Two hours later.

Ten miles outside the market, Li An found a secluded wooded area and opened his storage ring.

With a flash of light, Gu Hong appeared in the woods.

She was wearing a bright yellow long dress, her tall figure embodying a mature beauty. Breathing the air of the real world again, she couldn't help but be overwhelmed with emotion.

"Fellow Daoist Gu, I've prepared some provisions for you."

Li An offered her a storage bag.

Inside the storage bag were some pills, spirit stones, and a few basic magical artifacts.

Gu Hong did not refuse, took the storage bag, and looked deeply at Li An, numerous emotions flickering in her eyes.

"Thank you, Fellow Daoist Li!"

She spoke sincerely.

Li An smiled, "Fellow Daoist Gu, it gets much more dangerous once you leave the market. I must hurry back. Please be cautious; there are Profound Yang Sect cultivators patrolling around here, you can ask them to escort you out."

"By the way, regarding what happened here, please keep it a secret for me, Fellow Daoist Gu!"

He didn't want anyone to know that he had killed the demon cultivator and rescued Gu Hong.

Gu Hong nodded and said, "Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Li, Gu Hong will never reveal this."

She paused, "Fellow Daoist Li, I will be returning to my school to cultivate at Moon Tempering Valley. You are welcome to write to me or visit anytime."

"For this bond of life and death, I will remember it always!"

Li An also spoke deeply, "For this bond of life and death, I will remember it always!"

...

Gu Hong left.

Li An quickly changed his appearance and then returned to the market.

...

Not long after, he returned to the Spirit Talisman Shop.

All went smoothly; no one discovered that he had left the market.

"Next, I should proceed steadily and cultivate slowly..."

Now, Li An was in the best state possible.

He no longer worried about spirit stones, having thousands of them in support.

Moreover, in terms of treasures, he obtained a First Rank Upper Grade chain armor from the demon cultivator, although slightly weaker than the Thorn Armor, it was still a treasure.

And a First Rank Upper Grade treasure umbrella. This umbrella was a versatile treasure, capable of releasing 300 flying needles instantly when opened, and later serving as a spirit shield-like magical artifact.

As for pills, he still had three Spirit Awakening Pills as reserves.

In terms of talismans, he kept around ten First Rank Upper Grade talismans, slowly increasing them as needed.

"Li Lang, you're back? What would you like for dinner tonight?"

Tan Qingxue came over in a light robe, her waist slender and graceful. She had grown more mature and charming compared to six months ago, carrying an extraordinary charm.

"At that time, I wanted to eat you."

Li An pulled her into his embrace.

"No... it's broad daylight, and the door is still open."

...

Time flew by.

In the blink of an eye, five years had passed.

With steady progress, Li An finally broke through to the Qi Refining Fifth Layer.

He and Tan Qingxue had been in the market for nearly ten years.

Now, Li An was already thirty-eight years old, and Tan Qingxue was even older, forty-four years old.

During these five years, Li An hadn't left even once.

In the meantime, he received some letters, mainly from Wang Dazhu and Zhao Xian's Story at the outer sect.

Wang Dazhu, after doing odd jobs for a few years, finally became Master Yu's official apprentice, began learning artifact refining, achieving some success, and three years ago, his cultivation reached the Qi Refining Sixth Layer. He has great potential to become a formal disciple and hope to join the inner sect.

Li An suspected that a certain bloodline in Wang Dazhu might have been fully awakened.

However, Zhao Xian's Story's cultivation slowed down, breaking through to the Qi Refining Fifth Layer only two years ago, just a step ahead of Li An.

Moreover, Zhao Xian's Story had given up on entering the inner sect and found a Dao companion in the outer sect, preparing to have children.

In reality, with their current age, both Li An and Zhao Xian's Story were at their peak.

Given their spirit root qualifications, they might at best progress one or two minor stages in this lifetime, and then stagnate, so finding a Dao companion and having children while their vitality is at its peak is the best choice.

To spread their branches and leaves and nurture the next generation, even though they might live a few decades longer than ordinary people, in the end, they would still return to dust.

Having children at this time would also ensure better spirit root for their offspring.

