Longevity: Starting as a Sect Servant-Chapter 268 - 200: Invincible Below Nascent Soul
Ten years later, he emerged from seclusion, his appearance refreshed, handsome and elegant. Yet, at just a whim, a terrifying layer of black armor covered his entire body. He casually activated over a dozen offensive Rank Three Magical Artifacts to no effect; they couldn’t shake his Demon Armor in the slightest!
"In terms of defense...it should be comparable to a Rank Four Magical Artifact!"
Li An was deeply satisfied.
Over the decade, he had completely refined the Celestial Demon Corpse.
Besides the progress of the Immortal Celestial Demon Armor, his cultivation reached the perfection of Mid-Stage Golden Core, allowing him to advance towards the Late-Stage. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎
Within his dantian, he stored a large amount of Demonic Qi, enough not only to sustain his Immortal Celestial Demon Armor but also to allow him to cultivate other Demon Dao Arts with ease, such as the Burning Elemental Demon Flame, Picking Flower Finger, and so on.
Upon emerging, he summoned Zhou Libai and Gu Xuanting.
He first sought to understand the situation outside.
The Demon Realm was rife with reports of internal warfare. Over ten years, the conflict persisted due to the Demon Race’s imperial throne, with the four Demon Kings vying and contesting. The Vermilion Bird King had wins and losses, making it difficult to call the outcome.
The Celestial Killer Mountain Range remained peaceful; when the Demon Race’s army left initially, they had left a Nascent Soul Level General to guard.
But beyond the Celestial Killer Mountain Range, Xiling Origin Continent was quite chaotic. It is said that the Great Li Dynasty was frantically annexing, causing strife with top forces like the Blood Essence Sect and Taiyi Sect in Xiling Origin Continent.
Li An felt a profound relief, for he came to the Celestial Killer Mountain Range.
Now, this place counted as one of the few peaceful havens for cultivation.
Moreover, it lacked nothing.
"Mountain Master, these are the materials we’ve collected over the years for Rank Four Talisman Paper. It’s quite mixed, predominantly wood and fire attributes."
Zhou Libai presented many resources.
Li An glanced over them; they could likely produce about four to five hundred talisman papers.
Besides the talisman materials, they had collected many treasures like Third Grade Earth Milk, nearly enough for him to complete the cultivation of his spleen.
Zhou Libai and Gu Xuanting were indeed quite competent!
"You two have worked hard."
Li An received the items, giving each a storage bag.
He had them collect items for him, so he naturally couldn’t have them spend their own money.
In fact, the Demon Realm’s wars had been continuous over the past decade. The Vermilion Bird King had no time to attend to the Celestial Killer Mountain Range. The Spirit Stone resources initially left to Li An and his team were almost exhausted, with no replenishments provided.
Fortunately, the Celestial Killer Mountain Range itself provided many usable resources, and due to the few cultivators left, they managed to be self-sufficient. Yet, collecting these materials forced Li An to use his own reserves.
His initial reserves, plus the gains from his later leadership roles...he currently had around ten thousand Upper Grade Spirit Stones, directly giving Zhou Libai and Gu Xuanting twenty-five hundred each!
Over the years of collecting materials for Li An, they had invested their own Spirit Stones. Now, seeing his generosity, they were both thrilled and apprehensive, "My lord, we didn’t spend that many Spirit Stones..."
"The excess, you can use to continue collecting various resources for me."
Li An appeared very generous.
Zhou Libai and Gu Xuanting didn’t dare deceive him, so naturally, he could trust them with the Spirit Stones.
"By the way, my lord, I’ve also found the Spirit Beasts you wanted, three in total, all unhatched eggs..."
Gu Xuanting continued speaking.
Before entering seclusion, Li An asked them to find Rank Three bird-type Spirit Beast eggs for him!
After all, Li An was well-versed in Beast Taming Skill; not utilizing it would be a waste.
Moreover, he once disguised the Cyan Flame Divine Sparrow as a Rank Three Firebird, fooling Lady Shee once. So now, he felt he needed one by his side to cover the numbers, in case they met again and she became suspicious...
"Good!"
Li An was even more pleased.
The three bird eggs: two Firebird eggs and one Cyan Feathered Eagle egg.
All were Rank Three Fierce Birds. If it weren’t for the abundance of Spirit Beasts in the Celestial Killer Mountain Range and Li An being the acting Mountain Master in command of the mountains, with Spirit Beasts having to obey his orders, obtaining these three bird eggs would indeed be no easy feat.
Li An only needed three eggs because his Beast Taming proficiency allowed him to handle three Rank Three Fierce Beasts perfectly; more would unnecessarily strain him.
This time, Li An retreated into seclusion once more with the three bird eggs!
