After returning to the Mystic Heaven Cave Mansion, Gu An lost interest in practicing formations, and instead began to watch the drama unfold, his divine sense following Sage Xuan Miao.
As expected, when Sage Xuan Miao returned to the Daoist temple, a conflict erupted with the Underworld Fox Demon.
Darkness conveniently ushered in a heavy rain, causing noise throughout heaven and earth.
In the rainy night, Sage Xuan Miao, holding a treasure sword, questioned the Underworld Fox Demon about his origins.
The Underworld Fox Demon, in panic, said he had been injured before and had forgotten his origins; had it not been for his master saving him, he would have died under the claws of another demon.
The master and disciple duo erupted into intense conflict under the rainy night. After arguing for a while, Sage Xuan Miao, chanting about breaking through calamity and seemingly possessed, raised his sword to strike the Underworld Fox Demon.
The Underworld Fox Demon, terrified, hastily fled, pleading bitterly, but failed to awaken even a trace of pity in Sage Xuan Miao.
Gu An sensed a trace of demonic qi in Sage Xuan Miao, unsure whether this individual inherently harbored demonic tendencies or if it was caused by practicing the Yin Yang extremities.
Ultimately, the Underworld Fox Demon could not continue the act and erupted with strong demon energy, simultaneously beginning to madly absorb nature’s spiritual energy, rapidly condensing into a fearsome demonic shadow that at first glance, resembled some kind of summoning spell.
The terrifying presence of the demonic shadow was comparable to the ninth layer of the Void Crossing Realm, leading Gu An to guess that it was the Underworld Demon Emperor.
As a Divinity Transformation Realm cultivator, Sage Xuan Miao simply couldn’t defeat this demonic shadow. In the critical moment, he once again used Divine-Reaching Mystic Gate, calling upon a Mahayana Cultivator from the Mystic Heart Realm to intervene.
As soon as the Mahayana Cultivator made a move, he directly dissipated the demonic shadow, and the Underworld Fox Demon took the chance to escape.
In the critical moment, Sage Xuan Miao softened his heart, allowing the Mahayana Cultivator to spare the Underworld Fox Demon.
When the Divine-Reaching Mystic Gate dispersed, Sage Xuan Miao collapsed once more, beginning to cough up blood frantically.
It seems the cost of using the Divine-Reaching Mystic Gate was very high!
Truly, a thrilling sequence of conflicts!
Gu An felt moved, feeling as if he were reading a novel.
[The Underworld Fox Demon has generated hostility towards you, detesting you to the bone. Do you want to perform Life Span Detection on it?]
Here it comes!
Time to work!
Gu An got up, beginning to move his limbs.
…
Within the forest, the Underworld Fox Demon quickly fled. Under the downpour, he appeared very bedraggled.
Unsure how long he had been running, he stopped under a large tree, pressing on the wound at his waist, the rain drenching his long hair, and his face turning fierce.
“Mountain God… damn it, I was almost successful…”
The Underworld Fox Demon muttered to himself, his eyes filled with a murderous intent.
He did not believe in any Mountain God; that person was probably transformed by some malevolent spirit. In any case, daring to ruin his plan to enter the Three Pure Ones Mountain, he was determined to take revenge.
“Are you talking about me?” A voice suddenly rang next to the Underworld Fox Demon’s ear, startling him enough to instinctively turn his head, only to see a figure in white robes wearing a theatrical mask standing on his shoulder.
Before he could react, a terrifying divine sense assaulted his soul.
Huh?
So here you are!
When Gu An’s divine sense intruded into the Underworld Fox Demon’s body, he discovered another primordial spirit hidden in the depths of the Underworld Fox Demon’s soul.
The Underworld Demon Emperor!
This guy was really formidable, to have escaped the notice of Mahayana Cultivators.
Unfortunately for him, he should not have harbored ill intentions!
Gu An began to use the Soul Capturing Skill, seizing the memories of the Underworld Demon Emperor.
The memories of the Underworld Demon Emperor were exceedingly vast: Gu An, deeming it troublesome, took only the most recent hundred years of memories. After a quick Soul Search, he finally understood the origins of the Underworld Demon Emperor.
