https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-358-Great-Merit-Imperial-Decree-Immortal-Lord/12937538/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-360-A-Lifespan-of-Ten-Billion-Years-/12937540/
Chapter 359: Taking a Risk
Chapter 359: Taking a Risk
"I am the Island Lord, and who might you be?" Gu An asked with a puzzled expression, while Hu Xiaojian beside him tensed up.
The Imperial Decree Immortal Lord exuded an extraordinary aura, clearly more powerful than Gu An.
The Imperial Decree Immortal Lord surveyed Gu An and said, "Serve me, I need this island."
Hu Xiaojian's mouth dropped open in disbelief. He found this person's arrogance unbearable.
Instinctively, he glanced around, and his face changed dramatically as he realized that everyone around them had stopped, even the flowers and plants on the street had ceased to sway.
It was as if everything had frozen in place.
Gu An's expression turned grim, and he warily looked at the Imperial Decree Immortal Lord.
The Imperial Decree Immortal Lord calmly said, "Just a minor trick to prevent others from knowing about our agreement. Serve me, and I will be your backer. Do you know what the highest realm is?"
Gu An took a deep breath and replied, "Sky Earth Flying Immortal."
The Imperial Decree Immortal Lord said, "Above the Sky Earth Flying Immortal is the Freedom Yuan Immortal Realm, and above that is the Marvelous Technique Spirit Immortal Realm. My cultivation realm is even higher than the Marvelous Technique Spirit Immortal Realm."
Upon hearing this, both Gu An and Hu Xiaojian's faces paled, and Hu Xiaojian's entire body trembled.
The Imperial Decree Immortal Lord fell silent, waiting for Gu An's decision.
Gu An pretended to be reluctant, gritting his teeth as he asked, "Do I have any other choice?"
The Imperial Decree Immortal Lord frowned, a hint of displeasure flashing in his eyes.
[The Imperial Decree Immortal Lord has hostile intentions towards you and intends to kill you. Do you want to perform a Lifespan Probe on him?]
Is he already thinking of killing me? Gu An wondered, feeling that this Dao Void Profound Immortal had a small heart.
I already have a death wish!
The Imperial Decree Immortal Lord spoke in a cold voice, "Of course, you can refuse. But from this day forward, when you encounter an unstoppable tribulation, you will regret today's decision."
As his words fell, he turned and left. The surrounding stillness dissipated, and the cultivators and demons resumed their journey. The flowers, plants, and trees on the street swayed in the wind, and birds flew overhead.
Watching the Imperial Decree Immortal Lord's departing figure, Hu Xiaojian's eyes were filled with fear.
After the Imperial Decree Immortal Lord disappeared into the crowd, Hu Xiaojian finally turned to Gu An and asked, "Island Lord, what should we do?"
Gu An withdrew his gaze and said, "We'll face the challenges as they come. If necessary, we'll take this matter to the main city of the Duanhai Region. Don't worry."
Seeing his composure, Hu Xiaojian's tension and unease began to ease.
Gu An instructed Hu Xiaojian to continue leading the way, as he was more concerned about the medicinal herb seeds than the Imperial Decree Immortal Lord.
With the constant clashes between the Immortal Dynasty and the Holy Court, there would be more and more transcendent beings like the Imperial Decree Immortal Lord, which made Gu An feel a sense of urgency.
He must reach a lifespan of ten billion years and break through to the major realm as soon as possible!
...
In the evening, the Imperial Decree Immortal Lord flew out of Immortal Seeking Island. His flying speed was not fast, and his divine sense enveloped the Duanhai Region, searching for islands similar to Immortal Seeking Island.
In his mind, Immortal Seeking Island already belonged to him, but he needed to make further arrangements.
Thinking of Gu An's refusal, he couldn't help but coldly harrumph.
"Let's see how you deal with the demonic creatures of the Sky Earth Flying Immortal realm." The Imperial Decree Immortal Lord's lips curled up in a smirk.
He envisioned Gu An kneeling on the ground, begging for his help.
