Cultivating Immortality Begins with Rejuvenation.

Chapter 330 Annihilating the Prodigy
Li Ji'an acted unpredictably, catching Tong Liang off guard.

The stress shield almost broke.

This immediately darkened Tong Liang's face, and he naturally put away his contempt.

At the same time, he felt annoyed.

Given his reputation in the Wanshang Domain, no one below the Core Formation Realm should be so arrogant and ignorant.

"Hmph, even a stray dog ​​dares to be presumptuous in front of me!" After Tong Liang barely managed to fend off Li Ji'an's sudden attack, his immense magical power erupted like a deep abyss.

The cultivation technique he practiced was a peerless technique comparable to an ancient immortal scripture, which the Nine Cauldrons Merchant Guild traded from the Central Ten Domains. Looking at the cultivation world of the Great Swamp in the post-ancient era, it was second only to the immortal scripture.

Both the efficiency of cultivation and the quality of the refined magical power are naturally 20% higher than ordinary cultivation methods.

With decades of dual cultivation and refinement, his magical power is much purer than others of the same level.

Moreover, all the spells he cultivated were of the Heavenly Rank, possessing extraordinary power.

In an instant, a tornado of magical power several meters high rose from the ground, tearing apart the green leaves that filled the sky.

However, as each green leaf disappeared, another would drift down, proceeding cautiously in the direction the tornado was coming from.

Li Ji'an's figure kept shifting among the green leaves, making Tong Liang's attacks ineffective.

"Such a technique must consume a lot of mana. Are you going to compare mana with me?" However, he didn't care at all. There were only a handful of Foundation Establishment cultivators in the entire Tiancang Domain with more mana than him.

He immediately continued to urge the storm tornado to pursue Green Leaf regardless of the mana consumption.

The tornado pursued, while Green Leaf retreated, one in front and one behind, but it could never completely wipe out Green Leaf, like punching cotton.

Even the occasional fallen leaf silently landing around the tornado made Tong Liang vigilant, daring not to relax his guard in the slightest.

After nearly half an hour of this stalemate, Tong Liang's expression finally showed surprise and doubt.

As far as he knew, the top power in the Tiancang Domain was the Wanfa Palace, and the Wanfa Palace's core cultivation technique, the Wanfa Scripture, was only a high-grade Heaven-level technique, which was a level below his Quasi-Immortal Scripture.

Similarly, the top-tier techniques of the Myriad Laws Palace are only at the Heavenly level, just like his.

At this moment, the opponent displayed profound magical power, especially in terms of endurance, which was comparable to his own.

There's also this ever-renewing and unpredictable Illusion Leaf Technique, which even he can't fully comprehend.

In his mind, it was impossible for a cultivator of the same level who had fled from the Tiancang Domain to have such strength!
"Who exactly are you?"

Li Ji'an did not answer. Taking advantage of the pause in the tornado, countless green leaves quietly fell around it.

With a "whoosh," another vine burst forth from the ground, attracting its attention.

"Hmph! You cowardly coward, even if you get close, what can you do to me?" Tong Liang put away the tornado, and wind blades swirled around him, cutting down all the attacking vines.

Li Ji'an frowned slightly, because among the vines that had just been cut down, there was still the "Vine Silk Hand" technique he had used to launch a sneak attack.

This demonstrates the power of Tong Liang's wind blade technique.

Previously, when sparring with Wang Hu, who possessed the Golden Spirit Root from the Jinhua Chamber of Commerce, Li Ji'an's unparalleled Golden Spirit Root techniques failed to sever the "Vine Silk Hand," which is why Li Ji'an was able to launch a sneak attack.

Having failed with his hidden methods, Li Ji'an no longer hesitated and immediately patted the spirit pet bag.

"Croak~" The newly formed demon core of the croaking frog makes its dazzling debut.

This was the first time he had openly joined forces with Li Ji'an to fight against an enemy.

In the past, on a few occasions, Guagua would lie in wait beforehand and then strike unexpectedly.

This was due to two reasons: first, Li Ji'an failed to detect Tong Liang's hiding place in advance; and second, Tong Liang knew of the existence of a third-tier great demon.

"What? This...how is this possible?"

