Longevity Begins With Zongmen Handyman

Chapter 172: Jiang Family's Protector (Long Chapter)

On Lingyun Peak, in addition to Jiang Rilan and others who were originally guarding here, the true core elders of the family, Jiang Ridong, Jiang Richu, and others, also arrived.

The anomaly caused by the Qingyan Divine Sparrow's breakthrough to the Nascent Soul stage had alarmed the entire family. Even the Nascent Soul Ancestor himself personally paid attention to it. Who wouldn't come?

Everyone stood outside the closed-door cultivation area.

The huge stone gate slowly opened.

Everyone's gaze turned towards it, only to see a bird-like figure as tall as a person walking out. Its body was covered in green feathers that shimmered with a terrifying aura that made even the true core cultivators tremble.

"The divine bird has succeeded!"

"This... it's not just a true core, right?"

"So powerful, this aura is definitely stronger than a true core!"

Everyone exclaimed.

"This... it's not a true core, but a Gold Core!"

Jiang Rilan, who was knowledgeable and experienced, spoke up after carefully sensing it.

Gold Core!

Upon hearing this, many elders of the Jiang family were shocked, and then they became extremely delighted.

"What? Gold Core! This divine bird is too powerful, too powerful! No wonder it had such a terrifying anomaly!"

"The Gold Core divine bird is on the verge of reaching the Nascent Soul stage. Our Jiang family will prosper, prosper!"

"Blessings upon the Jiang family!"

They all shouted excitedly.

"Hmm, something's not right..."

But then, Jiang Rilan's eyebrows suddenly furrowed.

Behind the divine bird, another figure had also walked out.

Li An!

"Wu Qin, you're not dead... No, you've even formed your Core?!"

Jiang Rilan was shocked.

Everyone present was also filled with doubt.

"Shouqing Wu Qin, shouldn't he be dead..."

"He was the food for the divine bird, how is he still alive, and he even became a true core cultivator?"

"Be careful, something is definitely wrong!"

Many important figures of the Jiang family were shocked. Jiang Rilan's face turned dark, and he waved his hand, activating the surrounding mountain protection formation, completely sealing off the area.

First, control Li An!

"Jiang Family Master,"

Li An, on the other hand, remained calm as he walked out and looked at Jiang Rilan. "Perhaps what you should be concerned about now is not me, but Young Master Luo Xu."

"Is he alright?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Rilan's expression changed even more. He had already sensed that something was wrong earlier because although the Taiyi Phase Formation had been operating all along, it seemed that Jiang Ruoxu had not succeeded...

He quickly sent someone to activate the nearby Taiyi Phase Formation.

But the formation unexpectedly backfired, instantly killing two false core cultivators.

"There's been a change!"

"What's going on?"

Everyone looked over.

In the Taiyi Phase Formation, a woman in white clothes had already flown up. It was none other than Tan Qingxue.

She stared at Li An, who had come out of seclusion, and said in a deep voice, "You dare to take my fruit! You stole the divine bird that belongs to me!"

Li An ignored her and instead turned to the Jiang family members. "She is the mastermind behind all this. You have all been deceived. In order to seize the divine bird, she has most likely already killed Jiang Ruoxu—"

Jiang Rilan's scalp tingled, and his eyelids twitched. He had a premonition that Jiang Ruoxu might be in grave danger, and his anger at being manipulated burned within him. He shouted,

"Capture her!"

"No one can escape!"

The formation was activated, and it attacked Tan Qingxue.

At the same time, from a peak of the Jiang family, a terrifying spiritual force hand reached across dozens of miles and directly grabbed towards Tan Qingxue!

The Nascent Soul expert made a move!

Life and death hung in the balance, but Tan Qingxue still stared at Li An and said, "I will avenge this grudge one day!"

As soon as her words fell, her figure suddenly dissipated in mid-air.

There was only a flash of light.

When the power of the layers of formations on Lingyun Peak descended, and the Nascent Soul's giant hand came crashing down, there was a loud explosion in the air. The air seemed to boil, and shockwaves spread, causing even the true core cultivators to feel the gust of wind and involuntarily take a few steps back.

"A teleportation array!"

"It's actually a teleportation array!"

"Who is this Tan Xue? She..."

The group of indignant Jiang family experts were now all looking at each other, feeling an inexplicable chill and a sense of despair.

Teleportation arrays were too high-end.

Even though the Jiang family was a Nascent Soul family, they had no access to such things. They only had some understanding of it.

But Tan Qingxue actually had some control over it...

This meant that Tan Qingxue's background might be very significant.

Even the Nascent Soul expert who made a move had no intention of pursuing her and remained silent for a long time.

Before the mountain cave.

Li An was slightly surprised. He learned from Shangguan Xiaoxiao that Tan Xue's cultivation level was not low... but he didn't expect it to be this high?

