After finding out it wasn't food poisoning, Li An appeared extremely happy.
Zhang Susu looked envious, her beautiful eyes sparkling with admiration. She had followed Fan Jie for a year and broke through the second level of Qi Refining a few months ago, but compared to Li An, she had put in too much effort.
Wang Zilin felt somewhat depressed, often sighing and lamenting.
A few days passed.
Fan Jie found Li An with a smile:
"Li An, I have something to discuss with you."
Li An was flattered: "Immortal Xu, please feel free to give instructions."
"It's like this, our spirit field is almost at maturity again, but Wang Zilin's piece of land is barren, and the yield has always been low."
Fan Jie looked at Li An and smiled: "You've already broken through to the second level of Qi Refining and mastered the Cloud Movement and Rain Skill best. I'd like to invite you to go over and improve it."
"Of course, I won't let you suffer. I'll give you an extra small piece of Spirit Stone every month. How about it?"
Li An's heart felt a chill.
The worry has finally come.
Previously, his Spirit Root was damaged, with no future, so Fan Jie didn't care about him.
But now, Li An's Spirit Root is healed, and he has broken through to the second level of Qi Refining... which means Li An has the hope of advancing to become a recorded disciple.
Fan Jie absolutely doesn't want anyone from Spirit Plant Mountain to become a recorded disciple!
Because if that happens, his secrets in Spirit Plant Mountain might be exposed.
Zhang Susu, Li An, and the three of them are best kept as miscellaneous servants, so he can better control and manipulate.
Thus, Li An had long anticipated that Fan Jie would obstruct his cultivation!
Now it seems Fan Jie's method is simple, sending Li An to take charge of the worst spirit field.
In doing so, Li An seems to get a small piece of Spirit Stone monthly, but he will lose a lot of time and energy.
Wang Zilin now is like an exhausted bull every day, barely maintaining the yield, having no way to improve his cultivation, becoming pure consumption.
"Thank you for your kind offer, Immortal Xu,"
Li An shook his head, "but I'd rather have more time for cultivation."
Fan Jie's smile suddenly disappeared, replaced by a cold look.
Li An actually dared to refuse?!
"Immortal Xu, this is a Spirit Gathering Talisman I painted a few days ago, just a small token of respect."
And Li An had already taken out a Spirit Gathering Talisman, presenting it with both hands.
Fan Jie's expression changed slightly: "You painted it?!"
"Yes."
"How many Talisman papers did you use, and how many were successful?"
"Forty sheets of Talisman paper, three successful, but... the quality is not very stable."
Li An actually succeeded with six but kept three hidden!
In fact, if he hadn't wasted a dozen sheets of Talisman paper experimenting with Fire Talismans, Li An could have painted at least around ten Spirit Gathering Talismans.
Fan Jie suddenly had a pondering look in his eyes.
A Talisman success rate of one-tenth qualifies one to be recognized as a competent Talisman Master by the sect!
Once Li An passes the sect's test and proves competent, even if his cultivation isn't sufficient... he would become a recorded disciple!
After all, Talisman Masters are rare talents, even if Li An can only produce First Grade low-level talismans, he would receive special treatment.
And Li An's success rate is very close to one-tenth.
Becoming a recorded disciple seems sooner or later.
Fan Jie couldn't help but feel puzzled; Li An, this sickly lad, has somehow struck luck within a year...
Given Li An's capabilities, further obstruction is already meaningless.
"Since painting talismans isn't easy for you, I cannot accept your Spirit Talisman."
Fan Jie's face suddenly had a friendly smile, "Alright, since you don't want to, I won't force you; keep cultivating well."
After saying this, he left.
Li An watched Fan Jie go, his gaze cold.
Attempting to obstruct my path... I will repay this grudge tenfold in due time!
He remembered Fan Jie's name in his heart.
...
In the following month, Li An barely went out.
He kept consolidating and improving himself.
One day, in the deserted forest.
It was mating season, and two odorous polecats were flirting.
Suddenly, two water arrows appeared in the air, whistling towards them.
The polecats were shocked and tried to escape. The female polecat was unable to rise quickly and was hit, while the male polecat was clever enough to leap and dodge the first arrow with a spin in the air.
But before it landed, the second water arrow shot it.
Husband and wife lost their lives both!
Fifty meters away, Li An emerged from the bushes, smiling with satisfaction.
"The Water Arrow Skill has advanced further, able to fire three arrows simultaneously, reaching a range of fifty meters!"
This is enough to threaten cultivators at the third level of Qi Refining.
"Moreover, after cultivating the Super Sensing Skill, my perception has significantly strengthened, improving both my hearing and vision, able to detect the breathing sounds of animals from fifty steps away!"
He walked over to pick up the polecat's carcass, pulled a used Spirit Gathering Talisman from his body, and replaced it with a new one.
At month-end, the talisman had already expired.
Spirit Gathering Talisman can slightly enhance cultivation speed; over the month, the second leaf of his Life Seed within his body gradually unfolded.
"I estimate my lifespan is around one hundred and fifty years now."
He murmured, then turned to leave.
Returning to his residence, he continued to cook several large pots of insect-killing soup, which he gave to Zhang Susu and Wang Zilin.
With pests breeding constantly, over the past year, Li An has steadily garnered profits through his "Stinky Insect Exterminating Soup."
Throughout, Wang Zilin, in hopes of escaping Li the Skinner's exploitation, attempted brewing medicine soup himself.
He went to great lengths, capturing polecats, digging up camphor wood roots, yet the concoction, while it nearly suffocated him, was ineffective against insects.
He guessed that Li An was withholding something, and begrudgingly continued enduring ninety-five percent of the exploitation.
