With the approval of Pavilion Master Qin Xuan, Li An naturally became the Pavilion Master of the White Tiger City branch of the Treasure Pavilion.

The Treasure Pavilion holds a high status in the city and even owns a residence in an area with a Rank Three Spirit Vein.

This naturally belongs to Li An!

This residence is not very close to White Tiger Mountain, but a small side vein extends here, giving a small area within one or two miles the Spiritual Qi of a Rank Three Spirit Vein, while the surrounding area is only a Tier Two Spirit Vein region.

Li An was very satisfied with this residence. After carefully inspecting it, he took up residence and immediately set up three sets of Tier Two Arrays to protect it.

The three sets of Tier Two Arrays were costly, but he didn't care, as after becoming a branch Pavilion Master, many of his expenses could easily be charged to the Treasure Pavilion's accounts.

With power comes personal gain!

Within the branch of the Treasure Pavilion, there were a total of five stewards and two artifact evaluators. Li An, with his previous life experience of leading a Cultivation Clan, quickly brought them under his control, promoting confidants and suppressing dissenters. In just two years, he had molded the entire branch into an ironclad entity, essentially turning it into his "private kingdom."

At the same time, over these years, Li An's coffers grew fuller. Together with the accumulation from the main pavilion and a large sum of Spirit Stones given to him by the Third Princess, he now had about fifty thousand Spirit Stones on hand!

For convenience, he exchanged half of them for middle grade Spirit Stones, totaling two hundred and fifty.

In addition, the resource exchanges of the entire branch of the Treasure Pavilion were essentially under his control.

He could prioritize selecting from all the resources collected, obtaining them through various means.

Of course, he was not reckless and didn't act too wildly, as he still had to ensure the overall operation of the Treasure Pavilion.

The profits compared to before could not have too much of a discrepancy.

...

In the blink of an eye, five years passed.

During these five years, the Third Princess wrote to Li An, asking him to return as she had important matters to discuss.

Clearly, the changes in White Tiger City were beyond their expectations, and they could no longer control Li An.

But Li An politely declined, using a ready-made excuse: Pavilion Master Qin Xuan had intentions to kill him, and he could only hide here to avoid disaster.

This excuse left the Third Princess helpless.

She couldn't force Li An, as from her perspective, Li An still didn't know he was being "fattened up"; pushing too hard might make him realize something.

Without forcibly compelling Li An, if she wanted him to return, she would need to eliminate Qin Xuan or face the risks of protecting Li An, which would easily attract the Prince Mansion's attention.

Her "fattening plan" was done behind the Prince Mansion's back.

Ultimately, they had to compromise, as after all, Li An in White Tiger City couldn't escape.

This way, Li An stayed in the city, naturally.

...

One day, just as Li An returned to his residence from the Treasure Pavilion, two people were waiting at the door.

One of them, Li An was very familiar with, was none other than... Xu Qiuhui!

After decades, old acquaintances finally met again.

Decades passed, but Xu Qiuhui remained the same, with a higher cultivation than before, now at Late-Stage Foundation Establishment, likely planning for Core Formation.

In fact, Xu Qiuhui had wanted to visit Li An for some time and had sent several visiting cards, but Li An had been disinclined to see her.

He knew that Xu Qiuhui must have something to ask of him.

Since she had a request, he must maintain his posture before negotiating slowly.

The grudge of Xu Qiuhui seizing the Purple Soul Herbs back then was something Li An would never forget, but his principle was always: Interests outweigh enmity!

He would never let hatred affect his grand cultivation plans.

First, let's see if enough benefits can be extracted from Xu Qiuhui.

"Master Zuo!"

Seeing Li An return, Xu Qiuhui and the middle-aged man approached, respectfully saluting.

"And you are?"

Li An asked in confusion.

"I am Xu Qiuhui from White Tiger Mountain, and this is Master Zhang Deyi, an Alchemist!"

Xu Qiuhui introduced: "We came uninvited and beg for the Pavilion Master's forgiveness."

Li An glanced at Zhang Deyi.

Zhang Deyi, the principal disciple of Gusongxi, and Gu Hong's senior brother... Li An had dealt with him indirectly before.

Back then, Li An had planned to ask him to refine a Foundation Establishment Pill, even approaching his disciple Luo Yong, but later discovered that Zhang Deyi was likely possessed by someone else, which led him to choose Gu Hong instead.

Now many years later, Zhang Deyi should have been fully possessed by now.

"Zhang Deyi greets Master Zuo."

Zhang Deyi also smiled, very respectful and courteous.

"I've long heard of your great name, please come in, please come in—"

Li An made a gesture of invitation.

They entered the living room.

The servant served tea, and the three made small talk before Xu Qiuhui proactively said:

"Master Zuo, we actually came this time to ask for your help."

"Feel free to speak." Li An put down his teacup.