"Who is stronger, you or her?" Li An couldn't help but ask in his mind.

Having disrupted Tan Qingxue's plan to capture the bird and made a vow for future revenge, Li An still felt a bit uneasy...

The other party is too strong!

"Are you stupid? How can you compare her level with mine?!" Shangguan Xiaoxiao was angry in her spiritual consciousness, as if she was being looked down upon. "She's just a lowly person who didn't even have the qualifications to serve me tea in the spirit realm!"

Li An: "And now?"

Shangguan Xiaoxiao: "..."

...

Jiang Rilan and the others had changing expressions and countless thoughts.

When they regained their senses, Jiang Rilan quickly walked to the Taiyi Xiangcong Formation.

"Jiang Ruoxu!"

A cry of sorrow instantly resounded.

He picked up Jiang Ruoxu's lifeless body, and for a moment, tears flowed from his old eyes, gritting his teeth. "Tan Xue!!"

The elders all felt heavy-hearted at the sight.

Jiang Ruoxu was one of the three core members of the Jiang family and the last surviving talent. He had already become a junior family head and was being groomed as the successor. But now...

"Ah..."

"I didn't expect our Jiang family to be manipulated like this!"

They sighed helplessly.

"And this Wu Qin!"

An elder spoke coldly, "He deserves to die too!"

"Yes, this person must have something suspicious about him. The young master's death might be related to him!"

"Kill him!"

Everyone reacted and stared at Li An, their killing intent boiling.

Li An had no teleportation formation, and there were more than a dozen experts at the true pill and false pill levels in front of him. There were also multiple third and fourth stage formations blocking his way, and a Nascent Soul old monster lurking in the shadows...

He couldn't escape.

However, Li An remained calm and just patted the back of the divine bird.

The green divine bird suddenly spread its wings and protected Li An behind it. Its pair of fiery red beaks opened, spewing out a green flame, warning everyone!

"Divine bird, you..."

"How can you, as a bird of the Jiang family, assist an outsider?!"

"Have you gone mad..."

The faces of many Jiang elders changed slightly, and for a moment, they didn't dare to move forward. The many formations that were eager to attack also stopped.

"Jiang Ruoxu's death has nothing to do with me!"

Li An spoke loudly, "He was killed by someone else, and the Taiyi Xiangcong Formation lost its master. In turn, it saved me and allowed me to follow the divine bird, breaking through the barrier of alchemy. Moreover, I inexplicably became the master of the divine bird..."

"I have worked hard for the Jiang family, but you all want to strangle me here. If it weren't for the heavens having eyes, I, Wu Qin, would have died on the spot!"

"If you want to fight, I, Wu Qin, will fight to the death with the divine bird. But before I die, I will take one or two true pill cultivators down with me!"

His words were filled with a chilling resolve, and his own true pill aura was released without any concealment!

The crowd was both shocked and furious at his words.

"What... our Jiang family's divine bird was actually obtained by him?!"

"A Gold Core divine bird, used as his wedding dress. This... is unbearable, unbearable! Kill him!"

"The young master is dead, and the divine bird has changed owners. Damn it!"

The entire Jiang family was filled with anger.

Although the death of the young master was serious, it was not a devastating blow to a large clan like the Jiang family. They could simply choose another successor. The Jiang family had plenty of talented individuals, and with enough resources, they could cultivate a qualified family head.

But the Qingyan Divine Sparrow held an unparalleled position in the Jiang family. It was the only fourth-stage spiritual beast controlled by the Jiang family.

If something were to happen to this Qingyan Divine Sparrow, the Jiang family's control over the Qingyan Divine Sparrow would be lost, and the Jiang family would undoubtedly decline. Even if they didn't directly perish, they would plummet.

This was unbearable.

Moreover, who was Wu Qin? To the Jiang family, he was just an ant, yet he dared to seize the divine bird...

"I want you dead!"

"You will undoubtedly die!"

The crowd was stirred up!

Li An became nervous, but he still remained calm and took out dozens of third-stage talismans, holding them in his hand!

Preparing for battle.

The third-stage formation on Lingyun Peak slowly activated, ready to attack Li An.

"Stop--"

But at this moment, an old voice instantly resounded.

In an instant, the formation on Lingyun Peak came to a halt, and an inexplicable aura and pressure swept across the entire peak. Many true pill and false pill elders of the Jiang family had their faces greatly changed.

A ray of light flew up from a mountain peak dozens of miles away in the blink of an eye. On Lingyun Peak, an old man had already appeared.

He wore a gray robe and had extremely long hair and beard, as if he hadn't left seclusion for many years.

On his shoulder stood a dark green bird, about the size of a falcon, with extremely sharp eyes that made people dare not meet its gaze.

"Elder Qingcang!"

