Gu An and Wu Jue exchanged experiences about their path enlightenment, talking until the next morning, both benefiting greatly.
Before parting, Wu Jue once again urged him not to reveal anything about path enlightenment to others.
Seeing how cautious the other was, Gu An smiled and assured him.
Wu Jue watched Gu An leave, a smile spreading across his face.
Having lived in the Supreme Sect for so many years, Gu An was the first true friend he had made. Before, he felt very inferior and dared not interact much with others; the only person he was close to was his master, so his master’s death was a huge shock to him.
Wu Jue turned and went back inside to continue his cultivation, while looking forward to his next exchange with Gu An.
Gu An stayed in the city for an hour before returning to the Third Medicine Valley. After checking the valley, he hurriedly left again.
He first spent a short half-hour in Mystic Valley before heading to Mystic Heaven Cave Mansion.
There were already many herbs planted in Mystic Heaven Cave Mansion, but it was still far from full.
Gu An planned to plant herbs of the fifth level or higher here, as this was his private territory, a place truly unknown to anyone else.
Jiang Qiong and Sky Dragon knew about the Eight Scenic Caves, but only he knew about Mystic Heaven Cave Mansion.
During the planting process, he felt the aura of battle coming from the north.
The aura of the Nine Nether Road persisted, having lasted for several months; the dynasties continually dispatched cultivators to fight, temporarily containing the chaos caused by the Ephemera Sect.
This was normal; if the Ephemera Sect were far stronger than the power of the nine dynasties, they would have already swept over them.
Gu An paid no attention to the distant battle, his focus solely on planting.
He could stay the night in Mystic Heaven Cave Mansion tonight since it was the end of the month, and in case Li Ya wanted to contact him, he could not afford to miss it.
Since agreeing with Li Ya, Li Ya had not revealed his aura at the end of the month on any mountaintop. Perhaps it was beyond his control, but Gu An was not worried; he would come to Mystic Heaven Cave Mansion every end of the month to use his divine sense to search the north for Li Ya’s aura.
In this way, Gu An planted all the seeds he had brought with him and took the opportunity to set up another formation. When night fell, he executed the Nine Extremes Yin Yang Body, turning into a demon shadow and hastening towards the north.
…
Under the cover of night, Li Ya with the North Sea Heavy Sword on his back arrived at the mountain top. He looked up to see mountains stretching endlessly ahead, their ends out of sight. The night sky was shrouded in clouds, hiding the stars and moon.
“How far away the North Sea Mountains are from here, I wonder if the Primordial Ancestor can find me,” Li Ya thought anxiously.
The Primordial Ancestor’s voice sounded in his mind: “Great Cultivators of the nine dynasties appear one after another, yet they cannot shake that female cultivator. Once the Ephemera Sect Main Lineage descends, it will be even more dangerous. Even if the Primordial Ancestor arrives, he will not be able to turn the tide.”
He had resolved that Gu An was the Primordial Ancestor of the Li Family, but he did not have confidence in the Primordial Ancestor.
The Primordial Ancestor had a higher realm than he did in life, but within the Ephemera Sect Main Lineage, there were also people like that, and not just one.
After hearing this, Li Ya fell silent.
He turned his head to look around, dispersing his divine sense, fearing that Ephemera Sect cultivators were trailing him.
After confirming that no one was following him, Li Ya took down the heavy sword and sat down to meditate on the spot.
He placed the heavy sword on his legs and carefully felt the sword blade.
He had mastered a sliver of the Taicang Divine-Shocking Sword intent. The longer he studied the Taicang Divine-Shocking Sword, the more he realized its immeasurable depths. Once he achieved great proficiency in this Sword Dao, he would be unrivaled within his realm and could even fight across realms.
The cold wind blew through. Though there was no snow, it was still bone-chillingly cold.
Who knows how long passed.
A figure appeared behind Li Ya, quietly watching him.
It was Gu An, who was observing Li Ya’s swordsmanship achievement using the Nine Extremes Yin Yang Body.
Not bad, he hasn’t wasted the swordsmanship achievement I left him.
“He’s here…”
The Primordial Ancestor’s voice resounded next to Li Ya’s ear, his tone complex.
