Three months later, at dawn.
Li An finally emerged from his secluded stone chamber.
The scenery in Tempered Moon Valley was serene. Birds chirped cheerfully, life flourished everywhere—an atmosphere of joyful abundance.
With a single thought, his Divine Sense activated.
He could sense an ant colony moving a meter away, a rose slowly blooming three meters off, and a falling leaf drifting on the wind four meters away...
Five meters.
That was the current limit of his Divine Sense.
It was short, yes—but Li An was already more than satisfied.
He examined his Life Seed and noticed something unusual.
After condensing Divine Sense, a faint golden thread had appeared within the seed’s vibrant green glow—like a golden vein sprouting within a plant stem.
Even more surprisingly, as the Life Seed grew, his Divine Sense was growing too. The change was slight, almost imperceptible, but Li An could sense it.
It filled him with hope.
Divine Sense was notoriously difficult to cultivate. For Foundation Establishment or Core Formation cultivators, it typically only grew through breakthroughs or rare soul-type treasures.
But now, his Life Seed was somehow fostering it on its own.
Truly extraordinary.
His view of the Life Seed had completely changed by now. It wasn’t just a trait—it was a living force, a spiritual tree entwined with his very soul. As it grew, so did every part of him:
Spiritual roots, lifespan, cultivation, recovery, Divine Sense...
Its only downside?
It was slow.
And it required patience.
Thankfully, patience was something Li An had plenty of.
"I still have three pieces of the Soul Core left. I’ll need to find a chance to deliver one to Gu Hong..."
He murmured to himself.
But there was no rush. Over the past few years, he’d kept in contact with Gu Hong and knew she had settled in White Tiger City, relying on the foundation her senior martial brother had established there.
"...The Second Rank array in the valley needs more Spirit Stones again."
He glanced around Tempered Moon Valley, his head pounding.
His expenses were mounting fast.
Crafting Second Rank talismans, purchasing Molten Gold Liquid for the Ironwood Art, sourcing poisons for Cold Yin Finger... and maintaining the array.
His storage pouch held barely twenty or thirty Spirit Stones.
He was flat broke.
"I’ll have to sell something..."
Without delay, he left the valley and headed for Liuyang River Market.
After disguising himself, he sold all the First Grade spiritual herbs he’d gathered from the Cloud Mirage Mountains—even including a Second Grade Thousand-Spirit Vine.
He had four Second Grade herbs in total: Phantom Glow Lotus, Purple Soul Grass, and two Thousand-Spirit Vines he’d found in the Horse Face Demon’s storage pouch.
He only needed one vine.
Of course, if he weren’t so strapped for funds, he wouldn’t sell any of them. These were strategic resources.
But right now? He had no choice.
The sale earned him just over 1,600 Spirit Stones, barely enough to tide him over.
After replenishing the Spirit Stones for the valley’s Second Rank array, he returned to Sect's Market.
"My talisman profits have hit a ceiling. It’s no longer enough..."
After some thought, Li An decided it was time to develop a second income stream.
He had two options: array crafting or pill refinement.
If he succeeded in alchemy, his income could skyrocket. After all, pill refinement was the most profitable of the cultivation professions.
He now had Gu Songxi’s personal alchemy notes and even a solid First Grade furnace—taken from the demonic cultivator he killed during that ambush years ago.
But still, Li An shook his head.
Alchemy required extremely high talent. Although his spiritual roots had improved, he lacked experience and would need an enormous time investment to make progress.
"Arrays it is."
In his past life, he had also studied array crafting. Not long ago, he even upgraded a mid-grade array into a high-grade one.
Talisman and array crafting shared similarities—both relied on structured designs to harness external power.
He acted on the decision immediately, purchasing a batch of array materials from a local shop.
In the first month, he successfully created two low-grade arrays and asked Long Tao, the store manager, to sell them.
Long Tao, already in middle age, had been marginalized in the sect and relegated to the outer regions. He had little hope of returning to the sect’s core, so he was more than happy to help—especially since Li An offered him a generous cut.
Naturally, Long Tao prioritized promoting Li An’s arrays.
The two arrays sold for 180 Spirit Stones, of which Long Tao took 40.
By the second month, Li An had successfully crafted one mid-grade array and two more low-grade arrays.
The pace shocked Long Tao. He’d heard Li An was a talisman master, but he hadn’t expected such skill in array crafting too.
Still, he didn’t dwell on it. Li An’s use of a Second Rank array to slay the Horse Face of Death was well known. That Li An had talent in arrays made perfect sense.
The higher Li An’s array level, the more commission Long Tao earned.
