Nine-Finger Divine Lord wasn’t sure what Gu An was thinking. Seeing the change in Gu An’s expression, he feared the young man might actually believe it, so he said, “I was just kidding. With your cultivation level, if it really were an Immortal Path Supreme Treasure, you would be reduced to ashes upon contact.”
Gu An, upon hearing this, relaxed inwardly, but his face contorted as if he couldn’t bear to accept this fact.
He looked down, Shen Xinzi had already fallen into a dead end and was struggling in vain.
“Let me do it,” Gu An patted Shen Xinzi on the shoulder and said.
Shen Xinzi took a deep breath and then stood up.
Nine-Finger Divine Lord began to pick up pieces, picking up the black pieces, He stared at Gu An with a smile, “My chess skills have improved. You need to be careful this time.”
Gu An sat down, twirling the Fate Determining Pen in his hand, and said, “In chess, I cannot lose.”
You Yingying, standing by, had a peculiar look on her face. For some reason, she felt Gu An’s statement was very imposing.
The Nine-Finger Divine Lord made the first move, and the chess game began.
The spectators were engrossed in watching, and Shen Xinzi also wanted to learn from Gu An’s moves.
Confident, Nine-Finger Divine Lord played quickly, not using his usual tactic of wearing down the old timers.
Half an ancient hour later, Gu An stood up. Under the admiring gaze of the onlookers, he left, followed quickly by You Yingying.
Shen Xinzi looked at the chessboard, his face showing admiration.
Nine-Finger Divine Lord, however, had a dark expression, staring intently at the chessboard.
For some reason, he felt the gap between him and Gu An widening, and he couldn’t understand why.
Gu An was planning to go see Long Qing, but You Yingying was following him.
He could feel that You Yingying sensed his change, but he wasn’t panicked; now in the Great Heavenly Spirit Land, no one could see through his cultivation level.
Even if his demeanor had changed drastically, he was still in the Nascent Soul Realm, so neither Nine-Finger Divine Lord nor Shen Xinzi paid attention to his change.
The two started chatting casually. Gu An brought up the Star Sea Congregations. Xuan Tianyi had already returned to the Supreme Sect, and An Hao and Li Ya had also left the Star Sea Congregations. Although there was still cooperation between the Supreme Sect and the Star Sea Congregations, the latter was rarely mentioned within the Supreme Sect.
You Yingying came from the Star Sea Congregations, but since coming to the Supreme Sect, she had never gone back.
In the past, Gu An was wary her Heavenly Demon identity would cause trouble, but now it didn’t matter.
The Silent Destruction Domain was full of Heavenly Demons, and You Yingying’s karma was not as significant as Long Qing’s.
“Do you want to cultivate?” Gu An suddenly asked.
The reason You Yingying couldn’t break through was due to the suppression from her Heavenly Demon karma, her past life might have been afraid of being discovered, so her reincarnation couldn’t break through to a higher realm.
With Gu An’s current capabilities, he could erase the karmic restrictions within her.
You Yingying glanced at Gu An and said, “Of course I want to, but my identity is special, I cannot cultivate.”
“What if I could help you?”
When You Yingying heard this, her eyes filled with depth, she shook her head and said, “No need, I will just live out this life honestly and reincarnate sooner. I don’t want to become a disaster.”
After hearing this, Gu An fell into silence, no longer speaking.
“Why don’t you ask me why I think I am a disaster?” You Yingying said discontentedly.
This guy is quite good at talking to others, so why is it always awkward with her?
Gu An turned his head to look at her, asking, “Is there a need to ask?”
This rhetorical question annoyed You Yingying so much that she lunged at him, arms flailing.
The two playfully scuffled all the way to a forest, where the grass was covered in snow. Long Qing was practicing his Fist Technique in the snow.
Long Qing, eighty-two years old, looked very young and robust, each punch he threw carried great force.
Seeing Gu An and You Yingying arrive, Long Qing revealed a smile and greeted them.
Before he was four years old, An Xin had taken care of him, and after that, it was You Yingying who raised him. In his heart, You Yingying was like a mother to him, whom he respected deeply, and Gu An even felt that in his heart, You Yingying held the highest esteem.
“Master, godmother, how is this set of Fist Techniques?”
Long Qing said, then began throwing punches.
Gu An and You Yingying stood side by side, watching his technique, the whistling of his robes swishing filled the forest.
You Yingying watched Long Qing’s form, her face filled with pride.
In her heart, Long Qing was also her child. Since Long Qing’s arrival, she was no longer melancholic and lived every day fully, looking forward to the day Long Qing would make a name for himself.
Gu An, on the other hand, compared Long Qing with others of his age, such as Yang Jian. In terms of physical strength, Long Qing was a notch above, but his reaction speed was slower than Yang Jian’s, perhaps related to cultivation level.
For Long Qing to have such strength without Spiritual Power was already remarkable.
After Long Qing finished demonstrating his Fist Technique, he turned around and approached Gu An and You Yingying, raising his fist, “I feel like I can already spar with those in the Nascent Soul Realm, Master, how about I spar with you?”
Seeing his spirited appearance, Gu An couldn’t help but laugh.
You Yingying glared at Long Qing, “Don’t be disrespectful. Are you challenging your master? Is it because I haven’t hit you for a long while, and you’ve forgotten my teachings?”
Hearing this, Long Qing quickly explained, “It’s just a spar, stopping as soon as contact is made. Mainly because there are no other cultivators in the Nascent Soul Realm in the Medicine Valley, and it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to stir up trouble in the Inner Sect…”
“It’s fine, come on.”
