Cultivating Immortality Begins with Rejuvenation.

Chapter 165 Sect Recruitment
On this day, with a metallic sound above Li Ji'an's alchemy room, accompanied by a golden inspiration descending, Li Ji'an put away the talisman pen and looked at the golden arrow talisman in front of him with excitement!

"Second-level mid-grade talisman pen, it really is much easier!"

During this year, Li Ji'an's progress in the art of talismans reached a new level thanks to the second-level talisman pen and dozens of second-level talisman materials delivered to him by the "Blood Hand Butcher". After taking the magic pill to make up for the lack of magic power, the success rate of the second-level mid-term talismans exceeded 50%.

After a year of hard work, today he finally succeeded in drawing his first second-level fine talisman.

More importantly, the Golden Arrow Talisman is a mid-stage second-level talisman, suitable for cultivators in the mid-stage of foundation building.

The power of the laws of heaven and earth contained in it is comparable to the magic power of an ordinary person in the middle stage of foundation building.

And now this one is even more exquisite, and it contains the spiritual power of the five elements of gold. It has the strongest attack, almost 50% of the power of the late foundation building stage. If an ordinary cultivator in the middle stage of foundation building does not have a top-grade protective magic weapon or a second-stage middle stage protective talisman, he may be killed instantly.

"It's a pity that my magic power is still not enough. Otherwise, with my talisman skills and spiritual awareness, plus this talisman pen, I can succeed in the late second-stage talisman!" Li Ji'an gently stroked the golden arrow talisman, feeling excited but also a little regretful.

If he now had a set of late-stage second-order talismans, he would have nothing to worry about in the entire Cangyun Province, except for the strongest people who could be counted on his hands.

Without hesitation, he summoned out the Fiery Halberd Talisman that had been nurtured in his dantian for six years, and stored the Golden Arrow Talisman in his dantian.

This Fierce Halberd Talisman has been nurtured for six years. It was originally a second-level early-stage fine talisman, threatening to ordinary mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators. It was almost equivalent to 50% of the power of a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator. Now, six years have passed, and it should have 70% of the power of a full-strength attack from a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.

"I wonder if the mana gained from a Blood Burning Pill can support the drawing of a late second-stage talisman?" In recent years, whenever he drew a talisman, he needed to use the Mana Condensing Pill to make up for the lack of mana in his dantian. The Blood Burning Pill, while consuming blood and vitality, can greatly increase mana, more than double the increase of the Mana Condensing Pill. This was not the first time he had this thought.

After a moment, he shook his head with a sneer.

Ordinary cultivators would only think of taking the Blood-Burning Pill, which would burn their own essence and blood and consume their vitality, when they were in life-and-death crisis.

After all, they only have one life, and if they use it once, they will live ten years less.

Li Ji'an, however, relied on his ability to regain youth and wanted to use it to draw talismans just to make up for his lack of magic power. If others knew about this, they would probably laugh their heads off.

Put this thought aside again.

After all, nowadays we don’t necessarily need late-stage talismans. One more year of life in each life means one more year of experience, which will be beneficial to future generations.

He then sat cross-legged to practice and recover the magic power he had consumed.

Half a day later, the magic power in Dantian returned to its full strength.

"I estimate that in another four years I will be able to reach the middle stage of foundation building!" After feeling it carefully, he was satisfied with the progress of his practice.

When I came out of the alchemy room, I looked up and saw Gua Gua still lying in the pond, basking in the sun, looking contented.

Xiao Qiao squatted by the pond, talking to Gua Gua and fiddling with the base of the formation.

Half a year ago, at Li Ji'an's suggestion, Xiao Qiao finally gave up on the joy of learning Taoism and once again put all his energy into the art of formations, and tried to develop his ability to sense the earth's inspiration.

Unfortunately, his formation is still stuck at the peak of the first level and can't make any further progress, because the earth's spiritual power that it can attract has only reached the first level.

If he wants to stop relying on this talent of sensing the earth's spiritual power, he needs to rely on his soul to reach the foundation-building stage.

