There were two items in the gift box.
One was a jade slip, the other was a simple, ancient-looking talisman brush, colored in a muted greenish-gray.
Lan Chang'an picked up the ancient talisman brush, feeling the mana flow smoothly through it, and nodded in approval.
This was a quasi-third-rank talisman brush.
Considering Lan Chang'an’s mid-Foundation Establishnt cultivation and his recent achievent as a second-rank superior-grade talisman master, this gift was quite thoughtful.
Inside the jade slip was a complete talisman master inheritance, part of which included information on third-rank talismans. It was essentially a partial inheritance of a third-rank talisman master.
Both gifts were related to the path of a talisman master, showing an understanding of his interests.
In the eyes of ordinary people, Lan Chang'an’s talent in talismans was decent, but his overall aptitude and potential were limited.
Advancing to the late stage of Foundation Establishnt would be difficult for him, and Core Formation seed almost impossible.
Thus, it was unrealistic to expect gifts related to Core Formation.
Such items were rare strategic resources for all the major forces in the Liang Kingdom, including Huanglong Mountain.
...
More important than the gifts themselves, Lan Chang'an valued the significance of this eting.
"That Fake-Dan Immortal was likely not only there to protect Fu Dong, but also to secretly assess one last ti on behalf of the Huanglong Mountain leadership," Lan Chang'an pondered.
After this encounter, Huanglong Mountain would finally be at ease regarding Lan Chang'an, no longer viewing him as a potential threat. In fact, in the future, they might even consider him as an ally.
Moreover, the Fake-Dan cultivator’s secret inspection would have ruled out any connection between Lan Chang'an and the "Junior Brother Cheng" persona.
Lan Chang'an was indeed a mid-stage Foundation Establishnt cultivator. Given his age, he was considered diocre within the Foundation Establishnt stage.
For Lan Chang'an, having one less potential enemy or threat ant he could continue cultivating in peace at Wuqi Mountain without worrying about being exposed. For the next several decades, he needed a stable environnt for cultivation.
"Given my talent and age, advancing to the late stage of Foundation Establishnt at Wuqi Mountain might exceed so people's expectations, but it wouldn’t be a big deal. It’s nothing compared to Fu Dong’s achievent of reaching Foundation Establishnt with his inferior spiritual root," Lan Chang'an mused about the future.
Whether in the mundane world or the vast cultivation world, there are always a few cultivators who bloom late after years of accumulation.
For example, Lan Chang'an reached Foundation Establishnt in his seventies, breaking a thousand-year record in the Liang Kingdom's cultivation world.
This implies that a thousand years ago, and even in surrounding cultivation nations, there were similar or even more extraordinary individuals.
Lan Chang'an’s cultivation speed had always been steady, progressing step by step, without any abnormal surges.
Even if his cultivation advanced rapidly during a certain period, it would be seen as a normal small opportunity in the cultivation world.
Secrets and risks are always relative, depending on one's strength, status, and background.
If one day Lan Chang'an was to achieve Core Formation, it would be considered a secret and a significant opportunity among ordinary cultivators.
But after forming his dan, looking at the neighboring cultivation nations, he can already be called a high-end fighting force, ordinary cultivators can only look up to him at that point.
However, from the perspective of high-level cultivators or Nascent Soul True Monarchs, this would be seen as a normal opportunity.
At their level, nearly every one of them had opportunities far beyond what is normal.
...
In the blink of an eye, three years passed peacefully as Lan Chang'an cultivated on Little Turtle Peak.
He was now 123 years old, and his cultivation had steadily progressed to the peak of the fifth level of the Foundation Establishnt Realm.
During these three years, the surrounding situation remained stable, with no major events occurring within the Liang Kingdom.
The security around Huanglong Immortal City improved significantly, regaining much of its forr prosperity.
The difference was that Huanglong Mountain, now far from its peak, was being constrained by various forces and rchant associations.
The Mu family at Feiyue Lake had reduced internal strife and was thriving.
Li Erqing’s grandson, Mu Congren, successfully established a branch outside rooted in the local area, and entered the right track of developnt.
The entire Liang Kingdom seed to be in a state of stability and prosperity.
But recently, Lan Chang'an began to sense sothing amiss.
Especially on this day, after sending off a cultivator from the "Tengxing rchant Association" who had co to purchase resources.
...
