The success of the first Talisman gave Gu Hong great confidence.

The two continued to make talisman paper, but after nearly a year, the costs were immense, and Gu Hong's Spirit Stones were running low.

After all, purchasing materials for Tier Two talisman paper is very expensive; she spent over a thousand Spirit Stones to refine just one.

Plus, with the initial investment in talisman pens and other costs, her financial resources were stretched thin.

For this reason, Li An took out another thousand Spirit Stones to help.

After all, with Tier Two talisman pens and remnants of talisman heritage, he had already made a big profit.

Gu Hong was immensely grateful for this.

In the blink of an eye, more than half a year had passed.

The two-year agreement between Li An and Gu Hong had already gone one and a half years.

"Finally, they all succeeded—"

Looking at the four Spirit Talismans in her hand, Gu Hong's eyes were filled with emotion and satisfaction.

Hard work pays off for those who are determined.

"Fellow Daoist Li, I will be heading to the Cloud Illusion Mountain Range. Two years ago, I had already tracked the traces of the Primordial Soul Beast."

Gu Hong spoke, looking at Li An, with a hint of anticipation in her eyes: "I wonder if you would go with me?"

The two had spent years together day and night, developing many tender and rippling emotions, but Li An maintained a firm heart towards them, and Gu Hong also had a sense of pride, especially as she had been imprisoned by Demon Cultivators for years, treated as a furnace, and considered herself damaged goods.

So the two shared close proximity, yet always seemed separated by the thinnest of barriers.

This is also why she invited Li An along; from the perspective of cultivation, Li An was only at the Qi Refining Sixth Layer and was of no real use to her.

But somehow, she felt at ease.

"With my low cultivation level, if I were to go to the Cloud Illusion Mountain Range, not only would I be of no help, but I'd also be a burden to Fellow Daoist Gu Hong."

Li An refused.

He was not willing to take risks.

The Cloud Illusion Mountain Range is well known throughout Great Li, and many cultivators enter to train and seek opportunities, but it's also dangerous.

"Alright then—"

Gu Hong nodded, "I will return to Moon Tempering Valley first, and I expect it will still be a few months before I go to the Cloud Illusion Mountain Range. During this time, if you change your mind, you can come find me anytime."

"Fellow Daoist Li, you saved my life in the past, and now I owe you another debt of gratitude..."

Li An smiled, "Between you and me, there's no need for such talk."

Gu Hong nodded with a smile, said no more, and left immediately.

After she left.

Li An began to seclude himself!

He was already at the point where he could attempt to break through to the Qi Refining Seventh Layer.

A large number of Spirit Stones were placed before him, and he took out a pill — the Primordial Spirit Pill!

The Primordial Spirit Pill is a First Grade Pill, stronger than the Spirit Awakening Pill, used for breaking through in the late stages of Qi Refining.

Just this one pill cost him four hundred Spirit Stones.

In recent years, his cultivation and the like were largely thanks to the 3,500 Spirit Stones he obtained from Chen Cheng years ago. Otherwise, even though he could sell First Grade Upper Grade talismans, he would still fall short.

Purchasing Melted Gold Liquid, special poisons, talisman paper, talisman pens, pills, and everything else was quite expensive.

Currently, he only had about one thousand Spirit Stones left.

Holding his breath, he felt the operation of the Spiritual Qi, and the Life Seed in his Dantian had six leaves unfurled, with the seventh sprouting...

He swallowed the Primordial Spirit Pill!

As he refined it, a massive amount of refined energy charged his Dantian, while at the same time, a large amount of Spiritual Qi was rapidly absorbed into his body from the Spirit Stones before him—

...

Two months later.

Li An awoke and took a hot bath, feeling comfortable all over.

"From now on, I officially enter the late stage of Qi Refining—"

His expression was calm yet firm.

At sixty-one years old, reaching the Qi Refining Seventh Layer, from the perspective of ordinary cultivators, he had already reached the pinnacle of his life, with little room for further progress.

After all, at sixty, a cultivator's vitality starts to decline.

But Li An was not worried; for an ordinary Qi Cultivator, even at the peak of Qi Refining, their lifespan rarely exceeds two hundred years.

