Starting as a stray dog, I embarked on a journey of cultivation.

As night fell over Luofeng City, a flying boat silently took off from the city and carried a hundred elderly rogue cultivators into the distance.

Gou An remained seated cross-legged in the crowd, hiding himself, wanting to follow them and see what they were up to.

They went to great lengths to trick so many old rogue cultivators; surely it couldn't just be to swindle them out of their spirit stones? Gou An had a feeling there was a deeper conspiracy at play.

The flying boat didn't fly for too long, about half an hour, before slowly descending into a valley.

This place is surrounded by mountains on all sides, with the mountain ranges enclosing and closing in, naturally isolating it from outside spiritual energy and sounds, forming a secluded and isolated place.

Figures thronged throughout the valley, with dozens of black-robed cultivators busily setting up underground array patterns in an orderly manner, holding array flags and array plates.

Subtle, dark red lines spread and intertwined along the ground, silently covering the entire valley floor.

As soon as the flying boat docked, the disciples who were originally wearing Danling Sect attire immediately raised their hands to remove their outer robes, revealing that they were all wearing dark black robes underneath.

They were not disciples of any sect; they were all in disguise from beginning to end.

Gou An remained motionless, his eyes slightly narrowed, taking in the entire scene, and the last trace of doubt in his heart was completely dispelled.

As expected, the so-called Danling Sect's drug trial was a complete scam from beginning to end.

Then, these black-robed cultivators unloaded the hundred old rogue cultivators from the flying boat and arranged them neatly in various places in the valley's grand formation according to a certain pattern.

Once everything was in place, a leader in black robes quickly stepped forward, bowed, and reported to Master Lingxi: "Master, all the array eyes are in place, the array is set up, and it can be activated at any time."

Master Lingxi raised his eyes and swept across the entire scene, looking at the hundred old rogue cultivators neatly arranged in the formation, before nodding in satisfaction.

"Everyone, retreat to the outer perimeter of the valley and patrol." Master Lingxi ordered everyone in a deep voice: "From this moment on, seal off all roads around the valley and do not allow any person or wild animal to approach."

"Yes!" The group of men in black robes accepted the order in unison, quickly retreated from the valley, and scattered around to stand guard.

Before long, only Master Lingxi and Lin Shuang remained in the vast valley, along with ninety-nine immobile old cultivators in the formation and Gou An, who was hiding among them.

Once the surroundings were completely quiet, Lin Shuang finally couldn't suppress her curiosity and asked softly, "Master, can this method really produce a longevity pill that lasts for a hundred years? I still find it too unbelievable."

Master Lingxi stood with his hands behind his back, gazing at the crowd in the formation. His expression was resolute, and his tone carried a hint of smugness as he said, "Of course it's true, otherwise why would I have gone to all this trouble?"

"And most importantly, this method is a secret technique that I stole from the Scripture Pavilion when I was still an outer sect steward in the Danling Sect."

"The ancient books that can be included in the sect's library are all genuine treasures, and there are no fakes among them."

"Once these hundred old men whose lifespans are about to end enter the formation, the formation can extract the remaining cultivation, life foundation, and remaining lifespan from their bodies."

"Finally, when all the sources are combined into one, a valuable longevity pill worth a hundred years can be condensed."

Lin Shuang frowned slightly after hearing this, still somewhat puzzled: "Master, I have a question."

"Young cultivators have much longer lifespans. Wouldn't it be better to capture them and refine the resulting pills using the array? So why are we specifically choosing these old, rogue cultivators whose lifespans are nearing their end?"

Upon hearing this, Master Lingxi chuckled softly, his eyes full of calculation: "Your cultivation is still shallow, so it's normal that you don't understand the intricacies."

"Young cultivators have ample lifespans and no attachment to life and death, making them very difficult to lure here."

"Furthermore, the more lifespan one has remaining, the more difficult it is to extract that remaining lifespan using formations."

"On the other hand, these old cultivators whose lifespans are dwindling are the most determined to live because they are on the verge of death. With such a strong will to live, their life essence is the easiest to be drawn out and extracted by the formation."

At this point, his tone grew even colder: "More importantly, these rogue cultivators have no sect, no roots, no support, and spend their lives wandering aimlessly, without relatives or friends."

"They're dead, so what? Who cares?"

He chuckled coldly a few times before continuing, "Once the formation drains their life force and their bodies decay into ashes, we can simply bury them in some desolate mountain ravine."

"Even if their bodies are discovered later, the final cause of death will simply be that they died of old age. Who would suspect anything else?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Shuang suddenly understood and nodded repeatedly, a hint of awe flashing in her eyes.

"You must stay here and protect the Dharma, and never leave its side." Master Lingxi's expression turned stern, and he said no more. Instead, he instructed, "Once the great formation is activated, it must not be interrupted. You must carefully protect the Dharma for me and not disturb it, otherwise the formation will malfunction and all our efforts will be in vain."

"Disciple understands!" Lin Shuang immediately clasped her hands in agreement and took a few steps back to make way.

Master Lingxi said no more, slowly stepped into the valley and sat cross-legged in the center of the array. Then he raised his hands and made hand seals, preparing to activate the longevity-refining array based on the valley.

As the hand seals were formed, the entire valley's grand formation began to operate with a roar.

