Cultivating Immortality Begins with Rejuvenation

Xiao Changfeng was overjoyed at Li Ji'an's confirmation.

If he could really help Li Ji'an obtain a wisp of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Flame this time, it would be considered repaying the favor from back then.

However, after calming down a bit, he felt somewhat unsure about being able to capture it.

"Brother Li, can you determine the rank of this spiritual flame?"

Li Ji'an shook his head and then said, "Although I can't determine it based solely on this trace, Heaven and Earth Spiritual Flames are the transformed shells of Heaven and Earth Sacred Spirits – Fire Spirits. Although there is fire spiritual energy here, it's far from enough for a true Fire Spirit. I estimate it's at most rank one."

Through ancient books, he had learned that in ancient times, this world was not only ruled by the human race.

There were the demon clans of the primordial era and the spirit clans born from heaven and earth.

Among them, the demon clan was not the same as the demon beasts seen today. They were races that truly possessed intelligence, were recognized by the heavens and earth, enjoyed the favor of all spirits, and were born with the ability to transform.

The difference between them and today's demon beasts lies not only in their bloodline and intelligence, but also in their innate ability to transform, possessing two forms.

One is the original form of the demon clan recognized by the Heavenly Dao in the primordial era.

The other is the human form granted by the Heavenly Dao in the ancient era, making them the masters of all spirits.

As for the spirit race, they were the five elements of heaven and earth, all kinds of spiritual energies, which, over a long period of time, were endowed with spirituality by the Heavenly Dao, giving birth to spiritual consciousness, transforming from unconsciousness to sacred spirits.

Spiritual flames are the fire sacred spirit's transformation after giving birth to intelligence, step by step. Each transformation sheds a layer of fire spiritual energy, and that layer of spiritual energy is the spiritual flame.

A rank one spiritual flame is equivalent to the fire-type magic power of a human Qi training cultivator, but it is pure heaven and earth spiritual energy, comparable to the pill fire condensed by a Foundation Establishment stage fire-type cultivator.

However, now, six thousand years after the ancient times, there has been no trace of the demon or sacred spirit races in this world. The occasional Heaven and Earth Spiritual Flames are nothing more than solitary flames left over from ancient times.

Although spiritual flames have no intelligence, they have a natural instinct to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages. High-rank spiritual flames will naturally choose places with more abundant fire spiritual energy. The level of fire spiritual energy here naturally cannot retain high-rank spiritual flames.

"If it's only rank one, Xiao will definitely do his best!" Xiao Changfeng felt a bit more confident.

"Thank you, Brother Xiao!" Li Ji'an sincerely thanked him, but he never thought of relying on him to capture the spiritual flame. Guagua and Xiao Qiao were his true confidence.

After saying that, Xiao Changfeng swallowed a Spirit Replenishing Pill and a Mind Concentrating Pill, fully opened his spiritual consciousness, and his earth-type magic power surged, ready to strike at any time.

The two began to explore along the direction of the traces.

Three days later, Xiao Changfeng, who had split up along the direction of the traces, once again discovered traces first.

Li Ji'an hurriedly reunited with him and continued searching forward.

Five days later, Xiao Changfeng once again discovered traces first.

"Could this child really be a son of destiny?" Li Ji'an looked at Xiao Changfeng, a strange color flashing in his eyes.

He simply stopped acting separately and honestly followed behind Xiao Changfeng.

This day.

Xiao Changfeng walked in front, sensing with his spiritual consciousness, and with Li Ji'an's abundant Spirit Replenishing Pills as his backing, his earth-type spirit sensing technique was also fully activated.

"Scorching and surpassing fire, it should be it!" Suddenly, Xiao Changfeng's technique transmitted a scorching sensation.

"Brother Li, lend me a Spirit Trapping Talisman!" Before the words were finished, Xiao Changfeng's magic power erupted, instantly enveloping a hundred zhang area in front of him, and then the earth beneath his feet surged.

Upon hearing this, Li Ji'an unhesitatingly threw a few Spirit Trapping Talismans to him.

