Cultivating Immortality Begins with Rejuvenation

Looking at Xiao Changfeng, whose figure was slender and whose appearance was more masculine and resolute than it had been eighteen years ago, with a touch of the vicissitudes of time, Li Ji'an felt a little unfamiliar.

The stern aura emanating from him made Xiao Qiao hide tightly behind Li Ji'an.

Xiao Changfeng stood at the gate of the courtyard, looking at Li Ji'an, also with a hint of formality.

After all, they hadn't seen each other for eighteen years, and their interaction was limited to the five-day trial back then.

The power of time was silent and imperceptible, yet it could smooth out everything.

Although they had often communicated through messages over the years, even confiding in each other to some extent, there had been no offline interaction, making it more like a virtual friendship.

Li Ji'an had never taken the words of Xiao Changfeng, who was immature in thought and unsound in mind back then, seriously.

Except for people like him who possessed the divine ability of rejuvenation, the mentality and thoughts of adolescence and middle age were different; after all, one was immature back then.

Li Ji'an understood this and only treated him as an acquaintance, and as an inner disciple of a sect who might be helpful to his goal of eternal life and immortality in the future. What would happen in the future would require real offline contact.

This was also based on some recognition of his nature when they first met eighteen years ago.

However, human nature is half good and half evil. In those short few days, he only saw the good side of his nature. Moreover, human nature changes with environment and experience, so it can only be used as a reference.

Anyway, he didn't expect too much.

Just normal interaction would be fine.

"Fellow Daoist Li," Xiao Changfeng said with a slightly stiff smile on his face, cupping his fist. He only said this, without any other words of greeting.

Obviously, compared to eighteen years ago, his temperament was more stable, and he didn't speak in an endless stream without choosing his words.

"Fellow Daoist Xiao, please," Li Ji'an said with a more relaxed attitude, a sincere smile, inviting him into the courtyard.

Because he had received his message in advance, Li Ji'an had Xiao Qiao prepare a table of delicacies.

It could barely be considered their first meeting as online friends. Without the exchange of wine and tobacco, it would be easy for things to become awkward, so Li Ji'an had specially prepared some late-stage first-order spiritual wine.

Temporary unfamiliarity didn't matter, drink!

The first-order spiritual wine was infused with a high concentration of spiritual energy, as well as spiritual herbs that had a stimulating effect on late-stage Qi training cultivators. After a few cups, Xiao Changfeng gradually relaxed a little.

By the time each of them had emptied a pot of spiritual wine, their conversation became more intimate.

"Fellow Daoist Li, the impulsive decision you made back then, everyone in the sect said you would definitely regret it in the future, but now it seems that's not necessarily the case," Xiao Changfeng said with some emotion, sensing that Li Ji'an had also advanced to the ninth level of Qi training.

In fact, over the years, his occasional messages expressing his dissatisfaction in the sect were mostly to comfort Li Ji'an for giving up entering the inner sect back then.

Li Ji'an smiled and raised his cup: "I was fortunate to inherit a little talent in the Dao of Pills from my father, barely managing to cope with cultivation, it's not worth mentioning."

Xiao Changfeng raised his head and drank it all in one gulp, smiling and not continuing the topic.

Li Ji'an's last-minute abandonment of entering the sect back then had been the subject of after-dinner conversation among the inner sect brothers for some time.

And as the substitute who was able to enter the inner sect because of Li Ji'an's abandonment, he was naturally tied to the topic of Li Ji'an.

So he was often asked about Li Ji'an's situation.

Until he learned that Li Ji'an had come to the Immortal City, some inner sect disciples paid a little attention when they came to the Immortal City for duty.

When he was rated as a leader among first-order alchemists, there was a small-scale discussion within the sect.

Some people felt that his abandonment of the inner sect back then was probably because of his talent in the Dao of Pills.

However, most people's views were relatively unified.

