Starting My Cultivation With Time Management

The Master of Xuandu and the Wan Xiang Immortal stood in the underground formation chamber, looking at the surrounding Tai Yi Escaping Armor Yin Yang Great Formation.

The dense runic scripts that had originally covered the room from front to back, left to right, and top to bottom, now left a large empty space in the center of the ceiling.

"What is this?" the Master of Xuandu asked Luo Yan with an inquiring look.

"I compressed and encrypted a portion of the original formation," Luo Yan replied calmly, "Although the formation set up by my master was perfect, it was somewhat cumbersome. After simplifying some of the standard but unnecessary runic scripts, we not only save space for adding new elements later but also significantly increase the security. At least it won't be easily mastered by someone who steals a few years of learning."

"This is an ancient formation technique," observed the Wan Xiang Immortal with admiration.

Luo Yan respectfully responded, "Yes."

Good, the Immortal didn't ask about maintenance issues, which means he could probably understand the principles of the formation but was not capable of setting up one.

"Shall we start it up and try?" suggested the Master of Xuandu.

He walked to the center of the formation and placed his hand on the surface of the cauldron vessel.

Suddenly, the cauldron vessel started to hum and vibrate, accompanied by a wave-like, liquid-like brilliance overflowing from within, swirling around the room with a mystical stream of light.

"Hmm," the Master of Xuandu closed his eyes, his divine sense spreading out through the formation, quickly enveloping the entire Penglai Island, "Not bad, not bad."

His 'not bad' didn't mean that Luo Yan had made great improvements—it was actually quite similar to the original.

But the fact that Luo Yan, with his Golden Core, was capable of modifying Elder Shi Ding's formation without any malfunctions (especially when so many runic scripts were missing from the ceiling), precisely showed that Luo Yan had the ability to maintain the formation.

"In your opinion," the Wan Xiang Immortal asked gently, "if we were to continue encrypting until the information about the formation that the traitor stole becomes completely invalid and unusable, how long might that take?"

"Hard to say," Luo Yan cunningly replied, "I'm not yet familiar with this formation. If I continue to study it, the estimated time will shorten."

"Hmm," the Wan Xiang Immortal nodded slightly, knowing what Luo Yan meant was, with the current pace, it would certainly take a long while to make the changes.

However, the more alterations were made, the higher the security would be; and as he became more familiar with the formation, the pace of modification would also speed up... so there was no need to focus on the deadline.

Considering this, he nodded to the Master of Xuandu.

Luo Yan let out a sigh of relief too: after so many repeated modifications, he had finally passed the first review.

No sooner had everyone left the underground formation hall than a True Person hurriedly approached, speaking to both the Master of Xuandu and the Wan Xiang Immortal:

"The Demon Cult has mobilized troops on all five routes, besieging Shushan!"

Both of them were startled upon hearing this, and Luo Yan, frowning, hurriedly pretended to be just as confused.

"Convene a high-level sect meeting immediately," the Wan Xiang Immortal quickly instructed the Master of Xuandu, then turned to warn Luo Yan, "Jingyun, you return first, and don't discuss this matter with anyone else."

"I didn't hear a thing," Luo Yan replied at once.

He rushed back to the Heavenly Craft Workshop and called over his third senior sister, Liang Ruohua, and Shi Liuli, instructing them:

"The sect may be on full alert shortly; don't go out at will recently."

Liang Ruohua nodded in agreement. By nature focused on academics, she wasn't like the first generation Shi Liuli who loved to run around and play.

Shi Liuli, however, was silent for a moment, then thoughtfully said:

"Is it Kunlun or Shushan in trouble?"

As she spoke, she immediately added:

"If it's the Demon Cult attacking, they'd likely choose Shushan because Kunlun has an unfathomably deep foundation. Attacking Kunlun has too many variables; Shushan is more like a soft persimmon to squeeze. But if it's not the Demon Cult attacking and instead an internal crisis within the sects, it's hard to say."

"Oh, husband, this expression of yours, seems like it really is the Demon Cult besieging Shushan…"

Luo Yan was so frightened that cold sweat poured down. What's with my wife? She gives one quite a chilling feeling!

