If I Become An Immortal, The Celestial Officials Invite Me To Tend Their Horses Chapter 23: The Soul-Stirring Bell, The Yin-Yang Manual - Novel Cool

Chapter 23: The Soul-Stirring Bell, The Yin-Yang Manual

Chapter 23: The Soul-Stirring Bell, The Yin-Yang Manual

In the mountains, Gu An reluctantly demonstrated a clumsy set of Li's Seven Swords techniques to Li Ya, realizing that pretending to be inept was more challenging than feigning proficiency.

Facing Gu An's stiff and awkward swordplay, Li Ya criticized him for quite some time before patiently beginning to instruct him in swordplay.

From his sword techniques, Gu An could discern that Li Ya had been cultivating the Astonishing Nine Swords, and he could be considered a genius. At the very least, his talent in swordsmanship far surpassed his own.

The second day arrived, and Li Ya was still intent on practicing the sword with Gu An.

Gu An couldn't take it anymore!

"Brother Li, I have no talent for swordsmanship. Let's forget about it. My life is only a few decades long, and if I spend it all on arduous sword training, won't I be wasting it? Instead of practicing the sword, I'd rather tend to my flowers." Gu An said helplessly, secretly stimulating the dragon vigor within his body, causing his eyes to redden.

Li Ya, sword in hand, felt his heart lurch at this sight.

What was he doing?

Was he trying to repay Gu An in a way that he would appreciate?

Wasn't this also a form of hurt? Li Ya couldn't help but think back to his childhood when his imperial father forced him to study with his royal brothers. But no matter how hard he tried, he could never master the things they excelled at.

He sighed, walked up to Gu An, patted him on the shoulder, and said, "Brother Gu, it was thoughtless of me. I apologize."

Gu An forced a smile and replied, "It's alright. Brother Li is also considering my well-being. It's just that I'm unworthy and lack talent."

The more Gu An said such things, the more guilty Li Ya felt.

The two sat down and began chatting about their first year in the valley, lightening the tense atmosphere surrounding their sword practice.

In the following days, Li Ya no longer bothered Gu An about sword practice, but he still spent an hour each day teaching Oikawa and the others.

For Oikawa and the others, whose dreams had not yet been extinguished, the opportunity to learn the sword from an outer disciple was invaluable.

Five days later, Li Ya prepared to leave.

Gu An, along with his junior brothers and sisters, saw Li Ya off at the valley entrance. Oikawa and the others were reluctant to part, as they had learned so much from Li Ya.

"Brother Li, this will always be your home. Come back and visit often," Gu An said, his face filled with reluctance to part.

Home?

Li Ya's heart stirred, but he smiled lightly and replied, "Mhm, I'll be back."

With that, he turned and left. His black robe billowed in the mountain forest like a black flame, burning fiercely, unaffected by the chill of the autumn wind.

Gu An felt that he was igniting a fighting spirit, perhaps fueled by his recent injury.

Only when Li Ya had disappeared deep into the mountains did Gu An withdraw his gaze. He turned to his junior brothers and sisters and smiled, "Cultivate diligently and go find Brother Li in the outer sect as soon as possible. Let's bring glory to Xuan Valley."

Lu Jiujia immediately voiced his lofty ambitions, vowing to enter the outer sect.

Oikawa echoed his sentiment, but with noticeably less conviction.

Ye Lan, on the other hand, seemed deep in thought, her mind elsewhere.

Wu Xin spoke up, "I won't go to the outer sect. I want to stay with Big Brother for the rest of my life!"

Upon hearing this, everyone, including Gu An, looked at him in surprise.

"This child..."

Gu An's heart was touched, and he wondered if he had misunderstood Wu Xin.

In recent days, Wu Xin had been well-behaved, no longer wandering around in the middle of the night to touch things, and nothing had gone missing from Xuan Valley. Thus, Gu An temporarily set aside his suspicions about Wu Xin's ill intentions.

From then on, he decided to assign more chores to Wu Xin.

Ye Lan felt regretful that Wu Xin had spoken those words first, as she had similar thoughts.

