https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-207-Domineering-The-Noble-Sword-Immortal-Fu-Dao-/12575975/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-209-Hostility-from-the-Divine-Soul-True-Lord/12576003/
Chapter 208: Like Pan An
Chapter 208: Like Pan An
Above the ocean, Shen Hun Zhen Jun sat cross-legged on a gigantic gourd, his arms folded across his chest as the sea breeze played with his hair.
His eyes were closed, and his brows furrowed deeply.
The more he thought about it, the more agitated and uneasy he became.
After this battle, the prestige of the Holy Land would surely take a significant hit, and he couldn't help but feel furious. However, he struggled to discern Fu Dao Jian Zun's attitude towards the Seven Star Spirit Realm.
For now, it seemed that Fu Dao Jian Zun held no ill will towards the Seven Star Spirit Realm. Lin Jingxian's death had been of his own doing, and Ji Xuanling had gone to Tai Xuan Gate without incident.
The same was true this time; Fu Dao Jian Zun had only forced him to retreat and hadn't tried to kill him.
He couldn't tell if Fu Dao Jian Zun was wary of the Seven Star Spirit Realm or if he simply didn't have any murderous intentions.
In fact, when Li Mo rushed to attack You Xianjing, Shen Hun Zhen Jun had sensed it, but he deliberately refrained from taking action.
He had let Li's family of scattered immortals and disciples be devoured by Li Mo, firstly to create a terrifying image of Li Mo. The stronger Li Mo seemed, the more prestige he, Shen Hun Zhen Jun, would gain by vanquishing him. Secondly, he wanted to take this opportunity to wipe out the Lin family and thus eliminate the grudge he owed to Fu Dao Jian Zun.
If he succeeded, the Seven Star Spirit Realm would maintain the prestige of the Holy Land while also erasing the enmity with Fu Dao Jian Zun—a perfect outcome.
But things had gone awry.
Fu Dao Jian Zun had acted sooner than expected.
"It seems that Fu Dao Jian Zun is connected to Xuan Tianyi, and he might be a part of the Star Sea Group," Shen Hun Zhen Jun thought, feeling more and more that this was a possibility.
Before Xuan Tianyi joined the Star Sea Group, Tai Xuan Gate didn't have such a powerful cultivator.
He guessed that Xuan Tianyi had learned about the impending Demon Disaster and asked Fu Dao Jian Zun for support in advance.
That had to be it!
It made perfect sense!
Shen Hun Zhen Jun had also discovered that Xuan Tianyi had written a book called "The Sword Sovereign's Myth."
He raised his right hand and took out a token, hesitating for a moment before extending his spiritual sense into it.
Soon, he sensed a spiritual consciousness fluctuation from the token, and he began to relay the recent events and share his speculations with the other party.
After a while, his expression turned ugly, indicating that he had just been reprimanded.
Far away, in the woods of Xuan Gu, Gu An quietly pondered. After Shen Hun Zhen Jun left, he had been tracking him with his spiritual sense to prevent any unforeseen incidents.
When he saw Shen Hun Zhen Jun take out the token, Gu An guessed that he was contacting a stronger member of the Seven Star Spirit Realm.
As Shen Hun Zhen Jun put the token away, Gu An exhaled a turbid breath, and his eyes turned cold.
Seeing the change in his eyes, Gu An hesitated.
The Life-Predicting Enemy technique could only determine if others held hostility towards his true self. And the Nine Extremes Yin-Yang Body could hide his true self while also obscuring causal inference. Unless someone associated Fu Dao Jian Zun with his true self and developed hostile intentions, he wouldn't be able to sense it.
In the case of the Mountain God dwarf, who resembled Gu An's true self and lacked any spiritual technique to conceal himself, Gu An had been able to sense the hostility. As for Hen Tian Lao Zu, he had discovered Gu An's true identity through the sword intent.
After a stick of incense worth of time, Shen Hun Zhen Jun descended onto an island and entered a cave. Sensing the restrictions in place, Gu An decided not to follow any further.
Remembering the location of this island would be enough.
Gu An stood up and walked back into Xuan Gu.
