Longevity Begins With Zongmen Handyman

Chapter 66: Eight Years of Persistence

After entering the Cuiyue Valley, Li An made up his mind that he would not go out for a while.

Anyway, the current resources were enough for him to cultivate for a long time.

Moreover, with him present, many active functions of the Cuiyue Valley's second-level formation could be turned off, saving a lot of spiritual stones. Two hundred spiritual stones per month would be enough to support it.

When no one was around, the formation would be in a fully stimulated state, which would cost much more!

...

At this moment.

Xuanyang Sect.

The fire had been burning continuously for twenty days before finally stopping. The dozens of miles of mountains that used to belong to the Xuanyang Sect had all turned into scorched earth.

The sect was in a mess, the Pill Hall, Talisman Hall, and Refining Hall had all been looted and burned down. The bodies of Xuanyang Sect disciples were scattered everywhere, with flies buzzing around and a foul smell permeating the air.

And at this moment, in the main hall of the Xuanyang Sect's inner gate.

Seven Foundation Building stage demonic cultivators sat on both sides.

At the head, surprisingly, was the elder of the Xuanyang Sect, Li Yuan!

However, at this moment, black demonic energy was emanating from his body, and he exuded an unreserved aura of killing and slaughter.

"Reporting to the Sect Master, all the resources of the Xuanyang Sect have been counted and sent away according to your instructions. This time, we have gained a lot!"

"Most of the remaining Foundation Building stage remnants of the Xuanyang Sect have been killed, and there are no more than five people who managed to escape. They won't be able to cause any trouble!"

"We have been keeping a close eye on the Hundred Beasts Sect, they dare not make a move, so we can safely attack the Liuyang River Market!"

These Foundation Building stage demonic cultivators spoke one after another.

At the head, "Li Yuan" nodded and said, "You have all worked hard to break through the Xuanyang Sect this time."

"Each of you will receive three cauldrons and twenty thousand spiritual stones, and you can choose other resources as you please."

"Also, spread the word for me, tell the world that Xuanyang old man has been chopped into pieces by me and made into dog food - hang the heads of his disciples at various intersections in the northern part of Dali for ten days!"

Everyone nodded.

"Li Yuan" suddenly thought of something else, "What about that little talisman master from back then? Was he captured? Hang his head as well. Although I deliberately sent him to his death back then, it makes me angry to think that he died in the hands of such a small fry who learned our Yin-Yang Demon Furnace technique and changed his appearance to escape."

The last demonic cultivator stood up, his face grim, "Reporting to the Sect Master, that treacherous talisman master escaped..."

"I suspect that he was the one who killed our Senior Brother back then. He must have learned our Yin-Yang Demon Furnace technique and changed his appearance to escape," said another Foundation Building stage demonic cultivator next to him.

"Sect Master, there is another small matter. Several of my subordinates who were left at the Masha Ferry were killed and robbed. Combining the clues, we suspect that it was the work of that talisman master!"

"Li Yuan" frowned instantly, "What you mean is, the person who sold me fake spiritual talismans and cut off my head back then has slipped away right under my nose. Not only did he not die, but he also turned the tables on me, killed more than ten of my subordinates, and took the treasure?!"

The two Foundation Building stage demonic cultivators trembled, their eyes filled with fear.

"Sect Master, we have issued a kill order..."

"Li Yuan" interrupted, "What's the use of a kill order? This kind of cunning and ruthless character, who has taken so many resources, would he wait for you to go kill him? He will definitely find a remote place, cultivate for eight or ten years, and then reappear."

"Cancel that useless kill order. It would be embarrassing if the order was issued for eight or ten years and he still couldn't be killed."

"Li Yuan" spoke casually, as if he were chatting, without a trace of anger.

"Sect Master, are we just going to let it go like this..." a Foundation Building stage demonic cultivator couldn't help but speak up.

"Of course not. You two go and find people related to that little talisman master, but don't make a fuss. Find those who are ruthless and greedy, secretly bribe one or two of them."

"Li Yuan" said, "I guess that after eight or ten years, this grandson will probably show up. By then, he might even contact old friends..."

The two Foundation Building stage demonic cultivators immediately nodded, "If he appears at that time, we will personally go and kill him!"

"Li Yuan" glanced at the two subordinates, "Kill? No, capture him alive. Remember, I want him alive!"

After speaking, he stood up and said, "Let's go, let's go and cultivate for a while. We still need to help the third brother catch that white-haired female tiger..."

...

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

During these three years, Li An had not contacted the outside world nor taken a single step outside. However, he would regularly conduct investigations within a ten-mile radius around the Moon Tempering Valley, focusing on detecting demonic cultivator auras.

