Longevity Begins With Zongmen Handyman

Chapter 167: The Mutated Divine Bird

Li An finished speaking.

Jiang Ruoxu and Tan Qingxue exchanged glances, seemingly with a hint of amusement in their eyes.

"But it's just a defective Yuan Ling Pill. Since Mr. Wu needs it, I'll inform my family and give it to you directly," Jiang Ruoxu said.

He was very easygoing, but also very generous.

Li An's face showed a pleasant surprise as he said, "Thank you, young master, for your help!"

"But," Jiang Ruoxu smiled and said softly, "I can't give it to you right now."

Li An was taken aback.

Jiang Ruoxu continued, "Here's the deal. Your cultivation level is not yet at the Great Perfection stage. Spend a few more years refining pills and work hard. Cooperate with Tan Shangqing to successfully hatch the divine egg."

"On the day of hatching, I will inform my family and give you a Yuan Ling Pill. In addition, I will provide you with a third-grade spiritual vein to help you break through."

Obviously, Jiang Ruoxu was not a fool and knew how to handle things.

Li An furrowed his brows slightly, but he could accept this.

"Alright, thank you, young master! Wu will do his best!" Li An said.

Jiang Ruoxu left.

"The Snake Moss you brought last time, Mr. Wu, was very useful, but there was too little of it. To ensure the successful hatching of the divine egg, we need at least ten more," Tan Qingxue smiled. "Now that Mr. Wu's residence is inconvenient, why not stay at my mansion? It will be convenient to cultivate and grow spiritual herbs in the courtyard, what do you think?"

She was very interested in Li An's cultivation and herb cultivation skills.

But Li An was cautious in his heart. "I dare not trouble you, Miss Tan. Although my current residence is small, it is barely enough. Please don't worry about it."

After saying that, he bid farewell and left.

...

He returned to his new residence.

Compared to when he was the Shangqing, his residence was much smaller now, even a bit cramped.

But Li An didn't mind.

He dug a small medicinal field in the yard, loosened the soil, weeded, and prepared the land. Then he sprinkled some spiritual herb seeds.

Li An was not in a hurry.

After all, as Jiang Ruoxu said, his current cultivation level had not yet reached the Great Perfection stage!

In fact, to some extent, he had been "buying time" in the Jiang family.

He had already reached the Great Perfection stage long ago, but when he came, he was only at the mid-stage of Foundation Building. He needed to progress in his cultivation level and dissolve the visible realm over time.

He lived a secluded life and rarely went out.

After Chen Lin took over the Xuanwu Hall, he used the same methods Li An used to deal with Feng Yuancheng to deal with Li An.

No tasks were assigned to Li An!

In this way, half a year later, he could report to the Jiang family and be expelled.

Li An was coldly treated in the Xuanwu Hall.

"Wu Keqing, I came to get something. I lent you a second-grade Qi Refining Pill before. It's time to return it, right?"

Under Chen Lin's instructions, Zhang Meng came to Li An's door to demand the "bribe" she had given him before.

Li An silently returned Zhang Meng's things.

"Wu, you are so malicious. You caused Yuan Cheng's death... I will make you pay for everything!" Zhang Meng snatched her things back, her eyes filled with undisguised killing intent. "Just you wait!"

Even Sun Jinxue came, but when she saw Li An dressed like a farmer, tending to a few spiritual herbs in the ground, she felt a strange sense of confusion.

There was a hint of complexity in her beautiful eyes. Although she had approached Li An with ulterior motives, she felt very comfortable when she was with him. Li An was gentle and confident.

If it weren't for the drastic changes, she even wanted to suggest formally becoming Dao companions with Li An...

Unfortunately, things had changed.

She turned to serve Chen Lin, and Li An was no longer the same.

"I'll think about what else you gave me..." Li An took the initiative to speak, very calmly.

"I'm not here to ask for anything." Sun Jinxue's beautiful eyes showed a hint of complexity. "I'm here to tell you that Jiang Ruoli has been found, but her dantian is destroyed and she can no longer cultivate in this lifetime."

