Cultivation Starts with Rejuvenation-Chapter 223 - 99: Turmoil Within the Province
Upon hearing Master Jade Pill's words, Li Ji'an instantly recalled the scene from thirty-eight years ago, when Yan Qingwan brought him to the Biyun Sect to participate in the entrance trial.
The final test involved a comprehension assessment, which included a section on alchemy comprehension.
"Hmm, the Internal Affairs Hall has approached me several times, and coincidentally, I've reviewed your trial responses from back then. You might be more suitable than any of us to create the questions," Master Jade Pill assured.
"I will certainly do my best," Li Ji'an gladly accepted.
On that day, he made a trip to the Internal Affairs Hall.
However, the Internal Affairs Hall merely coordinates the various departments within the sect.
The actual matters, like recruiting disciples, are still led by the Dharma Transmission Hall. Ultimately, the Internal Affairs Hall registered Li Ji'an's information, reported it to the Dharma Transmission Hall, and awaited their instructions.
It wasn't until three days later that Li Ji'an was summoned by the Dharma Transmission Hall.
The Dharma Transmission Hall is the core of the sect, playing a significant role in both accepting new blood and nurturing true inheritors, as well as determining the sect's next successor.
The acting Hall Master of the Dharma Transmission Hall today is Zhao Qi, who led Li Ji'an's group of trial takers thirty-eight years ago.
Zhao Qi was in the middle stage of Foundation Establishment back then, with the talent of an Earth Spirit Root, a true inheritor of the sect, and the chief of the Dharma Transmission Hall. Now, he was in the late stage of Foundation Establishment, acting as the Hall Master.
If he could achieve a True Pill within fifty years, he had a substantial chance of succeeding as the sect leader.
Moreover, he is currently the Biyun Sect's disciple with the best hope of reaching a True Pill.
"Alchemist Li, how have you been?" Zhao Qi summoned Li Ji'an in the backyard of the Dharma Transmission Hall.
Initially, upon learning that Pill Cauldron Peak had sent an honored guest elder to handle the Dharma Transmission Hall's exam question task, Zhao Qi was somewhat displeased.
However, upon learning of Li Ji'an's identity, he agreed to his inclusion in the assessment team.
Back then, he had a strong impression of Li Ji'an, who was the first to wake up and awaken the other trial takers after the initial luck selection.
Although his Spirit Root was average, he became an Inner Sect Disciple because of his success in the heart nature and comprehension sections.
In the end, he refused to join the sect officially.
When Zhao Qi learned of this result back then, he was quite curious and didn't have high hopes for his path.
Unexpectedly, after many years, he re-entered the Biyun Sect in another identity.
Judging by the results alone, in that batch, besides Jiang Yunzhou, a descendant of a sect elder, it was Xiao Changfeng, who took the Inner Sect Disciple spot Li Ji'an had given up, who surpassed Li Ji'an's accomplishments today.
This led Zhao Qi to marvel at the endless mysteries of life opportunities.
"Greetings, Senior Brother Zhao!" Li Ji'an saluted with cupped hands.
"No need for formalities, take a seat," Zhao Qi invited Li Ji'an to sit, then used his magical power to pour him tea in mid-air.
"For Alchemist Li to achieve what he has as a loose cultivator makes Zhao wonder whether there are shortcomings in our sect's disciple training," Zhao Qi did not accept Li Ji'an's friendly use of "Senior Brother" and candidly expressed his curiosity about Li Ji'an's development over the years.
Li Ji'an discerned the sense of detachment in Zhao Qi's words, not considering him one of their own, and he didn't mind. After all, he was merely an honored guest elder, and he understood Zhao Qi's intent in summoning him: "The Hall Master is too kind. The Upper Sect's disciple training is undoubtedly the best in the state. Ordinary loose cultivators exhaust their energies just to survive. Opportunities and hopes are often fleeting illusions. My achievements today largely owe to the blessings of my ancestors, being nurtured with Nourishing Veins in the Yan Family, and acquiring alchemy skills. Later, I also met a benefactor in the Immortal City..."
Zhao Qi listened quietly, nodding occasionally.
He ultimately realized that if not for his father's goodwill with the Yan Family, and if not for his remarkable alchemy talent, it would be impossible for him to reach his current status.
Moreover, due to inadequacies in his cultivation technique and a lack of trials in magical combat, he overly relied on pill benefits, which almost capped his potential.
