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Chapter 18: Myriad Gu Secret Art, A 7000-Year Lifespan
Chapter 18: Myriad Gu Secret Art, A 7000-Year Lifespan
Only after the cave entrance was completely closed did Gu An continue along the tunnel.
With his seventh-layer Qi Refining spiritual sense, Gu An walked unhindered as if it were broad daylight, and the tunnel widened as he went, seemingly endless.
Gu An grew even more curious about Cheng Xuandan's master. What kind of extraordinary person could build such an enormous underground tunnel?
The tunnel twisted downward, and after traveling over ten li, Gu An still hadn't reached the end.
He could now confirm that the place beneath the stone slab was connected to this underground tunnel.
A gust of spiritual wind blew from the front of the tunnel, caressing Gu An's face and making him feel refreshed.
The tunnel ahead began to brighten, and he saw that the walls were inlaid with crystals of various colors. Gu An carefully sensed them and was disappointed to find that they weren't spirit stones.
If they were spirit stones, he would have struck it rich!
Gu An thought as he continued forward.
His senses remained taut, and although Cheng Xuandan had treated him very well in the end, the thought of what she had done to Meng Lang made him stay vigilant.
What if Cheng Xuandan was just putting on an act?
After walking for a few more li, Gu An saw that the tunnel ahead was very bright, and he heard the sound of water.
The cave entrance is here!
Gu An cautiously felt his way forward, and as he reached the entrance and looked into the underground space beyond, his eyes widened in surprise.
"This is really something..."
Gu An muttered, his eyes shining with delight.
Following his gaze, there was a vast underground space ahead, several times larger than Xuan Gu. From the ground to the ceiling was a distance of over a hundred zhang, and a giant tree over a hundred meters tall stood in the center. Its trunk was so thick that it would take more than a dozen people to encircle it, and its branches and leaves were not numerous, bearing fruits that resembled lanterns. These fruits were translucent and emanated a blue light.
Below the tree was a lush grass field, beside which flowed an underground river about two zhang wide, right at the edge of the underground space, hugging the mountain wall.
[Cangteng Tree (Seventh-Rank): 245/9999/87600]
An eight-seven-thousand-year lifespan!
Nearly ten thousand years of current lifespan!
Upon seeing this prompt, Gu An felt the urge to uproot the tree, but he restrained himself.
According to Cheng Xuandan, this seventh-rank spirit tree was the key to the underground array, serving as the host for the entire array and allowing other heavenly treasures to grow freely. In turn, the spiritual energy gathered by these heavenly treasures would stimulate the array and nourish the seventh-rank spirit tree.
If he pulled out the Cangteng Tree, Gu An would lose a potential cultivation site with immense potential.
At the same time, this place could serve as his cave abode, as the array set up by Cheng Xuandan's master was quite sophisticated. He could cultivate and break through here without worrying about his activities being noticed.
Gu An scanned the area and noticed dozens of distinctive stone statues embedded in the cave walls in all directions, with special talismans between them, mysterious and enigmatic.
He stepped out of the cave entrance and, as he entered, he glanced at a stele standing beside him, with four characters inscribed on it:
"Eight Scenery Cave Heaven!"
Gu An took a quick look and continued into the cave heaven.
Along the way, he frantically used his lifespan probing technique.
Third-rank and fourth-rank spirit grasses and flowers were everywhere, and the closer they were to the Cangteng Tree, the higher their grade. He was dazzled by the sheer variety.
With such a huge stash, how could Cheng Xuandan not have achieved Qi Refining?
Gu An didn't know whether to sympathize with Cheng Xuandan's poor talent or her inadequate pill refining skills.
Even if her pill refining skills weren't up to par, she could have sold some of the spirit grasses to obtain spirit stones or asked the pill refiners of Tai Xuan Gate to help her refine pills.
In Gu An's opinion, a sect like Tai Xuan Gate shouldn't have any trouble producing a Qi Refining cultivator if they really wanted to.
