Longevity Begins With Zongmen Handyman

Chapter 9: Second Level of Qi Refining

Li An did not immediately break through, but instead took the opportunity to visit the sect's trading market.

However, to his surprise, no one wanted spirit rice this time.

Li An inquired and found out that the sect had suddenly suspended all tasks related to the Spirit Beast Mountain Range.

This made Li An somewhat puzzled. The small beast tide should not have disappeared yet. Could there be other changes in the Spirit Beast Mountain Range?

"Sister Xu is here," someone said.

Xu Qiuhui had an elegant figure and immediately attracted the attention of many people.

But this time, she actually came to set up a stall.

She walked over to Li An's small stall and said,

"Next month, you don't need to deliver spirit rice to me anymore. As for this batch of spirit rice, I will still accept it according to our agreement. However, for the final payment, you'll have to wait until I sell my things and then settle with you."

Li An was surprised. It seemed that Xu Qiuhui was also starting to experience financial difficulties?

He could understand though. Despite being an official disciple with a generous monthly allowance, the expenses were also high. As time went on, the required magical tools, elixirs, and other items became more expensive.

Moreover, Xu Qiuhui had already reached the seventh level of Qi Refining and should be preparing for Foundation Building. So she had been wanting to capture the mysterious spirit beasts in the Spirit Beast Mountain Range, purchasing spirit rice, spirit talismans, and magical tools every month, which consumed a lot.

Unfortunately, after eight months, she not only failed to capture those spirit beasts, but also wasted a lot of time and missed many opportunities to capture ordinary spirit beasts.

"You don't have to, Senior Xu. Last month, you gave me half a piece of spirit stone as a deposit. According to the current market price, these one hundred kilograms of spirit rice are only worth half a piece. You don't need to pay the remaining amount."

Li An was very magnanimous.

In his opinion, Xu Qiuhui was still a good person.

Xu Qiuhui didn't say anything else. Obviously, she was really in a desperate situation. She immediately said,

"Alright then, can I borrow your stall to set up my own?"

Li An naturally agreed and quickly made space for her.

Immediately, Xu Qiuhui set up many things on Li An's stall.

Two damaged first-grade medicinal herbs, half a bottle of detoxification pills, an old brush pen, and dozens of talisman papers...

These things couldn't be exchanged for contribution points at the sect's exchange center, so she could only sell them at the trading market.

Li An's eyes lit up. "Senior Xu, how much are you selling the brush pen and talisman papers for?"

Xu Qiuhui was surprised. "You want to buy them?"

"Yes, I've been studying the basics of talismans for half a year and want to give it a try..."

He came out this time specifically to buy brush pens and talisman papers!

After all, he was about to break through to the second level of Qi Refining, and there might be some troubles that would arise. By appropriately showcasing his talent as a talisman master, he could increase his own value.

This way, many unnecessary troubles would naturally disappear.

However, Xu Qiuhui shook her head. "Talisman inscription is the art with the lowest requirement for comprehension and aptitude, but I don't recommend you to learn it. It would be a waste."

Among the various skills of cultivation, the most common ones were alchemy, refining tools, talisman inscription, and formation arrays.

Fu Lu, is the use of a brush and paper to depict the corresponding rules of the Dao. As long as it is successful, the Fu Lu will have the corresponding effect.

In comparison, Fu Lu is the easiest for ordinary people to come into contact with, because even if their aptitude is relatively poor, they can still draw some basic Fu Lu through diligent practice.

But the threshold lies in the success rate!

For most people, it takes a lot of paper and brushes to draw one or two Fu Lu, and the success rate is too low, the rewards do not match the costs.

Unless one is naturally gifted or has a strong background support, and practices extensively, they can improve their success rate and become a qualified Fu Shi.

Xu Qiuhui has also tried it herself, but her talent is limited and her success rate is also very low, so the brushes and paper are left unused.

In her opinion, Li An is just a menial worker with damaged spiritual roots. Wanting to become a Fu Shi is nothing more than a pipe dream.

Li An firmly said, "Immortal Elder, I want to give it a try!"

"Alright," Xu Qiuhui didn't persuade him anymore, "This is a first-grade brush. I bought it for five spirit stones originally, and it's still half new. Along with these dozens of pieces of paper, I'll give them to you for three spirit stones."

Upon hearing this, Li An readily paid the money and exchanged it for Xu Qiuhui's paper.

Then, he continued to wander around the surroundings.

"Little menial worker, back again? Here, I've prepared some freshly picked Han Chun grass for you today."

At an herbal stall, a middle-aged named disciple named Zhou Xin saw Li An and spoke with a smile.

This named disciple's name is Zhou Xin, at the third level of Qi Refining. Among the named disciples, he is considered to be at the bottom. The things he sells, like the Han Chun grass, which is a useless spiritual herb, can only be found from him.

Since Li An started buying Han Chun grass from him, he has had a stable customer source and brings in dozens of kilograms every month.

"By the way, the price of Han Chun grass has gone up recently. Twenty kilograms will cost half a spirit stone."

Zhou Xin casually said. Every once in a while, he would raise the price a bit for Li An.

Anyway, Li An is such a fat sheep, it would be a waste not to fleece him!

After some bargaining, Li An left with twenty kilograms of Han Chun grass and headed towards the Spirit Plant Mountain.

...

Returning to the Spirit Plant Mountain, he closed the door.

Li An laid out the paper and brush, feeling quite hopeful.

In his previous life, thanks to the support of the cultivation family resources behind him, although his aptitude was average, he still grew into a Fu Shi.

Later, after reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, he reached a high level in the field of Fu Lu.

