The Path to Immortality Begins as a Sect's Menial Servant

Li An didn’t rush his breakthrough. Instead, he made time to visit the sect’s trading market again.

But this time, he was surprised—no one wanted spirit rice anymore.

After asking around, Li An learned that the sect had suddenly suspended all missions related to the Spirit Beast Mountain.

He couldn’t help but feel confused. The small beast tide shouldn’t be over yet—was there some new development in the Spirit Beast Mountain?

“Senior Sister Xu is here,” someone said.

Xu Qiuhui’s graceful figure drew many gazes the moment she appeared.

But unexpectedly, she came today to set up her own stall.

She walked over to Li An’s small stall and said, “You don’t need to deliver spirit rice to me next month. As for this batch, I’ll still buy it as agreed. But the final payment will have to wait until I sell some things.”

Li An was surprised. Was Xu Qiuhui running out of money?

He could understand. Though she was an official disciple with a generous monthly allowance, expenses were also high. The further one progressed, the more expensive magical tools and pills became.

And since Xu Qiuhui was already at the Seventh Stage of Qi Refining, she was likely preparing for Foundation Establishment.

She’d been trying to capture the mysterious spirit beast from Spirit Beast Mountain, buying spirit rice, talismans, and tools every month—a huge expense.

Unfortunately, eight months had passed. Not only had she failed to capture that beast, but she had also wasted precious time, missing many chances to catch ordinary spirit beasts.

“No need, Immortal. You gave me half a spirit stone as a deposit last month. At today’s market rate, this hundred kilograms of spirit rice is only worth that much. You don’t need to pay the rest.”

Li An was very straightforward.

In his eyes, Xu Qiuhui was still a decent person.

Xu Qiuhui didn’t argue. Clearly, she really was strapped for cash. She immediately said, “Alright then. Can I borrow your stall and set up here?”

Li An readily agreed and quickly made room for her.

Right away, Xu Qiuhui laid out her goods on his stall:

Two damaged First Rank herbs, half a bottle of detox pills, an old talisman brush, dozens of sheets of talisman paper…

These items weren’t accepted by the sect’s exchange counter, so she could only try to sell them at the market.

Li An’s eyes lit up. “Immortal Xu, how much for the talisman brush and the paper?”

Xu Qiuhui was surprised. “You want to buy them?”

“Yes. I’ve studied talisman basics for half a year. I want to give it a try…”

He had come out specifically to buy talisman tools.

After all, he was about to break through to the Second Stage. That might draw attention.

Revealing his talent as a talisman crafter would raise his value.

That way, many potential troubles would naturally disappear.

Xu Qiuhui shook her head. “The talisman path requires the least aptitude and talent among the major arts, but I don’t recommend it—it’s a waste.”

Of all the various branches of cultivation—alchemy, artifact crafting, formations, and talismans—talisman crafting was the easiest for ordinary people to approach. As long as one practiced enough, they could draw basic talismans, even with poor aptitude.

But the true barrier lay in the success rate.

Most people had to burn through hundreds of papers just to produce one usable talisman. The effort and cost often weren’t worth the results.

Only those with special talent or vast backing could improve enough to become proper talisman crafters.

Xu Qiuhui had tried before, but her talent was limited and her success rate low. That’s why her brush and paper were left unused.

From her perspective, Li An was just a Menial Servant with a damaged spirit root. Aiming to become a talisman crafter was a fool’s dream.

But Li An replied firmly, “Immortal, I still want to try.”

“…Alright.”

Xu Qiuhui didn’t press further. “This is a First Rank talisman brush. I paid five spirit stones for it back then, and it’s still in decent shape. With the talisman papers, you can have a lot for three spirit stones.”

Li An agreed without hesitation and paid.

Then he wandered around the market some more.

“Little Menial, back again? Here, I got you all the fresh Spring-Holding Grass picked today.”

At an herb stall, a middle-aged registered disciple greeted Li An with a smile.

This man’s name was Zhou Xin, at the Third Stage of Qi Refining. Even among registered disciples, he was at the bottom, and the herbs he sold were low quality. Spring-Holding Grass, which had little use, was one of them.

Since Li An started buying from him, Zhou Xin had found a steady buyer and brought in dozens of kilograms every month.

“By the way, Spring-Holding Grass has gone up—twenty kilograms will cost you half a spirit stone now.”

Zhou Xin spoke slowly. Every now and then, he would raise the price a bit.

After all, if he didn’t take advantage of this fat sheep, who would?

After some bargaining, Li An left with twenty kilograms of Spring-Holding Grass and headed back to Spirit Plant Mountain.

…

Back at his place, he shut the door.

Li An laid out the talisman paper and brush, full of anticipation.

In his previous life, with his family’s support, he had become a talisman crafter despite his average talent.

After reaching Core Formation, his skills in talisman crafting had soared.

To become a talisman crafter, one needed tons of experience to improve the success rate.