Of course, there was also the possibility that Cheng Xuandan was afraid of exposing her identity.
Gu An walked to the base of the Cangteng Tree and stood beneath it, feeling even more keenly the ancient and majestic aura of the tree, as well as its vibrant vitality.
He circled the Cangteng Tree and noticed that the Eight Scenery Cave Heaven had more than one entrance—a total of eight.
He suspected that one of the entrances would connect to the stone slab he had discovered earlier.
He had no intention of exploring the other entrances for the time being, and he turned around and took out the Hundred Herbs Record from his storage bag, beginning to compare the herbs one by one.
If they were already mature, he would pluck them right away!
Some of the harvested spirit grasses could be taken to the outer sect to exchange for more high-grade seeds, fostering continuous development!
The thought excited Gu An.
Half an hour flew by, and Gu An had already harvested one hundred and thirty-plus third-rank spirit grasses, reaping nine hundred-plus lifespans, causing his total lifespan to soar past the five-thousand-year mark.
This identity as a demonic way spy was worth it!
Gu An was thrilled. The Eight Scenery Cave Heaven had an abundance of spirit grasses, and he had only harvested a tenth of them so far, and those were the lowest grade.
From now on, this would be his cave abode, his secret base!
Just as Gu An was about to bend down to pluck another spirit grass, he suddenly heard a noise and immediately turned, his gaze falling on a distant cave entrance.
The entrance was pitch-black and looked terrifying.
Gu An sidestepped cautiously.
The grass field wasn't entirely covered in spirit grasses, and there were also ordinary weeds. He suspected that a battle might break out soon, so he had to move to avoid damaging his precious spirit grasses.
Those were his lifelines!
Gu An walked towards the underground river, his eyes fixed on the cave entrance.
Soon, footsteps and heavy panting could be heard from within the cave, as if a wild beast was about to charge out.
A foot stepped out of the darkness, and when Gu An fully saw the intruder's face, he frowned.
It was Meng Lang!
Meng Lang's current appearance was disheveled, with unkempt hair and tattered clothes. He was barefoot, his neck marked with blood streaks, his face scarlet as if it had been scalded, his eyes bloodshot, and his mouth exhaling white mist.
Meng Lang let out a roar as he charged towards Gu An.
His speed was astonishing, quickly closing the distance between them.
Instead of retreating, Gu An moved forward, taking a step towards Meng Lang.
The distance between them rapidly shortened, and grass clippings flew as they moved.
Meng Lang leaped into the air, attempting to tackle Gu An. With a swift sidestep, Gu An dodged and delivered a knee strike to Meng Lang's abdomen, sending him flying back.
Gu An's brows furrowed deeper as he felt a slight numbness in his right leg.
This guy is tough!
Meng Lang felt even harder to deal with than the Greed and Hatred Demon Ghosts, though Gu An hadn't used his full strength or spiritual power. Still, he could make a rough judgment.
The reason he was holding back was that he wanted to see if Meng Lang could be saved.
Shaking his right leg, Gu An lunged at Meng Lang again.
Meng Lang fell to the grass, but he seemed impervious to pain as he immediately climbed to his feet and lunged at Gu An once more.
Gu An positioned his right foot forward, forcibly halting his body's momentum. He then lifted his left leg, infusing it with spiritual power as he executed the Wild Wind Phantom Leg technique.
A gust of wind rose from the ground, and a series of leg shadows landed on Meng Lang, sending him flying back once more. After landing, he rolled for several circles before finally coming to a stop.
His arms and legs were visibly twisted, and though he tried to get up, he fell back down the next second, his forehead slamming into the grass.
Gu An retracted his leg, a curious expression on his face.
Was Cheng Xuandan's gu poison really that powerful?
Just the first stage, and he already had such a formidable physique, feeling no less formidable than the Greed and Hatred Demon Ghosts! How could Cheng Xuandan possibly compare to the powerful cultivator backing the Greed and Hatred Demon Ghosts? Gu An became even more convinced that Cheng Xuandan was hiding something, and it likely had to do with her master.
