Cultivating Immortality Begins with Rejuvenation.

Chapter 227 Forbidden Relationship
The sky was clear and blue, and a gentle breeze caressed my face.

After the airship passed through the Daze Mountains, Qin Chuan looked at this familiar land, and his tense nerves finally relaxed, feeling an unparalleled sense of ease and comfort.

In particular, the ancestor regained consciousness a month after taking Li Ji'an's antidote pill, and has now recovered a lot. At most, he will be able to fully recover in half a year by going back to recuperate.

"Chuan'er, you must remember Xiao Li's kindness. As long as the Qin family exists, you must do your best to repay him." Qin Henian sat cross-legged beside Qin Chuan and transmitted his instructions.

After regaining consciousness, he learned the whole story from Qin Chuan.

This experience of surviving the ordeal left a deep impression on him.

In particular, before he fell into a coma, he witnessed Li Ji'an, a mere mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator, using himself as bait to lure away a corpse puppet comparable to a True Core cultivator all by himself.

He could empathize with that kind of behavior; it must have meant that the person was determined to die.

His decision to lure away the corpse puppet was largely driven by his ulterior motives, especially regarding Qin Chuan, a promising member of the Qin family.

Li Ji'an's actions, however, resembled a heroic act of sacrificing his life for righteousness.

"Ancestor, Chuan'er will remember this!" Qin Chuan nodded emphatically in agreement.

Just then, Li Ji'an came out from the inner cabin.

"Senior Li."

"Xiao Li, how is Xiao Yan?" Qin Henian asked with a kind smile.

Li Ji'an smiled slightly: "It's mostly fine now, and I estimate it will be fully recovered in a few more days."

"That's good, that's good. I'm truly ashamed this time. I intended to protect you all, but I almost dragged you into the abyss instead. Hahaha." Qin Henian laughed self-deprecatingly.

"Senior, you flatter me. It's just that the demonic cultivators were incredibly audacious to dare to venture so deep." Li Ji'an felt slightly embarrassed.

Qin Henian nodded secretly, pondered for a moment, and then suddenly raised his eyes and said, "Since things have come to this, I will no longer hide it from you."

"Little Li, do you remember the demonic cultivator you encountered outside the market in the Strange Stone Forest?"

Li Ji'an nodded.

"Actually, these demonic cultivators were deliberately let in by the Myriad Laws Palace and several major sects," Qin Henian said in a low voice.

"Was it deliberately let in? Why would you do that?" Qin Chuan asked in surprise.

Qin Henian sighed, "Alas, it's all because of that old thief from the Liu family who cultivates demonic arts."

"The Holy Palace and several major sects intend to capture that old beast alive to investigate the origin of his demonic arts, and... and the matter of the secret formula for the Core Formation Saint Medicine that was previously leaked..."

"Back then, after failing to find anything within the domain, some people in the Holy Palace suspected that the old thief had fled to the Boundless Domain, so they wanted to go in and search. Subsequently, they negotiated with the Demon Sect of the Boundless Domain."

Ultimately, both sides reached an agreement to exchange entry into each other's cultivation domains.

However, both sides had concerns, so the event was limited to cultivators below the Core Formation stage.

Such secrecy is limited to the upper echelons of the cultivation world; even Qin Henian could only guess at it before.

It wasn't until demonic cultivators appeared near the Qishilin Spirit Vein Dojo that Qin Henian used his connections to obtain this accurate information from the higher-ups of the Biyun Sect.

After hearing the whole story, Qin Chuan frowned: "No wonder demonic cultivators have been appearing so frequently in Cangyun Prefecture. I see. But... aren't the sect disciples who entered the Demon Realm afraid of being harmed by demonic cultivators?"

Li Ji'an had actually already confirmed this news through communications between Master Yu Dan and Xiao Changfeng, so he was not surprised.

After a moment's thought, Qin Henian added, "In addition, both sides have an agreement that True Core Immortals will not participate."

