After chatting with Sage Xuan Miao for a while, Gu An asked him to take him to the herb garden for a visit.
At the foot of the mountain, Sage Xuan Miao had planted a large herb garden, guarded by several Minor Demons. Gu An began to pick the ripe herbs and shared numerous Great Dao truths with Sage Xuan Miao.
Sage Xuan Miao listened intently to every word about the mountain god’s truths, feeling that each contained great Daoist meanings.
After the picking was done, Gu An only took half, leaving the other half of the herbs for Sage Xuan Miao to use for alchemy cultivation.
Although it wasn’t the first time this had happened, it always moved Sage Xuan Miao deeply.
He was said to be a servant, to serve for a lifetime, but in reality, he was cultivating under the guidance of the mountain god, which was a tremendous blessing!
Sage Xuan Miao felt that the mountain god had an important mission for him because the god had said, “Heaven, when about to place a great responsibility on a man, always first tests his resolution, wears out his sinews and bones with toil, exposes his body to starvation, and confounds his endeavors.”
Perhaps planting herbs was not for the sake of the mountain god, but a way to temper his character.
Regarding the mission the mountain god wanted to pass on to him, he had a bold guess that even he couldn’t help being agitated by every time it crossed his mind, and he tried not to think about it.
…
The herb garden of the Mountain God Temple had not yet become a stable source of longevity for Gu An. He mainly relied on Mystic Valley, the Eight Scenic Grotto-Heavens, the Third Medicine Valley, Tianya Valley, and Nianchu Cave, gaining nearly two hundred thousand years of life span each year, with occasional fluctuations.
His life span had already exceeded five million six hundred thousand years, and if nothing unexpected happened, he would reach ten million years of life span in twenty years.
The Demon Calamity was unlikely to erupt within the next twenty years. According to the internal estimates of the Supreme Sect, there would be at least fifty years before the outbreak of the Demon Calamity.
After returning to Mystic Valley, Gu An continued to be an ordinary disciple.
It’s worth mentioning that Gu Zong had already promoted Gu An to be an Inner Sect Disciple, but Gu An still preferred to wander around the Outer City.
He had many friends in the Outer Sect, and he was a person who cherished old acquaintances.
And so, another year passed.
Summer arrived.
Gu An was practicing calligraphy on the attic of Mystic Valley, contemplating the profound formations of the Ziwei Array Chronicles while writing.
Lu Jiujia suddenly came to visit Gu An. Upon hearing the knock, Gu An let him in.
He closed the room’s door, approached the desk, and said, “Senior Brother, I’ve found news about Wuxin.”
Wuxin, Gu An’s junior disciple, was a spy from Thousand-Autumn Pavilion who had left but left behind the Daoist Expansion Skill.
Gu An did not look up, continuing to concentrate on his paper, and said, “Let’s hear it.”
Lu Jiujia immediately recounted, “Due to the chaos of the Ephemera Sect, Thousand-Autumn Pavilion has been dissolved. I originally thought he had met with disaster, but recently I heard that a young monk has appeared under the Emperor’s command, who claims to be Wuxin.
This monk acts ruthlessly and once single-handedly slaughtered nine thousand imperial guards of the Hanlu Dynasty, turning their skulls into magic artifacts. This matter has caused a huge uproar in the Immortal Cultivation World. The Emperor, in his desire to unify the realm, employs people without considering morality, and now he has many Demon Cultivators and Ghost Cultivators under his command.”
Upon hearing this, Gu An silently noted that Wuxin had grown stronger.
As for Wuxin’s actions, he didn’t feel it was his place to judge.
It’s worth mentioning that the Immortal Cultivation worlds of all nine dynasties tacitly approved of Li Xuandao’s actions, allowing the dynasties to wage war, but on one condition: factions must not get involved, at least not in the dynasties’ struggles.
