“However, to inherit my Daoist lineage and bear my karma means you will obtain unparalleled power, but you will have difficulty finding peace for the rest of your life.”
The old man stared at Li Ya, speaking slowly and deliberately, his gaze icy cold.
Li Ya was frightened by his eyes. He didn’t answer right away but instead carefully reflected on his life.
Although he had faced hardships, he always felt that his current status was entirely due to the aid of others. In the first half of his life, his imperial father had shielded and protected him. Later, Gu An, under another identity, had protected him and taught him swordsmanship.
When would he be able to repay these people?
Li Ya found himself caught in a difficult decision.
He feared that he would mess things up and that, in the end, Gu An would have to rescue him.
He couldn’t help but turn his head to look at the Divine Exotic Immortal Spirit resting on his shoulder.
This time, the Divine Exotic Immortal Spirit remained silent, merely looking at him steadily, as if to say, this time it’s up to you to decide.
Li Ya believed that the old man had no intention of deceiving him, for there was no need; the gulf between their Cultivation Levels was vast, and if the old man truly wished to force him to do something, he would have no power to resist.
As Li Ya hesitated, the old man turned and walked away.
Li Ya fell to his knees and kowtowed in the direction of the old man’s retreating figure, shouting loudly, “Master above, please accept your disciple’s bow!”
The old man stopped in his tracks and then slowly turned around. He looked at Li Ya with an expressionless face and said, “Remember, my Daoist name is Sword Annihilation. Many refer to me as the Sword Annihilation Ancestor.”
Having said this, the Sword Annihilation Ancestor continued to walk away, and Li Ya quickly got up and followed his pace.
Excitement was unmistakable on Li Ya’s face. He stared at the back of the Sword Annihilation Ancestor, with many questions he wanted to ask, but he restrained himself.
There is plenty of time ahead!
Having seen the Sword Annihilation Ancestor’s actions, he felt that the Sword Annihilation Ancestor was a rare existence that could match up to Gu An. Of course, it was only his feeling because he thought the Sword Annihilation Ancestor didn’t use his full strength when he claimed the Nine Extremes Sacred Heart Sword with such an ease and calmness.
Such demeanor reminded him of Gu An when he transformed into the Supporting Dao Sword Venerable.
Little did he know, Gu An was listening in on his thoughts secretly.
“Comparing me to the Daoist Zang Zizai Immortal?”
Gu An, who was picking medicinal herbs in the Daoist Field of the Beginningless, laughed, but this Sword Annihilation Ancestor had quite a reputation.
He must have an even stronger true form.
Gu An had encountered his true form before, back when he had broken through to become the Profound Yuan Free Immortal. At that time, the skull that devoured the Free Immortal had made a lasting impression on Gu An.
The aura of that skull was identical to that of the Sword Annihilation Ancestor, and from the perspective of karma, they originated from the same source.
The mere fact that a clone possessed the Cultivation Level of a Daoist Zang Zizai Immortal made him wonder just how powerful the Sword Annihilation Ancestor’s true form was.
Ever since Gu An defeated the Battle Court, the Celestial Spirit Great World seemed to be distancing itself from the catastrophe of Outer Heaven. In reality, more beings of the Dao Fruit Realm had infiltrated the Celestial Spirit Great World, behaving more covertly, probably out of fear of Gu An.
Every choice has its pros and cons. His own Lifespan Reincarnation had left behind unfavorable karma, but within the life he could control, he had always done good deeds. He was satisfied with that and never tired of it.
Gu An’s mood became increasingly cheerful, and he began to give pointers to the Ghost Mother of Ephemera following him.
Although the Ghost Mother of Ephemera had lost her freedom, she did not slack off because she saw greater hope. She even felt that her current life was better and more meaningful than before.
Pursuing longevity, that was far more meaningful than being a Vice Sect Hierarch!
The Ghost Mother of Ephemera made note of every word Gu An said and pondered them deeply.
Gu An knew what she was thinking, but he never spelled it out. He let her muse wildly, thinking maybe she might stumble upon something significant.
An hour later, Gu An finished picking herbs, and then he had the Ghost Mother of Ephemera sow the seeds while he walked to his own loft, ready to take a nap.
Even Innate Golden Immortals can sleep, and Gu An occasionally enjoyed dreaming, finding enlightenment in his dreams a particularly interesting experience.
The white clouds above drifted slowly, yet in the blink of an eye, one might feel they moved quickly.
The passage of time in the Human World is the same.
A thousand years, like those clouds, is both fast and slow; it seems quick to Cultivators but slow to mortals.
On an early summer day, at high noon.
In the Tai Cang Dynasty, within the Cangzhou Imperial City.
In the Imperial Study, Li Xuandao held a petition, his face expressionless.
He had been the Emperor for over four thousand years. His long-standing and domineering rule had become mythologized in the hearts of the people. The commoners were unfamiliar with the name Supporting Dao Sword Venerable, unaware of the Great Cultivators of the Immortal Cultivation Realm. In their eyes, he was a living Immortal.
At this moment, two people were kneeling in the room, their heads bowed and bodies tense, one of them sweating profusely on the forehead.
After a while,
Li Xuandao looked up. He glanced at the two kneeling before him and asked, “What is the Crown Prince’s opinion on the Yang Family’s actions?”
One of the elderly ministers raised his head to look at Li Xuandao, hesitated for a moment, and said, “His Highness did not respond to us, but one of my spies told me that the Crown Prince once said he found the position of Crown Prince rather dull, and he did not know…”
“He did not know what?”
“He did not know what it tastes like to sit on the Imperial throne…”
After speaking, the old minister quickly bowed his head, pressing his forehead against the ground.
Li Xuandao’s eyes flashed with a chill upon hearing this.
He closed the petition he was holding and set it down gently.
“Leave,” Li Xuandao said with closed eyes. The two ministers immediately stood up, performed a salutary bow, and left quickly.
Once they had left the Imperial Garden and the palace grounds, and only when they had passed through the gates of the Imperial City, did they finally breathe a sigh of relief.
The other middle-aged minister turned to the old one and asked in a low voice, “Does His Highness truly intend to…”
He looked around and withheld the word “rebel.”
“There have been signs for hundreds of years. It is said that ever since the Crown Prince returned from the Holy Land, his temperament has changed. He has already stepped into the Immortal Realm. I fear the Imperial Dynasty is about to face unprecedented turmoil. The Yang Family has courted no small number of factions…” the old minister sighed.
His ancestors had served Li Xuandao for ten generations and he himself had been an academically honored champion designated by Li Xuandao. In his heart, Li Xuandao was the heavens.
But faced with a Crown Prince who possessed the cultivation level of the Immortal Dao and had a formidable family background, how could he not think that the throne was on the cusp of changing hands?
The middle-aged minister fell silent after hearing this, and they both hastened down the same street.
Meanwhile, back in the Imperial Study.
Li Xuandao slowly opened his eyes, gazing straight ahead, and suddenly said, “Gu An, Supporting Dao Sword Venerable, you should be able to hear my words, right?”
After his words, silence filled the room; no response came from outside. Your journey continues on My Virtual Library Empire
He took a deep breath, stood up, walked around the desk, and then, lifting the hem of his robe, knelt on the ground.
“Gu An, if there is still any affection between us, please help me…” Li Xuandao said with a resolute expression. He then began to kowtow.
However, just as his forehead was about to touch the ground, a hand caught his forehead, preventing it from touching the floor.
Li Xuandao’s pupils contracted and his body trembled slightly. With great caution, he slowly lifted his head to see the person in front of him – it was indeed Gu An!