"With Divine Sense, making talismans and arrays feels like divine intervention!"
Inside his talisman shop, Li An rubbed his aching neck and circulated his spiritual power to relieve the stiffness.
He had been hunched over for hours, yet his mind remained clear—and even excited.
His success rate had skyrocketed.
Without Divine Sense, there were always minor flaws when relying on sight and touch to control his brush or place materials.
But now, every detail—no matter how small—was clear to him.
His precision had never been higher.
"Just a bit more profit, and I’ll finally be able to attempt Second Rank talismans..."
There was hope in his eyes.
For the time being, his training in Second Rank talismans, Ironwood Art, and Cold Yin Finger had all been paused.
He simply didn’t have the money for materials.
Two more years passed in the blink of an eye.
"Two Second Rank Low-Grade Explosive Talismans… and two Mystic Barrier Talismans… All complete!"
"My Ironwood Art has finally reached mastery! And Cold Yin Finger is nearly there..."
One morning, Li An rose and stretched, satisfaction written all over his face.
Two years of effort had finally borne fruit.
His cultivation hadn’t fallen behind either—he’d perfected the Seventh Layer of Qi Refining and was now ready to push for the Eighth.
He skimmed through recent letters.
Gu Hong and her master had clashed with her senior brother in White Tiger City, and she had eventually gone independent. She was still tirelessly working on extending her master’s life.
Life in White Tiger City was tough, but at least Gu Hong was an alchemist—she had her footing.
Li An wrote back, telling her that an inner sect friend in the Clear Sun Sect had spotted signs of a Soulcore Beast in the Spirit Beast Mountains. He would keep watch, and if they succeeded in hunting it, he’d try to obtain a core.
He wasn’t worried Gu Hong would verify the claim. First, he trusted her faith in him. Second, such discoveries were always tightly kept secrets—just like Gu Hong had once done—so it was normal if the sect had no rumors about it.
As for the Clear Sun Sect, things remained calm.
Tan Qingxue still wrote occasionally, though far less frequently now. Each time, she included some Second Rank talisman paper or other materials.
Based on her gifts, Li An realized she had likely spent nearly all her savings on him.
He sighed lightly.
If Tan Qingxue ever had the chance to reach Foundation Establishment, he would definitely prepare a pill for her when the time came.
But her cultivation had peaked at the late stages of Qi Refining—she could go no further.
She was already over seventy years old.
Beauty fades with time. If they met again, even with appearance-preserving pills, her wrinkles would show. She would no longer resemble the woman from his memories.
The path of cultivation was heartless. Though a ripple stirred in Li An’s chest, it quickly calmed.
He had sealed his emotions from the start, knowing full well that such partings were inevitable.
In his previous life, he had endured too many helpless farewells. Cultivating alone to Core Formation, he had watched his former wife, and even his own children, pass away one by one...
That kind of pain—that karmic burden—was too heavy. It would shatter the heart of the path.
Tan Qingxue’s letter also mentioned something minor: Mu Qingwan’s husband had recently failed his third attempt at Foundation Establishment, causing severe damage to his lifespan. He was now seeking ways to extend his life.
Mu Qingwan had a daughter—already twenty-one years old—with the same Mid Grade Yellow Wood Element Spiritual Root.
Li An didn’t give it much thought.
In fact, he began to wonder—had he been too paranoid back then?
So many years had passed, and the Clear Sun Sect remained completely peaceful...
Could it be that the Horse Face of Death had really died?
Even the demonic cultivators in the northern part of Great Dawn had been slowly eradicated, their influence steadily declining.
If that was the case—good.
That day, Li An went out as usual, wandering through the market.
He wasn’t just passing time. Over the years of crafting talismans, he had developed a habit of regularly checking the market’s defensive array.
Only Foundation Establishment cultivators who guarded the city were supposed to know the array’s full structure. But Li An had studied it long and hard—he’d pieced together a rough understanding through careful observation.
He was likely the only person in the market who could manage that. His deep knowledge of arrays and persistent observation had made it possible.
"Hmm?!"
But as he neared a boundary stone at the northern edge of the city, his expression suddenly changed.
Beneath a nearby willow tree, the soil had clearly been disturbed.
He checked the surroundings—no one was near. He stepped closer, extended his Divine Sense—
"Demonic Qi!"
His face darkened.
Buried beneath the earth was a wooden box—brimming with rolling Demonic Qi and stuffed with numerous Barrier-Breaking Talismans.
It immediately reminded him of the first time the market was attacked...
The same trick again?!
His heart tensed.
(End of Chapter)