Of course, that was the rule, but the Supreme Sect would quietly support Li Xuandao, and the Immortal Cultivation Sects of the Hanlu Dynasty would also send reinforcements.
Every Cultivator from the nine dynasties hoped the dynasty that unified the realm would be their own.
Lu Jiujia lamented, “Wuxin’s strength now is probably comparable to that of the Elixir Formation Realm. With his talent, there is no way he should be this formidable; he must have cultivated some type of Demon Skill. Senior Brother, if you encounter him in the future, you must be careful.”
He too had once strayed onto the wrong path and understood the feeling of falling into the Demon Path – the urge to become stronger by any means necessary, where his state of mind was focused solely on his own importance.
Gu An nodded and said, “Don’t worry, I usually won’t leave the range of the Supreme Sect. He certainly would not dare to come here.”
The Supreme Sect was rising, and due to the impact of the Golden List competition and Pan An’s writings, more and more disciples were joining the sect, including many powerful Loose Cultivators. Each year, the paper strength of the Supreme Sect increased one level.
One notable change was that Gu An seldom saw Demon Cultivators sneaking into the Supreme Sect anymore.
After sharing this news, Lu Jiujia no longer disturbed Gu An.
Gu An continued with his calligraphy. He thought that in his next book, he could show off his handwriting.
Such beautiful writing should not be hidden and enjoyed alone!
I may not be a cultivation genius, but I am definitely a calligraphy genius!
Gu An praised himself inwardly, feeling increasingly pleased.
Just then,
He suddenly felt someone calling out to him. He initially thought it was Sage Xuan Miao, but when his Divine Sense swept out, he found Sage Xuan Miao was in the midst of cultivation.
He listened more intently and realized that the call was not for the mountain god.
It was a plea for help, “Master, save me.”
Hmm?
…
Under the blue sky and white clouds, hundreds of Cultivators were suspended between the mountains, all facing the same cliff, continuously employing their spells.
No matter how powerful their Spiritual Power was in assault, they could not shake the cliff. Each attack would bring forth a layer of blue light from the cliff, repelling all assaults.
An old man flew next to the only purple-robed man who was not attacking and said gravely, “Your Highness, the Restriction here is too powerful; even I, a Void Crossing Realm Cultivator, cannot break through it!”
The purple-robed man was a Prince of the Tianwei Dynasty named Si Zong, with the Cultivation Level of the first layer of Divinity Transformation.
Si Zong replied indifferently, “Continue the attack. Even if we can’t break through, we must intimidate that young man. My master will soon arrive. Additionally, send a group to scatter and look for him, to prevent him from escaping. He is the top scholar of the Golden List in the Supreme Sect. If he escapes this time, capturing him again will be difficult.
If he grows in strength, he will become a major problem for Tianwei.”
“Yes!”
The elder immediately took orders and departed.
Meanwhile,
Within the mountain wall, after traversing a winding tunnel, a spacious cave chamber was reached, where An Hao was sitting cross-legged, meditating to heal his injuries. Next to him stood a woman in yellow robes, dressed extravagantly, her face pretty and exquisite.
“Hey, my second brother’s master is at the Mystic Heart Realm and is the Supreme Elder of the Tianwei’s number one sect, Candle Sky Peak. Whatever he wants, he’s sure to obtain. You’d better open your sect door and let him in, then offer an apology. I can plead with my second brother on your behalf,” said the woman in yellow, her name Si Yan’er, a princess of Tianwei.
At that moment, she stood on the ground, only able to speak, her body rigid. If one looked closely, they could see a talisman paper stuck to her shoulder.
An Hao kept his eyes closed, paying her no mind; his complexion was pale.
He too realized that the situation was dire, with virtually no hope of escape.
While healing, his thoughts turned to his master.
His greatest wish was to see his master, even though he knew his master was Sword Venerable Fudao, An Hao still did not know his true identity.
No one in the Supreme Sect knew who exactly Sword Venerable Fudao was, not even his second master, Lv Baitian.