At that, Li Ya opened his eyes, turned his head, and upon seeing Gu An, he immediately scrambled up, holding the North Sea Heavy Sword and bowed to Gu An.
He could now hold the North Sea Heavy Sword in one hand.
“I pay my respects to the Primordial Ancestor!”
Gu An was too lazy to explain Li Ya’s form of address; as long as he didn’t guess his true identity, it was all right.
“Tell me about the situation with the Ephemera Sect,” Gu An spoke up, his voice altered as usual.
Li Ya began reporting the situation.
The devotees of the Ephemera Sect were all gathered at the entrance to the Nine Nether Road, numbering over a million. Each Ephemera Sect cultivator had been branded with the Ephemera Seal, preventing those who were hesitant from escaping.
He mentioned the Ephemera Tree, which nearly every day saw cultivators confronting the Ephemera Sect, ultimately dying and becoming nourishment for the tree.
Upon mentioning the tree, Li Ya, who was usually fearless, also showed a look of fear on his face.
Gu An was not concerned about these matters; he was curious about how powerful the strongest person in the Ephemera Sect Main Lineage was.
Unfortunately, Li Ya was not clear about that either; after talking for a while, their conversation was centered around the battles around the Ephemera Tree, with no mention of the situation inside the Nine Nether Road.
“Why have you come out secretly? It seems you want to pass on information, which looks like your supporter is also helpless and unable to respond to you,” a scornful laugh sounded, startling Li Ya and causing his face to change dramatically as he looked past Gu An.
Traveler of Graceful Crane, dressed like a scholar, emerged from the woods behind Gu An, who did not turn around.
“Demon Shadow Divine Skill, may I ask which esteemed member of the Thousand-Autumn Pavilion you are?” Traveler of Graceful Crane asked with a smiling face. He proceeded to take a bookcase from his back, placed it in front of him, and began to rummage through it.
Before Gu An could answer, Li Ya urgently said, “Primordial Ancestor, his name is Traveler of Graceful Crane, he is the one who captured my ancestor’s soul before, he is very strong, you must not take him lightly!”
Gu An turned his head slightly, glancing at Traveler of Graceful Crane with his peripheral vision.
Unification Realm Nine Layers, no wonder he speaks with such presumption.
Such a cultivation level would already allow one to dominate over the Taicang Dynasty!
Gu An slowly turned around, looking at Traveler of Graceful Crane, who was searching for something. He wasn’t in a hurry and just watched Traveler of Graceful Crane act.
A great cultivator of the Unification Realm Nine Layers still needs to search for things by hand?
This man clearly thought he had Gu An in his grasp and was deliberately messing with Gu An’s and Li Ya’s mental states.
“Primordial Ancestor? Turns out we are family. Then I’ll have to torture you to death right in front of him, so he gives up any of those twisted thoughts he shouldn’t be having,” Traveler of Graceful Crane said with a sneer.
Upon hearing this, Li Ya immediately came by Gu An’s side and presented the North Sea Heavy Sword to Gu An.
“To kill him, do you need a sword?”
Gu An’s hoarse voice rang out, causing Li Ya to startle, and Traveler of Graceful Crane’s movements searching for objects also stalled.
Traveler of Graceful Crane looked up at Gu An; the two stood on a slope with Gu An positioned higher up.
He couldn’t make out Gu An’s true face, but for some reason, as he looked at this figure, unease brewed within him.
Suddenly, he pulled a scroll from his book box, which when unfurled, exploded with terrifying magma that blotted out the sky and was shockingly formidable.
Li Ya stood in place, completely unable to react in time.
Gu An raised his right hand at an extremely fast speed, flicking his finger to shoot a powerful beam that pierced through the terrifying magma, forcibly penetrating the throat of Traveler of Graceful Crane, with blood blossoming from the back of his neck.
Traveler of Graceful Crane’s eyes widened, filled with disbelief.
Just as his body started to tilt backward, a foot stepped on his back.
Boom!
The mountains trembled violently, and under the watch of Li Ya, that overwhelmingly powerful Traveler of Graceful Crane who had once driven him to despair was now stepped upon by the Primordial Ancestor, with rubble flying.