"Haha, well then, Alchemist Li has indeed surpassed your forebears, devoting your life to refining pills for the sect, and the sect will not mistreat you. Your descendants will be protected under your shade," Zhao Qi finally encouraged.
"Thank you for the Hall Master's kind words!" Li Ji'an responded with a smile.
Subsequently, Zhao Qi led him into the inner hall of the Dharma Transmission Hall.
Before officially becoming part of the question-setting team, he was required to sign an oath and spirit contract, promising not to disclose the questions he set or anything he saw within to outsiders.
The other question-setters were mostly elders within the sect, nearly all being Fake Pill True Men, with their lifespans extended but their paths at a dead-end, studying the Hundred Arts of Cultivation out of interest.
However, throughout the Biyun Sect, aside from Master Jade Pill at Pill Cauldron Peak attaining the third tier in alchemy, and an elder at Array-Breaking Peak breaking through to the third tier in arrays, there were no other particularly outstanding arts.
Li Ji'an felt no presence among this group. Eventually, after Zhao Qi explained the requirements related to exam questions, he quietly set a question with moderate difficulty, effective for discerning comprehension, provided reference answers and ratings, then tactfully withdrew.
He had no intention to pry into other questions for the time being, and being his first participation, some people were still wary of him.
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Time flies, years pass by swiftly.
Two years later, Gugu finally completed its bloodline transformation.
That day, it leapt out of the ground hole, and Li Ji'an, sensing the power contained within its bloodline, was overjoyed.
The grade of a demon beast's bloodline determines the level of potential power within the same realm.
At this moment, the power within Gugu's bloodline had nearly doubled, almost reaching the upper grade in terms of demon beast bloodline rating.
This meant that, with Gugu's realm remaining unchanged, its strength had almost doubled, and it also had the potential for further advancement.
"Not bad!" Li Ji'an gently patted the frog's head, full of anticipation.
This anticipation is not only about Gugu's advancement to Tier Three, but also about the next bloodline transformation.
Gugu leaped three zhang, feeling the transformation of its bloodline, with a qualitative leap in life quality.
"From now on, you'll need to work even harder. Break through to Second Tier Peak as soon as possible. I'll do my best to help you advance to Tier Three. By then, you will be the Frog King!" Li Ji'an encouraged.
It's somewhat regrettable that Gugu's bloodline was transformed postnatally, so its bloodline divine abilities didn't change upon advancing to the second tier.
The higher the bloodline grade, theoretically, the stronger the bloodline talent it might give rise to.
One can only hope that upon advancing to Tier Three, it might give rise to some remarkable bloodline talent.
After three years of transformation, Gugu came out of seclusion, eager to find Xiaoqiao and the Fire Spirit.
Li Ji'an watched them from afar, feeling quite gratified.
During these two years, Xiaoqiao made substantial progress, achieving perfection in the first layer of the Earth Spirit Scripture and is about to step into the second layer. Not only can he form arrays with a wave of his hand, but he can also sense earth spirits within a range of twenty li underground and already begin to manipulate the earth spirit mechanism.
Compared to his cultivation in magical power, the progress is incredibly swift.
In these years, Li Ji'an also tried to comprehend the Earth Spirit Scripture, but had no reaction, verifying that the Earth Spirit Scripture was indeed created specifically for people like Xiaoqiao.
The Little Fire Spirit is also getting infinitely close to the second tier, with the power of the spirit flame increasing daily.
In contrast, Li Ji'an's progress over the past two years hasn't been substantial. Upon entering the middle stage of Foundation Establishment, the speed of cultivation requires not only continuous practice and daily pill medicine supplementation but also the passage of time.
This, however, freed up more time for him to delve into the Medical Dao, and now cross-verifying with Doctor Bai's medical skills and Guo Qi's Medical Dao has allowed further improvement.
Especially Guo Qi's Poison Scripture surpasses Doctor Bai's teachings, and over these two years, Li Ji'an has studied it extensively, concocting several Second-Tier high-grade poisons that are colorless, tasteless, and silent, enhancing his Guardian Path methods.
Additionally, he has gained new insights into nurturing and repairing spirit roots that have not fully developed due to insufficient spiritual qi. Combining medical skills with Alchemy Dao might offer a method without relying on others, though some experimental subjects are necessary to finally validate it.
Half a month after Gugu emerged from seclusion, Li Ji'an received a communication from Yan Qingwan.
The clan is about to hold her centenary birthday celebration and invites Li Ji'an back to his hometown.
