Chapter 175: Chapter 163: Immense Gains

There may be a war between the Yan Country and the Great Li Empire.

Besides, Li An couldn’t think of any other reason for the Jiang family to stockpile such a large amount of supplies.

This made him feel slightly nervous inside.

Currently, his days in the Jiang family were quite peaceful.

Once the war begins, the Jiang family, as the dominant power in the border region of Qing Province, would inevitably become deeply involved in the conflict, and Li An would be inevitably affected as well.

Most importantly, even though the national power of the Great Li Dynasty was much weaker than that of the Yan Country, they had Shangguan Shengxian!

This was no ordinary battle.

If it really came to a real fight, even ten Jiang families would likely not be enough for Shangguan Shengxian to defeat in a second.

But he kept these thoughts to himself and said, “Thank you, Brother Xinda, for the reminder. Since that’s the case, I will certainly prepare well and not let the Jiang Clan down.”

After giving Jiang Xinda some benefits, Jiang Xinda left.

“I need to find a chance to go back to White Tiger City to fetch some things…”

At the very least, I need to go before the war starts, so that if it does break out and the Jiang family is destroyed, I can make my escape.

But right now, these tasks are my top priority.

That day, he gathered the Honored Guest Elders of the Black Tortoise Hall for a task delegation.

Even though the Guest Elders were surprised, once they realized the increase in the overall workload of Guest Peak, they had no major objections.

“Lord Wu, my cultivation has been fluctuating recently, and I urgently need to go into seclusion. I’m afraid I cannot take on tasks at the moment…”

A middle-aged man sitting on the left suddenly spoke with a smile.

This man was none other than Feng Yuancheng.

He was supposed to be the incumbent Guest Elder, but Li An “parachuted in” and seized the position, making Feng Yuancheng cold towards Li An, never once taking the initiative to meet him.

Li An, likewise, ignored him.

The two operated in separate realms, and Li An had never moved against him.

This time, he took initiative!

The Jiang family had a rule: although Guest Elders were required to work for the family, they could go into seclusion at critical points in their cultivation, free from worldly affairs.

Generally speaking, one could go into seclusion for a year every ten years, and if they didn’t utilize it during a ten-year period, the time could be accumulated for future use!

In the Black Tortoise Hall, there were four people who could make talismans.

Li An, Feng Yuancheng, Zhang Meng, and Sun Jinxue.

But since Sun Jinxue’s primary focus was as a Puppet Master, her skill in making talismans was minimal and could basically be ignored.

Feng Yuancheng and Zhang Meng were two peas in a pod!

If these two decide to slack off together, it meant Li An would have to take on all the tasks by himself.

In Feng Yuancheng’s view, Li An definitely couldn’t handle it.

And this was their perfect opportunity to undercut Li An.

Li An felt a chill in his heart and frowned, “Seclusion at this time?”

“Lord Wu, it’s the Jiang family’s rule!”

Feng Yuancheng sneered.

“Fine, I agree.”

Li An spoke up.

“Uh…my cultivation has also been fluctuating, and I need to go into seclusion too.”

True to form, Zhang Meng chimed in right away.

“Alright.”

Li An’s face grew increasingly somber.

…

After the meeting.

“Do you have any solutions?”

Sun Jinxue frowned, worried that Li An might not be able to handle it.

“No worries, I’ll just find someone to help.”

Li An replied calmly.

In reality, he didn’t plan to find anyone because even if he wanted to, he couldn’t find anyone.

But what Feng Yuancheng and Zhang Meng didn’t expect was that, when it came to talisman crafting… Li An alone was more than a match for four or five ordinary Talisman Masters.

After all, Li An’s success rate and Divine Sense far exceeded the ordinary.

Only by doing so would part of Li An’s true talisman crafting capabilities be exposed.

However, this was acceptable.

After all, among the Guest Elders of the Jiang family, who didn’t have some extraordinary talent? For a Nascent Soul family, this was nothing.

Immediately, Li An received all the talisman materials, talisman pens, and other resources given by the family.