“Ugh…”
Traveler of Graceful Crane spat out a mouthful of blood in reverse. He despaired as he found his Spiritual Power suppressed within his body, completely incapable of being released; he couldn’t even use spells to escape.
He had never felt such a suppressive force before.
Even a Great Cultivator of the Mystic Heart Realm couldn’t have imposed such suppression on him.
Could it be that he had already reached above the fifth layer of the Mystic Heart Realm?
Traveler of Graceful Crane felt this was absurd.
Boom! Boom! Boom…
Gu An began to stomp his foot, relentlessly crushing Traveler of Graceful Crane’s back with each step, the blood stain beneath Traveler of Graceful Crane growing ever larger, the mountain itself cracking.
Enveloped in dark purple Demonic Qi, Gu An appeared like a Demon God from the netherworld; even Li Ya couldn’t help but feel a touch of fear at this moment.
The old ancestor’s soul within him also fell silent.
After stomping nine times, Traveler of Graceful Crane had lost his ability to fight.
Gu An’s right foot ignited with Taiching True Fire, attaching it to Traveler of Graceful Crane, who then fell back while Gu An’s left hand captured his Primordial Spirit and his right hand picked up the nearby book box.
Traveler of Graceful Crane’s body was quickly reduced to ashes. As Gu An’s figure disappeared, he left behind a sentence:
“From now on, do your best to stay alive. There’s no need to come looking for me again.”
Li Ya stood on the slope, staring at the remains of Traveler of Graceful Crane, reduced to ashes, silent for a long time.
After a good while.
He couldn’t help but ask himself, “Do you still think that the Primordial Ancestor has no chance of defeating the Ephemera Sect Main Lineage?”
The old ancestor did not respond.
…
Inside the Mystic Heaven Cave Mansion, Gu An sat in front of a stone table, performing the Soul Capturing skill on Traveler of Graceful Crane’s Primordial Spirit.
It turned out that Traveler of Graceful Crane was not a man of the nine dynasties; he originated from the Ephemera Sect Main Lineage and had arrived very early.
Three hundred years ago, the Ephemera Sect Main Lineage came to the land of the nine dynasties. He and several fellow sect members dispersed, with the others acting in accordance with the main lineage’s grand scheme, seeking suitable puppet sects for manipulation, while he traveled alone in search of immortal fates.
He had the audacity to act so uniquely because he was a core disciple of the main lineage with a prominent background.
Two hundred years ago, having witnessed the strong Lv Baitian, aware that he was no match, he avoided direct confrontation and lay in hiding for two hundred years.
The Ephemera Sect Main Lineage arrived in the land of the nine dynasties because they knew it was to be devoured by demons. In their eyes, the human race here was bound to die sooner or later, so it might as well contribute to the Ephemera Tree.
The Ephemera Tree’s favorite food was the Spiritual Power and flesh of cultivators of the human race. If it could devour the people of the nine dynasties, it could transcend Heavenly Destiny and reach the legendary Nine Layers Realm.
At that point, the Ephemera Tree could open the Nine Nether Road at will, providing convenience for the actions of the Ephemera Sect Main Lineage, allowing them to go wherever they wished.
Through the memories of Traveler of Graceful Crane, Gu An learned about the hierarchical status within the Ephemera Sect Main Lineage. The Golden Spirit Venerable he had previously killed was one of the hundred venerables of the main lineage, all of whom possessed Mystic Heart Realm cultivation.
Furthermore, the leader of the main lineage had, five hundred years ago, crossed the boundary of the Mystic Heart Realm to reach the legendary Mahayana Realm.
This meant that the Ephemera Sect Main Lineage had only one cultivator in the Mahayana Realm!
Could five hundred years have allowed that lineage leader to reach the Nine Layers of the Mahayana Realm?
Gu An quietly pondered.
Several ancient hours later, he finally withdrew his Divine Sense, then finished off Traveler of Graceful Crane, seizing two hundred and nine years of Life Span.
Gu An’s right hand rested on the book box, his index finger gently tapping it, his eyes flickering.
No more waiting!
Tomorrow he would deal with the Ephemera Tree beneath the Nine Nether Road, better to prevent any further complications. After all, if he didn’t act, the Ephemera Sect Main Lineage would not rest either!