The sky was cloudless for thousands of miles, and below lay an endless wasteland, crisscrossed by fissures on the surface of the earth that revealed themselves as canyons upon closer inspection.
On a flat expanse of barren land, a massive black qi was hovering, resembling a crack.
At the bottom end of the black qi was an array platform, circular in shape and over thirty feet in diameter, carved with mysterious and complex runes. Spiritual energy surged, causing them to reflect a faint luster.
In front of the array platform, a group of Ephemera Sect cultivators stood waiting, numbering over a thousand, among whom Jiang Qiong and Su Han were also present.
The person standing at the forefront was an elder in a gray robe, clutching a wooden staff with his back hunched, gazing at the black qi above with eyes filled with anticipation.
“Ephemera Sect Main Lineage…”
Jiang Qiong looked at the spatial fluctuations within the black qi, very nervous.
She had joined the Ephemera Sect for some time and had a deep understanding of it. The Ephemera Sect in the Mortal World was just a branch and could not be compared with the main lineage at all.
Suddenly!
Thunder erupted from within the black qi, followed by an expansion of the black qi, revealing a dark red sky within, where thick clouds could be faintly seen swirling.
The gray-robed elder at the forefront knelt down and shouted loudly, “We welcome the descent of the main lineage’s Hierarch!”
At his kneeling, the other Ephemera Sect cultivators knelt one after another, echoing his words in unison, their voices resonating loudly and clearly.
Under everyone’s gaze, a figure appeared within the black qi, with his back to the dark red sky, stepping out gradually.
This was a man wearing a tight purple robe with a gold-rimmed red sash around his waist. The robe was imprinted with blossoms of the ephemera flower, and even stitched onto the back was a tree of the Ephemera.
He had a handsome face with a proud expression, snow-white hair coiled below a purple jade crown pointing to the sky, and a red gem inlaid on the crown which at first glance resembled a terrifying and dreadful eye.
With his hands clasped behind him, he looked down upon the followers below, slowly saying, “Who is Elder Chi Han?”
The gray-robed elder quickly answered, “Reporting to the Hierarch, I am!”
The purple-robed man, high above, did not show any intention of descending. He calmly stated, “Find someone to lead me to the Supreme Sect, the rest stay here and wait for the descent of the main lineage.”
Upon hearing this, Elder Chi Han asked excitedly, “Are there more seniors from the main lineage coming?”
“Hmm, it’s time for the ephemera to bloom.”
…
The mysterious aura was too far from the Supreme Sect, even beyond the detection range of the divine sense of someone in the Mahayana Realm. Gu An made no rash moves, as his intuition told him that the aura was connected to the Ephemera Sect Main Lineage.
Without a clear understanding of the strength of the Ephemera Sect Main Lineage, he wouldn’t act recklessly.
Although, from Zhong Liang and Su Shan’s memories, the Ephemera Sect was waiting for a Great Cultivator in the Mystic Heart Realm from the main lineage, Gu An was worried that things might have changed since he had eradicated the Ephemera Tree. What if more than one Mystic Heart Realm Great Cultivator came?
Moreover, the Supreme Sect had profound resources and might not need his intervention. Perhaps a Supreme Elder would return.
Setting aside the Supreme Elders, the Ji Family and the Gu Family also had immeasurable depths.
When Gu An used his divine sense to search the Taicang Dynasty, he couldn’t find the main residences of these two families and estimated they were hidden in a Minor Heaven and Earth.
This world contained many Minor Heavens and Earths, equivalent to innate spatial restrictions, which could also be described using Earth’s terminology as alternate dimensions.
The day after Lv Baitian left, the atmosphere at the Supreme Sect became tense.
Large numbers of cultivators in the Core Formation and Nascent Soul Realms flew over from above the Third Medicine Valley heading towards the Outer Sect direction, and even the nine talented disciples who were cultivating in the valley were summoned, bidding farewell to Gu An.
Each disciple had their own identity token, through which the Supreme Sect could pass orders to everyone, including those disciples who were training outside.
Xiaochuan came to Gu An’s side, asking nervously, “Senior Brother, what’s the big issue this time? It’s not an attack by the Ephemera Sect, is it?”