A first-order alchemist among the loose cultivators in the Immortal City was far from being comparable to the experienced alchemists in the sect.

What's more, as the geniuses of the entire Cangyun Prefecture, they believed even more in the precepts of the elders of the Transmission Hall, that strength is paramount in the cultivation world, and strength is headed by realm. Seizing the best age, cultivating bravely, and improving realm is the first priority.

Unless the realm has been raised to an insurmountable bottleneck, or the potential has been exhausted, they do not advocate studying the hundreds of arts of cultivating immortality.

In their view, the hundreds of arts of cultivating immortality are just minor paths.

Xiao Changfeng also agreed with this.

Even Li Ji'an himself agreed.

If he had sufficient resources, excellent talent, and the potential to reach the peak, he would probably only cultivate his realm and hone his spells in his daily life. As long as his realm was high and his combat power was strong, there was no need to be distracted by other things. After all, a person's energy is limited.

Although Xiao Changfeng was surprised by Li Ji'an's ninth level of Qi training today, it was only that. He came from a loose cultivator background with his parents, and he knew even more clearly the difficulty of loose cultivators.

Over the years, he occasionally complained to Li Ji'an about the many contributions required for the sect's Foundation Establishment Pill. Although it was the truth, at least it was a hope, and he had actually accumulated almost enough now.

As for Li Ji'an, he was not surprised that he was able to reach the ninth level of Qi training so quickly as a first-order alchemist. Alchemists, after all, refine pills for themselves to eat, and it is normal to supplement their realm. However, such a realm piled up solely by pills has almost no fighting strength and consumes potential. After all, the pill poison and drug resistance are still very high. He doesn't think that any loose cultivator first-order alchemist can be willing to take pills above the superior grade.

Moreover, with his identity as a first-order alchemist loose cultivator, it is estimated that it is not easy to live and cultivate in this Immortal City. Even if he has a little fame, he probably won't be able to quickly save enough resources for the Foundation Establishment Pill. Ten years? Twenty years?

Even if he saves money and wastes countless precious years to save enough Foundation Establishment resources, he may not be able to successfully establish the foundation at that time due to his weak mana.

"Fellow Daoist Li, Xiao will toast you another cup," Xiao Changfeng raised his cup.

He reasoned according to the normal logic of the cultivation world and was not optimistic about Li Ji'an's future, but that did not prevent him from being grateful to Li Ji'an.

Although many people in the sect, and even the elders of the Transmission Hall, said that his ability to enter the inner sect had little to do with Li Ji'an, but was due to his own luck, and they all believed that he was a person with extraordinary luck.

But aside from Li Ji'an's abandonment, he still remembered the kindness of Li Ji'an waking him up early.

He had even been thinking about what way he could repay the kindness he had received back then.

It was just that he had been in a weak position all these years, and it was also a critical moment to attack the Foundation Establishment stage, so he was willing but powerless.

He had also thought that after he established the foundation, if he had the opportunity to guard the Immortal City, he would see if he could provide some convenience for him in the Immortal City.

This time, he came to look for Li Ji'an specifically, not because he was originally going home as the message said, but because he saw that Li Ji'an had this need, so he specially asked the sect for leave, not hesitating to waste time accompanying Li Ji'an on a trip.

After three rounds of wine and five flavors of dishes, the two became more and more familiar, especially in the section of recalling bitterness and thinking about sweetness. When the two talked about the sect trial eighteen years ago, their relationship went a step further.

Then the two discussed the matter of going east.

The Flame Mountain Jedi was a little farther away than the southern wilderness, and the road was relatively barren, with no high-level spiritual veins, nor steep mountains, but it would take a little time.

It was finally decided to set off in three days.

"Fellow Daoist Li, then Xiao will take his leave first, and come to find you again in three days," Xiao Changfeng said goodbye after eating and drinking his fill.

Li Ji'an said politely: "If Fellow Daoist Xiao doesn't mind, I still have a guest room here, you can stay for two days."

