Hearing Shen Zhen’s words, Gu An didn’t respond; his gaze was fixed on Yu Chan, his expression indifferent to the extreme.
Yu Chan could tell from his look that he was resolute. It seemed impossible to take Shen Zhen away by bypassing him. Find adventures at empire
Yu Chan sighed and said, “We were having such a pleasant conversation, I didn’t expect you would still stand in my way. Well, if you could walk together with him, how could you possibly share the same path as me? I was foolish.”
He took a step back.
Shen Zhen was curious upon hearing this. Did these two know each other?
And from the other’s intention, he was trying to win over Gu An.
That was quite normal. Gu An was strangely charismatic, able to make connections with all sorts of demons and spirits, even forming friendships with Great Cultivators that transcended age.
However, she didn’t know who this person was or why he wanted to win over Gu An.
Lost in her wild guesses, Yu Chan lifted his right hand, and a golden flame surged in his palm, the small tower reappeared.
The first glimpse of the small tower made Shen Zhen feel a chilling dread.
Danger!
She instinctively looked at Gu An and saw no fear on his face; her own heart gradually settled down.
Although she didn’t understand the confidence underpinning Gu An, she subconsciously believed in him.
Gu An’s gaze also fell on the small tower, but before his eyes, another notification also appeared.
Hostility from Yu Chan!
Once triggered, it is deep-seated hatred!
Truly befitting of someone from the Supreme Demon Realm!
Gu An sighed, “Why bother?”
“Why bother?”
Yu Chan seemed to have heard a great joke. The golden light burst forth from the small tower in his hand, and his expression became hideously fierce as he roared in a low voice, “Do you realize who you are…”
Suddenly, Gu An swung his sleeve, and a gust of wind rose from the ground, instantly dispersing Yu Chan’s corporal body, even his monk robe turned to ash.
The golden small tower fell to the ground with a clear sound.
The cave quickly fell into silence.
Shen Zhen seemed to have been struck by an immobilization technique, standing frozen in her spot, unable to snap out of it for a long time.
[You have successfully seized 85 years of life span from Yu Chan (Divinity Transformation Realm, Third Layer)]
Looking at the notification before him, Gu An felt a pang of regret.
Although a reincarnation of the Free Immortal, this body’s life span was pitifully short.
Gu An turned his head and looked at Shen Zhen, asking with a smile, “Aren’t you usually very brave? Fearless of the heavens, fearless of the earth, why are you so frightened tonight? I really want to sketch this moment for you to see yourself.”
Shen Zhen snapped back to reality and couldn’t help asking, “What exactly is your cultivation level?”
Gu An slightly raised his chin, looking down upon her with a smile, “When you are strong enough, you will naturally know my cultivation level.”
Shen Zhen wanted to keep talking, but the golden small tower suddenly emitted a burst of golden light, causing the environment in the cave to change abruptly.
It was as if they had been transported to the starry sky of the universe, standing on a meteor.
Shocked, Shen Zhen turned around subconsciously and looked up. It was her first time in the universe, even though she had dreamt of such a scene before.
Gu An, on the other hand, was not surprised and calmly gazed into the depths of space.
The golden small tower was rising, set deep in the universe. The windows of the tower opened and a golden flame gushed out like a stream turning into an ocean, magical and unstoppable.
When Shen Zhen noticed this scene, the golden flame rapidly coalesced into a giant face, larger than both heaven and earth, looking down upon them.
Yu Chan’s face!
But the aura was entirely different!
Especially his eyes, filled with a commanding brilliance, making it impossible to clearly see his pupils.
In front of Yu Chan’s colossal face, Gu An and Shen Zhen were smaller than dust particles.
This shock was greater than when the Immortal Lord of Autumn Evening had appeared!
Because now she wasn’t in the heavens or on earth, but situated in the boundless universe. Within this vast cosmos, Yu Chan’s face still dominated her field of vision, how could she not feel overwhelmed?
She subconsciously drew closer to Gu An, grabbing the sleeve of his robe.
Gu An looked at her and smiled reassuringly, “What’s there to fear? I am right beside you.”
Looking at his smile, Shen Zhen felt an indescribable mix of emotions—fear, despair, curiosity, and anticipation.
“Who exactly are you?”
Shen Zhen stared at Gu An and asked. She wasn’t foolish; she knew Gu An was definitely not as simple as just a Valley Master from Medicine Valley.
No wonder the Sect Leader always came running to him.
Wait a minute!
Could he be…
A wild guess crossed Shen Zhen’s mind, causing her to widen her eyes in astonishment.
“You are not a Reincarnation Body!”
Yu Chan’s voice rang out, filled with wariness.
Gu An looked back at him and laughed, “Your divine skills are not bad, mixing the false with the real, but can you escape my Five-Finger Mountain?”
As he spoke, he lifted his right hand.
Yu Chan seemed to sense something, his eyes suddenly widened, a terrifying power welling up within them.
Gu An’s right hand moved swiftly, as if he was grabbing at the starry sky. When he drew back his hand, his right fist clenched.
The starry universe vanished accordingly, and Shen Zhen only felt a blur before her eyes. When her vision cleared, she was back in her own cave.
Gu An stretched languidly and said, “It’s late at night, time to sleep.”
He walked toward the entrance of the cave dwelling.
Shen Zhen stepped forward and asked, “What’s wrong with him?”
“He won’t come back again. I hope only you and I know about what happened tonight.”
Gu An left those words behind and disappeared around the corner of the tunnel.
Shen Zhen stood in place, recalling what she had seen and heard earlier. She felt as if she were in a dream.
“Have I soul transmigrated into another world?”
