Sixty years of blacksmithing, a single hammer blow forging a celestial being.

Hongling looked Li Ping'an up and down, her mind racing.

But in the end, she smiled slightly and accepted the pills that Li Ping'an offered.

Regardless, this is indeed a pill refined in a pill furnace.

"Not bad, it seems you old man do have some skills. So, I'll come to you again next time I need to refine pills."

Li Ping'an said with a smile.

"It is my honor to be able to refine pills for my senior sister."

"You old man, you're so glib and frivolous, you're not serious at all."

The thought of Li Ping'an staring intently at her figure made Hong Ling blush.

Now that the alchemy was successful, his previous anger had subsided, and he looked at Li Ping'an more pleasingly.

"Here, take this. Consider it a small reward from me, so Qingyue won't say I'm stingy."

Hongling accepted the pills and then took something out of her storage bag and handed it to Li Ping'an.

Li Pingan looked up and saw another talisman, but it wasn't the Golden Light Talisman from before.

This talisman is entirely dark blue, with faint flashes of lightning across its surface.

Lightning Talisman

A talisman of a higher level than the Golden Light Talisman is an attack talisman.

It can be activated using spiritual power, summoning a bolt of profound lightning with power comparable to a full-force attack from someone below the Foundation Establishment stage.

"These are really good things!" Li Ping'an hurriedly accepted the gifts, cupped his hands in thanks, and loudly expressed his gratitude.

"Thank you for the gift, Senior Sister!"

"Alright, no need to thank me, you deserve it."

Hongling wasn't a stingy person either; she generously waved her hand.

"I'll come to you again next time I need to refine pills."

The stone door opened, and Qingyue, who had been waiting outside for a long time, quickly came over and asked...

"How did it go? Did you succeed, Senior Sister?"

Hongling smiled slightly and said,

"Yes, you're right. This old man does have some skill in controlling fire."

"How about that? I told you so!"

Qingyue grinned.

"My little brother here is no ordinary person."

He gave Li Ping'an a thumbs-up and said,

"Little brother, you've really made me proud. Here, this is the storage bag you wanted. Take it."

As she spoke, Qingyue pulled out a bag and threw it in front of Li Ping'an.

Li Pingan took the bag and was overjoyed.

Storage bag!

He had been thinking about it for a long time.

The storage bag looked like an ordinary pocket, about the size of a palm, and was covered with some profound and difficult-to-understand runes.

However, as soon as Li Ping'an poured spiritual power into the storage bag, his divine sense instantly entered a space, which was about three zhang square. This was all the space in his storage bag.

Li Ping'an hurriedly threw all his spirit stones, magical artifacts, and other miscellaneous items into his storage bag, and instantly felt much lighter.

With this storage bag, it's much more convenient to take things out now.

More importantly, the storage bag can conceal the scent of the items, so even if you are carrying valuable treasures, you won't be discovered.

Li Ping'an bowed and thanked him.

"Thank you so much for your kindness, senior sisters!"

These two inner sect prodigies are practically his gods of wealth!

They gave him waste gas that could enhance his cultivation, and also bestowed upon him various magical treasures. He only needed to select two discarded pills from their refining process and forge them into pills.

This deal was incredibly profitable.

He chuckled and said:

"Remember to come often, senior sisters!"

After seeing off his two senior sisters, Li Ping'an immediately went to his residence to cultivate.

He has already absorbed seven batches of waste gas, and his body now contains a large amount of spiritual energy, allowing him to cultivate at an unprecedented pace.

The arena competition is in two days. Although I have reached the Qi Refining stage, I cannot let my guard down.

After all, this sect is full of hidden talents; who knows if there's a hidden master among them, quietly developing his skills and abilities behind the scenes?

But then he surprised everyone when it came to the crucial moment!

So it's best to be careful.

Li Ping'an urged himself on, and hurriedly began his cultivation.

A day passed in the blink of an eye.

When Li Ping'an opened his eyes, a surge of spiritual energy shot out from them.

