Cultivating Immortality Begins with Rejuvenation

Calming his mind and focusing his spirit, his sea of consciousness became clear.

Holding the mid-grade talisman pen given by Yan Kongyi, he felt the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

"Swish~" With a flash of inspiration, his pen danced like a dragon and snake, and the spiritual ink made from the blood of a fire-attribute spirit beast instantly bloomed with a glimmer of light on the talisman skin.

"It's done!"

A moment later, the spiritual energy dissipated, the spiritual ink stabilized, and a Fireball Talisman was successfully completed.

During this year, he didn't need to spend extra time cultivating his magic power, instead focusing more on refining pills to earn spirit stones and delving into the study of talismans.

His magic power, tempered by the fire spirit, became increasingly refined, making it easier to draw advanced talismans.

Especially with the fire spirit's blessing in his dantian, sensing the fire-type spiritual energy of heaven and earth became easier. Today, he finally succeeded in drawing his first high-quality Fireball Talisman, which had considerable area-of-effect damage and was difficult for ordinary experienced first-order talisman masters to create.

Gently stroking the Fireball Talisman, Li Ji'an breathed a sigh of relief.

The path of talismans is easy to learn but difficult to master, which is absolutely true.

He had been studying talisman knowledge with Yan Kongyi since he was eight years old, and he had never slackened off in all these years, a full twenty-seven years.

Even after deducting the first five years of theoretical study and the later ten years of practice due to a lack of materials, there were still twelve years of tireless effort.

Only now could he create advanced high-quality talismans without relying on luck.

Previously, he had only accidentally created a single advanced high-quality Ice Seal Talisman after drawing hundreds of early and mid-stage Cold Wind Talismans, as if fortune had suddenly descended upon him. This time, however, he had truly succeeded through his own spiritual sense, refined magic power, and comprehension of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

However, this success was also due to the fire spirit merging with him, increasing his affinity for the fire spirit energy of heaven and earth.

"Now I can finally earn spirit stones through the path of talismans."

The reason he said he could now earn spirit stones through talismans was because talisman materials were expensive, but early and mid-stage talismans were of low value, with a profit margin even lower than that of low and mid-grade pills.

In immortal cities or various market towns, there were at least twice as many early and mid-stage talisman masters as there were alchemists, because talismans were easy to learn and enter, requiring no alchemic fire, and any spiritual root or magic power would do, with no threshold.

This resulted in a large consumption of talisman materials, keeping prices high, and the large supply of finished talismans on the market led to very low talisman prices.

Early and mid-stage alchemists could at least barely support themselves as long as they could maintain a certain pill production rate.

But early and mid-stage talisman masters were truly like beasts of burden, with many even forced to gather in marginal shantytowns, living a life of poverty.

Moreover, even if a talisman master's skills improved and they entered the late stage, they often lost money due to the increased success rate of talisman creation and the further increase in the price of talisman materials.

The medicinal materials for a batch of late-stage pills could mostly be obtained for fifty spirit stones, but the late-stage talisman materials for a single talisman cost at least seventy or eighty to start.

A furnace of pills could produce multiple pills, so there was no risk of losing everything once the furnace was opened.

But a talisman was just one talisman, and once that one was ruined, everything was lost.

Li Ji'an had been able to draw late-stage talismans for the past few years, but he still couldn't guarantee the quality, because talismans differed from pills in that they needed to connect with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. After the divine soul and magic power met the requirements for talisman making, it was more related to one's state of mind and affinity with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and it couldn't even rely purely on familiarity or experience accumulation like pills.

Any master of the talisman path was either gifted or had extraordinary comprehension, able to comprehend the spiritual energy of heaven and earth through constant attempts.

Li Ji'an belonged to the latter.

At that time, although he could draw late-stage talismans, he couldn't even break even.

Now that he could draw high-quality talismans, and the success rate of drawing top-grade talismans was higher, he could truly profit from talismans.

Carefully putting away the high-quality Fireball Talisman, Li Ji'an deactivated the restriction on the alchemy room.

