Cultivation Starts with Rejuvenation

Seeing Li Ji’an widening the distance again with the momentum, his eyes narrowed, and his entire magical power burst out once again.

”Ah~” However, the magical power within his dantian suddenly became chaotic, and the backlash from consuming the Human Pill occurred again.

In an instant, he lost his balance and almost fell.

”Little thief! If it weren’t for the backlash from the Human Pill, how could I let you act so defiantly!” He cursed under his breath, barely maintaining fifty percent of his magical power to pursue.

At this moment, Li Ji’an’s blood was surging, and his only thought was to escape, without noticing the state of True Man Chunyuan.

Even under the dual enhancement of the Bursting Technique Pill and the Divine Speed Talisman, he still felt too slow.

During the escape, he pinched a gesture with one hand and used his blood energy as a lead, his Life Essence Blood began to burn slowly.

This was a Blood Burning Escape Technique he had independently created after multiple attempts, referencing several sect Secret Techniques, to prepare for the arrival of the Golden Puppet Holy Monarch of the Boundless Domain years ago.

At the cost of burning his own Life Essence Blood, accelerating flight speed.

The more Essence Blood burned, the faster the flight.

The price was the consumption of Life Essence Blood, interrupting cultivation roots, and severely depleting vitality and lifespan.

Regular cultivators would not dare to use it unless absolutely necessary.

Moreover, this Escape Technique also had a certain delay in execution.

”Little thief, prepare to die!” Ten breaths later, True Man Chunyuan once again closed the distance, shooting a Fire Snake from afar.

Even with only half the magical power of his peak, it was still stronger than an average Foundation Establishment middle stage True Man.

In a hurry, Li Ji’an summoned the last of his top-grade fine gold shields.

This was the last of his three top-grade shields, the first was broken by Fairy Yunyao, the second was broken by a suspected sneak attack from Master Wangyou of Dongli Sect.

”Bang!” Unsurprisingly, the last top-grade shield shattered as well.

However, the power of this attack was not like the upper three-grade magical treasures earlier; with the fine gold shield’s block, it greatly reduced the potency of most of it.

Li Ji’an dodged without even looking.

At the same time, the Blood Burning Escape began to exert force, and his escape speed suddenly increased.

”Fu Xiaochen! Surrender now or I swear I’ll annihilate your entire sect!” Seeing this, True Man Chunyuan’s heart tightened. If the opponent maintained such escape speed for a moment, he really might shake him off.

If that were truly the case, he’d suffer a huge loss this time.

The Tier Three Spirit Flame was his supreme treasure for turning the tides and his greatest aid in becoming a Pill King.

Upon hearing these words, Li Ji’an was overjoyed, knowing the opponent must be at the end of his tricks.

Instantly, his speed increased once more.

”You seek death!” True Man Chunyuan gritted his teeth, a look of determination on his face, and fiercely bit the tip of his tongue.

He stubbornly suppressed the blood foam continually surging up his throat, determined to capture the opponent even at the cost of damaging his dharma foundation.

In no time, his magical power returned to full strength, fiercely pursuing.

”Old beast!” Feeling the threat, Li Ji’an was shocked.

Then, gritting his teeth, he once again summoned the ninth-grade magical treasure Wind-Fire Fan.

Glancing at the fine cracks on it, he finally fiercely shot it towards the rear.

Just as he was about to make contact with the pursuing True Man Chunyuan, he moved his mind and guided it with his Divine Soul.

”Boom~” The power of the self-exploding magical treasure was extraordinary; in an instant, the world behind seemed to turn into a sea of fire.

At the same time, Li Ji’an once again activated a Teleportation Talisman.

By the time the sea of fire extinguished, he appeared once again, already a hundred miles away.

He had no time to check on True Man Chunyuan’s state, merely focusing on fleeing eastward.

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After three days and nights, Li Ji’an’s whole body felt his blood halt, and his Life Essence Blood was almost burnt out, forcing his flight speed to slow down.

Then, transforming into Huang Jie once again, he summoned a top-grade Flying Boat and turned southward.

A month later, passing by a Second Tier Market, he resolutely entered.

This was a market jointly established by three nearby Foundation Establishment sects, with Foundation Establishment cultivators stationed there, located amidst a rocky wasteland.

Li Ji’an rented a secluded courtyard, focusing on healing his injuries.

Although he activated Huang Jie’s Essence Blood, he controlled his magical aura to the early Foundation Establishment period; otherwise, coming here with a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivation might unsettle the three sects, causing unnecessary trouble.

Another month later, with the repeated cleansing of Wood Magic Power, his internal injuries healed.

Meanwhile, his tense nerves slightly relaxed due to the constant calm and peace.

Throughout the month, a True Man occasionally passed by, and there were several divine sense sweeps, but none came down to inspect.

Moreover, on this day, Zou Qi brought news: The Ten Thousand Laws Palace angrily accused True Man Fu of the Fiery Sun Sect of faking his own death and sneakily plotting against the Pill King, devouring the Pill King’s Tier Three Spirit Flame.