At the same time, she realized that perhaps in her heart, her master was important, but not as important as her pursuit of immortality and longevity.

Lu Jiujia couldn't help but ridicule Wu Xin for being a sycophant. Soon, Oikawa, Ye Lan, and Wu Xin were bickering again.

As Gu An led them back to the valley, his thoughts wandered underground.

Li Ya had already left, and it was time to prepare to deal with the trouble beneath them.

...

In the depths of the night, at Bajing Cave Heaven.

Gu An, holding the sheath of the Sky Lodging Sword, stood before Meng Lang, whose seven orifices were still sealed with soil. Meng Lang lay motionless on the grass.

"The grass around here has been disturbed. Someone has definitely been here," Gu An said shrewdly, noticing subtle changes in the grass around Meng Lang. It would be difficult for someone of ordinary cultivation to detect such minute details, and he had only noticed because he had paid close attention when he left last time.

He squeezed the hilt of the Sky Lodging Sword in his hand and then stepped towards the cave entrance from which Meng Lang had originally fled.

Soon, he disappeared into the darkness.

This cave passage was not as brightly lit by crystal stones as the previous one, and it was quite dim. However, for someone at the Yuan Ying realm, it made no difference.

The cold spiritual wind blew through the cave, rustling Gu An's robes. His spiritual sense had already reached the end of the cave.

There was a spacious cave chamber ahead, not as large as the main cave chamber of Bajing Cave Heaven, but still sizable. Several coffins stood within, and a bluish-green crystal stone the size of a water vat was embedded in the ceiling, casting an eerie light on the coffins, making them seem all the more terrifying.

Apart from the coffins, there was nothing else in the room.

Gu An's spiritual sense immediately locked onto one of the coffins, within which lay a living person. The faint trace of vitality was something that a Yuan Ying realm cultivator's spiritual sense could not miss.

Gu An did not sense any danger from this faint vitality, but he remained vigilant.

He continued forward, walking for a long time before finally reaching the end of the cave passage.

He stood at the entrance, cautiously poking his head in, and asked in a cautious tone, "Is anyone here?"

No one answered, as if the cave chamber were empty.

Gu An picked up a stone from the ground and threw it inside. Clink! The stone struck one of the coffins, but there was no reaction from within. However, he seemed startled, his eyes widening in fear.

Unconsciously, Gu An took a step back, feigning a frightened expression.

Why was there still no response?

If he continued acting, it would become awkward!

Gu An felt anxious. The reason he was putting on this act was to ascertain the attitude of the mysterious being. After all, they hadn't harmed him before, and he didn't want to mistakenly kill a good person.

At the very least, he wanted to be able to justify his actions to himself!

Gu An gritted his teeth, suddenly drew his sword, and charged into the cave room. He swung his sword wildly, and with a 'ka' sound, the Sky Lodging Sword cleaved into a coffin, getting stuck in the wood. He pulled forcefully, and due to inertia, his body staggered back two steps.

"Pu xia—"

A light laughter rang out, sounding particularly grating in the cave room.

Gu An's goose bumps rose as he heard the voice of a woman, which, at first listen, resembled that of a female ghost.

Holding the Sky Lodging Sword, he nervously scanned his surroundings, his body constantly turning as if expecting a demon or monster to rush out from the sides.

"Boy, are you Cheng Xuandan's disciple?"

The mysterious female voice spoke again, her alluring tone leaving much to the imagination.

Gu An quickly replied, "Yes, Senior. Cheng Xuandan is my master. May I ask who you are and why you are here?"

"Those who can be here are naturally your master's master, and Cheng Xuandan is my disciple. The fact that you were able to enter here means that his time has come, hasn't it?" The mysterious voice contained a trace of sigh and emotion.

"So it's Senior Master. I've seen Senior Master. My master's time has indeed come. He said he wanted to emulate you and find a place unknown to others to welcome the end of his life," Gu An replied.

The cave room fell silent.

Gu An remained vigilant, thinking that if the other party were to make a move against him, he wouldn't hesitate to strike back, regardless of their identity as his senior master.