But experience? That, he had plenty of!

He picked up the brush, entered a focused state, and began crafting.

He started with the simplest: Spirit Gathering Talisman.

It was a First Rank Low Grade basic talisman that enhanced spiritual energy gathering and lasted for a month.

Midway through the first drawing, the paper burned.

Li An wasn’t discouraged. In this life, his talent was even worse. It made sense that his brush control wasn’t perfect.

By the seventh sheet, he finally succeeded in creating a Spirit Gathering Talisman.

Out of ten papers, only one succeed.

But even that was already outstanding for a beginner. Ordinary people might burn through 300 to 400 sheets before getting one.

Still, Li An wasn’t satisfied. He kept focusing and continued.

Over the next twenty papers, he succeeded five times.

That success rate already marked him as a qualified talisman crafter.

“Thirteen papers left… I should try the Fire Talisman!”

The Fire Talisman was also First Rank Low Grade, but it was offensive—it could threaten anyone below the Third Stage.

Much harder than Spirit Gathering.

In the end, all thirteen papers were wasted. He didn’t quite succeed.

“Another few sheets, and I’d make it…”

Li An sighed. So close.

In total, he used forty-three talisman papers and made six Spirit Gathering Talismans.

What surprised him the most—despite all the drawing, he wasn’t exhausted.

“The Life Seed also improves mental strength significantly.”

Crafting talismans drains mental power. Most First Stage cultivators can barely manage ten sheets before collapsing. Over fifteen sheets would knock them out.

But Li An was still fine.

“That means techniques related to spirit and consciousness might suit me very well!”

Li An saw a new path open to him.

He thought for a moment. Spirit-cultivating techniques were extremely rare. In his last life, he had only acquired one—Extra-Sense Method.

And that was an incomplete scroll—only the first chapter.

But it was all he had to work with now.

He packed up the brush and paper, sat down, and began cultivating the Extra-Sense Method.

This method stimulated a person’s mental state and enhanced perception.

At the Qi Refining stage, one couldn’t form true spiritual sense yet. But perception showed in hearing, sight, smell—and helped greatly in both battle and scouting.

In the deep night, Li An felt his heart completely calm down. He began to pick up subtle sounds.

Even Zhang Susu’s rhythmic moans from next door became clearly audible.

Although his willpower was strong, his body was still that of a youth. And this time… the details were too vivid. His lower belly stirred with heat…

…

Two months passed in the blink of an eye.

Li An didn’t go out during this time. He trained on Spirit Plant Mountain the entire period.

Finally, one night, with the rice fields still in seedling phase and little work required, he closed his door early.

He laid out six spirit stones before him.

He was already at the peak of the First Stage, just a step from the Second.

He closed his eyes and began absorbing the pure spiritual energy to break through!

…

Ten days later.

Li An finally walked out of his house.

He couldn’t help but tilt his head back and howl at the sky!

“Ahhh—!”

The long howl was filled with exhilaration.

Zhang Susu and Wang Zilin next door were startled and rushed over.

Li An looked like a clay figurine, covered in black grime. But his eyes gleamed, and his aura had completely changed.

“I broke through to the Second Stage of Qi Refining!”

Li An looked like a fool, beaming with joy.

Zhang Susu and Wang Zilin were both stunned.

Wasn’t Li An’s spirit root ruined? Wasn’t he supposed to be stuck at the First Stage forever?

Even Fan Jie came down the mountain to check personally.

“Your spirit root… it’s basically healed?!”

Fan Jie was beyond shocked. He grabbed Li An’s shoulder. “You got a Second Rank pill?!”

Li An looked confused. “No. A few days ago I boiled a pot of Spring-Holding Grass and ate it all. Then my stomach hurt so bad I passed out. When I woke up… I’d broken through…”

All three were dumbfounded.

Spring-Holding Grass could do that?

No… something was wrong…

Fan Jie suddenly thought of something and rushed to Li An’s home to check—but the pot was empty. Li An had drunk it all.

“When you ate the Spring-Holding Grass, how did it feel?”

Fan Jie asked urgently.

“This batch was a little different. The soup was really white and felt a little tingly. Right after I drank it, I had horrible stomach pain and blacked out…”

Li An said honestly, “Immortal Master… did I get food poisoning?”

Fan Jie’s face twisted. “Poison my ass. You didn’t eat Spring-Holding Grass. You probably ate Origin Spring Grass!!”

“I don’t know which idiot sold you Origin Spring Grass as Spring-Holding Grass… What a waste! A total waste!!”

He explained the difference between Origin Spring Grass and Spring-Holding Grass.

Zhang Susu and Wang Zilin were both stunned.

Especially Wang Zilin—his whole mindset collapsed. This shameless man, Li An, did all kinds of annoying things and still ended up with this kind of dumb luck?

Where was justice?

Where was the law?!

…

(End of Chapter)