Cultivating Immortality Begins with Rejuvenation.

Chapter 297 Breakthrough to Core Formation
Aside from the congratulations and requests for guidance from fellow disciples within the sect, the younger generation from various forces within the state mostly offered exaggerated flattery and ingratiation.

In response to the current situation within the sect, the Biyun Sect has gathered almost all the forces with some fighting power in the state, resulting in a large number of people attending Li Ji'an's small celebration.

Among the many forces, the four pseudo-core families and the Strange Stone Forest are the most powerful, followed by the Foundation Establishment families.

The young man from the Yan family was the most endearing, his eyes never leaving Li Ji'an with excitement throughout.

Li Ji'an did not disappoint him. After sharing his experiences, he kindly inquired about the Yan family's situation, which aroused envy among many forces in the state for the young man from the Yan family.

Afterwards, everyone took their leave, and Li Ji'an began his seclusion to consolidate his strength.

In his previous life, he established his foundation at the age of thirty-seven and formed his core at the age of one hundred and fifteen, taking seventy-eight years to complete the foundation-building process.

With his innate spiritual talent and cultivation abilities, he set a goal for himself to break through to the Core Formation stage within sixty years at the latest.

Six months later, Qingjiang Sect officially issued a reward for the true disciples of Biyun Sect.

The bounty for the head of Li Ping'an, the chief disciple, is as high as 30,000 spirit stones, while the bounty for the other disciples ranges from 5,000 to 20,000 spirit stones.

The Biyun Sect retaliated in kind, offering a reward for a true disciple of the Qingjiang Sect, with a higher reward than the Biyun Sect.

Subsequently, both sides raised the price, and the final reward of spirit stones reached an astonishing level.

A generous reward will surely attract brave men, especially since many newly promoted disciples have not yet reached the Foundation Establishment stage, drawing the attention of various factions.

In a short time, the number of cultivators in the two regions surged, and most of them were unfamiliar faces, leading to numerous conflicts.

However, both sects were prepared, and their respective disciples stayed within their sects and no longer went out.

Six months later, with the bounty yielding no results, the Qingjiang Sect's army set off, heading straight for the Biyun Sect.

The Biyun Sect had already made thorough preparations, and all the major forces in the state had dispatched cultivators to be under the unified command of the Biyun Sect to fight against the Qingjiang Sect.

After April, the two sides clashed violently on the northern border of Cangyun Prefecture.

The Qingjiang Sect has four True Pill Masters, and three of them have come this time, giving them a clear advantage over Elder Shangtian and Xiao Changfeng.

However, since the Biyun Sect was fighting on its home turf, many Foundation Establishment forces within the state dared not disobey the imperial edict and were forced to participate in the battle. In terms of Pseudo-Core Formation and Foundation Establishment combat power, they were many times stronger than their opponents.

In particular, the third-tier clan-guarding beast of the Liu family shone brightly this time. It not only joined forces with the Liu family's pseudo-core ancestor to kill two pseudo-core cultivators from the Qingjiang Sect, but also supported Elder Tian in a critical moment, holding back a true core cultivator from the Qingjiang Sect.

In their first battle, they suffered a crushing defeat at Qingjiang Gate, with heavy casualties.

This did not calm the other party down; instead, it made them even more furious. This was because the personal disciple of the late-stage Core Formation Elder of Qingjiang Sect had his dantian shattered by someone during this battle, rendering him a cripple.

Subsequently, the Supreme Elder of Qingjiang Sect was furious and personally led the clan forces within his sphere of influence to the front line to provide support.

This forced Yunqing Zhenren of the Biyun Sect to passively fight back, even though his old injuries had not yet healed.

In the end, both sides suffered heavy losses, and Master Yunqing's injuries worsened.

This time, the opposing side brought many mid-level combatants, which caused the Biyun Sect, which had already experienced a fierce battle, to suffer repeated defeats.

Ultimately, they had no choice but to retreat back to the sect's territory, where they relied on the sect's grand formation and high-level spiritual veins within the sect to quickly recover, before their strength was completely depleted.

After six months, Qingjiangmen's forces were finally exhausted and retreated once again.

In the following years, Qingjiang Sect used the Eighteen Spirit Villages as its base and engaged in a protracted tug-of-war with Biyun Sect.

