Longevity Begins With Zongmen Handyman

Chapter 174: Rising Up in Counterattack (Long Chapter)

Facing Li An's proactive proposal, the head of the family, Jiang Rilan, pondered for a moment and then smiled, saying, "The fact that Wu Hu Fa has such intentions shows his loyalty to our Jiang family. However, the matter of conquering the Li Dynasty is pressing, and our family really cannot do without Wu Hu Fa..."

Not at ease!

Over the years, although Li An had "exerted great efforts" to cultivate and treat Jiang Ruoli, and had also acquired many industries in the Jiang family, he had become deeply rooted in the Jiang family's image, but...

He was still an outsider.

Precautions were necessary.

If Li An were to leave and never return, where would the Jiang family find the Divine Bird?

"Not hiding it from the head of the family, among the goods I have this time, there are many important treasures. Moreover, if Jiang Ribai is not killed, my industries in the future will probably be in a state of unrest..."

Li An continued, "However, after I leave, the Divine Bird is currently in seclusion and may need the head of the family to take care of it..."

Jiang Rilan's heart stirred. Did this mean that Li An would not bring the Divine Bird with him when he left?

Then it didn't matter!

The Jiang family had never cared about Li An.

After thinking for a moment, he reluctantly said, "Alright, since Wu Hu Fa is determined to go and kill Jiang Ribai, I won't stop you. Whatever Wu Hu Fa needs, just tell me!"

Li An nodded and immediately made many requests, taking the opportunity to ask Jiang Rilan for two third-grade magical artifacts, several third-grade elixirs, and some medium-grade spirit stones.

After all, no matter what, he was doing things for the Jiang family, and he couldn't let the wool go unshorn.

After returning to Nanling Peak, Li An made some arrangements and sent the Divine Bird into the seclusion area of Nanling Peak.

Only then was he able to leave the Jiang family.

...

Leaving the Jiang family's Xingluo Mountain, Li An felt quite emotional.

It had been decades since he left the Li Dynasty and entered the Jiang family!

Now he was already a Gold Core True Immortal, far surpassing his past self. Looking at the entire Yan Kingdom, he could also be considered a prominent figure, with enough strength to dominate a region.

He wanted to establish a cultivation city or a force, a family, etc. It was not a difficult task.

In fact, Li An had considered this. After all, the cultivation of a Gold Core cultivator was truly resource-intensive. Without the foundation of industries and the support of forces, just the tens of thousands of low-grade spirit stones consumed every month were enough to make him worry.

And with the Jiang family on the verge of collapse, where should Li An go?

"First find a place to settle down..."

Thinking it over, Li An buried this thought in his heart and temporarily stopped considering it.

Even if he really needed to establish a force to support himself, he couldn't do it in the Yan Kingdom, in a place close to the Li Dynasty.

He had to escape as far as possible.

...

Instead of leaving directly, Li An first resided in Beixing City at the foot of Xingluo Mountain for a long time, and then mixed into a supply caravan of one of his own industries and set off together.

Avoiding attention!

This was not to guard against the Jiang family, but to guard against Tan Qingxue.

Who knew if that woman was still keeping an eye on the Jiang family?

After all, Li An had offended her to death. Before leaving, she had left a vow to seek revenge in the future. Even though Li An had been deeply in love with her, that bit of affection probably couldn't compare to the huge benefits on the path of cultivation.

Li An had carefully considered that although the things on her were extraordinary, her current strength should still be below Nascent Soul.

Otherwise, she wouldn't need to escape, she could directly sweep the entire Jiang family. What Divine Bird wouldn't be hers?

From this point of view, Li An wasn't so afraid of her. If she really appeared, he should be able to handle it.

But it would be best not to be discovered by the other party. Be cautious and avoid overturning the boat in the gutter.

Even though Li An was now a Gold Core cultivator, he absolutely couldn't be arrogant and complacent, so as not to capsize in the gutter.