The Underworld Demon Emperor came from the Nine Nether Road, a demon from within the Nine Nether Domain who had long suffered persecution from the Ephemera Sect. Two hundred years ago, taking advantage of the Ephemera Sect’s opening of the Nine Nether Road, he escaped to the Nine Dynasties.
Over two hundred years, he had wandered the world, visiting many sects. He considered the mightiest sect to be the Three Pure Ones Mountain. The rich foundation of Daoist sorcery at the Three Pure Ones Mountain, established for over ten thousand years, made it the most ancient sect in the lands of the Nine Dynasties.
He attempted to infiltrate it but was discovered just as he stepped halfway through the sect gate, nearly dying at the Three Pure Ones Mountain. Therefore, throughout the following years, he constantly kept the Three Pure Ones Mountain in his thoughts.
The Underworld Fox Demon was a small fox seized by the Underworld Demon Emperor; its original soul had been erased. He was using a special seizing technique, difficult to be detected.
The reason he manifested the scene of the Ephemera Sect attacking was to force Sage Xuan Miao back to the Three Pure Ones Mountain, to not linger in the North Sea Mountain. Unexpectedly, after learning of this, Sage Xuan Miao went to find the Mountain God.
This caused the Underworld Demon Emperor to harbor hostility towards the Mountain God. After a major battle once Sage Xuan Miao returned to settle accounts, his hostility towards the Mountain God turned into a killing intent.
The whole affair felt somewhat coincidental, but now that the Underworld Demon Emperor harbored a killing intent towards Gu An, he could not let him live.
An hour later.
Gu An withdrew his divine sense, using Taiching True Fire to burn the Underworld Fox Demon, reducing him to ashes, completely obliterating his soul, successfully seizing ninety-three years of life span.
He then returned to the Supreme Sect.
Back in the attics of Mystic Valley, Gu An sat at his desk, taking out paper and a pen. First, he wrote down three big characters.
Nine Nether Domain!
Through the memories of the Underworld Demon Emperor, Gu An learned that the Nine Nether Road was an independent world, known as the Nine Nether Domain, inhabited by the Demon Clan, Demon Clan, and malevolent spirits, constantly oppressed by the Ephemera Sect.
He planned to write the Nine Nether Domain into an encyclopedia, later in another form to pass on to the Supreme Sect, facilitating their exploration.
…
The leaves of autumn carpeted Mystic Valley. Over twenty Servant Disciples were busy sweeping the fallen leaves.
Gu An walked downstairs, just in time to see several disciples of the Supreme Sect flying overhead, traveling extremely fast.
He just glanced once before withdrawing his gaze, preparing to head towards the Third Medicine Valley.
Before reaching the Transmission Array Platform, Gu An sensed a presence. He stopped and turned to look at the working Servant Disciples.
Half an hour later, Ye Lan flew into the Medicine Valley, pulling Gu An upstairs to talk.
After closing the door, Ye Lan said in a deep voice, “The Nine Nether Road is in urgent trouble; the Ephemera Sect has arrived. A great battle is about to erupt, not just at the Nine Nether Road, but Ephemera Sect’s demon cultivators have also appeared in various places. This situation is completely different from the past. The Law Enforcement Hall must go out to protect the common people.
I need to leave today!”
Is it that urgent?
Gu An immediately took out a batch of healing pills and handed them to Ye Lan.
Ye Lan did not refuse and cautioned, “During this time, you must be careful. According to our previous investigations, there are still spies from the Ephemera Sect within the Supreme Sect. This time, we are facing the Ephemera Sect Main Lineage, and they might come out in full force. This is a calamity that occurs once in a thousand years!”
“I understand. Take care of yourself; don’t let go of the White Spirit Sword,” Gu An nodded.
Upon hearing this, Ye Lan lifted the White Spirit Sword in her hand and smiled, “Alright!”
After she passed on some important intelligence, she hurriedly left.
Gu An stood in front of the pavilion, watching her leave. He had already felt the outbreak of battles in the distance, and not just in one place.
This time, the Ephemera Sect’s offensive was far greater than before; previously it was defense, but now it was an invasion.