But since he was promoted to the middle stage of Qi training six years ago, his progress in cultivating his magical powers has been even slower. It took him six years to barely reach the fifth level of Qi training. If we speculate based on his cultivation progress, it will take him another thirty-five years to reach the peak of Qi training!
This does not take into account the bottleneck in the middle stage of Qi training.

She was already over sixty years old at that time, and once her Qi and blood declined, there would be little hope for her to build a foundation.

"Uncle Li!" Xiao Qiao looked up at Li Ji'an with a guilty look on her face.

Li Ji'an smiled and nodded, then walked closer.

"Uncle Li, I..."

"Don't blame yourself. Look at the spring scenery in the yard. Isn't it your credit?" Li Ji'an said, pointing to a medicinal field in the backyard and the spiritual grains, flowers, plants and trees in the yard.

These are all the results of Xiao Qiao's infusion of the earth's spiritual energy. Li Ji'an had previously held extravagant hopes for this, and had imagined whether he could have the same ripening power as Han Tianzun's little green bottle.

Unfortunately, there is an effect, but not much, similar to a first-level medicine field.

"Qua~" After comforting Xiao Qiao, Li Ji'an looked at Gua Gua who was basking in the sun leisurely.

Guagua suddenly shuddered.

"It's okay, go ahead and dry it." This time Li Ji'an didn't say anything about it, nor did he force it to improve.

In his previous life, he accidentally met Gua Gua. It was just an experiment at first, but later, as they got along, he found that Gua Gua was less demonic than ordinary monsters, and was more to Li Ji'an's liking.

It had also helped him regain his youth once, and Li Ji'an was already content.

Now that he has been promoted to the second level, his theoretical lifespan can still protect him once more, which is enough.

After all, it is only a low-grade bloodline. Although years of devouring soul-eating ants have caused some mutations in its bloodline, it still does not have much potential. Being able to advance to the second level is considered the limit.

Unless there is some great opportunity for bloodline transformation.

Moreover, Li Ji'an knew that the beast pills he had provided him with over the years were limited, and he did not have the energy to delve into the art of beast taming, so there was no reason to ask for too much from him.

At this moment, Doctor Bai sent a message to the meeting.

Li Ji'an smiled at the still skeptical Guagua, then turned and walked outside. This past year had been quite leisurely. He had accumulated a considerable amount of medicinal herbs over the past few years, more than enough for his cultivation. Furthermore, since all the families in the state had been summoned to the restricted area of the ruins, fewer people had come seeking elixirs.

Apart from the alchemy task assigned to him by the sect half a year ago, there was almost nothing else to do.

Moreover, the alchemy tasks assigned to him by the sect were calculated based on the production capacity of ordinary alchemists, which was very easy for him. Just like usual, opening the furnace five times a month was enough to cope with it.

However, half a month ago, a major conflict finally broke out in the restricted area of the ruins.

On that day, in the north of the restricted area of the ruins, the scattered cultivators from Tianyuanzhou and Daoyuanzhou gathered together and launched the first collective charge against the restricted area.

It is claimed that the Daze Mountains do not only belong to the Cangyun State, and that the Biyun Sect is entitled to excavate the ruins in the south, but it cannot be stopped from excavating the ruins in the north.

On that day, the restricted area barrier and temporary magic formation set up by Biyun Sect were broken, and nearly a hundred disciples of the sect were killed or injured, and two hall master-level disciples were killed. Biyun Sect was furious, and several fake Dan elders took action, killing the wandering cultivators of the two states and making the blood flow like a river.

However, they were a motley crowd gathered for profit, and most of them who could sense the aura of the Jindan level in advance would escape early, and most of those who died were minor Qi training cultivators.

Afterwards, the independent cultivators from the two states started a tug-of-war. As long as a Jindan-level expert emerged from the Biyun Sect, they would turn to attack in other directions.

The Biyun Sect is fully engaged in excavating the ruins. Most of the masters have gone deep into the ruins to break the restrictions. The ruins are vast, and it is difficult to free up more manpower to defend every place. As a result, many independent cultivators have rushed into the ruins in the past few days.

