Cultivating Immortality Begins with Rejuvenation.

Chapter 385 Cleaning up the portal
Although the outermost protective array of the dojo was only meant to conceal its true nature, it was still nearly at the third level. Moreover, it was designed to work in conjunction with the restrictive soul treasure, so it consumed a considerable amount of resources.

True Immortal Chiyang never expected that the young cultivator outside the formation would break through it in one fell swoop.

He had been calm just moments before, but his face darkened the instant the formation shattered.

Without hesitation, he flashed to the ground.

Decades before the Corpse Puppet Sect breached the Myriad Laws Palace, True Man Chiyang secretly hid in this place to avoid being besieged by Venerable Chunyuan. He killed the original head of the Foundation Establishment family here, took his place, and observed the situation.

After the Demon Realm conquered this place, he transformed himself, calling himself Huangfeng Sanren, slaughtered all the members of his original family, and took over the place as a demonic cultivator.

They then occupied this place.

Thanks to the Soul Treasure that the Blazing Sun Sect had obtained from the ruins, which could disrupt the primordial spirit detection of a Nascent Soul True Monarch, they safely passed through under the noses of powerful demonic figures such as the Golden Puppet Saint Monarch and the Blood Spirit Holy Mother.

Then, in order to replicate the glory of the Blazing Sun Sect, he gathered the escaped cultivators here and established the Hall of Light.

Because he did not participate in the great battle to resist the invasion of the demonic path, he left no trace in the demonic sects such as the Corpse Puppet Sect, nor did he become a target for elimination. Therefore, he has always been the one to deal with outsiders personally.

When it reappeared on the ground, it had transformed into a fierce-looking man with bristling hair and wearing a tattered yellow robe. However, its magical power had been suppressed to the late Foundation Establishment stage, while its spiritual power was powerful, chaotic, and unfathomable.

"How dare you, you petty scoundrel, destroy my great formation!"

In an instant, True Man Chiyang charged forward with ferocious fury.

Sensing the opponent's deliberately suppressed cultivation aura, Li Ji'an felt a surge of impulse.

A decision was made instantly.

"Boom~"

As True Immortal Chiyang unleashed his late-stage Foundation Establishment power in a brutal attack, Li Ji'an flashed close, instantly unleashing his full power of bloodthirsty aura and his mid-stage third-tier physique.

"Crack!" The terrified look in Chiyang Zhenren's eyes froze, and then his whole body shattered into pieces.

At the same time, its aura completely disappeared from the spot.

Li Ji'an sighed inwardly, feeling helpless against this new method.

Even though Ning Sujin's primordial spirit hadn't noticed anything amiss, it must have been her true self just now, yet it escaped in an instant.

"Hmph! You audacious villains, how dare you openly oppose my Holy Sect Immortal Gate, you deserve to die!" Unable to defeat his enemy with a single unexpected move, Li Ji'an improvised and made the Corpse Puppet Sect take the blame.

At the same time, it will alert the enemy, making them fearful and causing them to be constantly on the run or hiding for some time to come.

Otherwise, his relationship with Ning Yutan, and the traces of his search for Ning Yutan in his true form, might be discovered by her, which could bring disaster to the Biyun Sect.

As he roared, his body erupted with bloodthirsty energy, the dense bloodthirsty aura indistinguishable from that of the Blood Spirit Sect.

In addition, Ning Sujin's primordial spirit power was also faintly revealed.

Unsurprisingly, chaos erupted instantly within the dojo.

Apart from a group of young heroes who were truly idealistic but lacked common sense and were determined to fight to the death, most of them fled at the first opportunity.

Apart from the already vanished Chiyang Zhenren, the other five Zhendan Zhenren, including Tian Zhenren, had already fled the moment Li Ji'an unleashed his third-tier physique.

In particular, when Ning Sujin's primordial spirit aura was leaked, all three of them immediately activated teleportation talismans and instantly fled thousands of miles away.

The remaining two used the Blood Burning Escape Technique on one and took a secret medicine to forcibly enhance their abilities on the other.

In this situation, Li Ji'an released two third-tier humanoid puppets to continuously exert pressure, and casually killed some of the fleeing pseudo-core cultivators.

The underground plaza was already in chaos, but before Guagua could act, some people took advantage of the confusion to rescue the three people on the stone pillar and escape into the crowd.

Seeing this, Li Ji'an instructed Guagua to go straight to the underground treasure vault.

They packed up nearly 200,000 low-grade spirit stones from the five underground vaults.

He himself had already arrived at the private cave of True Man Chiyang, his divine sense landing on a wooden carving that had no magical aura whatsoever.

The wood carving appears unremarkable, and the craftsmanship is not particularly outstanding, even somewhat crude. It depicts an old man looking up into the distance, his expression a mixture of worry and anticipation.

Li Ji'an investigated repeatedly but found nothing unusual. However, both he and Ning Sujin's spiritual senses clearly proved that it was this object that was disturbing the spiritual energy here and had a strong shielding and isolation effect on external spiritual energy.

This is the protective charm that allowed True Man Chiyang to secretly develop here for many years.

Only when he held it in his own hand did Li Ji'an finally notice the abnormality and sense a trace of the divine soul imprint left by the True Man Chiyang within it.

After effortlessly removing it, Li Ji'an handed the item over to Ning Sujin, believing that imprinting it with her primordial spirit would be far more effective than imprinting it with the power of the Crimson Sun Immortal.

Just then, Ning Yutan was rescued and taken away. To prevent her from encountering danger on the way, Li Ji'an and Ning Sujin decided to secretly follow her.

The two cultivators who rescued Ning Yutan and the other two were in the early stages of Foundation Establishment. They lived in constant fear, not only having to be wary of the Bright Hall's attention, but also worrying about being intercepted by the Demonic Sect.

By following them and eavesdropping on their conversation, Li Ji'an and Ning Sujin learned the whole story behind Ning Yutan's actions.

Ning Yutan met one of the Daoist couples more than ten years ago through a fight, but eventually became Daoist friends because of their similar nature. However, at that time, Ning Yutan refused their invitation to enter the Bright Hall.

She even advised her on the precautions for navigating the martial arts world that Li Ji'an had taught her in her previous life.

Upon receiving the distress call from the other party while he was far away in Tianyuan Prefecture, he returned to offer his assistance.

In recent years, the other party has come to understand Ning Yutan's advice and prepared to leave the Bright Hall. However, it was easy to enter but difficult to leave. The Bright Hall used the excuse of his wavering faith to frame him, which led to his current predicament.

Following them all the way until Ning Yutan and the others were thousands of miles away from Huangfeng Dojo, Ning Sujin took the initiative to divine their fortune. Finding no ominous signs, she finally felt relieved.

After watching Ning Yutan and the others leave for Tianyuan Prefecture, Li Ji'an and Ning Sujin finally ended the meeting and went to the Blood Spirit Sect to negotiate with Xiao Changfeng.

"Sujin, Yutan's lifespan is running out, and this may very well be our final farewell. Shouldn't we go see her one last time?" Sensing Ning Sujin's repeated turning back, Li Ji'an suggested gently.

Ning Sujin smiled and shook her head: "When she left twenty years ago, it was already a farewell. The fact that she did not ask me for help this time shows her determination. Her lifespan is not long, so let her complete her final journey according to her own wishes."

Sensing Ning Sujin's reluctance mixed with a growing determination, Li Ji'an nodded secretly.

He was finally about to face his first separation from his beloved on his quest for enlightenment.

The two then headed east.

Half a month later, when they were still halfway to the Dongli Sect, Li Ji'an, who was high in the sky, suddenly stopped flying and used his divine sense to cover a small cultivation market below.

Half a month ago, when he first saw Elder Tian in the underground plaza of the Bright Hall, his heart was filled with emotion, and he secretly marked him with the Thousand Machine Blood Guide.

It was later discovered that he had fled with the other mid-stage Core Formation leaders, eventually exceeding the sensing distance.

Unexpectedly, I sensed something here again.

After Qianji Blood Guide pinpointed his location, Ning Sujin used her primordial spirit to search for him, confirming that he was the only mid-stage Core Formation True Person hiding there.

Without hesitation, Li Ji'an descended upon the market.

Xiao Changfeng knew Elder Tian quite well, including what kind of cultivation technique he practiced, what life-saving trump cards he had, and even a list of the spiritual resources Elder Tian had taken from the sect's treasury. Most importantly, as the Supreme Elder of the Biyun Sect, it was perfectly reasonable for him to arrest a traitor to the sect.

As Li Ji'an settled in the market, Guagua also disappeared underground.

Before long, following the direction of the Thousand Machine Blood Guide, Guagua silently approached Elder Tian's secret chamber.

In the secret room, Elder Tian sat cross-legged to recuperate, his breathing somewhat unsteady.

Opposite them were two pseudo-core elders from the Biyun Sect.

They looked at Elder Tian with complex emotions in their eyes.

When the accident happened half a month ago, Elder Tian fled immediately, ignoring them.

Moreover, in order to get ahead of the other True Core level leaders, Elder Tian did not hesitate to take the Blood Burning Pill that Li Ji'an had refined for the sect in his previous life.

As a result, his magical power was greatly depleted at this moment, and he needed to recuperate urgently.

"Elder Tian, ​​can we still go back to Huangfeng Ridge?" After a moment, Zhou Xing, the former pseudo-core elder of the Biyun Sect, asked somewhat nervously.

Upon hearing this, Elder Tian frowned.

Ever since the Corpse Puppet Sect breached the Myriad Laws Palace, fearing retribution, he looted the sect's treasury and fled.

They originally planned to escape to the Wanshang Domain with their spiritual resources, but the barren border region was full of demonic cultivators searching for them.

As a mid-stage Core Formation cultivator, he was repeatedly harassed along the way and almost attracted the attention of a late-stage Core Formation demonic cultivator, ultimately forcing him to retreat back into the domain.

It was around that time that Master Chiyang found him and then hid in Huangfeng Ridge.

Although Huangfeng Ridge does not have a third-order spiritual vein, thanks to the offerings of many believers and multiple spirit-gathering arrays, the spiritual energy within it is barely enough to meet his daily cultivation needs.

As the Demonic Sect's purge of the cultivators from various sects faded away, he originally had a chance to go to the Myriad Merchants Domain again.

Unfortunately, he had already been blinded by the plans of the Crimson Sun Immortal and ultimately decided to stay.

More importantly, he was seriously injured when he was attacked at the border, and he consumed a lot of spiritual resources. Over the past few decades, he has not had much spiritual resources left. If he goes to the Myriad Merchant Domain now, he will inevitably be bound by a contract.

Having reigned supreme in the Biyun Sect for over two hundred years, how could he possibly live the life of a lackey, subservient to others?

Now that Huangfeng Ridge has been breached by the demonic forces, he has nowhere to stand.

"Going back to die?" Elder Tian sneered.

He added, "Hmph, that old man Chiyang is ambitious but incompetent, not worth discussing things with. Now that his stronghold has been breached by the demonic path, it means that the demonic path has taken notice of him. It will be difficult for him to survive. Remember, we have nothing to do with him."

"Yes!" the two fake Core Formation cultivators hurriedly replied.

"Then... what should we do now?" The two followed Elder Tian's lead without question.

"Back!"

After a moment of contemplation, Elder Tian gritted his teeth and said.

"Go back? Go back where?" Zhou Xing asked, puzzled.

"Of course we'll return to our Biyun Sect!" Elder Tian said decisively.