"call!"

Li Ping'an breathed a long sigh of relief.

Comfortable!

After a night of arduous training, he successfully broke through to the second level of Qi Refining.

Furthermore, he also possessed six fragments of the Qi Nourishing Pill.

However, Li Ping'an was not in a hurry to turn it into a complete Qi-Nourishing Pill.

Because crafting Qi-Nourishing Pills consumes a significant amount of spiritual energy from the Heaven-Forging Hammer, he cannot produce that many in one go for the time being.

Forget it, let's accumulate some spiritual power for the Sky Hammer first.

Li Pingan muttered to himself, stretched and loosened his muscles, then stood up and took a deep breath.

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

"Please come in."

Long Yun pushed open the door and entered, immediately speaking impatiently.

"Oh dear, Uncle Li, where have you been? I've been looking for you all day."

Li Ping'an said with a dark face, "Haven't I just been staying in the room the whole time?"

"Uncle Li, you're certainly diligent, is it for the sake of the arena? It's a pity that your diligence seems to be in vain."

"What do you mean?"

Li Ping'an frowned.

Long Yun took a sip of water, caught his breath, and said...

"I've come to deliver a message to you from a senior student."

"Oh? What message do you want to convey?"

Li Ping'an was somewhat puzzled.

"Which senior brother is coming to see me this time?"

That's right.

Long Yun said,

"Didn't you want to participate in the arena? The list of contestants for the arena has been released. Your opponent is a handyman manager from the Herbal Medicine Hall named Zeng Xing, who is at the eighth level of Body Tempering."

"Oh, the list is already out?"

Upon hearing that he was facing an opponent in the Body Tempering stage, Li Ping'an raised an eyebrow.

He is now at the second level of Qi Refining, and his opponents in the Body Tempering stage are no match for him.

"That's right, the opponent is at the eighth level of Body Tempering, Uncle Li, you're in trouble."

Since entering the abandoned hall, Li Ping'an has consistently demonstrated his Body Tempering Level 3 cultivation to the disciples of the abandoned hall.

Therefore, it is reasonable for Long Yun to believe that he is bound to lose.

Li Pingan simply smiled and said...

"It's alright, let's leave it to fate."

"By the way, if you're bringing this to me, are you telling me that my opponent is this Zeng Xing?"

Long Yun said mysteriously:

"That's not true! Actually, this isn't a bad thing for you. Zeng Xing was injured a couple of days ago, and his injury hasn't fully healed yet, so he can't perform in the ring. He wants you to admit defeat directly in the ring to save yourself a fight."

"Oh, is that so?"

Li Ping'an frowned.

"Old man, if you ask me, you should just do Zeng Xing a favor and admit defeat. He has powerful backers, and you can't afford to offend him. You can't beat him in a real fight anyway. You're already working so hard in this abandoned hall, and there's basically no hope of cultivating immortality here. Why waste your time here?"

Long Yun advised.

Li Ping'an could sense that Long Yun was genuinely trying to persuade him.

However, I wonder who is behind Zeng Xing, that he would let me lose on purpose?

interesting.

Long Yun seemed to know what Li Ping'an was thinking and added:

"Zeng Xing's son is an inner sect steward with some power; you can't afford to offend him."

Li Ping'an's lips curled slightly, and then he said:

"I understand. You can go ahead now. I'll consider your suggestion."

"Alright, Uncle Li, think about it. I don't think there's anything wrong with going down the mountain."

After Long Yun left, Li Ping'an fell into deep thought. Actually, Zeng Xing wasn't anything to be afraid of; he was just a menial disciple.

But he had a son who worked as a steward in the outer sect, and it was his son, Long Yun, who had given him this advice.

In other words, if we really defeat Zeng Xing tomorrow, we'll probably offend his son again.

That's it!

Li Ping'an smiled wryly:

Since we've already offended Senior Brother Zhang from the inner sect, what harm is there in offending another outer sect steward?

I, Li Ping'an, must stay in the sect!