"No need, there are senior brothers in the sect who are stationed in the Immortal City, and I have to visit them, so I won't bother Fellow Daoist Li," Xiao Changfeng said truthfully.

"Okay, then we'll meet again in three days."

——

Xiao Changfeng left, and Xiao Qiao secretly poked her head out of the house, her eyes flickering as she looked at his back.

"Xiao Qiao, don't be afraid, that Uncle Xiao is not a bad person either. The fact that he can still remember the events of that year with his current status is enough to show that he is a person who cherishes kindness," Li Ji'an closed the courtyard door, touched Xiao Qiao's head, and comforted her.

In the next three days, Li Ji'an adjusted his mood and finally took out that late-stage superior-grade talisman paper.

On the second day, a flash of inspiration, a stream of light flashed and disappeared on the talisman paper.

"It's done!"

The talismans of this world do not store mana, but use the divine soul as a guide and mana as a medium to draw the spiritual opportunity of heaven and earth into the talisman. The effect exerted is not mana, but the spiritual opportunity of heaven and earth.

The spiritual opportunity of heaven and earth is a reflection of the law. The Teleportation Talisman is a reflection of the law of space. It is far from the real law of space, but it is also more difficult to draw than ordinary spiritual opportunities such as the five elements, wind, fire, thunder, and electricity.

The successful drawing of the late-stage superior-grade Teleportation Talisman at this moment marks Li Ji'an's talisman art entering the ranks of a first-order senior talisman master.

"Five hundred miles in an instant, enough to escape from the hands of early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators!"

On the third day, taking advantage of the advancement of talisman art, Li Ji'an once again purchased late-stage Spirit Trapping Talisman materials from the talisman shop, and successfully drew three late-stage Spirit Trapping Talismans for future use.

It's not easy to go to the Flame Mountain Jedi this time. If you don't encounter it, let alone if you really encounter it, you can't pat your thighs because you are not fully prepared.

With all preparations fully prepared, Li Ji'an quietly waited for Xiao Changfeng.

However, when the agreed time was approaching, Xiao Changfeng suddenly sent a message that the Immortal City garrison temporarily deployed him to participate in a nearby mission to track down robbers, which may delay him for a few days.

Li Ji'an smiled indifferently at this, but he also understood that his status as a sect disciple was naturally not as free as a loose cultivator, and it was normal to be temporarily drafted.

Moreover, he had also heard about the Immortal City robbers some time ago.

It was said that they came from Tianyuan Prefecture, north of the Daze Mountains, and were said to be a loose cultivator gang with not weak strength. They raised objections to the ruling sect of Tianyuan Prefecture, the Wanfa Palace, wanting to win a third-order spiritual vein for all loose cultivators, and then they were hunted down for thousands of miles.

After escaping to this place, they had no way to continue, so they attacked the cultivators coming and going to the Immortal City.

This incident caused a sensation in the Immortal City at that time.

After all, as the Immortal City of the first sect in Cangyun Prefecture, such a bad thing had not happened in nearly a hundred years. Which local cultivator in Cangyun Prefecture dared to do anything near the Immortal City.

However, the Biyun Sect seemed to be short of manpower at the time, and only strengthened the protection around the Immortal City, failing to bring them to justice.

This time, perhaps they found the robbers' traces.

Fortunately, it was only delayed for half a month before Xiao Changfeng returned.

On this day, Xiao Changfeng came to meet Li Ji'an with a slight apology.

"Fellow Daoist Li, it is not advisable to delay, in case the sect has another edict, let's set off immediately."

Li Ji'an packed up, secretly put Guagua into the spirit pet bag, and took Xiao Qiao's hand to come to the gate of the courtyard.

Seeing that Li Ji'an even wanted to bring this little girl who had not yet set foot on cultivation, Xiao Changfeng was slightly surprised, but in the end, he didn't say anything, just protecting one more person, he had confidence.

