After entering Tempered Moon Valley, Li An firmly decided that he wouldn't be leaving anytime soon.
After all, the resources he had now were more than enough to sustain his cultivation for a long while.
Moreover, with him present, many of the active functions of the Second-Grade formation in Tempered Moon Valley could be disabled, saving a great deal of spirit stones. Two hundred stones a month would be sufficient to keep it running.
When unoccupied, the formation would remain in a full alert state, which cost significantly more!
…
At that very moment—
Clear Sun Sect.
The fire had burned for twenty days before it finally subsided. The dozens of miles of mountain range that once belonged to the Clear Sun Sect had all turned into scorched earth.
The sect lay in utter ruin. The Pill Hall, Talisman Hall, Artifact Forging Hall—everything had long been looted and set ablaze. Corpses of Clear Sun Sect disciples were strewn everywhere, flies buzzing over them, and the stench was overwhelming.
Inside the inner hall of the Clear Sun Sect—
Seven Foundation Establishment demonic cultivators sat on either side of the hall.
At the head seat sat none other than a former elder of the Clear Sun Sect—Li Yuan!
Only now, black demonic energy surged from his body, exuding an unrestrained aura of bloodthirsty demonic killing intent!
"Reporting to the Helm Master, all of Clear Sun Sect’s resources have been tallied and sent off according to your instructions. The haul this time was enormous!"
"Most of the surviving Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Clear Sun Sect have been killed. No more than five managed to escape. They won’t be able to stir up any trouble!"
"We’ve kept a close eye on the Hundred Beasts Sect. They don’t dare to intervene. We can now focus on attacking the Liuyang River Market District with peace of mind!"
One after another, the Foundation Establishment demonic cultivators voiced their reports.
At the head, “Li Yuan” nodded and said, “You’ve all worked hard for this clean sweep of the Clear Sun Sect.”
“Each of you will receive three cauldrons and twenty thousand spirit stones. The rest of the resources—pick freely.”
“Also, send word across the realm. Tell everyone: that old bastard of Clear Sun, I’ve chopped him to pieces and ground him into paste to feed the dogs—hang the heads of his fellow disciples and juniors at every crossroads in the northern region of Great Dawn for ten days!”
Everyone nodded.
“Li Yuan” suddenly remembered something. “What about that little talisman maker from back then? Was he caught? Hang his head too. Even though I deliberately let myself get killed back then, it pisses me off thinking I died at the hands of that thing—”
A demonic cultivator at the far end stood up, face grim. “Reporting to the Helm Master, that black-hearted talisman master got away…”
“Subordinate suspects he was the one who killed Senior Brother back then. He must’ve learned our Yin-Yang Demonic Furnace Art and used it to change his appearance—so he slipped out—”
Another Foundation Establishment demonic cultivator beside him added, “Helm Master, there’s one more thing. Over at Masha Ferry Crossing, a dozen of my men were killed and their treasures stolen. Based on what we’ve pieced together, we suspect the talisman master was responsible!”
“Li Yuan’s” brows furrowed instantly. “So you’re saying, the bastard who sold me fake talismans and chopped off my head back then, slipped away right under my nose today—not only is he still alive, but he even turned the tables on me, killed over a dozen of my men, and took their treasures?!”
The two Foundation Establishment demonic cultivators began trembling, eyes filled with fear.
“Helm Master, we’ve already issued a kill-on-sight order…”
Li Yuan suddenly said, “Well done!”
The two demonic cultivators breathed a sigh of relief. “It’s what we ought to do…”
“Who said you did well?”
“Li Yuan” said, “I meant that little talisman master did well!”
“Damn it, what a ruthless, cunning, patient black-hearted bastard. Looks like he saw through my plan. Hah… He’s more like a demonic cultivator than we are. He even learned our sect’s Yin-Yang Demonic Furnace Art. Good! Good! Good!”
He actually burst into lavish praise.
All the demonic cultivators present looked at each other, unsure what to say.
“That kill order’s useless. A character this vicious and sneaky, with so many resources in hand—you think he’ll wait around for you to kill him? He’s definitely found some godforsaken place to cultivate for ten years or so before resurfacing.”
“Cancel that damned kill order. Don’t embarrass yourselves. What if ten years go by and you haven’t killed him? Won’t that be humiliating?”
“Li Yuan’s” tone was casual, like he was just chatting. There wasn’t the slightest trace of anger.
“Helm Master, so we’re just letting him go…”
A Foundation Establishment demonic cultivator couldn’t help but speak up.
“Of course not. You two, go find people connected to that little talisman master. But keep quiet. Look for the greedy, ruthless type, and buy one or two of them off in secret.”
Li Yuan said, “My guess is, ten years or so from now, that bastard will show himself again. He might even reconnect with old friends…”
The two Foundation Establishment demonic cultivators immediately nodded. “If he appears, we’ll go kill him ourselves!”