"Uncle Li, can Little Fire come out now?" Xiao Qiao and Guagua had been waiting outside for a long time.

Li Ji'an smiled with relief and released the fire spirit.

As soon as the fire spirit left Li Ji'an's dantian, it rushed excitedly towards Xiao Qiao and Guagua.

During this year, the three little friends had been very harmonious.

And they had all found their respective values.

Xiao Qiao was responsible for cooking, directing from the center, the fire spirit was responsible for controlling the temperature and heating the pot, and Guagua was responsible for cleaning the ingredients.

Visibly, Xiao Qiao's body had grown a lot this year, and Guagua had also undergone some changes in shape because he had eaten a lot of demon beast meat. Although the fire spirit couldn't eat delicious food, it also enjoyed this atmosphere of everyday life.

Li Ji'an was happy to see this happen and had the financial resources to support them.

This year, his cultivation consumption had decreased, and his pill refining income could almost guarantee more than three hundred spirit stones per month. After deducting living expenses and the cost of talisman practice, he had saved nearly two thousand spirit stones in a year.

Now that his talisman skills had improved again, his income would be even better.

Moreover, after a year of tempering by the fire spirit, his current ninth level of Qi training was almost at its peak, and theoretically, he could already try to break through to Foundation Establishment.

"No rush, accumulate for another two years." He was just thirty-five years old in this life, and his peak period was still long, so there was no rush.

In this world, even if ordinary cultivators were seventy or eighty years old, as long as their magic power and physical body had not yet begun to decline, it was theoretically not too late to establish their foundation. After all, once the Foundation Establishment was successful, the physical body and magic power would become vigorous again. Compared to nearly three hundred years of life, there was not a particularly large difference between a few decades earlier or later in the Qi training stage.

Within the past thousand years, there have been many cultivators in Cangyun Prefecture who established their foundation in their twilight years, and even a few hundred years ago, there was a wood-type cultivator who was skilled in the art of health preservation and established their foundation at the age of one hundred, becoming a beautiful story in the cultivation world and a representative of inspiration.

Of course, this was only in terms of cultivation realm, and it was mainly aimed at loose cultivators with insufficient resources. If they were in a sect or a family with sufficient resources, many cultivators would establish their foundation as early as possible in order to compete for more resources and show their potential.

Another aspect was that Li Ji'an's mid-grade spiritual root in this life could not be blessed by the spiritual root during Foundation Establishment, only his own magic power, divine soul, and physical body had their respective 20% upper limit blessings.

With his current level of magic power refinement, although he had the fire spirit's tempering, it was still far inferior to the pure and powerful magic power cultivated by those top-grade cultivation methods, sacred methods, and immortal scriptures, and it was estimated that it had at most a 10% blessing.

He was confident in his physical body and divine soul, estimating that he could fill up 20%.

Therefore, if he did not rely on external objects and established his foundation on his own, he would only have a 50% chance of success.

Once the breakthrough to Foundation Establishment failed, the light consequence would be damage to the foundation, requiring expensive resources to nurture for many years before there was a chance to break through to Foundation Establishment again, and the severe consequence would be the breaking of the dantian on the spot, leading to death and the dissipation of the Dao.

So, he needed a Foundation Establishment Pill to establish his foundation in this life.

And now he did not have enough financial resources to obtain a Foundation Establishment Pill, he needed to accumulate more. Furthermore, after obtaining a Foundation Establishment Pill, he would need to rent a second-order cave dwelling in the immortal city to ensure abundant spiritual energy. Such cave dwellings, which were arranged with spirit gathering and various formations that would help Foundation Establishment, were not cheap to rent, costing thousands of spirit stones a month, and the breakthrough to Foundation Establishment would take at least three months before and after, which was another large expense.

Another point was that after a year of nurturing, the fire spirit had not yet reached its peak state, and he needed to wait a little longer.

After letting the three little fellows play, Li Ji'an activated the restriction on the alchemy room again and sorted out a batch of talismans he had practiced for nearly half a year.