Xiao Changfeng took the Spirit Trapping Talismans and immediately burrowed into the ground and shot away.

The next moment, in Li Ji'an's divine sense perception, a layer of magic power barrier had already appeared underground, covering the area.

Before that, Xiao Qiao had already tugged on Li Ji'an's sleeve.

Guagua had already burrowed into the ground.

"Uncle Li, it's a small flame," Xiao Qiao whispered to Li Ji'an when she saw Xiao Changfeng disappear.

Hearing this, Li Ji'an was overjoyed.

This time, he was truly trying his luck. Although he had Guagua's ability to burrow into the ground and conceal his presence, plus Xiao Qiao's underground sensing supernatural power, he didn't have much hope. After all, countless cultivators had come here to search for the spiritual flame after rumors of its existence spread two years ago, but to no avail.

"Brother Xiao deserves the credit!" He praised in his heart and connected to Guagua's vision.

In the vision, in the dim and scorching underground, a pale red flame was frantically crashing into a magic power barrier in front of it.

Seeing this scene, Li Ji'an was delighted, but also slightly disappointed.

This flame was undoubtedly a spiritual flame, but its color was too faint, not even as good as the recorded rank one spiritual flame. It probably only had the power of the early stage of rank one.

Once a spiritual flame is shed by the fire sacred spirit, it loses the possibility of growth.

If he obtained this spiritual flame, Li Ji'an was confident in refining a rank one high-grade pill, but for a rank two pill, the power was still not enough.

"Poof~" Before Guagua could approach the effective distance, there was a soft sound, and the spiritual flame had actually broken through Xiao Changfeng's magic power barrier and slipped away.

"Chase!" Guagua hurriedly chased after it.

The next moment, Xiao Changfeng's figure appeared there, looking disappointed at the barrier that had been broken open with a small hole.

When he released his spirit sensing technique again, it had already lost its trace.

"Brother Li, before I even saw its true form, it broke through the barrier, and it chose the weakest point of my shield. It seems to be a demon beast with intelligence, rather than an unintelligent spiritual flame," Xiao Changfeng said truthfully after escaping from the earth.

Normally speaking, his magic power barrier, if not for the weak point, could trap an ordinary late-stage rank one demon beast for five breaths of time.

Within five breaths, if he could isolate the surrounding spiritual energy with a Spirit Trapping Talisman, the spiritual flame, which relies on heaven and earth spiritual energy to move around, could be easily captured.

But just now, it was broken open in two breaths and escaped.

Li Ji'an was also surprised at this moment. He had just "seen" the true form of the spiritual flame with his own eyes and confirmed that it was indeed a spiritual flame, and its rank was not high. He still couldn't figure out why it could break through Xiao Changfeng's late-stage Qi training magic power barrier so quickly.

"Coincidence? It just happened to hit the weak point of the barrier?"

"It's okay, Brother Xiao, you've already helped me a lot. If it weren't for you, I'm afraid I wouldn't even be able to find the traces of the spiritual flame. I'll look along the way again." Li Ji'an instructed Guagua to pursue and gave Xiao Changfeng a solemn salute.

Now that he had learned the direction, with Guagua's concealment and earth escape talent, it would definitely not be able to escape.

However, Guagua, as his second trump card, he didn't plan to make it public until he encountered a life-or-death crisis.

"Okay, let's continue to search separately." As he spoke, Xiao Changfeng handed back the Spirit Trapping Talisman.

Li Ji'an waved his hand: "No need, Brother Xiao, you can hold it first. In case you encounter it again, you can activate it in time."

After saying that, he was about to follow in the direction Guagua was chasing.

"Fellow Daoist, please wait."

Just then, a hurried, crisp shout came.

Then, two figures were seen flying from the south.

"Fellow Daoist, do you have Spirit Trapping Talismans? I'll buy them all!" The leader was dressed in red, youthful and beautiful, in her early twenties. Except for being slightly anxious at the moment, with a layer of wind and frost on her face, her appearance was good and her temperament was outstanding.

