It would be better to wait until he opened his Bitter Sea and cultivated magic power before refining it.
After returning to the city, he took the Luoyang Shovel and Snakeskin Bag and went alone to Mount Tai.
Meanwhile, the great tomb beneath the Vegetable Greenhouse was finally discovered.
Not long after the local archaeological team got involved, Old Man Xu learned of his third son's death.
At the Xu Family Ancestral Hall, Old Man Xu once again secretly discussed the matter with his eldest son, Xu Jian, who had only recently been released from prison, and his second son, Xu Jisheng.
"Dad, Third Brother's death definitely has something to do with that Li Zhi," Xu Jisheng said with absolute certainty.
"I was deceived by him before as well. He isn't a member of the Li Family at all. Perhaps you're right. His death probably does have something to do with Li Zhi." A trace of grief over his lost son flashed through Old Man Xu's eyes.
"But Dad, apart from an overseas bank account, we don't have any information about him at all." A hint of unease flashed through Xu Jian's eyes.
Old Man Xu said, "In this world, there's nothing money can't buy. As long as we're willing to spend, we'll definitely be able to find him."
"That man is probably ruthless. What if he finds out we're looking for him? Won't that bring disaster upon our family?" Xu Jian said worriedly.
"Big Brother, you're always so hesitant. The situation is already obvious. Third Brother must have discovered something in that great tomb, which was why he was silenced. Didn't you hear what the archaeological team said? They've already determined that a third party was present at the scene. It must have been Li Zhi. He acted like the mantis waiting to catch the cicada, then reaped the benefits." Xu Jisheng spoke.
"Dad, Second Brother, I still think we should deliberate carefully. Our family isn't some powerful household. Even if we find Li Zhi, what can we do? With his wealth, do you really think we can stand against him?" After spending time in prison, Xu Jian seemed to have lost his courage.
"Big Brother, what do you mean? That was a chance at immortality, and you're just going to watch it slip away?" Xu Jisheng glared at Xu Jian indignantly.
Old Man Xu said, "Third Brother's death must be explained, but we have to come up with a safe plan."
Xu Jian frowned. "Dad, have you forgotten what happened to the Yao Family? Our family really can't afford to get involved in something like this."
Just then, Xu Jian's daughter, Xu Miaomiao, shouted from outside the ancestral hall.
"Grandpa, Dad, Second Uncle. A Boss Ke with a very fierce-looking appearance has come to the house. He says he's here to see you."
"Boss Ke?" Xu Jian and Old Man Xu simultaneously shifted their gazes to Xu Jisheng.
Xu Jisheng shook his head. "I don't know any Boss Ke."
"Let's go out and see what this Boss Ke is all about."
In the end, it was Old Man Xu who spoke calmly.
At that moment, Li Zhi, who had already entered the Array Barrier, had no idea that the people seeking his life had begun appearing one after another.
Moreover, after successfully entering the Array Barrier surrounding the outskirts of the Great Sage's Grotto-heaven, things were far from proceeding as smoothly as he had imagined.
In fact, it had been foreseeable that Li Zhi would run into trouble.
If he had carefully calculated the timing before entering that Formation, he would have been surprised to discover that the day he climbed Mount Tai was precisely the day the three years of good fortune he had borrowed by offering a sacrifice to Heaven expired.
Unfortunately, three years of smooth sailing had caused Li Zhi to subconsciously overlook this matter.
The mountains rose majestically, lakes and marshes spread everywhere, and lush vegetation flourished, while countless birds and beasts flew through the forest.
After entering the Great Sage's Grotto-heaven, Li Zhi felt as if he had arrived in another world.
He had entered on top of a great mountain.
A terrace had been built on the mountain.
Standing on the terrace, he saw a hazy expanse of mist behind him. It seemed to be the end of the world—the location of the Formation's Barrier.
Facing the terrace was an extremely vast area.
He couldn't see the end of it at a glance. It seemed to stretch for several hundred miles.
In the distance, mountains connected to mountains, and waters connected to waters, forming what looked like a beautiful landscape painting.
He could also see that every mountain had a flat area on it. It seemed that invisible Barriers enveloped those areas. Looking closely, he saw that they were Medicine Gardens of various sizes.
Almost none of the medicinal plants growing in those Medicine Gardens were recognizable to Li Zhi.
At least, he had never seen those varieties of plants in the outside world.
