naaapseattle Chapter 172: Secret Confrontation
Chapter 172: Secret Confrontation
Chapter 172: Covert Confrontation
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Although Spirit Bean Soldiers do not cultivate techniques, they are limited by their physical structure,
and the spiritual energy within their bodies is all wood-attributed.
For Li Lan, who cultivates the four spirit root attributes of metal, wood, fire, and earth simultaneously, this was naturally the most suitable.
After a year of cultivation,
he has now completely mastered the Devouring Yuan Great Art.
In less than the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, he can completely absorb all the spiritual energy of a Spirit Bean Soldier at Qi Refining First Level.
Spirit Bean Soldiers were originally summoned by Li Lan using a spell,
and the spiritual energy within them was originally of the same origin as his.
Therefore, compared to forcibly seizing the spiritual energy of other cultivators,
it also avoids many troubles such as resistance and needing to refine the opponent's spiritual energy again.
Li Lan can safely integrate it into his dantian without worrying about backlash.
This undoubtedly provides him with unprecedented help in his cultivation.
Absorbing all the spiritual energy of one Spirit Bean Soldier at Qi Refining First Level,
is equivalent to the gains Li Lan would achieve from twelve hours of diligent meditation cultivation using a cultivation cave dwelling with a low-grade Spirit Vein (Type A), a purple sandalwood tree core, a Gathering Spirit Formation, Gathering Qi Pills, and other resources.
And this is only the effect that a Spirit Bean Soldier at Qi Refining First Level can achieve.
One should know,
Li Lan still has Spirit Bean Soldiers at Qi Refining Fourth Level, and even Purple Sandalwood Spiritual Beans aged seventy to eighty years, which he hasn't used yet.
With the help of these cultivation resources,
he will undoubtedly increase his chances of breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Stage in the future.
During this year,
Li Lan also successfully stabilized his cultivation realm considerably.
The spiritual energy mist in his dantian became increasingly dense, and upon careful observation,
one could discover that two or three tiny, pearl-like liquid drops had already condensed within it.
At this moment,
he could truly be said to have stepped into the realm of Qi Refining Great Perfection.
Regarding this,
Li Lan was quite satisfied.
The next step is to prepare for breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Stage.
Li Lan finished his cultivation technique,
got up and left this Spirit Vein,
and returned to Guangji Sect.
Currently, the cultivation cave dwelling with a low-grade Spirit Vein (Type A) is no longer sufficient to meet the requirements for breakthrough.
He needs to carefully plan how to safely obtain a cultivation cave dwelling with a Medium-Grade Spirit Vein.
Stepping onto Chongshan Region,
he returned to his own cave dwelling.
Having not returned for three years, everything seemed unchanged.
But Li Lan discovered some unusual traces.
He had always had a cautious habit,
and would usually leave many small details in the environments he had resided in.
For example, in front of the cave dwelling,
he would deliberately leave a shallow layer of colorless, odorless, and non-spiritual energy fluctuating saliva from a first-rank demonic beast, the Marsh Frog, on the bluestone steps.
Under the meditation cushion inside the cave dwelling, he would place a tiny bit of specially refined soul-guiding artemisia leaves, and so on.
These numerous small methods were known to no one but him.
Whenever he returned from being away,
he only needed to check with a special method,
and Li Lan would know if any other cultivators had visited during that time.
At the same time,
based on the extent to which these small details were disturbed,
he could also roughly estimate how many people had come and what their purpose was.
Li Lan glanced around briefly,
and found that the small details he had left inside the cave dwelling had almost all been disturbed.
It was quite clear that,
the unknown visitors seemed to be searching for something here.
Li Lan's expression remained unchanged. As he released his divine sense to observe the small details outside the cave dwelling,
he accidentally discovered a few unfamiliar spiritual energy fluctuations.
These spiritual energies were very weak, seemingly having just initiated Qi into the body, not even reaching Qi Refining First Level.
