Gu An and Zhen Qin sat opposite each other and talked for a long time. After seeing Su Han’s corpse, the burden and obsession in Zhen Qin’s heart completely dissipated, and she returned to her usual lively and clever self.
The mentor and disciple talked about the past, endlessly, finding it impossible to cover all the old times.
However, everything has an end, including life.
When dusk fell, Zhen Qin looked at Gu An and said earnestly, “Master, thank you for your care in this life. As a disciple, I’ve been incapable and have never repaid you. If there is an afterlife and I am worthy of repaying you, I surely will strive to do so.”
Unlike the Ghost Mother of Ephemera, who, though dead, was not at the end of her natural life and could still possess another body to be revived, Zhen Qin’s fate had run its course, without any technique to turn back time.
Gu An smiled and nodded, saying, “There will be an afterlife.”
Hearing this, Zhen Qin showed a smile, her eyes filled with expectation.
She then lay down on the table and whispered, “Master, I feel a bit sleepy. May I sleep here for a while?”
Gu An nodded and replied, “Sleep, I will stay by your side.”
Zhen Qin closed her eyes, mumbling, “I suddenly miss Master Ye so much. It feels like she has been gone for a very long time…”
Gu An’s hand, which was holding a teacup, paused. He said nothing and continued drinking his tea.
After Zhen Qin fell asleep, Shen Zhen came over. She looked at Zhen Qin, about to speak, but her brow furrowed, and she approached Gu An, asking, “Are you okay?”
She knew Zhen Qin’s place in Gu An’s heart and, thinking of how Ye Lan, Xiaochuan, and others’ deaths affected Gu An, she couldn’t help but worry.
“I am naturally fine,” Gu An said, looking at her with a smile and gesturing for her to sit down.
Shen Zhen took a seat, her gaze constantly on Gu An.
As Gu An poured her tea, he said, “Do you think it’s absurd? Someone with my cultivation level, yet unable to control life and death?”
Shen Zhen was secretly surprised. How did Gu An see through what she was thinking?
She spoke truthfully, “Indeed, you are the strongest being in my mind. It seems like life and death should be trivial matters to you, but…”
Gu An laughed and said, “This means I am not the strongest being. There is a Celestial Mandate that governs all, and those I help already have good fates. I merely add a touch of splendor. You can glimpse the past and the future, but can you glimpse the Celestial Mandate?”
“Glimpse the Celestial Mandate?”
Shen Zhen fell into deep thought. In fact, she was also confused about her own path of cultivation.
She didn’t enjoy sitting meditation and Qi Refinement. She preferred the arts and sought to improve her Cultivation Level through Enlightenment, but inspiration was scarce, and her Cultivation Level had been stagnant for many years.
Seeing that she was seriously contemplating, Gu An did not disturb her. He looked towards the horizon, where the slanted sun was like blood, and the seas of clouds seemed ablaze.
Looking at the Celestial Vault, Gu An suddenly felt that the future he saw wasn’t far enough.
How high must one’s Cultivation Level be to see to the end of this universe?
…
Time flies like an arrow, and the years pass like a shuttle, slipping away never to return.
A millennium is like a cloud of smoke, with worldly affairs vast like waves.
Without the support of Supporting Dao Sword Venerable’s millennium, the Celestial Spirit Great World faced no calamities from Outer Heaven, but internal strife remained intense. Ancient Secret Realms, Daoist Fields, and the Cave Mansions of Great Powers emerged one after another, causing widespread deadly conflict among the realm’s Cultivators.
Gu An’s Daoist Field of the Beginningless was now filled with Medicinal Herbs, and to this day, the Life Span provided by these herbs each year had surpassed twenty million years.
Located at the edges of the world, the Daoist Field of the Beginningless on the Nine Spirit Continent had not faced any disturbance for a thousand years.
However, nearby Human Race cities were increasing and approaching the Daoist Field of the Beginningless.
In that year, early summer.
Gu An stood on the edge of a cliff, watching Chen Chuan spar with the Blood Prison Great Saint. Chen Chuan, now of the Nirvana Realm level, was able to hold his own against the Blood Prison Great Saint, who was at the level of the Loose Immortal Realm.