The disciples in the valley were still excitedly chatting about the celestial illusion they had witnessed earlier. Fu Dao Jian Zun's image had already deeply impressed itself upon them, and they, too, believed that the presence confronting Shen Hun Zhen Jun was none other than Fu Dao Jian Zun.
Gu An joined them and engaged in some light-hearted banter.
The impact of this battle was even greater than when Fu Dao Jian Zun had slain the Demon Ancestor. Not only had the world been rid of Li Mo, bringing about true peace, but it also involved the Holy Land.
When Gu An returned to the Third Medicine Valley, the disciples were gathered together, creating a ruckus akin to a bustling market.
Lu Lingjun, who had been waiting for him, pulled him into the attic and excitedly chatted about Fu Dao Jian Zun.
Gu An felt content seeing her idolize Fu Dao Jian Zun so much, but he had to feign excitement and reciprocate her emotional enthusiasm.
For the next month, Tai Xuan Gate buzzed with excitement. Everyone, from the top to the bottom of the sect, was exhilarated, and various messages spread like wildfire within the sect.
Gu An visited the outer city twice, staying for two hours each time, listening to the disciples on the street praise Fu Dao Jian Zun.
It's worth mentioning that during this month, Gu An noticed an increasing number of cultivators arriving by sea, some even at the Immortal Realm level. These individuals were scattered throughout the cultivation world, gathering intelligence on the Seven Star Spirit Realm and Fu Dao Jian Zun.
Gu An suspected that they might be from another major power.
He recalled that Hen Tian Lao Zu's enemy was from the Star Sea Group, and the Star Sea Group was a formidable force on the sea. At least in Hen Tian Lao Zu's eyes, the Star Sea Group was on par with the Seven Star Spirit Realm.
Could the Star Sea Group be planning to make a move against the Seven Star Spirit Realm?
Gu An's mind wandered with these thoughts, but he didn't panic. He continued to live his peaceful farming life, confident that no one knew that he was Fu Dao Jian Zun.
When winter snow began to fall, the Tai Xuan Gate cultivators who had gone to battle Li Mo returned one after another.
Among them were Li Ya and Zhang Bukou.
Sensing their auras approaching Xuan Gu, Gu An waited for them in the valley.
The two of them still rode on the Beihai Heavy Sword, and Zhang Bukou looked at the mountain forest ahead, obscured by the heavy snowfall, his expression tense.
He was returning to the medicine valley where his father had once lived, and he was about to see Master Gu again.
Zhang Bukou grew more and more nervous, while Li Ya instructed him not to tell Master Gu about their injuries and to follow his lead during the conversation.
Zhang Bukou felt helpless but could only nod in agreement.
Li Ya had concealed many things from Master Gu, and now Li Ya wanted him to keep some matters from Master Gu as well—this way, they were even.
Before long, Li Ya brought Zhang Bukou into Xuan Gu.
Their arrival attracted the attention of the menial disciples.
"Brother Li!" Lu Jiujia exclaimed excitedly as he approached, his face lit up with delight.
Among those who had left Xuan Gu, none were more formidable than Li Ya! Although Li Ya had lost decisively to An Hao and failed to make it onto the Golden Roll, his strength had been recognized by Tai Xuan Gate, making him the pride of Xuan Gu.
Li Ya looked at Lu Jiujia, knowing that he was Gu An's junior, and nodded slightly. "I've come to find your senior brother."
Before Lu Jiujia could reply, a voice floated out from the loft:
"Brother Li, Brother Bukou, come up."
Hearing Gu An's voice, Zhang Bukou immediately became agitated.
Li Ya glanced at him and then led him upstairs.
Lu Jiujia stared at Li Ya's proud and confident figure, envy filling his eyes. Li Ya was living the life he had always wanted for himself.
Soon, Li Ya and Zhang Bukou entered the room. Zhang Bukou looked at Gu An with excitement and knelt down abruptly.
Li Ya was startled and quickly shut the door. How could his sworn brother kneel to his junior? If word of this got out, he would never live it down!
"What are you doing? Get up quickly!" Gu An said helplessly as he sat at his desk.
