Cultivating Immortality Begins with Rejuvenation

“Welcome Senior Li, a glorious return to your hometown!”

As the three figures in the high sky drew nearer, Yan Zongsheng led the entire clan in a respectful bow to welcome them.

Li Ji'an had neither changed his surname to join the clan nor accepted the treatment of a clan member back then, merely benefiting from his father's legacy. Only then did Yan Zongsheng persuade the clan elders to grant him a small, remote courtyard, barely enough for cultivation.

As the clan head, Yan Zongsheng could only do so much, as the Yan family was not his alone.

Moreover, the clan members had quite a few criticisms regarding Yan Qingwan, Yan Kongyi, and Yan Hongsheng's special care for Li Ji'an during those ten years.

Therefore, he could not brazenly utter the flattering words “Welcome home.”

Li Ji'an, high in the sky, looked down upon the bowing crowd and waved his hand slightly: "Everyone, please dispense with the formalities."

Afterward, only accompanied by Yan Qingwan and Yan Zongsheng, Li Ji'an arrived at Yan Kongyi's residence, where he had studied talismans in the past.

“Grand Elder!” Yan Kongyi's body was half-destroyed, relying on elixirs to prolong his life, his aura and mana nearly exhausted.

If not for a lingering obsession in his heart, he probably wouldn't have been able to persevere for so long.

Having lost his mana and vitality, Yan Kongyi was now emaciated, his eye sockets sunken, and his whole body exuded an aura of death.

“You… you really came back!” The moment he saw Li Ji'an, Yan Kongyi's eyes suddenly lit up, filled with disbelief amidst his surprise, even biting the tip of his tongue to confirm it wasn't an illusion.

In truth, he hadn't held much hope.

“I'm back.” Li Ji'an sat by his bedside and placed his hand on his pulse.

“You… you actually established your foundation!” As Li Ji'an's mana flowed into him to soothe him, Yan Kongyi's eyes widened even further.

Immediately, he wept with joy, grasping Li Ji'an's hand in return, his face filled with relief.

“Don't be overly joyful or sorrowful!” Li Ji'an instantly sensed his life force draining rapidly and spoke to comfort him.

“Hahaha, enough, enough, I can die without regrets.” Yan Kongyi didn't care, desperately wanting to sit up in his final moments.

Yan Qingwan and Yan Zongsheng behind him also sensed that his life force was completely exhausted at this moment. While saddened, they also felt somewhat relieved, at least he died without regrets.

“Let this old man have a few words with Fan小子.” Yan Kongyi gave Yan Zongsheng a deep look, as if saying farewell to his brother.

Yan Zongsheng took a deep breath, gave him a solemn bow, and respectfully withdrew.

“Fan小子, set up a restriction.” Yan Kongyi then said to Li Ji'an.

Li Ji'an smiled faintly. With his current spiritual sense, no one in the Yan family could spy on them. Besides, the two old ancestors of the Yan family were not ignorant people.

However, he understood Yan Kongyi's intention.

Sure enough, after he waved his hand to set up a magical barrier, Yan Kongyi couldn't wait to speak: “This old man is about to die soon, can you… can you tell me the truth, how is your talisman skill?”

“……” Li Ji'an sighed. This old man still didn't believe him.

No wonder, he had kept it so secret from him back then.

Under Yan Kongyi's expectant gaze, Li Ji'an shook his head without hesitation: “Please rest assured, old man. Now that I have established my foundation, I will definitely spend more time studying talismans and open that ancient tomb inheritance as soon as possible.”

Yan Kongyi nodded without the slightest disappointment, even his eyes filled with hope.

This was also the reason why he wept with joy after discovering that Li Ji'an had established his foundation. This question was actually a test for Li Ji'an, not expecting much.

However, now that he had established his foundation, he would have ample time after establishing his foundation. Anyway, with his medium-grade spiritual root talent, even if he had some connections in the Immortal City, it would not be enough to hope for Core Formation. In his long two hundred years of life, with his comprehension, he would definitely improve his talisman skills, and that ancient talisman master's tomb would not be buried.

“Good, good, good, I beg you for one thing before this old man dies. If there are any talisman talents in my clan in the future, I hope you can nurture them.” Yan Kongyi made one last contribution for the Yan family.

“I agree.” Li Ji'an did not decline this time.

That day, Yan Kongyi passed away with a smile.

Seven days later, Yan Kongyi's funeral was completed satisfactorily.

