Cultivating Immortality Begins with Rejuvenation

The powerful divine sense of the Core Formation elder from the neighboring Azure Cloud Sect almost completely enveloped the surroundings. Li Ji'an tightly guarded his sea of consciousness, not rashly releasing his own divine sense to investigate.

Looking at Granny You in front of him, Li Ji'an frowned slightly.

Twelve-year-old Xiao Qiao was still timid in front of outsiders, but after six years of interaction, she had almost no wariness towards Li Ji'an, this handsome uncle.

Only when facing Li Ji'an, she dared to stand beside Granny You.

"Fellow Daoist You, this move is indeed a bit inconsiderate. Li is used to living alone and may find it difficult to take care of others." After a moment of silence, Li Ji'an chuckled dryly, politely refusing.

Granny You had come to say goodbye, speaking softly and with a smile, saying that she was fortunate to be favored by an elder of the Azure Cloud Sect and was invited to the sect to participate in the arrangement of a set of formations.

She also wanted Li Ji'an to help take care of Xiao Qiao.

Being politely refused by Li Ji'an, Granny You not only did not show disappointment, but a trace of relief appeared in her eyes.

"Please forgive me, Alchemist Li. This matter is truly a helpless move for this old woman. You know Xiao Qiao's nature, she has been timid since she was a child and really can't get along with outsiders. In these years in the Immortal City, this girl has only had a good relationship with you. This old woman really has no one else to entrust her to." As she spoke, Granny You handed over a storage bag.

Her expression was calm and serene as she said, "This little bit of spirit stones is considered this old woman's reward. When this old woman returns, there will be a great reward."

"It's not about the reward, the main thing is that Xiao Qiao is not young anymore. Moreover, Li is usually cultivating and refining pills, and I'm afraid it will be difficult to take care of her properly. Fellow Daoist You should find someone else." Li Ji'an did not reach out to take the storage bag.

The smile on Granny You's face deepened, and she took a step forward, stuffing the storage bag into Li Ji'an's hand: "Alchemist Li, this old woman has been here for many years and has seen many people, but you are the only one I feel most compatible with. If it's inconvenient, Xiao Qiao can still live next door. She can already take care of her three meals a day and doesn't need you to worry too much. Just occasionally look after her, let her know that there is someone around, and prevent her from being deceived by someone with ulterior motives."

"Uncle Li." Xiao Qiao raised her head at the right time and called out crisply.

Li Ji'an lowered his head slightly, smiling as he looked at Xiao Qiao.

According to what Granny You initially said, Xiao Qiao was also a poor child.

Fortunately, she was adopted by Granny You.

Otherwise, her life or death would be uncertain.

The cultivation world is even more ruthless towards children than the former Immortal Bestowal Dynasty. Those who collected and dismembered children in the Immortal Bestowal Dynasty did it for money, while the heretical demons refined evil pills, fed demonic beasts, and some who were possessed even swallowed children alive to replenish themselves… It can only be said that gathering areas near Immortal Cities or trading markets are relatively safer, with cultivators patrolling and protecting them.

Her experience reminded him of his own past.

Granny You's behavior reminded him of his former master.

Since things have been said to this point, it won't affect him in any way. At most, he just needs to let Guagua tunnel into the yard next door.

Moreover, he had indeed found Granny You very compatible in these years of interaction, and her experienced cultivation world experience had also broadened Li Ji'an's horizons a lot. She had not even declined when he occasionally asked for some basic knowledge of formations.

Li Ji'an cupped his hands towards Granny You and nodded: "In that case, Li will do his best, and I hope Fellow Daoist You will return as soon as possible."

"Thank you, Alchemist Li." Granny You bowed with a smile.

Watching Granny You being taken away by the Azure Cloud Sect elder, Li Ji'an sighed secretly.

The main purpose of the Azure Cloud Sect's selection activities in recent years may be here.

"I still know too little about the cultivation world. I must be prepared for this kind of thing in the future."

This matter was not a big problem for him, a small first-order alchemist. Not to mention that there were too many alchemists in the Azure Cloud Sect who were stronger than him, the main thing was that alchemists just refined pills. If they had a need, he would just spend more time refining them.

And array masters like Granny You were scarce. Not only were there few in the Azure Cloud Sect who were proficient in this skill, but also, when array masters were invited, they had to personally participate in either setting up or breaking formations.

According to Li Ji'an's previous deduction, the Azure Cloud Sect was likely to have external actions, so Granny You was probably going to be taken to the front line.

The risk was not small.

However, if things were successful, she might form a relationship with the sect.

"Xiao Qiao, Uncle Li is here, don't be afraid. Just like before, if anything happens, Uncle Li can be there in the blink of an eye. Wait for Grandma to come back with peace of mind." Li Ji'an comforted her, patting Xiao Qiao's head, who reached his chest.

