Longevity Begins With Zongmen Handyman

Chapter 54: Disturbance in the Demon Sect

The success of the first talisman gave Gu Hong great confidence.

The two continued to make talisman papers, but after nearly a year, it became quite costly. Gu Hong's spiritual stones were barely enough to sustain the expenses.

After all, the materials for making second-order talisman papers were expensive. It took her thousands of spiritual stones to refine one.

In addition to the initial investment in talisman pens and other materials, her financial situation was tight.

For this reason, Li An took out another thousand spiritual stones to help.

After all, with second-order talisman pens and the incomplete talisman inheritance, he had already made a fortune.

Gu Hong was extremely grateful for this.

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

One and a half years had already passed since Li An and Gu Hong made their agreement.

"We have finally succeeded in all of them--"

Looking at the four spiritual talismans in her hand, Gu Hong's eyes were filled with emotion and satisfaction.

Hard work pays off.

"Li Fellow Daoist, I am going to the Yunhuan Mountain Range. Two years ago, I already found the trace of the Yuan Soul Beast."

Gu Hong spoke and looked at Li An, with a hint of anticipation in her eyes. "I wonder if Fellow Daoist can accompany me?"

After spending two years together day and night, many romantic and emotional moments had occurred between the two. However, Li An remained firm and indifferent towards these feelings, while Gu Hong had a sense of self-esteem, especially since she had been imprisoned by a demonic cultivator for many years, treated as a furnace, and left with a crippled body.

So, although there seemed to be no distance between them, there was always a final barrier.

This was also why she invited Li An to go with her. From a cultivation perspective, Li An was only at the sixth level of Qi Refining, which was of no use to her.

But it would make her feel more at ease for some reason.

"With a low cultivation level, if I were to go to the Yunhuan Mountain Range, I would not only be of no help, but I would also be a burden to Fellow Daoist Gu Hong."

Li An refused.

He didn't want to take risks.

The Yunhuan Mountain Range was well-known even within the Dali Empire. Many cultivators would enter it to undergo trials and seek opportunities, but it was also dangerous.

"Very well--"

Gu Hong nodded. "I will first return to the Cuimoon Valley. It will probably be a few more months before I go to the Yunhuan Mountain Range. If Li Fellow Daoist changes his mind during this period, you can come find me at any time."

"Li Fellow Daoist, I owe you a debt of gratitude for saving my life in the past, and today I owe you another favor..."

Li An smiled. "There is no need to mention these things between us."

Gu Hong smiled and nodded, not saying anything more, and left immediately.

After she left.

Li An began to seclude himself!

He was now ready to break through to the seventh level of Qi Refining.

A large number of spiritual stones were placed in front of him, and he took out a pill--the Yuan Spirit Pill!

The Yuan Spirit Pill was a top-grade pill, even stronger than the Qi Refining Pill. It was used to break through the later stages of Qi Refining.

Just this one pill cost four hundred spiritual stones.

His cultivation over the past few years had relied heavily on the three thousand five hundred spiritual stones he had obtained from Chen Cheng. Otherwise, even though he could sell first-grade high-quality talismans now, he would still be unable to make ends meet.

Buying Golden Melting Liquid, specialized poison, talisman papers, talisman pens, pills, etc., each item was expensive.

Now he only had about a thousand spiritual stones left.

Holding his breath, feeling the circulation of spiritual energy, the seed of life in his dantian had already unfolded six leaves, and the seventh leaf was sprouting...

He swallowed the Yuan Spirit Pill!

**The liquid transformed, and a massive amount of spiritual energy surged into his dantian. At the same time, a large amount of spiritual energy from the spiritual stones in front of him was rapidly absorbed into his body--**

...Two months later.

Li An woke up, took a hot bath, and felt comfortable all over.

"From now on, I officially step into the later stage of Qi Refining--"

He had a calm and firm expression.

At sixty-one years old, reaching the seventh level of Qi Refining was already considered the limit for a normal cultivator. It was difficult to make further progress.

After all, once a cultivator reached sixty years old, their vitality would decline.

But Li An was not worried. Even an ordinary Qi Refining cultivator, even at the peak of Qi Refining, could not live beyond two hundred years.

But now, he was only at the seventh level of Qi Refining, and his lifespan had already exceeded two hundred years!

