Cultivating Immortality Begins with Rejuvenation.

Chapter 378 The Spirit Jade of an Old Friend
The idea of ​​raising a real dragon flashed through my mind.

This is still too risky for him at present.

According to ancient records unearthed in the late ancient times, the demon race was the overlord of this world during the ancient period, and the true dragon race was revered by all races.

Then, in the ancient times, the human race rose to power, until the Immortal Lord slew the dragon. The human race suffered from the rampage and oppression of the demon race for millions of years. Although the relationship between the human race and the demon race eased afterward, the conflict weakened due to the different spiritual veins required for their respective cultivation.

But that was based on the fact that the human race was powerful.

Weak groups have no right to expect peaceful coexistence.

Similarly, with Li Ji'an and this dragon soul, if Li Ji'an did not completely suppress the other party's strength and foundation, and rashly merged its soul and blood, there was a risk of losing control, which did not conform to his philosophy of seeking stability in everything.

"Afterwards, we can let Su Jin try some divination." After suppressing his thoughts, Li Ji'an ignored the dragon soul and threw it directly to Ning Su Jin.

With Ning Sujin's primordial spirit suppressing it, things will be more appropriate.

"How dare you be so disrespectful to me! I am... um, hmm..." Ning Sujin temporarily stored the remnant soul of the true dragon in a soul bottle.

Without hesitation, Li Ji'an immediately ordered Xue Yuan to kill the two men.

He was unwilling to do it himself, especially Lin Xiuzhu, after all, the shadow of being stuck with the soul imprint of the Golden Puppet Saint King in his previous life was still there.

Although Li Ji'an later concluded, after consulting ancient books, that the mark was likely related to the Golden Body Technique practiced by the old thief of the Liu family.

Severely injured, stripped of their magical artifacts, and mentally broken, the two were quickly dealt with by Blood Kite.

"My lord." Xue Yuan then came to Li Ji'an with a look of awe, while secretly glancing at Ning Sujin behind Li Ji'an out of the corner of her eye.

If the previous blood curse and the great oath of the inner demon were forced passive obedience, now it is complete respect and reverence, and voluntary submission.

And he harbored many mysteries in his heart.

At this moment, Li Ji'an seemed mysterious and terrifying to her.

"Do you know how to leave this place?" Li Ji'an asked calmly.

"We can leave with those five broken pieces," Blood Kite hurriedly replied.

Li Ji'an nodded, and after quietly collecting the essence blood and soul of Lin Xiuzhu and Yin Gui Shengzi with the Wuxiang Mask, he instructed Guagua and Xiao Huoling to clean up the battlefield.

A moment later, Lin Xiuzhu and Lao Gui's storage bags and natal magic treasures were swallowed by Guagua and stored in its mouth, while the little fire spirit burned away all the fighting aura in the area.

Finally, Li Ji'an arrived in front of the Dragon Suppressing Cauldron and slowly poured his magic power into it. Like the Nine Dragon Lock before him, this cauldron was already ownerless, and it reacted after he poured his magic power into it.

However, compared to the Nine Dragon Lock, this cauldron is of a significantly higher grade.

Even with his Core Formation level spiritual sense, he was still unable to refine it in a short time.

Left with no other choice, we had Guagua temporarily put it into his mouth for safekeeping.

Watching Li Ji'an and Guagua, the Holy Spirit of Fire bustled about, while the Blood Kite, having received no instructions, stood still, not daring to move rashly.

After the scene was cleaned up, Li Ji'an put the puppet into his storage bag, let the little fire spirit return to his dantian, and then let Ning Sujin enter the universe inside the croaking frog's mouth, since Ning Sujin's Dharma body was too weak.

After that, only Xue Yuan and Li Ji'an remained.

Li Ji'an left a divine soul imprint along the way, and there were no accidents when he returned by the same route.

Three days later, the two returned to the bronze gate of the Dragon Burial Cave.

