.

For ordinary registered disciples with average aptitude, if they wanted to become official disciples, they not only needed to reach the fifth level of Qi Refining in their cultivation, but also accumulate a large number of contribution points.

Very few people could meet these requirements.

Therefore, for most people, their dream was to enter the three major halls.

The pill, weapon, and talisman halls had the most benefits and were the easiest.

"Li Xiong, you finally came!"

Wang Dazhu and Zhao Xianchuan walked over, their eyes filled with excitement and anticipation.

The three of them greeted each other, exchanged many words of encouragement, and then went to different halls.

"Hmm?"

Suddenly, Li An noticed two beautiful young girls in the crowd, walking side by side and chatting.

One of them was wearing a light yellow long dress, tall and beautiful, and it was Xu Qiuhui.

The other girl was wearing a pale white pear blossom dress, like a jasmine flower. Her black hair was as dark as ink, her skin fair, and her beauty was no less than Xu Qiuhui's, but her temperament was slightly different.

If Xu Qiuhui was an elegant lady, a bit cold, then this girl was more lively and spiritual.

Li An didn't line up, he walked over and bowed, "Greetings, Senior Xu!"

Xu Qiuhui smiled slightly and said, "Qingxue, this is Li An, Li Talisman Master, the one I told you about."

Li An keenly noticed the change in her address.

The girl named Qingxue looked at Li An in surprise and said, "I know him, he's Li An from the spiritual plant mountain. Since he went to the trading market, the disciples of our talisman hall couldn't sell Spirit Gathering Talismans and Qi replenishing talismans... because their quality couldn't match his."

She smiled ambiguously, "What a small world!"

Li An smiled faintly and said, "It's my fault, I apologize."

As he spoke, he took out two flame talismans and handed them to Xu Qiuhui and Qingxue respectively, "Senior Xu, I recently managed to refine two flame talismans, please accept them as a token of respect."

Then he looked at the girl in the white dress, "Apologies!"

The girl in the white dress was instantly surprised when she received the flame talisman handed to her by Li An. She carefully examined it and a hint of seriousness appeared in her beautiful eyes!

...

(End of this chapter)