"Now she has been brought back to the clan, but her life is not in danger."

Li An sighed softly in his heart.

He thought Jiang Ruoli could escape, but he didn't expect her to be caught by the Jiang family.

It was just a piece of news, but Li An could already see the tragic fate of this girl:

Her dantian was destroyed, so she had no future prospects. However, her talent was considered the best in the Jiang family for hundreds of years, and the Jiang family would not waste it.

They would make her bear children, continue the bloodline of the Jiang family, and extract her value.

Li An remembered what Li Hua had said before leaving...

She said she wanted to return to Dalai and never come back to the Jiang family.

She said there was not a single good person in the Jiang family.

She said she would always consider Li An as her master, the only good person she had met in the cultivation world...

...

"I understand," Li An said calmly.

"In fact, it would have been better if you had left the Jiang family earlier... Anyway, you are a talisman master and a Foundation Building cultivator. You can live a good life even if you leave the Jiang family. There is really no need to stay here," Sun Jinxue couldn't help but advise.

"Thank you," Li An replied with a smile.

Sun Jinxue sighed and turned to leave.

Li An picked up a hoe, rolled up his pants, and started tilling the soil.

Four months had passed.

In another year and a half, these dozen or so herbs would be ready for harvest.

By then, the divine egg would be full of vitality and successfully hatched, and he would also form his Gold Core!

Gold Core!

Li An has been waiting for countless years in pursuit of the Gold Core Dao. In this lifetime, he has faced numerous setbacks, especially in the past one or two years, where he has been in a low point. However, his heart has burst forth with a strong resilience!

Firm to the extreme, fearless to the extreme!

He lowers his head and tills the soil like a tireless farmer, every hoe precise and powerful.

"I still need to be cautious, to prevent Jiang Ruoxu from going back on his word..."

While cultivating the medicinal herbs, Li An secretly made some adjustments.

These medicinal herbs appear to be full of vitality, but they actually contain less life essence. As a result, the divine egg can hatch, but there will still be "root of illness" after hatching, so that Li An can continue to use the divine egg to control the Jiang family...

...

In the blink of an eye, two years have passed.

During these two years, Chen Lin repeatedly proposed to the family to expel Li An.

But these proposals mysteriously disappeared without a trace.

Chen Lin thought that Tan Qingxue was protecting Li An, which made him extremely angry. He could only let the people in the hall look at Li An with cold eyes, but Li An didn't care.

He focused on farming.

On this day, Li An finally harvested twelve medicinal herbs and brought them to the Tan Mansion.

"After waiting for so long, I finally see you, Fellow Daoist Wu. You made me wait so long!"

Tan Qingxue smiled and checked the twelve medicinal herbs. "Let's go, follow me to the Lingyuan Peak!"

Li An is most familiar with the medicinal herbs, so naturally he must participate in the most important process for future needs.

Lingyuan Peak is a vital place for the Jiang family, where various important spiritual beasts of the Jiang family are bred and hatched.

Lingyuan Peak is a beautiful mountain, with half of it cut off. A clear and cold spring flows down from the top of the peak, known as the "Lingyuan Waterfall". Around the waterfall, spiritual birds fly and spiritual beasts run, with constant howls and cries.

After receiving the news, many high-level members of the Jiang family also came. The family head, Jiang Rilan, personally arrived, and in addition, the three True Dan elders, Jiang Ridong, Jiang Rihua, and Jiang Richu, were also present.

Everyone stood in front of the Lingyuan Waterfall, and Jiang Ruoxu walked forward and rushed into the waterfall.

For many years, the divine egg has been nurtured in the waterfall!

In no time, the egg of the Azure Flame Divine Sparrow has been taken out. Under the sunlight, the bird egg, about the size of a fist, resembles a dark-colored gem.

It is the egg that Li An retrieved from the Ten Thousand Abyss years ago!

"I will extract the life essence from many medicinal herbs and inject it into the divine egg."

