Wang Dazhu and Zhao Xian's Story bid their farewells and left one after another.

Chen Cheng was delighted to have obtained the Foundation Establishment Pill and was ready to leave, but Mu Qingwan said, "Husband, you go first. I have a few words to say to Friend Li."

Chen Cheng frowned slightly but immediately left the room.

Only Mu Qingwan and Li An remained in the room.

Li An calmly looked at Mu Qingwan, who was pregnant.

Mu Qingwan gently placed her delicate jade hand on her swollen belly, struggled to get up, and with difficulty, bowed to Li An.

"Friend Mu, there's no need for this. You flatter me—"

Mu Qingwan's eyes appeared complex, carrying a trace of deep apology, "Friend Li, regarding this matter... my husband and I owe you an apology."

"To be honest, Friend Li, when my husband married me back then, he intended to use me as a cauldron to improve his Spirit Root."

As she suddenly mentioned this, Li An remained silent, listening quietly.

"Although my husband is the grandson of Elder Yu Hui, his Spirit Root is just marginally better than a mixed Spirit Root, considered the worst Gold Spirit Root. Over the years of our marriage, his Spirit Root has indeed been slowly improving and even showed signs of approaching a Yellow Rank Middle Grade Spirit Root."

She spoke, with what seemed to be gratitude in her beautiful eyes: "But at that time, he stopped and told me about the Spirit Root..."

"If he had been selfish, I might already be dead, and his Spirit Root would have ascended..."

"It was at that moment that I realized my husband loves me profoundly!"

"But later, my husband failed twice in trying to reach Foundation Establishment, and I felt deeply guilty. If he hadn't cherished me, once his Spirit Root was promoted, breaking through to Foundation Establishment wouldn't have been so difficult."

As she spoke, she seemed choked with emotion: "Friend Li, you must have noticed my husband already shows signs of decline, his vitality is beginning to deteriorate. If he can't break through to the Foundation Establishment realm, his lifespan might be much shorter than an average cultivator's, not even reaching a hundred years."

"At that time, both the child in my belly and I would truly be widows and orphans, with no support..."

Li An timely said, "Friend Chen is a blessed person; he will definitely break through to Foundation Establishment."

Mu Qingwan gazed faintly at Li An and said, "Friend Li, I'm telling you this... just to ask you not to hold a grudge against Chen Cheng!"

"For Qingwan and the child in my belly's sake... please do not hold a grudge!"

Li An suddenly said, "What grudge? Friend Mu, you overestimate me. My aptitude is even worse than Friend Chen's. In this lifetime, not to mention aiming for Foundation Establishment, I haven't even broken through to the sixth layer of Qi Refining..."

"Moreover, I will return to the Qingyang Market. From now on, I probably won't come back to the inner sect."

Mu Qingwan was slightly stunned, yet couldn't help but sigh softly.

"Friend Li, please don't blame Qingwan for being heartless. If someone you love is in life-threatening danger, and Qingwan holds what you desperately need... you would likely make the same choice as Qingwan."

With that, she finally rose and left.

Everyone had already gone.

Li An's expression remained unchanged, but inwardly, he couldn't help but feel a sense of cold irony.

Saying not to hold a grudge, huh, it's merely a gesture that those in higher positions make to those below them.

No matter how touching the love story between Chen Cheng and Mu Qingwan is, what of it? No matter how beautifully she speaks, what of it?

She has her love story, so she can take away others' opportunities, just to give Chen Cheng that slim chance.

Has anyone ever cared about what Li An loves or desires?

The dreams of the weak are insignificant, while the strong can with a word strip everything from the weak.

This is the cold, harsh reality.

"Yu Hui, Chen Cheng..."

He murmured in his heart, remembering.

Yu Hui is just a Fake Pill practitioner. Her lifespan should only be a few decades more, and he could outlast her.

...

Li An stayed in the sect for a few more days, during which time he kept his door shut and refused all visits.

News about his Foundation Establishment Pill spread throughout the sect. According to the rumors, it was naturally a good story: Li An and the husband-wife pair of Mu Qingwan had a deep bond, exchanged gifts and made a simple trade.

On the surface, there would obviously be no trace or clues of Yu Hui's coercion.

This is Yu Hui's method; from start to finish, she only had to say a few words, and the younger ones would take care of everything.

On the third day, Li An bid farewell to the sect.

As the hero who eradicated the Life-taking Horse-Faced, the sect tried hard to persuade him to stay, even promising him the status of a formal disciple, but Li An politely declined, claiming he only wished to grow old with Tan Qingxue in the market.