...
On the last day of the month, Li An requested leave to go out.
...
A few months ago, Li An had been paying attention to where Xu Qiuhui resided—Yangdao Residence.
Official disciples all lived there.
He waited outside Yangdao Residence all morning but did not see Xu Qiuhui.
Fortunately, there were many entrances to the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall of the outer sect, and quite a few errand disciples passing by. Otherwise, it would have been strange for him to just squat there.
In the meantime, he caught sight of his acquaintance, Mu Qingwan.
In a year, she had become even more beautiful, walking into Yangdao Residence with a graceful young man.
Li An avoided them and didn't go up to greet them.
The other party would not notice a small errand disciple in the corner.
It wasn't until the afternoon that Li An saw Xu Qiuhui come out.
Li An immediately went up to greet her, "Immortal Xu!"
When Xu Qiuhui saw Li An, she was clearly a little surprised, "Why are you here?"
"Disciple has come specially to thank the Immortal!"
After saying this, he directly took out two Spirit Gathering Talismans and respectfully presented them, "Thanks to the talisman brush and talisman paper bestowed by the Immortal, I was fortunate enough to draw four Spirit Gathering Talismans. I am extremely grateful. These two pieces of talisman paper are a small token; please, Immortal Xu, accept them with a smile."
Xu Qiuhui was astonished, "Four?"
She remembered that she had sold this small errand disciple... roughly forty sheets of talisman paper.
To have successfully made four, this meant that Li An's success rate was about one in ten.
"I never thought you would be quite adept with talismans."
She couldn't help but nod. Knowing her talisman brush and talisman paper could create a Talisman Master and change an errand disciple's fate, she felt quite pleased.
Moreover, she had quite a favorable impression of Li An, after all, every time Li An sold her Spirit Rice, he said it was one hundred jin, but its actual weight was about one hundred twenty jin!
"This is your own fortune, and besides, those talisman brushes and papers were purchased with Spirit Stones, not given to you by me."
Li An insisted, "Immortal, you have been exceptionally kind to Li An!"
"If not for the initial guidance of the Immortal, Li An's Spirit Root would never have recovered…"
He was a little emotional and immediately recounted the incident of mistakenly consuming the Primordial Spring Herbs.
Xu Qiuhui was also quite surprised by this. This little errand disciple was truly blessed.
However, she wasn't too shocked. Such occurrences weren't uncommon in the Profound Yang Sect; low-ranking disciples occasionally found Second Grade Spirit Medicine through sheer luck.
Moreover, Spring Herbs and Primordial Spring Herbs were already hard to differentiate, and there was historical precedence in the Profound Yang Sect of people mistakenly consuming them.
Nonetheless, she could not help but regard Li An a bit more seriously.
Previously, she only thought Li An had a decent character but never paid much attention to an errand disciple.
After all, they were destined to not have any significant interactions.
But now, as Li An's Spirit Root had recovered, there was hope for him to become a Talisman Master… he might be useful in the future.
"Alright, then I'll keep one."
She didn't refuse further and symbolically accepted a piece of talisman paper.
This indicated she regarded Li An as a person worth associating with.
Apart from Li An having certain value himself, there was another important reason; Li An made her feel very comfortable in his dealings!
Otherwise, as a senior sister of the outer sect, many named disciples would fawn over her daily, and an errand disciple wouldn't even have the qualification for such treatment from her.
"Immortal, are you going out to the trading market?"
"Mm, you too? Then let's go together." Xu Qiuhui nodded.
Li An eagerly agreed.
He accompanied Xu Qiuhui to the trading market.
Just as they arrived, a middle-aged named disciple from one of the stalls rushed out, furiously grabbing Li An's collar and shouted angrily:
"You little errand boy, give me back my Primordial Spring Herbs, damn it, give me back my Primordial Spring Herbs! Or I'll kill you!"
Zhou Xin!
His eyes were bloodshot, as if he wanted to eat Li An alive.
Obviously, he had found out somewhere that Li An had consumed the Primordial Spring Herbs.
This made him immediately break down.
Second Grade Spirit Herbs—this could have been the greatest fortuitous encounter of his life.
To just miss it out of hand, giving it to a mere errand disciple—how could it not enrage him to the point of explosion?
Many people around were watching, pointing and discussing.
"Let go!"
But at this moment, Xu Qiuhui spoke coldly.
Seeing it was Xu Qiuhui, Zhou Xin's expression changed, and he quickly stepped back to greet her, "Greetings, Senior Sister Xu!"
"Senior Sister Xu, this little errand disciple bought my Primordial Spring Herbs at the price of Spring Herbs; I just want fairness…"
Xu Qiuhui coldly said, "And when you raised the price to sell him Spring Herbs, where was your sense of fairness?"
"Don't go too far."
She only said this one sentence.
Zhou Xin's face was a mix of red and green, his anger deeply restrained.
Xu Qiuhui… he simply could not afford to offend her!
"Fine!"
He gritted his teeth, gave Li An a venomous glare, and then turned and left.
"Thank you, Immortal, otherwise I really wouldn't know what to do…"
Li An was extremely grateful.
Xu Qiuhui remained calm; this was no issue for her.
...
Li An sold three Spirit Gathering Talismans at the market, exchanging them for a Spirit Stone.
Then, he used two Spirit Stones to purchase a hundred sheets of low-grade talisman paper.
"By the way,"
When parting, Xu Qiuhui suddenly remembered something and reminded:
"The mountain and Spirit Plant Mountain bordering the Spirit Beast Mountain Range, be careful lately."
Li An had a sudden feeling in his heart.
...