For the first three years, no true disciples who had not reached the Foundation Establishment stage for twenty years were sent to the battlefield, allowing them time to grow.

In the fourth year, apart from Li Ji'an, the chief disciple, all the other disciples, even Hu Zaiyi and Shen Xingchen who had just established their foundations, were sent out to meet the enemy.

The other inner disciples, even those still in the Qi Refining stage, were sent out early on to live and die with the sect.

In the fifth year, seven of the sect's true disciples had already perished. Apart from Shen Xingchen, the other six true disciples had all joined the sect earlier than them.

As soon as these true disciples appeared on the battlefield, they were targeted by the enemy. After all, the bounty had not yet been lifted, and the value of each true disciple was no less than that of a fake elixir, and the difficulty was relatively lower, so they naturally became the targets.

Yao Rui faced several close calls.

Six years have passed in the blink of an eye, and only Li Ji'an can still face it calmly.

Moreover, when the war broke out, Old Huang was immediately sent to the front line. He has been living alone for the past six years, which has been quite comfortable for him.

However, if this fighting continues, once the sect faces a life-or-death crisis, Li Ji'an's peaceful days will come to an end.

Fortunately, things took a turn for the better in the seventh year.

Wanfa Palace, which had been excavating the Blackwater Swamp tombs on its own, announced its abandonment. Just like the Wuji Secret Realm back then, it was unable to break through the first three layers of the tomb. There were even rumors that Wanfa Zhenjun suffered a backlash from the restriction while trying to break through the first three layers of the tomb, and was seriously injured.

However, this rumor was quickly suppressed by Wanfa Palace.

When Li Ji'an learned of this, he raised an eyebrow.

According to Zou Yan's prediction, Li Ji'an guessed that this was most likely the fulfillment of the divination he had given, which stated that there was no true ruler guarding the region.

However, whether Wanfa Zhenjun perished or his cultivation level dropped to the Zhenjun realm remains unknown.

Just one month after Wanfa Palace withdrew from the Blackwater Swamp, the Liuli Sect in northern Tianyuan Prefecture once again set foot in the Blackwater Swamp tombs.

During this period, a conflict arose with the garrison commander of Hanshuixian Town at Qingjiangmen, which escalated into a physical fight.

The True Core cultivator from Qingjiang Sect returned swiftly, and a major battle erupted between the two sects.

The Azure Cloud Sect seized the opportunity and joined forces with the Glazed Tile Sect to launch a pincer attack, turning defense into offense!
However, the main force shifted to the Glazed Tile Sect, and the flames of war were far from Cangyun Prefecture, finally giving the cultivators in Cangyun Prefecture a moment's respite.

Faced with the combined attack of the two sects, Qingjiang Sect suffered repeated defeats. At this critical moment, the Sword Sect of Daoyuan Prefecture suddenly launched an attack, heading south to kill the Liuli Sect.

At the same time, Tianyin Pavilion in the eastern part of Daoyuan Prefecture suddenly crossed the border of Tianyuan Prefecture and attacked Dongli Sect. It is said that a music elder of Tianyin Pavilion was raped and murdered by Dongli Sect.

At this point, all six sects of the entire Tiancang Domain were engulfed in war.

Although he had anticipated this, the speed still caught Li Ji'an somewhat off guard.

Without a doubt, the Wanfa Palace played a role in this, aiming to provoke them into a real fight.

This ensures that there is no possibility of the six sects joining forces to deal with the Palace of Ten Thousand Laws for the next several hundred years.

However, given the existence of external enemies and demonic cultivators, Li Ji'an judged that the Myriad Laws Palace would not allow any sect to be destroyed!

Over the next few decades, the six factions' conflicts gradually subsided.

Li Ji'an, on the other hand, stayed within the sect, focusing on cultivation.

Fifty years passed quickly amidst such war and chaos...

"Foundation Establishment Completed! Ten years earlier than expected!" In this year, Li Ji'an was seventy-four years old. His Foundation Establishment cultivation had reached its peak, and the liquid mana in his dantian was becoming increasingly viscous, showing signs of solidification.

After another two or three years of consolidation, one can attempt to form the Core Formation.

As Li Ji'an emerged from the training room, he looked up at the sky, a surge of heroic spirit welling up within him.

