Gu An closed the “Green Hero Travelogue” and asked expressionlessly, “Don’t they often spar with each other, how did it turn into a fight?”
Zhen Qin retracted her gaze and said in a panicked voice, “Second Senior Brother used a set of swordsmanship, and First Senior Brother mocked that his swordsmanship was too soft. Second Senior Brother got agitated, he has already stabbed First Senior Brother, and he refuses to stop!”
Upon hearing this, Gu An immediately stood up.
The master and disciple quickly descended the stairs.
At this moment, the crowd that had been watching was no longer cheering but incessantly trying to persuade Su Han.
Under the cover of night, Su Han, with his hair disheveled, swung his sword wildly like a fierce ghost, his eyes glowing with a bloody light. Tang Yu, facing him, was in a sorry state, his robe slashed into tatters, with two shocking wounds on his chest from which blood surged, staining his trousers red.
Wuxin and Xiaochuan wanted to step forward to stop him, but Su Han’s sword moves were too fierce for them to get close.
Upon seeing Gu An arriving, the disciples hurriedly made way.
Gu An stepped in between the two in two strides, grabbing Su Han’s right wrist with his left hand and blocking Tang Yu’s leg with his left arm.
Shaken by the impact, Tang Yu staggered backward, astonished at how hard his master’s arm was.
He then exhaled, looking at Su Han with a gaze filled with fear.
With his wrist in Gu An’s grasp, Su Han could not move, and with a forceful squeeze from Gu An, his sword clanged to the ground.
“Wake up!”
Gu An commanded in a deep voice, and Su Han shivered, the bloodthirsty hatred in his eyes beginning to fade.
Standing not far away, Wuxin was secretly startled.
First Senior Brother moves so fast!
Although Gu An had reached the ninth layer of the Qi Cultivation Realm, he was not considered a strong cultivator in their hearts, mainly because he often belittled himself.
Gu An’s actions just now changed Wuxin’s perception.
He suddenly realized First Senior Brother was not simple.
Xiaochuan, on the other hand, took this as usual because Gu An had once subdued the frenzied Meng Lang.
Perhaps Gu An’s Spirit Root Qualification was mediocre, but in Xiaochuan’s heart, Gu An’s combat ability was strong, at least making him feel very reliable.
The other disciples were also intimidated by Gu An’s move, as it was the first time they saw him in action, and he could easily suppress Tang Yu and Su Han, both at the seventh layer of the Qi Cultivation Realm.
Zhen Qin was the first to cheer, breaking the silence. The others followed and gathered around.
“Master, so you are this formidable!”
“Second Senior Brother, wake up!”
“Master, did Second Senior Brother suffer from a deviation?”
“It’s all First Senior Brother’s fault for mocking Second Senior Brother. I have never seen Second Senior Brother so angry.”
The disciples chattered nonstop, while Gu An kept his gaze fixed on Su Han.
Su Han gasped heavily, his body suddenly slumping like mud, but his right hand was held by Gu An, preventing him from falling to the ground.
He looked up at Gu An, weakly saying, “Master… I…”
Before he could finish, his neck slumped, and he passed out.
Gu An instructed two disciples to help Su Han back to his room, then he turned to look at Tang Yu.
Under his master’s gaze, Tang Yu’s face was flushed; he didn’t know how to explain, but he felt aggrieved as he was injured.
“Go back to your room and stop the bleeding,” Gu An said expressionlessly.
Hearing this, Tang Yu quickly bowed and then left.
Gu An turned to the others and said, “Aren’t you disbanding yet? Are you not practicing today?”
With that, he turned and walked toward the attic.
The disciples watched his retreating figure, exchanging looks.
Although Gu An didn’t say anything too harsh, they all thought that Gu An was angry.
Little did they know, Gu An was just not in the mood to lecture.
That night, all the disciples in the valley were preoccupied with their own thoughts, unable to calm their minds.
Gu An stayed alone in the attic, and in the middle of the night, he sensed several strong Divine Senses sweeping over.
Eventually, his fight with Lin Futian had caught the attention of the Supreme Sect.
The next morning.
Su Han came to visit Gu An. He was there to apologize.
“Apologizing to me is useless; you didn’t hurt me,” Gu An said, looking at him with a calm expression.
Su Han gritted his teeth, “He started by mocking that my swordsmanship was inadequate.”
Gu An asked, “Did you ever tell him about the origin of your swordsmanship?”
“I…”
“You and Tang Yu joined Medicine Valley on the same day, and you two had the best relationship. You know him well; he is brash but not malicious by nature,” Gu An said with a heavier tone, as he didn’t want his disciples to become enemies after so many years of being together.
He didn’t forcefully stop Su Han from continuing to practice the Hateful Heaven Divine Sword; such matters simply couldn’t be stopped, and if stopped, perhaps even the bond between master and disciple would be lost.
Thinking back on the years spent together with Tang Yu, Su Han could not help but feel remorse.
Initially, Tang Yu had only jokingly criticized that his swordsmanship was ineffective, already frustrating him for being unable to master the Hateful Heaven Divine Sword. Hence, a conflict erupted, and Tang Yu, also angered, spoke more harshly, leading to his furious and sudden deviation.
“Master, I was wrong. I will go to First Senior Brother later,” said Su Han, taking a deep breath, earnestly.
Gu An said, “Don’t wait any longer, let’s go now, I also need to check on the herbs.”
He stood up and walked towards Su Han.
The two left the attic one after the other, with Su Han closing the door behind them. He caught up to Gu An’s pace and couldn’t help but ask, “Master, aren’t you going to ask why I lost my composure last night?”
