Cultivating Immortality Begins with Rejuvenation.

Chapter 240 Introduction to Puppetry

Half a month later, an elder from the Qin family personally delivered a cold jade bed.

It is said that Qin Chuan originally intended to come and deliver it in person, but suddenly felt something and went into seclusion to break through the bottleneck of the mid-stage Foundation Establishment.

The Jade Bed had arrived, and Li Ji'an immediately sent a message to Ning Yutan to come.

During the past two weeks, Ning Yutan continued to pay her respects every day. However, apart from subtle probing in her words, she did not do anything rash that might backfire.

"Yu Tan greets Senior Li." Not long after, Ning Yu Tan arrived.

Seeing Ning Yutan's new clothes, Li Ji'an subconsciously raised his eyebrows slightly.

A light blue gauze skirt, white silk stockings, and a light blue bodice faintly visible on her chest... This was what Ning Sujin wore the night before she was taken away by the immortal master in her third life.

Glancing at Ning Yutan, whose head was pressed to the ground, Li Ji'an suddenly smiled and stared at the empty space above Ning Yutan's head.

His consciousness could not sense anything there.

But his intuition told him that Ning Sujin was watching him!
If this premonition is true, it will also prove the previous guess that Ning Sujin's current spiritual strength is terrifyingly high!
Thus, Li Ji'an no longer minded that she knew the secret that he might be a "chosen one".

After all, to be able to spy on oneself at such close range without being detected, one's soul must have reached the primordial spirit level.

Looking across the entire Tiancang Domain, almost no one can perform a soul search on such a divine soul.

As for the deliberate disclosure, given his own tragic experiences, he naturally knew what being favored by the gods meant.

Just as Li Ji'an revealed a smile that seemed out of place with his current status, Ning Yutan's body, which was touching the ground with her head, suddenly trembled.

"Sister Jin!" Li Ji'an's smile deepened, and he spoke softly, but no sound came out; he only mouthed the words.

Immediately, Li Ji'an reverted to his demeanor as a senior expert, his voice indifferent: "No need for formalities!"

Ning Yutan stood up somewhat unsteadily, looked up at Li Ji'an, and felt a little disappointed, because the other party still had the same indifferent attitude and did not react to her wearing this outfit because she had believed Ning Sujin's words.

"The Jade Bed has arrived. From today onwards, I will guide your meridians for a quarter of an hour every day. First, take this Essence Blood Pill, refine it, and then lie down on this bed!" Li Ji'an stopped wasting words, handed the Essence Blood Pill he had refined two days ago to Ning Yutan, gave an order, and then turned and went into his secret room.

Ning Yutan took the essence blood pill and looked at the blood-red spots of essence on its surface, feeling a strange sense of repulsion.

She glanced at the tightly closed door of the secret room, then her consciousness sank into her sea of ​​consciousness.

"How was it? Did you notice any unusual emotional fluctuations in him?"

“…None at the moment!” Ning Sujin’s soul trembled, and it took her a long time to utter two words.

Li Ji'an's actions just now were a clear indication to her, and besides surprise and excitement, she also felt endless sadness and melancholy.

When she came to this cultivation world with the Liu family, she actually held onto the hope that perhaps when she became an immortal, she would have the chance to return to the Immortal Dynasty and bring Brother Li to the Immortal Realm as well.

Because at the moment she left the Immortal Dynasty, she asked herself what was in her heart and realized that what she cared about most and what she was most reluctant to part with had unknowingly become that Li Lang, who was always calm and composed and dressed in white.

At the same time, he realized that his previous pursuit of immortality and seeking the truth, and even finding his cousin, was nothing more than a way to prove that he had not lied.

How foolish it is to try so hard to prove yourself to those who don't trust you! Besides, you already have a Li Lang who is willing to believe you in everything.
However, what happened after she arrived in the so-called immortal realm caught her off guard and left her in utter despair.

If it weren't for her half-sister Ning Yutan, whom she still cared about, she might have already passed away.

Over the long years that followed, hope for revenge was unexpectedly rekindled, and a different, powerful method was discovered, which is why I have managed to survive until now.

Just when she thought she and Li Lang were forever separated by death, leaving only a cold and numb heart, his sudden appearance caught her off guard once again.

Unfortunately, I am now neither human nor ghost, and I don't even have a body that would want to embrace Li Lang.

"No? Hmph, I told you that's a pipe dream. Even if it's Brother Li, how could he remember the clothes you wore back then? You might as well wear the clothes I used to wear." Ning Yutan pouted upon hearing this.

"Perhaps..." Ning Sujin didn't argue with her anymore.

"Then look at this pill..."

"Now that things have come to this, you can completely trust... Senior. Even if he is not an old friend, his actions show that he must be an upright, kind-hearted, and virtuous senior."

Before things became uncertain, Ning Sujin would reveal some guesses to encourage Li Ji'an to have more contact with her, but once things were confirmed, she was unwilling to let him know the confirmed information anymore.

After all, the reason she was targeted by that old scoundrel Liu in the Immortal Dynasty was because Ning Yutan had her soul searched.

