Longevity: Starting as a Sect Servant

He learned a lot from the memories of the Demon Cultivator named Qin Long!

Qin Long was one of the core elders of the Demon Sect and a confidant of Shangguan Shengxian.

...Ever since entering the Spirit Realm, Shangguan Shengxian had been chasing the coffin of the Demon Emperor, and in the end, it fell into her hands.

She became the direct successor of the Demon Emperor. With her extraordinary talent and remarkable cultivation, coupled with her formidable tactics, she naturally became the leader of the Demon Sect.

Under her leadership, the Demon Sect is now showing signs of revival. There are already several Void Refining level experts within the sect, though true mighty cultivators are still scarce, perhaps only one or two.

Their foundation is incomparable to the Dao Sect!

Currently, the Demon Sect’s influence is widespread in the New Continent, especially in the five realms bordering the Southern Sea, which have become habitats for their growth and reproduction.

A large population has been transformed into demon people by anomalous qi, providing ample anomalous qi for their cultivation... The Demon Sect’s power in the New Continent is expanding rapidly. If not for the superpowers like the Dao Sect and Brahma Sect sending their experts, the Demon Sect might have unified the entire New Continent by now.

Even so, places like the Cangxuan Mountain Range have many Demon Sect followers, always lying in wait.

The reason Qin Long and others came here... was to wait for someone!

Shangguan Shengxian sent him to connect with a certain force on the Southern Sea!

With the mystical winds of the Southern Sea approaching, aside from expanding their forces in the five realms, the Demon Sect is also investigating the source of the mystical winds. After years of efforts, they’ve made contact with several forces and existences at sea.

Those forces and existences have likely all been transformed.

"Shangguan Shengxian wants to use those sea forces to delve deeper into the Southern Sea, obtain more mysterious opportunities, and establish a Holy Land for the Demon Sect..."

Li An couldn’t help but feel a chill in his heart.

Shangguan Shengxian knows well that in the New Continent, no matter how strong she is, she’s not a match for forces like the Dao Sect, so she can only turn to the Southern Sea.

The Southern Sea is indeed very suitable for the development of the Demon Sect.

The reason Li An needs to continue refining Blood Food is to replace Qin Long and connect with the people from the Southern Sea.

— According to Qin Long’s memories, the Demon Sect used many methods and only recently established contact. Both sides are still unfamiliar, so if Li An pretends to be from the Demon Sect, the other side certainly wouldn’t notice any flaws.

Replacing the Demon Sect and establishing contact with the Southern Sea is also beneficial for Li An.

After all, he wants to know the situation over there, and if possible, set up one or two bases where he can settle and cultivate, which would be perfect!

The mystical winds indeed originate from the Southern Sea, and the forces there must have the first-hand information. Additionally, in the event of the third great turmoil, Li An will likely need to delve into the Southern Sea to find Hongmeng Immortal Qi!

"Qin Long’s cultivation isn’t weak, but using the Immortal Coffin on him was kind of a waste..."

Meanwhile, he reviewed the recent battle.

This was his first battle after entering the Void Refining stage, and he fought very cautiously. He first displayed his Divinity Transformation Stage cultivation to lull the enemy into a false sense of security, set up an ambush with the Immortal Coffin beforehand, and severely injured Qin Long upon his arrival...

But with Li An’s current strength, even without relying on any external artifacts, he has confidence in battling Mid Stage Void Refining opponents!

Moreover, he feels it wouldn’t be too difficult.

In some ways, Li An’s current strength can definitely be considered that of a true genius, capable of fighting across levels.

Compared to the Dao Sect’s genius of the Great Dao, Li An may lack confidence, but normal cultivators of the same tier are truly insignificant in front of him.

...

After refining the Blood Food, he erased all traces at the scene.

"With Qin Long dead, the Demon Sect will certainly notice..."

Li An contemplated for a moment; this matter needed to be handled cleanly...

He captured a few Nascent Soul Level Spirit Birds from the surrounding valleys, then fed them the leaves of three small golden trees.

After consuming the leaves, the birds immediately began to emit golden light.

Li An quickly took these Spirit Birds and left, heading near locations occupied by the Dao Sect and the Five Elements Sect, using Beast Taming Skill to command them to fly up.

Then he quietly departed.

He did this to let those Spirit Birds draw the attention of Dao Sect and other forces toward the Dragon-Fighting Valley.

Just stir things up a bit.

Once all the major forces are involved, how could the Demon Sect figure out who killed Qin Long?

After doing all this, Li An delved into Cangxuan Ridge.

Crossing Cangxuan Ridge and reaching the southern part of the Taiqing Realm is very difficult because the Dao Sect and other major forces have used Cangxuan Ridge as their foundation, setting up a massive array to block both sides.

The reason Qin Long never went over is that he was still waiting, waiting for reinforcements from the Demon Sect.

Qin Long alone could not break through the array defenses constructed by the Dao Sect and other forces.

It’s hard for external existences to come in, and it’s also hard for the Demon Sect people to leave.

Li An has a high level of authority, being a disciple of the Great Dao. He is well aware of the detailed setups by the Dao Sect in this area, hence he also knows the weak points of the array.

Two days later, he appeared in front of three adjacent peaks and, after careful study and consideration, decided to "smuggle" past here.

The Dao Sect’s array is very strong, but this area is the weakest, with only a Tier Six array level. For the current Li An, finding a flaw is not really difficult.

His array skills are possibly the strongest among the younger generation of the Dao Sect, aside from Shangguan Xiaoxiao, because he painstakingly practiced these things with the treatment of a Great Dao disciple.