Cultivating Immortality Begins with Rejuvenation.

Chapter 380 Taking Stock of Profits
In the post-ancient era, rare and precious spiritual treasures were already scarce. As more and more of these treasures were consumed, it was foreseeable that the Core Formation stage would become an obstacle for even more cultivators.

After all, the treasures of heaven and earth are not renewable and cultivable spiritual resources like spiritual plants.

If a pill that can replace the Core Formation Elixir were to emerge, it would be of great benefit to all cultivators in the world.

Suddenly, Xiao Qiao's expression hardened.

She recalled an incident from when she was with Uncle Li.

Back when the Liu family was targeted by Qin Henian, a mysterious person spoke to Qin Henian from afar, mentioning a formula similar to a pill.

"Could it be..." Xiao Qiao suddenly looked at Li Ji'an.

Li Ji'an smiled slightly: "That's right, it was taught to me by my master."

hum~
Xiao Qiao's mind went blank for a moment.

In an instant, she connected the events of the Liu family back then with Uncle Li.

"Uncle Li..."

At this moment, she finally understood that the destruction of the Liu family, the return of her grandparents to their freedom, and her ability to be recognized as a member of the family were likely all part of Uncle Li's scheme.

"Senior sister, this matter is of great importance, and you must not reveal even a trace of it," Li Ji'an emphasized.

"Don't worry, I understand the implications." Xiao Qiao came to her senses, but her emotions remained unsettled for a long time.

"Senior sister, please prepare well, and I will come again next time." Li Ji'an nodded.

"Thank you for your help!" Xiao Qiao took a deep breath and bowed solemnly to Li Ji'an.

Li Ji'an reached out to help her up, saying, "Senior sister, there's no need to be so formal. In the future, I will inevitably need your earth vein spiritual energy to temper my body."

“Ping An, just ask if you need anything. You can take whatever your senior sister has,” Xiao Qiao replied hastily.

Li Ji'an smiled and nodded.

He then collected the two main materials for the Crystallization Pill from the spirit field and explained the matter of the little fat boy to Xiao Qiao.

After Xiao Qiao learned that the little fat boy was a descendant of the Yan family, she was also very concerned, since she had some connection with Yan Qingwan. She immediately hoped that the little fat boy could stay in the Strange Stone Forest.

However, Li Ji'an did not express his opinion, but said that he would let the little fat boy adapt to the situation here for a while, and take him to the Biyun Sect next time he came. In the end, he would let the little fat boy decide where to stay.

That evening, Li Ji'an left the Strange Stone Forest.

A few days later, Li Ji'an returned to the Biyun Sect.

However, this time he did not go back directly, but landed on a nearby mountain peak and sent Guagua to infiltrate the sect to investigate.

Half a month later, the sect was still operating normally, and Xue Yuan sent a message informing them that she had returned to the Blood Spirit Sect.

In his message, Xue Yuan said that he had already informed Blood Spirit Mother of the unexpected incident in the Burial Dragon Cave before returning to his sect. He had just returned to Blood Spirit Sect today, and the leaders of the other two sects had been waiting for him for many days.

The Supreme Elder of the Corpse Puppet Sect, who was in the late stage of Core Formation, and the Sect Master of the Yin Ghost Sect both questioned Xue Yuan repeatedly.

Meanwhile, the Holy Mother of Blood Spirit remained by their side, preventing the two masters from taking any rash actions.

Ultimately, both parties accepted the outcome.

Blood Kite sent a special message informing them that the two sects had actually begun their struggle for the new Holy Son the day after Lin Xiuzhu and the Old Ghost's Soul Tablet were shattered.

Furthermore, during the questioning, neither sect, including Blood Spirit Saintess, showed any interest in or interest in the Biyun Sect elder whom she had only mentioned briefly. They were not particularly concerned about the deaths of Lin Xiuzhu and Yin Ghost Saint, but were more interested in what they had seen and heard in the Burial Dragon Cave.

Only then did Li Ji'an feel relieved enough to return to his sect's training ground.

