Longevity Begins With Zongmen Handyman

Chapter 20: Life in the Symbol Hall

Evening.

"Ange, you finally made it!"

In the pavilion by the Moon Lake, Wang Dazhu and Zhao Xianchuan had arrived early and prepared the spiritual wine.

"So, Ange, did you pass the assessment?"

Both Wang Dazhu and Zhao Xianchuan were concerned.

"Yes, I barely made it and entered the Symbol Hall," Li An said.

"That's great! I also entered the Refining Hall!"

Wang Dazhu was extremely happy. "In the Refining Hall, we get eight pieces of spiritual stones per month! And the senior brother there even said that he will teach me refining after three years of starting with blacksmithing!"

His eyes were filled with excitement for the future.

In fact, Wang Dazhu had been quite lucky. He had already reached the fourth level of Qi Refining, and now that he had entered the Refining Hall, his treatment was even better than Li An's. He might even become a master refiner in the future.

As an ordinary person, he was doing quite well in the sect.

Li An noticed that Zhao Xianchuan's expression was also good and couldn't help but ask, "Zhao Xianchuan, did you succeed too?"

"No," Zhao Xianchuan smiled. "I went to the Medicine Hall."

The Medicine Hall was also one of the outer sect halls of Xuanyang Sect, mainly responsible for collecting spiritual medicines. The treatment there was better than the peripheral halls like the Spirit Plant Mountain, but the monthly allowance was only six pieces of spiritual stones. Its development was limited and far inferior to the three major halls.

Seemingly understanding Li An's doubts, Zhao Xianchuan explained, "Three days ago, I received news from my family. My uncle was killed by a demonic cultivator, and now... my father has become the head of the family."

Li An suddenly realized.

The Zhao family was a Foundation Building-level cultivation family. Now that Zhao Xianchuan's father had taken over, he would receive more support from the sect.

This kind of news was a disaster for the entire family, but for Zhao Xianchuan, it turned out to be beneficial.

"Zhao Xianchuan, if I remember correctly, your family is not far from the 'Qingyang Market,' right?"

Li An continued to ask. Qingyang Market was one of the three major markets under Xuanyang Sect and an important source of wealth for the sect.

"Yes, it's close to Qingyang Market. My father's letter said that there has been unrest around Qingyang Market recently, with many incidents of demonic cultivators killing people and seizing treasures. The Xuanyang Sect cultivators in charge of Qingyang Market have already taken action many times, but they haven't been able to solve it..."

Li An nodded. Xuanyang Sect, Beast Taming Sect, and Divine Sword Sect were still fighting over the high-grade spiritual mines, and now demonic cultivators had appeared... The outside world was not peaceful.

However, Xuanyang Zhenren, the true disciple of Xuanyang Sect, was in his prime. There shouldn't be any problems in the next two to three hundred years.

They could still endure.

"Sister Xu Qiuhui successfully entered the inner sect. Now, Chen Cheng has become the eldest senior brother, and Mu Qingwan has become the second senior sister..."

Wang Dazhu mentioned the situation of other people again. "Mu Qingwan has already reached the fifth level of Qi Refining. Her Huang-grade medium spiritual root is really strong..."

"There is also a rumor that the two of them might become Dao companions."

Envy filled his eyes.

Li An, on the other hand, understood that Mu Qingwan's progress shouldn't be this fast. There must be the help of Chen Cheng, the influential disciple in the inner sect, behind this.

"Come, let's drink!"

Zhao Xianchuan raised his cup heavily.

...

The next day, Li An and the newly admitted Symbol Hall disciples went to the main hall of the Symbol Hall for a centralized lecture.

It wasn't the hall master, Guo Xiao, who personally taught. The first class on the basics of talismans was taught by the senior disciple Sun Lin, while the second class on the key points of talisman-making was taught by Tan Qingxue.

Sun Lin was in his forties, already a first-grade master symbolist. He had a burly figure and was wearing a formal black robe that only formal disciples could wear. He looked very approachable and gave off a strong sense of friendliness, making many new disciples feel close to him.

Tan Qingxue, on the other hand, usually seemed more lively, but during the lecture, she appeared more serious.

Li An noticed that Sun Lin's lectures were more general, while Tan Qingxue's lectures were more attentive, pointing out many practical problems. However, newcomers might not be able to understand the value behind them.

"After the lecture, according to the rules of the Symbol Hall, for the first three months, a senior brother or sister will be assigned to provide one-on-one guidance to the new disciples. If you have a preferred senior brother or sister, you can communicate and choose. However, once chosen, two pieces of your monthly allowance will be deducted and given to your guiding senior brother or sister."

At this moment, Sun Lin suddenly smiled.

"Senior Brother Sun, we choose you!"

The seven new disciples spoke in unison.

Tan Qingxue's expression changed slightly.

She and Sun Lin had always been in competition within the sect, and it was important to win over new disciples. But now, Sun Lin had taken action in advance?

"Feng Lin!"

She secretly cursed, instantly understanding.

Li An, on the other hand, furrowed his brows lightly. These seven guys had obviously been influenced by Feng Lin... except for himself?