When Li Ji'an summoned his spirit pet to fight, Tong Liang was filled with anticipation, finally able to see the wild and true spirit beast he had been longing for.

However, when he saw the frog that came out of the spirit pet bag, he was stunned.

"A low-grade vermilion toad? A low-grade vermilion toad has actually advanced to the third rank and even formed an upper-level demon core!!!" After confirming the great demon aura on the frog's body again and again, Tong Liang was extremely shocked.

"Caw~" The docile and obedient croak in front of Li Ji'an suddenly looked at Tong Liang when it heard his words, and an uncontrollable pressure of demonic power came down from its body.

"Huff~ Huff~" Tong Liang finally came to his senses and took two deep breaths to calm himself down.

"It must be a top-grade mutated bloodline, or even an awakened ancestral bloodline!"

Meeting the croaking frog's gaze, he put on a kind and benevolent expression: "Brother Toad, please calm down. I was blind just now. Please don't take offense."

"Quack quack quack~" Upon hearing this, the quack became even more excited.

Li Ji'an was bound to it by a spirit pet contract and knew that the curses it used were very vulgar.

Although Tong Liang couldn't understand what he was saying, he could tell that he was even angrier.

However, regardless of its original species, it is now a true third-tier great demon, and has a great chance of becoming a demon king.

So he forced a smile and said, "I don't know where I offended Brother Toad. I apologize in advance. After we sign the spirit pet contract, I will make it up to you properly."

"Croak!" It seems that Croak has a hard time accepting the title of Brother Toad.

This time, without Li Ji'an's command, they suddenly attacked Tong Liang.

"Whoosh~" Even after advancing to the third tier, its strongest attack method is still its tongue.

However, the tongue at this time is completely different from the one before it formed the Golden Core.

In particular, the feather spear that Li Ji'an had crafted for it with black feathers at the tip of its tongue allowed this attack to unleash its full power at the early stage of True Core Realm.

Moreover, the speed completely exceeded the limits of what a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator could dodge, leaving no way to avoid it and forcing them to take the hit head-on.

"Very well, then let me show you the strength of my new master." Faced with the threat of a True Core cultivator's attack, Tong Liang remained unmoved, chuckled, and a flash of light appeared in his hand.

"clang!"

The next moment, the quack's tongue struck a giant bronze shield in front of Tong Liang, producing a deep, resonant sound.

"A mid-stage Tier 3 bronze shield talisman!" Li Ji'an nodded secretly.

No wonder that despite his status in the Nine Cauldrons Chamber of Commerce, he could still roam freely without any secret protectors.

With a mid-stage third-tier spirit talisman by his side, even if he encountered the most powerful Core Formation Peak cultivator in the Myriad Merchants Domain, he would still have a chance to escape. Moreover, there are only a handful of Core Formation Peak cultivators in the entire Myriad Merchants Domain, and they would not dare to bully a junior by being too powerful.

Li Ji'an was not surprised at all that he possessed a mid-stage third-tier spirit talisman.

It would be strange if they didn't have this kind of trump card to save their lives.

Moreover, given the financial resources of the Nine Cauldrons Chamber of Commerce, the reason why Tong Liang only possesses a mid-stage third-tier spirit talisman is simply because, in terms of his magical power and divine soul, a mid-stage third-tier spirit talisman is the upper limit that he can normally activate.

Otherwise, Li Ji'an had no doubt that the Nine Cauldrons Chamber of Commerce could equip Tong Liang with even a fourth-tier spirit talisman.

Having failed to achieve its goal with its first attack, Guagua's eyes narrowed. It felt somewhat sorry for Li Ji'an's expectations, and even more so for its status as a third-tier great demon.

"Caw!" It instantly flew into a rage and attacked Tong Liang without holding back.

The next moment, the ground shook violently, and dust flew everywhere.

Li Ji'an took in the entire battle situation with his divine sense, but did not enter the battlefield to fight alongside Guagua for the time being.

Besides wanting to see Guagua's true strength, he also felt that, given the current situation, he was not qualified to intervene.

Although Guagua has only recently formed its demon core, its strength is significantly greater than that of a human cultivator in the early stages of core formation. It is even comparable to Fu Xiaochen, who was at the peak of the early stage of true core formation and was killed by Li Ji'an.

