Longevity Begins With Zongmen Handyman

Chapter 61: Calculations

Li An repeatedly scanned with his divine sense, and the magic box buried beneath the soil appeared clearly in his mind.

He confirmed that this was definitely set up by the Yin Yang Demon Sect, the unmistakable aura of Yin Yang demons.

Moreover, judging from the condition of the soil at the scene, it should have been here for one or two months.

In other words, the Yin Yang Demon Sect had already started to lay out their plans in Qingyang Fangshi one or two months ago?

"The Yin Yang Demon Sect has disappeared from the public eye in recent years, and even made people believe that they have been completely eradicated..."

"If they were really weak, they would not dare to do such a big thing, preparing to attack the Xuan Yang Sect in Fangshi!"

"Have they been deliberately showing off to the three major sects? Lulling them into complacency!"

"This is the most likely scenario!"

"And now, they have finally seized the opportunity and are preparing to make their move..."

Li An pondered. The string that had been tense for all these years finally played the prelude to the conspiracy.

He quietly left and erased any traces of his presence here.

After leaving, he did not go to other places in the large formation.

Because he was worried that there might be demon cultivators secretly watching.

Next, he spent three days, avoiding detection, and checked the rest of the large formation at random and naturally.

"The large formation in Qingyang Fangshi has a total of seven corners, and the demon cultivators have already set up breaking prohibition symbols in two key points."

"They are very cautious!"

Based on their speed of layout, there should be at least four or five months of buffer period.

Moreover, Qingyang Fangshi is only the periphery of the Xuan Yang Sect. When they attack the periphery, the core area of the sect will definitely be attacked simultaneously.

Li An was extremely certain that there was a mole within the sect.

Because, based on the experience of the previous attack on Qingyang Fangshi, the sect has strict confidentiality measures for the protective formation in Fangshi, and only the true core high-level members could possibly know.

The fact that the demon cultivators could set up the formation so accurately means that they were able to obtain information from within the Xuan Yang Sect.

"If I were a demon cultivator, when attacking the Xuan Yang Sect, I would definitely strike both internally and externally..."

"Furthermore, the key to the success or failure of this conspiracy lies with the Sect Master, Xuan Yang Zhenren."

"If Xuan Yang Zhenren doesn't die, even if the Xuan Yang Sect is heavily damaged, recovery is only a matter of time..."

"Therefore, we must first deal with Xuan Yang Zhenren."

"A direct confrontation? That's unlikely. Even if we can win, we will pay a heavy price. It must be a plot, with poison, traps, etc... Now that the traitor from the Demon Sect has infiltrated the high-level of the Xuan Yang Sect, this is not difficult."

"And after the Xuan Yang Sect is attacked by the Demon Sect, if Xuan Yang Zhenren encounters trouble, there is only one outcome... defeat, escape!"

"Where can they escape to? Who can escape, and who will be targeted by the Demon Sect? Will the Demon Sect surround and intercept, or let them go?"

Li An repeatedly deduced in his mind, putting himself in the roles of both the Xuan Yang Sect and the Demon Sect.

The next morning, Li An sneaked out of the Fangshi and headed towards the Liuyang River Fangshi.

He did not enter the Liuyang River Fangshi, but instead wandered back and forth between the Liuyang River Fangshi and the Xuan Yang Sect for a month!

After careful consideration by Li An, in the event of the collapse of the Xuan Yang Sect, the Liuyang River Fangshi would most likely become the last safe haven for the Xuan Yang Sect.

There is no other reason, it is close to the Hundred Beasts Sect.

If the strength of the Demon Sect is insufficient, they should not directly attack this place to avoid attracting the involvement of the Hundred Beasts Sect.

By then, most of the remaining disciples of the Xuan Yang Sect will definitely flock to the Liuyang River Fangshi.

The Yin Yang Demon Sect is likely to set up an ambush along the way to reduce the remaining power of the Xuan Yang Sect.

He was looking for the possible location where the Demon Sect might set up an ambush.

The Liuyang River Fangshi is more reliant on the banks of the Liuyang River. In addition, this place is too far from the main sect of the Xuan Yang Sect, so the Xuan Yang Sect has set up heavy protection for this Fangshi.

Firstly, the only entrance and exit of the Fangshi is the river, and one can only travel by boat.

Secondly, the large formation in the Fangshi is very special, causing the water flow in the river section within the Fangshi to be calm, while the downstream river section outside the Fangshi has a rapid current, where many spirit beasts and spiritual vortexes breed, making it impossible for people to sneak in from the water.

