Gu An looked at Li Ya, who had climbed in through the window, and said helplessly, “What treasure could compare to my windowsill?”
Dressed in green, Li Ya walked to the table, took a pouch from his waist, laid it on the table, and said with a proud smile, “This treasure, you will definitely like.”
Gu An probed with his Divine Sense, frowned, and asked, “Why is it a bug?”
“These are Ancient Gold-Swallowing Insects. Their teeth can bite through any metal or ore in the world. If you feed them golden-attribute Spirit Energy, it can help them grow stronger. There are a total of sixteen inside, one of them a queen, which is perfect for guarding your home and can also help you with mining,” Li Ya said with a laugh.
Upon hearing this, Gu An’s interest was piqued, and he asked curiously, “How do I bond with this thing?”
“There’s a special way to bond, which involves dropping a bit of your blood to the queen to establish a soul bond.” Li Ya said, smiling, then took out a thin manual from his Storage Bag and gave it to Gu An.
Gu An took it but did not open it immediately; instead, he asked, “How’s it going, was the Hundred Clans Tournament smooth?”
Li Ya pulled a chair over from the side and sat down opposite Gu An, with a sigh he said, “Not really smooth, but it was quite an eye-opener. The world truly is full of experts, and geniuses are as common as carp crossing the river. My talents are nothing at the Hundred Clans Tournament; I barely made it into the top hundred, and Zhou Tongyou only made it into the top ten.”
Seeing Li Ya’s optimistic demeanor, Gu An felt a bit less worried.
Li Ya began to recount what he had seen and heard at the Hundred Clans Tournament, and Gu An listened intently.
Halfway through the conversation, Gu An even stood up to pour some wine, drinking and listening.
Li Ya talked until dusk, still having much to say.
Gu An said thoughtfully, “So, only our Third Miss could pose a threat to Lv Xian?”
“Her Qilin Step is indeed incredible. She was the only one who wounded Lv Xian. Unfortunately, after taking nine steps, she faced a heavenly tribulation and had to stop the combat. We haven’t seen her since then,” Li Ya nodded and said.
“Heavenly tribulation? What do you mean? Is Qilin Step that powerful?”
Gu An was surprised; he had taken many steps in the past two years without facing any heavenly tribulation.
Li Ya shook his head and said, “How would I know? She probably has some secret inside her.”
Primordial Daoist Talisman!
Gu An thought to himself, is this like starting with a cheat?
“Compared to Ji Xiaoyu, Lv Xian’s strength is what shocked me the most. He will be my target afterward; I want to challenge him and win back the honor,” Li Ya said, his fighting spirit soaring.
Gu An asked, “You just said he broke all your limbs, don’t you hate him?”
Li Ya shook his head and said, “It was a regular sparring match, what’s there to hate? Besides, it was me who refused to admit defeat. From a senior, I learned that he is a pitiful person. He has other remnants of souls inside him trying to seize his body, which is why he sometimes appears abnormal; friendly at one moment, violent the next.”
Other remnants of souls?
Gu An felt relieved. If that was the case, then he was reassured.
He had been worried that Lv Xian was the reincarnation of an Immortal, but it didn’t seem to be the case now.
“What do you mean, why are there other remnants of souls?” Gu An asked, puzzled.
“Not sure, it might relate to some treasure, or he might have been possessed. Before he clears out the remnants of souls inside him, he will always be tormented. No wonder I had never heard of him at the Supreme Sect before; probably the Lv Family was protecting him. Oh right, his father was the previous Sect Leader, Lv Baitian.”
“Lv Baitian was driven to insanity by deviated cultivation, and now his son is tortured by inner remnants of souls; it’s curious whether this is a coincidence or not.”
Li Ya said with a frown and then sighed before adding, “If Lv Xian were not affected by these remnants of souls, by now he might have formed his Nascent Soul and would have unimaginable strength.”
Gu An couldn’t help laughing; he hadn’t expected to find himself feeling sympathetic towards Lv Xian.
