Immortality begins with inheriting the myriad arts of cultivation.

Ignoring Meng Wanjun's self-entertainment over there.

Li Ping focused on crafting array flags and modifying the array formations on the Spirit Island.

Array crafting is actually different from weapon crafting and puppet crafting.

All three methods involve refining spiritual materials into artifacts.

However, the main difficulty in crafting artifacts lies in the engraving of secret runes, which facilitates the infusion of magical power and control by the cultivator's divine sense. The difficulty in crafting puppets lies in how to convert the spiritual energy within spirit stones and the magical power circulation that allows for the simultaneous mobilization of a massive amount of magical power.

As for array crafting, it actually tests a cultivator's ability to utilize spiritual veins and the environment to design suitable arrays. In short, for array cultivators, crafting array flags is the simplest part of the entire array crafting process.

Just like the process of creating a mobile phone, design is the most difficult and technically demanding part, while assembly is the most basic part of the whole process, and the profit margin is the smallest.

all in all.

Although weapon crafting, puppet crafting, and array crafting all involve a crafting process and require some similar spiritual materials, the techniques themselves are not the same.

It doesn't mean that a master craftsman can more easily enter the realm of array formations or puppetry.

Li Ping dares to say: In the cultivation world, who else can simultaneously push the Refining of Weapons, the Making of Puppets, and the Dao of Arrays to the third rank or above?

……

After several months of work, Li Ping successfully modified the third-order formation on the Spirit Island, enhancing its concealment and spirit-gathering abilities.

After attempting to activate the formation.

Li Ping was pleased to see that the formation and the spirit island were both concealed, and the spiritual energy of the entire third-order spiritual vein was gathered on the spirit island. The spiritual energy environment in the cold pool near the formation was only barely at the second order.

As for outside the cold pool, including the passage they entered through, the spiritual energy became extremely thin, not much different from the outside world.

In this way, the third-order spiritual vein becomes even more difficult to detect.

Of course, constantly trying to hide it is not a good strategy, as it will eventually become impossible to hide.

The truly reliable solution is for the Yan and Ji families to cultivate a Core Formation cultivator. With a Core Formation cultivator in charge, this third-tier spiritual vein can naturally be openly and legitimately displayed.

Li Ping estimated that this time wouldn't be too far off.

Even if Ji Shuwen fails to form her core, Yan Jing's success in doing so is not a major problem.

However, they each belong to their own sect, and as they grow older and their relatives pass away, their relationship with their families will inevitably become distant.

Just like Ji Shuwen, her grandfather, father, and brothers of the same generation have all passed away, and she may not have even met the rest of her clansmen more than a few times.

Cultivators aspire to the Great Dao, expecting her to risk her life for a group of nominal relatives who are related by blood but have only met a few times in reality.

That's unrealistic.

Yan Jing was no exception. Things were fine when Yan Hengchuan and Yu Peiling were still alive, but after another hundred or two hundred years, all the people he knew had passed away.

He himself married and had children within the Crimson Flame Sect, thus expanding his family.

Those in the Yan family who are only related to him by blood would probably find it difficult to even see him.

Therefore, if the three families truly want to gain a foothold in Jiang Kingdom and preserve their third-tier spiritual veins, they must cultivate a Core Formation cultivator themselves.

Only those Core Formation cultivators trained within a family will be deeply bound to the family, and may even be willing to sacrifice their lives for the family.

……

Next, Li Ping personally went to Bifeng Lake to inform Yan Hengchuan of his return and asked him to keep an eye on information about the cultivation world in the Western Wilderness.

Every year, I would compile the information and send it to him at the foot of Xiaomei Mountain for his review.

Upon learning of his master's return, Yan Hengchuan was naturally overjoyed. He readily agreed to his master's request to gather intelligence.

He then excitedly briefed Li Ping on the recent situation of the three companies.

Each of the three families has a Foundation Establishment cultivator in charge, and they possess two second-tier spiritual veins, including Bifeng Lake. Their strength has expanded significantly, and they now have hundreds of low-level Qi Refining cultivators.

In addition to managing two second-tier spiritual lands and numerous first-tier spiritual lands, several years ago, Yan Hengchuan personally went to Fenglan Immortal City to cultivate relationships.

Ultimately, thanks to Ji Shuwen's intervention, they successfully obtained the qualification of a licensed merchant caravan in the Immortal City, and formed a caravan that traveled between the Immortal City of Fenglan and the Jiang Kingdom, earning considerable profits through trade.

Because the three families' cultivators were too busy, they had to recruit a group of independent cultivators and entrust them with some unimportant tasks within their families.

Yan Hengchuan sighed with regret, "It's a pity that the strength of our three families is still too weak. Sister Shuwen is also facing great pressure in Ziyun Valley. Otherwise, we could earn more spirit stones each time we travel back and forth."

As they spoke, Yan Hengchuan secretly observed his master's expression, only to find that his master had a blank expression and seemed completely uninterested in what he was saying.

He couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

He couldn't help but think: If his master were willing to endorse it, with his status as a Core Formation cultivator, not only could it greatly alleviate the pressure Ji Shuwen had to face from Ziyun Valley, but our three families would also no longer have to be so cautious and petty, and could go all out and make a big splash.

Unfortunately, the grandmaster had no intention of intervening.

"However, only a dedicated cultivator like my master, who single-mindedly pursues the Dao, could rise from a humble cultivator in Jiang Kingdom to become a giant in the Western Wilderness's cultivation world with his three spiritual roots!" Thinking of this, Yan Hengchuan looked up at Li Ping, his eyes filled with admiration.

