Longevity Begins With Zongmen Handyman

Chapter 77: Peak of Qi Refining

"It turns out to be Fellow Daoist Guo. Please, come in quickly," Li An warmly smiled and invited Guo Xiaoxiao inside.

"I heard that Fellow Daoist Wei is a formation master?" Guo Xiaoxiao got straight to the point, "To be honest with Fellow Daoist Wei, I have come here with a request. I want to purchase a set of advanced formations."

"Of course, that can be arranged! What kind of formations does Fellow Daoist want?" Li An asked.

Guo Xiaoxiao immediately described her requirements. Li An pondered for a moment and although it would be a bit troublesome, he could still make them.

"Alright, but I am not very proficient in the refinement of advanced formations. I will need some time to prepare. How about a month from now?" Li An suggested.

"Alright, here is the deposit," Guo Xiaoxiao handed Li An one hundred spirit stones.

After finalizing the agreement, they chatted for a while before Guo Xiaoxiao left.

After she left, Li An's eyes turned cold.

"A disciple of the demonic sect?" Since the destruction of the Xuan Yang Sect, the Yin Yang Demonic Sect had disappeared without a trace, and no one knew where they had gone.

Now they unexpectedly encountered someone from the sect in Bai Hu City?

This made him somewhat worried.

Moreover, based on the information he had gathered from others, Guo Xiaoxiao actually had a backer in Bai Hu City.

This backer was likely someone from Bai Hu Mountain.

Could her backer also be from the demonic sect?

The reason why the Xuan Yang Sect was annihilated was because they had infiltrated by a traitor.

Could it be that Bai Hu City was the next target of the demonic sect?

However, this was just speculation. Although Li An was vigilant, he did not panic.

The Yin Yang Demonic Sect had once flourished, and there had even been instances where the Yin Yang Demonic Furnace technique had spread everywhere. The appearance of a demonic cultivator alone did not prove anything.

If he had to run away wherever there was a demonic cultivator, then he might as well stop cultivating. In the entire Da Li Realm, where were there not a few demonic cultivators?

However, he would have to pay more attention to the movements of Guo Xiaoxiao in the future. Perhaps he could find out something from her.

After seeing off Guo Xiaoxiao, he took out a first-grade pill furnace and some spiritual herbs.

This pill furnace was obtained from the first demonic cultivator he killed.

Since he had sought advice from Luo Yong, he had to put on a show.

As for alchemy? Li An didn't hold much hope.

His talent and energy were already stretched to the limit with formations and talismans.

If he were to waste time on alchemy and artifact refining, it would only hinder his progress.

A month and a half later, Li An finally delivered the advanced formations to Guo Xiaoxiao.

"My abilities are limited, which caused the formation to be delayed and have some flaws. Fellow Daoist Guo, please inspect it. If you are not satisfied, I can refund the deposit," he deliberately extended the production period and controlled the quality, making it seem like a struggle.

Dealing with a demonic cultivator required caution. He couldn't let the other party see his true level.

However, Guo Xiaoxiao smiled slightly, "Fellow Daoist Wei is too modest. This formation is good. I will purchase it at the original price." She took out eight hundred spirit stones.

"Thank you, Fellow Daoist! If you have any future needs, please don't hesitate to ask!" Li An expressed his gratitude and left.

After he left, Guo Xiaoxiao played with the formation in her hand for a while before casually putting it aside.

It was quite rough. Although it was successfully refined, the flaws in Li An's workmanship were evident.

"Never mind, let's find something more suitable," Guo Xiaoxiao said.

...

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

In these four years, Li An finally reached the peak of Qi Refining!

This year, Li An was eighty-one years old.

From breaking through to the ninth level of Qi Refining to reaching the peak of Qi Refining, it only took him five years. This was mainly due to the breakthrough in his spiritual roots and the changes in the spiritual veins and spiritual energy around him.

Three years ago, Xu Qiuhui officially became the seventeenth disciple of Bai Hu Zhenren, and the spiritual energy in the area where Li An was located suddenly became extremely abundant, saving him a lot of trouble.

In the past four years, Li An's relationship with Luo Yong had become very close.

On this day, under Luo Yong's guidance, Li An finally successfully refined a batch of first-grade spiritual pills.

"Brother Wei, congratulations..." Luo Yong said.

"Thank you for your guidance, Brother Luo," Li An was very excited.

"Brother Wei, you have already achieved some accomplishments in alchemy. Do you have any other inheritances? Bring them out, and we can study them together. Perhaps it will help you progress faster," Luo Yong suggested with a smile.

"To be honest, Brother Luo, I do have some..." Li An took out some of them.

Luo Yong's eyes lit up as he took them and looked at them.

But after he finished reading, a hint of disappointment appeared in his eyes. This Li An... he only took out a part again!

"Brother Luo, there's actually something I'd like to ask for your help with..."

Luo Yong immediately said, "Feel free to speak!"