Slap! A hand suddenly landed on his shoulder, forcing him to stop. His Dao heart trembled, and his face changed dramatically. Instinctively, he tried to dodge, but he found his internal magical power suppressed by an overwhelmingly domineering force.
Divine Mind True Immortal!
In an instant, the Imperial Decree Immortal Lord guessed the other party's cultivation realm.
His vision blurred, and he found himself falling into a forest, quickly realizing he had moved far away from the Duanhai Region.
He wanted to turn back, but he couldn't manage it no matter what.
Boom! A domineering divine sense invaded his mind, causing his eyes to lose their luster, and his entire body to fall into a daze.
After a while, Gu An, who had reached the extreme of the Dao Void Profound Immortal Realm, annihilated the Imperial Decree Immortal Lord, leaving not even a trace of his soul behind, and his physical body was erased.
[You have successfully taken 98,641 years of lifespan from the Imperial Decree Immortal Lord (Third Level of Dao Void Profound Immortal Realm)]
Not bad, it'll do! Gu An held the Imperial Decree Immortal Lord's storage bracelet and disappeared into the forest.
...
The fall of the Imperial Decree Immortal Lord did not cause any waves. In the following days, Gu An often used his divine sense to observe the world.
He witnessed constant battles erupting in various regions of the world, all between the Immortal Dynasty's immortal spirits and the Holy Court's forces. The Holy Court had more people, but the Immortal Dynasty's immortal spirits were stronger in the same cultivation realm.
As the number of battles increased, the tense atmosphere began to spread, dispelling the joy of the lower-level cultivators of the Ta Cang Continent who had received the blessings of the Yuan Xu Immortal Ancestor.
Over the next five years, the news of the conflict between the Immortal Dynasty and the Holy Court reached the eyes and ears of all living beings in the world. Even the lower-level cultivators on the Ta Cang Continent knew that two colossal forces were fighting, and if their battlefield descended upon the Ta Cang Continent, it would bring about a catastrophe.
Perhaps it was because the Holy Court had drawn the Immortal Dynasty's attention, but the death of the Imperial Decree Immortal Lord never prompted an investigation from the Immortal Dynasty.
Seven years had passed since the fall of the Imperial Decree Immortal Lord.
On this day, Gu An returned from the Outer Gate City Pool. He had just submitted the final volume of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
Over the years, the Romance of the Three Kingdoms had helped him suppress his inner anxiety.
In his opinion, the conflict between the Immortal Dynasty and the Holy Court should not draw attention to him, and he could continue to survive.
But deep down, he worried that the war between the Immortal Dynasty and the Holy Court might escalate, and if these two colossal forces fought with all their might, would it destroy the Heavenly Spirit Great World?
Every time he thought about this, Gu An felt uneasy.
On his way back to the Valley, Gu An made up his mind to continue advancing his cultivation.
It was time to take a risk!
Gu An's Divine Sense swept across the world, searching for sects with abundant medicinal herbs.
He couldn't bring himself to kill living beings with whom he had no grudges, so he decided to help other sects harvest medicinal herbs, only picking and not taking anything, doing good deeds without seeking recognition.
Well, no matter how he boasted, Gu An still felt a bit ashamed in his heart.
A Divine Mind True Immortal like him was doing such a thing.
But for the sake of survival, just this once!
Anyway, no one would know!
Soon, Gu An's gaze fell upon a sect located in the sea.
Zi Dan Palace, a sect dedicated to the art of pill cultivation, cultivated numerous medicinal herbs to support their pill refinement techniques.
Zi Dan Palace's strength wasn't exceptionally powerful, but their pill refinement skills ensured the protection of surrounding sects.
Not only the sects around Zi Dan Palace, but across the entire world, except for the Immortal Dynasty and the Holy Court, Gu An could go wherever he wanted without being discovered.
After returning to the Valley, Gu An didn't act immediately but waited until nightfall.
When darkness fell, Gu An first went to the Profound Valley and then quietly departed.
With just one step, he directly entered Zi Dan Palace.
Zi Dan Palace was a major sect in the Duanhai Region, located deep in the ocean on a small continent with numerous towering peaks, the tallest of which exceeded 20,000 zhang.
