Cultivating Immortality Begins with Rejuvenation.

Chapter 398 A Long Pursuit
The story of the two outstanding musicians playing the qin and xiao was once a beautiful tale told at Tianyin Pavilion.

Duanmu Qin is skilled in playing the zither and zheng, while Duanmu Xiao is skilled in playing the xiao and dizi. Both are naturally gifted and have the potential to achieve the Golden Core stage.

The harmonious relationship between the two prodigies originally added much glory to the Duanmu family's status and power within the pavilion, and was a source of pride for the Duanmu family back then.

However, Duanmu Qin was arrogant and ambitious in her youth, and even unwilling to stop at the Core Formation stage in this life.

Subsequently, numerous conflicts erupted between the clan and the cabinet.

Over time, both the pavilion and the clan lost patience with her, and eventually Duanmu Qin left the pavilion and disappeared without a trace.

"May I ask Fellow Daoist Changqing if you know the whereabouts of my younger sister?" Duanmu Xiao looked at Li Ji'an with great anticipation.

The two sisters had a fierce conflict and even exchanged insults.

Duanmu Xiao said that if he left the pavilion and his family, he would never be able to form a core in this lifetime.

Duanmu Qin mocked her, her family, and even the entire pavilion, saying they were like frogs in a well, ignorant of the world beyond.

Li Ji'an shook his head: "I met Fellow Qin Daoist by chance and do not know where she went in the end."

"When you met him, what was his cultivation level? Is there any hope of him forming his core?" Duanmu Xiao asked again.

Li Ji'an, unaware of the sisters' past, assumed they still hoped to see him again, and nodded, saying, "The Fairy Qin was only at the late Foundation Establishment stage back then, but with her talent, she could easily obtain a True Core, and even had the hope of obtaining a higher quality Magic Core..."

Upon hearing this, Duanmu Xiao's eyelids twitched involuntarily.

“Very good…very good indeed. Thank you for informing me, Fellow Daoist Changqing.” Duanmu Xiao bowed gracefully.

"You're too kind, fairy."

After a moment of silence, Duanmu Xiao finally composed herself and looked at Li Ji'an and Ning Sujin with a smile: "Fellow Daoists, I just heard from Fei'er that you are planning to find a place to live out your remaining years. If you are willing, my Duanmu family is willing to make full offerings to you."

Before Li Ji'an could respond, he added, "Although we are currently renting a temple that is not at the third level, we have accumulated enough spiritual resources and connections over the years by relying on our clansmen to make a living through music. We will definitely be able to take over a third-level temple within the next ten years."

Li Ji'an smiled slightly upon hearing this, then looked at Ning Sujin and said, "We are deeply grateful for your kindness, Fairy. However, since we have just arrived in Huangtian Domain, we plan to take my wife to explore the area further and learn more about the local customs and culture."

Seeing the loving scene between the two white-haired elders, Duanmu Xiao was deeply moved, and a look of envy appeared on her face: "You two fellow Daoists have grown old together, which is the envy of others. In that case, I will not force you. However, if one day you wish for a peaceful life, the doors of my Duanmu family will always be open to you!"

"Thank you."

After watching Duanmu Xiao lead his people away, Li Ji'an and Ning Sujin returned to the barbarian fortress and rested in an empty house at the back.

The next day at midday, the old clan chief and the commander of the group in the stone fortress finally woke up.

"This fellow Daoist Changqing is no ordinary person."

"I'm afraid the body cultivator still has some strength left, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to withstand the tempering of so much Beast Wine."

As soon as the old clan chief regained consciousness, the first thing he did was marvel at Li Ji'an's drinking capacity.

Then, their physical cultivation strength was deduced in reverse.

He had initially thought that his four cycles of reverting to his ancestral barbarian bloodline would be enough to suppress Li Ji'an, but now he was losing confidence.

Based on his understanding of human cultivators, he knew they often had ways of concealing their abilities, unlike the barbarians who were so open and honest.

However, before he could reach a conclusion, news came that Grandma Ba had been cured.

Immediately afterwards, all the barbarian leaders swarmed into Granny Ba's room...

An hour later, the barbarian leaders, having learned about the process of Grandma Ba's treatment, arrived at Li Ji'an and Ning Sujin's house with various gifts, led by the old chieftain.

Amidst a deafening roar, Li Ji'an discerned the gratitude expressed within.

There weren't so many rules when dealing with barbarians; they accepted everything they brought and readily accepted their gratitude, without any unnecessary complications.

Then a group of barbarian leaders started clamoring to drink and celebrate again, but the old chieftain decisively stopped them.

After sending the others away, the old clan chief went alone with Li Ji'an to the highest point of the desert city.

"Fellow Daoist Changqing, please accept my bow once more." The old patriarch bowed deeply.

Li Ji'an offered a helping hand and said with a smile, "Elder Chief, there's no need for such formalities. I've already accepted all the gifts I was entitled to, so we're even."

“How can this be considered even? Although most of my barbarian tribes are not intelligent, they are the most grateful. Fellow Daoist Changqing will be the number one benefactor of my barbarian tribe in the future!” the old patriarch said hurriedly.