At this moment, his magical power is more than three times that of when he was 115 years old in his previous life, and it is also purer. Even now, when he tries to form a true core with the Crystal Condensation Pill he took in his previous life, he has a 50% success rate.

If one's magical power were refined further, the success rate of obtaining a true pill might increase. However, if one seeks a true pill of mid-to-high quality, the purity of one's magical power is still far from sufficient, requiring several years of dedicated practice.

With a casual wave of his hand, a vine about ten feet thick shot into the sky from the courtyard, its momentum long and powerful, reaching straight into the clouds, accompanied by a roar of dragons and tigers that echoed throughout the main peak of the sect.

"Congratulations, Senior Brother, on achieving great success in your cultivation!" Before long, several disciples who were also cultivating on the main peak arrived one after another. They looked at Li Ji'an with awe, admiration, and deep envy.

Although they were hardly ever sent to the front lines after the sect switched from defense to offense, they witnessed many fellow disciples perish during the first seven years. They themselves also faced life-or-death situations and were injured, which delayed their cultivation.

The senior brother in front of them, however, had always been safe and sound, devoting himself to cultivation. Now he had actually reached the Foundation Establishment stage, and in terms of cultivation progress alone, he far surpassed them.

"No need for such formalities, everyone." Li Ji'an nodded slightly.

“Junior Sister Yao, haven’t you wanted to spar with your senior brother many times before? Today I will grant your wish.” Li Ji’an looked at Yao Rui, whose temperament was no longer as irritable as when she first entered the sect.

"A friendly spar?" Yao Rui was taken aback upon hearing this.

Her innate talent in earth spiritual roots was not much different from Li Ji'an's top-grade spiritual roots during the Qi Refining stage, but she should have a significant gap with Li Ji'an during the Foundation Establishment stage.

As a result, fifty years have passed, and she is still half a step away from advancing to the late stage of Foundation Establishment.

Because she was seriously injured while fighting on the front lines during the early stages of the sect war, her cultivation progress was delayed by nearly ten years.

Currently, there is a small realm difference between him and Li Ji'an. In terms of the amount of magic power alone, they are twice as much. The difference of a small realm in the Foundation Establishment stage is not comparable to that in the Qi Refining stage.

Although her magical power was more refined due to the life-or-death battle, it still couldn't bridge the gap in quantity.

"Thank you for your kindness, Senior Brother!" After a moment of surprise, Yao Rui took a deep breath and did not refuse.

Now I've lost all competitive spirit, and losing to the top senior brother isn't shameful.

Afterwards, surrounded by the crowd, Li Ji'an and Yao Rui arrived at the sect's dueling arena.

Before long, the news spread throughout the sect.

Disciples who were not on the front lines or were recuperating in the sect due to injuries, including several pseudo-core elders, all came to watch the battle.

Unsurprisingly, Li Ji'an's status in the sect in this life is unmatched. He is no longer just a True Core cultivator, but a late-stage True Core cultivator, and is expected to succeed the Supreme Elder in the future.

The Supreme Elder has been recuperating for many years, but there is no sign of improvement. Elder Tian has reached the limit of the True Core stage. Xiao Changfeng is the only hope.

However, one cannot put all their eggs in one basket. If something were to happen to Xiao Changfeng, and the Biyun Sect were to suffer a complete loss of late-stage Core Formation cultivators, it might face annihilation in the current situation.

Now, Li Ji'an has lived up to expectations, achieving the Foundation Establishment stage at the age of less than eighty. The next step is to witness the condensation of the elixir of hope.

The duel between the two attracted widespread attention.

The result was a thrilling experience for the audience.

Although Yao Rui was a minor realm lower, the explosive power of her "Burning Heaven Technique" left onlookers in awe.

Li Ji'an's "Yi Mu Chang Qing Gong" possessed a powerful and profound magical force, especially its long-lasting and sustained aftereffects, which amazed even the group of pseudo-Dan elders.

After a three-day and three-night battle, Yao Rui was almost completely exhausted of her magical power, while Li Ji'an remained in control.

Yao Rui was convinced of her defeat and felt honored, and at the same time, her magical power was refined.

However, Li Ji'an gained very little in his battle of wits with him.

After all, his mid-Foundation Establishment stage magic power was no threat to Li Ji'an, could not stimulate his potential, and could not refine his magic power.