He walked up to Meng Lang and looked down at his body, twisted and contorted like a demon. Hesitation filled his eyes as he wondered what to do.
"He's already dead anyway. Why should I care about his identity before his death?"
Gu An's eyes flickered, and the grass clippings and dust around his feet began to swirl slowly, indicating that he was channeling his energy.
At that moment!
Gu An noticed a corner of a book peeking out from Meng Lang's bosom. Without hesitation, he reached out with his spiritual power and pulled, causing the book to fly into his hand.
"Myriad Gu Secret Art..."
Gu An murmured the title softly as he flipped through the book. It was a cultivation technique and also a fragment, with a noticeable content discontinuity on the last page.
In addition to the cultivation methods described in the front, the back of the book recorded five types of gu techniques, each accompanied by illustrations. By comparing them, he finally identified the gu technique that Meng Lang had been afflicted with.
Flaming Corpse Gu!
"Once afflicted by the gu, the body breeds fiery qi, and the flesh becomes as hard as deep rock, with infinite strength... Incurable and irreversible, until the body is reduced to ashes..."
After reciting the passage, Gu An looked at Meng Lang with sympathy in his eyes.
How pitiful.
The Myriad Gu Secret Art recorded a method to suppress the Flaming Corpse Gu. All one needed to do was block the seven orifices of the afflicted person, preventing the gu worms from consuming spiritual energy, and they would fall into a state of pseudo-death, unable to move their gu-infested body.
Gu An immediately used mud to seal Meng Lang's seven orifices. Then he stood up and looked towards the cave entrance from which Meng Lang had come.
He did not immediately go to explore; instead, he put away the Myriad Gu Secret Art into his storage bag and turned to continue harvesting herbs.
Even if Cheng Xuandan's master was still alive, the fact that he hadn't made a move against Gu An, a Qi Refining cultivator, meant that he either lacked the intention to kill or was unable to act. Since that was the case, there was no need for Gu An to stir up trouble. The longer the time, the more advantageous it would be for him.
Half a shichen (1 hour) later.
A satisfied Gu An left the Eight Scenery Cave Heaven, his lifespan having reached a staggering 7,000 years! He had harvested all the third-rank spirit grasses he could, and it was now time to plant new seeds, which would take several more years to mature.
After harvesting the third-rank spirit grasses, it would be time to move on to the fourth-rank ones! To prevent damaging the array's ecosystem, Gu An didn't harvest all the mature spirit grasses at once. Instead, he adopted a sustainable approach of harvesting some and planting others, ensuring a continuous and effective development. Moreover, even if the spirit grasses matured, he could leave them be, as the longer they lived, the more lifespan he could extract from them. Of course, there was a critical point to this, and Gu An was still observing to find it.
...
Early the next morning, the newly appointed Master of Xuan Gu, Gu An, stepped out of his room early and urged his junior martial brothers to do the same.
After hearing Xiao Chuan's response, he made his way to Ye Lan's courtyard.
"Junior Martial Sister, it's time to get up." Gu An called out.
"Yes, Senior Martial Brother," Ye Lan replied promptly, even more enthusiastic than her junior martial brothers.
Before long, everyone was standing before Gu An.
With a sweeping glance, Gu An smiled and said, "Congratulations to all of you. From now on, you'll be uncles to my disciples. I plan to recruit more servant disciples, and they will be my direct disciples and your junior martial nephews."
Upon hearing this, everyone's spirits lifted, and they enthusiastically discussed the future, with no mention of Cheng Xuandan. It wasn't that they were heartless, but they had privately agreed not to bring up her name for the next month.
After offering a few words of encouragement, Gu An led his junior martial brothers and sisters in their morning exercises to loosen their muscles and bones. Afterward, he headed to the Eight Scenery Cave Heaven to tend to the flowers and plants.
Life was about to get busy!
(End of Chapter)
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