To tell the truth, if he wasn't some kind of traitor, he would have been overjoyed by now—after all, his little wife had become so smart and capable, able to devise strategies for him, acting clingy and affectionate in his arms, and obedient to him in every way. With such a fine wife, what more could a husband ask for?

However, it was precisely such a clever Shi Liuli who might one day suddenly discover that her husband, Luo Yan, was also Xu Yinglian's husband, Qiu Changtian. What methods she would use to deal with him then was really hard to say.

From this perspective, Luo Yan would rather have Shi Liuli remain honest, simple, and even foolish as before... But unfortunately, he no longer had the choice now.

Seeing Luo Yan so shocked and with such complex expressions, Shi Liuli also knew she misspoke and shook her head without saying anything.

She probably guessed part of Luo Yan's thoughts: he must feel that he hadn't comforted her properly, thinking that she was still unable to get over the grief of losing her father, which was why her personality had changed so drastically.

Because of this, her husband must be feeling extremely guilty at this moment.

With a slight turn of her thoughts, Shi Liuli knew that even if she explained to her husband, saying that she had only been forced to mature quickly due to drastic life changes, he would probably think she was just making up an excuse to comfort him.

Alas, although her husband had a photographic memory, his nature was truly too honest and simple, and he hadn't changed since they first met.

I still need to manage the Heavenly Craft Workshop well, so he won't have to worry anymore.

"Regardless of what has happened," Shi Liuli said with a faint smile, "don't worry, we won't go out."

She stood up and said:

"I'm going back to research sword casting."

As Shi Liuli left, Luo Yan sighed and said to his Third Senior Sister, Liang Ruohua:

"Senior Sister, look at Liuli... Her current personality truly keeps me up at night."

"I also preferred the junior sister of the past," Liang Ruohua said sorrowfully, "but... people eventually have to mature."

"Junior Brother... I should call you Master Jingyun now. The Heavenly Craft Workshop was our master's life's work; Liuli is working tirelessly for its sake, and it's her own choice. You shouldn't be too attached."

"Sometimes, we have to look forward after all."

She also rose to take her leave and, with another sigh, Luo Yan turned and left.

Foundation Establishment Realm disciples cannot leave the sect easily, but for a Golden Core True Person like him, there is no hindrance.

Besides, his wife was a Refining Mansion stage cultivator, and he still needed to find some suitable Mercurial Elixir for her—it wouldn't do to have her splitting focus between researching sword casting and seeking out opportunities for daily cultivation.

If his memory served him correctly, his wife now had sixty years of Mercurial Elixir Liquid, fifty years of Dynasty Yuan Spiritual Energy, thirty years of Jade Pond Golden Lotus, thirty years of vermilion marrow elixir, and with the fifty years of Yuling Island Taode Liuguang, it added up to two hundred and twenty years.

If she attempted Tribulation now, she would undoubtedly achieve a Third Grade Golden Core status.

But Liuli had not chosen to form her Core Formation because she still had more than a hundred years of life left and aimed for the Second Grade Golden Core, which bestowed a life span of four hundred years.

As of now, all the Mercurial Elixir available from Penglai Yuqing View had been consumed by her, and this was the main reason why most elite cultivators from the Orthodox Sect were stuck at Third Grade Golden Core—ascending to Second Grade truly tested one's opportunities.

Fortunately, Luo Yan was not lacking in opportunities. After carefully recalling his memories for a while, he reached into the Heavenly Craft treasure bag and pulled out a wooden case.

The remaining sea bodhi seeds that Ling Yunpo had acquired in the Misty Forest of the Southern Border were taken out, since Senior Sister An had already taken one. He had originally planned to save these for when his other wives attempted to reach higher levels of Golden Core cultivation.

Xu Yinglian was too capable and had herself reached Second Grade Golden Core, not needing the thirty years of cultivation from the sea bodhi seeds. So he decided to give one to Shi Liuli first.

As for the rest... Jiang the Witch?

Jiang the Witch wasn't his wife, nor was she a senior sister or junior sister; their relationship could only be described as a close confidante at best.

But he could keep it for her and see how she performed later on.

Then there were Wei Dongliu's two disciples, which would just be enough to distribute. Your journey continues with My Virtual Library Empire

With that thought, Luo Yan took the wooden case and headed for Shi Liuli's Sword Casting Chamber.