Meanwhile, in the spiritual energy-filled mountains of Anyang County, which bordered Ning'an County where Ning'an City was located, pavilions were scattered across the peaks. At the center stood a massive ancestral hall, inside which two middle-aged men in black robes currently stood.
"The soul lamp of Guo Yanlin from the fourth branch has gone out," one of them said.
"Hmph! That little brat went missing after accepting the family's mission to procure century-old ironwood, and now that he has perished, we don't even have a target for revenge!" the other replied bitterly.
"We must search anyway! Our Guo family cannot suffer such a loss in vain. Have people sent out to find out everywhere he has recently appeared," the first speaker ordered.
"The family will have to allocate the spirit stones for purchasing the century-old ironwood once more. Without the ironwood, I cannot continue refining pills."
As the family's sole alchemist, though he resented Guo Yanlin for taking the spirit stones without completing the mission, the man was already dead, and pill refining could not be halted. Thus, ironwood had to be purchased again.
While century-old ironwood itself lacked spiritual energy, it was highly durable and provided a stable flame, making it ideal for refining low-grade elixirs.
Although not a spiritual material, because it required a century of growth, the wood was rare in the mortal realm. Its necessity in alchemy ensured that it was quite valuable.
Guo Yanlin had waylaid the transport convoy precisely to check for century-old ironwood. While a single spirit stone could buy a bundle, acquiring several carts of ironwood would allow him to make up for the deficit spent on the Spirit Beast Pouch.
Speaking of Guo Yanlin, he was a pitiful figure. His parents were mortals without spiritual roots, and he had left them in his youth to cultivate at the family's immortal cultivation settlement.
His own spiritual root aptitude was extremely poor—a mixed pseudo-spiritual root of metal, fire, wood, and earth. Relying on the vast amounts of pills provided by his grandfather, who was in charge of the family's spiritual beasts, he had only reached the 3rd Layer of Qi Refining by the age of twenty-three, meaning foundation establishment was forever beyond his reach.
This time, he had accepted a family mission and traveled to the cultivator market at the foot of the Hengduan Mountains to purchase century-old ironwood.
Who could have imagined that while passing through a small town outside Ning'an City, he would encounter a local old hunter selling game, among which was this "Little Armadillo"?
Because his grandfather oversaw the family's spiritual beasts, Guo Yanlin had been fascinated by them since childhood. Not only had he begged his grandfather to transcribe the ancestral legacy, the *Beast Taming Canon*, but he had also secretly perused the *Encyclopedia of Rare Spiritual Beasts* left behind by the founders.
According to family rules, only those at the Late Qi Refining stage were permitted to raise spiritual beasts, as cultivating one required a massive expenditure of spirit stones. Practitioners in the early-to-mid-stage of Qi Refining still relied on the spiritual veins and elixirs provided by the family for cultivation and entirely lacked the spare spirit stones to raise a beast.
Furthermore, the *Encyclopedia of Rare Spiritual Beasts* was no street-vendor pamphlet recording only common creatures.
Most of the spiritual beasts within it were species that only a Golden Core cultivator could hope to encounter—including the "Little Armadillo" sold by the old hunter.
When Guo Yanlin asked the old hunter how he acquired the creature, the old hunter replied that he had found it deep in the mountains, and offered to give away the seemingly dying Little Armadillo for free with a purchase of ten catties of game.
Without a moment's hesitation, Guo Yanlin fished out a silver ingot, picked up the Little Armadillo amid the old man's gaze of utter bewilderment, and departed overjoyed.
Having secured the armadillo, Guo Yanlin rushed without stopping to the cultivator market, using the spirit stones the family had given him for the century-old ironwood to buy a low-grade Spirit Beast Pouch and spiritual fluid to boost the beast's vitality.
A few days later, the Little Armadillo finished absorbing the fluid and fell into a deep slumber, leaving Guo Yanlin with only five spirit stones to his name.
Had he simply turned the armadillo over to the family, his failure to buy the ironwood would surely have been trivial; not only would the family not blame him, but they would have heavily rewarded him.
Yet, having grown up under his grandfather's meticulous coddling, Guo Yanlin had developed a selfish and opportunistic personality. He never considered handing it over, nor did he intend to let anyone else know he possessed a spiritual beast until he reached the Late Qi Refining stage.
Therefore, he decided to find a remote location far from the family to see if he could rob a transport convoy and obtain the century-old ironwood.
The Weiyuan Escort Agency became his first victim.
Alas, fate did not grant his wish. After robbing the convoy and discovering no century-old ironwood, he flew into a rage and slaughtered everyone. Seeing that the day was growing late, he headed to the nearest small town and rented a room at an inn.
