Cultivating Immortality Begins with Rejuvenation.

Chapter 169: Relaxing
On the seventh day after entering the mountains, a magical halo shield with a radius of two thousand miles and emerald green water patterns came into view.

That is the magic barrier and temporary restriction array set up by the Biyun Sect.

The water wave halo includes the ancient ruins at the core and covers all the ruins within a radius of a thousand miles.

However, it was already obvious at this time that the halo of the water waves was dim and had many damages.

Not long after Xiao Changfeng led everyone into the barrier, a fake Dan elder came out from the ruins.

"My fellow Daoists from Cangyun Prefecture, the bandits from other prefectures are attempting to seize the relics within our prefecture. This matter not only concerns the dignity of our Biyun Sect, but also the path of every cultivator within our prefecture. I invite you all to join me in fighting this enemy, and I will certainly reward you based on your merits afterwards.

On behalf of the clan, I promise you all that if anyone comes out on top in this meritorious service, we will give you all spiritual medicines, magical instruments, secret manuals of cultivation techniques, and inheritance of all arts... We will even give you at least ten Foundation Establishment Pills as rewards. I will not let you down."

Among the nearly two hundred independent cultivators recruited this time, except for the six Foundation Establishment cultivators, the rest were mostly in the late Qi Condensation stage. When they heard about the reward of Foundation Establishment Pill, they were all excited.

Those who are still able to stay in the Immortal City are basically independent cultivators who are relatively cautious and dare not risk entering the restricted area of the ruins.

Compared to the independent cultivators who entered the ruins early, they were not cowardly or inferior in strength to those, but they either had concerns or were calm in mind, and most importantly, they were unwilling to become enemies with the Biyun Sect.

Now that I have received such a promise, I suddenly have hope.

"Changfeng, go and arrange for the fellow Taoists to be on guard. In addition to considering the defensive pressure in each location, you should also understand everyone's wishes. Do not force them unless absolutely necessary." Elder Jiadan gave his final instructions and hurried away.

Xiao Changfeng accepted the order. He was a free and easy-going person and not good at making empty promises, so he didn't say much. He just asked those who were willing to make contributions and receive rewards to step forward.

The sect cannot give direct orders to independent cultivators as it does to family cultivators. After all, family cultivators have ties and concerns, as well as weaknesses, while independent cultivators are rootless and floating around. If they are forced into a corner, they will just have one more enemy.

So we still have to pretend to be nice on the surface.

To Li Ji'an's surprise, more than half of these Qi training cultivators took a step forward, which was more than he expected.

The external aids were all defending outside the core ruins and were not allowed to enter the core ruins area without the sect's order. Li Ji'an was the first one to be let go.

This place is still located in the southwest of the mountain range, 500 miles away from the core ruins. It is mainly used to prevent local cultivators from Cangyun Prefecture from entering. This also belongs to the second line of defense. Xiao Changfeng said that the edge of the magic barrier 500 miles to the west is the first line of defense.

The Qi-cultivating cultivators were all stationed in one place, while the foundation-building cultivators like Li Ji'an were formed into teams of several foundation-building cultivators, patrolling an area, but they were all led by disciples of the sect.

The leader of Li Ji'an's team is an elderly foundation-building cultivator from the sect. He is very easy-going and is the type of person who is old and weak but can still contribute his remaining energy in the rear.

After receiving the secret message from Xiao Changfeng, he became even kinder to Li Ji'an.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Fellow Daoist Li. I'm Wu Maoshan. I'd appreciate it if you could join us on patrol in the future." Wu Maoshan bowed with a smile, without the same sense of superiority as other disciples of the sect.

"Fellow Daoist Wu, you are too polite. I will still rely on the care of the three fellow Daoists." Li Ji'an humbly returned the greeting and bowed to the three people in front of him.

"I have heard of Master Li Dan's great name within the clan. It's a pleasure to meet you." Another old woman who had built her foundation nodded.