Then he thought of the purpose of inviting Li Ji'an here: "Moreover, I have another request, I wonder if Fellow Daoist Changqing could give me some pointers."

"Please speak freely, Elder Chief."

"Fellow Daoist, could you teach me the barbarian body cultivation method?" The old clan chief looked at Li Ji'an expectantly.

He had already explained the crux of the problem with the barbarians, so there was no need for further explanation this time; Li Ji'an already understood his intentions.

"To be honest, Elder Chief, when I was treating Granny Ba yesterday, I unexpectedly discovered the anomaly in your barbarian tribe's meridians. This is the key reason why your barbarian tribe cannot practice the body cultivation techniques in the world," Li Ji'an frankly stated.

"Meridian system?" The old patriarch's expression changed slightly.

“My barbarian ancestors once studied the bodies of their people and found that they are very similar to those of ordinary humans.”

“That’s right. Although its size is only a few times larger than that of ordinary humans and its structure is the same, the internal meridian pathways are very different. The first stage of body cultivation is to temper the muscles and bones. Since the meridians are different, the effects are naturally different,” Li Ji’an affirmed.

"This...no wonder our clan has been unable to master the basics of body cultivation techniques for generations!" the old clan chief said with some frustration.

Li Ji'an remained silent.

In fact, after confirming the physical condition of the barbarians yesterday, he had already made some deductions in his mind. The human body cultivation method is based on the root bone and the meridians. The barbarians' root bones are roughly the same, only the meridians are different, and only a few main meridians have the greatest influence.

The problem can be solved by slightly modifying the body cultivation method.

During his third incarnation in the Immortal Dynasty, when he was deeply studying the methods of refining qi and blood, he gained a thorough understanding of this.

However, this method cannot be taught to barbarians.

Because the cause and effect are simply too great.

Yesterday, after treating Granny Ba, he confirmed her physical attributes and meridians. He then examined several barbarians and found that each of them had excellent physical attributes for martial arts. According to the Immortal Dynasty Martial Arts Academy, every barbarian here is a natural martial arts prodigy.

Once they have specialized body cultivation techniques, their strength will foreseeably increase in an extremely terrifying way.

Within a century, they might be able to increase the overall strength of the barbarian tribes several times over.

Not to mention the tens of thousands of third-tier body cultivators, even if all the second-tier body cultivators came out at once, no human force could withstand it.

He had read many records of racial conflicts in the ancient and primordial periods, and the human race had gone through countless hardships to rise from the bottom of the myriad races.

As a human being, he naturally sided with the human race.

The old clan chief sighed and did not seek further help.

Besides the fact that he was somewhat intelligent but not very intelligent and couldn't understand the hidden meaning in Li Ji'an's words, he also didn't think Li Ji'an had the potential to create a body cultivation technique suitable for barbarian tribes.

The old clan chief then inquired about the specifics of Grandma Ba's illness.

Li Ji'an truthfully informed him of this.

He promised that any clansmen suffering from this illness could seek his help in the future. Li Ji'an was very willing to do this win-win thing.

Li Ji'an then left a message talisman and bid farewell to the barbarian tribe.

Although this place is also located on a spiritual vein, the spiritual energy here is mainly earth-type spiritual energy, and Li Ji'an's wood-type golden core needs more abundant wood-type spiritual energy.

The spiritual energy required for the Golden Core stage is several times that of the ordinary True Core stage. Although it is only at the early stage of the Golden Core stage, it still requires at least a mid-grade third-level spiritual vein and a dojo with wood-type spiritual energy to fully meet its needs.

Therefore, his original purpose for this trip was to visit Funiu Immortal City, which is dominated by wood-attribute spiritual energy.
-
Meanwhile, in Tianyuan Prefecture of the Tiancang Domain.

Thousands of miles away from the Blood Spirit Sect's headquarters, two old men sat in a tavern in a small market town.

"Since you don't trust me, why don't we go to the Blood Spirit Sect together?" Master Tong picked up a cup of wine and smiled faintly.

Master Chun Yuan frowned and glared at him with considerable resentment: "Hmph, don't try to provoke me like this. Blood Spirit Sect and Myriad Laws Palace are mortal enemies. How can we let ourselves be lambs to the slaughter?"

“The previous Blood Spirit Mother must have perished. Even if there are still a few Venerable Ones in charge of the Blood Spirit Sect now, with your escape methods, you shouldn’t have perished,” Venerable Tong said again.

Master Chun Yuan snorted coldly: "Enough with the nonsense, just activate this talisman and I will use my divine soul to observe it."

"What if I don't agree?" Master Tong chuckled.

“I can’t do anything to you, but if this delays True Lord Beixuan’s important business, I wonder what True Lord Beixuan will do to Chairman Tong.” Venerable Chunyuan chuckled.

Back then, Huang Jie, an unknown nobody with mediocre talent and weak magical power, attained the Golden Core realm in one fell swoop. After fleeing in a guilty conscience, the two concluded that he was a divinely favored person with some kind of breakthrough ability.