East Gate of the Immortal City.

Li Ji'an was originally prepared to summon a first-order intermediate magic weapon he had purchased two years ago, but Xiao Changfeng had already released a flying boat.

"Fellow Daoist Li, this trip is hundreds of thousands of miles away, I specially borrowed a flying boat from the sect elder, it should be able to save some time."

Li Ji'an was slightly surprised.

As a flying magic weapon, the price of a flying boat is not low. Yan's family's flying boat, a first-order intermediate grade, has already been bought by generations of people who are willing to buy one, and the one Xiao Changfeng borrowed is actually a superior-grade flying boat.

Sensing it slightly, relying on the vision he had improved in the Immortal City over the years, Li Ji'an judged that this flying boat was similar to the flying boat that brought them to the cultivation world back then.

Taking Xiao Qiao into the flying boat was indeed very comfortable.

At the same time, Li Ji'an looked remotely to the south, in the direction of the Sandstorm Jedi.

There, was the place where he first entered this world fifty-seven years ago.

There, was also a superior-grade flying boat like Xiao Changfeng's flying boat.

Just this flying boat is worth more than a thousand spirit stones.

They hadn't gone to investigate for so many years.

At that time, he was worried that there were marks of high-level cultivators on those things because he didn't know the abilities of the cultivation world, and he was worried about being tracked down.

With the current vision, coupled with the judgment of the other party's family and the risks of what they did, one is that the distance is far enough, they definitely can't sense it, and the other is that the other party doesn't dare to leave marks on it that can lock their clues.

"Forget it, wait a little longer, or, maybe there will be a chance to go and see if it's still there in the next life," in the end, Li Ji'an still suppressed the desires in his heart.

All the way east.

A month later, the flying boat completely left the sphere of influence of the Biyun Sect.

At the same time, the spiritual energy has gone from being thin all the way since leaving the Immortal City to being completely undetectable now.

On this day, seeing Xiao Changfeng taking another Spirit Replenishing Pill, Li Ji'an took out a bottle of pills from the storage bag and handed it to Xiao Changfeng.

It was already kind enough for the other party to accompany him, and he also borrowed the flying boat.

Moreover, the most important thing in the interaction between people is the exchange of interests, equivalent exchange. Appropriately expressing one's value is beneficial to maintaining the relationship with each other.

"Thank you, Fellow Daoist Li," seeing Li Ji'an handing over the pills, Xiao Changfeng hesitated for a moment, then thanked him and accepted it.

The reason for the hesitation was because he usually had to take pills of at least superior grade in order to refine his mana.

And his perception of Li Ji'an was a bit of worldly prejudice. Loose cultivator alchemists would sell good pills to exchange for other resources, and they would often take middle and lower-grade pills themselves.

This can't be blamed on him, it's really the way the cultivation world is.

Those who are covered in silk are not silkworm farmers!

The reason why he finally accepted it was just to maintain Li Ji'an's dignity.

However.

"Hmm?" The moment he got the jade bottle, he sensed the aura of the pills inside.

Without hesitation, he opened the jade bottle.

"This..." He looked at Li Ji'an in some surprise.

A bottle of twenty superior-grade Spirit Replenishing Pills.

Li Ji'an smiled faintly: "Fellow Daoist Xiao, you don't have to be polite, these are all refined by Li himself on a daily basis. Moreover, if it weren't for the protection of Daoist friends on this trip, Li might not be able to guarantee his safety."

"This... do you usually keep such quality pills?" Xiao Changfeng couldn't believe it.

Li Ji'an shook his head: "I don't keep such pills on weekdays. This time, I thought that there were many barren lands on the way, and I needed to replenish spiritual energy, so I specially kept some."

"Oh. I was saying..." Xiao Changfeng breathed a sigh of relief.

However, before he could finish speaking, Li Ji'an took out another bottle of fine Spirit Replenishing Pills: "I usually only keep these qualities for consumption."