"Oh, it's actually a high disciple of the upper sect. I am Liu Jiuchan of the Beast Taming Liu family. Fellow Daoist, please do me a favor." When she got closer and saw Xiao Changfeng's Biyun Sect inner disciple attire, the woman's expression eased slightly.

Xiao Changfeng turned his eyes to look, and his face also relaxed: "Fairy Liu, have you been well?"

"It's actually Fellow Daoist Xiao." Liu Jiuchan smiled.

As one of the five great families, the Beast Taming Liu family, many of the clan's high-level elders had contacts with some high-level elders of the Biyun Sect. As the most talented direct descendant core junior of the Beast Taming Liu family in this generation, Liu Jiuchan had a close relationship with the true disciples of the Biyun Sect.

In comparison, Xiao Changfeng, as an ordinary inner disciple, was slightly inferior in status. He had also met Liu Jiuchan when he was on a mission with a true disciple brother.

At that time, Liu Jiuchan chatted happily with the true disciple brother, and he could only smile beside him.

"Since we are acquaintances, Fellow Daoist Xiao, I will be frank. This little girl is undergoing a clan trial and wants to independently capture a late-stage demon beast. After searching for several months, I accidentally found a late-stage peak Fire Extreme Mink. Once I capture this mink, I will definitely be promoted to the elder reserve. I will definitely establish the Foundation Establishment within a year. At that time, this little girl will definitely remember Fellow Daoist Xiao's kindness."

"However, this mink is best at escaping and possesses the spiritual energy of a swift wind. I have been entangled with it for several months and am about to succeed, but I have not prepared a Spirit Trapping Talisman to imprison the spiritual energy, so I am in urgent need of a Spirit Trapping Talisman."

Liu Jiuchan told her intention.

Xiao Changfeng was a little moved when he heard this. The Beast Taming Liu family was almost at the top of the five great families in Cangyun Prefecture, second only to the Biyun Sect, all because of the clan's exquisite beast taming technique. Although the strength of the clan members was not the strongest, the clan's spirit beasts were a force that could not be ignored.

The clan's rank two spirit beasts were nuclear weapons in the entire Cangyun Prefecture that could affect the battle situation of a state. Many Foundation Establishment families wanted to buy a guardian spirit beast.

It was said that their ancestors had also cultivated a rank three spirit beast, whose combat power was comparable to that of a human Golden Core cultivator.

If he could obtain the favor of Liu Jiuchan, who would at least be an elder or even the patriarch of the Liu family in the future, he might not be able to have a rank two spirit beast to accompany him in the future. At that time, the overall combat power would have a qualitative leap.

However, with a slight sigh, Xiao Changfeng still said truthfully: "Fairy Liu, please forgive me, this talisman is Brother Li's thing, and Xiao is also helping Brother Li capture the spiritual flame on this trip."

"Oh? Is Fellow Daoist Li a alchemist?" Liu Jiuchan turned her head to look at Li Ji'an upon hearing this.

"That's right, Brother Li is a well-known alchemist in Immortal City," Xiao Changfeng introduced, and quietly transmitted a voice to Li Ji'an, informing him of the woman's identity and status.

Liu Jiuchan frowned slightly: "Immortal City alchemist? A rogue cultivator?"

Combining what Xiao Changfeng said, she quickly had a understanding in her heart: a rogue cultivator alchemist in Immortal City, in order to capture the spiritual flame, hired a sect disciple to help him accumulate resources for the Foundation Establishment.

As a core member of the Liu family, she often dealt with the true disciples in the sect. She knew better than anyone the difficulties among the disciples in the sect. Compared to her, the clan had prepared all the resources for the Foundation Establishment for her early on. The situation of the non-true disciples in the sect was not as good as hers.

It was common for disciples to take on tasks outside the sect to earn extra resources when there were insufficient tasks in the sect.

After understanding Li Ji'an's identity, her expression did not show arrogance or aloofness.

Instead, she looked at Li Ji'an with a smile, even with some flattery: "Fellow Daoist Li, nice to meet you, I am Liu Jiuchan."

