Cultivation Starts with Rejuvenation

True Monarch of Ten Thousand Laws, who wanted to speak further, paused slightly and finally nodded in agreement: ”Young friend is considerate.”

Having said this, Li Ji’an clasped his hands in a gesture of respect, summoned back the Little Fire Spirit, and quickly put away the Dark Light Umbrella.

Then, without hesitation, he left Gugu’s mouth world.

Thump~Thump~

As soon as he came out, Li Ji’an’s heart began pounding like a drum.

”Nascent Soul!”

Initially believing it was just a residual soul hidden in the Dharma Umbrella, but while it was speaking, Li Ji’an’s spirit was affected, causing secret fluctuations in his Sea of Consciousness.

Since the residual soul lost the source of the Sea of Consciousness, it shouldn’t be able to perform such a soul-affecting secret technique.

Once confirming the opponent was a Nascent Soul Soul Body, Li Ji’an urgently adjusted his corresponding strategy.

Even though it was clearly damaged and the aura was weak, the Nascent Soul’s foundation remained; if pushed to the edge, he couldn’t withstand a self-destruction of the Nascent Soul.

And since it was a Nascent Soul Soul Body residing in the Dharma Umbrella, it wouldn’t be dormant like a residual soul as it claimed; it must be fully aware of all external events.

Not just Sima Yu’s death, or when Li Ji’an asked Wu Weixiong for the Dark Light Umbrella, but also the dialogue between Li Ji’an and Wu Weixiong, the secrets of Li Ji’an’s identity change, the mysteries stored within Gugu’s mouth world, and even the Little Fire Spirit... he knew all of it clearly.

Therefore, he couldn’t let it leave Gugu’s mouth world alive.

But now he had no means to prevent the self-destruction of its Nascent Soul.

Although the Little Fire Spirit could threaten it, if it self-destructed in desperation, even if Li Ji’an could escape, the Little Fire Spirit and Gugu would surely die!

Moreover, facing the spirit flame of the Little Fire Spirit, the True Monarch’s Nascent Soul would likely just be worn down rather than completely annihilated.

Currently, he could only stabilize it temporarily by using its own tactics.

”I wonder if Sujin has a way to completely subdue him?”

”If the soul body can be annihilated, leaving only the Primordial Spirit, it would provide a good spirit body for the Tier Four puppet’s soul attachment!”

”Since it’s a Nascent Soul Soul Body within the umbrella, there should be a small storage magical treasure carried around, like a storage ring, right?”

...

A moment later, Li Ji’an suppressed the tumultuous thoughts in his heart and left the Island Dao Field again.

Soon after, he quietly transformed into an unfamiliar cultivator and began collecting Divine Soul herbs throughout Cold Smoke Immortal City.

Not until three days later did Li Ji’an return to the Island Dao Field once more.

Although currently lacking the means to entirely annihilate the Nascent Soul Soul Body of the True Monarch of Ten Thousand Laws, he could only feign agreement with it; however, its residing in the Dark Light Umbrella evidently aimed at recovering the damaged Nascent Soul.

If it truly recovered, the threat would be even greater.

So he decided to concoct some poisons specifically targeting the Divine Soul, not to worsen its Nascent Soul damage, but to at least slow its recovery.

Half a month later, Li Ji’an succeeded in preparing several poisons specifically targeting the Divine Soul.

Most were Second Tier soul poisons, with only two being Third Tier.

If facing a fully intact True Monarch’s Nascent Soul, even Third Tier poisons would surely have no effect, but with the Nascent Soul exposed and its aura weak, clearly it was severely damaged, and under such circumstances, prolonged use of Second Tier poisons could exert some effect.

That day, he purchased a motley assortment of magical artifacts in Cold Smoke Immortal City.

He then selected two of them to apply with Divine Soul poison.

Finally, he mixed them into a pile of magical artifacts and threw them into Gugu’s mouth world.

Initially, after killings or treasure snatching, he did the same by throwing a pile in, showing no deliberate behavior.

Now, with the Nascent Soul Soul Body of the True Monarch of Ten Thousand Laws in Gugu’s mouth world, it couldn’t perceive external matters.

The most crucial point is, as it claimed to be merely a residual soul, it shouldn’t be able to sense Divine Soul poisons.

So even if it discovered something abnormal, it could only pretend not to know.

As it claimed to be a residual soul to dispel Li Ji’an’s worries about it taking over his body.

Yet Li Ji’an didn’t get greedy or rush for results, only tossing in a few items every ten days or half a month, mostly normal, and only occasionally would one be smeared with Divine Soul poison.

In this way, three months elapsed.

On this day, while Li Ji’an was steadily refining his physique, he suddenly felt a phenomenon of clouds and mist obscuring the sky above the Tier Three Middle Grade Dao Field of the Si Shui Commerce Association ancestral home.

”Wanzhi is beginning her Core Formation!”

Li Ji’an immediately looked upwards.