During this period, Li Ji'an was arranged to stay at Yan Qingwan's dojo. The two did not discuss the Dao, but continued their aunt-nephew relationship.

Until after Yan Kongyi was buried, that night, Li Ji'an took out that exquisite Beauty Preservation Pill.

The Beauty Preservation Pill that Yan Qingwan had taken before was only of medium grade, preserving her beauty for twenty years.

After the wastelands became chaotic, the Yan family's resources were scarce, and trade with the outside world was cut off. Beauty Preservation Pills had been discontinued a few years ago. Therefore, Li Ji'an noticed that her appearance had a slight touch of age.

The gentle and graceful girl in her twenties in his memory now had a hint of mature tenderness.

“This is… an exquisite Beauty Preservation Pill?” Yan Qingwan stared straight at the elixir in Li Ji'an's hand, her beautiful eyes slightly excited.

Women remain young girls until death, and their love of beauty will never change.

This Beauty Preservation Pill not only preserved her beauty for ten years more than the medium-grade pill she had taken before, but also had a slight effect of reversing aging, which was what she had dreamed of.

She never expected…

“Fan'er, thank you.” After taking the Beauty Preservation Pill, Yan Qingwan immediately returned to her boudoir to take and refine it.

Until half a day later, when she saw Yan Qingwan again, she was obviously a few years younger. However, the effect of reversing aging was still not enough to compensate for the time limit that she had discontinued the Beauty Preservation Pill over the years.

That hint of mature tenderness had not disappeared.

But it was enough to make Yan Qingwan happy.

However, before she could express her gratitude to Li Ji'an again, Li Ji'an took out another item from his storage bag.

Yan Qingwan's originally happy and slightly shy expression instantly froze.

“This… a Foundation Establishment Pill!”

Now that the wastelands had been turbulent for more than ten years, the foundations of various clans had been greatly depleted, and there was only expenditure and no income. They basically no longer hoped for Foundation Establishment Pills.

Moreover, even if they could scrape together the wealth to obtain a Foundation Establishment Pill, they would almost certainly not be able to leave the wastelands.

Not to mention, once they auctioned off a Foundation Establishment Pill in the Immortal City, they would definitely not dare to bring such a divine pill out of the city. They could only rent a cave within the city to establish their foundation on the spot, and that expense would not be less than the Foundation Establishment Pill itself.

When she established her foundation back then, in addition to the Foundation Establishment Pill costing nearly five thousand spirit stones, renting a cave, purchasing life-saving and meridian-protecting pills, as well as spiritual materials to enhance foundation establishment, and the clan elders' protection, etc., cost nearly ten thousand spirit stones in total.

But at this moment… there was actually a genuine Foundation Establishment Pill placed in front of her!

Moreover, he had traveled alone for hundreds of thousands of miles, bringing it from the Immortal City to the wastelands.

Once the news of possessing a Foundation Establishment Pill was leaked, it would definitely attract countless thieves to intercept and kill him by any means.

Was this still the “safety first” teenager who was afraid of performing sect missions, afraid of encountering danger in secret realms, and gave up becoming an inner disciple of the sect?

The shock at this moment was even greater than seeing Li Ji'an successfully establish his foundation.

“Fan'er, wait a moment. Aunt can't make the decision on this matter and needs to discuss it with the old ancestor and the family head!” Before Li Ji'an could say anything, Yan Qingwan immediately spoke.

She could treat the Beauty Preservation Pill as a filial gift from a junior, and even accept it with peace of mind because of her sincere friendship with Li Ji'an all along.

But the Foundation Establishment Pill was a major matter and of great value. Even for a newly established foundation cultivator, it was a considerable sum. No matter what Li Ji'an was thinking, she had to pay the due price to accept it with peace of mind.

“Aunt!” Li Ji'an immediately stopped her.

In this post-ancient era, the more advanced the resources, the scarcer they were. The greatest use of spirit stones for ordinary foundation establishment cultivators was nothing more than buying auxiliary cultivation pills, buying magic weapons, renting caves, and other daily expenses.

And the materials that could truly greatly enhance the strength and combat power of foundation establishment cultivators were basically impossible to buy with spirit stones. In Cangyun Prefecture and even Tiancang Domain, only some early-stage second-order items could barely be traded with spirit stones.

Items such as mid-stage second-order magic treasures, talismans, and spirit beasts were all bartered.

Including various medicinal materials, talisman materials, formation bases, and even heaven and earth spiritual objects that enhance Core Formation after the mid-stage second-order, they were all beyond the scope of spirit stone transactions due to extreme scarcity. Even with spirit stones, they could not be bought.