Nowadays, many late-stage True Pill Masters of the Ten Thousand Laws Palace have gathered at the Fiery Sun Sect, forcing the Fiery Sun Sect to hand over people!

Zou Qi was encountered by Li Ji’an half a month after arriving at this market.

According to Zou Qi, after leaving Profound Light Immortal City, they came to this place.

Just because his grandfather calculated that his opportunity lay here, he must come to wait.

However, his grandfather Zou Yan exhausted his life force and passed away on the journey.

This made Li Ji’an again appreciate the Zou family’s divination Dao.

Earlier in Profound Light Immortal City, if he hadn’t leaked heavenly secrets in advance, Li Ji’an would’ve faced a fate of being caught by True Man Chunyuan while bringing Little Fire Spirit into the Immortal City.

A true life-and-death ordeal!

The result would’ve been much worse than it is now.

Having promised the grandfather and grandson before, he did not refuse Zou Qi this time.

He rented a small courtyard next door for him to settle down and cultivate in peace, and often inquired about major events in the cultivation realm.

Zou Qi is not very old, but he is quite clever and literate.

His handsome face often leads many to mistake him for a woman disguised as a man, especially with his pair of clear, dustless eyes, exuding a lively spirit.

Although his spirit root is below middle grade in Gold Element, Zou Qi, at sixteen, is already at the 3rd Layer of Qi Cultivation, slightly stronger than Li Ji’an was at the same age in this world.

Moreover, the cultivation technique he practices is merely a middle-grade profound level ”Gold Separation Technique”, similar in tier to the ”Flame Dragon Technique” from the Yan family that Li Ji’an practices in this world.

Li Ji’an didn’t have a better Gold Element technique to impart, only guiding him in cultivation, offering top-grade pill medicine, and additionally gifting him a fine magic sword.

Yet, Zou Qi handed over an inherited divination technique from his ancestors to Li Ji’an, showing utmost sincerity.

”...” Knowing the Ten Thousand Laws Palace had gathered at the Fiery Sun Sect, Li Ji’an’s lips couldn’t help but curl into a smile.

This thoroughly allowed him to breathe a sigh of relief.

That night, he summoned Gugu again.

To prevent further extraordinary spiritual insects, this past month Li Ji’an only checked on Gugu’s injuries before entering the market and fed it a healing elixir, while keeping it in the spirit pet bag.

”Gugu~” After recovering for this period, Gugu’s internal injuries were much better, but its state was still somewhat listless, entirely covered in wounds.

After another careful examination, Li Ji’an began treating its injuries with Wood Magic Power.

”Can that black gold skin be transformed again?” During the process, Li Ji’an asked.

Gugu immediately attempted, but ultimately not successful.

As before, it only changed color to adapt to the surrounding environment, similar to a chameleon’s concealment effects.

As for the black gold skin that withstood True Man Chunyuan’s fire blade, it could not be reproduced.

Li Ji’an felt slightly disappointed, having thought it mutated some bloodline divine abilities in a life-and-death crisis.

After all, as a mid-stage Tier Two demon beast, it unexpectedly could use its skin to directly withstand a strike comparable to that of an early-stage True Pill True Man, quite exaggerating indeed.

If it could freely transform such skin, it could become another major defensive card for Li Ji’an.

After a night of treatment, Gugu returned to the spirit pet bag.

Then Li Ji’an sensed the Little Fire Spirit in his dantian.

After swallowing a Tier Three spirit flame, apart from being forcibly awakened by Li Ji’an to attack True Man Chunyuan once, it has remained in a chaotic state, similar to previous moments before advancing.

This stirred Li Ji’an’s heart.

Previously, he did not anticipate the mid-stage Tier Two Little Fire Spirit would directly advance after devouring a Tier Three spirit flame!

”I wonder if it will advance one small tier, or a large tier?”

”If it could leap to become a Tier Three Fire Spirit, perhaps the power of the spirit flame might barely achieve Tier Four Pill Fire, and there might be hope to attempt refining Tier Four Pill Medicine…”

Thinking about this, Li Ji’an immediately laughed and shook his head.

This calamity of the Ten Thousand Laws Palace, although eventually viewed, with the Little Fire Spirit devouring a Tier Three spirit flame definitely counted as a substantial opportunity.

Yet, the losses were equally significant, the Ninth Grade magical treasure Wind-Fire Fan had to self-destruct before truly confronting the enemy.

Afterward, the embryonic form magical treasure glass lamp, which he used quite smoothly, was also entirely destroyed.

Moreover, there were three Tier Three spirit talismans, one top-notch shield.

Crucially, this time his life force was severely depleted.

One Bursting Technique Pill, at least decades taken off the time for rejuvenation.

And three days and nights of Blood Burning Escape, almost exhausted his life essence blood.

Originally, after advancing to Fake Pill, he had three hundred years to delve into the Hundred Arts of Cultivation, ample time to lay a foundation for the next lifetime, but now it’s mostly consumed.

Conservatively estimated, at most in a decade or so he will begin to decline due to excessive depletion of life essence blood.