A Difficult Life

Zhao Shuyao was Zhao Yunsheng's youngest daughter and the apple of his eye.

Back then, Zhao Yunsheng had been determined to bring the two of them together. He had even wanted to arrange their marriage with his dying breath, moments before he passed away.

Li Ji'an refused, saying his heart was set on cultivating immortality, but promised to look after her once they reached the Immortal Realm.

Zhao Shuyao had been standing nearby when the marriage was proposed.

Li Ji'an remembered clearly that she had been just as opposed to it. It was partly because the dispute between the dragon and phoenix factions had gotten to her, and partly because her maternal grandfather, Lei Lao Wu, had influenced her. She had been somewhat hostile toward Li Ji'an.

After Lei Lao Wu passed away, Li Ji'an taught her external martial arts, and their relationship gradually softened, though they still only pretended to get along.

Then, before ascending to the Immortal Realm, her attitude changed drastically.

Li Ji'an had never thought much of it.

But now, after going through the ascension scam and fighting to the death in the yellow sands, they had shared hardship. In this foreign land, Li Ji'an regarded all four of them as old friends—as people from home.

He asked nothing of them and harbored no expectations.

As long as they were willing to call him Brother Li, he was happy to keep in touch.

And as long as it didn't interfere with his path toward immortality and eternal life, he was willing to help them however he could.

He also hoped all four of them would have bright futures.

But he had never imagined that Zhao Shuyao, the outstanding woman whose talent in the Immortal Bestowed Dynasty had been second only to his own, would be the first to give up.

He still remembered how, a year and a half ago, after she had gained a basic understanding of the Cultivation World, she had been so resolute, so unwilling to accept defeat, and so determined to make something of herself.

Back then, she had been the most impassioned one, urging Li Ji'an not to give up and to have faith.

Yet now... from her letter, Li Ji'an could feel her despair and helplessness.

In short, she had decided to give up and lie low.

A year and a half of effort, and she still couldn't see any hope of cultivating immortality.

The once lofty Ninth Princess had even been told to serve as a maid, looking after a little girl from a minor Household... It had driven her to utter despair!

"Heh." Li Ji'an skimmed the letter, then tossed it aside.

"If you want to give up, why drag me into it?"

If Zhao Shuyao had confessed these feelings a year and a half ago, when Li Ji'an had decided to stay in the settlement for a while and build up his resources, he would at least have been moved.

But now... it made him feel like a backup plan.

Without much hesitation, he picked up his brush and wrote back.

The gist was that he had already entered Qi Condensation and become an early-stage cultivator, and that his heart was set on cultivating immortality.

At the end of the letter, he offered her encouragement, too, filling it with positive energy.

Ten days later, after fully stabilizing his first Qi Condensation layer, Li Ji'an asked Chen Qingling to take him to the market.

It had to be said: though Chen Qingling had a poor attitude, whenever Li Ji'an called for him, he never refused.

And he never came looking for Li Ji'an on his own.

He truly came when called and left when dismissed. He was very useful, and Li Ji'an could count on him.

"You still haven't given up? It's been half a year. What have you even accomplished with your cultivation? Brother, I'll call you Brother if that's what it takes—go back. My brother's a decent fellow. You won't lose out if you go with him!" This time, though, little Qingling was being rather uncooperative.

For the past six months, his frequent discouragement had come from a simple wish: he hoped Li Ji'an would give up early and go back to hunting with his brother.

Hunting was dangerous.

Just a few days ago, he had heard that one of his brother's fellow hunters had wandered into the territory of a late-stage first-rank monster and ended up in its belly.

Yet during the year Li Ji'an had spent with Chen Zhao'hu's team, they hadn't encountered a single crisis.

That had made even Chen Qingling, who hadn't believed Li Ji'an was blessed with good fortune, acknowledge his luck.

A few days ago, after Li Ji'an had shut himself away for half a year, he suddenly asked about Chen Qingling's cultivation progress. Chen Qingling had answered honestly, thinking Li Ji'an had finally understood the facts: his poor spiritual root, advanced age, and lack of resources. He figured Li Ji'an was ready to give up.

But now Li Ji'an had asked him to take him to the market again.

Li Ji'an said nothing. The faint magical power in his dantian slowly surged outward...

"Hm?" Chen Qingling's eyes went wide.

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

"Unless something unexpected happens, I should count as a first-layer Qi Condensation cultivator now." Li Ji'an smiled.

After a long silence, Chen Qingling finally came to his senses.

"Hmph! It took you half a year to reach the first layer of Qi Condensation. You have no potential at all. And you don't even know how much it costs once you really start cultivating..."

Realizing he couldn't talk Li Ji'an out of it for now, Chen Qingling muttered under his breath, then obediently led him toward the market again.

But just as they were about to leave the residential district, a commotion not far away made Chen Qingling stop.

Once he figured out what was going on, his face lit up. He hurriedly tugged Li Ji'an over.

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

Before them, a disheveled old man wore a bitter expression and kept bowing. "Fellow Daoists, please, make an exception. 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 stage of Qi Condensation. When I do, I'll pay the rent in full. Please, have mercy."

"Fellow Daoist Sun, it isn't that we don't want to make an exception for you. But every Household has its rules, and every market has its regulations. You're two months behind on rent already. Don't make things difficult for us."

Chen Qingling perked up at once. "Look, see that? That old Daoist is practically our senior. He's a sixth-layer Qi Condensation cultivator. He's lived in this market for fifty years, and look... just look for yourself!"

"So, cultivating isn't something you can manage with determination alone. You have to know your limits!"

Li Ji'an merely smiled at Chen Qingling's selective account. As it happened, one of the cultivators next door had once mentioned the old man in passing while visiting him.

It was true that he was at the sixth layer of Qi Condensation, but he practiced a Wood Elemental Cultivation Method. Wood Elemental Magical Power was abundant and enduring, but mostly gentle and lacking in force. It wasn't suited to combat, so he couldn't take high-paying jobs that involved fighting, such as escorting caravans.

And because his Spiritual Sense wasn't strong enough, he couldn't draw talismans or become a talisman master serving the various Lineages and factions.

With no other options, he had studied Spiritual Plant Technique, but lacked ambition. He could only just manage to tend ordinary crops for the mortals in the settlement.

That work was hard, but it was safe, and he could scrape by in the market.

The strange thing was that the old Daoist practiced a Wood Elemental Cultivation Method that focused on restoring life and keeping one's vigor strong. It might even have effects like dead wood returning to life. That was all well and good when he was young, but in his old age he had begun taking a new bride every night.

Word was that at least three successive partners had eventually been unable to bear him and left.

In the end, he started going to the Heavenly Immortal Tower every day.

That place was a true money pit!

Only after watching the market managers strip the old Daoist of everything he had and throw him out did Chen Qingling lead Li Ji'an back toward the market.

"What? You want to buy an alchemy formula? You want to make pills? You want to become an alchemist?" When he learned what Li Ji'an was after, Chen Qingling was shocked again.

Alchemists were absolutely among the most lucrative professions in the Cultivation World.

Once someone became an alchemist, any Lineage or sect might treat him as an honored guest.

And even if his Alchemy Skill was rough and shallow, even if he could only make the simplest Grain Abstinence Pills, he could still make enough to support himself.

But naturally, the higher the returns, the higher the barrier to entry.

Every year, countless cultivators racked their brains trying to break into the alchemy trade, only to find that barely one in ten thousand made it.

"With talent like yours, you still want to become an alchemist?"