"Both Master Zhang and I are at Late-Stage Foundation Establishment, currently planning for Core Formation, but we still lack some Spirit Medicine."

Xu Qiuhui said: "Mainly Green Light Herbs, Dao Concealment Stone, and Dragon Blood Bone."

"We've been collecting these three herbs for years, but have had no success, so we wish to ask Master Zuo for assistance."

As the Pavilion Master, Li An, in a certain sense, controlled the flow of rare resources in the entire city.

After all, as long as people were willing to sell rare Spirit Medicine, they would mostly bring them to the Treasure Pavilion for evaluation, auction, and so forth.

This was why Li An was sought out to find resources.

——In fact, this was also the result of Li An's planning over the last five years.

In these five years, under his suggestion, the Primordial Spirit Pill's ingredients that the Treasure Pavilion received had never been auctioned, all were stored.

In doing so, those who wanted to refine Primordial Spirit Pills found it extremely difficult to collect Spirit Medicines.

Eventually, they would inevitably seek Li An's help.

Li An's goal was to secure the Primordial Spirit Pill during the time he was free from the Demon Sect's surveillance.

After all, the Demon Sect's "feeding pigs plan" targeted precisely the critical point of Li An's Core Formation.

If Li An could secure the Primordial Spirit Pill without the Demon Sect knowing, he would gain substantial leverage against them.

He could even find an opportunity to break through to Core Formation without the Demon Sect noticing. Once successful, what could the Demon Sect do to him?

...

Li An pondered slightly, then said, "These herbs... they are all rare treasures that cannot be found overnight."

Zhang Deyi said, "As long as Master Zuo helps us, after forming the pill, Master Zuo can get one of them!"

"And don't worry, Master Zuo, you just need to help us find the herbs, we will handle the purchasing."

It could be said that their attitude was very sincere.

The main reason was that both he and Xu Qiuhui were quite old.

Xu Qiuhui was older than Li An, over 150 years old, and Zhang Deyi was even 170 years old.

Considering their lifespan, if they couldn't successfully form a Core by 200 years, all hope would be lost once they started to decline.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have come to Li An.

"If formed, who will go first?" Li An asked with a smile.

A single furnace of Primordial Spirit Pills could at most produce four pills!

The quality might vary, and the order of choosing must be clearly agreed upon.

Xu Qiuhui and Zhang Deyi exchanged a glance, and Zhang Deyi said, "Master Zuo... how about you choose the second one?"

This was already a significant concession.

He and Xu Qiuhui were the main initiators, while Li An was merely providing the channel for finding the Spirit Medicine.

"Alright,"

Li An agreed without saying anything else.

He wasn't in a hurry to bargain, since the most critical herb was in his hands, and he could slowly manage the two of them later.

The two of them were pleasantly surprised.

The cooperation between the three was reached.

"By the way,"

Li An suddenly added, "Some time ago, I happened to receive a Dao Concealment Stone, but unfortunately, it's not yet fully matured and perfect, so I'm planning to nurture it using a Spirit Gathering Array and need Miss Xu's help."

Over the past five years, he had also been observing and sensing the large formation set by White Tiger Mountain.

Currently, the entire White Tiger City was monitored by White Tiger Mountain.

This meant that even in his own residence, White Tiger Mountain could monitor him using the large formation at any time.

Li An didn't like this environment; having everything under his own control was the safest.

So, he wanted to subtly use Xu Qiuhui's hand to make some adjustments to the large formation of White Tiger Mountain.

The Spirit Gathering Array was just a guise.

"Does Master Zuo mean that I need to make minor adjustments to the Array to guide the gathering of Spiritual Qi?" Xu Qiuhui asked.

Li An nodded.

Xu Qiuhui frowned slightly but nodded and said, "Alright, I'll give it a try."

"You two haven't let anyone else know about this, right?" Li An asked again with a smile:

"If too many people know, the Primordial Spirit Pills might not be enough..."

This was a kind of reminder to prevent Xu Qiuhui from being detected by White Tiger Mountain while altering the Array.

Zhang Deyi and Xu Qiuhui both nodded; naturally, the fewer people involved, the better.

If Li An hadn't planned ahead and withheld resources, they wouldn't have come to him.

They left immediately.

...

A few days later, Li An took the Dao Concealment Stone from the pavilion, deliberately creating some fixable flaws.

Having it nourished by the Rank Three Spirit Vein, Xu Qiuhui came again, and after seeing the Dao Concealment Stone, she no longer doubted what Li An had said. She then quietly modified some of the Arrays, directing the Spiritual Qi to gather towards Li An's place.

A month later.

After Li An's observation, due to Xu Qiuhui's adjustments, the monitoring by the large formation of White Tiger Mountain on certain places had slackened.

That night, he took out a hoe.

Started digging a tunnel——

...

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