Life Is Not Easy

Zhao Shuyao is Zhao Yunsheng's youngest daughter and his most pampered child.

Back then, Zhao Yunsheng desperately wanted to arrange a marriage between the two, even intending to bestow a marriage decree himself before his deathbed.

Li Ji'an refused, stating his ambition lay in cultivation and promising to take care of her once he reached the Immortal Realm.

Zhao Shuyao was present during that arranged marriage proposal.

Li Ji'an remembered clearly that she was also very resistant at the time, not only because of the conflict between the Dragon and Phoenix factions, but also due to the influence of her maternal grandfather, Lei Lao Wu. She held some animosity towards Li Ji'an.

After Lei Lao Wu's death, Li Ji'an taught her his external martial arts, and their relationship gradually eased, though they remained outwardly cordial but inwardly at odds.

Finally, her attitude changed drastically before his Ascension to the Immortal Realm.

Li Ji'an never thought much of it.

But now, after experiencing the Ascension scam and the deadly battle in the Yellow Sands, they had truly shared hardships. In this foreign land, Li Ji'an considered all four of them as old friends—people from his homeland.

He expected nothing from them, harbored no desires, as long as they were willing to call him "Brother Li," he would maintain contact with them.

And as long as it didn't affect his eternal cultivation path, he would offer any help within his power.

He also wished for all four of them to have a bright future.

However, he never expected that Zhao Shuyao, a remarkable woman whose talent in the Immortal Bestowed Dynasty was second only to his, would be the first to give up.

He recalled that a year and a half ago, after Zhao Shuyao had a basic understanding of this cultivation world, her resolute attitude, her unwillingness to accept defeat, and her determination to achieve something in the cultivation world.

At that time, she was also the one who most passionately urged Li Ji'an not to give up and to have confidence.

But the result... In this letter, Li Ji'an could feel Zhao Shuyao's despair and helplessness.

In short, she had decided to give up.

After a year and a half of effort, she still saw no hope of cultivation.

The once high and mighty Ninth Princess was now being asked to be a maid, taking care of a little girl from a small family... This had completely broken her!

"Heh~" Li Ji'an glanced at the letter and casually tossed it aside.

"If you want to give up, why drag me down with you?"

If this had happened a year and a half ago, when Li Ji'an decided to temporarily stay in the gathering area to accumulate some resources, and Zhao Shuyao had expressed her affection, he would have at least been moved.

But now... it felt like being a spare tire.

Without much hesitation, he picked up his brush and began to reply.

The gist of it was: he had already stepped into Qi Condensation, was a cultivator at the early Qi Condensation stage, and his ambition lay in cultivation.

Similarly, at the end of the letter, he offered encouragement and full of positive energy.

Ten days later, with his Qi Condensation first layer fully stabilized, Li Ji'an called Chen Qingling again and took him to the market stalls.

It had to be said, although Chen Qingling's attitude was lacking, he never refused when Li Ji'an called him.

And he never proactively sought him out.

He could truly be summoned at will and dismissed at will, very useful and reliable.

"You still haven't given up? It's been half a year, what have you achieved in Qi Condensation? Brother, I call you brother, but you should just go back. My brother is righteous, you won't lose out by joining him!" However, this time, Little Qingling was a bit uncooperative.

His constant discouragement over the past half-year stemmed from a simple wish: he hoped Li Ji'an would give up early and go back to hunting with him.

Because hunting was a very dangerous activity.

Just a few days prior, he had heard that a fellow hunter, similar to his brother, had mistakenly entered the territory of a late first-tier Yao Beast and was devoured.

And in the year Li Ji'an had joined Chen Zhao'hu's team, he hadn't encountered a single crisis.

This made even Chen Qingling, who initially didn't believe Li Ji'an was a person of great fortune, acknowledge Li Ji'an's luck.