With Li Ji'an's return, the entire Biyun Sect breathed a sigh of relief, finally having a Core Formation Realm expert to oversee things again.

Previously, when Li Ji'an was taken away by the Holy Son, the entire sect was uneasy and completely closed the sect to prevent any villains from taking advantage of the fact that there was no real person in charge of the sect to attack.

After appeasing the sect's higher-ups, Li Ji'an returned to his own dojo and began his secluded cultivation.

Ning Sujin can finally openly accompany him.

"Husband, what should we do with this dragon soul?" Ning Sujin appeared and took out the soul bottle containing the dragon soul.

Li Ji'an waved his hand: "No rush. This dragon soul has not lost its true spirit. Although it has no memories left, it still has some unruly consciousness. Let's keep it trapped for a while longer."

Ning Sujin followed his instructions and suppressed him again with the power of her primordial spirit.

"Su Jin, could you try to divine the fortune or misfortune of fusing the dragon soul and dragon blood?" Li Ji'an asked immediately afterward.

"My husband wants to cultivate a true dragon?" Ning Sujin was startled upon hearing this.

"It's just an idea, it's not confirmed yet," Li Ji'an replied with a smile.

Ning Sujin didn't ask any more questions. She calmed her mind, silently recited Li Ji'an's name, and then used the dragon soul in her hand as a medium to activate the divination technique.

"Pfft~" In just three breaths, Ning Sujin suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Su Jin!" Li Ji'an hurriedly stepped forward and channeled wood-based healing magic into her.

“A true dragon…a true dragon carries the great fortune of heaven and earth, which is beyond my current comprehension. Fortunately, it was stopped in time, otherwise…” Ning Sujin opened her eyes and said with some trepidation.

Li Ji'an frowned secretly, having overlooked this conclusion.

He then began to heal Ning Sujin. Fortunately, although she suffered a backlash, it was not serious, and she recovered under his magical healing within half a day.

"Su Jin, after absorbing those Yin spirits in the Soul Abyss of the Burial Dragon Cave, has your spiritual cultivation improved?" Li Ji'an asked again after her injuries had healed.

"The benefit is significant, several times stronger than the divine consciousness I absorbed from that soul cultivator ten years ago. If I were to fully refine it, my primordial spirit would almost reach the initial stage of perfection," Ning Sujin replied with satisfaction.

"Great!" Li Ji'an praised happily.

Then, it took out two more spoils of war from the frog's mouth.

The first item is the Corpse Refining Jar of the Corpse Puppet Sect.

This jar is of great help in refining third-tier corpse puppets, as it can completely strip the soul essence from the corpse.

Therefore, the essence of the divine soul is abundant in this jar.

The essence of the soul is the best resource for Ning Sujin's cultivation technique.

"If you refine all the essence of the soul within this jar, will you be able to advance to the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm?"

"You're giving this to me?" Ning Sujin's face showed a hint of surprise.

“That’s right.” Li Ji’an nodded affirmatively.

"However, the divine soul essence inside this jar has already merged with the jar. If we want to refine all the divine soul essence inside, this jar will be destroyed."

"It's alright, just tell me if you can advance to the mid-stage?" Li Ji'an said nonchalantly.

"Husband, why don't you use this jar to refine a third-tier corpse puppet? A third-tier corpse puppet already possesses the power of a true immortal..."

Li Ji'an shook his head again: "The art of corpse puppets is not my way. Moreover, corpse puppets are still inferior to other puppets of the same level. I don't need to abandon one for the other."

Ning Sujin nodded slowly, her eyes filled with joy: "Thank you, husband. With the nourishment of these divine soul essences, advancing to the mid-stage primordial spirit is no surprise."

Then, Li Ji'an handed the soul banner of the Yin Ghost Saint to Ning Sujin.

This Soul Banner only advanced to the third rank in the Dragon Burial Cave, but its strength is comparable to a mid-grade third-rank magic weapon. If Ning Sujin's primordial spirit were to drive it, it could unleash its full power and possess the might of a Core Formation cultivator.

