Cultivating Immortality Begins with Rejuvenation

With the four of them gone, only the three of them remained in the gathering yard, but it didn't make much difference.

Since the auction last year, the popularity of Immortal City had been declining day by day. Not to mention the master gathering yard in the inner city, even the streets and alleys of the outer city had few visitors.

Half of the rental area in the outer city was empty.

Almost all loose cultivators who had reached the mid-stage of Qi training had already entered the Great Marsh Mountains to compete for opportunities.

The guards of the Qi family who stayed in Immortal City relaxed and focused on protecting the inner city area.

"Alchemist Li, going out?" Three months later, Li Ji'an walked out of the gathering yard, and Steward Qi greeted him from afar.

"I'm short of medicinal herbs and need to buy some," Li Ji'an replied with a smile.

Steward Qi looked around and secretly transmitted his voice: "Alchemist Li, it's best not to contact the Nine Cauldron Chamber of Commerce these days."

"Hmm?" Li Ji'an looked at Steward Qi in surprise.

"A few days ago, a disciple of a sect died in the forbidden area south of the mountains. It was a second-order Blood Blade Talisman..." Steward Qi stopped there.

"Thank you, Steward Qi," Li Ji'an did not ask further and bowed.

At this moment, hearing what Steward Qi said, Li Ji'an had no doubt about its authenticity.

It was very likely that Tong Xiangyu did it on purpose.

Without thinking too much, Li Ji'an headed towards the auction house.

There were very few people along the way, and there was no need for special concealment. Li Ji'an smoothly changed his clothes, used disguise, and changed his muscles and bones with Qi and blood, turning into a burly and rugged man, releasing the Qi and blood of a second-order body cultivator without reservation.

"Senior Zhang, you've finally come. If you hadn't come, I would have thought you didn't want it anymore." The auction house belonged to another chamber of commerce, which was one of the shareholders behind the Qi family. The shopkeeper led Li Ji'an to a private room and handed him three storage bags.

Li Ji'an glared: "What nonsense are you talking about? How could I be a person who doesn't keep his word?"

The shopkeeper shivered instantly and subconsciously released a body-protecting magic shield in the late stage of Qi training.

"Senior, please calm down. I misspoke, I deserve to be punished." The shopkeeper pretended to slap himself.

"Hmph, forget it." Li Ji'an took the storage bags, and sensing the full lava sand inside, he was overjoyed.

This was a reward he had issued under a disguised identity at this auction house since he was promoted to a second-order body cultivator six years ago. He had received a message from them more than two months ago, and he deliberately delayed it until today to collect it.

It is said that the body cultivator of this world originated from the time when the human race in ancient times struggled to survive.

At that time, the demon race had strong bloodlines and dominated the three thousand worlds, and only the naturally born holy spirits could contend with them.

The human race had ordinary bloodlines and weak bodies. There was no saint who created the holy method of soul cultivation that combines the soul with the Dao, nor was there a method of law cultivation that absorbs spiritual energy to refine mana.

The first ancestors of the human race wanted to imitate the demon race's method of strengthening the body, and first created the path of body cultivation.

However, the reason why the demon race had strong bodies was that their bloodlines were inherited from the primordial true spirits, divine beasts, and wild beasts, mainly the transformation and evolution of bloodlines, awakening the bloodlines of their ancestors, and then giving birth to extraordinary power.

The human race had no divine beast bloodlines, but after countless generations of pioneers, they finally discovered that they could use the spiritual treasures of heaven and earth to imitate the path of body cultivation to promote bloodlines.

That period was the peak of human body cultivation.

In the past six thousand years, according to the records excavated from some ruins, it is said that the first person to push body cultivation to the point where he could fight against the demon emperor transformed his ordinary blood into the level of a pseudo-true spirit divine beast.

With just his body, he could shatter the void with his fists and step on the demon emperor with his feet.

The bloodline that the body cultivator transformed into was the pseudo-qilin bloodline, and he was honored by the world as the Qilin Holy Venerable. Later generations even used his name to refer to the body cultivation system.

However, that was not the peak of body cultivation. Later body cultivators had created several glories.

There have even been evolutionary paths that no longer imitate the bloodlines of true spirit divine beasts.

Among them, the most famous are the Heaven Overlord Body, the Ancient Holy Body, the Glass Golden Body... and so on.

Unfortunately, body cultivators have never been able to break the shackles of combining the Dao to become immortals.

In addition, the spiritual treasures of heaven and earth and the strange objects of the beginning of the world are becoming less and less, and body cultivation has also declined.

Especially after the emergence of soul cultivation and law cultivation, body cultivation has gradually been spurned, after all, it was indeed imitating the path of the demon race at the beginning.

Now, in the post-ancient era, the way of heaven has collapsed, soul cultivation has declined, body cultivation is lingering, and law cultivation is the only orthodoxy.

The bloodline transformation material in the second-order period of Li Ji'an's "Hundred Forged Golden Body Art" requires the use of lava sand.

This thing is stained with the earth's fiery energy. Although it is not a spiritual treasure, it can barely have the effect of transformation. Of course, the effect is far from the real spiritual treasures of heaven and earth in ancient times.

And the "Hundred Forged Golden Body Art" is also based on the ancient body cultivation holy method and improved according to the existing resources for transforming bloodlines.

Otherwise, with today's resources, even the most extraordinary body cultivation method would be of no avail.

After putting away the lava sand, Li Ji'an strode away. He had already paid the full amount in advance, as there was little demand for this stuff, not much stock, and it was difficult to collect. If he canceled the order, it would easily be stuck in his hands.

"I wonder how far this will allow my body cultivation to advance?" After flying out of the Immortal City for a thousand miles, Li Ji'an returned to the Immortal City as another ordinary low-level cultivator. As soon as he returned to the Li residence, he couldn't wait to pour all the lava sand into the underground chamber dedicated to tempering his body.