Gu An smiled, hearing this made Long Qing beam, and he quickly thanked him.
You Yingying looked at Gu An, nervously saying, “This kid doesn’t know his own strength, you need to be careful.”
Gu An shrugged, “Please, I was once a Golden List Genius.”
The Golden List and Celestial List established by the Supreme Sect were still authoritative. Each generation of Golden List geniuses attracted geniuses from all over the continent to compete, although Gu An never participated again.
Hearing this, You Yingying immediately stepped aside.
Long Qing stood about ten paces away, warming up. He was very excited; he had long wanted to test Gu An’s capabilities.
In the Third Medicine Valley, there had always been a legend that Gu An was formidable!
Although he couldn’t compare to Immortal Path Great Cultivators like the Nine-Finger Divine Lord or Shen Xinzi, in his own realm, Gu An was undoubtedly strong.
Gu An held the Fate Determining Pen, waving Long Qing over.
Long Qing immediately advanced, lunging toward Gu An in one swift step.
So fast!
You Yingying couldn’t keep up with Long Qing’s speed, and her pupils dilated dramatically.
Long Qing threw a punch, like a Sea Dragon emerging from the abyss, with an explosive sonic boom. Gu An reached out with his hand, using the Fate Determining Pen to block Long Qing’s fist so it couldn’t reach his chest.
Long Qing’s face changed dramatically; his right arm couldn’t push any further. At that moment, he felt Gu An’s formidable presence, as unshakeable as a mountain.
His biggest reliance was his physical strength, and when his strength was far inferior to his opponent’s, how could he not panic?
Gu An’s mouth curved into a smile, his right hand holding the Fate Determining Pen suddenly lifted, lifting Long Qing into the mid-air. He then swiftly raised his leg and kicked.
Bang!
Long Qing’s chest was struck. His eyes bulged, his consciousness briefly blank.
Everything happened very quickly, and throughout the process, You Yingying didn’t see how Gu An had made his move.
She only saw Long Qing lunging at Gu An, then being kicked away.
By the time she reacted, Long Qing had crashed into a large tree, shaking the accumulated snow off the branches, nearly burying him.
You Yingying glared at Gu An and said, “Why did you hit so hard?”
With that, she quickly ran toward Long Qing.
Gu An, feeling helpless, thought to himself, ‘You were worried I’d get hurt by him earlier, so why do you get to play the good person now?’
With You Yingying’s help, Long Qing sat up. He opened his eyes, looking ahead at Gu An. For some reason, he suddenly felt awe. Gu An’s figure in his eyes seemed invincible.
Even his second master, Shen Xinzi, couldn’t evoke this feeling in him.
“You still need more practice, Qing’er. I’m waiting for your next challenge,” Gu An’s laughter reached Long Qing’s ears, pulling him out of his reverent mood.
He took a deep breath and nodded vigorously, his arrogance completely dissipated.
The winter snow continued to fall.
As Long Qing dwelled on his defeat, the Great Cultivators from Outer Heaven were deeply worried.
With the cessation of the anomalies in the Silent Destruction Domain, the Heavenly Demons could no longer hold back and began to approach the Great Heavenly Spirit Land.
They speculated that the disturbances in the Silent Destruction Domain were caused by the Great Heavenly Spirit Land, while the Great Heavenly Spirit Land suspected they were plotting something.
In the days that followed, more and more Heavenly Demons flew out of the Silent Destruction Domain, reaching the cosmic region near the Great Heavenly Spirit Land, confronting the Great Cultivators on the outer layer of light, clearly demarcated.
Time quickly advanced to the end of the year.
On this day.
Gu An was sparring with Tian Yao’er, Tianqing, and Tian Bai in the Outer World Cave.
The three demons attacked him together. Although they couldn’t gain the upper hand, each was agile and their spells were impressive.
Gu An, holding the Fate Determining Pen, easily blocked and dodged their every spell.
He was secretly pleased; although the three demons were always in the Nianchu Cave and Outer World Cave, their strength had been steadily improving.
Any one of them could easily defeat Long Qing alone. Together, they could even withstand the Unification Realm.
The strongest, Tian Yao’er, had already reached the seventh level of the Void Crossing Realm. Apart from her exceptional talent, this was also due to Gu An’s investment in elixirs.
Tian Yao’er stopped and said, “Let’s stop here for today.”
Tianqing and Tian Bai followed suit, panting and sweating, their foreheads and hair damp.
They looked at Gu An with adoration, immediately rushing to him, each hugging an arm, and began to praise how amazing their master was.
Gu An was already accustomed to their actions. These were the demons he had raised, there was no helping it, he had to indulge them.
Tian Yao’er approached Gu An and said, “Master, lately I have been feeling restless. Can you help me take a look?”
Gu An asked in surprise, “How should I check?”
Tian Yao’er raised her hands, grasping the front of her robe, preparing to disrobe.
“Stop, don’t joke around. Tell me more about your feelings,” Gu An quickly said.
He suspected these three demons were plotting something against him.
Tian Yao’er pouted, then talked about her recent feelings. During cultivation, her Qi-Blood was easily agitated, making it difficult for her to calm down and cultivate.
She even felt something calling her, which made her uneasy.
After listening, Gu An looked up, his pupils reflecting a sun, within which a Phoenix was hidden.
As the Heavenly Demons approached in large numbers, the seven suns outside were also disturbed, the mysterious creatures within each awakened, watching the Heavenly Demons, ready for battle.