In the days that followed, Li Ji'an turned his attention to the fake Core Elder who remained in the sect.

However, just three months later, the elderly pseudo-elixir elders who remained stopped sparring with him.

The main problem is that fighting him is extremely taxing and takes a long time; a single battle can easily last five or six days.

Of course, this is also because the fake Dan elders were unwilling to truly injure him, and did not unleash their full power at that moment.

Without the instantaneous burst of powerful destructive force, it can be repaired quickly thanks to the nourishing effect of its wood-type magic. Moreover, its magic power is truly long-lasting and enduring. In a simple contest of magic power consumption, the remaining pseudo-core cultivators cannot outlast it.

“There’s still room for improvement!” After being rejected by Master Yudan again, Li Ji’an smiled sheepishly and stood outside Master Yudan’s alchemy room.

Judging from the state of his dantian's spiritual fluid, it was much more refined than it had been three months ago. However, due to the large amount of fluid, there was still considerable room for improvement.

Unfortunately, there are no longer any safe sparring partners within the sect, and there are risks associated with fake Core Formation cultivators outside.

After shaking his head slightly, Li Ji'an focused his divine sense, which had reached the peak of his previous life and was approaching the mid-stage of True Core, easily discerning the batch of pills that True Person Jade Core was refining in the pill room.

Floating in front of Master Yudan was a pieced-together sheepskin scroll containing a prescription for elixirs.

Above it: Six Gods Condensing Yuan Pill. Of the five characters, Li Ji'an was particularly familiar with the first three.

It was in his previous life that Li Ji'an persuaded Jade Elixir Master to help Xiao Changfeng guard the ancient elixir formula fragments containing the Core Formation Treasure.

After a century of lifespan, the Jade Elixir Immortal managed to collect all the ancient Soul Elixir formulas just as his lifespan was about to end.

Li Ji'an's visit to challenge Master Yudan today was truly out of necessity.

The main reason is that no one in the sect is willing to become a fake cultivator.

Now that Jade Elixir Immortal's lifespan is nearing its end, based on Li Ji'an's second-tier medical skills, he has at most twenty years left to live.

His greatest wish now is to successfully refine the "Six Gods Condensing Essence Pill".

“Poison Dragon Flower, Nine Domain Insects…” Li Ji’an scanned the pill formula with his divine sense and carefully studied it with the experience of a third-level alchemist.

"I'm afraid it won't work. With Master Yu Dan's alchemy skills, this formula is quite difficult to master." After a moment, Li Ji'an frowned slightly, judging that Master Yu Dan's hope of successfully refining the Six Gods Condensing Yuan Pill was about to be dashed.

That night, Li Ji'an returned to his cave and began to deduce the refining process of the Six Gods Condensing Essence Pill.

Because he lacked complete practical experience with medicinal materials, he could only deduce them theoretically.

This will certainly deviate significantly from practice, but it can still serve as a theoretical guide.

Three days later, Li Ji'an opened his eyes, looking slightly tired, and imprinted the most likely mistakes made by the Jade Elixir Immortal into the jade talisman.

He then used his magic to age the items and handed them over to Guo Wanzhi under the pretext of accidentally finding his master's belongings.

With Master Yu Dan's lifespan nearing its end, Guo Wanzhi has become the future hope of Dan Ding Peak and is now being placed on high expectations.

If it weren't for the sect wars of recent years, theoretically, the sect should have provided him with the spiritual resources to help him form his core twenty years ago.

Unfortunately, the continuous war has caused great losses to the sect, and it is estimated that it will be difficult to raise a Core Formation Spiritual Treasure for them now.

When Master Yudan learned that Li Ji'an still possessed the deduction insights of the Six Gods Condensing Yuan Pill, he was very much looking forward to it.

After reading the content, I was overjoyed.

Although the insights recorded in the jade talisman are mostly derived from fragments and numerous alchemical experiences, and there are no incomplete alchemical formulas for verification, and some of the hypothesized medicinal materials are incorrect, the methods and techniques described therein were truly enlightening for the Jade Elixir Master.

Just as Li Ji'an was waiting for Jade Pill Immortal to succeed, a piece of news suddenly shook the entire region.

The Boundless Domain and the Yellow Heaven Domain have formed an alliance and are invading the Azure Sky Domain!
(End of this chapter)