Longevity Begins With Zongmen Handyman

Chapter 59: Condensing Divine Consciousness

In the evening, Li An finally returned to Qingyang Fangshi.

First, he disguised himself as another customer and lingered outside the shop for a long time, making sure that there was nothing unusual before returning to the shop.

Even though he had only been away for a few months, he had an apprentice in the shop who was responsible for its normal operation.

Tan Qingxue had sent many letters and materials. She had already collected everything that Li An had asked her to find in Liuyang River Fangshi, and she informed Li An in the letter that he didn't need to give her spirit stones anymore as she no longer needed to cultivate in the sect.

After reading the letter, Li An fell into silence for a long time.

He continued to maintain communication with Tan Qingxue, Wang Dazhu, and others, while also regularly gathering information in the Fangshi and keeping a close eye on the Demon Cult.

Then he began to focus on making money and cultivating.

In the past, he was worried that a large volume of shipments would attract the attention of those with ill intentions. But now, in his opinion, the Demon Cult was likely already starting to make their moves, and time was running out.

Therefore, he adjusted the quantity of talisman shipments, significantly increasing it.

He focused on selling higher-priced first-grade superior talismans.

Ignoring the cost, his monthly profit reached around two hundred silver.

This level could only be achieved by the top first-grade talisman masters.

It was also the upper limit that could be sold openly.

Privately, he would go to the underground trading market every month to sell many exquisite spirit talismans, earning an additional fifty to sixty silver.

It could be said that Li An had become an unfeeling money-making machine.

He only slept for two hours a day, but fortunately, the Life-Nurturing Immortal Forging Technique provided strong replenishment to his vitality, so he didn't feel tired.

In addition to making first-grade superior spirit talismans and cultivating, he was also trying to draw second-grade spirit talismans.

The Soul-Subduing Talisman and Thunderous Shock Talisman belonged to special types of talismans that were not very suitable for self-defense in battles.

"At least I need to make a second-grade inferior Wind Spirit Talisman, a second-grade inferior Profound Shield Talisman, and an Exploding Talisman!"

He muttered to himself. These were his goals.

Escape, protection, and attack!

As for control-type talismans, he didn't dare to expect them for now. Control-type talismans were considered true masterpieces among second-grade inferior talismans. It would probably cost a fortune to refine them with his current level.

It was extremely uneconomical.

The cost of other talismans was already expensive enough.

Moreover, he needed to accelerate the cultivation of the Iron Tree Technique and the Cold Yin Finger.

It all required money!

...

In the blink of an eye, three years had passed.

"I finally succeeded—"

Li An looked at the talisman in his hand, revealing a satisfied expression.

He had finally refined two second-grade inferior Wind Spirit Talismans!

At the same time, his Iron Tree Technique was approaching completion.

The toxicity of the Cold Yin Finger had also reached the level that Li An desired.

Now, he could almost withstand the attacks of first-grade superior magic treasures with his body alone!

And the poison in his hands could easily poison cultivators at the seventh or eighth level of Qi Refining.

"It's time to go to Yunhuan Mountain Range..."

He whispered. It was time to retrieve what was hidden there.

The reason he hadn't gone for a year was not only because he didn't want Gu Songxi and others to notice anything unusual, but also because he lacked someone like Gu Hong by his side, someone he could rely on.

Traveling alone still carried risks.

Now that he had second-grade inferior Wind Spirit Talismans, his ability to protect himself had greatly improved.

He sneaked out of the market.

Two months later, he retrieved the storage bag from the Yunhuan Mountains and returned to the front of the Cuiyue Valley.

For the past three years, he would come here every six months to replenish the spirit stones for the second-level formation in the valley. Each time was a considerable expense, even though Li An worked hard to earn money, he still struggled a bit.

But he was not stingy, the money was well spent, and he now had a stable place for seclusion.

Moreover, he made some minor adjustments to the activation method of the second-level formation. If Gu Songxi and his disciples returned, they could still activate the formation, but it would leave traces that Li An could observe from the outside.

He carefully checked and confirmed that no one had entered, then he opened the formation and entered the valley.

Closing the large formation, he entered the secluded chamber.

Li An opened the storage bag and looked at the corpse of the elemental soul beast inside, feeling somewhat excited!

This thing was very important to him.

Elemental soul beasts were born with extremely powerful soul power and divine consciousness, and they could even crush cultivators in the Foundation Building stage.

Li An also knew that if he could obtain the elemental soul beast crystal core in the later stage of Qi Refining, it would be possible to nurture divine consciousness!

It should be noted that usually only cultivators in the Foundation Building stage could possess divine consciousness.

Divine consciousness had many wonderful uses. With a casual sweep, one could perceive the surrounding environment much more accurately than with vision or hearing.

With this thing, it would be very convenient in battles to sense opponents and investigate the environment.

But few people would use the elemental soul beast crystal core to condense divine consciousness in the later stage of Qi Refining because it was truly wasteful. Elemental soul beasts themselves were valuable and could be refined into small pills that even cultivators in the Foundation Building stage coveted. If the purity was high enough, they could even be used as materials for Foundation Building pills...

But Li An didn't see it that way. Condensing divine consciousness in advance could increase his ability to survive in the Qi Refining stage, and it would also be beneficial when he was breaking through to the Foundation Building stage.

Moreover, he also knew that some extremely well-connected geniuses would choose to condense divine consciousness in the Qi Refining stage.

In the end, ordinary people couldn't do this because their vision and resources were not enough.

Now, Li An lacked neither understanding nor the Purple Soul Grass needed to refine Foundation Building pills. He also had no worries about his lifespan, so he could use the elemental soul beast crystal core for this purpose.

After working with the Starlight Dagger for most of the night, Li An finally dissected the elemental soul beast's body.

The turtle shell and the horn were excellent materials for refining second-level magical tools.

The turtle shell was indestructible, even the Starlight Dagger had a hard time leaving a scratch on it. It could be used to refine defensive magical tools. The horn contained the soul power of the elemental soul beast and could be used to make soul-attacking treasures.

Even the meat of the elemental soul beast was a precious spiritual food.

And when Li An saw the pure crystal core dissected from the belly of the elemental soul beast, he was even more delighted.

The crystal core was the size of a fist, without a trace of impurities, crystal clear, and perfectly round.

Li An carefully used the dagger to divide the crystal core into four parts.

Based on his experience, he believed that one part was enough to condense divine consciousness.

If everything went smoothly, the rest...

Would be left for Gu Hong.

Li An's determination was firm, but not indifferent.

The reason he didn't tell Gu Hong that he had obtained the crystal core was because he didn't want her to know his secret.

These things, even if they were close to each other, couldn't be revealed.

But he saw Gu Hong's sincerity, and he naturally wouldn't hesitate to give.

He set up multiple layers of precautions but wouldn't refuse sincerity.

And when he gave the crystal core to Gu Hong in the future, he also needed to think of a way to prevent her from knowing the origin of the crystal core.

He had already seen that Gu Songxi still had another twenty or thirty years of life left, so it wouldn't delay his life if he obtained the crystal core a bit later.

...

Holding one part of the crystal core, Li An began to meditate.

Completely calming his mind, all his senses focused on the crystal core.

Guiding the power within the crystal core into his body, like a wisp of air, like a wisp of mist, all his spirit was concentrated on it...

...

(End of this chapter)