Each time he went to the Outer City, he could hear other disciples discussing the Ephemera Sect. With its unbroken string of victories over the Demon Path and the great trouble it once caused the Supreme Sect two hundred years ago, all the disciples of the Supreme Sect felt threatened.
“Unclear, no need to overthink. We just need to take good care of the medicinal herbs. If a real battle starts, you and I won’t make much of a difference. Trust in the Sect,” Gu An reassured him.
Xiaochuan found this sensible, but his thoughts still drifted towards the Outer Sect.
Gu An turned and left, heading to harvest mature medicinal herbs.
Let the Supreme Sect take care of a falling sky; collecting herbs and flowers was of utmost importance!
An ancient hour later, Gu An returned in front of the pavilion, pulling out the Qinghong Sword and began practicing his swordplay.
He rarely practiced swordplay, attracting the attention of many disciples. They thought he had sensed the crisis and began to imitate him, starting to cultivate their own spells.
Lu Lingjun also looked towards Gu An, unable to help shaking her head.
Gu An’s sword moves were very peculiar; in her opinion, they didn’t constitute swordsmanship but rather resembled axemanship.
Perhaps the Valley Master was merely trying to calm her nerves.
Lu Lingjun watched for a while before withdrawing her gaze. She walked towards the distant mountains, preparing to observe the Outer Sect from the mountaintop to see what was happening.
What Gu An was practicing was indeed not swordsmanship, but the Heaven-Cutting Divine Axe.
He purposefully used a sword to deceive onlookers; in fact, the Heaven-Cutting Divine Axe had no legacy left in the Supreme Sect, and nobody used it.
In the blink of an eye, three days passed.
On this day, having settled matters of Mystic Valley, Gu An proceeded to the Third Medicine Valley to continue harvesting medicinal herbs.
The Third Medicine Valley spanned a hundred miles, filled with too many herbs. Every day, there were herbs ripening. Each time Gu An harvested, he would leave a portion behind, ensuring a significant lifespan income each time.
The herbs would not be affected if left to grow for several months after maturation.
After successfully harvesting five thousand years of lifespan, Gu An had a servant disciple send the herbs to the storage tower while he looked for Lu Lingjun.
“I’m planning to take a trip to the Outer Sect. Are you coming?” Gu An asked. Lu Lingjun had previously mentioned to remember to bring her along the next time he went to the Outer Sect.
Of course, a deeper reason for Gu An was to add another fighting force to the Supreme Sect.
Upon hearing this, Lu Lingjun nodded immediately; she had been observing for three days and was eager to see the action in the Outer Sect.
And so, Gu An led Lu Lingjun to the Outer Sect.
Upon arriving at the Outer Sect, Gu An made an appointment to meet Lu Lingjun in front of the Heavenly Repair Platform at dusk before setting off alone.
“Such a sensible person,”
Lu Lingjun watched Gu An’s fading figure and thought to herself in silence.
She then turned around and saw that in the sky above the South City Gate, there were numerous Great Cultivators suspended in the air, each with a large flag behind them. Spanning as far as the eye could see, there were around a thousand people, perfectly encircling the entire Outer City.
These people were at the very least at the Nascent Soul Realm!
A single Outer City housed so many high-realm cultivators. Lu Lingjun had previously probed with her Divine Sense and found that the other Outer Cities were in a similar state, which made her marvel at the profound depth of the Supreme Sect’s foundation.
With the strength the Supreme Sect had shown so far, she felt it could easily sweep through the Mortal World she came from.
On the other side.
Gu An found Zhen Qin of the Law Enforcement Hall.
The Law Enforcement Hall hadn’t been tasked with combat, but instead patrolled the city to prevent Ephemera Sect cultivators from sneaking in.
Zhen Qin was pulled aside to the streets by Gu An, who took out a copy of the Daoist Expansion Skill from his Storage Bag and handed it to her, saying, “Keep it safe. Once you return, cultivate diligently and tell no one, including your Martial Uncle Ye.”
Zhen Qin glanced at it, saw that it was a cultivation technique, and was instantly thrilled. She nodded repeatedly.
She was aware of the fact that Gu An had a Medicine Valley within the Inner Sect; his status was certainly beyond her comparison, and the cultivation technique Gu An gave her must be extraordinary.