"No wonder the sect hasn't taken any action even though the matter of the demonic cultivators in the Strange Stone Forest has been reported for a long time!" Qin Chuan suddenly realized.

Qin Henian nodded, then added, "However, this agreement is probably about to be broken now."

"Why?"

"Because I killed that female demon cultivator." Qin Henian's eyes narrowed slightly.

Before Qin Chuan could ask any further questions, he continued, "A few days ago, I sent a message to Master Fang, who was on the border of the Demon Realm, to get some information. I learned that the relationship between the two sides is about to break down completely."

"The cause was the shattering of the Blood Spirit Sect's Holy Maiden's Soul Tablet."

Qin Chuan was startled: "That witch?"

"Not bad!"

"Before this, there were occasional casualties on both sides. Jiang Zhenchuan of the Biyun Sect even perished in the Demon Realm, but most of them believed that they were not skilled enough and the Biyun Sect never pursued the matter."

This time, the Blood Spirit Saintess belongs to the Blood Spirit Sect, whose status in the Demon Realm is second only to the Corpse Puppet Sect. In addition to being the saintess of the Blood Spirit Sect, the Blood Spirit Saintess is also the biological daughter of the current sect leader of the Blood Spirit Sect. Moreover, she should also be carrying some kind of core inheritance secret technique of the Blood Spirit Sect.

Therefore, the Blood Spirit Sect's attitude this time is extremely tough.

They declared that if the Heavenly Azure Domain did not provide a satisfactory answer, they would massacre the righteous cultivators within the Demon Realm! Qin Henian's expression turned somewhat solemn.

"..." Upon hearing this, Qin Chuan's heart tightened instantly.

He had previously asked the patriarch whether he should report his experiences on this trip to the Biyun Sect in a timely manner.

But Qin Henian did not agree at that time, and seemed somewhat conflicted.

At this moment, he finally understood Qin Henian's worries.

This shows that the Wanfa Palace's leadership in negotiating with the Demon Realm demonstrates that there is no distinction between the righteous and the demonic paths in this world; it's all about interests.

In order to obtain the formula for the sacred elixir, the Myriad Laws Palace can cooperate with the Demon Realm, which had previously been eager to fight.

For the sake of the core disciples of the Myriad Laws Palace and other sects, they might even exterminate the Qin family.

Li Ji'an now understood why Qin He'nian was saying those things.

This was actually something he had been worried about when he faced the two demonic cultivators.

"Don't worry, senior. I will keep this a secret!" Li Ji'an took the lead in expressing his stance.

Qin Chuan nodded immediately: "I will keep this matter to myself."

Qin Henian smiled awkwardly and waved his hand: "There is no need to worry so much. After all, the Blood Spirit Sect is not the Corpse Puppet Sect and cannot truly have a say in the Demon Realm. Moreover... my Heavenly Azure Domain Holy Palace Sect may not compromise. After all, it was agreed before the agreement that both sides would only guarantee that True Core level cultivators would not make a move. As for the rest, each side would rely on its own methods."

"The Blood Spirit Sect is now stubbornly believing that it must have been a True Core level cultivator from my Heavenly Azure Domain who killed the Blood Spirit Saintess. They are overly confident in their daughter."

"..."

Qin Chuan and Li Ji'an nodded secretly upon hearing this. Although the Blood Spirit Saintess seemed to have been almost instantly killed, in reality, if it weren't for that kind of talisman treasure, an ordinary fake Core Formation cultivator probably wouldn't have been able to kill her.

At the same time, Li Ji'an became even more vigilant.

The shattering of a Blood Spirit Saintess's soul tablet enraged the Demon Realm.

If Du Haizang, the quasi-saint son of the Corpse Puppet Sect, were to have his soul tablet shattered, who knows what kind of uproar it would cause. Moreover, with such a quasi-golden corpse puppet by his side, and the backup plan of transforming into a corpse puppet, Du Haizang could not be destroyed without a True Core level technique.

