Chapter 382: Variables, Subtle Spirit Palace
Chapter 382: Variables, Subtle Spirit Palace
Since Shen Zhen's departure, Gu An had noticed that Ji Xiaoyu had been ignoring him whenever they met, but he pretended not to notice.
In the days that followed, rumors began to spread within the Medicine Valley that the Master and Senior Ji were having emotional conflicts.
This prompted An Xian to ask about it when she accompanied Gu An to Human World Peak.
"Stop the gossip, I don't have any conflicts with her."
Gu An glared at An Xian, annoyed.
An Xian giggled and didn't press further. Instead, she walked to the side and began cultivating.
At Human World Peak, she didn't need to hide her cultivation, so she cherished the opportunity to train there.
Gu An descended the mountain alone and wandered along the mountain paths.
Due to the previous incident of unauthorized herb collection, Gu An deliberately slowed down his harvesting at Human World Peak. Even so, with the increasing yield from Beyond World Cavern, he could already seize nearly four million years of lifespan each year.
His total lifespan had surpassed four hundred million years!
Maintaining this pace, Gu An could also become stronger quickly.
Therefore, he tried to minimize taking on disciples and intervening, to avoid influencing the grand trend of the Heavenly Spirit Great World.
As Gu An walked along the mountain path, his divine sense turned towards Zhu Xi.
Zhu Xi, being of the lowest status, resided at the lowest peak, Sea Peak. Human World Peak had specially designated a section of the sea for disciples below the Immortal Dao Realm. Only upon reaching the Nirvana Realm could one pay respects to a Divine Peak like Firmament Peak.
Over the years, Zhu Xi had become a part of Human World Peak, her presence unremarkable. No one knew of her talent, and her days were much like her previous life at Moonfall Sacred Lake.
She had recently formed her Nascent Soul, and within Human World Peak, she was equivalent to a menial disciple, tending to the medicine garden for others, much like Gu An.
Gu An could sense the vast spiritual power within her, and her Primordial Swallow Essence Body was like a black hole, making it difficult for even Freedom Immortals to see through her constitution.
Once she fully unleashed her power, her cultivation would skyrocket.
In terms of constitution, she was undoubtedly the strongest Gu An had ever seen in this era, surpassing even ancient treasure bodies.
At that moment, Zhu Xi was planting medicinal herbs in the garden, and even though she was alone, she remained cautious, appearing no different from an ordinary disciple.
Gu An observed her for a while before withdrawing his gaze, feeling it was unnecessary.
He made some calculations and concluded that Zhu Xi would eventually clash with Human World Peak. When her theft of medicinal herbs was exposed, it would lead to conflicts with the Human World Peak cultivators, and she might even be expelled and hunted down.
But that time was still far away.
Gu An had no intention of stopping it. As he looked around, he realized that many disciples' fates were destined to oppose Human World Peak. This was because Human World Peak had too many disciples, and it was impossible for everyone to stay there from start to finish. Even if he intervened early on, as long as Human World Peak continued to recruit disciples, such troubles would persist.
The more Gu An studied fate and destiny, the more he felt the terror of fate.
Knowing and having the ability to change fate wasn't necessarily a good thing, because once changed, fate would introduce variables, and these variables were beyond the changer's predictions. Only by understanding the causes could one speculate on the outcomes; without the beginning, it was impossible to calculate the end.
During the subsequent herb collection, Gu An continuously observed the causes and effects of the Firmament Peak cultivators, deepening his understanding of the Path of Cause and Effect.
Nightfall arrived.
Gu An didn't return to Taixuan Sect but remained on Firmament Peak.
He lay in a chair, the moon above his head, a book in his hands, feeling utterly content.
An Xian was still cultivating nearby, her body surrounded by sparkling starlight, exuding an ethereal beauty as if she might ascend to immortality at any moment.
The courtyard echoed with the sounds of insects, adding a touch of vitality to the surroundings.