He brought out an Evil Crystal...preparing to break through to the Late-Stage Golden Core.
...
Forty years later.
Li An emerged from seclusion once again!
This time, his aura was even more awe-inspiring; a slight revelation made him seem deep and formidable!
He officially stepped into the Late-Stage Golden Core, his realm stabilized!
From the time his Golden Core was formed and he fled from the Jiang family, settling in the Celestial Killer Mountain Range, it had been nearly a century.
Li An was now XX years old.
The timing of reaching the Late-Stage Golden Core was much earlier than he had anticipated, significantly aided by the exceptionally suitable cultivation environment here, along with the Celestial Demon Corpse and Evil Crystal that greatly enhanced the Life Nourishing Immortal Skill and Demon Skill.
Moreover, throughout this century, he consistently absorbed the Qi of the Taiyin from a few Spirit Veins in Yunqi Valley, the Taiyin Qi in his dantian was dense like mist, and the formation of his Purple Mansion Primordial Spirit wasn’t far off...
His decades as acting Mountain Master were arguably his most fortuitous period of cultivation in life!
He emerged from Yunqi Valley, casually plucked a flower by the roadside, and with a gentle flick, an invisible Spiritual Power carried the flower a few hundred meters away, where it exploded into a black mushroom cloud, resonating through the sky, startling birds across the surrounding hundreds of miles of mountains.
The Picking Flower Finger was initially perfected, while the Burning Elemental Demon Flame had merely begun.
The Golden Treasure Skill’s spleen was also perfected, only the heart remained.
Li An finally gained the confidence that, with his current state...he was unrivaled below Nascent Soul.
As for Nascent Soul...
He glanced downward, and from his sleeve, four Spirit Birds flew out.
Among them, the lead was the Cyan Flame Divine Sparrow, radiating brilliant cyan light, each feather seemingly forged from Divine Gold. It awakened fifteen years prior, reaching the Late-Stage Golden Core faster than Li An.
Moreover, its Celestial Demon blood hadn’t been fully refined yet, still in continuous enhancement!
The other three, two Firebirds and one Cyan Feathered Eagle, were servant beasts under his Beast Taming control, and over forty years, they also reached Rank Three.
He and the Cyan Flame Divine Sparrow were both Late-Stage Golden Core, could they challenge a Nascent Soul?
Perhaps they could.
In the annals of cultivation, Li An had heard many instances of Late-Stage Golden Core challenging Nascent Soul.
But he never grew arrogant; no matter what, he firmly believed in avoiding overstep in battles when possible.
Safety first.
"All used up..."
Li An was troubled; despite being a Golden Core Great Cultivator of his era, with potential glimpses of a Nascent Soul, he found himself utterly broke!
The breakthrough to Late-Stage Golden Core consumed far too many Spirit Stones. Now, together with three Rank Three Spirit Beasts and the Late-Stage Golden Core Cyan Flame Divine Sparrow...no wealthy household could endure such expenses.
Only fewer than a hundred Upper Grade Spirit Stones remained, insufficient to support his and the three Spirit Birds’ basic cultivation for a month!
Additionally, only three sets of Rank Three Array remained, and merely a few dozen Rank Three Talismans...most of these were exhausted during the early wars.
Furthermore, the Creation Jade for crafting Rank Four Arrays remained missing, and less than a thousand pieces of Rank Four Talisman Paper were on hand, leaving him no time to attempt crafting Rank Four Talismans...
Trouble, trouble to the utmost degree.
He sighed deeply, and then beckoned. The Cyan Feathered Eagle spread its enormous wings as Li An stood atop it, flanked by two Firebirds, flying toward the palace.
From today on, the Cyan Flame Divine Sparrow would be completely concealed, becoming one of his secret trump cards.
"Congratulations, my lord, on entering the Late-Stage True Core—"
Sensing the change in his aura, Zhou Libai and the others were joyously approaching to pay respects.
The three enormous Spirit Birds landed before the former palace of Mountain Master Bai, where Li An dismounted nonchalantly and asked, "How have things been recently?"
Zhou Libai happily reported, "To inform you, my lord, the former Demon Emperor’s queen, Jing Chan, has suddenly emerged, leading the Vermilion Bird King to sweep across the Demon Realm, now unified. Good news arrived a year ago, accompanied by several letters, which could not be reported due to your seclusion!"
Upon hearing this, Li An couldn’t help but be startled.
Empress Jing Chan?
Could she be Tan Qingxue?
He was somewhat dazed; the once-unnoticed woman from the Profound Yang Sect, who merely wished to bear him a child to redeem her remaining life, had now ascended to the pinnacle of the Demon Race???
Indeed, the affairs of the world are unpredictable.
...