The next moment, crimson array patterns lit up from the ground, and a vast expanse of red light rapidly rose up, completely covering the entire valley.

As the formation was fully activated, countless fine, dark red spiritual energy threads began to slowly rise from the heads of the hundred old rogue cultivators.

The strands, continuous and unbroken, gathered and converged along the great formation, eventually all converging towards the palm of the Spirit Seat True Person at the center of the formation.

A vast amount of red threads swirled and coiled in his palm, gradually being compressed and solidified, eventually condensing into the outline of a perfectly round elixir.

Seeing this, Master Lingxi's lips slowly curled up, clearly everything was proceeding as he had envisioned.

At the same time, Gou An, who was hiding in one of the array's key points, also clearly sensed the abnormality.

Fine, dark red spiritual threads also quietly drifted out from the top of his head, and his lifespan was being slowly dragged and drawn away by the formation.

Although the lifespan that was extracted is insignificant to Gou An now, he can still feel the discomfort of having his lifespan taken away.

At this moment, Gou An completely understood the other party's entire scheme.

The longevity pills that were previously tricked into being taken had no effect on prolonging life whatsoever. Their only function was to imprison the physical body, restrict movement, and prevent them from struggling and resisting during the process of having their cultivation drained.

Once someone sits at the core of the formation, the formation will indiscriminately drain the lifespan of anyone within it once it is activated.

But just as his lifespan was being slowly drained, Gou An's fully formed Azure Wood Spirit Body suddenly activated slightly, generating a very special sensation.

The Azure Wood Spirit Body is naturally endowed with unique advantages, focusing on continuous life and longevity. It is born with the ability to control life force and understand the flow of lifespan.

This vicious longevity-refining array, which was a deadly trap in the eyes of others, was like the most suitable body-refining method for Gou An. He could see clearly all the life-refining trajectories and patterns within the array.

Moreover, he could even clearly perceive the nodes of the entire formation, possessing the ability to forcibly reverse the formation.

Simply put, even if Gou An could reverse the trajectory of the formation, turning the formation eye that should have its cultivation drained into one that gains cultivation, and turning the main formation that should have gained cultivation into one that has its cultivation drained.

A faint smile flashed across Gou An's eyes, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly. He appeared to be sitting still, but in reality, he subtly exerted force with his fingertips and suddenly grabbed the ground beneath him with his right hand.

The next moment, a wisp of pure and gentle green wood spiritual energy quietly poured into the underground array patterns, silently merging into the array's operating channels.

The green wood spiritual power was inexhaustible, gentle yet domineering, and instantly began to devour and seize control of the great formation.

At the heart of the formation, Master Lingxi, who was happily refining the Longevity Pill, suddenly had a drastic change in expression.

The longevity red threads that had been gently gathering in his palm suddenly became chaotic and restless, the rhythm of the great formation began to go awry, and a strange and powerful force was frantically seizing control of the formation.

"Something's not right!" Ling Xi frowned deeply, his heart pounding.

He could clearly sense that the formation had been invaded, but once the formation was activated, it was interconnected and formed a closed loop, making it impossible to forcibly interrupt.

He tried his best to unleash his spiritual power to regain control, but the azure wood spiritual power was too mysterious, directly suppressing the lifespan formation. No matter how he struggled and resisted, it was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot, and he was instantly crushed.

In the next instant, the entire formation was completely reversed!

The red thread of life force that was originally converging towards Ling Xi's palm suddenly reversed and flowed back rapidly.

The elixir that had already taken shape in his palm crumbled inch by inch, and the life essence he had accumulated was completely drained and returned to the old rogue cultivators whose cultivation had been taken away.

Before Lingxi could react, countless fine red threads emerged from the top of his head, a manifestation of his lifespan.

A hundred red lines split off, precisely targeting the hundred people in the formation as they flew away.

"Hmm!"

Ling Xi's body trembled violently, and his meridians were torn apart by excruciating pain. His cultivation and lifespan were forcibly stripped away by the great formation.

He tried to struggle to get up, but his limbs were firmly bound by the reversed array patterns, making him even more stiff than the previous old cultivators, unable to move at all.

He tried to scream for help, but his throat seemed to be sealed by an invisible force, and he couldn't make a sound. He could only stare wide-eyed at Lin Shuang beside him with a pained expression, desperately trying to signal her to help him.

However, Lin Shuang had already kept in mind Lingxi Zhenren's previous instructions: the activation of the great formation must not be interrupted, and rashly intervening would only lead to failure.

Looking at Ling Xi, whose expression was distorted and whose state was strange, she did not step forward. Instead, her heart tightened and she subconsciously took two steps back.

She assumed that her master was going through a dangerous process of refining the Longevity Pill and dared not disturb him in the slightest, for fear that she might get too close and disrupt the operation of the formation, causing a great disaster.

Seeing his disciple's actions, Master Lingxi, who was already in unbearable pain, was instantly enraged, his blood surging in his chest, and he almost spat out a mouthful of blood on the spot, his heart filled with despair and resentment.

He was originally a cultivator at the Core Formation stage, with a lifespan of approximately five hundred years.

Although he still had more than a hundred years left to live, his lifespan was rapidly decreasing due to the frantic draining by the great formation.