Li Ya immediately pulled Zhang Bukou up and glared at him, feeling that he had lost face because of him.
Zhang Bukou ignored Li Ya and continued to stare adoringly at Gu An.
Gu An raised his hand, gesturing for them to sit, and then stood up to pour them some tea.
"Brother Li, how have you been these years?" Gu An asked casually.
Li Ya immediately launched into a boastful account of the opportunities he had encountered and the progress he had made in his cultivation.
Throughout this, Zhang Bukou wanted to speak but hesitated.
Gu An placed the cups of tea in front of the two visitors, and Zhang Bukou started to stand up to show his respect, but Gu An stopped him with a glance.
Seeing how Gu An could make Zhang Bukou so obedient with just a look, Li Ya, who had been speaking non-stop, suddenly felt a sour taste in his mouth.
"Right, junior brother Gu, when did you descend the mountain? Why didn't you tell me? If I had known you were going to visit Brother Zhang, I definitely would have gone too," Li Ya suddenly asked seriously.
Gu An rolled his eyes at him. "Back then, Bukou was still a minor. Even if I wanted to take you with me, could you have gone? You were too busy trying to prove yourself."
Upon hearing this, Li Ya smiled awkwardly.
His relationship with Zhang Chunqiu was average, and even if he had had the time, he wouldn't have gone if Gu An had asked him to.
Gu An looked at Zhang Bukou and asked, "How has it been, following Brother Li?"
Zhang Bukou opened his mouth to speak, but Li Ya cut in, "How could he possibly get injured following me? These years, the two of us have worked together harmoniously, wanting for nothing and making rapid progress in our cultivation."
Seeing this, Zhang Bukou could only nod.
Then, Li Ya brought up Fu Dao Jian Zun, abruptly changing the topic. Zhang Bukou also admired Fu Dao Jian Zun now, and the mention of this person caused the two of them to fully open up.
Gu An smiled as he watched them, chiming in from time to time.
Did Li Ya really view him as the sect founder?
Gu An couldn't help but find their proud and respectful expressions amusing.
As for Zhang Bukou, although he was excited, he wasn't as exaggerated as Li Ya.
Hearing Gu An also praising Fu Dao Jian Zun, Li Ya felt extremely satisfied.
He really wanted to tell Gu An that Fu Dao Jian Zun was their Li family's ancestor!
But remembering the ancestor's instructions, he could only endure in silence.
Speaking of which, it had been a long time since he had seen the ancestor. What was he up to?
Could he be busy instructing An Hao?
On their way back, Li Ya had communicated with An Hao, and compared to An Hao's progress, his achievements over the years seemed insignificant.
He felt sour again.
The ancestor was probably guiding An Hao because he saw his outstanding talent, while he was only being helped because of their blood relation.
Gu An didn't know what Li Ya was thinking, but he could sense his mood suddenly sinking.
However, he didn't bother to ask and instead took this opportunity to show concern for Zhang Bukou, as Li Ya had been monopolizing the conversation, leaving him rather displeased.
Bullying my junior nephew?
"I'm doing well. Brother Li has treated me very well, truly." Zhang Bukou's words caused Li Ya's blood pressure to soar.
Gu An smiled faintly and asked, "Brother Li?"
"Yes, we are sworn brothers who vowed to live and die together!" Zhang Bukou asserted firmly. He could help Li Ya conceal some matters, but he wouldn't let him take credit for their relationship!
Li Ya's face turned awkward.
His gaze fell on the paper in front of Gu An, and an idea came to mind. Reaching out, he grabbed the paper and asked preemptively, "Junior brother Gu, what are you writing?"
Gu An smiled. "A book. It's called 'Journey to the West'."
"Journey to the West? I've never heard of it."
"I just started writing it."
"Wonderful! Then, brother, I wish for you to become a famous writer like Pan An."
Li Ya glanced at the paper casually and then put it back. His main intention was to change the subject, and he didn't pay much attention to 'Journey to the West'.
Pigsy carrying his wife on a journey?
What nonsense!
This book seemed boring.
(End of Chapter)
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