"Strategic materials are surging in price again, and the increase is beyond normal, even higher than during the chaos in Huanglong Immortal City," Lan Chang'an thought deeply.
Logically, with the chaos in Huanglong Immortal City over and the regional situation stabilized, strategic materials should be decreasing in price.
"Could this be related to the cultivation war in the neighboring countries?"
The overall stability of the Liang Kingdom's cultivation world led Lan Chang'an to consider the situation in neighboring countries.
In the past two years, there hadn’t been any major battles in the neighboring cultivation world, nor had Nascent Soul True Monarchs directly clashed.
The battlefield in Feng Kingdom was in a stalemate.
The two Nascent Soul True Monarchs of the Golden Sun Sect had previously engaged in a planned battle with Chu Tianfeng, a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator from Yan Kingdom. Although they were one step behind on the chess board, fighting on ho turf with a defensive stance ant they wouldn't lose much.
In the short term, within the next few years, the southern war in Feng Kingdom was unlikely to spill over into the Liang Kingdom.
Unless...
Lan Chang'an wondered if he had missed so crucial intelligence known only to the higher-ups.
"Small signs often indicate larger trends. The continued surge in war materials’ prices must have a hidden reason!"
Lan Chang'an trusted his intuition and judgnt.
After so thought, he decided to write a letter to Zhang Tieshan.
Two months ago, in a reply from Zhao Siyao, she had no definitive information or conclusions.
Since rchant associations were typically well-inford, Lan Chang'an initially wanted to inquire with Shen Bixin. However, due to low stock in recent years, the young lady had been too busy to visit Wuqi Mountain personally.
Shen Bixin had started purchasing materials at high prices as early as during the chaos in Huanglong Immortal City.
Lan Chang'an speculated that the higher-ups in the rchant association might have obtained information through their channels, predicting that the Liang Kingdom would soon be embroiled in war.
Otherwise, their high-priced purchases back then wouldn’t have made sense without clear profit margins.
It was sort of a risky ga. If they lost the gamble, they would lose all their hard-earned money.
But the fact was, Shen Bixin’s Tengxing rchant Association had made the right bet.
...
Two months later, Lan Chang'an received a letter from Zhang Tieshan.
It seed Zhang Tieshan knew sothing, but his letter was vague, directly stating that it was hard to say.
He personally guessed that war wouldn't affect the Liang Kingdom for another decade or so, advising Lan Chang'an not to worry too much.
Lan Chang'an read between the lines.
Zhang Tieshan didn’t dismiss the possibility of a cultivation war in the Liang Kingdom.
In his letter, he implied that it wasn’t appropriate to discuss it in writing. To obtain more accurate information, a face-to-face discussion would be best.
Having experienced two lifetis, Lan Chang'an valued the intelligence of the big picture in the upper echelons of the cultivation world. This way, even if he were cultivating in peace, he could be prepared and plan ahead.
Unless absolutely necessary, Lan Chang'an didn’t want to leave.
A stable spiritual vein field that could generate inco was hard to co by. Even if he had to leave, daily cultivation and advancent would still require a spiritual vein field.
If the entire Liang Kingdom, or even the surrounding regions, were engulfed in war, where could he find another spiritual vein field to cultivate in?
Spirit stones and pills could only support short-term cultivation during travel; they couldn't be relied upon long-term.
The tolerance and side effects of pills don’t need further explanation.
If one relied on spirit stones for daily cultivation, it would dull the cultivator’s sensitivity to the natural spiritual energy of heaven and earth.
The essence of cultivation is to comprehend the Dao, enhance one’s life essence, and becoming attuned with heaven and earth.
Relying solely on wealth and pills might indeed rapidly advance cultivation at certain stages, but it’s hard to reach higher realms in the cultivation world this way.
...
A few days later.
Lan Chang'an left Wuqi Mountain and flew towards Jin Yun Valley.
For the past few decades, he had visited Jin Yun Valley every two to three years.
Zhao Siyao and her disciple, Zhang Tieshan, and Lin Lu would sotis visit Wuqi Mountain during their missions or trips to Huanglong Immortal City, purchasing high-quality talismans along the way.
When Lan Chang'an arrived at Jin Yun Valley, Zhang Tieshan happened to be away on business. Zhao Siyao was also in seclusion recently.
Lin Lu was free and personally received Lan Chang'an in his cave on the outer peak.
