Time flies.

In the blink of an eye, Li An has been in closed-door cultivation on Heroic Sword Peak for fifty years!

This year, his aura surged, and his realm finally crossed into the late stage of Void Refining.

In fact, Li An could have broken through twenty years ago.

The reason he waited thirty more years was purely self-restraint.

The stronger the foundation, the greater the cultivation, and the more likely one is to attract a stronger thunder tribulation during Harmonization Dao.

Thunder tribulation is crucial for cultivating the Life Nourishing Immortal Skill; only through its tempering can the Life Seed exhibit extraordinary effects!

"The strange species secretly nurturing my Life Seed, the increase in my mysterious cultivation, in some way, also enhanced my Immortal Dao cultivation..."

Now, as he begins to cultivate the Immortal Dao anew, Li An discovers the mysterious connection between the strange species and the Life Seed.

Though the paths of mystery and the Immortal Dao are utterly different, they validate each other, providing many insights.

Even though he has broken through to the late stage of Void Refining, his insights have not ceased, and there is still room for growth.

"Reporting to Uncle Li, the disciples of Evergreen Peak have come again to invite you back, saying the Peak Master has important matters to arrange. Should we see them, or not?"

Outside the cave, two disciples stood at attention, one of them reporting to Li An.

As soon as Li An went into seclusion, Song Qingsong had already sent his senior disciple, Song Wujing, to invite Li An back to Evergreen Peak, but Xiang Yuntian sent him back.

Since then, Evergreen Peak has periodically sent people, starting with courteous invitations to feasts supposedly held by the Peak Master to welcome Elder Li An, later escalating to urgent summonses by the Peak Master’s order...

But Li An has been in seclusion all this time!

Although he was not entirely oblivious to the outside world, he was aware of these matters, and seeing the situation, he felt that returning to Evergreen Peak was certainly no good, so he instructed Xiang Yuntian not to let anyone disturb him.

Xiang Yuntian not only arranged a grand array at Li An’s place of seclusion but also had several direct disciples guard it day and night. Those from Evergreen Peak, upon arrival, couldn’t even catch a glimpse of Li An.

After all, by rules, Li An, as an elder of Evergreen Peak, should heed Song Qingsong’s orders, but being in seclusion and unaware of the Peak Master’s commands would render him blameless.

If blame were to be placed, it would be on Xiang Yuntian for hindering communication, but in front of Heroic Sword Peak’s leader, Evergreen Peak’s Peak Master indeed held no sway, and Song Qingsong lacked the courage to trouble Xiang Yuntian.

"I am at a crucial moment of enlightenment, and will see no one. Please inform Peak Master Xiang that I plan to continue in seclusion for another five hundred years."

Li An spoke directly, with utmost composure.

He had no relationship with Song Qingsong; in fact, there were grievances. The more the latter wanted him back, the more he could not go!

He couldn’t help but feel fortunate to have chosen to cultivate on Heroic Sword Peak directly; otherwise, there might have been many troubles!

As for the time, it was merely offhandedly mentioned to alarm Evergreen Peak; he didn’t necessarily need five hundred years.

After all, as time passed, the sinister fetus planted by Lady Yi was continuously absorbing his strange aura... some geniuses had to be slain before his Life Seed was entirely drained, and he needed to return to Giant Tomb Island.

For now, he continued to gain insights, aiming to push his realm to Void Refining Perfection before considering other matters.

...

"What? Five hundred years?!"

On Evergreen Peak, upon hearing the message brought by his disciples, Song Qingsong’s expression turned complicated.

Did Li An truly consider Heroic Sword Peak his home?!

He was utterly shameless!

"The audacity of that man... how can he shamelessly stay on someone else’s peak for so long... I must complain, I’ll report this to the Sect Leader Brother!"

He was furious beyond words!

Evergreen Peak’s status within the sect was already average; it was only with difficulty that he connected with Li Yunxiao to conspire to utilize Li An for their mutual benefit, which in the fifty years passed, has nearly fallen apart...

Li Yunxiao no longer bothered with him and instead pursued Shangguan Xiaoxiao in various ways.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became!

...

In the blink of an eye, another forty-three years passed.

Li An had nearly completed a hundred years of seclusion on Heroic Sword Peak.

On this day, Li An finally emerged!

His aura had grown significantly more potent, reaching Void Refining Perfection!

At Void Refining Perfection, the range Li An could control extended to three thousand miles.

This meant that he could step out and appear in the void three thousand miles away, and he could also use the Life Nourishing Immortal Skill to conceal his aura, making detection nearly impossible, overwhelmingly superior against those of the same Void Refining level!

Typical Void Refiners could only command around a thousand miles of void.

Beyond cultivation, he now possessed many combat techniques.

Foremost is his mysterious body, manifesting as a mysterious creature’s life form, granting immunity to most Immortal Dao techniques, serving as one of his greatest hidden aces, elevating his power to about the Mahayana Stage, enabling him to battle across levels, and strike down tribulations!

Next is the Destruction Immortal Coffin— the name given by Li An to his Immortal Coffin, harboring arrays, talismans, and more, initially lethal against Void Refining stages, but its current power was somewhat outdated against threats from Harmonization Dao.

He needed to continue crafting higher-tier talismans, arrays, etc., in the future.

Lastly, he wielded various evil demon techniques, primarily the Immortal Celestial Demon Skill, supplemented by evil skills, soul techniques, and insect techniques.