If one didn't deliberately search, they would easily be missed.
Li Lan carefully probed for a long time and found that the source of these spiritual energy fluctuations was entirely from underground.
Could it be insects with spiritual energy, specially refined?
Someone is using such things to monitor him?
As Li Lan pondered in his heart,
he scanned the numerous transmission talismans with an unchanged expression.
During the three years he had been away,
Qian Zibin, Junior Brother Fan of Tian Shu Pavilion, Su Hongying, and other acquaintances among his fellow disciples had all contacted him.
Besides exchanging greetings and asking about his well-being, it was mostly trivial matters.
During this period, nothing significant had happened.
Just as Li Lan finished reading these transmission talismans,
voices were heard talking outside the cave dwelling.
"Junior Brother Li hasn't returned for several years. Why are you suddenly rushing me to his cave dwelling this time?"
"A-jie, we are, after all, acquainted with Senior Brother Li. During the time he's been away,
it's good for us to help him clean up his cave dwelling as much as we can, fulfilling our duty as friends."
"Nonsense, you, when will you grow up?
Such trivial matters are only cared about by mortals.
We cultivators never fuss over small details. How could your Senior Brother Li pay much attention to whether his cave dwelling is clean or not?
Helping him clean the cave dwelling is just doing useless work."
"Hehe, I am a mortal after all. I still need to eat grains to fill my stomach right now."
The voices talking gradually grew louder, clearly approaching the cave dwelling.
With the Thousand Mile Breath Lock Technique, Li Lan had already grasped the movements of the two, and was not surprised by their arrival.
After adjusting his state of mind for a moment,
Li Lan still pretended to be surprised and quickly walked out of the cave dwelling.
He bowed to the two and exclaimed in surprise:
"Senior Sister Hongying? Junior Brother Pengfei? What brings the two of you to this humble abode?"
The people talking were the Su siblings.
Su Hongying was now nearly thirty,
and had changed considerably compared to when Li Lan first met her in Xianzong Valley in County South.
At this moment,
she was no longer as fiery-tempered as she was in her youth.
After years of experience, she was instead like a calm lake, gentle and virtuous.
Time had etched the unique charm of a mature woman onto Su Hongying.
Her figure was still graceful, with a touch more fullness.
Su Pengfei, beside her, had also shed the awkwardness of childhood,
and had grown into a young man, his height even subtly surpassing Su Hongying's.
After an explanation,
Li Lan feigned a look of realization.
"So that's it. Junior Brother Pengfei, you are truly thoughtful.
To still remember to clean Senior Brother's cave dwelling, such genuine character is truly rare in the cold and indifferent Cultivation World."
While outwardly praising the other party lavishly,
Li Lan was sneering inwardly.
How could this old demon, who had taken over a body, be so kind-hearted?
He likely hadn't shown himself for a long time, and the other party was worried that he had secretly escaped,
which is why they found an excuse to visit as soon as he returned to Guangji Sect, right?
Speaking of which,
Li Lan still hadn't figured out what he possessed that was so important to the other party, a former Golden Core stage mighty figure.
After inviting the two into the cave dwelling,
Li Lan took out spiritual tea leaves from his storage bag, preparing to make tea for his guests.
Li Lan himself couldn't remember which cultivator he had killed and searched to find these spiritual tea leaves.
Anyway, as long as the courtesy was shown, it was fine.
Just as Su Hongying said, cultivators never fuss over small details.
Aside from spells, magical artifacts, and other items,
Li Lan was always particularly cautious about things that were ingested. Under normal circumstances,
he rarely consumed pills or spiritual tea from unfamiliar cultivators easily.
"Senior Brother Jiang Chuan, I've gained a lot from cultivating with my master recently, and I also stir-fried some spiritual tea leaves myself. I was just thinking of inviting you to taste them.
Why don't we use this cake of my ling'er tea this time?"
