In the blink of an eye, another year has passed!

"In another six months, the Demonic Qi within me can be completely transferred out..."

Everything seems to be ushering in a dawn.

He took stock of his current situation:

In terms of cultivation, Foundation Establishment has reached perfection, and he is almost ready to attack the Core Formation realm, but he definitely needs to wait until he leaves to consider it.

The "Slash Primordial Body" of the Tri-Element Slash has reached small success, allowing him to strike approximately three times consecutively.

The Golden Treasure Skill in his kidneys has reached great success, with his strength and blood energy far exceeding ordinary people, but the other four organs have yet to progress.

His Divine Sense range has reached thirty miles, and the poison power of the Cold Yin Finger can likely have some effect on cultivators at the Core Formation stage.

The Earth Demon Seventy-Two Steps and Five-Colored Flower Burst Skill cultivation techniques have both long reached great success.

One could say that solely based on cultivation, he is now a nightmare for cultivators below Core Formation.

Regarding external items:

The Black Poisonous Small Sword and Cold Ice Small Sword, two Rank Three Magical Artifacts, are his greatest reliance.

Two sets of Rank Three trapping arrays have been successfully refined.

He has five Spirit Dispersing Talismans and three Flying Talismans, all Rank Three Talismans.

Besides, he has eight sets of Tier Two Arrays and nearly a hundred Tier Two Talismans in his hand.

Although his Life Nourishing Immortal Skill recovers Spiritual Power extremely quickly, he still prepared quite a few Second Grade Recovery Pills to prevent his own Spiritual Power from getting depleted.

With his cultivation and these things, it wouldn't be difficult for him to single-handedly wipe out a Foundation Establishment power.

"Add in a Fake Pill puppet..."

Li An pondered deeply and directly wrote a letter, having someone take it to the Wang Clan in Heyang—

The content of the letter was simple, asking Chen Qingwan to come and help refine Magical Artifacts, in addition to discussing the future supply of Magical Artifacts to be handled by the Wang Clan.

Once this letter is received, Chen Qingwan cannot possibly refuse to come.

A few years ago at his grand wedding, Chen Qingwan also sent a gift, and Li An had already prepared for today, having told the person she sent that he might ask her for help to refine some items later on.

After all, even though Wang Dazhu has died, Chen Qingling, having followed him all these years, still has some attainments in Artifact Refining.

Asking her here now is reasonable.

Of course, to prevent the Third Princess from discovering this letter, he gave it to Gu Hong.

"Crawl all the way from here, you can crawl to the ancient well at the city gate, avoid earshot, have someone you trust take the chance to venture out, and incidentally deliver the letter to the Chen family..."

For this reason, Li An personally showed Gu Hong the entrance to the tunnel he had meticulously dug out over the years.

This counts as one of his trump cards, telling Gu Hong was, in a sense, also to offer her an extra way out.

If a major incident broke out that she couldn't manage, Gu Hong could still have a retreat.

Gu Hong stared dumbfounded, looking at her husband with a somewhat complex expression for a moment...

Suddenly, she seemed to understand, her husband seemingly held a high position in the Treasure Pavilion, enjoying endless glory and wealth, but surely he must be facing some immense danger.

Otherwise, why would he be so meticulously cautious?

"Alright, I certainly won't let anyone find out!"

Gu Hong crawled out along the tunnel Li An showed her.

She placed the letter in a concealed spot at the city gate.

Early the next morning, when tending to the business at the pill shop, she let Xu Xiaoxiao go out to purchase medicinal materials.

Everything was watertight.

Li An invited Chen Qingwan over just as an additional safeguard.

If he could leave before the Demonic Qi was transferred completely, that would be for the best.

If he couldn't leave and a real battle broke out, Chen Qingwan, after all, was a decent fighter!

...

About half a month later, Xu Xiaoxiao returned from purchasing medicinal materials.

And Chen Qingwan also arrived in the city, but as Li An mentioned in the letter, she didn't show her face and stayed in a house Li An had arranged for her in advance.

Waiting for Li An to find her.

Everything went unnoticed by others.

...

"The number of cycles of sixty is almost complete,"

In a secret hall, the blood shadow woman calmly said: "Everything is ready."

"My sister should appear, and that Li An should be attacking Core Formation..."

"Let Wei Xue go and tell him, we will provide a large array to support, ensuring his Spiritual Qi is ample, and make him prepare to break through to Core Formation in a year and a half."

The Life-taking Horse-Faced, upon hearing this, couldn't help but hesitate: "That Li An is always very cautious, if we approach him like this, will it make him sense anything unusual?"

The blood shadow woman said blandly:

"If he truly isn't aware of the presence of the Demonic Qi within him, then Wei Xue's efforts to win over a Core Formation expert by doing this would seem very normal, he wouldn't suspect anything."