But now, just at the Qi Refining Seventh Layer, his lifespan already exceeds two hundred years!

So, in fact, he was still very "young," with no concern about vitality issues.

"The sensitivity of my Spirit Root finally broke through 50 points!"

At the same time, he was very pleased. Under the slow influence of the Life Nourishing Immortal Skill, his Spirit Root sensitivity reached 53 points!

On par with Tan Qingxue, and no longer far from a Yellow Rank Middle Grade Spirit Root.

This was also why his seclusion took only two months this time; an improvement in the Spirit Root has a fundamental impact on cultivation.

"Gold Bone, Thunderbolt Palm, and Cold Yin Finger have also achieved minor success."

"Entering the late stage of Qi Refining, I can now try to make Tier Two talismans on my own."

After entering the late stage of Qi Refining, a cultivator's Spiritual Power sees a significant boost, and Li An's Spiritual Power far exceeded that of ordinary people.

He still had some talisman paper remaining; he took it out.

With prior practice, he became extremely familiar with the Soul-Calming Talisman and Thunder Shock Talisman, so he chose those two talismans.

With a calm mind and breath.

Ten days later.

He had obtained two Thunder Shock Talismans and two Soul-Calming Talismans!

Of course, this also consumed over a hundred sheets of Tier Two talisman paper, causing Li An some pain.

"I will have to wait a bit longer for other talismans..."

He couldn't help but sigh; now, he could only create these two types of runes for the time being, and success rates were low.

Unless some other hapless soul would cover the costs, he could not explore other Tier Two Spirit Talismans in the short term.

"I can also start studying arrays..."

In his previous life, apart from talismans, Li An also dual-cultivated arrays, and he escaped twice during large-scale calamities in the market primarily using arrays, so he valued them highly.

At the late stage of Qi Refining, one can learn and create some low-level arrays.

Li An went to an array store to purchase a set of intermediate arrays, spending three hundred Spirit Stones and many array materials.

This left him with only three or four hundred Spirit Stones remaining.

Over the subsequent days, Li An studied arrays while keeping an eye on the sect and surrounding Demon Cultivators' news.

"The Demon Cultivators around the Profound Yang Sect have suddenly faded, and the sect is sending people to investigate?"

One day, Li An received a letter from Tan Qingxue, which instantly raised his alertness!

For over a decade, he had been on edge with anticipation!

After all, if the Profound Yang Sect were really struck by the Yin Yang Demon Sect, Li An would be in great danger too.

No nest remains intact after the tree falls; moreover, Li An bore the infamy of slaying the Life-taking Horse-Faced, so the Demon Sect would certainly target him.

He immediately checked the market, inquiring about various news of the Demon Sect, spending over two hundred Spirit Stones just purchasing intelligence from private trading networks.

Finally, he understood the gist.

Starting from a month ago, the Demon Sect people had seldom appeared, and in recent days, they had become entirely scarce!

The Demon Cultivators around the Profound Yang Sect seemed to have all disappeared together.

"They move so quickly?"

Li An furrowed his brows.

The Demon Sect must be plotting something; the Profound Yang Sect was investigating but it might not necessarily lead to an attack on the sect.

But he should at least prepare.

Li An thought for a moment; now staying in the market was certainly unwise.

He should withdraw first!

He immediately wrote to Tan Qingxue, urging her to increase her vigilance in the near term. After some hesitation, he also asked her in the letter to help him purchase materials for making Tier Two talisman paper at the Liuyang River market, emphasizing that he did not want others to know and asked her to do it personally.

Li An wasn't short on materials; he made the elaborate request to make her temporarily leave the sect.

Although Liuyang River market belonged to the Profound Yang Sect, it was very close to another power—the Hundred Beasts Sect.

If the Yin Yang Demon Sect indeed attacked the Profound Yang Sect, they definitely wouldn't attack Liuyang River first, to avoid alerting the Hundred Beasts Sect.

Gathering talisman paper materials there would take at least ten to fifteen days.

This was the only thing Li An could do to help her.

Upon sending the letter, Li An contemplated further.

He also needed to find a place to hide...

After much consideration, he slipped out of the city gate, altered his appearance, and headed towards Moon Tempering Valley—

Currently, the only person he could trust was Gu Hong.

...

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