It was for this reason that An Hao trained even more diligently.
His real master was stronger than the entire Supreme Sect, and how could An Hao satisfy him if he did not train hard?
An Hao felt discontent within him, but also a bit weak.
That was because he hoped, at this critical juncture, his master would come to save him.
Even though Si Zong was at the Divinity Transformation Realm, he was no trouble for An Hao. The problem was that Si Zong could call for help, and he had summoned a bunch of high realm cultivators.
This made An Hao feel extremely frustrated.
He had a powerful backing too!
If only his master would come, then no matter how many people Si Zong summoned, An Hao felt it would be pointless.
The constant haranguing from Si Yan’er was annoying and made his mind chaotic.
Unable to bear it, An Hao abruptly opened his eyes and glared at Si Yan’er, cursing, “If you speak one more word, be careful, or I’ll peel you, and before you die, I’ll take my pleasure with you!”
At these words, Si Yan’er’s face turned ashen, and she promptly shut her mouth, only able to stare at him with wide eyes, looking both aggrieved and angry.
“Cough cough…”
Angrily reacting caused An Hao’s blood to surge, leading to a coughing fit; he disliked spitting out blood, so he endured the discomfort and swallowed the blood back down.
Soon, he regained his composure and continued to meditate and heal.
An ancient hour later.
Si Yan’er couldn’t help but speak up, “Hey, An Hao, do you think that statue could be the owner of the cave?”
Following her gaze, at the center of the cave chamber stood a stone statue. It depicted an old man standing on a turtle, holding a wooden staff in his hand, hunchbacked, with a kind face—a statue that seemed almost ready to come to life.
An Hao, with his eyes closed, replied, “Perhaps.”
Suddenly thinking of something, he promptly got up and approached the statue.
He began to circle around the statue, observing it closely.
“Have you discovered something?” asked Si Yan’er, curious.
An Hao did not answer her.
Just then,
An overwhelming terrifying pressure descended, causing An Hao to stop moving, his face turning pale, and Si Yan’er was equally frightened.
“Master, you’ve finally arrived!”
An exuberant cry of joy from Si Zong came from outside; the fellow deliberately raised his voice, clearly intending for An Hao and Si Yan’er to hear.
“I didn’t expect that this place would conceal the remnants of an Ancient Great Cultivator’s grotto heaven. Stand aside,” a cold voice commanded, making An Hao’s expression even more troubled.
Si Yan’er said schadenfreudely, “Hey, scared now? Better release me quickly, or when they break in, you’ll really be done for!”
Boom—
The cave chamber shook violently, as rocks and dust fell, as if it were about to collapse at any moment.
A powerful divine sense had already probed inside, causing An Hao’s heart to race and his forehead to break out in cold sweat.
No matter how talented he was, he couldn’t possibly be a match for someone at the Mystic Heart Realm!
Let alone the Mystic Heart Realm, even a person from the Void Crossing Realm could crush him!
At this moment, An Hao could not remain calm; he clenched his fists tightly, and inexplicably thought of his master’s figure.
“Damn it…”
“Master, save me…”
An Hao gritted his teeth, muttering under his breath.
Upon hearing this, Si Yan’er laughed and said, “Isn’t your Sect Leader of the Supreme Sect your master? I’ve heard he’s only at the Unification Realm; he’s no match for my second brother’s master. And he’s far away at the Supreme Sect; it’s impossible for him to come save you!”
An Hao glared at her, retorting angrily, “The master I’m talking about is not Lv Baitian!”
Si Yan’er pouted and asked, “You mean to say you have another master at the Mystic Heart Realm?”
“I…” An Hao was unable to respond because he had promised his master not to disclose his master’s existence.
Just then, a hand landed on An Hao’s shoulder, making him jump. Following that, he heard a voice that made his eyes well up with tears, “Silly disciple, it’s only been a few years, and you’re already crying out for your master to save you?”