A while ago, after Li Ji'an had been in seclusion for half a year, he suddenly asked about his cultivation progress. Chen Qingling had answered truthfully, thinking Li Ji'an had finally understood the objective circumstances of his inferior Spiritual Root, advanced age, and lack of resources, and would give up.

To his surprise, today he was still being asked to take him to the market stalls.

Li Ji'an said nothing, and the meager Magical Power in his Dantian began to surge...

"Huh?" Chen Qingling's eyes widened instantly.

"You... you... you..."

"If nothing unexpected happens, I should be considered a cultivator at the first layer of Qi Condensation!" Li Ji'an said with a smile.

After a long silence, Chen Qingling finally recovered.

"Hmph! Only the first layer of Qi Condensation after half a year, completely without any potential. And you don't know how expensive it is to truly step into Qi Condensation..."

Knowing he couldn't dissuade Li Ji'an for the moment, Chen Qingling mumbled and obediently led Li Ji'an to the market stalls again.

However, just as they were about to leave the residential area, a commotion nearby made Chen Qingling stop.

After roughly understanding the situation, his face lit up with joy, and he hurriedly pulled Li Ji'an towards the noise.

A moment later, Li Ji'an saw four cultivators wearing the uniforms of market managers standing in front of a small building.

And before the four of them, a disheveled old man stood with a bitter expression, bowing repeatedly: "Fellow Daoist, Fellow Daoist, please be accommodating. This old Daoist has lived here for fifty years. I'm just a little short, just a little short of breaking through to the late Qi Condensation stage. I will definitely pay the full rent then, please forgive me."

"Fellow Daoist Sun, it's not that we brothers aren't willing to help you out, but we have our sect's rules and the market's regulations. You're already two months behind; don't make things difficult for us."

Chen Qingling's spirits immediately lifted. "See? See? That old Daoist is considered one of our seniors, a cultivator at the sixth level of Qi Condensation. He's lived in this market for fifty years, and yet... and yet, look for yourself!"

"So, the path of cultivation isn't just about determination; you need to understand yourself!"

Li Ji'an merely smiled faintly at Chen Qingling's selective storytelling. Coincidentally, when a neighboring cultivator dropped by his place, he had casually mentioned this old cultivator.

It was true that he was at the sixth level of Qi Condensation, but he cultivated a wood-elemental Cultivation Method. Wood-elemental Magical Power was abundant and enduring, but it was mostly gentle and lacked rigidity, not suited for combat. This made him unsuitable for high-income professions like escorting caravans, which required fighting.

Furthermore, his spiritual sense wasn't strong enough to draw Talismans, preventing him from becoming a Talisman Master for various families and powers.

He had no choice but to practice the Spiritual Plant Technique. However, he lacked ambition and could barely manage to care for the ordinary crops of mortals in the gathering area.

Thus, although it was a bit tiring, there were no risks, and he could barely make a living in the market.

It was just that the wood-elemental Cultivation Method he practiced emphasized rejuvenation and vitality, even potentially having effects like a withered tree blooming anew. It was fine when he was young, but as he grew old, he became a "new groom" every night.

It was said that at least three Cultivation Partners couldn't handle it and left him.

Finally, he started frequenting the Heavenly Immortal Tower every day.

That place was a true money pit!

After watching the old Daoist being thoroughly fleeced by the market management cultivators and thrown out, Chen Qingling finally led Li Ji'an toward the stall market again.

"What? You want to buy a Pill Recipe? You want to refine pills? You want to become an Alchemist?" Chen Qingling was shocked again upon learning Li Ji'an's objective.

Being an Alchemist was definitely a top-tier profession in the cultivation world.

Once one became an Alchemist, they could be treated as an honored guest by families or Sects.

Even if their alchemical skills were crude and shallow, even if they could only refine the simplest Grain Abstinence Pill, it would be enough to support themselves.

However, the higher the reward, the higher the threshold, naturally.

Every year, countless cultivators tried their best to break into the Alchemist profession, but only one in ten thousand succeeded!

"With your talent, you still want to become an Alchemist?"