Cultivating Immortality Begins with Rejuvenation

When Li Ji'an returned to the Li residence.

Liu Jingchun stood calmly at the entrance, waiting.

"Senior, you've been waiting long." Li Ji'an cupped his hands.

Liu Jingchun nodded slightly: "It's this old man who arrived early. The sect's decree allows for no further delay. Please forgive me, Alchemist Li."

"Senior is too polite. The upper sect's decree is paramount. The pill was just refined today, and I have it with me." As Li Ji'an spoke, he handed Liu Jingchun the jade bottle containing two mid-grade Longevity Pills.

Liu Jingchun took the jade bottle and scanned it with his spiritual sense, a hint of satisfaction appearing on his face: "Alchemist Li is indeed reliable. Thank you."

"Senior is too kind."

Liu Jingchun put away the Longevity Pills, nodded again, and turned to leave.

He didn't leave a communication talisman to establish contact with Li Ji'an, unlike the cultivators who had sought pills before.

However, Li Ji'an didn't mind. It was just a casual move, and he wasn't curious about what was happening within the Liu family anyway.

He turned and entered the residence.

"Hmm? Xiao Qiao, what's wrong?" Just as he entered the residence, he saw Xiao Qiao supporting herself against the doorframe of the second courtyard, her breathing unsteady.

Li Ji'an flashed over, appearing beside Xiao Qiao, supporting her with one hand and probing her glabella with the other, examining her sea of consciousness.

"Uncle Li, just now… I felt my heart beating rapidly again. An indescribable feeling made the blood in my whole body somewhat restless," Xiao Qiao quickly explained after calming down slightly.

Li Ji'an's expression changed slightly, and he turned his head to look in the direction Liu Jingchun had left.

Last time, after returning from the auction, he learned of Xiao Qiao's abnormality and thought it was caused by Qin Henian's uncontrolled pseudo-core aura. Now he realized it was Liu Jingchun who caused it.

"Is it because Xiao Qiao's ability to connect with the earth's spiritual energy allowed her to sense something others couldn't?"

"Could this person have some kind of abnormality?"

He pondered for a moment, but was clueless.

However, after examining her, Xiao Qiao was fine.

"Stay away from him in the future."

— —

In the following days, the afterglow of the auction gradually dissipated.

Many rogue cultivators with ideas had already entered the Daze Mountains.

Most of them were waiting for an opportunity outside the restricted area designated by the Bi Yun Sect.

The number of people seeking pills dropped sharply.

Li Ji'an also returned to his normal cultivation rhythm.

Three months later,

On this day, Li Ji'an finished circulating a major cycle and slowly opened his eyes, a hint of joy appearing on his face.

"It's only three months until ten years since foundation establishment, which is unexpected."

Previously, based on the numerous records of the Cangyun Prefecture cultivation world and the experiences shared by others, Li Ji'an had a common understanding.

Foundation establishment mainly involves qualitative changes in three stages, namely the early, middle, and late stages of foundation establishment.

At each stage of qualitative change, the dantian will undergo transformation, and the mana will increase exponentially. The difference is a steep increase that cannot be compensated for by quantity.

Comparing his own aptitude of upper-middle grade spiritual root, the grade of the "Flame Dragon Art" he cultivated, and the foundation he laid when foundation establishment was successful, Li Ji'an judged that he would be a little faster than the average level of ordinary foundation establishment cultivators.

On average, it takes thirty years for an ordinary foundation establishment cultivator to cultivate to the peak of the early stage of foundation establishment. After that, they will face the bottleneck of the middle stage of foundation establishment. The bottleneck of the foundation establishment stage mainly lies in comprehension and state of mind. Even breakthrough pills are only auxiliary and cannot guarantee a breakthrough.

Within the early stage of foundation establishment, there are actually three small levels of division, but because the increase in mana at these small levels is relatively small, with at most a 20-30% change, and even the grade of the cultivation method can completely cover up the difference, generally no one will specifically mention it.

However, if he evaluates his own cultivation progress, he will still use this standard as a reference.

Li Ji'an previously estimated that if he didn't have sufficient high-quality replenishing pills to assist him and relied solely on spiritual veins for cultivation, it would probably take him about twenty-seven or eight years to cultivate to the peak of the early stage of foundation establishment.

Obviously, it was much faster than his previous prediction.