Xue Yuan embedded the five broken pendants into the bronze giant gate, and the giant gate once again shone brightly. Then, an invisible suction force enveloped Li Ji'an and Xue Yuan.

The next moment, the two had arrived outside the Dragon Burial Cave.

Along with them, five broken jade pendants also flew out.

However, Canpei was shot directly into the sky, its speed far exceeding Li Ji'an's flight speed.

"My lord..." Xue Yuan stepped forward respectfully, awaiting Li Ji'an's orders.

Li Ji'an glanced at her: "How do you intend to explain what happened here?"

"Reporting to my lord, this Dragon Burial Cave is fraught with danger. Three thousand years ago, a cultivator from the Myriad Laws Palace turned into a vengeful ghost and is now entrenched here. He is comparable to a fourth-order ghost king and possesses great supernatural powers. I escaped this calamity by using the Blood Escape Secret Technique to blend in with the Blood Fiend. Brother Lin and the old ghost have been separated from me and their whereabouts are unknown." Xue Yuan had already prepared her answer.

"And me?" Li Ji'an stared at her with a scrutinizing gaze.

This is also a point of concern for Li Ji'an. If there is any crisis, he will have to consider leaving Tiancang Domain.

However, that could ultimately bring annihilation to the Biyun Sect.

"My lord was nearly exhausted by Brother Lin's deception. As soon as he entered the Dragon Burial Cave, he sat down to heal his wounds. After I broke out of the Ghost King's attack, I wanted to use my lord as a shield, so I brought him out with me. Once I was sure there was no danger, I immediately returned to the sect and let him leave," Xue Yuan said again.

Upon hearing this, Li Ji'an pondered silently, analyzing whether there were any loopholes in his words.

"My lord, please rest assured. The four sects anticipated the risks of the Dragon Burial Cave long ago. Moreover, the four sects' philosophy regarding their members is quite different from other sects. Life and death are predestined. Unless it is an action against the sect, they are unlikely to go to great lengths for the life and death of their members." Xue Yuan saw Li Ji'an's worry and explained further.

However, she secretly harbored a grudge.

Given the trump cards Li Ji'an has shown, he should be able to face the Golden Puppet Saint King directly, so why worry about the threat from the four sects?
Is it because you don't want to reveal your identity?

"Send a message immediately if the four sects make any moves!" Li Ji'an took out a communication talisman and handed it to Xue Yuan.

"Yes, my lord!" Blood Kite respectfully accepted.

Then, Li Ji'an took out another bottle of True Dragon Blood Fiend that he had collected in the Blood Cave.

Blood Kite was greatly weakened by the blood mosquitoes released by Lin Xiuzhu, and was also hit by a sixth-grade magic weapon. At this moment, its body was seriously injured. True Dragon Blood Fiend can help it recover some of its strength quickly, so that it will not have any accidents on the way.

Upon seeing the jade bottle of Blood Fiend handed to her, Xue Yuan's beautiful eyes widened in surprise.

"Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord." She expressed her heartfelt gratitude.

It seems that Li Ji'an has taken all the benefits from this trip to the Dragon Burial Cave.

But she seemed to have gained nothing.

However, given Lin Xiuzhu's secret methods and Lao Gui's temperament, Xue Yuan knew all too well that if it weren't for Li Ji'an's existence, she would have already perished at Lin Xiuzhu's hands.

Therefore, from this perspective, Li Ji'an saved her life.

Moreover, having obtained a bottle of True Dragon Blood Fiend at this moment, the trip was not in vain.

In particular, Li Ji'an's act of gifting her Blood Demon made her have even higher expectations for him.

She climbed from a nobody to the position of Holy Maiden in the Blood Spirit Sect, which was extremely difficult. However, she could not expect more from the Blood Spirit Holy Mother, as she had almost completely cut off her spiritual resources for cultivation after advancing to the mid-stage of Core Formation.