Xiao Qiao blinked her big eyes and nodded.

"Let's go, I'll take you back."

"I want to play here for a while." Xiao Qiao squatted on the ground, staring blankly at the dirt.

Li Ji'an did not disturb her and turned to enter the house.

Although he had a certain amount of trust in Fellow Daoist You, he couldn't be careless. He took out the storage bag she had given him and carefully examined it with his divine sense.

The storage bag was the lowest-level storage bag, with a small storage space, and the items inside were clear at a glance.

At first glance, there was a small pile of spirit stones, about a hundred.

This made Li Ji'an pause slightly.

"How long is Fellow Daoist You going to be gone? Giving so much?"

"Eh~" When he carefully checked each spirit stone for any marks again, something that looked like a spirit stone at the bottom of the small pile made Li Ji'an stunned.

He simply dumped everything on the ground.

Except for that thing that looked like a spirit stone, but was different upon careful inspection, the rest of the spirit stones were normal.

Looking at the traces of rubbing on its surface, Li Ji'an's heart moved, and he probed it with his divine sense.

"This…" In an instant, Li Ji'an's eyelids twitched.

The thing disguised as a spirit stone was actually a high-quality imprinted jade talisman.

The first line of words inside startled Li Ji'an: You Clan Array Comprehensive Explanation!

"Fellow Daoist You gave me the array inheritance?"

Being able to be rated as the leader among the first-order array masters in Immortal City, her array inheritance must be extraordinary.

As a special skill that is difficult to learn, difficult to master, and difficult to enter, the inheritance of formations is inherently extremely precious. Some of the inferior inheritances of pill or talisman arts can still be bought on the market, but formation inheritances, even inferior ones, may not be able to be bought, let alone Granny You's inheritance.

He was not surprised by this inheritance, but by the meaning of Granny You's move.

If it was really short-term care, even if she paid some spirit stones, a hundred would be too many.

And now, she was probably entrusting her orphan to him.

Could it be… did she foresee that it would be difficult to retreat completely this time?

In an instant, Li Ji'an's heart was filled with mixed feelings.

Being able to obtain Fellow Daoist You's array inheritance was indeed a great surprise.

But… in these six years, he had been diligently cultivating, and now he had broken through to the ninth level of Qi Training, and his talisman skills had improved further. Planning for Foundation Establishment was increasingly on the agenda.

In at most three more years, he should be able to stabilize his realm to great perfection, and then he would have the hope of impacting Foundation Establishment.

Moreover, during these six years, he had accidentally heard about the suspected discovery of a Heaven and Earth Spiritual Flame near the Fire Mountain dangerous area in the east at the Taiping Inn. After many inquiries and understanding, although the alchemists and weapon refiners here mainly used pill fire, pill fire was not the best choice.

Pill fire relies on fire-type mana to condense, and its essence belongs to the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. However, after all, it is artificially condensed and is not the essence of the original fire of heaven and earth. When refining pills or magic weapons, it is difficult to truly connect with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, so it is almost impossible to refine top-quality pills or magic weapons through artificial pill fire.

And the real flames of heaven and earth are the best flames for refining pills and magic weapons.

Legend has it that the alchemists and weapon refiners of the ancient times mostly refined with the flames of heaven and earth.

This news made Li Ji'an extremely excited at the time. If he really obtained a Heaven and Earth Spiritual Flame, relying on his divine sense, which was now truly comparable to the middle stage of Foundation Establishment, he could completely refine Foundation Establishment Pills himself!

So he was interested in going to the edge of the Fire Mountain Abandoned Land in the east to try his luck. It was said that someone had seen traces of spiritual flames there.

The spiritual energy there was barren, with only a few first-order spiritual veins, which could at most support a few Qi Training families. Moreover, the road was mostly spiritually poor, and there was almost no possibility of encountering cultivators above Foundation Establishment.

Just as he was thinking.

"Uncle Li, can I let the big toad down there play with me?"

"Huh?" Li Ji'an subconsciously looked up, only to see Xiao Qiao still squatting on the ground, staring blankly at the dirt.

"Huh!" In the next moment, a flash of inspiration suddenly exploded in Li Ji'an's mind, and he stared at Xiao Qiao, his face full of shock.

The moment the Core Formation elder of the Azure Cloud Sect came, he was worried that Guagua would be detected and shielded the abnormality of its divine soul. After all, he couldn't guarantee whether the divine sense of a Core Formation cultivator could see through Guagua's talent for shielding its divine soul due to its perennial devouring of parasitic soul ants.

So he urgently let Guagua tunnel into the ground as much as possible.

At this moment, he clearly knew through the spirit pet contract that Guagua was staying motionless nearly thirty feet underground!