"To refine the Foundation Building Pill."

Li An finally spoke up.

After four years of getting to know each other, Li An had intentionally and unintentionally probed Luo Yong's situation and gained some confidence before revealing his intention.

Luo Yong instantly understood... So this was Li An's intention!

"Brother Wei, your cultivation is only at the seventh level of Qi Refining..." he couldn't help but speak up.

Li An said, "To be honest with Brother Luo, another friend of Wei's needs it. If Wei can find a suitable alchemist to refine it for him, there will be an opportunity to share one."

Luo Yong looked at Li An thoughtfully.

Whether Li An's words were true or false didn't matter.

What mattered was that this was an exchange.

He would ask his master, Zhang Deyi, to take action, and Li An would give him the inheritance of a second-grade alchemist.

"I will ask my master about this matter for you, but my master is very busy... It may not be successful."

In reality, he was quite confident in persuading his master.

After all, even his master would be interested in the inheritance of a second-grade alchemist, and considering the considerable cost of refining the Foundation Building Pill, his master had no reason to refuse.

Li An said, "Thank you in advance!"

In the following period of time, he occasionally sent sheepskin paper to Luo Yong and asked about the progress. Luo Yong told him that it would take about three months before Zhang Deyi would have time.

Li An was not in a hurry and patiently waited.

...

On this day, Li An went out again, bought some medicinal materials, and also bought some small spiritual food on the way to see Manman.

Li An took care of their relationship, occasionally visiting her and helping her with some small favors. As a result, the two became more and more familiar, and Manman began to trust Li An more and more.

"Brother, I have the information you asked me to find. There will be an auction in the city in half a month, and there might be something you need."

Manman quietly told Li An some news.

Li An's eyes lit up.

He had mentioned to Manman before, intentionally or unintentionally, that he wanted to buy some medicinal materials for the Foundation Building.

This was also normal. Every late-stage Qi Refining cultivator would prepare for the Foundation Building.

"By the way,"

Manman continued, "I heard the shopkeeper say that materials and pills that can nourish the soul have been selling well recently. It seems that someone is buying them in large quantities... There is a high probability that there will be Purple Soul Grass at this auction, but I don't recommend you to buy it."

She reminded him.

Li An understood immediately.

If there were powerful individuals looking for things that could nourish the soul, then even if Li An bought the Purple Soul Grass, he might not be able to keep it.

This was the benefit of being on good terms with Manman!

Sometimes, just a few words could avoid a lot of trouble.

During this period, Li An gradually understood the source of Manman's information - the shopkeeper of Yang Wei's residence, Yang Wei.

Yang Wei had connections on the side of Baihu Mountain and was well-informed, and Manman was his confidante.

Regarding this, Manman didn't mention much, and Li An didn't ask much either.

A young girl with low cultivation and no special skills would find it difficult to survive in a place like Baihu City.

If not for that, she wouldn't be able to live in the second-tier area and would probably have fallen into the slums of the first-tier area, struggling to make a living.

"Thank you, Manman,"

Li An took out a pill and said, "This is the first pill I refined, a first-grade Spiritual Qi Pill. The quality is not that great, but the process was quite difficult. I'm giving it to you."

"When I become an alchemist in the future, I'll refine a beauty-enhancing pill for you."

This pill was his only finished product in half a month.

It wasn't worth much.

But Manman was deeply moved and said, "Brother, you're so good to me."

"Alright, I'll leave now and not disturb you from working."

Li An caught sight of a middle-aged man walking out and immediately left.

"Manman, is that the Wei Ming you mentioned?"

The middle-aged man approached. "What did he give you?"

Manman opened her palm and said, "Just a single Spiritual Qi Pill. It seems like he's studying alchemy."

Yang Wei picked up the pill and glanced at it, unable to help but smile. This level of alchemy skill probably meant that he would never become an alchemist in his lifetime.

But he didn't say anything. When Manman first mentioned that she had found a brother, Yang Wei paid attention, afraid that Manman was fooling around with men outside.

But later on, he found that the two of them maintained a good distance, and Li An was also very sensible, so he didn't mind.

...

Back at his residence.

Li An counted and found that he still had over 12,000 spiritual stones in his hand, which would be enough for the auction.

However, Manman's news made him slightly worried.

If there were powerful individuals collecting treasures that could nourish the soul, and one of the main ingredients of the Foundation Building Pill, the Purple Soul Grass, was such a treasure. Would there be any waves caused by him asking Luo Yong to refine the Foundation Building Pill?

Just as he was pondering this, someone urgently knocked on the door.

"Fellow Daoist Wei, open the door quickly, there's news!"

Li An went to open the door, and Luo Yong walked in with a look of joy on his face. "My master has agreed to refine the Foundation Building Pill for you!"

...

Today, I was stuck in traffic on the way and delayed, but I'm still writing, so don't worry about fewer updates.

(End of this chapter)