On the mountaintop, the strong wind spilled over, causing flowers and grass to sway like green waves.
Long Qing maintained his punching stance, his face showing disbelief.
“How could this be…”
His eyes widened, a tempest of shock surged within him. Following his gaze, he saw his right fist being blocked by a single finger from An Hao.
His fist, being resisted by An Hao’s index finger, gave him the sensation of pushing against a mountain.
No!
Mountains aren’t this hard!
An Hao’s hair fluttered in the wind as he stared at Long Qing, his lips curling into a smile, “Not a bad reaction, but it seems you haven’t fully mastered your power, or rather, you don’t really know the kind of power you possess at the moment.”
With a gentle push of his right index finger, Long Qing felt a force overwhelming like a mountain collapsing over him, throwing him backwards. His complexion drastically changed, and while he instinctively stabilized his body, he still staggered backward several steps before stopping.
He looked at An Hao with fear in his eyes, swallowing hard before asking, “Who exactly are you?”
“My name is An Hao, have you heard of me?” An Hao asked with a smile, his dominance and pride momentarily receding, now his smile seeming warm as a spring breeze.
“An Hao?”
Long Qing’s eyes widened, excitedly asking, “Are you Elder Sister An Xin’s senior brother?”
Hearing this name, An Hao’s expression turned gentler as he asked, “Is your teacher sister doing well?”
He hadn’t used his Divine Sense to probe the Third Medicine Valley, partly for fear of being rude and partly because he was somewhat nervous inside.
“Of course, she is the leading disciple of the Third Medicine Valley, how could she not be doing well!” Long Qing, knowing An Hao’s identity, suddenly felt a sense of closeness.
Although An Xin was his teacher sister, she was like a mother to him in his heart, since he had been raised by An Xin and You Yingying since he was young. He often heard An Xin mention An Hao, naturally forming a close and curious impression of him.
Hearing this, An Hao completely relaxed and then asked Long Qing to take him to see An Xin.
Long Qing was very curious about him. As the two walked towards the valley, they chatted, mostly with Long Qing asking and An Hao answering.
An Hao quite liked Long Qing; he couldn’t quite say why, perhaps it was Long Qing’s strong physique that sparked anticipation.
“Why does your Medicine Valley have so many Great Cultivators?” An Hao suddenly asked.
He even sensed the presence of those from the Immortal Path Realm, which piqued his curiosity.
Long Qing mysteriously said, “Haven’t you heard? My master is Sword Venerable Fudao!”
Hearing this, An Hao was taken aback, asking in surprise, “You have two masters?”
“No, it’s my master Gu An, he is Sword Venerable Fudao!”
Long Qing hurriedly explained, knowing what he should say and what he shouldn’t. Anything publicly said by Gu An, he could repeat.
“Gu An is Sword Venerable Fudao? How is that possible!” An Hao frowned.
He couldn’t forget his first encounter with Gu An; both were very young back then. How could Gu An possibly be his master?
His first reaction was that there must be some misunderstanding, given that no one in the Supreme Sect would dare impersonate Sword Venerable Fudao.
“My master admitted it himself, and Sword Venerable Fudao hasn’t challenged him, so isn’t he Sword Venerable Fudao?” Long Qing explained.
He was unaware of the relationship between An Hao and Sword Venerable Fudao; too much time had passed, and only a few knew of their relationship. Long Qing, having spent years in the Third Medicine Valley and An Xin deliberately not mentioning it, those Great Cultivators had no interest in gossip, so he was also none the wiser.
“Admitted it himself?”
An Hao’s brows furrowed tighter, feeling quite uneasy.
What did Gu An mean by this?
Trying to take advantage of him?
An Hao decided he needed to have a good talk with Gu An, as some matters must not be carelessly touched.
Half a stick of incense later.
An Xin led An Hao into the house, shut the door, and asked him to have a seat, then she began to brew tea.
“Elder brother, I thought you had forgotten about me,” An Xin said jokingly as she walked to the table with the teapot.
An Hao, who was looking around the room, replied awkwardly, “How could I forget you? Whenever I have time, I come back to see you.”
An Xin laughed heartily, “You can even forget your own wife and children; forgetting me wouldn’t be strange.”
Gu An became more embarrassed, he coughed lightly and said, “My aspiration is to travel the world, I cannot stay with them, if I maintain relations, it would only bring them trouble.”