After traveling with the caravan for a long time, it was estimated that they had left the Jiang family's sight, and Li An found an opportunity to leave. In a secluded forest where no one was around, he used his demonic technique to change his appearance, conceal his aura, and then quickly left.

Flying directly in the air, the radiance of a true pill cultivator streaked across the sky, with the sound of wind whistling in his ears.

A Gold Core cultivator could travel thousands of miles in a day!

...

Half a month later.

Li An had traveled a distance of one hundred thousand li and arrived in another area of Xiling Yuanzhou.

In fact, even for a Foundation Establishment cultivator, it would not be so easy to fly a distance of one hundred thousand li, especially for someone like Li An in the early Foundation Establishment stage. Generally, they wouldn't embark on long journeys.

Flying consumed spiritual power intensely.

But Li An's spiritual power was constantly replenished, and his Gold Core power far surpassed the ordinary. So it was very smooth.

Moreover, along the way, Li An also inspected many countries and cities, analyzing the situation.

The main purpose of his trip was to find a safe place for cultivation. As for where to choose, it would depend on the actual situation.

But he didn't gain much along the way.

In Li An's opinion, since Shangguan Shengxian was expanding his influence, these countries and cultivation forces probably didn't have the ability to resist.

"Tiansha Mountain Range!"

In front, a vast mountain range appeared before their eyes.

Just being in this area gives one a sense of chaos.

The spiritual energy in the air is chaotic and mixed, faintly carrying a sense of malevolence!

The Tiansha Mountain Range stretches endlessly, supposedly connecting to the old territory of the Yao Clan. However, when it comes to the old territory of the Yao Clan, it is a blank space on all the maps known to Li An.

Very few human cultivators can venture deep into this mountain range.

This mountain range is extremely dangerous. The chaotic spiritual energy is not suitable for cultivation, and it is connected to the old territory of the Yao Clan. Although the Yao Clan has been dormant for many years, no force dares to come here and establish a cultivation lineage.

It is precisely because of this that this place has become a true vacuum zone!

This is also a key alternative location for Li An.

Firstly, it is the farthest from the major forces, and Shengxian from the Shangguan family will not reach this place.

Secondly, compared to the cities and nations formed by humans, the resources here are not occupied by powerful forces, so there may be some opportunities.

Of course, there are also dangers.

After all, if Li An wants to find a suitable place for cultivation outside, it is almost certain that he must repeat the process of entering the Jiang family and still not be trusted.

Places with good spiritual veins are all occupied by others!

In addition, there is a third benefit. The malevolent energy here is extremely harmful to ordinary cultivators, but for Li An, who cultivates demonic techniques, it is an excellent source. Demonic and malevolent energies are connected, and he can absorb the malevolent energy and transform it into demonic energy.

But this is only a preliminary consideration, and Li An is not sure. If this place is really too dangerous, then forget it...

Life is more important.

Li An pondered how to enter.

His goal is the "Tiansha City" within the Tiansha Mountain Range.

Tiansha City is a city built by cultivators hidden in the Tiansha Mountain Range. Most of the outside world's understanding of the Tiansha Mountain Range comes from this city.

After all, where there are people, there can be benefits, and business can be done. The cultivators in the Tiansha Mountain Range also have a demand for trade with the outside world, and that's how Tiansha City came into being.

But entering the Tiansha Mountain Range is not easy, as the road in the middle is very dangerous.

"Excuse me, Fellow Daoist!"

While Li An was lost in thought, a group of people and horses suddenly approached from a distance. The leader of the group greeted Li An.

This group of people and horses were escorting supplies, and the elderly man leading them had a false Dan cultivation. He walked up to Li An and smiled, cupping his hands in greeting, "Fellow Daoist, are you heading to Tiansha City?"

Li An didn't answer, asking, "And you are?"

"I am Song Chao from the Song family in the Tianling City of the Moon Kingdom. I have been entrusted by my family to escort a batch of supplies to Tiansha City."

