"The Fiery Sun Sect has colluded with the Demon Realm, intending to wreak havoc in the Celestial Cyan Domain. The Ten Thousand Laws Palace carries out the will of the heavens, exterminating them all..."

Upon seeing the latest notice proclaimed throughout the domain, all the cultivators in the Chaotic Stone Marketplace were left dumbfounded.

The grand Fiery Sun Sect, with a late-stage Core Formation Ascendant holding the fortress, was actually wiped out just like that?

"It is said that the True Monarch of Ten Thousand Laws didn’t even make a move!"

"Colluding with the Demon Realm, death is what they deserve!"

"Earlier, wasn’t it said that True Man Fu had plotted against the Pill King? How did it turn into colluding with the Demon Realm?"

...

"Master?" Zou Qi suddenly felt someone tugging at him from behind, and when he turned around, he saw Li Ji’an.

"Let’s go, we should leave now too." Li Ji’an smiled.

After waiting for this half year, Li Ji’an’s injuries had healed, and his magical power had returned to its peak.

The affairs between the Ten Thousand Laws Palace and the Fiery Sun Sect had also reached a final conclusion.

Not only was True Man Chunyuan’s fury long attracted by Fu Xiaochen of the Fiery Sun Sect, but the unfavorable situation, due to the Fiery Sun Sect’s occupation of the Black Water Swamp Ancient Tomb, also vanished with their downfall.

Three months ago, the Fiery Sun Sect had already retreated from the Black Water Swamp Ancient Tomb back to their sect, and simultaneously the other six sects began to jointly explore the ancient tomb.

On that day, Li Ji’an piloted the flying boat, taking Zou Qi all the way south. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Aboard the flying boat, Li Ji’an resumed his true form.

"Master!" Zou Qi exclaimed, his clear, big eyes wide with astonishment.

Li Ji’an patted his head. "I am an Elder of the Biyun Sect, and also a Pill Master. I can help you enter the sect, but the sect has its rules. If you join, you must first serve the sect and only then your master. Unlike the dynamic of loose cultivator master-disciple relationships.

If you do not wish to be bound by sect constraints, I can place you at the Odd Stone Forest Dao Field. It has a tier three spirit vein, and the chief is an old acquaintance of mine."

In the cultivation realm, master-disciple relationships can be genuine, aiming to pass on one’s legacy, sometimes finding a helping hand, and occasionally even holding darker motives—even in sect-led relationships it’s the same.

Sect rules require loyalty to the sect first, and only after that comes the identity of being a master’s disciple.

Loose cultivators can be relatively closer.

With Li Ji’an’s current status and position in the sect, arranging for Zou Qi to join the sect wasn’t a problem. However, in doing so, Zou Qi would have to adhere to sect rules first.

As for cultivation resources, he would also need to compete with other sect disciples, and though Li Ji’an as a master could be a background support, that’s about it.

Zou Yan previously let Zou Qi apprentice under Li Ji’an, clearly stating that only by following Li Ji’an did he have the hope of forming a core.

Li Ji’an left the choice to Zou Qi.

Upon hearing this, Zou Qi’s clear gaze remained unwavering, and he immediately bowed to the ground. "Once a master, a father for life. I leave the arrangements entirely to you, Master."

Li Ji’an nodded. Compared to sect-assigned disciples like Xu Xiaochun, a disciple like Zou Qi indeed felt closer.

"Very well!"

He had finally made his decision.

During this period, he also tried to understand Zou Qi more deeply. Apart from cultivation, Zou Qi showed no interest in any of the hundred skills of cultivation, nor did he possess any talent in them.

Having Zou Qi control the flying boat, Li Ji’an then turned and went inside the cabin.

He took out the Zou family’s divination heritage once more.

Over the past half-year, he studied it multiple times during his healing.

Unfortunately, the divination heritage seemed like celestial script to him, an outsider—every individual word was recognizable, but when put together, it was entirely incomprehensible.

This path was entirely different from cultivation, the Alchemy Dao, or the Talisman Dao.

It leaned more toward sensing the heavens, responding to humanity, and peering into the Celestial Dao.

Upon inquiry, Zou Qi was also at a loss, as his grandfather had once painstakingly taught him, but he never grasped the essence.

Ultimately, Li Ji’an had him recount Zou Yan’s teachings from back then, only then did he gain some understanding, but he was still a long way from entry-level comprehension.

Li Ji’an did not give up, resolute in his decision to thoroughly study the path of divination, even if it took ten generations, a hundred, or a thousand—unless time was ineffective, he was determined to conquer it.

Three months passed in the blink of an eye, during which time Li Ji’an traveled under the guise of a Fake Pill True Man and encountered no further obstacles.

That day, as they passed near the Eighteen Spirit Strongholds, he unexpectedly received a reply from Xiao Changfeng.

A year and a half had passed since his chance encounter with Fairy Yunyao.

"Big brother, don’t mind that crazy woman! I just came out of the Black Pool Cave."

Li Ji’an didn’t pry into their relationship, merely congratulating him on surviving the cave.

The Black Pool Cave was a secret store discovered by Cultivators of this world over five thousand years ago, and was still the largest ancient secret site within the Celestial Cyan Domain.

The entire cave system was interconnected, possibly a refuge from ancient times, with numerous countermeasures, full of dangers and plenty of opportunities.

After thousands of years of excavation, the Ten Thousand Laws Palace, leading the sects, had long explored the outer and central regions. As for the deeper, more secretive caverns, they were too perilous. It was said that the third generation True Monarch of Ten Thousand Laws was injured within, causing him to become one with the Dao at merely seven hundred years old.

It has been entirely open now for nearly two thousand years.

Considered the largest fully open ancient ruin in the domain, countless adventurers die within every year, yet it remains the holy land of opportunities for all who dream of great fortunes.

Over a hundred Core Formation Spirit Treasures have emerged from it.

A month and a half later, the flying boat arrived at the Odd Stone Forest Dao Field.

Since a year and a half ago, when Li Ji’an began to be targeted for assassination by various sects, Ning Sujin and Xiaoqiao of Odd Stone Forest had been worried day and night.

During this time, they frequently communicated with Li Ji’an, but to ensure his safety, Li Ji’an hadn’t read any messages from anyone at that time.

It wasn’t until preparing to return from the Chaotic Stone Marketplace that he responded to everyone.