Lin Chaobei and his wife left with limitless splendor.
Wu Daniu left with a hint of regret.
Proficient in all, especially in the initial phases of skill mastery, Li Jizhou quickly became adept at talisman crafting, relying on the foundational experience from his past life's study of the Alchemy Dao and the support of a stronger Divine Soul than those of the same level.
He took some time to sell talismans from the storage bag given by Xu Mei at the market, using the three Spirit Stones he freeloaded from Lin Chaobei to buy some Spirit Rice, talisman paper, and Spiritual Ink, embarking on days of secluded cultivation.
Xu Mei, residing in the main house, rarely showed herself, and Li Jizhou conveniently avoided her.
Only occasionally, Gua Gua would knock on his door, but he ignored it.
Thus, a year passed quietly.
Li Jizhou finally reached the completion of the Qi Cultivation First Level.
This could be considered becoming a true cultivator in the strictest sense.
The speed wasn't slow, but not fast either, considering he now had a Middle Grade Spirit Root, achieving the completion of the Qi Cultivation First Level in eight months shouldn't have been a problem, even with his previous life's Middle Grade cultivation technique.
Xu Mei left half a year ago and hasn't returned yet, while Senior Chen from across the way would come back every two or three months, only to leave quickly again.
Most of the time, Li Jizhou was the only one in this small courtyard.
And he was happy with this.
Half a year ago, he finally drew his first complete talisman in this life—an entry-level Tier One Junior Level Lower Grade Concentration Talisman, selling it for five taels of Spiritual Sand.
He then discovered that after practicing Evergreen Skill, drawing talismans during the consolidation phase was akin to rapidly releasing the abundant Spiritual Qi within, enhancing the speed of his cultivation.
Throughout the year, he would go out roughly every three months.
Gathering essential survival materials and selling talismans.
It's worth mentioning that although it took a year to complete the Qi Cultivation First Level, the growth of his Divine Soul was remarkable in progress.
Currently, at the Qi Cultivation First Level, his Spiritual Sense was already comparable to the Middle Stage of Qi Cultivation.
Additionally, the complete version of the Eternal Spring Magical Power was inherently more robust and enduring than the common version,
which allowed him more experience and prolonged durations in talisman crafting compared to other talisman masters of the same realm and level.
Over time, advancing to a Tier One Middle Level Talisman Master was within reach.
Compared to the displacements and life-on-the-edge days of his previous life's early stages, he was satisfied with such a calm cultivation life.
The only two things that caused him some unease were,
first, he only realized after starting cultivation that the eastern edge of Inverted Mountain, while its Spiritual Qi was said to be equivalent to a Tier One Spirit Vein, was overcrowded with bottom-tier Loose Cultivators engaging in seclusion cultivation here.
After being segmented, the Spiritual Qi was not only thinner compared to a true Tier One Spirit Vein but also frequently unstable.
Moreover, he always felt that if he could practice the "Complete Evergreen Skill" at the concentration of a genuine Tier One Spirit Vein, his progress would likely be ten percent faster.
Secondly, after becoming a cultivator, he increasingly sensed the insecurity of this place.
He felt the probing gazes of countless Loose Cultivators with various emotions each time he went out.
And three months ago at the market, he even witnessed a life-and-death struggle.
A male cultivator's cultivator partner was murdered and robbed while on the way to Inverted Mountain by a rogue cultivator.
And then he saw all the partner's belongings at a stall in the market.
The confrontation erupted, and ultimately both sides perished.
Two loose cultivators in the Middle Stage of Qi Cultivation went all out in their fight, affecting five early-stage Qi Cultivation Loose Cultivators who failed to evade in time.
Resulting in a tragic event of four deaths and three severe injuries!
In anticipation, he had long taken time to brush up on the mundane martial skills he learned when he first entered the cultivation world in his past life, specifically studying attack and defense talismans and revisiting two protective Daoist spells suited to his current cultivation realm for unforeseen circumstances.