If it were a sect disciple, she could just trade normally by relying on her relationship with the true disciples in the sect.

But for rogue cultivators, she had to put in more effort.

After all, rogue cultivators had no support and many of them did not know how to appreciate favors, and some of them were biased. In case she encountered those who hated the families that monopolized resources, they might not sell her face.

At that time, not only would she lose face, but it would not be good to use force in front of the sect disciples, otherwise it would damage the reputation of the clan.

She didn't need to lower her status to argue with such rogue cultivators.

"I have met Fellow Daoist Liu," Li Ji'an responded with a smile.

Xiao Changfeng had already introduced the woman's identity and background to him through voice transmission, and his words implied that he should try to befriend her.

It just so happened that Guagua, as his second trump card and the guarantee of "returning to childhood", was already facing the key to advancing to rank two, and needed a blood pill.

But, not to mention the value of the blood pill, even if he had enough spirit stones now, it would be difficult to buy a blood pill without a special relationship.

After all, a blood pill meant that there might be an additional rank two demon beast comparable to the Foundation Establishment stage in this state.

And the Liu family, who were best at refining beast pills in Cangyun Prefecture, had the right to decide in this regard.

"Fellow Daoist Li is too polite. Since these Spirit Trapping Talismans are Fellow Daoist Li's things, I will shamelessly ask Fellow Daoist Li to sell them to me. This matter is considered that Liu Jiuchan owes Fellow Daoist Li a favor. If you encounter difficulties in the future, you can report my name," Liu Jiuchan nodded slightly, appearing quite sincere.

"A favor?" Li Ji'an smiled inwardly. Just now, she said to Xiao Changfeng that she owed him a kindness.

"Don't worry, I will buy them at a price 30% higher than the market price!" Liu Jiuchan observed his expression and quickly added when she saw Li Ji'an hesitated slightly.

Li Ji'an secretly pondered. He had a lot of Spirit Trapping Talismans on his body. Before Xiao Changfeng came to Immortal City, he had already drawn a batch of nine mid-stage Spirit Trapping Talismans. Then, when Xiao Changfeng was performing the task, because he knew about Xiao Qiao's supernatural power, he was greatly encouraged, so he decisively compensated three high-grade late-stage Spirit Trapping Talismans.

Now that he knew the rank of the spiritual flame here, at most three mid-stage Spirit Trapping Talismans should be able to take it down.

However, he hesitated slightly: "Fellow Daoist Liu, you don't know, Li came here specifically to capture the spiritual flame in order to improve his alchemy skills. He doesn't have too many Spirit Trapping Talismans prepared."

Liu Jiuchan's pupils shrank slightly, but she still forced a smile and sincerely persuaded: "Fellow Daoist Li, how can you easily believe those nonsense? This little girl has been here for a not short period of time. Many elders in the clan often squat here to capture fire-type demon beast cubs. Where is there any spiritual flame? They are all people with ulterior motives who are deceiving you. You must not be fooled."

Li Ji'an's eyelids twitched slightly. If he hadn't already locked on to that small spiritual flame, he would have believed it.

He realized that this woman's mind was not simple, at least the ability to lie with her eyes open was innate.

He immediately made a decision.

"Since Fellow Daoist Liu is so frank, Li will be straightforward. I can sell you the Spirit Trapping Talisman, but I need to get a promise from you."

Compared to the ethereal favor, a practical promise was more reliable.

Without the same status, without a long-term value exchange relationship, without the potential that the other party was optimistic about, it was unrealistic to try to please and make friends with the upper class.

Having been a human for several lifetimes, he had long understood that in fact, many superiors used this mentality of the lower class to gain without working, and even some swindlers used this mentality.

The other party was also in urgent need of Spirit Trapping Talismans at this moment, so she was so kind to talk to him.

If it were normal, the other party would probably not even look at him.

Of course, the most important thing was that his first impression of this woman was not the kind of person with noble character who knew how to be grateful.

And his consistent practice of making friends widely was not to please or curry favor, but to exchange value.