"Greetings, Elder Qing Cang!"

The people around all had their faces change drastically and hurriedly paid their respects.

Li An's heart also trembled. Jiang Shi Elder, Jiang Qing Cang.

This person was the strongest among the three Nascent Soul Elders of the Jiang family, wielding the fourth-level Blue Flame Divine Sparrow.

His personal appearance was enough to show the importance attached to this matter.

Li An also slightly bowed, showing respect for the Nascent Soul cultivation level, but more importantly, it was a statement.

It indicated that he was not determined to fight to the death, and there was still room for reconciliation.

"Reporting to the Elder, this person has plotted and schemed, intending to seize our Jiang family's divine bird. He deserves to be punished..."

Although Jiang Ri Lan was immersed in grief over Jiang Ruo Xu's death, he still managed to report.

"Punished?"

Jiang Qing Cang's voice was cold as ice. "Don't let hatred blind your eyes."

"As the family head, you should consider the overall situation..."

These words were like thunder, making Jiang Ri Lan suddenly startled. He was not an ordinary person. Just a few words had already made him suddenly enlightened, nodding repeatedly. "Elder's teachings are right. I was confused..."

After speaking, he gave the order, "Disband the formation!"

The several cultivators controlling the Ling Yun Peak killing formation all received the order to calm the formation.

Li An also let out a long sigh of relief.

This gamble was still successful.

...

"How about it? Can you accept these conditions?"

After a long time.

Inside the Jiang family hall, Jiang Qing Cang, sitting at the head, looked calmly at Li An.

Even the family head, Jiang Ri Lan, could only sit beside him, not saying a word, but his heart was quite complicated.

The conditions Elder Qing Cang gave to Wu Qin...

Could be considered very generous!

Not killing Wu Qin was one thing.

Making him an elder and guardian of the Jiang family, with the same treatment as the Jiang family's true core elders.

Including: allowing Li An to have his own property within the Jiang family. If Li An can marry a daughter of the Jiang family, his descendants can also compete for the Jiang family's core seeds and possibly become the family head...

Complete preferential treatment!

Li An frowned slightly, pondering. "What does Wu need to give in return?"

"The treatment is the same as the Jiang family's elders, so the responsibilities are naturally the same. Guarding the Jiang family, sharing weal and woe."

Jiang Qing Cang said calmly, "In addition, the Blue Flame Divine Sparrow belongs to you, but it also belongs to the Jiang family. The offspring bred by the divine bird also belong to the Jiang family!"

Everything was clear.

In fact, the conditions Jiang Qing Cang gave were the same thing: to make Li An, an outsider, truly become a member of the Jiang family.

Not killing Li An, but absorbing him!

After all, Li An's cultivation level was already extraordinary, a true Nascent Soul cultivator, plus controlling a Gold Core divine bird... enough to gain the Jiang family's attention.

Of course, the divine bird was the most valued.

Li An pondered for a long time.

In fact, he had no choice at all.

This was the goodwill released by the Jiang family, and it was also Li An's only choice. Refusing?

That would be like a fish dying in a net that couldn't be broken.

"I agree, but I also have a request..."

Li An slowly spoke.

"Speak."

Li An said, "The marriage between Jiang Ruo Li and Jiang Ruo Xu ends here. I will continue to accept her as my disciple... and Er Niu."

"If I can cure her, she will become the Jiang family's young master. This is what she deserves!"

Jiang Ri Lan's descendants had just suffered a loss, and Li An's unreasonable request made him instantly angry. Even though Jiang Ruo Xu had died, there were still people among his descendants who could take over as the young master. Li An's request was to interfere in the Jiang family's power feast?

But Jiang Qing Cang nodded slightly. "Alright, Ri Lan, you have heard Wu Guardian's request. You handle it."

Jiang Ri Lan's face looked slightly unpleasant. "Yes, Elder."

"That's it then. Wu Guardian, when do you think it would be more appropriate for the divine bird to breed?"

Jiang Qing Cang looked calmly at Li An.

Li An pondered, "The divine bird has just formed its core, and its cultivation is unstable. I think... it would be more secure to wait until it reaches the later stage of the core formation phase."

"Alright, that's settled."

Jiang Qing Cang said, "I still need to go into seclusion. The rest of the matters will be handled by Wu Guardian and Ri Lan."

After speaking, he got up and left.

Li An and Jiang Ri Lan also got up to respectfully see him off.

"Congratulations, Wu Guardian, for becoming the first non-family elder in the history of our Jiang family..."

Jiang Ri Lan showed a fake smile and congratulated Li An.

"Thank you for your kind words, family head... Please pay attention to the matter of Ruo Li and Er Niu."

"That goes without saying. By the way, our family's elders each have their own mountain peak for cultivation. How about Wu Guardian going to Nan Ling Peak?"

