Longevity Begins With Zongmen Handyman

Chapter 22: Spirit Beast Mountain Range

Returning to his residence, Li An felt a bit depressed.

To think that he had dug himself into a pit...

"Tang Qingxue's personal contribution points probably don't exceed four thousand, definitely much less than Sun Lin..."

"In the Symbol Hall, she is no longer Sun Lin's match, so she can only try other methods."

"A second-grade spiritual medicine can easily be exchanged for several thousand contribution points, but going to the Spirit Beast Mountain Range... there is still some risk involved."

In fact, Li An had paid attention to the news about the Spirit Beast Mountain Range. Since the battle at the Spirit Plant Mountain, the Hundred Beast Sect had not troubled the main branch of the Xuan Yang Sect again, and the Spirit Beast Mountain Range had returned to normal and was no longer as dangerous as before.

Many low-cultivation disciples had entered it and gained a lot. In the past year, there had been few reports of disciples being injured or killed.

As long as he didn't venture into those dangerous areas and relied on his own experience, Li An could almost guarantee his own safety in the Spirit Beast Mountain Range.

However, he was averse to risks. After all, he was doing well in the Symbol Hall, and he had a long lifespan. It would be wonderful to break through step by step...

But after displaying the newly acquired premium symbol pen and symbol paper, Li An was still quite happy.

The premium symbol pen was made of special white jade and spirit wolf hair, with a carved symbol of a simple flying bird on the pen body.

Using a premium symbol pen would provide a more accurate perception and depiction of the Dao!

As for the premium symbol paper, there were a total of seventy sheets, each as white as snow, with a delicate and heavy texture, made through multiple processes.

—Originally, even a first-grade intermediate symbol master would only receive twenty sheets of symbol paper per month. The extra fifty sheets were bought by Li An for two spirit stones.

After all, it was necessary to make some preparations before going to the Spirit Beast Mountain Range!

"When going to the Spirit Beast Mountain Range, opportunities and such are not important. The key is to be able to retreat safely when encountering danger."

Li An had a plan.

"The Cold Rain Symbol and Cold Wind Symbol's upgraded versions, control-type symbols that can greatly reduce the enemy's movement speed!"

"The Swift Symbol, which can temporarily greatly increase running speed, is very useful for escaping!"

"In addition, the Earth Trap Symbol and Thorn Symbol can also be refined! They all help with self-preservation."

Holding the heavy premium symbol pen, Li An focused his mind, activating the Super Perception Technique to the extreme. Every subtle change in the brush strokes became very clear to him.

He began to draw on the snow-white symbol paper, outlining one Dao symbol after another.

On the first sheet of symbol paper, he only managed to draw half before it was damaged.

However, Li An didn't feel discouraged. This was already quite good!

He ruined fourteen sheets of symbol paper in a row before finally drawing a Swift Symbol on the fifteenth sheet!

"The Swift Symbol only lasts for three minutes, one sheet is not enough!"

Li An was quite pleased.

Three minutes could accomplish a lot in battle, but when it came to escaping, the distance one could run was not that far.

He continued to draw symbols.

...

That night, he used up all seventy sheets of symbol paper and managed to draw three Swift Symbols in total.

The success rate was less than one-tenth.

This kind of first-grade intermediate symbol talisman, the Swift Symbol, sold for about one spirit stone per sheet. Even if he sold them all, he would barely break even!

This was still thanks to his experience from his previous life. If it were someone else, the success rate would be even lower, and the cost would far outweigh the gains, making it impossible to afford.

No wonder Tang Qingxue thought that Li An applying for premium symbol pens and symbol paper was a waste of effort.

"It's normal for familiarity to be slower at the beginning. It won't be difficult to improve the success rate later..."

Li An was already quite satisfied. With his current spiritual root sensitivity, he could break even from the start, which was already good.

After completing all of this, he continued his "Iron Sand Bath"!

In half a year, Li An's skin had shed countless times and been reborn countless times.

He could now calmly enter the iron sand and feel no pain!

He casually grabbed a piece of iron sand and saw that it had become almost as smooth as a bead.

"The first batch of iron sand is almost used up."

Li An whispered, while picking up a nearby dagger - not the Starlight Dagger, but a regular iron dagger.

He grabbed the dagger tightly, but there was no blood on his hand. Instead, there was a metallic friction sound coming from his palm, and the dagger was crushed by his hand!

"The first layer of the Iron Tree Decision, 'Iron Skin,' is basically refined!"

He was very satisfied!

At the same time, he looked inward and saw that the third leaf in his dantian had completely unfolded.

In another half year, he would be able to complete the third layer of Qi Refining and then break through to the fourth layer!

...

The next day, Li An went to the Refining Hall and found Wang Dazhu.

"Ange, the silver sand you wanted will probably take some time... It's difficult to come by."

Wang Dazhu had become more solid in stature, with a healthy redness to his dark skin.

And he was about to break through to the fifth layer of Qi Refining.

Li An entrusted Wang Dazhu to help refine the spiritual silver sand, which was needed for the second layer of the Iron Tree Decision to cultivate the body.