In fact, in the past six months, Tan Qingxue was aware and made efforts in this direction but hadn't conceived yet.

Because Li An always kept his Dragon Essence locked, no matter how many tricks she tried or how much effort she put in, it was useless.

Having children and following the family-style cultivation path?

Li An has no interest in this. In his previous life, he managed a Core Formation-level cultivation family with numerous wives and concubines and many descendants.

But it only distracted the stability of his Dao heart and dispersed his focus!

Especially for people like Zhao Xian's Story and others, perhaps they had already reached the last peak of their life and had to face the cultivation of the next generation.

However, Li An still had boundless hope. With the support of the Life Nourishing Immortal Skill, during the Qi Refining Stage alone, he could live a hundred years more than Zhao Xian's Story and others.

Endure slowly, but surely persevere.

In addition, he had received an unsigned letter containing only a few brief words:

"Returned, no need to worry."

"Should you need anything, just write, I will respond to every letter."

Li An knew, of course, that this letter was from Gu Hong.

She was extremely cautious, fearing to cause trouble for Li An. So this letter went through several channels before reaching him, indicating her stance.

She would not forget Li An's great kindness.

Li An was very satisfied with this; the most perfect outcome was that no one knew it was Li An who rescued Gu Hong, making it a hidden favor and a hidden card.

At the same time, the Great Li Dynasty had become increasingly restless recently, with the power of the Yin Yang Demon Sect growing larger and larger.

The Profound Yang Sect even issued a secret order, instructing all disciples that if they discovered any corresponding skills of the Yin Yang Demon Sect, they must be destroyed immediately. Anyone daring to practice them on their own would be executed without mercy.

Li An inquired and found that over the years, the Yin Yang Demon Sect had actively spread the Yin Yang Demon Furnace Skill within the Great Li Dynasty!

Even in Qingyang market, some demon skills disguised as other skills were discovered.

Li An paid close attention, investigating secretly, and discovered that the Yin Yang Demon Furnace Skill that the Yin Yang Demon Sect was spreading was likely an incomplete version, with many key parts removed, far from reaching the level of a Profound Rank skill.

Those spread reduced versions of the Yin Yang Demon Furnace Skill could still improve spirit root and increase cultivation, but the speed would be very slow, and it did not include the Shifting Skill.

Clearly, the Yin Yang Demon Furnace Skill was the Yin Yang Demon Sect's treasured scripture, and the sect would not wholesale it like cheap cabbage everywhere.

However, the reduced version was still excellent, and could be considered a Yellow Rank Middle Grade skill, still tempting to the world. After all, the ability to improve spirit roots and cultivation would cause numerous lower-level cultivators to abandon everything for it.

And precisely because of this, the cult followers of the demon sect grew more and more numerous, and the security within the Great Li Dynasty grew increasingly chaotic.

In the meantime, rumors came that the three major sects might rekindle hostilities. It was said that the division of interests over Middle Grade spiritual ores seemed to cause issues again.

In summary, the outside world was unstable!

This situation could also be felt inside the market.

Therefore, Li An felt increasingly urgent. Memories of the demon sect attacking the market a few years ago were still fresh in his mind. Strengthening himself was the best strategy.

"Li Lang, it's time to rest."

At night, Tan Qingxue came in wearing a white dress. She casually hugged Li An's neck and sat on his lap, suddenly lifting her skirt to reveal her beautiful legs in white silk stockings.

"Li Lang, are these what you meant by those white silk things...?"

Her breath fresh like orchids, "I want to give you a child, okay?"

...

In a blink, another eight years passed by.

During these eight years, Li An's Qi Refining Fifth Layer finally reached perfection, allowing him to prepare for a breakthrough to the Qi Refining Sixth Layer.

During this period, news came from the inner sect.

Xu Qiuhui successfully reached Foundation Establishment!

Li An anticipated it, while Tan Qingxue was overjoyed.

...

Three months later, one morning, the door of the Spirit Talisman Shop was suddenly knocked on.

Li An opened the door and was momentarily stunned by the figure outside.

"Talisman Master Li, long time no see, I hope you've been well?"

Xu Qiuhui stood there in a light yellow dress, as bright as ever, smiling slightly.

...

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