Besides the fact that the Guagua demon core is enhanced by the Daoist essence of the Golden Core, making its demonic power purer, it also reflects the inherent strength of demonic beasts compared to human cultivators, a fundamental law of nature. Similarly, the strength Tong Liang is displaying in his all-out battle with Guagua is primarily due to his trump cards, which are also exceptionally remarkable.

Besides talismans comparable to those at the mid-stage of True Core Realm, there are several pills that can stimulate potential, as well as treasures with mysterious supernatural powers.

This broadened Li Ji'an's horizons and made him admire the financial strength and resources of the Jiuding Chamber of Commerce.

"Huh?" Just as Li Ji'an was about to personally deal with Tong Liang after having roughly figured out the strength of the third-tier frog, he suddenly noticed the frog's unusual behavior.

Suddenly, Guagua, who had been evenly matched with Tong Liang, changed color again, withdrew its demonic aura, and disappeared without a trace.

However, Li Ji'an clearly sensed that he was actually right under Tong Liang's feet, and the pupils in his originally clear eyes began to slowly rotate.

"This is... the Illusionary Eye?" Li Ji'an instantly recalled the scene in his previous life when he killed the Illusionary Moon Glazed Serpent in the Blackwater Swamp in order to refine the second Sacred Beast Pill for Guagua to transform its bloodline.

At that time, he was a pseudo-core cultivator with a divine sense at the peak of the early stage of the true core realm, yet he was unknowingly caught in the illusion of the Illusionary Moon Glazed Serpent.

Later, when he killed the Glass Serpent to obtain its demon core, the pair of emerald green pupils with swirling flowers in the Phantom Forest terrified him even more.

"Could it be that the illusionary magic of that Illusion Moon Glazed Serpent was awakened when Guagua advanced to the third tier?"

After quickly reviewing the information, Li Ji'an was overjoyed.

When that Illusion Moon Glazed Serpent was at the second level, it could bewitch his consciousness, which was comparable to the peak of the early True Core stage. Now that Guagua is a third-level great demon, its bewitchment ability may even work on the consciousness of someone in the mid-stage of Core Formation.

Li Ji'an stopped again, carefully observing Guagua's illusionary abilities.

After a moment, Li Ji'an frowned slightly.

He discovered that Guagua's newly awakened innate talent seemed to have some drawbacks, as it had been brewing for too long.

If it were to encounter an enemy determined to escape, before it could even unleash its illusionary powers, the enemy would have already vanished without a trace.

However, at this moment, Tong Liang was unable to sense Guagua's location because he was trying to subdue Guagua, and he remained on high alert in the same spot.

After a while, when Li Ji'an was getting impatient, he finally noticed that Tong Liang had a reaction.

"Truly extraordinary. My peak True Core stage divine sense couldn't detect even the slightest abnormal soul fluctuation." Li Ji'an had been carefully sensing the strange soul movements of Guagua when it cast its illusion, but he hadn't found anything.

Therefore, it seems that the illusion magic that Guagua awakened after advancing to the third tier has an extremely high potential.

"Or perhaps this illusion has little to do with the strength of the target's soul, or is related to their will?" Li Ji'an had no conclusion yet.

"Hahaha~"

Just then, Tong Liang, who had just shown a slight reaction, was completely immersed in the illusion and began to laugh triumphantly.

"Rewards, everyone will be rewarded. Now that I am in charge of the Business Alliance, I will definitely not let any business association suffer losses."

"From this day forward, our merchant alliance army will set off, determined to transform the eastern part of the Great Swamp into a thriving land of commerce..."

"Haha, Grandma, don't worry, your grandson will be here to serve you right away."

"Grandma, do you know that I've slept with all the beauties on the Fairy Ranking of the Myriad Merchants Domain, but you're the only one missing? Do you know how much I regret that?"

"Grandma, they ranked you third on the fairy list, but in my heart, you are absolutely number one..."

……

Seeing that Tong Liang's deepest desires had been brought to light, Li Ji'an frowned slightly.

Their desire to colonize the East is irrelevant; it's just a fantasy and will never succeed.