Fortunately, the area around the Moon Tempering Valley had always been peaceful.

"My spiritual roots have officially reached the middle grade of the Yellow Stage!"

On this day, Li An inspected his spiritual roots internally and felt the changes. He was extremely pleased!

Currently, his spiritual root sensitivity had reached 64 points!

Generally speaking, a range of 30 to 60 points indicated the low grade of the Yellow Stage, while a range of 60 to 100 points indicated the middle grade of the Yellow Stage.

To be considered a high grade of the Yellow Stage, one needed to exceed 100 points.

Cultivators with middle grade Yellow Stage spiritual roots could generally cultivate smoothly to the later stage of Qi Refining. With sufficient opportunities, they had a great chance of breaking through to Foundation Building.

On the other hand, cultivators with low grade Yellow Stage spiritual roots, like Tan Qingxue, despite their diligent cultivation, would only reach the seventh level of Qi Refining in their lifetime, making the opportunity for Foundation Building extremely slim.

Spiritual roots were the foundation for sensing the heavens and earth and cultivating the Dao. If one's spiritual roots were too poor, even someone like Chen Cheng, who continuously used three Foundation Building Pills, would be in vain.

Li An stood up, walked out of the room, and stretched his body. Then, his palms suddenly struck out like thunder.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Wherever his palms landed, the sound of thunder echoed continuously. Even a rhododendron flower forty meters away was shattered by the force of his palms.

His figure constantly moved, accompanied by the perfected Light Body Technique. His figure was lighter than that of a monkey, resembling a butterfly gently fluttering over leaves and grass blades. At the same time, each palm of his Thunderous Palm Technique surpassed the previous one. When the final palm was struck, the lake eighty meters away erupted with a loud boom, causing huge waves to rise more than ten meters before crashing down heavily.

The power was astonishing!

"The Thunderous Palm Technique has been fully cultivated!"

At the same time, Li An lightly circulated his energy, and a blue light radiated from his hands, giving off the illusion of a venomous snake.

"The Frigid Yin Finger has also reached perfection. Unfortunately, the venom hasn't caught up during this period. I'll have to find more highly toxic substances to practice with in the future."

The only stagnation was the Iron Tree Decision, which remained at the state it was three years ago.

The main reason was the lack of resources, as there was nowhere to purchase the Golden Melting Liquid.

"It will take a few more years to reach the complete eighth level of Qi Refining..."

The Life-Nurturing Immortal Casting Technique had an incredible effect, bringing overall enhancements to lifespan, spiritual roots, divine sense, physical body, and more. However, the side effect was that the cultivation speed would be greatly slowed down.

But Li An did not complain about this. In fact, he had increasingly discovered that after his speed slowed down, the purity of his spiritual power became particularly refined.

If he didn't use any treasures, talismans, or other external objects and relied solely on his own strength to fight, Li An was confident that he could battle against someone at the ninth level of Qi Refining.

Moreover, after obtaining divine sense, he also had a natural advantage.

"Continue refining talismans and setting up formations!"

Cultivation couldn't be rushed, so Li An worked hard in other areas.

Especially with talismans, they were the foundation of his existence!

Another five years passed.

Li An finally reached the complete eighth level of Qi Refining and could now break through to the ninth level of Qi Refining.

At the same time, all the resources such as talisman paper that he brought out from the talisman shop had been exhausted and turned into talismans.

Currently, he had a total of sixteen second-grade talismans in his hands!

Five Bursting Talismans, two Forbidden Breaking Talismans, three Profound Shield Talismans, three second-grade Swift Talismans, two Thunderous Talismans, and one Soul Suppressing Talisman.

"I still have too few Bursting Talismans..."

Li An sighed. His ideal situation would be to have twenty talismans prepared for attack, defense, and control.

It would be best to have ten Forbidden Breaking Talismans and Swift Talismans as a foundation!

Only then could he be stable.

But this ideal situation was clearly beyond his current capabilities.

Firstly, he was limited by resources. Second-grade talisman paper required special materials for production, and even though he obtained many from the talisman shop, it was still not enough.

Secondly, he was limited by his cultivation realm. There was always a difference between the spiritual power of the Qi Refining stage and the Foundation Building stage.

In reality, being able to create second-grade talismans at this stage was already extremely astonishing. Other talisman masters would never be able to achieve this.

In addition, he also had four sets of advanced formations, including defense, attack, and control types.

"Prepare to break through to the ninth level of Qi Refining..."

After breaking through to the ninth level of Qi Refining, it would be time to go out... and plan for Foundation Building!

...

(End of this chapter)