The sect then sent people to escort him back to Qingyang Market.

...

Over ten days had passed, and Qingyang Market had already been rebuilt.

The collapsed buildings stood tall once again, even more bustling than before.

The Life-taking Horse-Faced, who had troubled the place for many years, met his end here, boosting the market's fame, hence the unprecedented large crowds, with a tendency to surpass the other two markets and become the number one market of the Profound Yang Sect.

Li An's return caused quite a stir in this market town.

"The black-hearted Talisman Master is amazing..."

"What black-hearted Talisman Master? He is a demon-slaying hero!"

"Talisman Master Li is invincible!"

Many people shouted enthusiastically.

But Li An just smiled, cupped his hands to the crowd, said a few polite words about his good luck, and returned to the Spirit Talisman Shop.

The Spirit Talisman Shop was also rebuilt, its size even doubled compared to before. However, the plaque was changed from the original "Profound Yang Talisman" to "Profound Yang Li An Talisman".

This surprised Li An.

"Li Lang, you've finally returned!"

Tan Qingxue quickly came out to greet him, tears of joy in her eyes as she threw herself into Li An's arms: "I thought I'd never see you again..."

Li An gently patted her shoulder, and the two naturally caught up with each other.

It turned out that the day Xu Qiuhui left with Tan Qingxue, she settled her down a few dozen miles outside the market town and did not allow her to go out. So, it was only after the battle ended that she managed to run out.

Regarding this, Li An didn't have the heart to question whether she was hindered by Xu Qiuhui or chose to stay there herself.

This didn't matter.

In two lifetimes, he deeply understood that human nature couldn't withstand tests.

Husbands and wives were like birds from the same forest; when great disasters approach, they fly separately. Life and death together were often just beautiful imaginations.

"Li Lang, your name spread throughout the market town, inside and out. Everyone insisted on adding your name to the shop, even the new Foundation Establishment stage expert Zhang Zhong stationed at the market town said it was good, saying it showed the world your heroic deeds... You won't blame me, right?"

Tan Qingxue's tear traces had dried. Speaking of this matter, a sense of pride surfaced on her face. Li An's great reputation also greatly satisfied her vanity.

"It's nothing."

Li An didn't find any problem with it; thus, his black-hearted Talisman Master title could be cleansed, and there were many business advantages in the future.

"Li Lang, I heard about your matters in the sect. You didn't want to stay in the sect, only wished to grow old with Qingxue in this market town... Qingxue truly cannot repay you."

As she spoke, she suddenly knelt lightly in front of Li An, lifting her face full of worship and love to look at him, her charming mature beautiful face comparable to a peach blossom.

Then, she lowered her head.

...

In the blink of an eye.

A year had passed.

In a year's time, Li An finally broke through to Qi Refining Sixth Layer!

Before that great battle, he was already at the peak of Qi Refining Fifth Layer, and just this breakthrough took another year.

Afterward, he spent two more years consolidating his cultivation.

The third year.

"The iron tree skill flesh refinement part is complete!"

Li An was quite satisfied!

Currently, he had reached Iron Skin, Silver Flesh, and with just his body, he could withstand the attack of a middle-grade magical artifact.

The next step, refine the bones!

On this day, he finally stepped out of the Spirit Talisman Shop.

In these three years, Li An rarely left home, and the fervor of the battle three years ago had gradually faded away with time.

Though many people recognized Li An when he went out, it no longer caused the same sensation as before.

After all, new things happen every day in the Cultivation Realm, and Li An was just a temporary sensation.

He strolled leisurely, visiting several artifact shops to purchase the "Melted Gold Liquid" he needed, which was necessary for bone refining and quite rare. Even though he had already asked several artifact stores to search for it three years ago, he only managed to buy about fifty pounds now.

This cost him nearly a thousand Spirit Stones!

It made Li An feel considerable distress. The path of Body Cultivation was difficult precisely because of the difficulty in obtaining body refining materials!

Many things were too rare and thus very costly.

The later the stage, the more so.

However, Li An wasn't stingy about it; the body was the foundation of cultivation. In fact, three years ago in that battle, if not for his body being stronger than most, and with the Life Seed assisting, that strike from the Life-taking Horse-Faced wouldn't have just made him faint, but rather, killed him!

At dusk, when the market town gradually emptied of people, Li An found a secluded place, activated his Yin Yang Demonic Qi, altered his appearance, and swiftly reached the edge of the market town where the ancient well was!

In three years, to avoid being watched, he hadn't come to look at it even once, until today, when he finally came to retrieve it!

...

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