In addition to the previous six trump cards, the newly completed high-quality Fireball Talisman enriched the trump card library, and there were still nearly fifteen ordinary late-stage talismans left, ranging from low-grade to top-grade.

Even without counting the other failed talisman materials, the cost of these fifteen practice talismans had accumulated to about one thousand four hundred spirit stones.

If sold, the general repurchase price of a talisman shop would be no more than one thousand five hundred.

Private sales could reach about one thousand six hundred.

If he were a talisman shop guest, he could sell them for one thousand six hundred and fifty.

After all, the quality was not good enough, so the profit was low, which was normal.

However, Li Ji'an had already decided not to show off his talisman skills unless it was a critical moment.

In addition to Granny You's previous lesson, the almost all-round ability of a talisman master was too useful, and he was already a well-known first-order high-quality alchemist in the immortal city. If he was also proficient in talisman skills, it would inevitably make people think that he had obtained some heaven-defying opportunity, attracting prying eyes.

In the next few days, he sold the fifteen talismans in batches to several talisman shops, all under the pretext that other talisman masters were using them to offset pill debts.

This day, after selling the last few talismans, Li Ji'an came to the Taiping Inn. As soon as he entered, he heard everyone talking about the Boundless Secret Realm.

Only then did Li Ji'an know the specific opening date of the Boundless Secret Realm, which was in half a month.

That night, he sent a message to Xiao Changfeng, wishing him good fortune in the secret realm and obtaining the greatest opportunity.

The trip to the Flame Mountain dangerous area a year ago made him feel that Xiao Changfeng's luck was indeed extraordinary, and he might have seized his luck, so he was still very willing to associate with Xiao Changfeng.

If there were any other opportunities in the future, he hoped to bring him along as well.

However, the reply he received not long after made Li Ji'an suddenly raise his eyebrows.

"Li Brother will be disappointed, the sect has temporarily replaced me with other newly entered true disciples."

One could hear the disappointment and a little bit of resentment in his words.

He had previously heard Xiao Changfeng say that, except for the true disciples, almost all of their batch worshiped under the fake Dan elders.

And the true disciples worshiped under the sect master, regardless of status, position, or resource supply, they were not the same.

The last time the secret realm quota was originally obtained for him by his master.

Li Ji'an did not think about the order of seniority in the sect in the first moment, but was thinking about whether this matter had anything to do with him.

Without thinking any further, Li Ji'an immediately invited Xiao Changfeng to come to the immortal city.

Not long after, Xiao Changfeng, who was pretending to be calm, was brought by Li Ji'an to the largest Spring Breeze Pavilion in Golden Glory Immortal City.

"Li Brother?" Xiao Changfeng looked at the magnificent Spring Breeze Pavilion, slightly surprised.

The Spring Breeze Pavilion, as the most famous place of entertainment in the entire Cangyun Prefecture, was not cheap to spend.

Ordinary dual cultivation, one night of spring breeze, the cheapest female cultivator would cost thirty spirit stones, and if they had talents, music, etc., it would cost at least fifty spirit stones.

This was still talking about ordinary female cultivators, if it was a few of the courtesans, or the flower of the building with special talents, three to five hundred spirit stones a night was also common.

A real gold-selling cave.

As an inner disciple of the Biyun Sect, he was taught as soon as he entered the practice that he should not indulge in such small dual cultivation methods, and he was often warned about how the demon women of the Joy Sect, who were proficient in dual cultivation secret methods in ancient times, ravaged all the righteous Daoists.

Of course, the most important thing was that inner disciples like him, whose sect tasks were all converted into contribution points, usually did not have much spare money, so they could not afford to come here.

"Xiao Brother, you and I do not need to be polite, today, we will not return until we are drunk, please enjoy yourself!" Li Ji'an waved his hand boldly and took the lead to walk in.

Then he asked for a private room upstairs and ordered a table full of spirit banquets.

Then he let the old bustard bring the female cultivators in one after another, allowing Xiao Changfeng to choose.