Moreover, she had long been wary of the Blood Spirit Mother, a late-stage Core Formation cultivator who had lived for nearly seven hundred years. Although she claimed to have taken a sufficient amount of longevity pills, considering the unexplained disappearances of several saintesses throughout history, she had to be cautious.

"Take care of yourself!" Li Ji'an glanced at her indifferently, then flew straight up to the ninth heaven.

"Respectfully seeing off my lord!" After watching Li Ji'an's figure disappear into the clouds, Xue Yuan sat cross-legged on the spot, carefully opened the jade bottle, and absorbed a little blood energy to heal her injuries.

A month later, Li Ji'an arrived at the Wasteland Dojo and, disguised as an ordinary cultivator, landed in the United Market. The United Market was now bustling with activity, teeming with ordinary people.

After taking just a couple of casual steps, I learned the reason for this scene from the conversations around me.

Ten years ago, he wiped out the gangs that had been entrenched in this area, and after eliminating the ringleaders of these gangs in the Yan family's ancestral land, no strongman has ever claimed the title of king here.

No one dared to form cliques.

Therefore, ordinary people from all around flocked to it.

This gives every mortal a glimpse into the path to immortality.

However... in just ten years, the spiritual veins here have shrunk again, and are no longer even at the mid-grade level of the first rank.

In a society where resources cannot be created infinitely, universal harmony is an impossible dream. With everyone yearning for immortality and seeking eternal life as the ultimate temptation, and with the strong becoming stronger and ordinary people unable to overcome the power gap through sheer numbers, this world will inevitably remain a place where a minority controls the majority of resources.

Li Ji'an sighed slightly at the increasing depletion of the spiritual veins in this place, but he was powerless to do anything about it.

The root cause lies in the lack of spiritual energy in the world.

Without alerting anyone, Li Ji'an casually settled down at a privately built inn.

It wasn't until half a month later, when he sensed the Blood Kite flying over the area through the blood curse placed on it, that he was finally able to relax completely.

Then we prepared to set off for the Strange Stone Forest.

After the four holy sons left, Xiao Qiao sent him a message, informing him of what had happened to the four holy sons, and emphasizing the concealment of the spiritual fields within her dojo.

His ability as a third-tier Earth Spirit Master allowed him to temporarily sink the spirit field into the earth's veins, which went unnoticed by the four Holy Sons.

She also mentioned that several spiritual plants had matured under her consistent, unwavering care for ten years, thanks to the earth's natural irrigation.

"Uncle, are you leaving?" Just as Li Ji'an stepped out, the shopkeeper's youngest son ran over from afar.

During the past two weeks, the family of four who run the shop provided excellent service. There was no one in charge of the place anymore, and the houses were all privately occupied and built. The shop owner was a mid-stage Qi Refining cultivator who practiced earth-based techniques. The place he occupied was not large, with just four rooms. The family of four squeezed into one room, and the other three rooms served as guest rooms, which was also their only source of income.

"Fatty, see you again someday." Li Ji'an smiled and patted the child's head as a farewell.

The child was a little timid when he first met Li Ji'an, but on the third day, a troublemaker came to the shop and was scolded and driven away by Li Ji'an. That night, the child brought Li Ji'an the candied fruit he had secretly hidden.

After that, she would come to chat with Li Ji'an every day, and in her words, she would confide in Li Ji'an as a friend.

Li Ji'an came here to wait for Xue Yuan to return to the sect first, so he didn't mind Xue Yuan's disturbance and got along with him harmoniously for half a month.

"Uncle, wait for me, I have a gift for you." The child said, turning around and running towards the room.

Li Ji'an watched his retreating figure with a smile on his face. Then, a thought struck him, and he probed his storage bag with his divine sense, wanting to leave the child a chance as well.

Unfortunately, after looking around for a long time, there wasn't a single one that was suitable.

Nowadays, he basically no longer has any spiritual resources below the second tier in his storage bag.

However, spiritual resources of level two or higher could very well plunge the entire shop owner into an undeserved disaster.