The materials provided by the Jiang family were plentiful, enough to create around 120 Tier Two talismans under normal circumstances.

But for Li An, this amount of material could produce about 200!

This means the remaining 80 could all be pocketed by him!

That’s equivalent to earning a significant sum every month.

Such opportunities were rare!

Ever since the battle at Celestial Yang City, he had been impoverished until now, and this was a great chance to rebuild his wealth.

For the next period of time, Feng Yuancheng and Zhang Meng indeed went into seclusion, while Li An focused intensely on crafting talismans.

During the first month, he successfully submitted 107 talismans!

“Wow? Brother Wu, your ability is quite strong…”

Even Jiang Xinda was surprised when he came to collect the talismans.

He knew the situation here: Li An alone produced such a high output in a month.

With dark circles under his eyes and a look of exhaustion, Li An said wearily, “Li An has done his best, but it still wasn’t enough. Brother Xinda, please put in a good word for me…”

He said, handing a significant amount of Spirit Stones to Jiang Xinda.

Jiang Xinda chuckled and said, “It’s alright, the gap isn’t large. The family probably won’t say much.”

…

And so, for several months, Li An withstood the pressure.

Of course, in the eyes of outsiders, he was crazily over-exerting himself, unsustainable in the long run.

Three months later.

“Young Master Ruoshi, what brings you here personally!”

Li An respectfully received a distinguished guest — Jiang Ruoshi.

Jiang Ribai’s direct descendant.

Jiang Ruoshi wore ornate robes, his expression arrogant. Even though he failed among the core seed candidates, he remained a core figure of the Jiang family. He directly sat in the main seat, said nothing, took a sip of tea, and spoke to his servant:

“Ah Ba, you should also try this tea.”

Li An hurriedly poured a cup for his servant as well.

“Young Master, this tea is truly excellent.”

Jiang Ruoshi nodded, “If you like the tea here, come often to get tea from Wu Qin.”

Li An quickly said, “Brother Ba, Wu Qin is very welcome!”

After speaking, Jiang Ruoshi stood up directly and left with Ah Ba.

It seemed strange, but Li An understood Jiang Ruoshi’s intention very well.

He came here just to introduce Ah Ba to Li An.

In the future, Ah Ba would handle certain matters with Li An, and mostly these were things Jiang Ribai or Jiang Ruoshi found inconvenient to directly assign Li An to do!

Having a servant handle it, in case anything happened, would not implicate Jiang Ribai or Jiang Ruoshi.

Indeed, the next day, Ah Ba came.

“Honored Guest Elder Wu, there’s a favor I need from you,”

Ah Ba drank tea, smiling, and handed over a stack of Rank Three talisman paper and a Rank Three talisman pen.

“Produce Rank Three Fire Python Talismans, Qi Burst Talismans, and other attack-type talismans, as many as you can make—”

Li An’s expression slightly changed, “Eighth Master, I’m not yet capable of creating Rank Three runes…”

“They said that with your level, you’re not far from Rank Three talismans. Look, here is a Third Grade Fetal Soul Herb for nurturing Divine Sense and the methods for making these talismans.”

Ah Ba handed over a box to Li An, which contained an herbal ingredient and several scrolls.

He patted Li An’s shoulder, “You must complete it. Also, this matter is only between you and me, understand?”

Li An hesitated repeatedly on his face, but eventually gritted his teeth and agreed, “I’ll do my best, but the success rate and quality are not guaranteed in the short term. I hope Eighth Master can forgive me…”

“Don’t worry, for the first three months, you can squander as you like; it’s okay if you don’t produce a single talisman…”

After saying this, Ah Ba left, adding as he exited, “I’ll visit regularly, I like your tea here.”

After he left.

Li An stared at the talisman paper and pen, frowning tightly.

Clearly, these were private tasks assigned by Jiang Ribai.

The family surely knows nothing about it!

Li An’s Tier Two talisman performance made Jiang Ribai realize that Li An’s true talisman crafting skills were not low.