Compared to exile and hiding, he would naturally prefer to return to the Biyun Sect and continue to be his high-ranking Supreme Elder.

"Then what happened back then when we emptied the treasure vault..." another fake alchemist said somewhat embarrassedly.

"Hmph, what do you mean by emptying the treasure vault? We're just building up the sect's resources." Elder Tian glared at him with displeasure.

"But we have no more spiritual resources now, how can we return them?"

"I myself possess profound inner strength!"

"This……"

"Not bad, not bad. Elder Tian's mid-stage Core Formation cultivation is enough to guard the sect."

A hint of joy appeared in Zhou Xing's eyes. If he could return to the Biyun Sect, it would be like a fish in water. Now that the demonic path is no longer purging and is ignoring Cangyun Prefecture, the Biyun Sect might be able to unify the entire Cangyun Prefecture again, and its power might even be greater than before.

"But now that Li Ping'an is in charge of the sect, what will his attitude be?"

Upon hearing this, Elder Tian's face showed a hint of contempt: "Li Ping'an? Hmph, he fled in fear of battle. I wonder if Elder Yun Qing gave him the sect's greatest resources back then, which allowed him to form a true core. What right does he have to judge us?"

"No wonder the sect's treasury had almost no spiritual resources back then. It's likely that Li Ping'an took them all. Otherwise, how could he have formed a true core?"

“That’s right. We watched Li Ping’an grow up. We are his elders after all.”

"Moreover, he was able to become the chief disciple back then thanks to Elder Tian's kindness, and he should remember this favor."

Elder Tian agreed with what was said earlier, but when the topic turned to the selection of the chief disciple back then, Elder Tian's expression changed slightly.

Back then, because Li Ji'an was close to Xiao Changfeng, he deliberately tried to stop him. However, his plan backfired. Not only did it not prevent Li Ji'an from becoming the chief disciple, but it also allowed him to shine in front of many disciples, thus solidifying his status and identity as the chief disciple.

Although he did not show any hostility towards him back then, this matter has already created a cause and effect.

"Hmph! No matter what, he's just a junior cultivator at the early stage of Core Formation. How dare he, a mere early Core Formation cultivator, criticize me, a senior in the mid-stage of Core Formation?" Elder Tian sneered inwardly, then regained his composure.

"Then we should not delay, Elder Tian. The spiritual energy here is thin and may not be enough for you to recover. Why don't you return to the sect to recuperate as soon as possible?" Zhou Xing suggested impatiently.

Elder Tian was somewhat tempted, but then shook his head slightly: "No rush, let's talk about it after I recover to my peak condition."

"Old Tian's foresight is indeed remarkable. It's the right thing to do. Otherwise, if Li Ping'an were to turn his back on us, it could cause some trouble."

……

Hearing the three plotting, Li Ji'an paused slightly.

Personally, he still hoped that someone would take charge of the Biyun Sect, freeing up his own time.

After all, his ambitions lie elsewhere. Once he reaches the mid-stage of Core Formation, he will need a higher-level spiritual vein dojo, as well as a more favorable cultivation environment and resources. At that time, he will definitely need to make a trip to the Central Ten Domains.

However, for the Biyun Sect, allowing these three to return to the sect would likely bring about its annihilation!

Moreover, the karmic ties between Elder Tian and him should be settled today.

With this thought in mind, he no longer hesitated. He summoned a compass array in his hand, which instantly formed and surrounded the area.

Now that he is cleaning up the sect as the Supreme Elder of the Biyun Sect, some of his methods are not suitable for exposure. In addition, there are many people and eyes in the market, so he can only conceal them in this way.

"Who?" Elder Tian, ​​who was in the basement, reacted instantly, suddenly opening his eyes and shouting.

"The Supreme Elder of the Azure Cloud Sect is cleaning up his own ranks; all bystanders must leave!" A solemn and authoritative voice then echoed throughout the area.

(End of this chapter)