"At the same time, take the essence blood of the Foundation Establishment stage Azure Flame Divine Sparrow to bathe the bird egg and directly hatch it—"

Tan Qingxue solemnly spoke.

Jiang Rilan nodded and waved his hand to indicate permission.

Only then did Tan Qingxue step forward. She quickly set up several formations around the bird egg, and in each formation, she placed different liquids. After the liquids were slowly absorbed by the bird egg, she finally took out the twelve medicinal herbs from Li An!

Two False Dan elders silently stood beside Li An.

Li An's heart trembled slightly. He suddenly understood why Tan Qingxue brought him here!

If there is any problem with the medicinal herbs, Li An will be killed on the spot.

Tan Qingxue quickly performed her techniques. The twelve medicinal herbs that Li An had grown over the past two years instantly withered like they were dehydrated. Life essence flowed into the divine egg through the formations.

The shell of the divine egg changed its luster, originally dull and restrained, but now it shines brightly, radiating brilliance.

The life essence of the divine egg has received a large amount of replenishment—

"Take the essence blood and become a bird!"

Tan Qingxue spoke up.

On the shoulder of the Jiang family's patriarch, Jiang Rilan, a green bird suddenly flew out.

The bird had green feathers all over its body, a fiery red beak, and claws like burning iron. Originally the size of an eagle, it suddenly grew in size when it flew out, landing in front of Tan Qingxue. It was now three to four meters tall, with its wings spread open, spanning about twenty meters!

A third-stage Azure Flame Divine Sparrow!

The only one currently in the Jiang family.

The other one was at the Nascent Soul level and had been following a Nascent Soul stage elder in seclusion, so it couldn't be seen directly.

The Azure Flame Divine Sparrow's fiery red beak sprayed a golden flame-like blood, which Tan Qingxue caught in a jade bottle. The jade bottle was covered in runes, emitting a bright light. After a brief refinement, she poured it directly onto the green divine egg!

Sizzle!

As if being burned by fierce flames, the scorching bird blood caused the green divine egg to shake violently, as if something was about to crack out of it.

Bang—

Finally, a sound of explosion.

The divine egg cracked open, and the crack continued to extend and widen until... a young bird appeared.

The young bird was not big, looking like a newborn goose or duck in size. It was covered in red fluff, and although it was still a very weak young body, it gave off an extraordinary aura.

A fourth-stage spiritual beast cub!

"We succeeded!"

"That's great! The Jiang family will have another Foundation Establishment spiritual beast... no, a Nascent Soul level spiritual beast!"

Everyone was extremely excited.

The Azure Flame Divine Sparrow had a strong bloodline and would almost certainly reach the fourth stage in the future.

Extremely rare!

At this moment, the third-stage Azure Flame Divine Sparrow, now smaller in size, transformed into a green eagle and flew over, landing beside the young bird. It carefully sensed and suddenly let out a few calls towards the patriarch.

However, Jiang Rilan's expression changed, and he hurriedly gathered around...

"Miss Tan, take a look..."

Tan Qingxue, exhausted, was also called over and engaged in a whispered conversation.

"Although it hatched, there... is a serious underlying illness!"

Finally, Jiang Rilan regretfully spoke.

"It has been invaded by malevolent energy for too long, which has affected its bloodline. Unless there is spiritual blood for the divine bird to consume and grow, it may be able to recover in the future..."

Tan Qingxue let out a deep sigh.

Li An, on the other hand, remained calm in his heart, as he had already anticipated this.

"This bird is not ordinary... it has mutated and has some value. Find a way to obtain it."

Suddenly, the voice of Shangguan Xiaoxiao came into his mind.

Li An was slightly startled. Mutated?

"What kind of mutation?" his spiritual consciousness asked within his spiritual platform.

Shangguan Xiaoxiao said, "Previously, the upper limit for this bird was a fourth-stage spiritual beast, but now... the lower limit is the fourth stage. Do you understand?"

Li An's heartbeat instantly accelerated!

...

(End of this chapter)