"Still a bit weak. The Eternal Spring Magical Power is indeed not strong in offense. The power of spellcasting at the equivalent magical power is only eighty percent of what it was when I practiced fire attribute cultivation techniques in my past life,
but there are advantages. In the same realm, using this technique with fire element cultivation techniques could succeed at most five times, while with Eternal Spring Magical Power, at least eight times."
After completing his cultivation routine slowly, Li Jizhou got up and stretched his body.
Now having achieved the completion of the Qi Cultivation First Level, it was a minor stage in a cultivator's journey, requiring reflection and comprehension before planning the next steps.
"Strange, what was that sensation a few days ago? Even in my past life, reaching the completion of the Qi Cultivation First Level didn't bring such a feeling."
These past few days, Li Jizhou could not shake the unusual feeling that flashed by a few days ago.
It wasn't the epiphany of reaching the completion of the Qi Cultivation First Level, nor did it seem to have any lasting effects.
But that subtle sense of obscurity, Li Jizhou was convinced he didn't perceive it incorrectly.
Ultimately, unable to make any progress, he had to set it aside for now.
A few days later, Li Jizhou went to the market for the fourth time to sell the talismans he had made during this period.
This time, however, he didn't sell at a stall but rather went to a store.
Previously, he sold at a stall to mix the talismans in Xu Mei's storage bag with those drawn on talisman paper, and there weren't many.
But now, all the talismans he had were drawn by his own hand.
The profits this time were considerably higher, and after purchasing enough Spirit Rice and a small amount of Spiritual Flesh to last him six months without leaving, he still had two Spirit Stones left over.
Half a year later, he unexpectedly received a letter.
"In this world, I've essentially severed all karma with everyone; my father has long turned to dust, and Lin Chaobei's family has distanced themselves from everything. Big Bull?"
The only bond he could think of in this life was with Wu Daniu.
Sure enough, after unraveling the restriction on the outer layer of the message token, he saw Wu Daniu's signature.
The letter was filled with Wu Daniu's indescribable joy.
The main purpose of the communication was to share good news with Li Jizhou,
a few days ago, Wu Daniu reached the completion of the Qi Cultivation First Level, and on the same day, his wife gave birth to a Qilin child, receiving a lavish gift from the Yang family.
However, the letter began with some hesitancy, first expressing concern for Li Jizhou and reassuring him not to be rash in his cultivation, as the slow progress of Evergreen Skill was well-known worldwide.
He again invited him to the Yang family, but this time without mentioning the matter of joining through marriage, only suggesting that aside from cultivating Spirit Fish, the Yang family had also started an experimental site for Spirit Plant cultivation and could introduce him as a Spirit Farmer.
The letter additionally mentioned a few old acquaintances,
Wu Daniu said the Patriarch of the Yang family instructed him to maintain contact with Lin Caiwei, as having a connection with a disciple from the Golden Sun Sect was a potential source of wealth.
He mentioned that Lin Caiwei had reached the completion of the Qi Cultivation First Level half a year ago and entered under the tutelage of an elder in the Golden Sun Sect, promising boundless prospects.
On the contrary, he shared some bad news about Zhao Qian, who joined the Golden Sun Sect alongside Lin Caiwei.
It was rumored that during Zhao Qian's entrance examination a year and a half ago, the Zhao family secretly bribed the exam officials of the Golden Sun Sect.
Upon discovery, Zhao Qian remained an outer disciple, unqualified to practice the Golden Sun Sect's superior "Fiery Sun Skill," left with the sect's lower grade cultivation technique, although he did reach the completion of the Qi Cultivation First Level a month ago.
The most surprising bit for Li Jizhou was that Wu Daniu also mentioned Zhou Cang in his letter!
Li Jizhou recalled the steadfast and unwavering figure outside the city gates of Inverted Mountain a year and a half ago, feeling a slight tinge of interest.
But regrettably, Wu Daniu did not say much about Zhou Cang.
He only mentioned that three months ago, while accompanying a family elder to a nearby market, he saw Zhou Cang from afar following an old man, calling out to him, but Zhou Cang ignored him.
He heard from his family elder afterward that Zhou Cang had already begun his Qi Cultivation.
At the end of the letter, Wu Daniu sincerely invited him to visit the Yang family whenever possible.