He followed a path down along the edge of the terrace.
Li Zhi officially entered the region where the Great Sage's Grotto-heaven was located.
He was looking for a place called Longevity Hall.
After crossing mountains and ridges, he finally saw a familiar plant when he passed a Medicine Field at the foot of a mountain.
That Medicine Field was actually filled with rice plants.
Li Zhi also discovered that there seemed to be no weeds in the rice paddy, which was quite miraculous.
It wasn't until he saw the Array Barrier covering the rice paddy that he understood the reason. The Formation seemed to possess the function of automatically regulating the balance of water and fertilizer.
Even without anyone tending them, the medicinal plants in those Medicine Gardens could still grow luxuriantly.
Unfortunately, all those Medicine Fields gave Li Zhi the feeling that they were completely devoid of spirituality.
Even the Barriers seemed rather flimsy.
He tried poking them several times with the Luoyang Shovel in his hand and pierced through the layer of Barrier.
After observing the medicinal plants in the Medicine Field for a moment, Li Zhi simply shook his head. As expected, they had no spirituality at all.
They were no different from the vegetation outside. They weren't Spiritual Herbs at all.
Moreover, he couldn't sense the presence of spiritual energy in the air.
It was almost no different from the general environment of Heaven and Earth outside.
Li Zhi couldn't help sighing at the power of Ninety-Nine Dragon Mountain. It had actually caused an Ancient Star even larger than Beidou to nearly wither away.
Even areas covered by the Array Barriers arranged by a Great Sage couldn't escape the fate of withering.
No wonder those Ancient Cultivators had all left the Ancient Star and traveled to distant lands.
After crossing one great mountain after another and one small river after another, Li Zhi finally saw the outline of Longevity Hall on a mountain seven or eight hundred meters high.
The palace was almost fused with the mountaintop.
It had been built entirely from an unknown type of wood.
Just seeing that wooden Great Hall made the blood and qi within Li Zhi's body become active.
It seemed that a considerable amount of spiritual energy still remained inside the hall.
After spending more than an hour, Li Zhi finally climbed to the mountaintop and arrived before Longevity Hall.
The exterior of the Great Hall was extremely plain. There were neither carved beams and painted rafters nor various kinds of divine-beast reliefs.
The Great Hall was its natural wood color, and its length and width were no more than ten zhang.
It was also about ten zhang tall.
Moreover, the hall doors stood wide open, allowing him to see the arrangement inside at a glance.
Two rows of four pillars each, every one more than a meter thick, supported the entire Great Hall. There were no tables, chairs, or benches inside, nor any other decorations.
There wasn't even a single meditation mat.
The Great Hall appeared extremely empty.
The only special feature was that its floor differed from those of ordinary palaces. It was made of solid wooden planks without the slightest gap.
The only thing that delighted Li Zhi was that the Hundred Herbs Diagram floated in the center of the Great Hall.
It was a massive scroll, nine chi long and three chi wide, that had been fully unfurled. The scroll rods on either end were carved from an unknown Divine Wood.
The painting contained nothing superfluous, only a great mountain and Medicine Fields arranged in terraces around it.
The colors of those Medicine Fields were also easy to distinguish: green, yellow, red, white, and black.
Moreover, the Spiritual Herbs planted there seemed to be arranged according to the Great Wu Xing.
At the platform on the mountaintop grew a Fruit Tree nearly twice the height of a person.
Beneath the Fruit Tree, a Daoist with indistinct features sat cross-legged.
Directly above the Daoist's head, on the Fruit Tree, hung its only fruit.
The fruit resembled a baby. Its facial features were clear, and its pale skin was flushed red, making it look remarkably like the legendary Ginseng Fruit.
Even though he saw it only through the Barrier and the painting, Li Zhi felt an urge to eat it immediately.
After pacing outside the hall for several minutes, Li Zhi didn't enter directly. Instead, he went to inspect the other mountain peaks.
He wanted to see whether there were any other places where humans lived in this vast Secret Realm.
Or any places where Spiritual Herbs grew.
Over the next half a month, he almost searched the entire Secret Realm, but only found several abandoned caves.
He didn't find anything of value in the caves, either.
As for Spiritual Herbs, he could forget about finding any.
There were quite a few sweet-smelling fruits in the mountains.
Li Zhi picked more than half a Snakeskin Bag of fruit, planning to take it back for the children to taste.
Before you continue