Now a second-level body cultivator, Li Ji'an had a deeper understanding of the path of body cultivation and had carefully studied and analyzed its principles.

The initial stage of the first level doesn't require relying on external objects; it's entirely about tempering one's own essence and blood to cultivate Qi and blood.

That was already the limit of the human race's physical body.

To go further, one can only transform their bloodline.

Lightning Spirit Crystals are the most common spiritual objects for first-level body cultivators to temper themselves, and they are relatively the easiest to obtain.

Lava sand is a step further.

In general, body cultivators have an even greater need for resources than Dharma cultivators and Soul cultivators.

The advantage is that if there are sufficient natural treasures and enough endurance, the efficiency will be higher and more controllable.

Li Ji'an is now a second-level body cultivator and a Foundation Establishment Dharma cultivator. While tempering his body with lava sand to transform his bloodline, he can also absorb spiritual energy to nourish his flesh and blood, repair injuries, and his powerful divine soul can withstand the pain. In fact, as long as there is enough lava sand, his body cultivation advancement speed will definitely be faster than Dharma cultivation.

Body cultivation is his most fundamental trump card and also his most powerful trump card. He will do his best to walk this path.

In the following two years, he suspended his talisman studies. After all, his talisman skills had already reached the second-level proficient level, only lacking in insufficient magic power and limited by talisman materials. He couldn't see any hope for further advancement for the time being.

In addition to the never-ending Qi training, he tirelessly tempered his body, and during his rest time, he studied Physician Bai's medical inheritance.

"Boom!" On this day, as the last grain of lava sand was refined, Li Ji'an almost became a blood man, his whole body's Qi and blood almost solidified and burst out of his body.

"A full eight thousand spiritual stones worth of lava sand just to step into the threshold of the middle stage!" Slowly gathering his Qi and blood, Li Ji'an was both happy and worried.

He was happy because this efficiency was much faster than Qi training.

He was worried because the consumption was too great, and he didn't know when he would be able to get it next time.

The shopkeeper two years ago spent six years collecting that amount, and he still had to issue rewards everywhere, including Tianyuan State and Daoyuan State, before he collected those. He frankly said that it would be difficult to find so much again.

"With the current power, even if the Bloodhand Butcher releases his body protection magic shield, I should be able to break it with one punch!" After feeling it slightly, Li Ji'an's sense of security greatly increased.

Then, without hesitation, he secretly operated his medical skills, guiding the magic power of a middle-grade wood-type cultivation method that he had specifically cultivated a few years ago to repair his physical injuries.

The main cultivation method can nourish the Dantian, cause qualitative changes in the Dantian, and eventually nurture the Dao Infant to merge with the Dao.

The auxiliary cultivation method, the magic power refined can only be attached to the Dantian wall and cannot achieve the effect of nourishing the Dantian and causing qualitative changes. It can only support the release of spells.

This wood-type cultivation method is very ordinary. Li Ji'an values its healing effects that are biased towards health preservation.

However, when he cultivated the first strand of wood-type magic power, it gave him a surprise.

The five elements restrain and generate each other. Wood generates fire. Although wood-type magic power is attached to the Dantian wall and cannot cause qualitative changes in the Dantian, it has a nourishing effect on fire-type magic power.

Of course, the wood-type magic power in the middle stage of Qi training has a very weak nourishing effect on the fire-type magic power in the third level of Foundation Establishment. If Li Ji'an's divine sense was not strong, he might not have been able to detect it.

Later, he consulted Alchemist Zou, and Alchemist Zou gave him a definite answer.

The mutual generation effect of the five elements of magic power is not unfamiliar to the cultivators of this world. Some records unearthed in the ruins even show that the great powers of the ancient times tried to create cultivation methods that mainly cultivated several kinds of magic power.

But they all failed.

Many even died because of the mutual restraint of magic power, the Dantian was broken, and their bodies died and the Dao disappeared.

Moreover, in the current post-ancient era, it is already extremely difficult to cultivate one kind of magic power, and those who cultivate auxiliary cultivation methods are all like Physician Bai, who have special skills.

In addition, Li Ji'an also discovered that the Little Fire Spirit's greed for wood-type magic power is higher than that of fire-type magic power.

There is also the well-known thickness and length of wood-type magic power, which he has a more personal experience with.

He finally understood the root cause of why most talisman masters are wood-type cultivators.

After his physical injuries were recovered, Li Ji'an left the underground chamber.

While putting on his clothes, he received a message from Zhao Shuyue, informing him that she had successfully passed through the Daze Mountains and arrived in Daoyuan State, waiting for a large spiritual ship to cross the cultivation domain.

Two years ago, Bi Yun Sect thoroughly investigated the death of an inner disciple due to a second-level talisman, and finally, as expected, they found the Jiuding Chamber of Commerce.

Then, after more than a year of tug-of-war, half a year ago, the Jiuding Chamber of Commerce was expelled from Cangyun State as Tong Xiangyu wished, and then set off to cross the Daze Mountains and return to the Wanshang cultivation domain in the northwest.

Zhao Shuyue, as Tong Xiangyu's self-combed maid, eventually left with her.

Li Ji'an was not sure if he could see her again after this farewell. He privately asked Tong Yaoyao to keep her body as much as possible if Zhao Shuyue died.

He promised to take them back, so he would not break his promise.

After replying to Zhao Shuyue's message, Li Ji'an came to the courtyard and looked remotely towards the Daze Mountains in the north.

Two years after the farewell, there was no news from Duanmu Qin and the other three. The spiritual energy there was mottled, and there were sect boundaries and forbidden formations, so they could not send messages.