"It's alright, Dazhu. How is the matter with the storage bag?"

"Here, I had Master refine it... I only charge the cost price, twenty spirit stones."

Wang Dazhu took out a brand new storage bag and handed it to Li An.

Li An took the storage bag and checked it, very satisfied!

The low-grade storage bag could hold items with a volume of one cubic meter, which was enough for Li An.

- The use and storage of items became more convenient with the storage bag. He was currently refining first-grade intermediate talismans, and having too many of them on his person would easily be discovered by others.

"Good, Dazhu, thank you!"

Li An immediately took out twenty spirit stones from his bundle and handed them to Wang Dazhu, along with ten extra flame talismans, saying, "Dazhu, please pass on these tokens of appreciation to Master for me."

Wang Dazhu grinned, "Alright, Ange. Master said that if you have any needs in the future, feel free to let him know."

Over the past two years, Li An had privately purchased iron sand for Body Refining from the Refining Hall multiple times. After each low-priced purchase, he would also give Wang Dazhu some talismans as a filial gesture to Master.

So he had gained Master's favor.

After all, by bypassing the sect, Li An bought cheaply, and Master sold at a fair price.

There were no middlemen profiting from the price difference.

This kind of thing was naturally prohibited by the sect, but turning a blind eye to private matters was the norm.

The main reason was that this kind of situation wouldn't become widespread. Generally, only trusted acquaintances who had established a relationship of trust would dare to engage in such transactions. These minor matters wouldn't affect the overall interests of the Xuan Yang Sect.

...

After wearing the storage bag, Li An felt much more comfortable. He no longer had to carry a burden everywhere he went.

The Starlight Dagger, several bags of spirit rice, dozens of first-grade low-level flame talismans, earth shield talismans, cold wind talismans, and three speed talismans were all placed in the storage bag.

...

With the storage bag, in the following days, Li An continued to purchase three hundred sheets of talisman paper from the trading area of the Talisman Hall, spending as much as twelve spirit stones!

His crazy behavior naturally attracted the attention of others in the Talisman Hall.

But on the seventh day, when Li An, with sunken eye sockets and a disappointed face, sold the remaining thirty-one premium talisman papers at a low price, everyone laughed.

This kind of situation was normal. There were always some disciples who underestimated themselves and thought they were geniuses who could achieve instant success.

But only after spending a large amount of spirit stones and effort would they realize their true abilities.

Clearly, Li An was such a person.

"Have you not been sleeping well lately?"

On this day, after finishing the lecture, Tan Qingxue frowned and looked at Li An, "I told you before, it's too early for you to draw a middle-grade rune now."

She had also heard about Li An's situation and couldn't help but sigh, starting to doubt Xu Qiuhui's evaluation of Li An. How could Sister Xu, who was so smart, have misjudged someone?

Li An's eagerness to rush ahead didn't show any signs of a calm temperament.

"Sister is right... Li An is too eager for success. I didn't expect it to turn out like this."

Li An also sighed.

"Rest well today, and tomorrow morning, we'll go to the Spirit Beast Mountain Range!"

Tan Qingxue instructed, but she had some doubts about her decision. Maybe she shouldn't have asked Li An to come along?

...

The next morning.

Li An got up early and waited at the door for the assembly.

Before long, Tan Qingxue came with a man and a woman.

The female disciple was Cao Zhirou, who had just guided Li An when he entered the Rune Hall, and the man, Li An knew him too. His name was Jiang You, also a member of Tan Qingxue's faction.

Tan Qingxue had good talent in rune cultivation, but her character was relatively simple. In terms of handling interpersonal relationships, she was clearly not as skilled as Sun Lin.

Among the seven middle-grade rune masters in the sect, five were closer to Sun Lin.

"Qingxue, does Li An really need to come?"

Seeing Li An, Jiang You frowned slightly.

He and Cao Zhirou were both at the fifth level of Qi Refining and were also middle-grade rune masters. But Li An?

He was only at the third level of Qi Refining, a low-grade rune master...

He was really holding back the team.

Li An couldn't help but feel grateful. Jiang Fellow Daoist was truly a good person.

Tan Qingxue had doubts before about whether it was useful to bring Li An along.

But a few days ago, she wrote a letter to Xu Qiuhui, explaining her decision to go to the Spirit Beast Mountain Range to find second-grade spirit medicine. She only received Xu Qiuhui's reply last night.

In the letter, Xu Qiuhui fully agreed with her decision to bring Li An along, praising her for finally growing up and becoming mature, able to think for herself...

And she also instructed her in the letter that if they encountered danger, she must listen to Li An's opinion... Obviously, Xu Qiuhui still didn't trust her completely.

This made Tan Qingxue doubt herself.

Was it her own judgment that was flawed, or was Li An hiding his true abilities in front of her?

"It's alright, more people means more strength. Let's go!"

She decided to observe carefully!

Li An: "..."

Immediately, the four of them left the Rune Hall.

They left through the outer gate, heading north. After passing the North Mountain Gate, they entered a lush mountain range.