How could I possibly plant a landmine for Li Lang, who trusted me and voluntarily revealed his true intentions to me?
"Hmm?" Hearing Ning Sujin's words, Ning Yutan unconsciously scratched her head, feeling that something was wrong. However, since her soul had been damaged by the soul search and she had only been spared from being completely destroyed thanks to Ning Sujin's soul companion, she didn't have much soul power to think about it in detail.

He then took the Essence Blood Pill and began refining it.

Once the medicinal properties had been fully refined, Li Ji'an emerged at the opportune moment.

"Take off your clothes!"

"Yes." Although her subconscious was still dominated by the ideas from the Immortal Dynasty, Ning Yutan was somewhat shy but gritted her teeth and took off her turquoise dress after Ning Sujin's affirmation.

Looking at Ning Yutan lying on the cold jade bed, her eyes tightly closed whether from the cold or shyness, Li Ji'an glanced at her white silk stockings and blue bodice.

Unlike Ning Sujin, Ning Yutan was relatively plump, but not as slender as Ning Sujin.

This body had taken youth-preserving elixirs, so there were no signs of aging on its body.

With the nourishment of spiritual energy, the skin and flesh become more moisturized.

After just one glance, Li Ji'an activated his wood-elemental cultivation technique, using his second-tier medical skills to infuse the wood-elemental spiritual energy into the body, guiding the qi and blood transformed from the essence blood pill, clearing the meridians, and nourishing the physical body.

The Cold Jade Bed can nourish the spirit and soul, and when combined with specialized soul-nourishing medical methods, it can also repair one's sea of ​​consciousness.

After the wood-elemental spiritual energy was stably transferred in, Li Ji'an looked at the center of his forehead again.

After clearly making the lip movements, Ning Yutan's body trembled slightly, but there was no further noticeable reaction afterward, which made him somewhat uncertain about Ning Sujin's condition.

At this moment, he mouthed again: "Sister Jin, can you control this body?"

The next moment, Ning Yutan slowly nodded.

But at the same time, his eyes, which had been tightly closed, suddenly opened, and there was a hint of confusion in his eyes.

Li Ji'an looked directly into his eyes.

Ning Yutan hesitated for a moment, then said, "Senior... I... my neck was a little itchy just now."

Then he closed his eyes again.

At the same time, a voice in his mind began to question Ning Sujin: "What are you doing?"

"It's nothing, just a mistake."

"Don't mess around. Before we're sure he's Brother Li, we can't let him know you're in my mind."

"Ah."

"..." Ning Yutan was somewhat surprised that Ning Sujin agreed so calmly this time, but she didn't think about it any further.

After Ning Sujin closed her eyes again, Li Ji'an blinked and roughly understood her condition.

He is conscious and can control this physical body, but it seems he cannot shield Ning Yutan, or the two cannot be separated for the time being.

"Don't worry, Sister Jin, I will do my best to help you with your cultivation," Li Ji'an mouthed again.

There was no further response. Fifteen minutes later, the first treatment ended.

Li Ji'an didn't say much. After the man thanked him, he let him leave and set a date for treatment at this time every day thereafter.

Fortunately, this method only requires 15 minutes a day, so it doesn't take up much time.

In the days that followed, Li Ji'an practiced for three hours every day, honing his magical power through ink painting.

Since breaking through to the late Foundation Establishment stage, the cultivation efficiency of the "Flame Dragon Technique" has become even slower. If Li Ji'an had not had enough high-quality pills to replenish his strength, relying solely on the spiritual energy of the spiritual veins, it would have been difficult to complete the technique even in fifty years, let alone thirty.

The Yan family's clan-protecting cultivation technique, "Flame Dragon Technique," is said to have the potential to reach the Core Formation stage. However, according to Yan Qingwan, the reason it is only a potential stage is because no one has yet achieved the Core Formation stage by practicing this technique.

Based on his deductions over the years, Li Ji'an can confirm that this cultivation method can lead to the Core Formation stage. However, compared to truly superior cultivation methods, its efficiency is indeed lower, and it requires more resources.

Li Ji'an was satisfied with this.

It's at least not like the physical cultivation technique "Hundred Forging Golden Body Technique" that Chen Zhaohu was taught.

Chen Zhaohu once claimed that this physical cultivation method had the potential to reach the second level.

Thirty-five years ago, Li Ji'an spent nearly ten thousand spirit stones to collect a lot of lava sand, and finally broke through to the middle stage of the second level of body refinement.

However, in the years that followed, even with some further transactions, they were still unable to make any further progress.

The original ancient version of the "Hundred Refinements Golden Body Technique" may have had a higher limit than this, but the evolved version taught to him by Chen Zhaohu, which uses spiritual sand instead of spiritual objects, has reached its limit.

If he wants to make further progress in body cultivation, he must switch to a superior body cultivation technique.

In addition to three hours of cultivation, there are two more hours spent drawing talismans.

He spent almost all of his remaining time researching puppetry.

March flew by.

On this day, Li Ji'an summoned a small fire spirit in the courtyard to refine a piece of low-grade paulownia wood into a weapon, and then branded runes onto several simple parts in front of him.