For ordinary people to become Fu Shi, they must accumulate a lot of experience to improve their success rate.

And experience is something he doesn't lack!

He picked up the brush, entered a contemplative state, and began making Fu.

Starting with the simplest Spirit Gathering Fu.

Spirit Gathering Fu, a first-grade lower-quality Fu, is a basic type of Fu Lu that can enhance the gathering of spiritual energy. One Fu can be used for a month.

Halfway through drawing, the paper was ruined.

Li An didn't feel discouraged. In this life, his aptitude is even worse, so it's normal that his grasp of the brush is not precise enough.

On the seventh drawing, the Spirit Gathering Fu finally succeeded.

Ten pieces of talisman paper, only one Spirit Gathering talisman was successful.

This ratio is already considered very strong among beginners. Ordinary people may waste three to four hundred pieces of paper before succeeding once.

But Li An is still not satisfied. He continues to contemplate and then continues to draw talismans.

The next twenty pieces of talisman paper, his success rate greatly increased, with fifteen failures and five successes!

Based on this ratio, he is already considered a qualified talisman master!

"There are still thirteen pieces of talisman paper left. Let's try the 'Flame Talisman'!"

The Flame Talisman is also a first-grade inferior talisman, but it belongs to the offensive type of talisman and can pose a threat to cultivators below the third level of Qi Refining!

The difficulty is higher than that of the Spirit Gathering talisman.

In the end, all thirteen pieces of talisman paper were wasted, and the Flame Talisman was still not successfully made.

"With another three to five pieces of talisman paper, I should be able to succeed..."

Li An is quite regretful, just a little bit short.

In the end, with forty-three pieces of talisman paper, he obtained six Spirit Gathering talismans.

What surprises Li An the most is that he didn't feel particularly exhausted after drawing so many talismans.

"The improvement in spiritual power from the Life Seed is also significant!"

Drawing talismans consumes a great deal of spiritual power. It is already difficult for a cultivator at the first level of Qi Refining to persist in drawing ten talismans. Going beyond fifteen talismans would directly lead to falling into a deep sleep.

"In that case, cultivation techniques related to spiritual power and consciousness should be very suitable for me to practice!"

Li An discovered a new direction.

After thinking for a while, he realized that cultivation techniques related to spiritual power and consciousness are quite rare. In his previous life, he only obtained a book called "Super Sensing Technique."

Moreover, it was an incomplete scripture, with only the first volume.

For now, he can only start with the Super Sensing Technique.

Putting away the talisman paper and talisman pen, he immediately began to cultivate silently according to the Super Sensing Technique, fully mobilizing his spiritual power to enhance his perception.

In the deep night, Li An felt his heart completely calm, and many subtle sounds entered his ears.

The fluctuating moans from next door, Zhang Susu's voice, became clear and audible.

Although he has a firm mind, he is still a young and energetic body. The details he heard this time were too explicit, and a wicked fire rose in his lower abdomen...

...

In the blink of an eye, two months have passed.

During these two months, Li An did not go out and has been practicing on Lingzhi Mountain.

Until this night, Li An closed the door early, taking advantage of the next few days when the rice fields were in the seedling stage and there was nothing much to do.

In front of him, six spirit stones were placed!

His state is at the peak of the first level of Qi Refining, approaching the second level of Qi Refining.

He closed his eyes and began to absorb the pure spiritual energy from the spirit stones, breaking through!

...

Ten days later.

Li An finally walked out of his residence.

He couldn't help but look up to the sky and let out a long howl!

"Ah!"

The howl was full of joy.

Even Zhang Susu and Wang Zilin next to him were startled and hurriedly came out to check.

They saw Li An, who looked like a mud man, with a lot of black dirt on his body, but his eyes were extremely bright, and his aura had undergone a great change.

"I have broken through to the second level of Qi Refining!"

Li An appeared like a fool, extremely excited.

Zhang Susu and Wang Zilin were shocked by his words.

Isn't this guy Li An supposed to have a useless spiritual root? He should only be able to stay at the first level of Qi Refining for his whole life, right?

Even Fan Jie came down from the mountain to personally check Li An's condition.

"Your spiritual root has actually been almost repaired?"

Fan Jie was extremely surprised and grabbed Li An's shoulder. "Did you obtain a second-grade elixir?!"

Li An was a bit confused. "No, a few days ago, I cooked a pot of spring grass and ate it all. As a result, I had a stomachache and passed out. When I woke up, I had broken through..."

Upon hearing this, Fan Jie and the others were dumbfounded.

Spring grass has this effect?

No... Fan Jie suddenly thought of something and hurriedly ran to Li An's residence to check. But Li An had drunk all the soup, and there was no trace left.

"When you ate the spring grass, did you feel anything?"

Fan Jie asked urgently.

"This time's spring grass was indeed a bit different. The soup I cooked was very white, and it felt a bit tingly when I ate it. Right after eating, I had a stomachache and passed out..."

Li An honestly replied, "Elder, did I get food poisoning?"

Fan Jie's face immediately became complicated. He said, "You were fucking poisoned! You... you didn't eat spring grass at all. Most likely, it was Yuan Chun grass!"

"I don't know which idiot sold you Yuan Chun grass as spring grass... What a mess! What a waste!"

He immediately explained the difference between Yuan Chun grass and spring grass.

After listening, Zhang Susu and Wang Zilin beside him were stunned.

Especially Wang Zilin, his mentality was on the verge of exploding. This Li An, who always does things that anger both gods and men, can actually have such good luck?

Is there still justice in the world?

Is there still law?!!

...

(End of this chapter)