The old man introduced himself, "Fellow Daoist, are you also going to Tiansha City? Why not join us?"

"The road to Tiansha Mountain is rugged and treacherous, with many fierce and evil spirit beasts roaming the mountains and wilderness. Even third-level fierce beasts often appear. It would be very dangerous for a lone person."

Upon hearing this, Li An shook his head and said, "Thank you, but I am not planning to go to Tiansha City."

Seeing his cold rejection, Song Chao didn't say much and simply nodded, gestured with his hand, and left with his people.

Observing this, Li An pondered for a moment and quickly caught up, saying, "Fellow Daoist..."

"What's the matter? Have you changed your mind, Fellow Daoist?" Song Chao smiled.

"Yes, I have changed my mind," Li An smiled, "I will accompany you to Tiansha City. Thank you."

Song Chao nodded, "That's great! To be honest, Fellow Daoist, the reason I invited you is because I believe that safety is in numbers. The journey to Tiansha City is extremely difficult, with powerful calamity cultivators, mountain bandits, and fierce beasts. Each trip is full of uncertainty and danger..."

As he sighed, suddenly he felt something and his face changed. He saw a fire python suddenly burst forth, attacking him.

At the same time, his team was hit by a third-level Qi Burst Talisman.

"You..." Song Chao desperately defended against the fire python talisman, the light of his magic treasure shining. However, at the same time, Li An's two flying swords had already been slashed out.

Song Chao managed to block the attack of the fire python talisman, but he couldn't withstand the cold air of the ice swords. Frost condensed on his body, and the black poison sword fell.

Clang!

A metallic collision sound rang out. The black poison sword did not penetrate, as Song Chao had a third-level protective magic treasure!

Meanwhile, Li An had already struck with a palm - the Three Elements Slash, severing the opponent's elemental body!

A wave of spiritual power seemed to transform into a forty-meter-long giant blade, slashing down with a loud crash. The old man tried his best to resist, but his clothes, including the third-level protective armor, were all shattered by Li An's strike.

Bang!

Song Chao was directly cut in half by Li An.

"Ah..."

Song Chao fell to the ground, his face filled with horror and screaming in agony.

The dozen or so people he brought with him were also killed or seriously injured by Li An's third-level Qi Burst Talisman.

"You, you calamity cultivator... How dare you!"

Song Chao spoke in fear, his intestines spilling out everywhere. Seeing Li An approaching, he instinctively tried to escape by propping himself up with his hands.

Li An kicked him down to the ground with one foot.

"I'm being robbed?"

Li An sneered, "You guys didn't do a good job this time. Don't be so foolish in your next life."

After speaking, he directly activated his demonic power and turned Song Chaozhong into a puppet.

He needed to obtain Song Chaozhong's memories!

"No... you, you... hehe..."

Song Chaozhong trembled all over, but in the end, he didn't move, and soon his eyes became numb and hollow.

Li An pondered for a moment, and after obtaining the desired memories, he killed the puppet with a single slash.

Turning around, he turned the remaining severely injured cultivators into puppets one by one, searching their memories and comparing them with Song Chaozhong's to avoid missing important information.

And then he killed them all.

"They really are a group of robbers," Li An's judgment was correct.

When Song Chaozhong came to find him, he was already on guard and sensed the evil aura emanating from Song Chaozhong and the others.

In fact, they were also quite skilled, obviously experienced, and used something to conceal their aura. Ordinary cultivators wouldn't be able to sense it, but they couldn't escape Li An's keen perception through his demonic power and the Immortal Cultivation Technique.

How could people from ordinary sects and families have such a heavy evil aura?

He refused, and Song Chaozhong turned and left. At that time, Li An had two judgments:

First, Song Chaozhong and the others gave up on him out of caution.

Second, even if they were ordinary people, if they really wanted to enter Tiansha City, they would most likely secretly follow them and search for a way in. Song Chaozhong and the others would then lead the followers into an ambush.