If this continues, it is estimated that he will be able to reach the peak of the early stage of foundation establishment in at most five or six years and touch the bottleneck of the middle stage of foundation establishment.

"If I advance to the middle stage of foundation establishment in fifteen years… I still can't compare to the true disciples of the Jiangyun Prefecture sect!"

High-grade pills and high-quality pills are almost indistinguishable in terms of efficacy alone. The reason why Li Ji'an pursues high-quality pills is only because the cultivation method he practices is not very good, and his mana is not as good as high-grade cultivation methods. Moreover, he doesn't want the pills to affect his mana.

Jiang Yunzhou's spiritual root is not much better than Li Ji'an's, and he naturally doesn't lack pills. The biggest advantage is that the cultivation method he practices is at least one grade higher, followed by the tempering of fighting and killing.

In addition, there must be some treasures or secret methods within the sect that Li Ji'an doesn't know about that can increase the cultivation of foundation establishment cultivators.

Including the experience and guidance of senior masters, they should all have some effect.

"Be content!" Li Ji'an left the alchemy room contentedly.

When he came to the front yard, he saw Duanmu Qin teaching Xiao Qiao to play the guzheng.

Xiao Qiao took the initiative to ask Duanmu Qin to teach her after hearing that the way of music can help others purify their minds.

Li Ji'an understood her intention.

Especially as she grew older and had more contact with the families of the masters around her, Xiao Qiao became more aware of the unspoken rules of the cultivation world that rogue cultivators don't support idlers.

Under normal circumstances, if Li Ji'an, as a rogue cultivator, were to take her in and provide her with a cultivation dojo, it would already be benevolent and righteous after she formally practiced Qi.

Then she should work hard for her own path.

This is the unspoken rule of the cultivation world.

However, Li Ji'an has never had such an intention all these years.

This made Xiao Qiao even more ashamed after understanding the unspoken rules.

So she had the idea of dedicating herself last time.

After all, among the families of Doctor Bai and others, those who cannot provide mutual assistance value to the master are basically concubines and maids.

Afterwards, Li Ji'an reassured her again, making her even more ashamed.

She always wanted to do something that could help Li Ji'an.

Originally, she placed her hope on formations, but now she can only arrange first-order formations, which are almost useless to Li Ji'an.

So now she is forcing herself to learn music with Duanmu Qin.

Li Ji'an shook his head slightly after observing for a while.

Choice is greater than effort.

Since she has the extraordinary ability to communicate with the earth's spiritual energy, she should study formations carefully, or at least learn to find dragons and divide gold from Red Stone Sanren.

Considering her self-esteem, Li Ji'an didn't bother her and waited for an opportunity to guide her to choose the right direction.

That night, Li Ji'an left Duanmu Qin to discuss the Dao together to express his gratitude and listened to Duanmu Qin sharing the situation in the mountains.

It is said that the road near Tianyuan Prefecture and Daoyuan Prefecture has recently been blocked. Many rogue cultivators from the two prefectures have gathered here, and even created a new safe passage connecting Cangyun Prefecture.

"It is said that many sect disciples have come to join in the fun, and even a few sword cultivators from Jinyang Sect, Xiaoyao Sect, and even Jianzhong of Daoyuan Prefecture have come."

"Among the five major families, except for the Liu family, who is said to be nearing the end of their lifespan and only sent the late foundation establishment to lead the team, the other four major families are led by pseudo-core ancestors."

"In the past month, the number of rogue cultivators from Cangyun Prefecture who approached the ruins restricted area and were killed by the Bi Yun Sect reached five."

"There are also robbery cultivators mixed outside the ruins restricted area, and many Daoists have suffered."

… …

The two discussed the Dao while communicating.

Early the next morning, just as Li Ji'an was being playfully teased by Duanmu Qin, preparing to punish her slightly, a familiar knock on the door came from outside.

"The Yan family of the Wasteland, seeking an audience with Alchemist Li!"

Li Ji'an smiled indifferently, put on his clothes, and went out to greet her.

Opening the door, he saw Yan Qingwan, who had been away for ten years, still gentle and quiet, like a white lotus quietly blooming.

"Auntie, long time no see."

"Fan'er!" Yan Qingwan smiled gently and took two steps forward.

"Hmm?" However, inadvertently sensing the lingering amorous atmosphere in the bedroom, Yan Qingwan stopped instantly.

A hint of unnaturalness appeared on her face: "Fan'er, did… did I come at a bad time?"