Thinking of this, Li Ji'an secretly contacted Guagua, whom he had put down halfway.

At this moment, Guagua has already entered the Daze Mountain Range area.

Li Ji'an's original intention was to let Guagua find the location of the monster and let it perish in the monster's mouth.

However, he changed his mind at this moment and decided that he could not let her die completely for the time being. He would wait until the matter of the Blood Spirit Saintess was resolved before making any decisions.

After giving instructions to Guagua, Li Ji'an greeted the two of them and returned to the inner cabin.

"do not move!"

Just as he entered the inner cabin, he saw Yan Qingwan open her eyes and try to get up. Li Ji'an moved quickly to Yan Qingwan's side and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Fan'er." Yan Qingwan's expression turned slightly unnatural when she saw Li Ji'an enter.

After three months of healing and nourishment, Yan Qingwan's body has been almost completely free of the corpse poison. Now, only the repair of her abdominal wound and the nourishment of the meridians that were eroded by the corpse poison remain.

Because her cultivation level was relatively weak, the corpse poison aggressively invaded her meridians, causing a significant impact on them.

At first, Li Ji'an was only trying to expel the poison from Yan Qingwan's body, but when the wood-elemental magic entered Yan Qingwan's body, he noticed some hidden injuries and blockages in her meridians.

I decided to clean it up as I pleased.

The reason why Yan Qingwan looked somewhat unnatural at this moment was because when she first woke up a month ago, in a half-dreaming state, she thought that she had died from the poison of the corpse, and mistook Li Ji'an in front of her for a dead ghost.

He rambled on in a daze.

Not only did she lament that she had failed to protect him, but he had also died because of her leading away the corpse puppet. She cried out in anguish that she owed him too much in this life and that she would repay him in the next.

In the end, he even poured out his feelings of oppression and lack of freedom as the clan's ancestor, and subtly revealed that one of his greatest regrets in life was not having a like-minded Daoist partner to walk the path of cultivation with.

She even frankly admitted under those circumstances that, apart from the constraints of her family, she had also witnessed Li Ji'an's growth and admired his character and temperament. She felt inferior to him in terms of his Dao heart and could not match his achievements. It would be difficult for any other male cultivator to catch her eye.

He made no attempt to hide his praise and admiration for Li Ji'an.

Furthermore, he revealed a secret to Li Ji'an: during the turmoil in the wilderness, Yan Zongsheng and the older generation of the Yan family had actually tried to persuade Yan Qingwan to recall Li Ji'an back to the clan, on the condition that Yan Qingwan and Li Ji'an become Daoist partners.

After all, Li Ji'an and Yan Qingwan were both Foundation Establishment seniors at that time, and they knew each other well.

This cultivation world doesn't value ethics, and Li Ji'an and Yan Qingwan aren't actually related by blood, so it's perfectly reasonable.

……

This made Yan Qingwan, who had fully regained her senses, feel extremely ashamed.

In the following month, Li Ji'an nourished her meridians and repaired the remaining toxins from her wounds every few days. Not only was her waist and abdomen fully exposed to Li Ji'an, but she also had prolonged intimate contact with him.

This caused Yan Qingwan, who had never experienced lovemaking and had always suppressed her desires in this area according to her clan's ancestral teachings, considerable torment.

I had always treated him as a junior and watched him grow up, so I had never had such a strange feeling before. But after hearing his heartfelt words about life and death, all sorts of messy thoughts inexplicably arose in my mind.

This troubled her greatly. While she was forcibly suppressing this inexplicable thought, she also felt strangely excited and tense. Under this high-pressure torment, the feeling was even more intense and surging than usual, making it difficult for her to control herself.

"Fan'er, I feel that the corpse poison in my body has been eliminated. Is it no longer necessary to treat and nourish me as before?" Yan Qingwan forced herself to regain her previous elder's mindset.