Because of the outbreak in the north, most of the sect disciples went to the north for protection, and the defense in the south was weak. Some Cangyun Prefecture cultivators who had been waiting for an opportunity also took the opportunity to break through the restricted area barrier.

However, the local independent cultivators in Cangyun Province are weak and have been suppressed for a long time in terms of resources, making them vulnerable to the cultivators from the sects.

In the past few days, Li Ji'an knew that three casual cultivators in the early stage of foundation building and dozens of cultivators in the late stage of Qi training had died. Even those who managed to escape had been issued wanted orders by the sect.

Either they risk crossing the mountains from the northeast passage to Tianyuan Prefecture, or they can wait until the sect has dealt with the ruins, as they will have nowhere to hide.

Not long after, the seven people from the institute met again.

Doctor Bai, Hua Hongling, Duanmuqin, and Tailor Zhou all looked solemn.

It turned out that the four of them had received an order from the sect today, and would enter the restricted area of the ruins tomorrow to guard it for the sect.

Among them, Doctor Bai will serve as the army physician and provide timely medical treatment to the allied forces.

The remaining three are on the front line as combat forces.

Li Ji'an had anticipated this. Of the eight people here, Master Gou Kui had been taken away by the sect two years ago, and for the remaining seven, he and Master Zou Dan had both accepted the sect's alchemy task, and Master Qian Zhen had also accepted the task of engraving the formation base for the sect. It was only a matter of time before the other four were recruited.

However, as independent cultivators, unlike the cultivation families in the state, the sects basically have no means to absolutely control them. If they don't want to, they can go to Tianyuan State and Daoyuan State through the passage on the east side of the mountains.

The sect did not appear to be forcing anyone, it was just a call.

But all four of them had already decided to go.

Li Ji'an knew what Duanmu Qin was thinking, and he probably just waited for this opportunity.

As for the other three, they may not have this idea.

"Master Li Dan, we have known each other for ten years. Your character is well-known. I will not waste any words. This is my lifelong medical inheritance, and I will hand it over to you today. If you cannot come back this time, I hope you can help settle your wife and children." After the meeting, Doctor Bai specifically asked Li Ji'an to stay and talk.

Li Ji'an readily agreed.

Over the years, he wanted to dabble in medicine, but he had never obtained a reliable medical inheritance. He once implicitly expressed to Doctor Bai the idea of trading his medical inheritance.

His behavior this time was naturally due to the reputation Li Ji'an had gained by adopting and caring for Xiao Qiao, as well as his character in dealing with people over the past ten years, which had been witnessed by time.

That night, Duanmu Qin also came to say goodbye to him, saying that she would find a chance to explore the cave again and assured Li Ji'an that she would never cooperate with anyone else.

Li Ji'an did not comment on his statement.

If she really met someone who was trustworthy and capable of helping her break the restrictions of the cave, Li Ji'an didn't expect that person to still remember her.

In front of the great road, everything is nothing but clouds.

However, when they parted the next day, Li Ji'an still gave him a Blood Burning Pill and a second-level Escape Talisman.

The purpose is to make him understand that he has the ability to obtain a second-level talisman.

This was the best effort he could make for that opportunity, and the rest was just about letting things take their course.

After seeing the four people off, Li Ji'an also felt a sense of crisis.

Today, the weapon refiners and musicians can go to the battlefield. When the riot is complete, there is no guarantee that he, the alchemist, will also go to the battlefield. After all, in the eyes of the sect, the alchemists on the sect's Danfeng are the best in alchemy skills and are the main force in supplying second-level elixirs.

"I still don't have enough cards!" Faced with possible conscription, he had no intention of escaping, let alone fleeing to the two northern states.

After all, with his current trump card, traveling alone through the Daze Mountains where monsters are everywhere and where he might encounter a third-level monster if he's unlucky is much riskier than entering the ruins.

As an alchemist, everyone knew that he was not very strong in fighting. Even if he was really recruited into the ruins, at most he would be asked to play a supporting role and deal with the evil cultivators in the Qi training stage.

However, he was still eager to prepare some more powerful trump cards.

(End of this chapter)