He had planned to rest at the inn before searching for other transport teams.
Yet, early the next morning, when he walked down from his inn room, he unexpectedly spotted a fellow practitioner who had just begun his cultivation path sitting in the main hall.
Having operated around Ning'an City for years, Guo Yanlin knew that some novice cultivators would flock there from all over Chu Country because of the cultivator market outside the city.
He was instantly overjoyed; if he killed this person and seized their treasures, the issue of purchasing the century-old ironwood would be instantly resolved.
Guo Yanlin hatched a plot, purposely taking out his Spirit Sword from his Storage Bag and slapping it onto the stranger's table to test whether the other person recognized it, only to find the stranger completely indifferent.
Later, when the stranger mentioned hailing from a cultivation family outside Ning'an City, Guo Yanlin became convinced that the fellow was merely a rogue cultivator who had accidentally breached the Gates of Heaven and Earth.
Any cultivator of this country knew full well that there were no cultivation families outside Ning'an City—not even in all of Anning County.
Guo Yanlin was tempted to strike immediately and subdue the man, but nothing was absolute; what if the cultivation family was real, and there truly was a cultivation senior standing behind him? That would spell disaster.
He had just obtained a great stroke of fortune; he merely needed to find a way to acquire some century-old ironwood to report back to his family, and there was simply no need to take such risks.
As long as he confirmed the fellow had no senior cultivation master backing him, the man would never escape this calamity.
In the end, the outcome was simply that someone grew careless in Jingzhou and met his end inside a hollow tree.
As the saying goes: misfortune may be a blessing in disguise, and blessing may conceal misfortune. How tragic, how lamentable!
When Li Yu finished the last slice of dried python meat, he had spent a full year inside this mountain cave.
During this time, he occasionally ventured out to replenish his drinking water and hunt game to reward his stomach.
Through Li Yu's untiring efforts day and night, he had mastered most of the spells from the *Introduction to Five Elements Spells*. Though not yet skillfully applied, he could cast them with proper form.
It is worth noting that the Little Armadillo had awakened half a year prior. Using the method recorded in the *Taiyuan Beast Taming Canon*, Li Yu forced a drop of primordial blood from his fingertip to forge a pact with the armadillo, successfully gaining his very first spiritual beast.
Following the contract, a spiritual connection formed between the beast and its master, through which the Little Armadillo communicated its hunger and need for nourishment.
Li Yu attempted to feed it leaves, wild fruits, insects, and python meat, all of which were rejected. Finally, using spiritual fluid dissolved from "Qi Refining Powder," the Little Armadillo was finally willing to eat.
Over the course of half a year, the Little Armadillo consumed an entire bottle of Qi Refining Powder, while Li Yu utilized the immense medicinal power and spiritual energy of the other two bottles to push his cultivation to the peak of the 1st Layer of Qi Refining.
Clearing away all traces of his living in the cave, he tied his Flying Dagger sheath, Storage Bag, and Spirit Beast Pouch securely around his waist, concealing them beneath his outer robe.
On a bright afternoon, Li Yu activated the "Wind Escaping Technique" and left the place in a few bounds.
Compared to his previous life of sleeping in the open, this time Li Yu truly felt like an immortal cultivator. Traveling came with the Wind Escaping Technique, quenching thirst with the Water Gathering Technique, and when hungry, he could conjure fireballs directly at his fingertips using Pyrokinesis to roast meat without even needing to start a campfire.
After taking over a month, Li Yu arrived outside Ning'an City.
One had to admit that while the Wind Escaping Technique could only rely on gentle breezes for continuous leaping—much like an upgraded version of martial arts lightness skills—it was still leagues beyond mortal methods.
For a mortal to cover this distance on a fast horse without rest would take three to four months.
Upon catching sight of Ning'an City's silhouette, Li Yu ceased using the Wind Escaping Technique. This was a massive mortal city, and he had no wish to cause a sensation; keeping a low profile was wisest.
A quarter of an hour later, Li Yu arrived outside the city gates.
The sprawling city before Li Yu boasted mottled walls and a wide moat. The three characters "Ning'an City" inscribed upon the gate had faded to white, and the thick iron chains on both sides of the drawbridge were covered in rust. This was an ancient and colossal city!
Inside the gates, traffic bustled and crowds surged. Broad streets stretched out in all directions toward unseen horizons.
Long confined to deep mountains, he had returned once more to the mortal realm.
For a moment, Li Yu found himself unaccustomed to such a bustling place.