An Xin did not speak of the An Family’s encounters, reasoning that if Gu An cared, he would visit on his own, and if he did not, speaking of it held no meaning.
Moreover, as long as Gu An remained, the An Family had already received his care, and they would no longer face significant troubles.
Thinking of this, An Xin suddenly felt that although Gu An was strong, there was still much he could learn about being a person from his master.
Just like romantic attachments, the master would not decide lightly, but he would take care of those who had good relations with him.
Gu An didn’t know what she was thinking; after expressing concern for a few moments, he asked the question he most wanted to ask, “I heard that Gu An calls himself Sword Venerable Fudao? What’s that about? How dare he?”
An Xin heard this, widened her beautiful eyes, and huffed, “What? He’s not worthy?”
“It’s not that… Sword Venerable Fudao is our master!” Gu An grew anxious, a side of him that only showed in front of An Xin.
An Xin followed saying, “He is my master too, I have two masters.”
“It’s not the same!” Gu An frowned, unsure how to explain.
An Xin said, “Perhaps Sword Venerable Fudao truly is him, and our original master isn’t him. Has the master, as Sword Venerable Fudao, ever met you? Could it be he also received guidance from our first master? Or maybe they have a common master, that’s why they both can perform the Demon Shadow Divine Skill.”
Having been with Gu An for a long time, she too had become crafty, thinking of continuing to confound Gu An.
So fun!
Gu An hesitated and said, “You mean we might actually be fellow disciples?”
“Who knows, he calls himself Sword Venerable Fudao and hasn’t run into trouble,” An Xin shrugged.
More than that, she was curious about how strong Gu An was; she felt a competitive spirit rising within her now.
Gu An, after hearing this, pondered thoughtfully.
Thinking that Gu An might truly be Sword Venerable Fudao, and his master hadn’t clarified this matter, he felt uneasy.
No way, he had to find Gu An personally!
If the master wasn’t Sword Venerable Fudao, why wouldn’t he explain?
Could it be he was helping Sword Venerable Fudao pose?
Could this mean that in the master’s eyes, Gu An was more important?
Gu An’s thoughts were in turmoil; he hadn’t felt so perturbed for a long time.
Previously, no matter how tough the situation, he had never felt such anxiety because his master was his ultimate pursuit, and he was so determined to become stronger because he didn’t want to disappoint his master.
An Xin changed the subject, starting to ask about Gu An’s experiences over the years, and Gu An didn’t hide anything, beginning from the time he left the Star Sea Congregations.
Gu An too wanted to impress his junior sister by sharing his legendary experiences, speaking emotionally, but unfortunately, An Xin hadn’t yet learned Gu An’s emotional intelligence to provide timely emotional feedback to him.
Time flew by quickly.
As evening approached, Gu An rode the Blood Prison Great Saint back to the valley leisurely.
Although Jue Luo Sword Monarch had arrived, he didn’t pay much attention to it—going about his usual activities.
Having spent the afternoon investigating, Jue Luo Sword Monarch had already set his sights on Sword Venerable Fudao.
He would soon arrive at the Third Medicine Valley.
Gu An could sense a strong intent to battle hidden within Jue Luo Sword Monarch’s Sword Intent, an indication that Jue Luo Sword Monarch was harboring ill intentions.
He was curious to see how strong this prodigy descendant of Da Hong Sword Heaven was.
Upon entering the valley, Gu An dismounted and walked alone towards Ten Thousand Sword Mountain.
Simultaneously, Jue Luo Sword Monarch appeared out of nowhere in front of the stele at Ten Thousand Sword Mountain, gazing at the mountain, lost in thought.
This mountain harbored a faint Sword Intent that was difficult to capture; although he felt no threat, he couldn’t see through this Sword Intent.
It didn’t resemble the Holy Heart Sword Dao; he had been to the Sword Dao River and knew what the Holy Heart Sword Dao was like.
Some disciples passing by on the trail behind him cast surprised glances his way, but seeing he didn’t step onto Ten Thousand Sword Mountain, they didn’t come forward to stop him.
From a distance, Gu An spotted Jue Luo Sword Monarch and conducted a Life Span Detection on him.
[Jue Luo Sword Monarch (Free Immortal Realm Nine Layers): 29,769,870/500,000,000/500,000,000]
Could killing him yield forty million years of life span?
Gu An thought to himself, his steps neither fast nor slow, leisurely as if wandering through a garden, occasionally greeting disciples he encountered along the way.