Nan Ling Peak was one of the core areas of the Jiang family. Before this, it was owned by Elder Jiang Ri Bai.

"Alright!"

Li An agreed.

He knew that Jiang arranged for him to be stationed at Nanling Peak, definitely for constant surveillance, but it didn't matter. As long as he stabilized the current situation and patiently planned for the future, he would find an opportunity to leave, no rush.

...

Following Jiang Rilan's orders, Nanling Peak was quickly prepared for Li An's residence.

At the same time, Jiang informed the Jiang family, declaring Li An's status.

This caused a shock throughout the entire Jiang family. It was the first time an outsider became a guardian elder. There were some dissenting voices within the Jiang family, but when they learned that it was personally decided by Elder Jiang Qingcang, no one dared to speak out.

...

A few days later.

"Ancestor, everything has been taken care of."

Jiang Rilan, the family head, came to report to the ancestor Jiang Qingcang at his secluded place.

"Mm."

Jiang Qingcang remained indifferent.

"Ancestor, Wu Qin is a deep and ambitious person. After becoming a guardian, he actually wants to interfere with the cultivation of our future family head. We cannot tolerate him..."

Jiang Rilan carefully reported.

In truth, he didn't care about Li An's other requests.

But when Li An proposed to cure Jiang Ruoli and make her the future family head... that touched his core interests.

Even if Jiang Ruoxu died, there were other candidates from their lineage to become the young master.

But Jiang Qingcang agreed to Li An's request...

"One must consider the bigger picture," Jiang Qingcang said, "The more he interferes with the core power of our Jiang family, the better..."

"Because of this, he will gradually become a true member of our Jiang family."

Jiang Rilan didn't understand.

"If Jiang Ruoli truly becomes the future family head, perhaps he can truly be of use to our Jiang family, isn't that right?"

In Jiang Qingcang's view, it didn't really matter who became the family head.

Li An's request actually played into his hands.

If Li An had no desires or ambitions, then he would truly be cautious. But since Li An wanted to participate in the power struggle of the Jiang family, it was an opportunity to gradually guide him into the Jiang family system.

"I understand what you're thinking," Jiang Qingcang coldly glanced at Jiang Rilan, "However, I allow you to secretly cultivate your own lineage as candidates for the young master."

Jiang Rilan was somewhat confused.

"I agreed to Wu Qin's request to cultivate Jiang Ruoli just to give him a hope, to give him something to strive for, so that he won't easily develop other ideas..."

"But an outsider is still an outsider. When the divine bird successfully breeds, that will be the time to kill him..."

Jiang Qingcang's words were icy.

Jiang Rilan suddenly realized!

He was overjoyed. This meant that the day the divine bird successfully bred would be the day Li An died!

After all, the Jiang family's business was not something an outsider could easily participate in.

And with the speed of the divine bird's growth, successful breeding would probably take several decades... plenty of time to wait.

"Wise ancestor!"

He respectfully said a few words and then left.

...

In the blink of an eye, Li An had been at Nanling Peak for ten days.

During this time, he had been extremely well-treated. Jiang had done a good job, just as Jiang Qingcang had said. There was no difference in treatment between him and other true pill cultivators, and he was even given slightly better treatment.

Nanling Peak had a third-grade spiritual vein for cultivation, with over three hundred servants and maidservants specifically serving him as the "peak master."

The monthly supply of pills, spirit stones, resources, etc., was also very generous.

Generally speaking, a true pill cultivator needed around three hundred low-grade spirit stones for daily cultivation. Li An, as a Gold Core cultivator, and with a stronger Gold Core than usual, had a daily consumption of up to one thousand low-grade spirit stones!

This amount was terrifying.

A Foundation Building cultivator with some skills would be considered lucky to have an income of one thousand low-grade spirit stones in a month.

A true pill cultivator's daily consumption would take a Foundation Building cultivator a month of hard work to accumulate.

And this was just the normal daily consumption.

If the cultivation technique was more unique, like Li An's Golden Treasury Art... it would require even more.

Without thirty to fifty thousand low-grade spirit stones a month, it would be impossible to sustain!

Not to mention the extremely expensive spiritual medicines and materials that true cultivators needed.

That was why, after reaching the true pill stage, true cultivators generally established their own forces or sects.

To support their own cultivation.

Even the likes of White Tiger True Person, who was a wandering cultivator, had established White Tiger City to exploit the lower-level cultivators and obtain cultivation resources.

True cultivators who were wandering cultivators were very rare!

Staying in the Jiang family, at least for now, seemed to be the right decision. He could use the resources of the Jiang family to consolidate his own cultivation...

"Peak Master, Miss Ruoli and Young Master Erniu have come to pay their respects!"

A beautiful maid came to report.

...

(End of this chapter)