The Sky Lodging Sword in his hand had yet to taste blood!

After a long while, just as Gu An was about to speak again, the other party's voice sounded, "Did Cheng Xuandan tell you my identity?"

Gu An answered in a low voice, "Master told me everything. You're from the Qianqiu Pavilion, and he also asked me to always be prepared to assist anyone from the Qianqiu Pavilion..."

"Looking at you, you seem timid and cowardly, and you were very cautious when you came in. You didn't come here voluntarily, did you? It was only after your master passed on the position of Valley Master to you that you learned about all this?" The mysterious voice asked playfully.

Gu An sighed, his actions speaking for themselves.

This time, he wasn't acting; he truly felt helpless.

"Since you have already taken him as your master, you are naturally my grand-disciple. Guard this place for me for another ten years. After ten years, I will be able to leave Tai Xuan Gate and will no longer bring you trouble."

Hearing this, Gu An asked, "May I ask for Senior Master's name?"

"My surname is Jiang, and my name is Qiong. As for my title in the cultivation world, it's better left unmentioned."

Jiang Qiong?

It was a nice-sounding name, but who knew how long she had lived.

As Gu An was thinking about this, one of the coffins in front of him suddenly opened, scaring him into raising his sword.

Two objects flew out of the coffin and landed in front of him.

He looked down and saw a small black bell and a secret manual.

"This is my gift to my grand-disciple. The Soul-Stirring Bell can control the myriad Gu worms of the Ten Thousand Gu Xuan Gong. With just one ring, all the corpse Gu in this cave will obey your commands."

"As for the manual, it's my cultivation method, the Yin-Yang Manual. Inside, there are methods to refine the Soul-Stirring Bell, something that even your master couldn't learn."

Jiang Qiong's voice sounded, carrying a hint of fatigue.

Gu An quickly bowed to express his gratitude. He couldn't help but ask, "Grand-disciple has mediocre talent. Why is Senior Master treating grand-disciple so well?"

"Hehe, mediocre talent? Boy, although I don't know what kind of wondrous art you're cultivating, your actual cultivation is definitely not just at the fourth layer of the Qi Refining Realm. You must have already built your foundation, right? To be able to build a foundation at such a young age, you're a genius. You're able to suppress your arrogance and devote yourself to menial tasks as an outer disciple, although I don't know what burdens you carry. At the very least, it seems that you're very opposed to Tai Xuan Gate."

"Your talent meets my expectations, and your style of conduct is to my liking. Cultivate well, and I will impart spells to you later. When the time comes for you to inherit my legacy, I will also introduce you to the Qianqiu Pavilion as my true disciple."

Jiang Qiong's voice returned to its previous alluring tone, causing Gu An's expression to change. He felt as if he had been seen through and couldn't help but feel embarrassed.

Gu An took a deep breath and said, "Thank you, Senior Master. If you have any instructions for me, please let me know at any time."

After saying this, he picked up the Soul-Stirring Bell and the Yin-Yang Manual and turned to leave.

The cave room fell silent, with no more sounds from Jiang Qiong, while Gu An quickly returned to Bajing Cave Heaven.

He sat under a tree and began to flip through the Yin-Yang Manual.

He pondered whether Jiang Qiong had any malicious intentions.

However, ten years wasn't too long to wait. Not only had he reached the Yuan Ying realm, but he also possessed the Tai Cang Startling God Sword.

It was clear that Jiang Qiong wasn't a good person. She was merely wary of Gu An's foundation-building realm strength. In just ten short years, how could her wariness towards a foundation-stage cultivator turn into the ability to kill a Yuan Ying realm cultivator with a flip of her hand?

She couldn't have just been hiding here. According to Cheng Xuandan, she had been dead for seventy years.

During these ten years, he would find a way to extract more spells and manuals from her. If she left honestly after ten years, then Gu An wouldn't need to consider killing his master's master.

However, if she had malicious intentions, then Gu An would have no choice but to let the Sky Lodging Sword taste blood.

...

What should I eat for lunch?

(End of Chapter)

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