"I still remember the extravagant scene of Mr. Li at the auction that day." The last old man with rosacea took a big gulp of wine and greeted him while stroking his gray beard.

Xiao Changfeng had already informed the identities of the three people in advance. Wu Maoshan was from the older generation of the sect, the old woman was an elder of the Liu family, the beastmaster, and the old man with rosacea was the elder of the Zhao family of Tianquan City, one of the five major families.

They are all in the early stages of foundation building, and are old and frail, at the age of enjoying their retirement.

Xiao Changfeng arranged him to be with these three old men, which was really for Li Ji'an's own good.

Back then, Xiao Changfeng asked Li Ji'an why he gave up, and Li Ji'an answered him the same way he answered Yan Qingwan.

Therefore, he understood Li Ji'an's philosophy of prioritizing safety above all else. "My fellow Daoists, thank you for your generosity. I have only achieved a modest amount in the Dao of Alchemy," Li Ji'an replied with a smile.

The three of them then brought Li Ji'an to the temporary spirit gathering array.

"Fellow Daoist Li, this area in the southwest is our patrol zone. Our main task is to deal with some thieves who sneak in from the front. We only need to patrol it occasionally." Wu Maoshan explained.

Then the old woman from the Liu family smiled and added, "Since we came here to guard it three years ago, no one has sneaked in."

Li Ji'an nodded with satisfaction.

He had no doubt about what he said. After all, there were also the sect's foundation-building monks stationed at the front line, and there were also the sect's magic barriers and temporary protective formations.

The most crucial thing is that the area to the southwest of the ruins is mainly faced with local cultivators from Cangyun Prefecture, and there are very few people who have established their foundation. Hua Hongling was discovered and injured in the first line of defense in this area.

However, this only represents the situation before.

Now, the biggest wave of impact brought by the independent cultivators has ended and has not shaken the defenses of the Biyun Sect. Next, the sects in the two states should be about to launch an attack.

By then, there will be a frontal confrontation between two sects in the north, tying up most of the core forces of the Biyun Sect. After being intimidated by the sect, those independent cultivators will most likely go around in a group.

However, the pressure is mostly on the front, and they don't have much of a problem here.

For the next period of time, Li Ji'an was at ease fishing here, and at the same time, while patrolling, he and Gua Gua explored the secret cave that Duanmu Qin mentioned.

According to the information provided by Duanmu Qin, and judging from the place where Hua Hongling was instigated and injured, the secret cave is most likely in the area he is patrolling now.

"Ga~" One day, an eagle's cry came from the sky, and then a falcon swooped down and landed on the old woman's arm.

This is the old woman's spiritual bird, also a second-level spiritual beast, with extremely fast speed and excellent eyesight.

"Master Li Dan, my Baoer has confirmed that there are no intruders."

Li Ji'an smiled and thanked him: "Then Li will go out for another patrol."

Wu Maoshan nodded: "Okay, I'll remember it for you."

This can also be considered as Li Ji'an's achievement, so it naturally needs to be recorded to deal with future sect inspections.

When leaving the spirit gathering formation, Li Ji'an glanced at the man with red nose again. He had been sleeping soundly the whole time. He had only spoken to him on the day Li Ji'an first arrived. In the following days, he was almost always drunk.

"What a pity, I don't know where Duanmu Qin is patrolling?" He changed the direction again today, but still found nothing. Li Ji'an estimated that the cave had some unusual hiding method, and it would be difficult to find anything by just searching like this.

Li Ji'an arrived at the front-line garrison point but still found nothing.

"Senior Li?" Just as he was about to leave, a familiar voice came from the front-line garrison.

Li Ji'an recognized the person, it was Yan Qing.

The few people stationed with him were also members of the Yan family.

This surprised Li Ji'an a little. After all, if it was a cultivator from a family, they would be controlled by the sect and would most likely be sent to a more dangerous area, while this place was relatively safe.

(End of this chapter)