Finally, with a surge of magical power, it was pieced together into a simple wooden puppet resembling a stick figure.

Seeing the runes on the parts merging perfectly without any rejection, Li Ji'an breathed a sigh of relief.

This was the most technically challenging step.

However, the final step, the soul-drawing technique, is the most crucial one.

Even the simplest, non-ranked basic puppet that can be made now requires at least a mid-stage Qi Refining spiritual consciousness to succeed.

Not only is soul power required, but precise control and guidance are also essential.

"Buzz~" However, this was easy for Li Ji'an, whose divine sense was comparable to that of a True Core cultivator. A moment later, the stick figure puppet trembled and then staggered to its feet.

"It's done!" Li Ji'an was quite excited to have successfully created his first puppet.

After repeatedly checking all the details, Li Ji'an took out a low-grade spirit stone and embedded it into the groove.

The next moment, a faint sensation from the puppet came from his sea of ​​consciousness.

"Go!" The command was given using the mental techniques passed down through generations of puppets.

The stick figure immediately turned around and walked towards the other corner of the yard.

Because the joints were not finely sculpted, it walks with a somewhat unsteady gait.

However, since it was made of spirit wood, although it was a basic puppet, it could still be considered a primary magic artifact. Although it seemed unstable, it actually possessed much more energy than a mortal.

A moment later, he walked to a stone mill on the other side of the courtyard, easily lifted it, and walked towards Li Ji'an.

"I've finally grasped the basics of puppetry!" Li Ji'an finally smiled.

After issuing a cleaning order, he focused his attention on the puppet inheritance jade talisman.

After three months of research, he gained a deeper understanding of puppetry.

Craftsmanship and materials are equally important. To create a puppet with high agility and combat power, in addition to the meticulous crafting of each joint, it is also necessary to have materials that can withstand powerful energy.

In particular, if you want the puppet to have special attack methods, such as lightning or frost, you need the exclusive attributes of the core materials.

As for the spirit-possessed puppet that Li Ji'an was most looking forward to, which has its own consciousness and does not require the master to control it with his soul, it would require at least a fourth-tier puppet to be able to withstand it.

"The road ahead is long and arduous!"

After a moment of contemplation, Li Ji'an carefully put away the jade talisman and then sank his consciousness into his sea of ​​consciousness to look at the part of Chi Shi Sanren's memory.

During these three months, every few days after his mind and spirit had calmed down, Li Ji'an would sort through Chi Shi Sanren's memories, trying to find out where he had forgotten the cultivation technique that was known as the Immortal Scripture.

However, it has not been found yet.

Only after Ning Yutan arrived on time did Li Ji'an withdraw from the treatment, and after recovering slightly, he began to provide her with routine care.

"Senior Li, are you alright?" Ning Yutan noticed that Li Ji'an looked somewhat listless and asked with concern.

After three months of continuous treatment, Ning Yutan has given up on testing Li Ji'an, because Ning Sujin told her that it was probably not true.

After several months of treatment, the results were remarkable. Not only could she feel her physical body growing stronger, but even her consciousness, which had been damaged by Liu Laozei's soul search, was gradually recovering.

She didn't want to cause any more trouble, so she treated him as a kind senior.

"I just used up some of my spiritual energy, but it's nothing." Li Ji'an rubbed his temples.

I was a little too hasty just now, and I browsed too much of the memory, which caused a significant depletion of my spiritual energy.

“Divine sense depletion…” Ning Yutan’s eyes flickered slightly, as if she wanted to say something but then stopped herself.

She managed to hold back, but as soon as she got onto the cold jade bed and closed her eyes, she immediately hesitated and asked Ning Sujin, "Could you... give Senior Li your soul cultivation technique?"

Ning Yutan was able to save her life not only because the old scoundrel Liu wanted to use her as a hindrance to restrain Ning Sujin, but also because of Ning Sujin's spiritual cultivation.

While his spiritual cultivation was enhanced by the divine favor of others, it was also due to his diligent practice of spiritual cultivation techniques.

However, having been in this realm for over a hundred years, they already knew that in the Tiancang Domain, soul cultivators were not recognized by the righteous path and were even easily labeled as demonic or evil cultivators.

Therefore, one cannot easily reveal one's soul cultivation techniques.

Ning Sujin paused slightly upon hearing this.

She had this idea ever since Li Ji'an revealed his hand to her three months ago. After all, they both came from the Immortal Dynasty, and she knew Li Ji'an's personality. She was sure he wouldn't have any ideological burdens related to righteousness or demonic nature.

Whether a knife is good or evil depends not on the knife itself, but on the person wielding it.

However, Ning Yutan's sea of ​​consciousness was incomplete, so she could not easily suppress her soul, otherwise it would easily cause her soul to dissipate. Therefore, she had not had the opportunity.

After three months of treatment, she immediately noticed the recovery progress of Ning Yutan's sea of ​​consciousness.

Based on this, it is estimated that Ning Yutan's sea of ​​consciousness will be stable in about six months. At that time, she can allow her soul to temporarily fall into a dormant state and take its place.

Then, she could truly meet Li Ji'an through Ning Yutan's body...

(End of this chapter)