Lin Lu wore a deacon's robe, appearing in his forties or fifties, with a handso yet slightly thin face, and a short beard on his chin.
Lin Lu was a generation younger than Lan Chang'an, with only a twenty-year age difference.
In reality, he was nearly a hundred years old, with descendants passed down in three or four generations.
His cultivation had stagnated at the third level of Foundation Establishnt for many years, with no signs of advancent. After exhausting his father’s legacy and advancing to Foundation Establishnt, Lin Lu’s luck seed to have run out.
Lan Chang'an chatted with this nephew for a while, gaining insight into his situation.
Lin Lu’s aptitude was quite a bit worse than Zhao Siyao’s, closer to a mid-grade spiritual root.
As a deacon of the sect, he had to manage many mundane affairs, which also affected his cultivation. This, coupled with his unremarkable aptitude, had hindered his progress. By comparison, Zhao Siyao’s disciple, Zhao Tan’er, advanced much more smoothly.
Zhao Tan’er, who reached Foundation Establishnt later, advanced to mid-Foundation Establishnt two years ago. It took her only about twenty years to go from early to mid-Foundation Establishnt.
Having been through it himself, Lan Chang'an casually gave Lin Lu so advice on cultivation.
When he killed Alchemist Hua, Lan Chang'an obtained two "Jade Clear Pills," which help break through bottlenecks to advance to mid-Foundation Establishnt. Such breakthrough pills required sect contributions to exchange, with a long waiting list.
He sold one to Lin Lu at market price.
Lin Lu, who had a family, descendants, and disciples, was not well off.
More than ten years ago, he had exchanged one "Jade Clear Pill," but failed to break through. After that, he no longer had the qualifications to exchange another, and his sect contributions were scarce. With his need to take care of his descendants and disciples, he was stretched thin.
Lin Lu purchased the pill with spirit stones and two second-rank materials as collateral.
One of these materials happened to be an auxiliary ingredient for the Youth Retaining Pill, which Lin Lu had originally planned to turn in to the sect for contributions.
That material wasn’t exclusively for the Youth Retaining Pill, so Lan Chang'an wasn’t worried about exposing his intentions.
Over the years, Lan Chang'an had almost gathered all the materials for the Youth Retaining Pill, with only the final auxiliary ingredient remaining.
...
The sect's rule was not to accommodate overnight guests.
Using his authority as a deacon, Lin Lu arranged for Lan Chang'an to stay in a guest room at the foot of Jin Yun Valley.
A few days later, Zhang Tieshan returned to Jin Yun Valley. Inford promptly by Lin Lu, he imdiately t with Lan Chang'an.
Zhang Tieshan’s cave was located in the inner peak.
He held the position of grand deacon in the Law Enforcent Hall, second only to the law enforcent elder and a few Fake-Dan Immortals.
"Fellow Daoist Lan, I've kept you waiting."
Since advancing to Foundation Establishnt, Zhang Tieshan’s appearance has remained unchanged. His stern, slightly dark face now showed a friendly expression.
"You’re too kind. It was only a few days," Lan Chang'an replied, sitting down with Lin Lu.
After so small talk, Lan Chang'an and Zhang Tieshan discussed so past events and interesting stories.
Lin Lu, as the junior, occasionally chid in with comnts and additional details.
"After reading your letter, Fellow Daoist Lan, I had so doubts as well. It was only in the past few months, after speaking with an inner peak elder, that I arrived at a definitive answer," Zhang Tieshan said, getting to the point without avoiding Lin Lu.
"Oh? What’s the truth?" Lan Chang'an asked, showing interest.
"The truth may not concern you much, Fellow Daoist Lan," Zhang Tieshan stroked his beard with a smile, then glanced at Lin Lu.
"But it might be a good opportunity for Nephew Lin to make so contributions."
Lin Lu was taken aback, deep in thought.
A flash of insight ca to Lan Chang'an.
"Fellow Daoist Zhang, are you referring to the south of the Liang Kingdom..."
"Exactly." Zhang Tieshan nodded.
Lan Chang'an’s eyes flickered, his doubts finally resolved.
The situation had developed in a way that slightly surprised him.
He had initially thought that the Liang Kingdom might be passively drawn into the neighboring cultivation war.
But the truth was that the upper echelons of the Liang Kingdom's sects had decided to take the initiative, launching an attack from the north into the Feng Kingdom, seeking to profit from the chaos!
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