Regardless of Song Chaozhong and the others' intentions, it showed that they were just decoys!

The ambushers were still behind.

So, since that was the case, Li An directly devoured the decoys!

After all, he had demonic power and could directly obtain the information he wanted.

Song Chaozhong and the others never expected that Li An would be so ruthless, directly launching an attack and killing them.

After searching through the memories of Song Chaozhong and the others, Li An's thoughts were confirmed.

This fake pill cultivator's real name was Chen Cai. The real "Song Chaozhong" had already been killed by them, and then Chen Cai pretended to be Song Chaozhong to search for targets.

This group of robbers specialized in ambushing and robbing people on the way to Tiansha City, with two true pill cultivators as their leaders!

Chen Cai's main responsibility was to investigate and lead the way, luring people into the ambush.

"Tiansha City is truly lawless..." Li An couldn't help but sigh. The Heavenly Spirit City of the Moon Kingdom was only a few thousand miles away from Tiansha City, and the Song family was also a major family in Heavenly Spirit City, but the people they sent were directly intercepted.

And this group of bandits is full of evil and has been for a long time. This kind of thing is common in Tiansha City.

Li An quickly cleared the battlefield, destroyed the evidence, and conveniently collected the storage bags of these people.

The spiritual stones and all the good supplies added up to about 110,000 low-grade spiritual stones!

110,000 low-grade spiritual stones is equivalent to 1,100 middle-grade spiritual stones.

Enough to cover Li An's expenses for a month.

Li An put all of these into his "storage ring".

This storage ring is a second-grade spatial artifact that he obtained from the Jiang family after becoming an elder. It has a space that is as big as seven or eight rooms, far superior to a storage bag.

Although it is only second-grade, it is still very precious because it involves space. Ordinary second-grade refiners cannot refine it, and its price is similar to that of a third-grade artifact.

Usually, only true human-level cultivators have the qualification to wear this kind of storage ring.

In order to conceal his identity, Li An hid the storage ring in his chest and hung a few storage bags around his waist, containing some unimportant things.

Then, Li An began to enter this mountain forest.

There are still two days of travel from the outside to Tiansha City.

There are many dangerous places along the way, where the group of bandits have set up ambushes. If the incoming person is powerful, they will not move, but if the incoming person is slightly weaker, they are destined to be eaten by them.

Facing two true pill cultivators, Li An is not afraid, but he still doesn't want to waste resources and energy. Besides, who knows if these two true pill cultivators have any hidden strength?

If he can avoid fighting, he will avoid it!

Stability comes first.

...

Based on the memories of Chen Cai and other bandits, Li An avoided dangerous places along the way and spent a full five days before finally crossing the mountains and seeing the Tiansha City surrounded by mountains.

This famous chaotic city doesn't even have city walls. Many buildings are concentrated together, mostly rough in style and built with huge stones.

"No wonder no force can establish a foothold here..."

Li An couldn't help but shudder. Even with the memories of Chen Cai, a cunning old fox, he still encountered many dangers during these five days.

He narrowly avoided two encounters with third-grade fierce beasts!

Fortunately, he used the technique of concealing his breath, and he managed to avoid them.

He couldn't help but start to doubt if anyone could really survive in the Tiansha Mountains.

He walked into the Tiansha City.

What made Li An slightly relieved was that the order in the city was much better. After all, a trading environment is beneficial to everyone. Several experts in the Tiansha Mountains have established rules. If you kill or rob in the city, you won't be able to stay in the Tiansha Mountains either.

Because of this, many forces from the outside world have also set up branches here, so the overall appearance of the city is similar to the outside world.

Jiangshi received news from Jiang Ribai that the "Moon Spirit Sect" of the Moon Kingdom is located here.

In normal circumstances, Li An should have gone to the shop of the Moon Spirit Sect to inquire about Jiang Ribai's situation, but Li An did not do so.