“By the way, who is the senior you mentioned? Sounds quite powerful,” Gu An asked, feigning curiosity.
“A senior who prefers to remain unnamed. Sorry, I can’t reveal more,” Li Ya replied.
Heh, must be the old grandpa inside you!
Gu An could feel the soul inside Li Ya growing stronger.
He suddenly thought of something; if he could sense the soul inside Li Ya before reaching the Unification Realm, then those Great Cultivators in the Void Crossing Realm should also be able to detect it.
From Li Ya’s tone, it didn’t seem like anyone had discovered this.
Is it because the cultivation technique that Gu An practiced was too powerful, or was there another reason?
Even though it was getting dark, Li Ya showed no sign of leaving and kept chatting with Gu An, now sharing stories about the sights he had seen on his journey.
It wasn’t until the next morning that Li Ya finally left.
After he was gone, Gu An picked up the manual Li Ya had left behind and began to study how to bond with the Ancient Gold-Swallowing Insects.
…
Under the vast clear skies, the Third Medicine Valley.
Gu An stood before Elder Tian, lifting his right hand to reveal a golden insect perched on the back of his hand; at first glance, it looked like a golden beetle, but its mandibles were much larger.
“Ancient Gold-Swallowing Insects, these creatures are quite rare, at least hard to come by within the Taicang Dynasty,” Elder Tian praised.
“This was a gift from my senior brother Li Ya. He placed within the top hundred at the Hundred Clans Tournament and brought this insect back for me. It will help us patrol Medicine Valley in the future,” Gu An said with a smile.
He had mentioned Li Ya to Elder Tian more than once, hoping that if Elder Tian ever resumed his position as Sect Leader, he might remember Li Ya and give him special cultivation.
Elder Tian nodded and said, “It seems this Li Ya is indeed a genius and values loyalty and friendship highly. One Ancient Gold-Swallowing Insect is already worth a fortune, let alone sixteen.”
Gu An opened the pouch at his waist, and one by one, the Ancient Gold-Swallowing Insects flew out. One of them, twice as big as the others, landed on his shoulder, while the rest hovered around him.
As Xiaochuan passed by, he couldn’t help but come over, and Gu An began to show off the insects.
“`
Until evening, all the Servant Disciples of the Third Medicine Valley had witnessed the Ancient Gold-Swallowing Insect. Gu An did this not merely to show off; he was worried that the Servant Disciples would later attack the patrolling Ancient Gold-Swallowing Insects.
…
Spring came and went, autumn followed, and three years passed by swiftly.
Gu An crossed the threshold of fifty years of age. In these three years, his days were peaceful and fulfilling. His life span had already exceeded three hundred thousand years, and moreover, the harvest of his life span was increasing every year.
On this day.
Xiaochuan arrived at the Transmission Array Platform with Ye Lan.
Gu An was playing with the White Spirit Rat, which was now as fat as a large dog. Seeing Ye Lan’s arrival, he immediately got up to greet her.
Ye Lan’s complexion was not good. Facing Gu An, she opened her mouth and said, “Elder brother, let’s talk inside the house.”
Gu An nodded and then led Ye Lan upstairs.
Xiaochuan turned to the White Spirit Rat, but the rodent turned and ran, infuriating Xiaochuan who picked up a stone to throw at it, unfortunately missing.
Meanwhile.
After entering the room, Gu An closed the door.
He had just turned around when he heard Ye Lan speak, “Elder brother, Wuxin is a spy from the Thousand-Autumn Pavilion!”
At these words, Gu An’s expression subtly changed, and he asked frowning, “Nonsense, what evidence do you have?”
Ye Lan took out sheets of paper, saying, “All of these are records of disciples left by the Demon Extermination Hall. The person who brought Wuxin into the sect is not a spy from the Demon Path, but if you trace the connections further, they all lead to spies from the Demon Path. Moreover, the Thousand-Autumn Pavilion has been searching for the son of a Pavilion Master for years.
That person happens to resemble a monk, with an indelible scar on his head.”
Gu An took them and examined closely.
These papers also recorded who they had been in contact with on a daily basis, including Wuxin.
Wuxin had visited them a few times when he went to the Outer City.
How careless!
Why not be more vigilant in such matters?
Gu An cursed inwardly, but he didn’t panic because Ye Lan was the one who discovered this.
After inspecting the papers, he looked up at Ye Lan and asked, “How many people know about this?”
“Just me for now. On normal days, the Law Enforcement Hall wouldn’t scrutinize the Servant Disciples. We did find that one of the Valley Masters in the Outer Medicine Valley is a spy from the Thousand-Autumn Pavilion, but we haven’t discovered who exactly it is. We wanted to continue the investigation, but someone higher-up forbade it,” Ye Lan said fretfully, furrowing her elegant brows.
“Who forbade your investigation?”
“The Great Elder of the Outer Sect, Jiang Qiong. However, her people said it was an order coming from the Inner Sect.”
Gu An suddenly felt that Jiang Qiong being the Great Elder of the Outer Sect was rather convenient, as she could shield him from the storm.
Although Gu An had never worked for the Thousand-Autumn Pavilion, with the Green Vine Tree involved, he could not wash his hands clean. He certainly did not want his peaceful farming life disturbed.
Gu An stepped forward, grasped Ye Lan’s shoulders with both hands, took a deep breath, and said, “Junior sister, this matter must be suppressed. Even if Wuxin comes from the Demon Path, after living together for so many years, I believe he is not a bad person.”
Ye Lan’s face flushed slightly as he held her. She looked down, and said, “Elder brother, are you also from the Thousand-Autumn Pavilion? If you are, I’m willing to follow you.”
“How could that be? I am a man of the Supreme Sect in life and will be a ghost of the Supreme Sect in death.”
“I don’t care. From now on, no matter which sect you join, you have to take me with you.”
“Then, can you suppress this matter?”
“Mm, I’ve already destroyed the other evidence. Only this copy in your hand remains.”
Gu An released her and threw the papers into his Storage Bag.
He wouldn’t destroy them just yet, keeping them just in case.
Ye Lan then said, “Actually, this is a small matter. I know you would protect him. I came to see you for a more serious issue. The Demonic Sects are preparing to besiege the Supreme Sect, and this time it’s for real. Someone in the Hall of Elders in the Main City of Sect has betrayed the Supreme Sect. This is information obtained by a spy from the Wanyin Sect that the Law Enforcement Hall planted.
The news has already been relayed to the higher-ups, and the four Inner Cities are preparing for war.”
“There are many Great Cultivators from other sects and dynasties in the Outer Sect, who have been staying for many years. The Supreme Sect finds it difficult to expel them. If the Demon Path truly attacks, the Outer City might be in great danger, and there might be spies from the Demon Path waiting to collaborate from inside and outside.”
The Demon Path attacking?
Gu An frowned and asked, “With the increase in the number of disciples in the Supreme Sect over the years, how dare they attack?”
“It is said they have allied with the Demon Clan, aiming to annihilate the Supreme Sect together and then divide the Taicang Dynasty among themselves,” Ye Lan replied gravely.
Allied with the Demon Clan?
Gu An felt perplexed. Did these Demonic Sects not know of the great catastrophe of demons that would arrive in a hundred years?
After sharing more intelligence, Ye Lan hastily departed. Gu An personally escorted her to the Transmission Array Platform, to the Outer City via Mystic Valley, to avoid breaking any rules.
As Gu An was about to return to his room, he suddenly noticed Elder Tian sitting withered under an old tree.
Come to think of it, he hadn’t checked on Elder Tian for quite some time.
This fellow had previously gone to the Heavenly Repair Platform and had increased his Cultivation Level by two levels, but afterward, there had been no activity at all, which was truly strange.
As Gu An thought about it, he sent out a Life Span Detection.
“`