Five years have passed since the incident at the ruins, and Li Ji'an has spent four years at the Outer Peak of Biyun Sect.
During this period, Yan Qingwan maintained communication with him.
Since the Yan Family received an award at the Biyun Sect commendation ceremony, the situation in Desert has stabilized over the years, with the other three families submitting. The Yan Family has seized three Second-Tier Spirit Vein Dao Fields, expanded the Alchemy Dao, and gained genuine alchemy foundations, leading to a thriving clan development.
"Xiaoqiao, pack up some things. We'll head out for a trip." On that day, Li Ji'an decided to make a journey.
Apart from the friendship with Yan Qingwan, he now possesses the confidence to survive under a Fake Pill True Man, coupled with his status as Honored Guest Elder of Biyun Sect, he needn't be overly cautious in Cangyun State.
Additionally, it is a perfect opportunity to experiment with the method of repairing spirit roots.
Moreover, he can take this opportunity to exchange ideas with the Red Stone Wanderer and even consider clarifying things to attempt direct trading.
With a high-grade flying boat now, what took Yan Qingwan four months of travel back then can be done in one month.
The next day, Li Ji'an still reported his itinerary to Pill Cauldron Peak before he piloted the flying boat southward.
Over these years, Li Ji'an came to see that Biyun Sect is not truly closed off, for it continues recruiting disciples and trading with Outer States, but has only genuinely canceled law enforcement within the state.
Li Ji'an speculates that one reason is to avoid direct conflict with Outer State Sects, and the other is to take this opportunity to let the cultivators in the state realize the benefits of sect governance.
Because all along, there were complaints in Cangyun State about Biyun Sect's stringent control, and some cultivators even likened Biyun Sect to a tyrant.
This time, the Outer State channel is already open, with cultivators of all types flooding in, leading Biyun Sect to simply allow the situation to unfold, so cultivators in the state may experience a period without strict sect governance, which is beneficial for Biyun Sect's ambition to reassert control over Cangyun State after a century of hibernation.
Sure enough, five years after Biyun Sect announced its closure, on his journey, Li Ji'an saw more Tribulation Cultivators.
There are even several significant groups of Tribulation Cultivators appearing in the Central Region of Cangyun State.
This concept was unimaginable during the time of Cangyun State governance.
"Senior! Save us!" One day, as he was about to enter Desert region, Li Ji'an spotted five people besieging two others from afar.
Li Ji'an activated Biyun Sect's jade token from a distance, and the Core Formation pressure not only deterred the five attackers but also frightened the two besieged individuals into fleeing.
The likelihood is high that it was a case of black vs black or even a deliberate play by a group of people.
Following this, Li Ji'an directed Gugu to capture one individual for questioning, finding out they were a Loose Cultivator from Celestial Origin Province, who came here to engage in costless business due to the lack of law enforcement forces in Cangyun State.
The two besieged individuals were the losing side of another group vying for territory.
Li Ji'an shook his head in disapproval; in the realm of cultivation that is often vast, majority of forces tend to handle their own matters, and without regions like Biyun Sect that truly dominate an entire domain and are willing to enforce in this manner, the inevitable result would be rampant banditry.
Not long after, Li Ji'an stepped into Desert.
Upon entering Desert's boundary not long after, he encountered Desert's patrol cultivators.
Yan Qingwan had mentioned this to him previously, explaining that with Yan Family now established as the unequivocal first power in Desert, Yan Qingwan has gathered the current four Foundation Establishment Clans in Desert along with nineteen Qi Cultivation Clans to form the Desert Patrol Team, responsible for maintaining order within Desert.
The eight Foundation Establishment cultivators from the four clans working in unity are definitely not to be underestimated by external threats, keeping Desert relatively peaceful over these years.
Three days later, Li Ji'an returned again to his hometown. The Yan Family was brightly decorated, and for the upcoming centenary birthday of Ancestor Qingwan, the clan members attached exceptional importance, not because reaching a hundred is particularly significant, but due to Yan Family's unprecedented standing in Desert; in essence, this celebration feels more like celebrating Yan Family's rise as the Desert overlord.
Moreover, Li Ji'an's arrival elevated the Yan Family's mood to a climax, for now Li Ji'an isn't simply a Foundation Establishment cultivator, but an Honored Guest Pill Master of Biyun Sect, with his visit being seen by some members of the Yan Family as a historical moment between the Yan Family and Biyun Sect.