Although she had been cultivating Jiang Qiong’s cultivation technique, her cultivation level had troubled her with its difficulty to improve over the recent years.
After a brief chat, the master and disciple parted ways.
Gu An did not go to look for Ye Lan, because she was partaking in the Outer Sect meetings at the Great Elder’s residence.
The entire Supreme Sect had already entered a state of combat readiness!
The reason Gu An chose to come to the Outer City today was because he had sensed an aura surpassing the Unification Realm entering the Taicang Dynasty and moving closer to the Supreme Sect.
Mystic Heart Realm!
The person was not flying fast, for someone was leading the way; of course, it might also have been an attempt to pressure the Supreme Sect. The careless display of powerful aura, not only detectable by Great Cultivators of the Unification Realm but also by those of the Divinity Transformation and Void Crossing Realms, was the reason for the intensely tense atmosphere in the Supreme Sect.
Gu An had no intention of taking action in haste; he wanted to see the full extent of the Supreme Sect’s capabilities.
It would be unacceptable if he had to deal with every enemy himself.
Killing cultivators could grant life span, but the amount added wasn’t much, not much different from that of medicinal herbs, so he wasn’t eager to kill enemies.
Of course, if there were many enemies, he wouldn’t mind taking actions to snatch some kills.
Gu An arrived at the Heavenly Repair Platform and positioned himself behind the Ghost Mother of Ephemera, pretending to be sensing the Sword Intent of the platform.
“Gu junior, what brings you here?” A laughing voice came from the side as the Mad Swordsman of Great Yu, Han Ming, approached with a smile.
He stood behind the Ghost Mother of Ephemera, exchanging pleasantries with Gu An.
The Ghost Mother of Ephemera, on the other hand, did not react and kept her eyes closed.
Despite the imminent battle, hundreds of disciples were still engaging in Path Enlightenment on the platform.
Han Ming, at the fifth layer of the Void Crossing Realm, did not realize that the female disciple meditating beside was an old monster at the second layer of the Unification Realm.
After a few formalities, Gu An curiously asked, “The Ephemera Sect is attacking; why haven’t you left, Senior? Aren’t you afraid of being affected?”
“What is the Ephemera Sect to worry about? They have been defeated by the Supreme Sect in the past, and it will probably be the same this time. The Supreme Sect is harboring too many Great Cultivators and old monsters. You should also take the opportunity to watch and gain a deeper understanding of the Supreme Sect,” Han Ming chuckled.
Upon hearing this, Gu An grew even more curious and began to ask him about the powerful Great Cultivators of the Supreme Sect.
Han Ming shared what he knew about the Supreme Sect while nearby disciples couldn’t help but eavesdrop.
Ninety percent of the Supreme Sect’s disciples were not clear on how strong exactly their sect was, for the Supreme Sect was simply too vast.
The Ghost Mother of Ephemera seemed disturbed, so she stood up, intending to move away.
Gu An deliberately turned his back to her and pretended to step back naturally, bumping into her.
Upon realizing he bumped into someone, Gu An quickly turned around and said, “Miss, I’m sorry.”
The Ghost Mother of Ephemera frowned but merely shook her head without saying much.
She passed by Gu An.
“Stop!” Han Ming’s voice suddenly rang out, his gaze fixed on the Ghost Mother of Ephemera.
The Ghost Mother of Ephemera couldn’t help but halt in her steps.
The surrounding disciples cast puzzled glances, as Han Ming was a prominent figure on the Heavenly Repair Platform, and his actions easily drew attention.
Gu An quickly spoke up, “It was my fault; I accidentally bumped into her!”
Han Ming ignored Gu An, still staring at the Ghost Mother of Ephemera’s figure, and said coldly, “Who exactly are you, Your Excellency? You’ve hidden yourself well, but you revealed a flash of your aura just now.”
“You’re not a person, are you? You’re a ghost!”
A ghost?
As soon as he spoke, the surrounding disciples all rose to their feet, with some even drawing out their magic artifacts.
Upon hearing this, Gu An was taken aback and looked at the Ghost Mother of Ephemera incredulously before retreating to the side.
The Ghost Mother of Ephemera turned around. She did not look at Gu An, but instead eyed Han Ming indifferently and said, “You are not of the Supreme Sect, why trouble yourself with needless affairs?”