Just as Li Lan was preparing to make tea,
Su Pengfei suddenly spoke timidly, and took out a palm-sized green tea cake from his storage bag.
As soon as this item was taken out, it emitted a fragrant spiritual aroma,
a simple sniff was enough to know it was no ordinary item.
However,
Li Lan did not smell it.
Cautious as he was, when facing a Golden Core stage mighty figure,
how could he be completely unprepared?
On the surface, he appeared calm and casual, like old friends meeting,
but in reality, he had already raised his guard to the highest level,
and had already held his breath before the other party even took out the tea cake.
"Alright, then I'll taste your skill today."
The moment Li Lan took the green tea cake, he covered his hand with a thin layer of spiritual energy.
Now that he had advanced to Qi Refining Great Perfection,
his control over spiritual energy was even more subtle, already fundamentally different from cultivators at the Cultivation Base of Qi Refining Late Stage.
Besides casting spells and controlling magical artifacts,
spiritual energy had more uses in the hands of a Qi Refining Great Perfection cultivator.
"Junior Brother Jiang Chuan, I didn't expect that after three years, you have also reached Qi Refining Great Perfection.
I remember you had just broken through not long ago, right?
This speed of progress is truly astonishing.
Junior Brother's aptitude, is it a dual spirit root, or that legendary single spirit root?"
Su Hongying's attention was clearly not on the spiritual tea,
and she didn't know that Li Lan and Su Pengfei, two individuals with deep schemes, had already exchanged several moves in secret.
She only noticed the change in Li Lan's cultivation realm, which he hadn't hidden.
"To be honest, I am ashamed. With my mere three-attribute True Spirit Root aptitude, only a hair's breadth from Senior Sister's, I have fallen so far behind you.
To have barely managed to enter the realm of Qi Refining Great Perfection at this age is truly regrettable.
At nearly forty years old, in the Mortal World, I would already be considered an old man with half a foot in the grave."
Li Lan spoke nonsense casually, while pretending to look embarrassed,
and at the same time, poured a cup of brewed ling'er tea for Su Hongying.
Anyway, except for the spirit testing stone,
under circumstances where a cultivator is unwilling,
even someone with a high cultivation base would find it difficult to check the quality of another person's spirit roots.
In the Cultivation World, one's identity is what one claims it to be.
At this time, whatever Li Lan said, that's what it was.
"Junior Brother, you don't need to belittle yourself. The lifespan of us cultivators is much longer than that of mortals.
Since you have already entered Qi Refining Great Perfection, it means you have initially condensed Qi into drops, so the Foundation Establishment Stage is no longer an unreachable realm.
With a little effort in due time, breaking through this realm is not entirely impossible."
Su Hongying gently comforted him a few times,
however, these words seemed to be spoken to Li Lan,
but in reality, they were more like comforting herself.
Li Lan's divine sense swept over and saw through the other party's current cultivation.
Su Hongying, like him, was at the realm of Qi Refining Great Perfection.
Li Lan still remembered that,
several years ago, this woman was already at the Qi Refining Great Perfection realm.
He didn't expect that after so many years,
she was still stuck in this realm, without any progress.
Logically speaking,
a genius with such dual spirit root aptitude, who had joined the sect from a young age,
and then transferred to cultivate Guangji Sect's techniques, should have received full cultivation.
With all the favorable conditions in time, place, and people,
how could she have taken so long and still not broken through?
Li Lan knew very little about breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Stage.
The other party was highly valued by Guangji Sect, and her authority within the sect was far beyond what he, a registered disciple, could compare to.
She could access many sect texts and naturally had access to far more information than he did.
Just as he was hesitating how to speak to obtain the information he wanted.
Su Hongying seemed to see through his thoughts, sighed softly, and spoke again.
"I imagine Junior Brother Li is also very curious as to why I haven't broken through to the Foundation Establishment Stage realm until now, right?"