The two combatants clashed in the sky, Gu An establishing a barrier that allowed them to fight to their hearts’ content without affecting the dojo.
After watching for a while, Gu An lost interest and called up his Attribute Panel to take a look.
[Name: Gu An]
[Life Span: 3,155/25,660,408,118]
[Physique: Primordial Infinite Body]
[Cultivation Level: Innate Golden Immortal Realm Perfection]
…
A life span of two hundred fifty-six billion years!
Gu An planned to break through after reaching a life span of one hundred billion years.
After all, according to the trends of the Great Heaven and Earth, the Celestial Spirit Great World would be engulfed in slaughter for the next ten thousand years unless there was intervention from powers beyond the heavens.
Such slaughter was not meaningless; Gu An could feel that the number of all living beings in the world had decreased by ten percent compared to a thousand years ago, but this also gave rise to more talents and great powers.
The most famous battle in these thousand years was the one between the Yang Immortal Emperor and the Jue Luo Sword Monarch for the Theory of Heaven, which ended in a crushing defeat for the Sword Monarch, who fled back to the Great Hong Sword Heaven, while the Yang Immortal Emperor, after collecting nine volumes of the Theory of Heaven, went into seclusion.
Gu An peered into the Yang Immortal Emperor’s fate through An Hao’s Dao Destruction Destiny Seal and found that the emperor’s destiny was transforming and his cultivation level was rising steadily.
The Yang Immortal Emperor, being the Daoist Zang Zizai Immortal, meant that the Holy Court had almost no chance of victory, and Zhu Xi, the Saint Heaven Reincarnation, was still wandering in the mortal world.
Even after regaining her past life memories, she had no intentions of returning to the Holy Court.
A figure approached Gu An.
It was the Ghost Mother of Ephemera.
She looked just like she did in life, but in reality, her body was made of flowers and plants, no longer human.
Now, she was responsible for managing the medicinal herbs in Gu An’s dojo, since the others were occupied with cultivation, and An Xin had long since lost interest in managing affairs.
“Master, we are running out of seeds,” the Ghost Mother of Ephemera said softly.
Having experienced life and death, and after a thousand years of settling, her temperament had become much more stable, starkly different from her past as the Deputy Sect Master of the Gathering Flower Sect.
Gu An glanced at Chen Chuan and said, “Hmm, there will be new seeds tomorrow.
You should go and cultivate for now.”
The Ghost Mother of Ephemera immediately bowed and took her leave.
“Wait a moment.”
Gu An spoke, and upon hearing him, the Ghost Mother subconsciously turned around, only to have a secret manual fall into her embrace.
She accepted the manual and saw at a glance that it was a cultivation technique.
“Strive to reach Nirvana as soon as possible.
That way, you can serve me for a longer time,” Gu An said before turning and walking away.
A ripple of emotion disturbed the tranquility of the Ghost Mother of Ephemera’s eyes.
She watched Gu An’s retreating figure, her thoughts unknown.
Gu An walked out toward the dojo. Five acquaintances were to arrive today, and he needed to see them. Read exclusive adventures at My Virtual Library Empire
The five acquaintances were Yi Qingshan and the others, whom Gu An had taken as disciples because Yi Qingshan was the reincarnation of Lu Jiujia.
After a thousand years of adventure and countless trials, fortunately, all five were still alive.
They had encountered an invincible adversary and had to return to their homeland.
Gu An could overhear their conversation.
These friends were contemplating establishing a sect in their hometown to cultivate their own power and to benefit the locals.
Although the relatives they remembered were no longer alive, the land had not changed.
Gu An listened as these five discussed their past experiences of cultivating with him, and Gu Changsheng, that youngster, was actually sentimental, wondering if his master was still alive.
All five believed that Gu An had passed away, for in their memory, Gu An was merely a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator.
Unless they faced a cultivation crisis or had stirred up enemies, why would anyone seek such a secluded place to hide?
At the very least, it indicated that Gu An had no mighty background or extraordinary talent.
Reflecting on their master, they felt regret, wishing they had had the chance to repay him.