The memories from Demon Shore were vast, and the greatest help to Gu An was in her understanding of Reincarnation Tribulation.
Reincarnation Tribulation indeed allows one to be reborn into different times and spaces, even into the past, but whether it’s the past or the future, the main body’s power cannot intervene. When the reincarnated being dies or exerts the power of the main body, it will be forcibly expelled back by the Heavenly Dao.
This reminded Gu An of the time when Ji Xiaoyu in the Seven Stars Spirit Realm had used the power of a Primordial Daoist Talisman and then quickly disappeared – it seemed she was expelled by the Reincarnation Tribulation.
This deepened Gu An’s understanding of the Heavenly Dao.
Heavenly Dao more closely resembles a collection of rules and the Grand Dao, meticulous and domineering.
Gu An stopped pondering and turned her gaze toward the interior of the great hall. The hall was vast, yet there were many stark differences hidden within. Those huge stone pillars were also inlaid with numerous special spirit stones.
This city was none other than Demon City. According to the memories of Demon Shore, there were many such cities in the Silent Destruction Domain. Although there was no stronger existence above Demon Shore, all the demon cities were remnants of power left by the Supreme Demon Realm. The Supreme Demon Realm had once been extremely powerful, aiming to devour the Great Heaven and Earth, but was later struck down by a mysterious entity that slayed the Realm Master, causing it to shatter. At that time, Demon Shore was not yet fully grown.
A million demons hid within the Demon City. Although these demons seemed no different from the Heavenly Demons to the creatures of the Great Heaven and Earth, there were also many powers standing within the Silent Destruction Domain, and they did not trespass into the territories of the Blood Prison Great Saint.
Gu An decided to eradicate the root of the problem and eliminate all these demons.
Whenever creatures from the Great Heaven and Earth passed near the Demon City, they never met a good fate. Demon Shore even dared to attack passing Free Immortals, though the Free Immortals had their own means to escape.
The attacked Free Immortal was actually the Ancient Immortal Emperor from the Immortal Dynasty.
…
Approaching noon, Gu An returned to the Third Medicine Valley.
He called up his attribute panel.
[Name: Gu An]
[Life Span: 650/1,954,210,604]
[Physique: Mixed Yuan Refined Void Body]
[Cultivation Level: Perfect Daoist Hidden Immortal Realm]
…
By slaying the million evil demons in the Demon City, he gained nearly five hundred million years of life span, making this trip an enormous harvest.
Looking at his life span approaching two billion years, Gu An felt wonderfully good.
Of course, the most important thing was that he had removed a source of worry.
As Gu An encountered disciples along the way, he would smile and ask them a few questions, leaving the disciples surprised and honored.
Now the number of disciples in the Third Medicine Valley exceeded three thousand, and many, even those who had reached the Foundation Establishment Realm, were willing to stay. As the Supreme Sect grew stronger, the treatment in the Third Medicine Valley also continued to rise, even higher than that of many Inner Sect halls.
The disciples all respected Gu An, not for his status or cultivation level, but because he treated each disciple without pretense. Even when they heard Gu An enjoyed reading common books, they found him all the more approachable since Gu An did not coerce the female disciples, and he was well-regarded.
When Gu An arrived at his pavilion, Ji Xiaoyu suddenly came out, her expression strange.
“What’s wrong now?” Gu An asked in feigned dejection.
Ji Xiaoyu replied, “The death energy around you has disappeared. Who did you go see this morning?”
Gu An looked around, then took two steps forward and mysteriously said, “You scared me, so I had to ask Sword Venerable Fudao for help. He cast a spell to keep me safe, at the cost of three hundred years of my life span.”
Ji Xiaoyu believed the first part of his statement, but she couldn’t help but roll her eyes at the last sentence.
“Mortals will be mortals. With Sword Venerable Fudao’s cultivation, how could he covet your three hundred years of life span? Such a narrow view, it’s laughable even when you boast.”
Ji Xiaoyu’s words were venomous, unaware that this was exactly the effect Gu An wanted.
“You look down on me? In thirty years the east river may flow west, do not belittle the poor!”
“Change ‘thirty’ to ‘thousands’.”
“Get inside, I need to sort you out!”
Gu An pushed Ji Xiaoyu into the house, and she did not resist, her face even breaking into a smile.
An hour later, Gu An came out of her house.
Passing by, An Xin winked and teased Gu An, causing him to glare at her.
Blood Prison Great Saint watched from under a distant tree, sighing sentimentally, “The master indeed leads a charming life. Once a thousand years pass, I too must enjoy the local customs of the Great Heavenly Spirit Land.”
The spring breeze was caressing, the weather cool, and all living things were awakening their vitality, even the clouds that shrouded the continent’s sky had dissipated some.
The Supreme Sect, basking in the prestige of Sword Venerable Fudao, continued to develop, but the struggles of the world grew more intense.
Every moment, cultivators from the Immortal Dynasty and the Holy Court were fighting, with more and more territories and powers being drawn into the fray.
Half a year sped by swiftly.
Gu An stood by the window, watching Long Qing follow Shen Xinzi out of the valley. Apart from his previous experiences in the Jiuyuan World, this was Long Qing’s first time leaving the Supreme Sect. Although he was just practicing on the Taicang Continent, the sight of the young man’s excitement gave Gu An a distinct feeling.
“Feeling reluctant to let him go?”
Ji Xiaoyu’s teasing voice came from downstairs.
Gu An replied, “How could that be, it just reminded me of some old friends.”
“Do you wish for the people by your side to accompany you forever?”
“No, not really, if they leave, they leave. There will always be newcomers. I just feel nostalgic about how quickly they grow up; they become capable of standing on their own in the blink of an eye.”