"Uncle!" Just then, the child came running back, panting.

He then pulled Li Ji'an into the guest room.

He then stood on tiptoe and pulled Li Ji'an down close, whispering, "Don't tell my father."

Li Ji'an smiled and nodded.

The child, still not entirely at ease, peeked out again before pulling a small object from his pocket, wrapped in a handkerchief.

"My dad only lets me wear this to bed at night. It's an absolute treasure," the child said, his eyes wide and very serious.

Before the child could even open the handkerchief, Li Ji'an's divine sense had already discerned the contents of it.

Then, Li Ji'an's gentle smile froze on his face.

The thing wrapped up was surprisingly familiar.

It was a piece of spiritual jade.

It was during his first incarnation in the cultivation world, when he followed Yan Qingwan to the Yan family's alchemy shop in this area, that Zhang Tiezhu bowed to life's hardships, married into the Yan family, and gave birth to Yan Jue. Li Ji'an spent two spirit stones to buy this alchemy from the shop in this area and gave it to Yan Jue.

This jade has the effect of nourishing and refining one's spiritual veins.

Later, in his previous life, Li Ji'an visited the Yan family again and saw that the jade had been passed down to Yan Jue's grandson.

At that time, Li Ji'an had already mastered the wood-based medical skills, so he used wood-based magic to infuse it with health-preserving effects, and transferred a trace of fire-based magic to unleash an attack equivalent to that of a Foundation Establishment cultivator in times of crisis.

Now, when I see it again, this spirit jade is broken and incomplete. The wood-elemental magic power within it is still there, but the fire-elemental magic power has been extinguished. I can only vaguely sense the aura that once existed.

"Zhang Zhiwei?" Li Ji'an murmured the child's name.

"Could it be?"

"Fatty, do you know where your family comes from?" Li Ji'an asked gently, holding the spirit jade.

The chubby boy in front of him was likely a descendant of Zhang Tiezhu, which made Li Ji'an feel inexplicably close to him.

"Uncle, do you like this gift?" the child asked expectantly, ignoring Li Ji'an's question.

“I like it, Uncle likes it very much, but… never mind, I’m going to see your father.” With his current strength, apart from the Core Formation experts of the four sects and the Golden Puppet Saint King, Li Ji’an is not afraid of anyone, let alone Cangyun Prefecture.

Therefore, he can do whatever he wants in this kind of thing without having to worry too much.

"Huh? What are you doing? You absolutely can't let my dad know I gave it to you, or he'll break my legs!" the chubby boy complained in terror.

Li Ji'an was both amused and exasperated. He slowly squatted down and touched the child's forehead, saying, "Don't worry, Fatty, no one in the entire Cangyun Prefecture will dare to hit you from now on."

Without further hesitation, he took the child to the shopkeeper's main room.

"Fellow Daoist Li, has my son disturbed your peaceful cultivation?" Upon seeing Li Ji'an enter with the chubby boy by the hand, Zhang Xiuyuan's face flashed with fear. He hurriedly stepped forward, snatched the chubby boy from Li Ji'an's hands, and made a gesture as if to hit him.

Li Ji'an smiled and waved his hand: "Fellow Daoist Zhang, you misunderstand. I have come here to ask you something."

Zhang Xiuyuan let out a long breath and tentatively asked, "I wonder what Fellow Daoist Li wishes to ask? I will answer whatever I know."

"Fellow Daoist Zhang, is your original surname Yan?" Li Ji'an asked directly.

Ding~
Zhang Xiuyuan's consciousness visibly shrank, his blood and qi stagnated, and a hint of panic flashed in his eyes.

However, it still managed to remain calm.

He smiled faintly and said, "What did Fellow Daoist Li say? I don't understand."

Li Ji'an laughed heartily. In fact, his reaction just now had already given him the answer. He immediately dispelled the disguise spell, revealing his true appearance, and at the same time, he slightly released the aura of a Core Formation cultivator...

(End of this chapter)