Gu An didn’t turn back and said, “It likely involves your Hateful Heaven Divine Sword. This swordsmanship was passed down to you by your father. Whether to practice it or not is not for me to decide. You need to think it through and decide what’s most important to you in your heart.”
Su Han slowed his steps, standing in front of the stairs, staring blankly at Gu An’s retreating figure.
What’s most important?
Gu An had no time to worry about his disciples’ conflicts. He had already said what needed to be said. If they couldn’t get along, then he would let them leave Mystic Valley and never meet again.
Gu An began inspecting the herbs in each garden area to see which ones were nearing maturity.
He needed to quickly gather 100,000 years of life span, so he harvested some herbs that were close to their maturity stage.
Of course, for those herbs that were far from mature, Gu An didn’t touch them, as he wasn’t mad enough to destroy his own foundation.
Now that he had many ways to collect life span, he wasn’t too worried.
…
Above the mountain forest, cultivators floated in the air on their magic artifacts, looking down at the Law Enforcement Hall disciples searching below, among them was Ye Lan.
Chu Jingfeng stood on a flying sword, his right sleeve fluttering with the wind, emanating an aura of worldliness unlike his former spirited youth.
An old man flew over on a gourd, handing a leaf to Chu Jingfeng, saying, “It must have been the Flying Leaf Sword Immortal. Nearby, Lin Futian’s Wine Soul Gourd of Wanyin Sect was found with the souls of fifteen disciples of the Supreme Sect.”
Chu Jingfeng took the leaf and scrutinized it. The surface of the leaf was covered with fine sword marks, almost invisible at first glance.
He said thoughtfully, “Does that mean the Flying Leaf Sword Immortal is really one of our own?”
The elder nodded and said, “It should be so. The attack on Zuo Yijian was likely a factional dispute. Given his ease in killing Lin Futian, if he wanted to kill Zuo Yijian, Zuo Yijian would certainly not survive.”
Chu Jingfeng remained silent.
The elder looked at his flowing right sleeve and said, “Jingfeng, it’s time to let go of your hang-ups and get your arm fixed. Otherwise, if you keep using your left hand for swordsmanship, it will be hard to change the habit later.”
“Why should I fix it? If the Flying Leaf Sword Immortal can use a leaf as a sword, why must I necessarily use my right hand to wield a sword?” Chu Jingfeng countered.
Hearing this, the elder shook his head, sighing in resignation, and said no more.
In the forest.
Ye Lan stood in a ravine, looking towards the end as if it led to the ends of the earth and sea, her eyes filled with shock.
“I heard that it was the Flying Leaf Sword Immortal who acted. This terrifying scene was caused by a single leaf.” A female disciple came over, marvelling.
The surrounding disciples also marveled at the incredible power of the Flying Leaf Sword Immortal, and Ye Lan admired him too.
How high must one’s cultivation level be to have such terrifying strength?
Ye Lan turned her head towards another direction, her eyes showing worry.
…
Since Lin Futian’s death, cultivators flew over Mystic Valley every few days, most of them at the Foundation Establishment Realm. Gu An occasionally could see Ye Lan among them.
She did not come down to visit Gu An, as if she was just passing by.
But she passed over Mystic Valley four times within a month, how could Gu An not understand her intentions?
“This girl…”
Gu An stood at the window, watching the cultivators disappearing into the horizon, feeling warmth in his heart.
He accessed his attribute panel, looking at his 99,999 years of life span, his hands clenched in his sleeves.
It was happening!
Tonight, he was going to break through his current realm!
Due to this month’s forced harvesting, the life span harvest for the next year would decrease, but after waiting for another year, it should recover and then continue to increase.
He had intentionally left ten years of life span unharvested, waiting to secretly collect them that night.
He wanted to thoroughly enjoy the sensation of harvesting life!
Seeing that it was still early, Gu An couldn’t sit still and went downstairs.
In the yard, he saw Su Han practicing swordsmanship on the eastern mountain top from a distance. Since the conflict that night, Su Han had become solitary, and others were afraid to disturb him, fearing that he might go berserk.
The relationship between Tang Yu and Su Han had, however, improved. After learning the origin of the Hateful Heaven Divine Sword, Tang Yu apologized to Su Han, but after that, he practiced even harder.
An apology was an apology, but he did not want to lose to Su Han again, especially since he was the oldest disciple.
Gu An reached the front of the garden fence, looking out with a smile on his face.
“Master, what’s making you so happy?” Zhen Qin came running over, curiously asking.
Gu An ruffled her hair, smiling, “What? Do I not smile often usually?”
Zhen Qin giggled, “Master, since you’re in such a good mood today, why not teach me the Residual Wind Leg technique?”
Gu An asked in surprise, “I thought you hated practicing swordsmanship and leg techniques, what’s changed?”
“I want to become a Disciple of Law Enforcement Hall just like Uncle Ye Lan!” Zhen Qin clenched her fists, excitedly saying.
Earlier, Wuxin and Xiaochuan had also seen Ye Lan, and they remarked on it to each other. Their conversation was overheard by Zhen Qin, who was weeding nearby, learning that Ye Lan’s robe belonged to the Law Enforcement Hall, and she greatly admired her.
Gu An laughed and said, “Alright, I’ll teach you.”
It was also good to send this girl off sooner; she always disturbed him when he was reading!
And so, Gu An began teaching Zhen Qin the Residual Wind Leg technique.
When the deep night fell and all the disciples had gone back to their rooms, Gu An quietly left Mystic Valley. Before leaving, he also harvested two third-tier herbs from the garden.