Now that Li Ji'an had advanced to the Foundation Establishment stage, with his alchemy skills, he only needed to open the furnace seven or eight times a month like Alchemist Zou to earn enough spirit stones to meet his current cultivation needs due to the pill output rate and pill quality.

As long as he didn't establish a force, maintain a family, or cultivate disciples and grandchildren, it would be enough.

He could even open a few more furnaces to leave enough wealth for the next life and the life after that to smoothly pass the Qi Training stage.

Spirit stones for him now, and even for him in the future, were like yellow and white objects during the Immortal Dynasty, enough was good, and he didn't care much about them.

Being too utilitarian would torment people's lives and easily affect their state of mind. He had become very indifferent to this aspect since he had “rejuvenated” twice.

However, as a family ancestor with ordinary alchemy skills who needed to support countless clan members and shoulder the responsibility of the family's prosperity, Yan Qingwan's understanding of spirit stones could not be unified with Li Ji'an.

“No, Aunt can't agree to this no matter what.” Yan Qingwan said firmly.

The more she was like this, the more at ease Li Ji'an was.

Some things cannot be measured by spirit stones.

The years spent here in this life's childhood in peace and worry-free and well-developed cannot be bought with spirit stones.

“Aunt, consider this pill as something you owe me, we'll talk about it later. However, I have one condition, I hope you can give Yan Qing a chance when considering the clan's foundation establishment juniors.” Li Ji'an didn't dawdle and said straightforwardly.

When communicating with Zhao Shuyao before coming to the wastelands, she repeatedly revealed the difficulties of Zhang Tiezhu among the five back then.

Of the five back then, not to mention Zhu Linxian and Li Ji'an, Zhao Shuyao was the easiest. Dong Jiangling was also much easier after his daughter was married into a nearby family. Only Zhang Tiezhu exhausted his efforts for his son.

And in this life, he had known Yan Qing for several years during his childhood. After the age of fifteen, Yan Qing often came to impart cultivation experience to Li Ji'an and often brought him spirit rice.

“I've already said this. If Aunt still refuses, then she's really treating me as an outsider.”

Yan Qingwan stared straight into Li Ji'an's eyes, which were as clear as water, sincere and flawless.

Only then did she realize that she had underestimated Li Ji'an.

In the end, she cautiously put away the Foundation Establishment Pill, but her mood was never able to calm down when she faced Li Ji'an again.

Especially in the following half month, Li Ji'an took the initiative to invite her to study alchemy together, explaining the essence of second-order alchemy in a simple and profound way, and took out several second-order medicinal materials to demonstrate for her in person.

The figure of the man in front of her became more and more overlapped with the former Brother Li.

Until half a month later, when Li Ji'an said goodbye, she was still like a dream.

Before leaving the Yan family, Li Ji'an took the initiative to meet Yan Hongsheng.

Yan Hongsheng was also old now, and because he failed to use the Foundation Establishment Pill to impact the Foundation Establishment when he was young, he hurt his foundation and had little lifespan left. It was estimated that this was the last time in this life.

At first, he was still a little unnatural because of Li Ji'an's status as a foundation establishment casual cultivator, until Li Ji'an took the initiative to lower his status and talk to him about those years when he deliberately concealed his body refining cultivation, he regained three points of his former appearance.

They talked happily, three bowls of wine before parting, which was considered a farewell in advance.

Finally, Li Ji'an went to Zhang Tiezhu's house and sent him a few bottles of Qi and Blood Pills.

Yan Qing hesitated to speak several times, looking at Li Ji'an with more respect. Li Ji'an taught him the secrets of the three passes of Foundation Establishment and his own insights, following the way he had taught him Qi Training experience back then.

However, Li Ji'an sensed that his mana and soul were not very good, only his Qi and Blood were slightly stronger due to Zhang Tiezhu's coercion, but the success rate was probably very small without the Foundation Establishment Pill.

After leaving the Yan family, Li Ji'an went all the way south, straight to the secret tomb marked by Yan Kongyi in the depths of the Fallen Dragon Ridge.

Half a year ago, he had already drawn a special Enlightenment Talisman according to the missing part of the inheritance that Yan Kongyi had given him in the past two years.

It can be said that the main purpose of this trip to the wastelands was still this.

Once he had the second-order talisman inheritance, he would have the greatest life-saving technique and trump card in the Foundation Establishment stage!