Watching that group of dark figures carrying the coffin, Ye Lan furrowed her brows, and the other disciples felt the same. They couldn’t see through the aura of the figures, which made their hearts sink.
The newcomers were none other than the Nine Nether Thirteen Evil. Under the cover of night, they appeared like thirteen ghastly shadows, so terribly frightening.
“We are disciples of the Law Enforcement Hall of the Supreme Sect. What do you seek to do?”
A male disciple called out sternly. Within the Taicang Dynasty, being a disciple of the Supreme Sect gave them quite a bit of confidence.
Upon hearing this, the Nine Nether Thirteen Evil remained unmoved. As they continued to approach, the disciples of the Law Enforcement Hall had no choice but to retreat.
“Alright, stop scaring them, let them hurry up and leave,”
a weak voice came from inside the coffin.
Zhen Qin’s eyes widened, and she couldn’t help but shout, “Senior Brother Su?”
Su Han?
All the disciples of the Law Enforcement Hall were shocked and quickened their retreat. Ye Lan’s expression also turned serious.
Su Han’s name was well-known in the Immortal Cultivation World, but it was a name that spelled doom and infamy.
“So, it’s your junior sister. No wonder you want to let them go. Then scram quickly,” a dark figure said with a sinister tone.
Zhen Qin wanted to speak again, but was stopped by Ye Lan. Without making any threats, Ye Lan immediately led the disciples in retreat.
As they left, Zhen Qin kept looking back, her gaze resting on the coffin. Unfortunately, her eyes couldn’t penetrate through the coffin.
And like that, Ye Lan and the others swiftly departed.
The Nine Nether Thirteen Evil then set the coffin down, and the lid opened, with Su Han sitting up from it, disheveled, one hand gripping the side of the coffin.
The Nine Nether Thirteen Evil dispersed, setting up formations in various directions.
Su Han looked in the direction Ye Lan, Zhen Qin, and the others had left, his gaze complex, his thoughts inscrutable.
Miles away.
Above the forest, Gu An stood atop a tree, watching this scene from a distance. He held the Qinghong Sword in his crossed arms, and a mask obscured his face, although his eyes shone with a ghostly light.
After watching for a good while, Gu An finally turned around and jumped into the forest below.
…
Spring arrived, and all things revived. The sky above the Supreme Sect turned azure blue, adorned with white clouds, making for a pleasant vista.
Within the Third Medicine Valley.
Gu An was picking herbs, with An Xin following beside him, carrying a bamboo basket in her hands.
In these days, Gu An went out daily to save people and exterminate demons. Though his lifespan didn’t increase very quickly, gaining a few thousand years of lifespan each day was still feasible.
Mainly, he wasn’t just after demons. In the process, he was also experiencing the myriad states of the Mortal World.
“Valley Master, do you have any news of my brother?” An Xin suddenly asked, a question she had been holding back for a long time.
She knew that Gu An was acquainted with An Hao, especially with An Hao’s master, Lv Baitian.
While picking herbs, Gu An replied, “I’ve heard before that he’s in Tianwei, supposedly to marry the Princess of Tianwei. The auspicious date isn’t set yet; he’s in closed cultivation in Tianwei.”
This matter was no secret, already being discussed in the Inner Sect. As the number one genius of the Supreme Sect, An Hao’s every move could stir up gossip.
The Supreme Sect had already dispatched Elders to discuss this matter, and they were supportive of An Hao’s marriage to the Tianwei Imperial Family.
Upon hearing this, An Xin heaved a sigh of relief and asked with a smile, “What about the appearance and talent of the Princess of Tianwei?”
“As for her character, I’m not sure, but she’s said to be quite beautiful. Don’t you know your brother? If someone isn’t attractive, would he even spare a glance?” Gu An answered.
Whenever An Hao was mentioned, An Xin’s smile grew wider as she started to recount embarrassing stories from his childhood. Gu An listened attentively, showing no sign of impatience.
Gu An was also pleased about An Hao’s upcoming marriage.
Although Gu An hadn’t married himself, the prospect of his own disciple, whom he had raised, getting married filled him with joy just thinking about it.
After they finished picking the herbs, the two headed toward the pavilion cluster.
Gu An instructed An Xin to take the herbs to the storage building while he went upstairs alone, planning to relax with a book.
When evening came, Gu An left the Third Medicine Valley and continued his chivalrous endeavors.
Months passed, and Gu An celebrated his ninetieth birthday. During this time, he had slain over twelve thousand three hundred demon beasts, accruing nearly four hundred thousand years of lifespan, breaking through eight million years in total.
Cultivators all over the world were slaying demons and saving the suffering masses, so Gu An hadn’t made a name for himself yet, but the tens of thousands of people he’d saved remembered him. Sooner or later, his exploits would spread far and wide.
The Eight Dynasties continued to wage war against each other, pushing toward unification, while the Immortal Cultivation World was repelling demons. But no matter how many demons were killed, the number of demons in the Eight Dynasties seemed to only increase.
The Demon Calamity wasn’t like many had thought; it wasn’t a countless horde of demons attacking all at once, but rather a constant infiltration.
Perhaps, once the Demon Ancestor revived, the situation would be entirely different.
In the scorching summer days.
Disguised, Gu An walked along a mountain path. Along the way, there were many refugees, gaunt and with sallow complexions, their faces dirty and their bodies swaying as though they were the walking dead. Even as they brushed by Gu An, they didn’t turn their heads, as though nothing in the world was worth their attention anymore.
Gu An wasn’t seeing this for the first time.