The Masha Ferry is the most convenient ferry to reach the Liuyang River Fangshi. Disciples who are fleeing from all directions will most likely gather here and take a boat to enter the Fangshi.

There are many small and large boats moored at the ferry, and those responsible for ferrying are low-level cultivators.

Li An hovered here for three days, calculating various possibilities.

Then, he finally left and returned to Qingyang Fangshi.

He immediately checked the situation of the Fangshi Formation, and as he expected, there was another corner of the formation that had been broken by a prohibition symbol.

Getting closer and closer!

Li An calmed down and did two things the next day.

First, he found the owner of the Formation Shop, Long Tao, and asked him to help order a set of second-level formations.

Over the years, Li An had been cooperating with Long Tao, and their interests were deeply intertwined. So, although Long Tao had doubts, he didn't ask too much and accepted a deposit of one thousand yuan to help Li An place the order. This was already a special treatment for Li An. Normally, when ordering a second-level formation, one would need to pay a deposit of at least two thousand yuan in spirit stones!

But it would take two months for the order to arrive.

Secondly, Li An coordinated with the sect and increased the demand for the spiritual symbol shop, allowing the Symbol Hall to supply more goods.

Normally, the total value of the goods supplied by the sect to the spiritual symbol shop, such as talismans, symbol pens, and symbol paper, was about one thousand five hundred yuan in spirit stones per month.

Now he asked the sect to supply two thousand yuan in spirit stones worth of goods every month.

This amount was a significant increase, but it wouldn't attract too much attention from higher levels!

After doing all this, Li An began to seclude himself and make a breakthrough to the eighth level of Qi Refining!

"The sensitivity of my spiritual roots has already increased to 57 points... It's very close to the middle-grade yellow-level spiritual roots."

"Even if the testing in some sects is not so accurate... I can be directly judged as having middle-grade yellow-level spiritual roots!"

He was full of confidence and directly took two pills of Elemental Spirit Pill!

...

With the improvement of his spiritual roots and the increased dosage of the Elemental Spirit Pill, Li An made a very smooth breakthrough.

A month and a half later, he officially reached the eighth level of Qi Refining!

"At sixty-eight years old, nearing the end of my life..."

He sighed in his heart. Generally speaking, this age was considered old for cultivators of his level.

But for Li An, he was still relatively young!

After reaching the eighth level of Qi Refining, his lifespan reached nearly three hundred years!

This was already much longer than ordinary Qi Refining cultivators.

So, even though he was sixty-eight years old, he was only equivalent to the level of an ordinary cultivator in their thirties.

Still considered in his prime.

"Senior Immortal, you finally came out..."

When his apprentice Xiao Gou saw him come out, he hurriedly came over and said, "We have accumulated a backlog of goods. Should we lower the price to sell them?"

During this time, the spiritual symbol shop had accumulated over a thousand spirit stones worth of goods.

Even if they sold them at a reduced price now, they would still have to bear some losses and be blamed by the sect!

Li An suddenly said coldly, "Do I need you to teach me how to do things?"

"Get lost. Starting today, you don't need to come to the spiritual symbol shop anymore. Get out of Qingyang Fangshi!"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Gou was stunned for a moment, then suddenly knelt down on the ground and cried, "Senior Immortal, Xiao Gou will never dare to speak out of turn again... Please don't drive Xiao Gou away, please!"

He was originally a poor peasant boy who had participated in the assessment of the Xuan Yang Sect but was not chosen because of his mixed spiritual roots. He could never embark on the path of immortality in this lifetime. During his wandering, he was taken in as an apprentice by Li An because he was honest and hardworking. Over the years, he had diligently worked in the spiritual symbol shop, and Li An had treated him quite well. He had even cultivated his mixed spiritual roots to the perfection of the first level of Qi Refining, and now he could even break through to the second level of Qi Refining. Now, just because of a few words, he was being driven away by Li An... He found it hard to accept.

"Go away," Li An threw him a small bag of spirit stones, "Don't bother me anymore."

After saying that, Li An left.

Xiao Gou remained motionless in his kneeling position for three consecutive days.

Li An came and went, completely ignoring him.

Xiao Gou knew that Li An had made up his mind. Finally, on the morning of the fourth day, he kowtowed a few times towards Li An's room, wiped away his tears, and left the spiritual symbol shop.

...

More than ten days after Xiao Gou left was when Li An discovered the third month of the traces of the demonic cult.

The second-level formation that Li An had ordered finally arrived.

He went to the Formation Shop to pick up the formation, checked it, nodded, and then suddenly said, "Brother Long, can I pay you the remaining spirit stones in two months?"

...

(End of this chapter)