When a man is frustrated, he really wants to be comforted, he doesn't need to say anything, a drink, a joy, is enough!

Xiao Changfeng's original somewhat lost emotions gradually became happy and excited, and his passion burst out in the hands of two female cultivators who were proficient in music and washing techniques.

Li Ji'an himself also received a real musical baptism, purifying his mind once.

The next day.

When the two of them left the Spring Breeze Pavilion hand in hand, although it could not be guaranteed that the friendship between the two would go to the next level, at least the relationship was definitely closer.

"Li Brother, I spent a lot! I will remember this kindness in my heart." Xiao Changfeng held Li Ji'an's hand tightly.

Spending nearly two hundred spirit stones a night, even his sect contribution earned from a mission was not so much.

Li Ji'an spent it so boldly in order to comfort him.

He had previously heard Li Ji'an say that although Li Ji'an's alchemy skills were outstanding, equivalent to the level of a seed alchemist specially trained in the sect, in Xiao Changfeng's cognition, a first-order alchemist had limited income, and a monthly income of nearly a hundred spirit stones was considered a very small part.

And he had to save spirit stones for the Foundation Establishment Pill.

Li Ji'an's move showed his true feelings!

"Good brother, you are being polite, it is worth it to make you feel relieved." Li Ji'an patted him on the shoulder.

"Well, Li Brother is right, no one's life can be smooth, there have been many heroes who have suffered since ancient times, I, Xiao Changfeng, may not be able to become the great hero who saves the world in the story!" With a strong smell of alcohol, Xiao Changfeng seemed to have returned to the high spirits of his youth.

Li Ji'an smiled and nodded, affirming him.

Li Ji'an did not care about his current state or thoughts, just considering it as repaying the opportunity of Flame Mountain.

What he did not know was that this casual move not only soothed Xiao Changfeng's disappointment at being replaced on the secret realm trip, but also opened a knot in his heart for nearly a year. After returning this time, his state of mind returned to the truth, and his cultivation improved.

A year later.

This day, Li Ji'an felt the fire spirit's majestic fire-type power and the rich fire spirit energy, and a smile appeared on his face.

"Finally restored its first-order fire spirit strength! In this way, I can try to refine second-order pills."

His first-order alchemist inheritance came from Master Mo, but it was not taught by him personally, but by observing, deducing, and borrowing Yan Qingwan's hand to try countless times.

The second-order alchemist inheritance came from that copy that Yan Qingwan did not know where she got it from. He had been pondering it a lot when refining first-order pills these years, and now that the fire spirit provided enough pill fire power, it could be regarded as a natural success.

However, he has not planned to refine second-order pills yet, because his pill furnace is still the one given by Yan Qingwan, which is not enough for refining, and he must buy a second-order pill furnace.

There are no master-level figures in Cangyun Prefecture who are good at refining weapons. Second-order magic weapons are rare in the entire state, let alone second-order pill furnaces.

Ordinary second-order alchemists in sects, or second-order alchemists in large forces, would personally go to Tianyuan Prefecture to buy pill furnaces if they needed them, which led to very little market demand in the state in this regard. The limited number of pill furnaces in the shops in the immortal city were mostly of poor quality.

When Yan Qingwan obtained the inheritance of a second-order alchemist, she bought a second-order pill furnace in Golden Glory Immortal City, but the actual effect was not ideal.

"You can try to refine first-order top-quality first!"

Just as Li Ji'an was preparing to try refining top-quality pills, there was a knock on the door.

"Is Xiaofan there?" A familiar voice followed.

Li Ji'an paused slightly. He hadn't heard this voice in many years.

He left the Yan family at twenty-six, and now he was thirty-six. A full ten years had passed.

"Qing-ge." He opened the door, looking at Yan Qing, who now also resembled a middle-aged man. Li Ji'an felt a sense of familiarity.

Yan Qing smiled at Li Ji'an, stepping aside to reveal another familiar, aged figure behind him.

"You little rascal!"