However, Li Ji'an was very uncomfortable with his feelings for the Tong family's aunt.

Because the current third place on the Fairy Ranking is none other than Tong Yaoyao.

This means that the "great-aunt" he was referring to was Tong Yaoyao.

Since his first encounter with the thirteen-year-old Tong Yaoyao in his previous life, three lifetimes and two hundred and thirty years have passed. It can be said that Tong Yaoyao is the person he has known the longest since he came to the cultivation world, apart from Yan Qingwan.

Hearing such despicable thoughts from his grandchildren, he immediately became somewhat angry.

"Kill!" Li Ji'an immediately moved.

hum~
However, just as they were about to approach Tong Liang, a strange fluctuation occurred around them.

Suddenly, as if he had broken the illusion created by the quack, Tong Liang awoke with a start.

"You... treacherous villain, what exactly did you do to me just now?" A cultivator at the peak of Foundation Establishment could naturally sense the abnormality just now, and could even find some scattered hallucinatory memories in his sea of ​​consciousness.

He immediately flew into a rage, his eyes flashing with murderous intent.

That was his most secret thought, one that absolutely could not be known to anyone.

"Hmph! You unfilial and heartless beast, worse than a pig or a dog, die!" Although he had unintentionally disrupted Guagua's illusion, Li Ji'an did not stop. In the blink of an eye, he appeared beside Tong Liang, and a black light burst forth from his hand.

The seventh-grade magic weapon, the Dark Light Umbrella, erupted at close range, leaving Tong Liang with nowhere to hide.

"boom!"

However, Tong Liang also used a seventh-grade pagoda to defend himself.

The collision of two top-quality magic treasures usable by Foundation Establishment cultivators resulted in a deafening roar.

Both being seventh-grade magic treasures and both controlled by peak Foundation Establishment cultivators, they are almost evenly matched, despite each having their own strengths.

However, upon contact with the enemy, the Black Light Umbrella ceased its attack. Instead, it unfolded, emitting countless rays of light that completely shielded the area.

He needed to prevent Tong Liang from escaping at the last minute, since he might possess some kind of teleportation talisman or other ultimate escape method.

However, to Li Ji'an's surprise, Tong Liang shared the same idea.

Almost simultaneously with the Black Light Umbrella, five more towers suddenly split off and instantly vanished into the void, imprisoning the area above and below ground in all directions.

"Die!" Tong Liang was completely enraged this time, and after being imprisoned by the pagoda, he made the first move.

Then, a seventh-grade magic weapon inscribed with wind, fire, thunder, and lightning shot out a four-colored spell attack comparable to the early stage of True Core cultivation.

"Whoosh~" This time it was Li Ji'an's turn to protect himself with a third-tier spirit talisman.

"..." Tong Liang was genuinely stunned when he saw Li Ji'an activate the mid-stage third-tier shield talisman.

However, the next moment, before he could figure it out, Li Ji'an activated another mid-stage third-tier Heaven Opening Talisman.

A giant axe, capable of splitting the heavens, unleashed a strike at Tong Liang with half the power of a mid-stage True Core cultivator.

"Crack!" His protective magic shield shattered instantly.

Then, his exquisite robe shattered.

"Boom!" Only when the jade pendant around his neck suddenly burst into light, protecting him, was he not killed by this strike.

"You...who exactly are you?" Only after activating his most trump card, the life-saving jade talisman, did he suddenly realize what was going on and stared at Li Ji'an in disbelief.

A Foundation Establishment cultivator possessing multiple mid-stage third-tier spirit talismans is something that, within the Myriad Merchants Domain, apart from the most outstanding descendants of the three giant families of the Merchant Alliance, absolutely no one else has this possibility.

How could Li Ji'an, a refugee from a foreign land, possess such profound knowledge and experience?
"Pfft~" Just as he was in a panic, Tong Liang suddenly felt a sweet taste in his throat and involuntarily spat out a mouthful of blood mist.

Immediately, with the protective aura around him still intact, he collapsed to the ground in disbelief, his eyes filled with despair and resentment.

"Third-tier deadly poison, Purple Thorn Immortal!" This was the most crucial technique Li Ji'an secretly used upon meeting him; everything else was merely a cover.

(End of this chapter)