Li Yuan rolled his eyes. “Kill, my ass. Capture him alive. Got that? I want him alive!”
With that, he stood and said, “Let’s go. Time to train for a while. Might have to help Third Brother catch that white-furred tigress…”
…
In the blink of an eye, three years passed.
During those three years, Li An never once contacted the outside world, nor took a single step beyond Tempered Moon Valley. But he would regularly scout the ten-mile perimeter around the valley, with a particular focus on sensing demonic cultivators.
Fortunately, the area surrounding the valley remained peaceful.
“Spirit root has officially reached Mid-Yellow Grade!”
That day, after checking his life-seed through introspection and sensing the change in his spirit root, Li An felt immensely gratified.
Currently, his spirit root sensitivity had reached 64 points!
Generally speaking, 30 to 60 marked Low-Yellow Grade, while 60 to 100 was Mid-Yellow Grade.
Only by exceeding 100 points could it be considered High-Yellow Grade.
A cultivator with Mid-Yellow Grade roots could typically reach the late stage of Qi Refining, and with enough luck, had a good chance at Foundation Establishment.
Meanwhile, a Low-Yellow Grade root like Tan Qingxue’s—despite her diligent cultivation—would likely stall at the Seventh Layer of Qi Refining, with almost no hope of reaching Foundation Establishment.
Spirit roots were the fundamental connection to heaven and earth, the basis of cultivation. If they were too weak, even taking three Foundation Establishment Pills like Chen Cheng did… would be in vain!
Li An stood tall, stepped out of the room, and stretched his body. Suddenly, both palms struck out like thunder.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Everywhere his palms reached, thunderous roars echoed. A cluster of azaleas forty meters away was blasted into smithereens by his force.
His figure flickered continuously. Using his perfected Lightfoot Technique, he moved more nimbly than a monkey, as graceful as a butterfly, skimming across leaves and blades of grass. His movements were as fleeting as startled swans. At the same time, each strike of his Thunderstrike Palm was stronger than the last. When he unleashed the final blow, a lake eighty meters away exploded with a deafening crash, sending a towering wave surging over ten meters high before it crashed back down with a thundering splash!
The power was astonishing.
“Thunderstrike Palm fully mastered!”
At the same time, Li An channeled power through his fingers, and a bluish-green glow flared—giving the impression of a venomous snake.
“Cold Yin Finger is perfected too. Unfortunately, I’ve run out of venom lately. I’ll have to find more potent toxins to practice with in the future.”
The only technique that had stalled was Ironwood Art—his Golden Bone state hadn’t progressed in three years.
The main issue was a lack of resources. There was nowhere to purchase Molten Gold Elixir.
“Still a few more years to complete the Eighth Layer of Qi Refining…”
The Life-Nurturing Immortal Forging Art produced incredible results, enhancing lifespan, spirit root, divine sense, and physique all at once. But the tradeoff was a drastically slowed cultivation speed.
Yet Li An had no complaints. In fact, he increasingly realized that this slower pace made his spiritual power exceptionally pure.
If he fought using only his own strength, without relying on magical artifacts or talismans, Li An was confident he could take on someone at the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining!
Moreover, now that he possessed divine sense, he had a natural edge.
“Continue crafting talismans and formations!”
Since his cultivation couldn’t be rushed, Li An poured his efforts into other areas.
Especially talismans—this was the foundation of his survival!
Another five years passed.
Li An finally reached the peak of the Eighth Layer of Qi Refining and could begin his assault on the Ninth.
At the same time, the talisman papers and materials he had taken from the Talisman Store had all been exhausted—every last scrap had been turned into runes.
At present, he had a total of sixteen Second-Grade talismans!
Five Exploding Talismans, two Barrier-Breaking Talismans, three Mystic Shield Talismans, three Second-Grade Swift Talismans, two Thunderclap Talismans, and one Soul-Suppressing Talisman.
“Still not enough Exploding Talismans…”
Li An sighed. His ideal setup was to always carry twenty talismans each for offense, defense, and control.
For Barrier-Breaking and Swift Talismans, he wanted at least ten as a baseline!
Only then would he feel secure.
But such an ideal was clearly beyond his reach for now.
First was the limitation of resources—Second-Grade talisman paper required special materials. Even though he’d taken quite a lot from the Talisman Store, it still wasn’t enough.
Second was the limitation of his realm—Qi Refining spiritual power was still inferior to Foundation Establishment.
In truth, being able to produce Second-Grade talismans at this stage was already incredibly impressive. Other talisman masters simply couldn’t do it.
In addition, he had four sets of high-level formations—categorized into defense, offense, and control.
“Time to break through to the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining…”
Once he succeeded, it would be time to venture out again… and begin laying plans for Foundation Establishment!
…
(End of Chapter)