Of course, while he admired him, he himself had no particular interest in spiritual practice.

With his extraordinary talent in five spiritual roots, even if he were to completely fall into the demonic path, he would have no chance of forming a core.

Instead of struggling in vain, it's better to enjoy life.

However, as an old-fashioned parent, Yan Hengchuan was self-taught and very adept at playing the double standard game, and he could lie down without any psychological burden.

But any of the younger generation in the family who dares to follow his example will face pressure from the Yan family patriarch.

"Back then, I didn't have the conditions to cultivate immortality. Now you have such good conditions, yet you don't know how to be grateful and don't know how to cultivate immortality properly. You've simply let down all my good intentions."

"Lying down like this, how can you face your parents, your ancestor, your family, and the cultivation world?"

……

In order to bring his master closer to the family, Yan Hengchuan specially summoned the outstanding younger generation of the Yan family who were cultivating at Bifeng Lake and asked them to respectfully pay their respects to their ancestor.

Facing these slightly reserved little fellows, Li Ping smiled and bestowed upon them low-grade pills and magical artifacts.

Looking at these respectfully thanking little fellows, he couldn't help but recall the scene when he first returned to the Western Wilderness.

At that time, he also met the younger generation of cultivators from the three families at Xiaomei Mountain. In terms of cultivation level and exquisite robes, they were not as good as these young guys now.

But Li Ping remembers that the smiles on their faces were clearly more numerous.

However, he also understood that this was an inevitable trend. As the three families grew stronger and wealthier, their leaders would naturally invest more resources and energy in cultivating their younger generations of cultivators.

Their idea in doing this was to hope that each generation of cultivators within the family would be stronger than the last, making the family even more powerful.

Whether it's an individual or a family, there's always a price to pay if you want to become stronger.

After the Yan family youths respectfully withdrew, Li Ping chatted with Yan Hengchuan for a while before leaving Bifeng Lake and returning to the underground of Xiaomei Mountain, where he devoted himself to secluded cultivation.

Before we knew it, three years had quietly passed.

In the main hall of Ling Island, Li Ping slowly opened his eyes, and two beams of divine light seemed to shoot out from his pupils.

Three years is a very short period of time for cultivation at the Core Formation stage, and his progress in cultivation is negligible.

Li Ping was truly concerned about the Wildfire Sparrow's cultivation progress. He stood up and walked out of the main hall. In a few steps, he arrived at the square and used telepathy to call Meng Wanjun over.

During his seclusion, his spirit beast was taken care of by Meng Wanjun. In terms of understanding his own spirit beast, he was actually inferior to her.

At this moment, if he wanted to know about the Wildfire Sparrow, the most appropriate thing to do was to ask Meng Wanjun directly.

"Young master, you called me."

Meng Wanjun interrupted her cultivation, hurriedly walked out of her residence, and went to Li Ping. She then kept waving her arms in front of him, as if trying her best to show him something.

Li Ping found it amusing, but feigned ignorance and asked, "What are you doing swaying back and forth like that? Did you twist your back while cultivating?"

"what!"

Meng Wanjun was taken aback for a moment, but when she saw Li Ping's mischievous smile, she immediately realized that the young master was teasing her, and she turned her head away angrily: "Young master, you're so annoying."

"Ha ha!"

Li Ping laughed heartily, took out two bottles of pills from his storage bag, and used his magic to make them float in front of Meng Wanjun: "These two bottles of spiritual pills have a good effect on improving the cultivation of mid-Foundation Establishment cultivators. Consider them a gift to congratulate you on your breakthrough."

"Thank you for your generous gift, young master." Meng Wanjun then accepted the pills with a smile.

After three years of diligent cultivation in a high-grade third-tier spiritual energy environment, Meng Wanjun finally broke through the bottleneck and advanced to the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment.

She had fulfilled her promise to Li Ping, which was why she had been hovering in front of him, hoping to draw his attention to the changes in her cultivation.

Who knew that the young master would make a fool of him?

"By the way, how is the Wildfire Sparrow doing now?" Li Ping asked, addressing his most pressing concern.

Meng Wanjun smiled and said, "Queque has been consuming and refining the fire-attribute spiritual items you prepared for it during this time, accumulating power for its advancement. Wanjun estimates that it should be able to attempt to advance within five years."

"Five years." Li Ping nodded.

This time was about what he had originally expected.

"However..." He glanced at Meng Wanjun sideways, "Queque, what kind of nickname is that?"

Meng Wanjun blushed: "These are the nicknames Wanjun gave them."

While explaining, she secretly glanced at the young master. She was too embarrassed to say that she was just playing house, treating the spirit beast as her and the young master's child.

Li Ping nodded, not dwelling on it too much, and instead looked at the three cyan transmission talismans flying within the formation.

While explaining, she secretly glanced at the young master. She was too embarrassed to say that she was just playing house, treating the spirit beast as her and the young master's child.

Li Ping nodded, not dwelling on it too much, and instead looked at the three cyan transmission talismans flying within the formation.

During his three years of seclusion, Yan Hengchuan would visit him once a year and send him the major events that had occurred in the Western Wilderness cultivation world that year through a sound transmission talisman.

However, since he was in seclusion, Li Ping had not yet had time to check.

"Whoosh~"

With a slight wave of his hand, all three communication talismans fell into his grasp.