Despite years of investigation, no trace of them could be found.

After tracing the matter to the Ten Domains in the Central Region, Master Tong finally reported it to True Lord Beixuan.

The Northern Mystic True Lord received the two and expressed his interest in the person who was suspected to be favored by the gods.

Furthermore, they used divination to determine that the one favored by the gods was still in the east.

Before the two left, he bestowed upon them a bronze mirror that could see through disguises and reflect their dantian (lower abdomen).

The two then returned to the East with full confidence.

They dispatched spies to search for all possible information throughout the entire Eastern Cultivation Domain.

After years of thorough searching of the Wanshang Domain, they still couldn't find him, confirming that the person from back then must have already escaped the Wanshang Domain. They then set their sights on the Tiancang Domain, as well as the Huangtian Domain and the Wuya Domain.

During this period, information from other domains in the east was compiled, and surprisingly, none of them were particularly suspicious.

Only a few of Li Ping'an's relatives, including the True Core Elder of the Biyun Sect, were somewhat suspicious.

At that moment, after confirming that the Golden Puppet Saint King was far away in the Central Ten Domains within the Heavenly Azure Domain, news of the Blood Spirit Saint Mother's sudden death spread.

After finally confirming the death of the Blood Spirit Mother, Master Chun Yuan finally dared to return to the Heavenly Azure Domain.

After identifying and screening several suspected targets based on their informants, they arrived at the Biyun Sect.

The two found information and tracked the True Core Elder of the Biyun Sect on the spirit ship of the Five Blessings Chamber of Commerce. Since his identity information was relatively clear, they did not pay much attention to him at first.

However, when he learned that she was actually Guo Wanzhi's junior brother, he was instantly shocked.

After all, Huang Jie used to call himself Guo Wanzhi's senior brother, so there might be a connection between the two.

The two then rushed to the Biyun Sect.

They originally planned to take a strong stance and capture him first, but when they arrived at the location, they discovered that he had actually been under house arrest by the Blood Spirit Sect for several years.

"Haha, you old fool, now that we both work for True Lord Beixuan, let's not say such hurtful things. I'll do as you say." Master Tong laughed heartily and accepted the spirit-gazing talisman handed over by Master Chunyuan.

"Alas, this child has been tormented by the Blood Spirit Mother for many years. I wonder what he looks like now?"

"If he were truly favored by the gods, how could he be in such a miserable state?"

"Do you think the probability of it being that kid is high?"

"In my opinion, if this Li Ping'an is really that kid, he probably wouldn't have been captured by that old hag so easily. At least... he was able to keep it from you and me for so long, so he should have been able to keep it from that old hag."

"Yes, I also think that Li Ping'an is most likely not that kid."

"In any case, we have to see it in person to completely rule it out."

……

On that day, Master Tong activated Master Chun Yuan's Spirit-Seeking Talisman and came to the Blood Spirit Sect to present his visiting card.

Despite being the president of the Wanshang Domain Business Alliance, he still dared not act recklessly when facing the Blood Spirit Sect.

However, the Blood Spirit Sect did not dare to underestimate him.

The newly ordained Holy Mother Blood Kite received her personally, but having already received instructions from Li Ji'an beforehand, she was well aware of what was going on.

When Master Tong inquired about Li Ping'an, Xue Yuan responded according to Li Ji'an's instructions.

With the help of the image-remembering talisman left by Li Ji'an on the back mountain of the Blood Spirit Sect, they were easily deceived.

In less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Master Tong took his leave.

"Sure enough, that kid's aura is already weak, almost falling out of the True Core realm. It can't be that kid."

"In this vast sea of ​​people, where should one begin the search?"

"There are only four regions in the Eastern Cultivation Domain that can support Golden Core cultivation, and we already have eyes and ears everywhere. Could it be that they have hidden in those barren cultivation domains that don't have third-tier spiritual veins?"

"Impossible! Given his nature of toying with us in the Wanshang Domain back then, he would never give up the path of cultivation. Since True Monarch Beixuan has already divined that he is here, he must be right."

"But now several years have passed, I wonder if that little thief has already slipped away to the central region? Perhaps we should ask the Northern Mystic True Lord to perform a divination again?"

The two masters looked around blankly, feeling rather helpless.

However, they would not give up for the reward from the Northern Mystic True Lord, which was their only hope in this life to become a Nascent Soul True Lord and continue their path of cultivation.

After Master Tong made the suggestion, Master Chun Yuan nodded in agreement.

After calming their minds and adjusting their state, the two activated the secret treasure given to them by the Northern Mystic True Lord.

Immediately, the Daoist energy flowed between the two sides, which were separated by millions of miles.

At such a distance, no communication talisman in the world could successfully transmit a message, but the secret treasure given by the Northern Mystic True Lord could ignore the distance.

Bei Xuan Zhenjun's voice remained calm and refined, neither hurried nor slow.

After the two nervously explained their search, the other party showed no emotion and calmly agreed to their request.

Before long, the divination results arrived, and this time they were even more accurate.

"Huang Tianyu!"

(End of this chapter)