These refugees were usually people whose homes had been destroyed by demons, forcing them to head towards other cities. However, it wasn’t just demons that made life difficult for people; evil people too, taking advantage of others’ misfortune, were all too common. Gu An had even killed several evildoers in the act of abusing women.
Gu An likewise did not turn his head towards the refugees; he was pondering a question.
What would he do to survive in this world if he did not have the ability to claim life spans?
From the Holy Lands that nurture demons to harm the common world, to the common folk who are deeply harmed by demon and evil people.
Although Gu An wanted to focus on cultivation, if he could do so without harming himself, he also wanted to do whatever was within his power.
He moved forward while pondering.
Not until he sensed a breath coming from the south did he pull back his thoughts and extend his divine sense to investigate.
The divine sense of the Nirvana Realm’s ninth layer swept across the land, mountains, rivers, and lakes, arriving above an endless azure sea.
He saw a dazzle of white light appear at the horizon of the sea—upon closer inspection, they were white lotuses, forming a stairway in the air, constantly extending forward, with the lotuses behind disappearing. A daoist was moving forward on the white lotus stairway, stepping down and generating lotuses beneath his feet, as if an immortal walked in this world.
A Mahayana cultivator!
Finally, a Mahayana cultivator had returned. Gu An felt a sense of relief in his heart.
If only he himself could stand against the demon’s calamity, he really had to consider taking people and fleeing.
The power of one person, to avert a genocide—a Seven Stars Spirit Realm and those unseen forces would certainly take notice of him, frantically investigating him. Even if he could hide deeply, he would not dare to say he would definitely not be found out. This did not align with his principles of immortal cultivation.
With others to help shoulder the pressure, he could make his move.
Afterward, Gu An quickened his pace and continued with his demon eradication plan.
He did not kill any demon he saw; he only killed those that attacked villages and common people.
If he could earn several hundred thousand years of life span in one year, it would not take three years before he could break through.
Gu An was very much looking forward to the second realm of the immortal path.
…
The return of the Daoist Lord from Cangtian Sect!
This news, like a blockbuster bomb, shook the entire immortal cultivation world. When the news reached the Supreme Sect, the disciples there were also invigorated, and various legends about the Daoist Lord started wildly spreading in every city.
When Gu An arrived at the Book Collection Hall to return books, he heard many disciples discussing the Daoist Lord.
There was little information about the Daoist Lord, but one thing was very clear: the Cangtian Sect recognized him as a Mahayana cultivator!
After years of calamity, the Mahayana Realm within the world of immortal cultivation was no longer a secret; it represented the limit a mortal spirit could reach and symbolized the highest realm within the world of immortal cultivation!
With the return of the Daoist Lord, various factions actively sought to contact the Supreme Elders who were away, in the hopes that a Mahayana cultivator would appear.
It is worth mentioning that in this month, the Wuzhen Dynasty surrendered to the Taicang Dynasty, with Taicang once again annexing a kingdom. Meanwhile, Tianwei absorbed the Great Zhao Dynasty, and thus the once nine dynasties’ land became six dynasties’ land.
In terms of vastness, the Taicang Dynasty was the greatest, and the name of Li Xuandao was often mentioned even within the immortal cultivation world.
After leaving the Book Collection Hall, Gu An walked on the streets, eavesdropping on the disciples’ discussions about the various major events of the immortal cultivation world with interest.
As the immortal cultivation world was striving to unite its power, he could not show weakness.
He aimed to quietly break through to the second realm of the immortal path before the world was united under one ruler!
Half an hour later, Gu An left the Outer City and then went to the North Sea Mountains to pick herbs in Sage Xuan Miao’s medicinal garden.
Deep into the night, Gu An was on the move again.
This time, he came to a valley. This valley was less than two hundred miles away from the nearest town. The demon energy was thick, and within it, dozens of people were captured, with as many as two hundred demons inside. The strongest one had reached the Nascent Soul Realm. That demon had sustained severe injuries, which is why it sent its subordinates to catch people from the town.
Gu An stood on the cliff, overlooking the flickering firelight in the valley, when he suddenly caught a breath. His eyes narrowed beneath the mask.
Without hesitation, he leaped down.
When facing demons in the civilian world, Gu An never used spells or divine skills, relying solely on swordsmanship to kill demons.
After a short period of time,
Inside the valley, dozens of ragged common folk knelt on the grass before Gu An, bowing their heads.
In front of Gu An, against the cliff, hung a huge cat demon, covered in blood, its body embedded into the rock face, with rubble steadily sliding down.
Beyond that, centered around Gu An, were bodies of demons in all directions, a ghastly scene to behold.
Gu An spoke, “You should hurry back.”
Upon hearing this, the common folk quickly got to their feet and ran towards the mouth of the valley.
Gu An’s gaze then moved to the cat demon’s body below, where another shape-shifting demon was lying, twitching all over.
Suddenly, a woman turned her head back and said, “Kind sir, that demon cared for us and even tried to save us. Please don’t kill him.”
As soon as she spoke, the other fleeing common folk also stopped, and when they saw the demon the woman was pointing at, they began to vouch for it, pleading for mercy on its behalf.
Gu An waved his hand, and the common folk had no choice but to leave; the woman bit her lip and ultimately followed suit.
Soon, the valley fell silent.
The shape-shifting demon shakily stood up beneath the cat demon. He didn’t look like a monster at all but rather more like a person.
“Kill or carve as you wish…” Zhang Buku said to the mysterious sword cultivator before him, clenching his teeth, his eyes showing no fear.