"If he is aware of the Demonic Qi within him, the large array can prevent him from escaping."

"After all, I need to go meet my sister then, this Li An is a smart person, and if we don't corner him, in case he seizes a chance to escape when I'm distracted... it would all be for naught."

The Life-taking Horse-Faced nodded.

...

The next day.

The Third Princess personally came to visit Li An.

The news arrived, and Li An was stunned.

The Demon Sect truly is difficult to deal with.

If they check the demonic qi in his body at this time, they will immediately discover the clue!

However, after careful thought, he let Gu Hong go meet them and told the Third Princess that he was in seclusion and could not be disturbed.

After all, the other side was afraid of waking up the fat pig they were raising and thus wouldn't dare to press Li An too hard when he had a legitimate reason not to see them.

But to his surprise, the Third Princess left quickly.

Gu Hong brought a letter.

The meaning expressed in the letter from the Third Princess was very clear.

She had already found out that Li An once obtained a Primordial Spirit Pill and knew that he was in seclusion attempting to break through to Core Formation.

She did not intend to forcibly take love, on the contrary, she would help Li An by adjusting the grand array in the city, transforming Li An's residence into a place blessed by a Rank Three Spirit Vein, allowing Li An to undergo seclusion and breakthrough on the spot.

The reason for doing so much for Li An was to have Li An agree to become her Honored Guest Elder and support her future ascension to become King Jingbei.

It seemed reasonable.

But Li An's heart sank.

The Demon Sect was watching him too closely!

Moreover, three days later, in Celestial Yang City, a terrifying array suddenly erupted—

The array was astonishing, its light covering the entire Celestial Yang City, centered on King Jingbei's mansion, containing terrifying evil qi that terrified everyone in the city.

"What exactly is going on?"

"Why suddenly seal the city with an array...?"

"This... this array is so powerful, it seems to be surpassing a Rank Three array?"

For a moment, the city was in a state of panic.

The guards of King Jingbei's mansion were patrolling everywhere, suppressing the chaos.

When Li An felt the presence of this grand array, he froze for a moment, then reacted instantly—

"Is King Jingbei attempting to break through to the Nascent Soul!?"

In his previous life, he had attempted it, so he was too familiar with it all!

The breakthrough of a Core Formation cultivator to Nascent Soul couldn't be concealed.

Therefore, preparation for the seclusion place had to be made in advance, with the protective array being the most critical.

After all, breaking through to Nascent Soul involved not only battling heaven but also battling men.

Without a strong background, attempting a breakthrough to Nascent Soul was easily subject to sabotage by others.

The previous collection by King Jingbei's mansion of so much Celestial Slayer Stone and Fetal Soul Herbs was also understandable.

The Celestial Slayer Stone could enable a Rank Three array to exert the power of a Rank Four array!

Thus, other Core Formation and Nascent Soul cultivators would think twice before attempting sabotage.

The Fetal Soul Herbs were used during the Nascent Soul breakthrough process to nurture the "Nascent Soul"!

"And the White Tiger Mountain clearly knew the mansion's plan, so they used me in advance to send problematic Celestial Slayer Stones and Fetal Soul Herbs to the mansion..."

"Moreover, the Demon Cultivators of the Third Princess' lineage clearly know the plans of both sides!"

"While White Tiger Mountain and the mansion struggle against each other, the Third Princess' lineage stands to reap the benefits as the bystander!"

Li An couldn't help but sigh, despite his caution, it was only today that he finally saw through the situation.

"Not good..."

And immediately, his expression changed again, because he realized, when the mansion array sealed the entire Celestial Yang City, his residence was also sealed by some array...

At the same time, someone from the Third Princess' side came with a letter.

"The Chief Zuo may proceed with the Core Formation breakthrough, as Wei Xue has covered the Zuo Mansion with a grand array. Except for Wei Xue's confidants, no one else is allowed to approach. Should there be any needs, please inform Wei Xue..."

A very polite and sincere letter.

However...

Li An was now under house arrest!

No one in his residence could step out anymore!

Even the tunnels were cut off by this grand array.

The plan to escape in advance... was completely thwarted!

Li An's heart was indescribably heavy, as man's calculations could not surpass heaven's. Despite his every planned step, he still underestimated the patience and meticulousness of the Demon Sect.

The mysterious person behind the Third Princess is truly ruthless.

They plotted against the mansion, White Tiger Mountain, and Li An as well...

However, Li An's heart was filled with unresolved questions.

Even if the Demon Sect knew his true identity as Li An, why would they value him so much?

On what grounds?!

"With no way out, this is the only path..."

Though the situation was dire, Li An had not neglected to consider such a scenario.

He had long had a countermeasure in mind!

He sought out Gu Hong, for Gu Hong was the critical piece that would determine whether he could successfully escape.

...

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