Gu An had no immediate plans to act; he decided to let the Nine Dynasties withstand it first to avoid startling the enemy.
His target was dealing with that Mahayana Cultivator.
Before that, Gu An decided to find a place to make a breakthrough.
A Mahayana versus Mahayana, no confidence!
Gu An’s combat experience was too limited, while his opponent was surely an old monster who had lived for thousands of years.
He was not good at fighting life-and-death battles, only at crushing enemies.
He needed to find a suitable place.
It couldn’t be the North Sea Mountains anymore; the Mystic Heaven Cave Mansion was there, and he couldn’t disrupt the spiritual energy ecosystem.
Having thought so, Gu An headed to the Third Medicine Valley then to the Inner Sect.
With the Valley Master Token of the Third Medicine Valley, he could freely enter the Inner Sect.
Half an hour later.
Gu An stepped into the Inner Sect City. Having not visited for several months, the atmosphere in the Inner Sect City was very tense. The cultivators passing by were all hurrying, very anxious.
He heard the surrounding disciples discussing the attack of the Ephemera Sect. Apparently, the news had already been made public in the four major Inner Sect cities.
Listening to these disciples’ discussions, it turned out that it wasn’t only the Taicang Dynasty facing the invasion of the Ephemera Sect but all of the other eight dynasties as well.
It was said that the second batch of disciples sent to the Nine Nether Road had suffered over half casualties, and even an elder had fallen there.
It sounded urgent, and even Gu An was affected.
He made his way to the Book Collection Hall and went up to the third floor. This floor contained various maps and records of different areas.
Due to the Ephemera Sect’s assault, there were very few disciples in the Book Collection Hall; the third floor was even emptier with only Gu An and a managing elder present.
After a while.
Just as Gu An was browsing through books, an elderly voice came over, “Young friend, what are you looking for?”
Gu An turned to look and saw the managing elder Xu Lu casually walking over.
He turned and bowed to Xu Lu, saying, “Disciple wishes to see how vast this world is.”
This Xu Lu appeared weak and old, but he actually possessed the Nascent Soul Realm cultivation level, which is the minimum requirement for an Inner Sect Elder.
“Do you want the largest map? It’s not here; come with me,” Xu Lu cocked his head, signaling Gu An to follow his steps.
Gu An was secretly puzzled, wondering why the other party was doing this.
He could only follow and see how things unfolded.
“Previously you bought the Green Hero Travelogue here, right?” Xu Lu said nonchalantly.
Gu An replied, “Yes, does the elder have any advice?”
So it was about the Green Hero Travelogue.
Xu Lu leisurely said, “Ever since a book called Supreme Secret Records circulated in the market, not many people are buying the Green Hero Travelogue, which has saddened my friend. Since you still enjoy the Green Hero Travelogue, I will bestow upon you my collection of a continent map, drawn by a Supreme Elder who traveled the world.”
Gu An, hearing this, immediately showed interest and asked, “Elder, is Green Hero a man or a woman?”
“Naturally a man; no woman writes such books.”
“Is Green Hero still in the sect?”
“Actually, no, but occasionally someone sends books back.”
The two chatted while walking to a door. Xu Lu asked Gu An to wait while he pushed open the door and entered.
It wasn’t long before Xu Lu came out with a large scroll in hand and also holding a book. He handed these two items to Gu An, saying, “Take this back and copy it; remember to bring it back when you come next time.”
Gu An placed the scroll and the book in his storage bag and then thanked Xu Lu.
Xu Lu cautioned, “With your cultivation level, you should travel through just the Nine Dynasties, do not form a Nascent Soul, do not go to the Demon Land, and especially do not go south into the sea.”
“Junior understands,” Gu An replied.
Xu Lu waved his hand, signaling him to leave.
Gu An immediately left, but just as he reached the staircase, he felt a strong divine sense sweep over him.
There was a Mystic Heart Realm cultivator in the building!
Could it be one of the Supreme Elders reading here?
Including Sage Xuan Quan, the Supreme Sect now had two Mystic Heart Realm cultivators!
This further fueled Gu An’s desire to breakthrough.
All because of the Ephemera Sect, bringing back so many old monsters!