The mountains were majestic, vast, and endless.

It was said that there might even be Foundation Building-level spirit beasts growing in this mountain range, but they were generally deep in the mountains and rarely seen by anyone.

The disciples of Xuan Yang Sect usually trained in the peripheral areas, where there were usually Qi Refining-level spirit beasts that they could handle.

Following the rugged mountain road, they soon entered a dense forest. The smell of decaying leaves and animal droppings faintly wafted in the air. As they passed by, wild rabbits darted out from the woods, and birds flew away from the treetops.

"According to the information we received, someone has seen a first-level peak Black Needle Giant Ape multiple times in the northwest direction of the mountain range. The Black Needle Giant Ape is highly intelligent and usually grows together with second-grade spirit medicine. When it reaches the first-level peak, it devours the spirit medicine to advance."

Tan Qingxue explained, "Let's investigate the places where the Black Needle Giant Ape has appeared."

Upon hearing this, Li An couldn't help but frown.

First-level peak meant it was equivalent to the pinnacle of Qi Refining for humans. A spirit beast of this level would require at least a Foundation Building cultivator to have a chance of dealing with it. Tan Qingxue was only at the sixth level of Qi Refining, so where did she get the confidence?

Could it be that she had other tricks up her sleeve?

Li An prepared himself. If the situation wasn't right, he would retreat immediately!

After all, although Xu Qiuhui owed him a favor, it was far from enough for him to risk his life for Tan Qingxue.

...

As they ventured deeper into the mountains, they encountered more and more spiritual herbs along the way. However, most of them were of low quality and not worth their attention. Only Li An accepted them all without discrimination, collecting them and storing them in his storage bag.

After all, although these spiritual herbs were not worth much money, they were quite useful for Li An. He could give them to Zhao Xianchuan and ask the pharmacist at the medicine hall to help refine potions for Body Refining.

Upon hearing this, Cao Zhirou and Jiang You both shook their heads. It seemed that Li An, being a lowly servant, had never seen the world.

"Oh, a top-grade spiritual herb!"

In the evening, Li An shouted in excitement next to a dead tree stump.

Tan Qingxue and the others immediately gathered around.

"A top-grade Tree Lingzhi, growing among a pile of miscellaneous spiritual grass." Cao Zhirou's expression was complicated.

"I didn't pay attention, but this kid got lucky..." Jiang You regretted a little.

They had seen the miscellaneous spiritual grass from afar, but no one had come over. Only Li An, this guy, even wanted the miscellaneous spiritual grass, and happened to come across the Tree Lingzhi...

The Tree Lingzhi was worth about twenty spiritual stones!

Li An happily put the Tree Lingzhi into his storage bag, silently celebrating the fact that he had cultivated the Super Sensing Technique.

His sense of smell, hearing, and vision were far superior to ordinary people, so on this journey, he was able to effectively avoid some spiritual beasts and detect the scent of spiritual herbs in advance.

"We'll rest here and go to the Black Mulberry Forest tomorrow during the day," Tan Qingxue said, and the four of them immediately set up camp, using branches to build a temporary shelter.

While busy, Tan Qingxue couldn't help but look at Li An.

Today, they encountered several fierce spiritual beasts, but Li An rarely took action, yet he gained the most.

Could it be that this guy was really hiding his abilities?

In fact, in the eyes of Cao Zhirou and Jiang You, Li An's behavior was normal. The weakest person naturally contributed the least in battle, and the fact that he gained more was purely due to good luck...

But because of Xu Qiuhui's repeated mentions, Tan Qingxue had a preconceived notion and couldn't help but think in that direction.

Moreover, with this thought, she couldn't help but recall Li An's performance today...

The first time they encountered a third-level Qi Refining tiger, Li An was originally at the forefront but suddenly stopped, allowing Cao Zhirou to take the lead.

The second time, a fourth-level Qi Refining wild boar rushed out, and Tan Qingxue and the others were affected, but Li An stayed far away and didn't participate in the fight.

The only time Li An took action was when they encountered two first-level Qi Refining snakes that were mating... Li An stomped on them with one foot.

She suddenly felt that there might be something wrong with Li An.

Was she actually being deceived?!

If Li An knew what she was thinking, he would probably be dumbfounded. Who actually had the problem?

Thinking from this perspective, even a normal person would be considered abnormal, right?

"We should take turns keeping watch. Li An, you and I will take the first half of the night!"

After finishing setting up the temporary shelter, Tan Qingxue suddenly spoke up.

Li An's eyebrows furrowed imperceptibly. What was Tan Qingxue trying to do?

In Li An's opinion, Tan Qingxue was not as mature as Xu Qiuhui because she had a good talent for talismans and hadn't suffered much hardship.

Her thoughts were relatively naive, or in other words, foolish.

Sometimes, it was not easy to guess the thoughts of such a fool... and she was also prone to causing trouble.

"You're the weakest, and I'm the strongest. Isn't it better to have the strong and weak together on watch?" she asked when Li An didn't answer.

Li An: "..."