However, the more you care, the less you can find peace.

Li Ji'an had never had any experience with forbidden relationships. Although he could sense Yan Qingwan's subtle changes, he always regarded her as the little girl he first met at the Yan family's alchemy workshop in his previous life, and felt admiration and gratitude towards her.

“The corpse poison has indeed been completely removed, but there are still blockages in the meridians. If these blockages can be cleared, the efficiency of future cultivation should be slightly improved. In addition, if these four wounds heal on their own, there will be some scars left.” Li Ji’an did not insist, but simply told him the truth and let him choose for himself.

Upon hearing this, Yan Qingwan's face showed a conflicted expression once again.

"Then... I'll have to trouble Xiao Fan." In the end, she chose to continue.

Li Ji'an nodded, and placed one hand on his abdomen again.

As the wood-elemental magic was slowly injected, his hand repeatedly moved slowly upwards from Yan Qingwan's dantian.

Yan Qingwan immediately closed her eyes tightly and tried to control her breathing.

However, her gradually tense body and the flush on her cheeks were clearly visible.

Li Ji'an smiled and shook his head, seemingly unaware of the situation, while simultaneously offering guidance and considering potential future risks.

This trip to Tianhe Immortal City was very fruitful for him, and he also discovered the hidden danger of the golden radiance mark in his sea of ​​consciousness in advance.

Currently, only two main ingredients for the Crystal Condensation Pill, which helps with Core Formation, are missing, and Master Yuxiao should do his utmost to search for them for him.

He is currently at the sixth level of Foundation Establishment, and it is estimated that he will reach the bottleneck of the late Foundation Establishment stage in about five years. If all goes well, he should be able to break through to the late Foundation Establishment stage in the same year.

At that time, it should take at most thirty years to break through to the Core Formation stage, and by then the materials for the Crystallization Pill should be complete.

Moreover, at that time, his divine sense should have reached the middle stage of True Core. As long as the little fire spirit could advance to the next level and reach the middle stage of the second level, it would be enough to refine the Crystal Condensation Pill.

In addition to the main ingredient of the Crystal Condensation Pill, this long-term cooperation with the Sishui Chamber of Commerce not only solved his problem of converting a large amount of talismans into cash, but also provided a large supply of high-quality talisman materials, giving him more opportunities to practice. His talisman skills are bound to reach a new level.

The only concern is the golden imprint that still exists in my sea of ​​consciousness.

He still hasn't figured out the origin and principle of this mark, and doesn't know how to remove it.

This was actually very dangerous for him.

If Qin Henian hadn't been with him, and if the other party had blocked him alone, he wouldn't have been able to kill them with just his third-tier Heavenly Thunder Talisman.

After all, a single Heavenly Thunder Talisman can at most destroy its silver corpse puppet, and once it transforms into a corpse puppet, there will be no way to kill it again.

This served as a wake-up call for Li Ji'an.

The cultivation world must not be careless and must prepare more trump cards.

Especially now that he has been marked by the Demon Realm, and this time it was someone with the strength of Du Haizang who came to him, there is no guarantee that there won't be someone even more powerful next time.

Now that he has used up his third-tier Heavenly Thunder Talisman, his only remaining trump cards, besides two second-tier late-stage high-quality natal talismans, are third-tier poisons.

Thus, it can only deal with a fake alchemist who lacks sufficient foundation.

As for the mid-stage second-tier body cultivators, Guagua and Huoling are already somewhat incapable of shouldering heavy responsibilities.

He must prepare two more third-tier spirit talismans as soon as possible, and find a way to further improve the strength of Guagua, the Fire Spirit, and the Body Cultivator.

"I hope the righteous cultivators can withstand the pressure from the demonic cultivators, otherwise if the big boss behind Du Haizang intervenes, I will have no choice but to immediately revert to youth."

(End of this chapter)