Under the cover of night, lights flickered across the various peaks of Zi Dan Palace, and Gu An landed in a forest, his Divine Sense scanning the area. At that moment, there were at least four hundred thousand Zi Dan Palace disciples refining pills.
He took a step towards the nearest medicinal garden.
At the edge of the garden, in front of a building, an elderly cultivator sat before an alchemy cauldron, holding a fan and gently waving it to control the flames beneath the cauldron. His eyes were closed.
Gu An walked right past him, and the cultivator didn't sense Gu An's presence.
Even if he opened his eyes, he wouldn't be able to see Gu An.
This was the skill of a Freedom Primordial Immortal, and even a Mystic Technique Spirit Immortal wouldn't be able to see him. To perceive Gu An, one's cultivation would have to reach at least the Dao Void Profound Immortal Realm.
He entered the garden and didn't randomly pick the herbs but only harvested those that were nearly mature.
After a while, Gu An headed towards the next medicinal garden, not taking a single herb with him but only helping to harvest the mature ones.
Zi Dan Palace was vast, and to avoid causing a disturbance, Gu An moved slowly, which also meant his harvesting speed wasn't particularly fast.
He wasn't in a hurry, so he took his time, visiting once every night.
After fifteen days, Gu An had harvested all the mature medicinal herbs in Zi Dan Palace, gaining a total of 150 million years of lifespan in one go.
He had harvested so many herbs that Zi Dan Palace soon noticed the anomaly, and for a while, the entire sect was filled with anxiety, even inviting other sects to come and provide support.
None of this concerned Gu An.
He set his sights on another sect, one located far from the Duanhai Region.
On the first night, he had only been harvesting for an hour when someone noticed the anomaly, quickly alerting the entire sect, causing all the disciples to start patrolling. Gu An had no choice but to retreat.
Even if he was discovered, Gu An could forcefully harvest the herbs, but he was afraid of causing too much trouble.
Powerful cultivators could deduce the past of a sect, and Gu An didn't want to attract the attention of existences like the Black Profound Emperor or the Annihilation Divine Emperor.
The Heavenly Spirit Great World seemed to be under the control of the Holy Court, but who could guarantee that there weren't beings hiding within the Great World who surpassed the Ninth Heaven of Immortal Dao?
It was always better to be cautious; one had only one life, and if one encountered an invincible enemy, even a large number of lifespan digits would be meaningless.
That night.
Amidst the mountains, a large lake shimmered with rippling waves. Upon closer inspection, numerous spiritual flowers floated on the lake's surface. Gu An descended from the sky and began harvesting these spiritual flowers.
He transported the harvested flowers to the lakeside.
As he finished, just as he was about to fly away, he suddenly spotted a figure rushing out from the forest.
It was a girl in yellow robes, and she ran all the way to the lakeside. When she saw the pile of spiritual flowers, she was stunned as if struck by lightning.
She froze for several breaths before rushing over to inspect them, relieved to see that the spiritual energy of the flowers hadn't dissipated.
She turned to look around but couldn't find the culprit. She crouched down and buried her head in her arms.
Gu An was taken aback by what he saw. Was she...
Crying?
Gu An sent a Lifespan Probe towards the girl in yellow.
【Zhu Xi (Foundation Establishment Stage, 3rd Layer): 17/350/9999】
Ninety-nine hundred and ninety-nine years of lifespan!
When Gu An had visited other sects before, he had sent Lifespan Probes to the cultivators along the way, and the highest lifespan he had encountered below the Nirvana Realm was only 8,000 years.
Gu An became interested in Zhu Xi and didn't leave but decided to observe her.
Zhu Xi crouched for a long time before finally standing up. Gu An thought she would go and inform her master or senior sect members.
However...
Under Gu An's gaze, Zhu Xi began to channel her cultivation, directly absorbing the spiritual energy from the harvested flowers.
"Little Flowers, although I don't know who picked you, I will avenge you..." Zhu Xi muttered to herself.
(End of Chapter)
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