"I'll give this to you as well."

Ning Sujin wasn't particularly interested in the Soul Banner, but considering it would increase her combat abilities and make it easier to fight alongside Li Ji'an, she gladly accepted it.

After a few days of tender time together, Li Ji'an asked her to continue cultivating the "Mysterious Primordial Chaos Scripture," which was now Li Ji'an's most important matter.

If Ning Sujin can truly master it, she will provide Li Ji'an with the most detailed experience and insights.

The grade of its immortal manual made Li Ji'an very much looking forward to seeing just how strong the innate chaotic magic power it cultivated would be.

While Ning Sujin went into seclusion to cultivate the Chaos Law again, Li Ji'an sorted through the spoils of war.

The first to be affected is the Dragon-Suppressing Cauldron, a magic treasure of at least the third rank. Like the Nine Dragon Lock, its spirit also has the potential to be reshaped. Once the spirit is successfully reshaped, it can be ranked among the spiritual treasures.

Unfortunately, like the two magic swords, there is no hope of activating it for the time being. At least Li Ji'an needs to advance to the mid-to-late stage of Core Formation before there is any hope.

Next up is the Nine Dragon Lock, which is Li Ji'an's favorite item.

"Go!" After two months of nurturing, the Nine Dragon Lock can be barely activated. Although its current state is only equivalent to a mid-grade three magic weapon, and Li Ji'an can only exert one effect, its binding power is already effective against mid-stage Core Formation cultivators.

With a command, the Nine Dragon Lock landed on Guagua, who was several feet away, almost instantly, binding him tightly.

Before it could even react, Guagua lost its ability to move. Despite its superb ability to hide, it had become a lamb to the slaughter.

"It is indeed a fine treasure, perfectly suited to my needs!" Li Ji'an was satisfied and stored it in his Qiankun Ring, ready to be used against enemies at any time.

Then Li Ji'an took out Lin Xiuzhu's bloodthirsty stick, which not only had bloodthirsty energy but also soul-devouring energy, clearly a deadly weapon.

Furthermore, its own sixth-grade magic weapon is no match for the fourth-grade magic weapon, the Dragon Staff, which Li Ji'an is currently nurturing in his dantian.

However, it has some restraining effect when dealing with bloodthirsty cultivators like Xue Yuan and the group of Yin Ghost cultivators from the Yin Ghost Sect.

As for the other pills and spiritual resources in Lin Xiuzhu and Yin Gui Shengzi's storage bags, Li Ji'an wasn't very interested.

Finally, Li Ji'an sat cross-legged and began to carefully sense the drop of true dragon essence blood within his body.

For two months, the true dragon's essence blood within his body continuously devoured his own essence blood, and after devouring it, it would regenerate even richer essence blood, imbued with the energy of true spirit.

This resulted in a gradual decrease in the amount of essence and blood in Li Ji'an's body, but it became more refined.

As long as his body refinement level can be raised to another level, his blood and qi will become more abundant and refined. At that time, even if he were to clash with a body cultivator of the same level as Wu Weixiong, he would be absolutely invincible.

However, his progress in body refinement is extremely slow. Without the nourishment of the abundant earth spiritual energy from Xiao Qiao's fusion with the earth veins, it would take forever.

Therefore, the reason for giving Xiao Qiao the Crystal Condensation Pill this time is that after she forms her core, she will need to rely on the earth's spiritual energy to temper her body for a long time.

After clearing away all the spoils, Li Ji'an immediately started refining pills.

He currently has three sets of materials for the Crystallization Pill, which theoretically can guarantee his core formation needs for the next three lifetimes. Giving one to Xiao Qiao this time can also guarantee the next two lifetimes.

Moreover, if one can achieve the Nascent Soul True Monarch status in this lifetime, then obtaining the main ingredient for the mere Crystal Condensation Pill will be a piece of cake.

A month later, a high-quality Crystallization Pill was produced.

(End of this chapter)