Before the auction, Guo Wanzhi had been preparing for Core Formation.

After the auction ended, she officially started Gathering Spirit.

Now, three months later, she finally began the breakthrough.

In his previous life, Li Ji’an attempted a Core Formation in a relatively sparse Spiritual Qi Dao Field of the Biyun Sect, taking half a year just for Gathering Spirit, followed by only less than a mile of spiritual clouds.

That represented the thickness and purity of his magical power in his past life.

At this moment, Guo Wanzhi’s initial cloud reached a mile radius, comparably not much inferior to Xiao Changfeng’s initial Core Formation period back then.

Besides both Guo Wanzhi and Xiao Changfeng having Upper Grade Spirit Roots, the main factor lay in the denser Spiritual Qi in the Si Shui Commerce Association’s Dao Field compared to Biyun Sect.

Otherwise, with Guo Wanzhi’s magical power, it couldn’t match Xiao Changfeng.

Three days later, the clouds above Guo Wanzhi’s Dao Field expanded to one and a half miles, half a mile more than Li Ji’an from his past life, and half a mile less than Xiao Changfeng.

After stabilizing for a few days, the clouds surged again.

They expanded from one and a half miles instantly to six miles.

Seeing this scene, Li Ji’an nodded secretly, a look of joy on his face.

In his previous life, starting from less than a mile, after consuming a Middle Grade Crystal Condensing Pill, he surged to four miles, while the Core Formation Spirit Treasure Guo Wanzhi used was evidently not much different from the Middle Grade Crystal Condensing Pill he used in his past life.

This indicates that the Si Shui Commerce Association indeed provided her with a top hundred Core Formation Spirit Treasure this time.

Three more days passed, and the clouds above Guo Wanzhi’s Dao Field stabilized at eight miles.

At this level, a True Pill was already hopeful.

Moreover, Li Ji’an heard that at this auction, Master Yuxiao bought a Concentration Flower and seemed to have given it to Guo Wanzhi in the end.

Guo Wanzhi, being a long-standing alchemist, already had a strong Divine Soul, and with this flower’s aid, the final step of her Core Formation was very promising.

Until eight miles of clouds formed a giant funnel in mid-air, pouring down towards Guo Wanzhi in the Dao Field, the clouds gradually dissipated, and the phase of transforming liquid into pill began.

This phase would take at least six months to a year.

”Not bad!” Li Ji’an smiled contentedly, retracting his gaze.

Meanwhile, he was quite looking forward to his Core Formation in the Feihong Dao Field in six months.

Currently, his magical power, although not as thick as those cultivating Celestial Grade cultivation techniques with Celestial Spirit Roots or Spirit Bodies, was comparably pure due to years of refining by the Little Fire Spirit.

Moreover, he had four types of Core Formation Spirit Treasures, including high-quality Crystal Condensing Pills, one being the Seven-Colored Jade Tree, which ranked first among the Ten Thousand Merchants Domain.

And the Earth Source Essence once divided to him by Xiao Changfeng in his past life was particularly effective at purifying the impurities of Magic Pills.

The crucial point was that he had personally experienced a Core Formation before, making his experience far more thorough and detailed than any verbal teaching.

Thus, he felt very confident in this life.

Now he just needed to line up at the most elite Feihong Dao Field in the entire East to ensure no further slip-ups.

During this waiting period for the Feihong Dao Field, he was very cautious, not stepping out of the Dao Field except to purchase Divine Soul poison materials to deal with the Nascent Soul of the True Monarch of Ten Thousand Laws within Gugu.

He even declined several invitations from Yao Rui and Master Yuxiao during this time.

As for Jia Yuanqing’s several probes, he avoided meeting them as well.

However, on the third day after Guo Wanzhi’s Spiritual Qi clouds dispersed, the person Li Ji’an least wanted to see still appeared.

On this day, Li Ji’an was attempting to craft a Tier Two Mid-stage human-shaped puppet when Master Yuxiao’s message came again.

He initially wanted to find an excuse to decline out of habit, but upon seeing the content of the message, he frowned instantly.

”The Pill King has come to visit; meet him promptly!”

The choice of words in the message was a command to meet.

Master Chunyuan, not only a late-stage Core Formation Ascendant, was now the chief Pill King of the Nine Tripods Commerce Association, representing the Nine Tripods Commerce Association in his travels, indeed possessing the qualification to overshadow smaller commerce associations like the Si Shui Commerce Association.

”Eventually, he still came!”

After a moment’s pondering, Li Ji’an stood up and headed towards the commerce association’s main hall.

Since Master Chunyuan expressed his intention to redeem the Dark Light Umbrella from the Shadowless Sect Leader at the auction, Li Ji’an anticipated this day.

However, he wasn’t overly worried, given the brief encounter on the Spiritual Ship with Wu Weixiong.

And if Master Chunyuan suspected his identity, he wouldn’t seek such an overt meeting.