After his cultivation level became completely stable, Gu An closed the Life Span Barrier.
This time, the Life Span Barrier had consumed over eight thousand years, and at this rate, opening the Life Span Barrier would eventually become a significant expenditure of life span.
He still needed to work hard to earn life span. He might seem wealthy now, but if he wanted a comprehensive upgrade, his life span would not be sufficient!
Gu An stood up, stretched his arms in a lazy yawn, and then touched his chest.
The Unification Realm seemed to be a transition, not as phased as the realms before, but this transition put a great test on the accumulation of cultivation.
Gu An could feel that the next realm had something to do with the heart, the thing condensed on his heart was a sign, but he could not yet determine what it might be.
He began to move forward.
Still using the Infinite Traceless Mystic Heaven Step, he continuously teleported, covering hundreds of miles in a single step while spreading his Divine Sense to feel the Nine Layers of the Unification Realm.
Suddenly.
Gu An stopped in his tracks, his gaze fixed on one direction, his eyebrows slightly furrowed.
After hesitating for a moment, he moved toward that direction.
…
Next to the mountain stream, a boy covered in bloodstains and dirt stood in front of a mountain wall, holding a large stone in his hand, with a girl standing behind him, equally disheveled, staring ahead in terror.
On the other side of the stream, the trees parted as a two-zhang tall Wolf Demon emerged from the woods, walking upright. Its deep black fur and even in the early morning, its wolf eyes flickered with threatening ferocity.
The Wolf Demon opened its mouth, exhaling foul breath, its gaze fixed intently on the two ahead.
The boy’s arms shook in fear, but he bravely stepped forward.
The two did not notice a figure appearing on the mountain top behind them, it was Gu An.
Gu An had changed into a set of white clothes and wore a specially made mask with restrictions that blocked Divine Sense probing. He had made it when he had nothing better to do.
The breeze fluttered Gu An’s robe as he looked down at the two children below, casting Life Span Detection.
[Goudan (Insignificant): 12/99/9999]
[Little Flower (Insignificant): 12/78/230]
A maximum life span of 9999 years?
Gu An doubted his own eyes, this number surpassed the records of the Ji Family of the Human Race.
Could this child also possess an Innate Daoist Talisman within him?
Just then, the Wolf Demon suddenly leaped towards the boy named Goudan. Gu An raised his hand and a Sword Qi shot out, landing between the Wolf Demon and Goudan. Stones shattered and water splashed skyward, scaring the Wolf Demon into halting and fleeing.
Dust filled the air, causing Goudan to close his eyes and start coughing.
When the dust settled, he looked to find a crack half a zhang wide and a hundred zhang long next to the stream, as if it were cut by a gigantic sword.
Footsteps came from nearby, startling Goudan, who quickly turned around, only to see Gu An.
Although Gu An looked normal, he wore a mask, so Goudan did not drop the stone in his hand.
“You… are you a human… or a demon?” Goudan asked cautiously, his voice weak and trembling.
Gu An spoke, “Naturally, I am human. Why else would I save you?”
He altered his voice to sound aged, as if he were in his forties or fifties.
Hearing this, Goudan let out a sigh of relief, but did not drop the stone, earning a look of admiration from Gu An.
“Where is your home? I will take you back,” Gu An continued.
Upon hearing this, Goudan fell silent.
At that moment, the girl named Little Flower behind him suddenly burst into loud sobs.
“My mom and dad… they were eaten by demons…”
She spoke in a choked voice, her emotions erupting, causing Goudan’s eyes to turn red as well.
Goudan then recounted their ordeal.
A group of demons had broken into their village, devoured all the adults, and then took the children to this area. Every day, they witnessed their peers being boiled into soup. It was supposed to be their turn last night, but suddenly there was an earthquake, and the demon guarding them ran out.
At daybreak, they had escaped the cave and found no trace of the demons, so they began to flee. But they hadn’t gotten far when they were targeted by a Wolf Demon that was on its way.
Gu An was silent as he heard the account, this was his first real glimpse into the suffering of the Mortal World.
Since his youth, he had lived in the Ji Family, never facing the threat of demons. Later on, at the Supreme Sect, using the lives he seized, his journey could be considered smooth sailing.
Compared to him, these two children truly suffered.
Gu An felt compassion, but Goudan’s extraordinary maximum life span made him hesitate to bring him back.
This kind of maximum life span, if one cultivated, would surely attract countless troubles.
Gu An even suspected that Goudan possessed great fate, which was why only he survived out of his whole family. Just as he was about to be eaten, Gu An was nearby making a breakthrough. And as the Wolf Demon was about to catch him, Gu An saved him.
When all these coincidences came together, they were no longer mere coincidences!
A child of fate?
Seeing that the two were now without both parents and even without relatives to rely on, Gu An could not bear to leave them alone.
After thinking it over, Gu An decided to first take them to a safe place.
With a step, he appeared behind Goudan, lifting him up, then went to Little Flower. Lifting one in each hand, he moved swiftly through the air.
The two were stunned by his movement technique, no longer crying, tensed all over.
Ten breaths later.
In a stretch of woodland, Gu An stopped and gently set the two down on the ground.
He took out a bottle of elixir from his storage bag and poured half into each of their mouths.