So, he is actually still quite "young," so there's no need to worry about his vitality and blood issues.

"The sensitivity of his spiritual roots has finally broken through 50 points!"

At the same time, he was also very delighted. Under the slow changes of the "Nurturing Life and Forging Immortality Technique," his spiritual root sensitivity reached 53 points!

He is not far behind Tan Qingxue anymore, and he is no longer far from having a mid-grade yellow-level spiritual root.

This is also why he only took two months for this closed-door cultivation. The impact of improving his spiritual roots on his cultivation is fundamental.

"The Golden Bones, Thunderous Palm, and Cold Yin Finger have all reached a minor achievement."

"After entering the later stage of Qi Refining, I can try to make second-grade talismans myself."

After entering the later stage of Qi Refining, the cultivator's spiritual power will have a significant increase, and Li An's spiritual power far surpasses that of an ordinary person.

There were still some remaining talisman papers that he took out.

After continuous practice before, he became extremely familiar with the Soul Suppressing Talisman and the Thunderous Talisman. Therefore, he chose these two types of talismans.

Calm and focused.

Ten days later.

He gained two Thunderous Talismans and two Soul Suppressing Talismans!

Of course, this also cost him over a hundred second-grade talisman papers, which made Li An feel quite distressed.

"The other talismans will have to wait for now..."

He couldn't help but sigh. Now he can only make these two types of runes, and the success rate is very low.

Unless there are other fools willing to bear the cost, he is currently unable to explore other second-grade spiritual talismans in the short term.

"I can also study formations..."

In addition to talismans, Li An also dabbled in formations in his past life. Moreover, he relied on formations to turn the tide in two major calamities in the market, so he attaches great importance to formations.

In the later stage of Qi Refining, one can learn and create some low-level arrays.

Li An went to the formation store and bought a set of intermediate-level formations, costing three hundred spirit stones, as well as many formation materials.

This left him with only three to four hundred spirit stones.

In the following days, Li An studied formations while paying attention to the news about the sect and the surrounding demonic cultivators.

"The demonic cultivators around Xuan Yang Sect suddenly disappeared. Is Xuan Yang Sect sending people to investigate?"

On this day, Li An received a letter from Tan Qingxue, which instantly made him alert!

For the past ten years, he had been on high alert.

After all, if Xuan Yang Sect was really attacked by the Yin Yang Demon Sect, Li An would also be in great danger.

There are no survivors under a collapsed nest, especially since Li An also carries the reputation of killing the Soul Reaper. The demonic sect would definitely target him at that time.

Immediately, he inquired about various news about the demonic sect in the market, spending over two hundred spirit stones just to buy information from various private trading markets.

Finally, he got a general understanding.

From a month ago, the demonic sect's people rarely appeared, and in recent days, they have disappeared without a trace!

The demonic cultivators around Xuan Yang Sect seemed to have vanished together.

"They came so quickly?"

Li An frowned.

The demonic sect must have made some moves, and Xuan Yang Sect is also investigating. It may not necessarily be an attack on Xuan Yang Sect.

But at least he needs to be prepared.

After thinking for a while, Li An realized that he couldn't stay in the market anymore.

He had to retreat!

He immediately wrote a letter to Tan Qingxue, instructing her to strengthen her guard in the near future. After hesitating for a moment, he asked Tan Qingxue in the letter to help him buy some materials for making second-grade talisman papers in the Liuyang River market. He explicitly stated that he didn't want anyone else to know about this and asked her to go personally.

Li An didn't lack materials, but he wanted her to temporarily leave the sect.

Although the Liuyang River market belongs to Xuan Yang Sect, it is very close to another force, the Hundred Beasts Sect.

If the Yin Yang Demon Sect really attacks Xuan Yang Sect, they definitely won't attack Liuyang River at first to avoid alerting the Hundred Beasts Sect.

And it would take at least ten to fifteen days to gather the materials for talisman papers there.

This is the only thing Li An can do for her.

After sending the letter, Li An continued to ponder.

He also needed to find a place to hide...

After thinking for a long time, he sneaked out of the city gate, changed his appearance, and headed towards the Cuiyue Valley.

The only person he can trust now is Gu Hong.

...

(End of this chapter)