Firstly, Li An didn't know the details of that shop. What if they were collaborating with Jiang Ribai and deliberately waiting for Jiangshi's people to come, and then kill them and take the treasure?

Secondly, Li An wasn't really here to find Jiang Ribai. Jiang Ribai's life or death had nothing to do with him.

Finding out the information and understanding the rules here was the most important thing.

Li An wandered around the city for a day, but the information he obtained was quite basic.

After much thought, participating in a small-scale trading event at the True Dan level would probably provide the most useful information.

...

Li An's appearance had already changed to that of a middle-aged man. According to Chen Cai's memory, he walked through the area and arrived in front of a huge stone temple.

This stone temple had no one stationed there, but it was a trading point!

Generally, only True Dan cultivators could come here to trade.

Li An entered and waited silently. In the evening, a few people finally entered this place.

A burly man with a beard, exuding a strong aura without any concealment.

An old man with thief-like eyebrows and rat-like eyes, his peach blossom eyes slightly red, seemingly always wearing a faint smile at the corners of his mouth.

And a middle-aged man in a purple robe, with a dignified appearance.

All three of them were True Dan experts!

"A new Fellow Daoist has arrived," the old man with peach blossom eyes glanced at Li An, smiled slightly, and didn't say anything.

The others were still waiting.

Finally, a beautiful woman wearing a black veil and a black dress walked into the stone temple, and the trading officially began.

"Let me go first, Lady She. Have you refined the Clear Evil Pill? I can't wait any longer!"

The bearded man spoke directly, staring at the woman in the black dress.

The woman in the black dress chuckled, "Rest assured, everyone will have it this time... Hmm, this new Fellow Daoist, you didn't come last time, so there won't be any extras for you."

Li An clasped his hands, "No need, thank you."

But his heart slightly trembled. It seemed that these people were all particularly fond of the Clear Evil Pill.

The Clear Evil Pill could cleanse the accumulated evil energy in a cultivator's body.

These people should have been living here for a long time, so they needed to regularly cleanse their evil energy?

That was Li An's speculation.

Everyone traded one after another, and soon it was Li An's turn.

"I have a Grade Three Rejuvenation Pill and a Third Rank Talisman, but I seek information in return."

Li An said, "Where can I find an unowned Third Rank Spiritual Vein?"

Upon hearing this, everyone fell into contemplation.

Finding an unowned Third Rank Spiritual Vein?

It seemed that he was a newcomer...

"The search for a Third Rank Spiritual Vein is extremely difficult, but I do know of one place, hehe..."

The old man with peach blossom eyes spoke, transmitting his voice secretly, and told Li An a location.

Li An nodded and said, "Fellow Daoist, can you make a solemn vow to prove that this information is not false?"

The old man with peach blossom eyes smiled and immediately made a solemn vow in front of everyone.

Seeing this, the others also sent secret messages to Li An.

Li An knew deep down that these locations should be real, but there must be some problem!

However, these people didn't say anything.

Li An fulfilled his promises one by one. The Grade Three Rejuvenation Pill was obtained from Jiangshi, and he had no shortage of Third Rank Talismans, so he gave them away directly.

Soon, the trading event dispersed.

Li An got up and left.

Not far from the stone temple, he noticed that the "Lady She" had been following him.

"Fellow Daoist She?"

Li An took the initiative to speak.

Lady She smiled, "Fellow Daoist, you are new to the Tian Sha Mountain Range, don't you know that you have entered a dangerous situation?"

Li An said, "Please enlighten me, Fellow Daoist She."

Lady She said, "The locations they told you about, such as the Sha Yue Valley, Zi Lang Peak, and Tie Sha Tan, are indeed places with unowned Third Rank Spiritual Veins, but you won't be able to use them. Your pills and talismans are all useless."

Lady She smiled charmingly, "I can tell you the way to get what you want."

Li An asked, "What does Fellow Daoist She want?"

...

(End of this chapter)