They choked violently as the elixir was poured down, but as the medicine went down their throats, they felt a warm current flowing smoothly, which then spread to every bone and muscle. The sensation was truly magical.
The two of them widened their eyes, their faces filled with disbelief.
Gu An then sat cross-legged in front of them and asked, “Do you want to cultivate to become immortals?”
He didn’t dare to directly take Goudan back with him, but he could teach them the ways of immortal cultivation, so they could later seek to join the Supreme Sect on their own, absolving him of any connection to them.
By offering the Supreme Sect a top genius, he felt it was a way to make amends for the numerous times he had drawn spiritual energy without permission over the years.
“Are you an immortal?” Goudan asked excitedly, his face alight with thrill.
“I am not. I’m just striving to become one. Since you have nowhere else to go, I can teach you the ways of immortal cultivation. In the future, when you join the Supreme Sect, you’ll have a place to belong,” he answered, continuing to disguise his voice to avoid recognition should they meet again at the Supreme Sect.
Goudan quickly nodded, even kowtowing and calling him master.
He turned to look at Little Flower, who was still in a daze, and pushed her head forward, saying, “Quick, call him master!”
Little Flower instinctively called out, “Master!”
Gu An wanted to refuse, but seeing their hopeful expressions, he simply couldn’t.
Damn it!
Was this the influence of great destiny?
Gu An felt it wasn’t his soft-heartedness, but rather the destiny surrounding Goudan that was affecting him.
Immortal cultivation indeed talks of destiny, cause and effect, and believes in those elusive existences.
“Alright, now I will pass on to you the mental method mantra. Listen carefully and remember well,” Gu An said gravely.
The two immediately sat up straight, staring intently at him, afraid to irritate him.
Gu An passed on the Yang Wood Primordial Skill that he practiced to them. He wasn’t afraid of Goudan mastering it completely; once he accumulated a million years of lifespan, he would continue to advance the skill.
Actually, he was also curious to see how far Goudan could develop the Yang Wood Primordial Skill.
Up until now, he still wasn’t sure what rank the cultivation techniques and ultimate skills he possessed would hold in the Immortal Cultivation World.
Time quickly passed by.
Gu An’s lesson lasted half a day, mainly explaining to Little Flower. Goudan remembered everything after hearing it once.
The fruits of extreme lifespan surely didn’t lie!
Gu An told Goudan to go to one side to cultivate, while he personally instructed Little Flower.
“Master, it feels like there’s something inside me! Could it be Spiritual Power?”
In the afternoon, while Little Flower was deep in contemplation, Goudan, not far away, suddenly exclaimed with extreme excitement.
Upon hearing this, Little Flower’s eyes widened in disbelief, then her face fell in disappointment.
Gu An calmly said, “All this fuss and commotion, what kind of behavior is that? Do you want to summon demons over?”
Hearing this, Goudan immediately shut his mouth.
As evening neared, Little Flower finally memorized the first layer of the Yang Wood Primordial Skill mental method.
One night passed.
Goudan had completely embarked on the path of immortal cultivation, while Little Flower had still not managed to cultivate any Spiritual Power.
A cultivator with average five-element Spirit Root Qualification needed a month of cultivation to manifest Spiritual Power, so Gu An was not disappointed with Little Flower.
As dawn just broke, Gu An prepared to leave.
“Goudan, I’m going out for a while, I’ll be back this evening. Take good care of your junior sister,” said Gu An.
Goudan opened his eyes sharply and quickly got up, anxiously asking, “Master, will you really come back? Don’t abandon us, I promise I won’t shout anymore.”
Little Flower also woke up and stood up upon hearing this. She ran over and clung to Gu An’s waist, refusing to let him go.
Gu An couldn’t help but smile wryly, yet he spoke with a stern voice, “I’m going to slay demons. Do you want to hinder me?”
Upon hearing this, Little Flower quickly let go.
Goudan’s eyes flicked about, then he said, “Master, since we’ve both taken up cultivation, why don’t you give us new names?”
He felt that receiving a name from his master was significant; it would bring them even closer to their master.
Gu An hesitated for a moment, then raised his right hand and with his index finger, he pointed towards the ground and used Sword Qi to write.
Goudan quickly ran over, standing beside him to watch.
Although they were from a village, there was a schoolteacher there, so he could just about recognize the characters.
Once Gu An finished writing, Goudan couldn’t help but ask, “An… An what? Master, what is the second character?”
“Your name is An Hao. ‘Hao’ stands for heaven, and I hope you can be like the sky for your junior sister and carve out a piece of heaven for yourself,” he explained.
“As for Little Flower, her name shall be An Xin. I hope you, my disciple, can live a life of peace and contentment,” Gu An said soothingly. After finishing, he vanished into thin air.
Renamed An Hao, Goudan looked around but could no longer see Gu An. He crouched down and gazed at his new name, murmuring, “An Hao, Hao…” as if trying to commit the character Hao to memory.
An Xin crouched down beside him, accompanying him as they both looked at the characters on the ground.
Meanwhile,
Gu An was rapidly making his way to the Supreme Sect. When he arrived back in Mystic Valley, Wuxin was still leading his disciples in their drills.
Walking from the entrance of the valley, he saw many cultivators flying overhead, it seemed the commotion from the night before had drawn the attention of the Supreme Sect.