Of course, they certainly didn’t guess that Li An could actually make Rank Three talismans now.

That’s why they gave Li An Fetal Soul Herbs and other aids, as well as practice space.

“Jiang Ribai or Jiang Ruoshi must be using these talisman papers to do unspeakable dirty deeds!”

That’s what Li An deduced.

After all, if it was for family needs, it would be arranged directly.

The Jiang family has no shortage of high-level experts who can produce Rank Three talismans!

But Jiang Ruoshi and others still found Li An because Li An was their person and had no bases within the Jiang clan. Having Li An craft talismans wouldn’t be known by others.

Furthermore, Li An was someone they had personally supported, so he was easier to manipulate.

“Never mind, the talisman paper delivered shouldn’t be wasted—”

Now Li An didn’t lack Tier Two talisman papers, but he didn’t have a single sheet of Rank Three talisman paper!

He’s just taking this opportunity to replenish heavily.

He first crafted Rank Three Flying Talismans!

His foundation in this was the best.

In just the first month, he produced twelve Flying Talismans, greatly filling his storage bag.

In the second month, he set his sights on Qi Burst Talismans and Fire Python Talismans.

The Qi Burst Talisman, once activated, can immediately explosively combust the air within a ten-mile radius, equivalent to a strike from a Core Formation cultivator, possessing immense power, and is generally lethal below Core Formation, belonging to area damage talismans.

The Fire Python Talisman, as its name suggests, can unleash powerful flames, strong enough to threaten Core Formation cultivators. Although its range isn’t as large as the Qi Burst Talisman, its attack is more formidable!

Both are premium within Rank Three talismans.

Li An’s only reliance was his past life’s experience, as well as his strong Divine Sense and pure Spiritual Power in this life.

By the end of the second month, Li An had used up an unknown amount of talisman paper, yet only managed to craft two to three inferior Qi Burst Talismans.

He kept two and showed one to Ah Ba, but Ah Ba was already quite satisfied.

By the third month, Li An successfully crafted three authentic Qi Burst Talismans and four inferior Qi Burst Talismans. He gave Ah Ba one authentic and three inferior ones, making Ah Ba even happier!

…

And so, in the blink of an eye, a year had passed.

“Twenty Rank Three Flying Talismans, ten Spirit Dispersing Talismans, fifteen Qi Burst Talismans, fifteen Fire Python Talismans… and over three hundred Tier Two talismans!”

Looking at the harvest in his storage bag, Li An felt a great sense of security!

Now, even facing a Core Formation cultivator, Li An wouldn’t be as helpless as before.

Relying on these talismans, he might still not defeat a Core Formation cultivator, but escape would practically be assured!

“Being under the shade of a big tree is indeed beneficial…”

He couldn’t help but sigh.

This is the foundation of a Nascent Soul family. With the resources provided by great cultivators, he could also live comfortably.

And over the past year, numerous rumors about the war between the Yan Kingdom and Great Li had circulated.

Li An, who had made many friends within the Jiang family, managed to hear some rumors.

It seemed that this war was started by the Jiang family.

The Jiang family’s target was the Northern Territory of Great Li, or rather, a part of it.

The Ten Thousand Miles Abyss!

Li An felt this information was very likely true.

The opportunities in the Ten Thousand Miles Abyss would tempt even a Nascent Soul family like the Jiang family.

To obtain it, they first needed to claim that piece of land in the northern part of Great Li. Only then could they slowly explore and develop it…

“Honored Guest Elder Wu,”

On this day, Ah Ba came again. After Li An handed over the talismans, Ah Ba said, “Next month, the young master plans to go to Great Li. You’re somewhat familiar with the situation there, so you should prepare to accompany the young master——”

Li An’s heart stirred.

Jiang Ruoshi wants to go to Great Li…

He wasn’t particularly concerned about Jiang Ruoshi’s purpose, but going back to Great Li might give him a chance to retrieve the Top Grade Primordial Spirit Pill!

…

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep