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Chapter 110: Xuantian Laozu, the Heavenly Severing Divine Axe
Chapter 110: Xuantian Laozu, the Heavenly Severing Divine Axe
Ever since Lu Xian was dealt with by Gu An, he had become completely obedient. Whenever Gu An returned to Tianya Valley, Lu Xian would be in seclusion, cultivating. Luo Hun mentioned that he wanted to break through to the Spirit Creation Realm as soon as possible.
Gu An inquired about the reason, to which Luo Hun expressed his uncertainty. This, however, eased Gu An's worries, as while Lu Xian was eccentric, he was tight-lipped.
And so, the matter was put to rest.
Gu An studied the map given to him by Lu Xian. As it was too far from the Great Cang Imperial Court, he could only temporarily set it aside.
What if there were Great Vehicle Realm cultivators there?
It was too risky!
Currently, the income from longevity from the Trifecta Medicine Valley was considerable. Even without improvement, his lifespan would increase rapidly.
In the blink of an eye, two months passed.
The landscape of Xuangu Valley was covered in the withered hues of autumn. On this day, nearing noon, Ye Lan came to visit her.
It had been almost a year since they last saw each other, and Ye Lan missed Gu An dearly. As soon as she entered the house, she embraced him.
"Junior Sister!"
Gu An's voice carried a hint of reproach.
Ye Lan released him, giggling. "What's wrong with a hug? It's the proper etiquette for long-separated junior and senior siblings. Brother, don't read too much into it. I'm not thinking about romance right now; I just want to focus on cultivation."
Gu An gave her a sideways glance before turning to prepare tea for her.
Unbeknownst to Ye Lan, Gu An had subconsciously sent a lifespan probe toward her, and the results weighed heavily on his mind.
Ye Lan (Foundation Establishment, 5th Layer): 56/130/130
Normally, a cultivator at the Foundation Establishment Realm would have a lifespan exceeding two hundred years. However, Ye Lan's foundation was built upon the accumulation of pills crafted by Gu An, and thus, it had already peaked.
What would happen when Ye Lan reached one hundred and thirty years of age? Would she face the Five Declines of Man, perishing abruptly, or would she encounter a mental demon, her vital energy attacking her heart?
Gu An sighed inwardly and decided to impart the Dao Derivation Art to Ye Lan. With seventy-four years remaining, there might still be a chance for success.
The Dao Derivation Art was a process of accumulating spiritual power, and Gu An had a bold idea.
What would happen if one consumed Spirit Qi Pills relentlessly while cultivating the Dao Derivation Art?
Oblivious to her senior brother's thoughts, Ye Lan began recounting her experiences during her time away.
The Enforcement Hall's mission was to protect Prince Li Dai, and their enemy was the Ephemeral Flower Sect. Over the past half a year, she had faced seven or eight battles, each time narrowly escaping unscathed.
Gu An was already aware of this, as he would occasionally use his spiritual sense to check on her. The disciples of the Enforcement Hall were mostly used as informants, while the actual combat was left to several Nascent Soul Realm cultivators.
"Senior Brother, the reason we were able to return safely was due to a Transcendent Realm grand cultivator protecting the prince," Ye Lan excitedly explained. "Above the Nascent Soul Realm is the Spirit Creation Realm, and above that is the Transcendent Realm. That senior was incredibly powerful. With just a palm strike, he killed a Spirit Creation Realm demonic cultivator from the Ephemeral Flower Sect. At that moment, we all thought we were doomed, but who would have thought that the prince had such a formidable expert backing him? It's said that this person isn't a cultivator of the Great Xuan Gate."
Gu An raised an eyebrow, feigning astonishment. "So powerful? How old must they be?"
"Rumor has it that they're already nine hundred years old," Ye Lan replied, carefully observing Gu An's expression as she spoke.
She had once suspected that Gu An was the same person as the Sword Sovereign of Supporting the Dao. During the Outer Sect disturbance, her White Spirit Sword had sensed the presence of the Green Rainbow Sword, and it was the Green Rainbow Sword that had inscribed the characters for 'righteous path' on the Supplementary Heaven Platform!
However, after further investigation, she learned that the Sword Sovereign of Supporting the Dao was at least a cultivator beyond the Spirit Creation Realm, which caused her to hesitate once more.
Having grown up with Gu An, she knew his age.
A Transcendent Realm cultivator in their mere dozens of years?
That was unheard of in the cultivation world!
Furthermore, since Gu An persistently denied being the Sword Sovereign of Supporting the Dao, Ye Lan suspected that he might be the Sword Sovereign's disciple.
Regardless of the situation, Ye Lan felt unworthy of her senior brother, and so she rarely expressed her feelings, choosing instead to focus more on her cultivation.
Once her cultivation improved, and if her senior brother wished to find a companion, then that would be her opportunity!
"Junior Sister, the cultivators you encounter are becoming increasingly powerful, but your cultivation progress seems rather slow," Gu An remarked with a sigh. "Why don't you cultivate Senior Brother's martial arts?"
"What martial art?" Ye Lan asked curiously.
The Hurricane Absolute Shadow Leg that Gu An had taught her was already her most powerful combat technique, so she did not take her senior brother's offer lightly.
Perhaps this martial art was passed down by the Sword Sovereign of Supporting the Dao!
Gu An began to introduce the Dao Derivation Art, and Ye Lan listened intently.
After he finished explaining, Ye Lan couldn't help but ask, "Senior Brother, with all the medicinal herbs you possess, why hasn't your cultivation progressed much? Could it be because of the Dao Derivation Art?"
Gu An nodded. "This is an unparalleled supreme art, and I will only impart it to you. You must not reveal it to anyone else."
Ye Lan's heart sweetened at his words. Hesitating, she asked, "If I cultivate the Dao Derivation Art, will it burden you?"
She understood that Gu An would undoubtedly continue providing her with pills to aid her cultivation, and doing so would inevitably hinder his own progress.
Gu An laughed. "If you're worried, then don't practice it. Wait until your lifespan is nearing its end, while I, your senior brother, will live on for a few more centuries. By then, I'll take on several more junior sisters and enjoy the blessings of a harem."
"No way! I want to cultivate it!" Ye Lan insisted, her eyes widening.
Without further ado, Gu An retrieved the already-written Dao Derivation Art and handed it to her.
After receiving the manual, Ye Lan took out a black wooden box from her storage bag. "This is a gift I prepared for you. I originally intended to give it to you after we finished chatting, but I didn't expect you to give me a martial art first, which makes my gift seem less thoughtful."
Gu An accepted the black wooden box, a smile playing on his lips. "Junior Sister, what are you saying? Over the years, you've given me so many good things. You're definitely the kindest person to me."
The Sixth-Rank Human-Faced Tree that she had given him came to mind, along with the various medicinal herbs she brought on each visit.
Gu An had also refused Ye Lan's gifts in the past, but she had persuaded him by citing the debt of gratitude for his pill-bestowing grace. To refuse again would make him seem heartless, so now they exchanged gifts, both happy with the arrangement.
Hearing Gu An's words, Ye Lan smiled and introduced the gift, "This is the Dark Vine. Its rank should be fifth-grade, but there is only a small section of it. It needs to be planted for a decade or two before it can fully recover. If cultivated, it can guard a house and block spiritual sense probes."
Gu An opened the box and saw a piece of charcoal-like substance, its vitality faint.
He wasn't disappointed. It was already impressive for Ye Lan's cultivation level to obtain such a remnant. The Human-Faced Tree she had given him before was just a root, but now it was regaining its vitality.
Subsequently, Ye Lan continued to recount the news she had heard from the cultivation world during her absence.
Gu An listened intently, engrossed in her stories.
Recently, a group of mysterious cultivators, known as the Nine Abyss Thirteen Fierce, had appeared in the cultivation world. They forcefully invaded the Manyin Sect, seizing their treasured artifact, and left triumphantly. Their strength shocked the entire cultivation community.
In addition, there was another significant event—the ancient Haozong had nurtured a sacred beast, the Haolong, and the entire sect's morale was boosted. States across the land were abuzz with talk of the ancient Haozong's impending rise.
That sacred beast was the Haolong that Gu An had raised. Previously, he had probed the ancient Haozong and found that the Haolong was now living a happy life, being doted on by the sect. Thus, he had no worries about it.
From Ye Lan's accounts, the cultivation world seemed relatively peaceful, with the Flower Contemplation Sect keeping a low profile and no longer engaging in relentless conflict with the Demon Path. However, Gu An knew that this was merely the calm before the storm.
Once the main sect of the Flower Contemplation Sect arrived with their powerful cultivators, the cultivation world would be plunged into chaos and bloodshed once more!
...
In the depths of the night, at the Beihaishan Mountains, the spiritual energy began to sink, once again startling all living beings.
Gu An was sitting in a cross-legged position within a barrier, enjoying the enhancement of his cultivation. He had spent three thousand years of his lifespan to advance to the ninth layer of the Great Vehicle Realm.
After a short while, he invested another fifty thousand years of his lifespan into his pill-refining technique.
Initially, he had wanted to improve his pill-refining technique on his own, but later he realized that pill refining also required talent.
Investing fifty thousand years of his lifespan, his pill-refining technique advanced to the Grand Purity Pill Dao, and his understanding of pill refining improved significantly.
Vast memories flooded his mind, and he immersed himself in them.
The pill-refining technique he cultivated was the fundamental technique of the Tai Xuan Gate. Pill-refining techniques varied among different sects, leading to the evolution of distinct Pill Daos.
The Grand Purity Pill Dao also encompassed a magical technique called the Grand Purity True Fire, which could aid him in refining better pills and also be used for combat.
Those fifty thousand years of lifespan were well spent!
When Gu An awoke, he raised his right hand, and a green flame ignited on his fingers, a smile curving his lips.
He then glanced at his attribute panel and saw that he still had four hundred and ninety thousand years of lifespan remaining—a veritable fortune!
He deactivated the lifespan barrier and stood up, preparing to leave.
Suddenly, his gaze shifted to the nearby mountain wall.
Due to the disturbance caused by the sinking spiritual energy, the grass in front of the mountain wall was bent and askew. Upon closer inspection, there was a crack in the wall, and strands of spiritual energy were leaking out. This spiritual energy was unique and not of the ordinary five elements.
Without hesitation, he walked over and approached the mountain wall, extending his spiritual sense into the crack.
Soon, his spiritual sense encountered a restriction.
It would be extremely difficult for anyone below the Crossing Void Realm to break through this restriction.
Gu An immediately understood the situation and did not forcefully break the restriction. Instead, he employed the Nine Extremes Yin-Yang Body, transforming into a demonic shadow, and then stepped on the Infinite Free Step, crossing into the mountain with a single stride.
Passing through layer after layer of restrictions, he arrived in a vast underground space.
This space was even larger than the Eight Scenery Grotto-heaven. At its center was an underground lake, beside which lay a three-hundred-zhang-long and hundred-zhang-wide grassy area, along with a row of ancient trees.
Under one of the trees stood a dilapidated wooden house.
His spiritual sense did not detect any cultivators or demons, but the underground lake teemed with fish, including a two-zhang-long giant fish that seemed to be a spiritual beast.
As Gu An walked forward, he passed by a stone tablet with four large characters inscribed on it.
Xuantian Cave Mansion!
The spiritual energy here was abundant, even richer than that in the Eight Scenery Grotto-heaven. He sent out a lifespan probe toward the row of large trees.
They were all sixth-grade spirit trees, named Qingxin Trees.
Excellent!
Gu An was delighted. If no one lived here, this could be his fourth medicine valley.
The Xuan Valley, the Third Medicine Valley, and the Tianya Valley were all within the sight of others. Gu An kept his treasures in the Eight Scenery Grotto-heaven, but that place was limited in size.
Gu An made his way to the wooden house. There was a stone table covered in moss, and on it rested two books.
One was an unnamed book, and the other was a secret manual.
Heaven Severing Divine Axe!
What a domineering name!
Gu An picked up the unnamed book and started browsing through it.
It was a will left by the master of the Xuantian Cave Mansion.
The master was named Xuantian Laozu, and he had actually reached the Xuan Heart Realm! Gu An continued reading, his brows furrowing slightly.
Xuantian Laozu turned out to be a Grand Elder of the Tai Xuan Gate. After leaving the sect, he established the Xuantian Cave Mansion, intending to cultivate and gain enlightenment here. However, he ended up going down the wrong path and, facing death, chose to leave the cave mansion and head to the land of demons beyond the Nine Empires.
The Heaven Severing Divine Axe was Xuantian Laozu's most powerful technique, inherited from a sacred land. It was one of the nine great legacies of the sacred land!
(End of Chapter)
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