Shen Zhen muttered to herself, then followed and sat down at the desk. She raised her hand and, with a wave, the wine pot flew over through the air, yet her hand trembled.
…
Inside the Third Medicine Valley, Gu An sat in the loft, holding a golden miniature tower in his right hand.
The commotion from Shen Zhen’s cave dwelling had been deliberately isolated by him; even the Sun and Moon Netherworld Emperor hadn’t sensed any disturbances or anomalies.
The Divine Thought True Immortal was very strong, but in the eyes of a Free Immortal, it was nothing significant, and for the Daoist Hidden Immortal, even less different from a Mortal Spirit.
Gu An was using his Divine Thought to search for Yu Chan’s soul, which was encapsulated within the tower itself.
As he had guessed, Yu Chan and the entity behind him wanted to rebuild the Supreme Demon Realm. He had invited Demon Shore many times and been rejected, until hundreds of years ago when his Reincarnation Body sensed the karma of Demon Shore. He then saw hope to win over Demon Shore.
Yu Chan’s Reincarnation Tribulation was on its last step, which was why he could retain the memories of his past life.
The closer to successful Tribulation Crossing, the more memories from past lives the Reincarnation Body retained.
Zhang Shi was just one step away as well.
Ji Xiaoyu probably had a bit more distance to cover.
The more reincarnations there were, the stronger the control of the original being over the Reincarnation Body became. During the early stages of the Reincarnation Tribulation, it was like reincarnation; until death, one couldn’t recover the memories of past lives.
The current Supreme Demon Realm was very strong, with more than ten Free Immortals. Leading them was the Supreme Demon Emperor, with an unfathomably deep Dao Level. Even Yu Chan did not know how extensive his cultivation level was.
The Supreme Demon Realm had many targets, and the Great Heavenly Spirit Land was just one of them. They wandered deep within the Silent Destruction Domain.
Gu An retracted his Divine Thought, and with a clench of his right hand, the golden sand drifted out from between his fingers, then turned into fly ash.
This golden tiny tower was also an Immortal Path Supreme Treasure, built by Yu Chan over millions of years, stronger than the Immortal Path Supreme Treasures controlled by the Holy Court because it had never left its master.
[You have successfully seized the life span of the Sun and Moon Netherworld Emperor (Free Immortal Realm Nine Layers) for 2,580,928 years]
The prompt that popped up did not surprise Gu An.
It seemed the Reincarnation Tribulation allowed the original being’s life span to temporarily pause, and crossing the Reincarnation Tribulation did not consume the life span of the original being.
Gu An was contemplating this when the golden sand in front of him reassembled into the golden tiny tower.
This tower was named the Boundless Heaven and Earth Tower, capable of creating domains, much like the cosmic starscape that Gu An and the other had previously entered.
Within that domain, its master could suppress enemies, even create limitless illusions to stupefy them.
Gu An looked at the Boundless Heaven and Earth Tower with a smile curling the corners of his mouth. He began to erase all karma within the Boundless Heaven and Earth Tower – a difficult task for a Free Immortal, but trivial for the current him.
The moon set and the sun rose.
With the arrival of the early morning, not a single shred of karma from the Supreme Demon Realm remained in the Boundless Heaven and Earth Tower. It was like a blank sheet, heavy with boundless power.
Gu An hung the palm-size Boundless Heaven and Earth Tower on his belt alongside Qingtian Peak as another ornament.
After finishing all this, he stood up and went downstairs to go through his exercises.
Approaching noon, Shen Zhen came looking for Gu An, just in time to see him playing chess with Long Qing.
After going out to practice with Shen Xinzi for a while, Long Qing returned, studied even harder, and began delving into chess. Much like the Nine-Finger Divine Lord, he felt that there was a great Dao hidden in the black and white, and even his master Shen Xinzi did not refute such a guess.
Gu An was using the Seven Stars Mirror as a fan, gently waving it.
Shen Zhen approached the crowd and saw him like this, dying to scold him.
But then she thought of last night and her feelings complicated once again.
Faced with Gu An’s mysterious and terrifyingly powerful means, she felt an innate awe and could no longer regard him as she used to.
Gu An turned his head to look at Shen Zhen and threw her a challenging gaze.
As if to say, dare to play a game?
Shen Zhen glared at Gu An, muttering to herself, “How could I possibly win against you? No wonder no one else can beat you either.”
A breeze blew past, stirring the strands of hair by Shen Zhen’s ears.
She watched Gu An quietly, feeling him to be so distant, unreachable through the ages, yet so real, like an illusory reflection in water.
With an immense universe, she unexpectedly had such a Great Cultivator hidden by her side.
She couldn’t understand why Gu An chose to conceal his cultivation level.
But she began to review Gu An’s life, and looking back now, every move he made, every action seemed to hide a profound truth.
What was his world like?
Shen Zhen thought absentmindedly.
Leaves flew up behind her, rapidly turned yellow as they ascended to the sky, and ultimately fell to the ground, becoming part of earth’s greenery.
Leaves grew and fell, year after year, ten years had passed.
In the deep autumn.
Gu An stood up, leaving the chessboard.
The man he had been playing with, a white-haired elder, agonized over the game board.
Gu An walked toward his loft, his gaze lifting to the sky.
“It’s time for a breakthrough.”
He thought to himself, a smile involuntarily forming on his lips.
What realm lay beyond that of the Daoist Hidden Immortal?
He arrived at the front of the loft, just as Ji Xiaoyu was stepping out.
“I have to leave Medicine Valley for a bit, I’ll talk about it when I get back,” Gu An declared first, then hurried upstairs.