It seemed that poor people had no rights...

"Alright, that's it."

Sun Lin smiled and said, "Follow me, and I will give you some additional instructions on refining talismans."

Only Li An was left in the main hall.

"You chose me?" Tan Qingxue looked at Li An absentmindedly.

"Choose."

Li An nodded.

In fact, he really wanted to say that he didn't want anyone to choose... He didn't lack experience in refining talismans, and he didn't need anyone to teach him. These two spirit stones were a waste!

But since he had already been excluded from Sun Lin's camp and rejected Tan Qingxue, he probably wouldn't be able to stay in the Talisman Hall anymore.

Moreover, from Xu Qiuhui's perspective, he could only go with Tan Qingxue.

"Alright," Tan Qingxue said, "Zhirou, you take care of him for the next three months."

She waved to another female disciple.

The female disciple's name was Cao Zhirou. She was considered Tan Qingxue's confidante in the Talisman Hall. Although her looks were not as good as Tan Qingxue's, they were still above average. At this moment, she could only nod.

...

In the middle of the month, the newly admitted disciples received a low-grade talisman pen and twenty sheets of low-grade talisman paper.

Li An was quite happy about this. The talisman pen given by the Talisman Hall was slightly better than the one he was using, worth at least eight spirit stones!

And the one he bought from the exchange pavilion was almost worn out.

Cao Zhirou did come to Li An a few times and earnestly taught him some basic knowledge of talismans. Li An pretended to listen attentively, but it seemed that he was slow in comprehension and absorption. Gradually, Cao Zhirou lost interest and stopped paying much attention to him.

After half a month of understanding, Li An also had a preliminary understanding of the basic situation in the Talisman Hall.

The entire Talisman Hall was led by Elder Guo Xiao, a second-level talisman master at the Foundation Building stage!

Next were his two disciples, Sun Lin and Tan Qingxue. Sun Lin had slightly stronger cultivation at the seventh level of Qi Refining, while Tan Qingxue was at the sixth level of Qi Refining. Both of them were first-class talisman masters.

Elder Guo Xiao was already old and had a limited lifespan. In order to select the next hall master, he set up a test.

Whoever among the Talisman Hall disciples could find a second-grade Longevity Pill for him within three years would receive the inheritance of second-level talismans. With the inheritance, the position of hall master would be almost guaranteed.

The second-grade Longevity Pill could extend the lifespan of a Foundation Building cultivator by fifty years. It was a strategic resource within the sect and could only be exchanged with contribution points. It couldn't be bought with spirit stones.

One second-grade Longevity Pill required ten thousand contribution points!

To accumulate ten thousand contribution points, it would take at least two to three thousand spirit stones...

A sky-high price!

Li An calculated that it would be difficult for Tan Qingxue and Sun Lin to obtain the second-grade Longevity Pill within three years unless they had additional support.

After all, even though they were first-class talisman masters, they could only refine a limited number of talismans each month. They could only obtain around 100 fixed contribution points, and they could probably buy an additional 20 or 30 points with extra spirit stones.

To accumulate ten thousand points, it would take at least six years.

This test set by Elder Guo Xiao was actually using public resources for personal gain, exploiting the disciples to extend his own life...

It was despicable!

...

Li An had no interest in competing in the Talisman Hall and didn't want to attract any extra attention.

So, he performed averagely in the Talisman Hall, and his talisman-making skills were only at the intermediate level among the disciples. He could hand in the talismans on time each month and earn some extra contribution points, but not many. Naturally, he sold them to Cao Zhirou, Tan Qingxue's confidante.

In this way, he earned around eleven or twelve spirit stones each month after deducting his monthly cultivation and talisman paper expenses of about seven spirit stones.

...

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

"Fifty-three spirit stones."

On this day, Li An counted his current balance of spirit stones and pondered.

"The cultivation speed of the Life-Nurturing and Immortal-Casting Technique is too slow. It will take at least two more years to reach the peak of the third level of Qi Refining."

"The Water Arrow Technique and Light Body Technique have already reached their strongest state. Next, I should cultivate my physical skills!"

Currently, Li An's spiritual sense had been greatly enhanced, surpassing ordinary people, and he had the Water Arrow Technique combined with the "Flying Dagger Technique" for attack, as well as the Light Body Technique for movement.

The only flaw was that his physical body was too weak.

If someone got close to him, he would be at a disadvantage!

"The physique is the foundation of the soul. In my previous life, I neglected the physical body a lot. In this life, I need to lay a solid foundation from now on."

"The best Body Refining technique I know of right now is the 'Iron Tree Technique'!"

The Iron Tree Technique was a middle-grade Yellow-ranked technique that could temper the skin, flesh, and bones.

But to cultivate the Iron Tree Technique, he needed to buy a lot of auxiliary materials, such as iron sand for Body Refining and medicinal liquids to promote the recovery of the skin and flesh.

All of these required spirit stones.

Now... he barely had enough.

On that day, he immediately left the Talisman Hall and headed to the trading market.

...

(End of this chapter)