“Hm? What do you mean by newcomers, when I’m gone, there will be new ones?”
“What are you talking about, you haven’t even outlasted the old ones yet.”
Boom——
The attic began to tremble slightly. Outside the courtyard, the Blood Prison Great Saint, who was lying down asleep, turned his head. Such noise couldn’t affect him; he was already used to it.
An hour later, Gu An, accompanied by An Xin and the Blood Prison Great Saint, left the Third Medicine Valley. Today, they were heading to Tianya Valley.
On the way, An Xin spoke of the rising talents on the continent. From time to time, a peerless genius would emerge, and individuals like An Hao, Li Ya, and Wu Jue had already been forgotten by many, just as Gu An had once been unaware of Xuan Tianyi.
Gu An rode on the back of the Blood Prison Great Saint, holding a book in his hand, occasionally echoing An Xin.
He also paid attention to the recent happenings in the world.
Compared to the world hundreds of years ago, the standard for genius had risen. The cultivators An Xin referred to as geniuses had cultivation levels at the very least within the Void Crossing Realm.
Hundreds of years ago, those of the Void Crossing Realm were considered Great Cultivators, old monsters.
Nowadays, the Nirvana Realm was no longer a secret known to just a few.
An Xin spoke of the affairs of the world with no longing in her tone, only anticipation.
She didn’t want to go out, she just wanted to become more formidable than those people, to prove that staying by her master’s side was the best choice.
They chatted and laughed along the way, making the journey seem less tedious.
When they arrived at Tianya Valley, they saw a group of young and proud cultivators.
When Gu An and his companions appeared, they attracted the attention of most.
Gu An saw Lv Xian among them.
It had been quite a while since he had seen Lv Xian because every time Lv Baitian met him, he would mention Lv Xian, making Gu An occasionally keep track of Lv Xian’s progress.
Lv Xian had always been highly talented, and coupled with favorable circumstances, he now possessed the cultivation level of the Mystic Heart Realm.
He looked from afar at Gu An with a joyous expression on his face.
Gu An nodded slightly towards him, then dismounted and walked toward Li Xuandao’s courtyard.
An Xin went with the Blood Prison Great Saint to meet the three Monkey Demons.
Gu An proceeded into the courtyard, walked up to the table, and saluted Li Xuandao with a cupped fist. Following Li Xuandao’s gesture, he sat down.
Li Xuandao appraised Gu An and asked with a smile, “Why do I feel you’ve changed again?”
Gu An replied, “Perhaps I’ve aged a bit more?”
As Gu An grew older, his relationship with Li Xuandao became less about seniority and more like that of equals.
It wasn’t that Gu An’s outward cultivation was particularly strong, but both were several centuries old. Their life journeys were continually advancing. For those who lived for thousands or tens of thousands of years, people aged five hundred to a thousand years were considered peers, and this concept subtly influenced them as well.
The two exchanged pleasantries, having not seen each other for many years.
Lv Xian was a supreme talent, and so was Li Xuandao, whose cultivation had reached the Mahayana Realm!
His Mahayana Realm cultivation had outstripped Lv Baitian, who used to have a higher cultivation level than Li Xuandao but had failed his Tribulation Crossing and remained at the ninth layer of the Unification Realm.
Seeing Li Xuandao’s growth rate, Gu An felt gratified. After all, they were comrades in the Dao, and how could he not be delighted to see his Daoist Friend’s progress?
How many of his old companions would still be alive in ten thousand years, Gu An was not sure, but he felt that Li Xuandao had a strong chance.
Ancient emperors of tens of thousands of years were not unheard of. Just look at the Yang Xian Emperor of the Immortal Dynasty, or Shengtian of the Holy Court, all of whom ruled for more than a million years.
After chatting for a while, Li Xuandao suddenly sighed, “How many years will it take for the Taicang Dynasty to become an existence like the Immortal Dynasty? The current chaos in the world is the best opportunity, but it’s a pity we are not strong enough and might miss such a chance.”
The dynamic of the world changed day by day, but a dynasty’s accumulation could not speed up as quickly, which made Li Xuandao anxious.
If they missed this chance and a new ruler emerged, the Taicang Dynasty would never have its day, at best dominating only a single region.
Gu An hadn’t expected that Li Xuandao would actually harbor ambitions to replace Yang Xian Emperor and Shengtian. That was quite daring.
Given Li Xuandao’s position of power, he surely understood the strength of the Immortal Dynasty and the Holy Court. For others, faced with such a gap, they would only feel envious or awed. As for replacing them, how could one even think of that?
“What if this chaos lasts for many years? This is a chaos that affects the entire world. Compared to the world at large, isn’t the Taicang Continent minuscule?” Gu An consoled.
Li Xuandao looked at Gu An and suddenly asked, “If there were a very powerful force that could aid me, but accepting their help could be a hidden danger in the future, what would you choose if you were the Emperor?”
A very powerful force?
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Gu An silently reasoned, instantly realizing that the force Li Xuandao mentioned was a Great Sect, one of the leading sects in the Mortal World. They chose the Taicang Dynasty with the aim of establishing a relationship with Sword Venerable Fudao.
If they could control the Taicang Dynasty, they would have better grounds and opportunities to contact Sword Venerable Fudao.
In their eyes, Sword Venerable Fudao had the qualifications to contend against the Yang Xian Emperor. This was an indispensable force for them, aspiring to surpass both the Immortal Dynasty and the Holy Court.
Without Free Immortals, how could one dream of unifying the world?
After Gu An had calculated the variables, he responded, “It all depends on what you truly want—whether you wish for peace for the people of the world or if you desire to realize your own ambitions more.”