Suddenly, Gu An looked up and saw a meteor streaking across the night sky at incredible speed.
Usually, such meteors signified the arrival of Heaven-Earth Flying Immortals, but this time was different. Gu An could sense that the visitor's cultivation far surpassed that of Heaven-Earth Flying Immortals; it was likely a Divine Mind True Immortal.
Was the Immortal Dynasty and the Holy Court about to go to war again?
Gu An wondered, feeling that the momentum of these two powers was too immense, capable of isolating cause and effect calculations, at least beyond his current abilities.
He wished for peace in the world and hoped they would wait a thousand or even ten thousand years before fighting, as by then, he would be better prepared to face all calamities.
"It's time to establish a new Medicine Valley."
Gu An thought to himself, an idea he had been considering for a while.
He chose the location of the next Medicine Valley at the bottom of the sea.
You can't put all your eggs in one basket.
As the moon set and the sun rose the next day, Gu An sent An Xian back and went alone to Immortal Seeking Island. He utilized his Island Master privileges to exchange a portion of the profits for a large number of medicinal herb seeds.
He tasked Xun Hanfeng with this task.
Xun Hanfeng didn't question why Gu An needed so many medicinal herbs. In the cultivation world, the demand for medicinal herbs was almost as high as for spirit stones, and no one would complain about having too few herbs. The higher one's cultivation, the greater the need for medicinal herbs, and Xun Hanfeng could only admire Gu An's capabilities.
It wasn't until evening that Xun Hanfeng handed over an advanced storage bag filled with medicinal herbs to Gu An.
Nightfall arrived once more, and Gu An headed to the largest sea area in the Heavenly Spirit Great World. Under the dark sky, the ocean roiled with suppressed energy.
The demonic energy here was extremely dense, and the presence of human cultivators was scarce.
Gu An flew into the sea, which was incredibly deep, with the deepest point over a hundred thousand miles below the surface. Within its depths lurked terrifying demonic creatures comparable to Heaven-Earth Flying Immortals, and even traces of Freedom Primordial Immortals could be sensed.
Because the Heavenly Spirit Great World was controlled by the human race, powerful demonic creatures had no choice but to band together. They formed their own world within this ocean, isolated from the rest of the world.
As Gu An descended, the surroundings became pitch-black and oppressive.
When he reached a point ten thousand li below the ocean's surface, a green light appeared beneath him, like a vast green ocean without end. He saw numerous tiny sea creatures, not yet possessing spiritual intelligence, but their speed was astonishing, comparable to Core Formation Realm cultivators.
Beyond this green sea was darkness again. As he continued his descent, he occasionally caught glimpses of various-colored lights, all emitted by demonic creatures. Gu An even saw cave abodes situated on the oceanic mountains.
Going further down, he spotted a demon city emitting dazzling light, with countless demonic creatures coming and going.
In this manner, Gu An reached the depths of the ocean without any demons noticing his presence.
He found an area where no demons were active, and using his spiritual power, he created a hundred li radius barrier on the sandy ground. Then, he created a clone with his original body's vast spiritual power to form a barrier, preventing outsiders from seeing inside.
His original body began casting spells to create an environment suitable for medicinal herbs to grow. The spiritual energy in the ocean was abundant, sufficient for the herbs' growth.
After altering the environment, he started setting up formations.
One hour later, the seabed medicine valley was filled with medicinal herb seeds. He didn't plan to raise demons to guard this medicine valley; he would leave it to his clone in the future.
Although the clone lacked independent thought, it could still alert Gu An at the first sign of trouble. When that happened, Gu An could transfer his consciousness to the clone and resolve any issues through it.
Even a Freedom Immortal would not be a match for his clone!
After completing all the preparations, Gu An went to the edge of the medicine valley, took out a stone tablet, and erected it in the sand. Then, he used the Destiny Pen to write on the tablet.
Subtle Spirit Palace!
He named it a palace because he planned to build a palace here and even use it as a cultivation ground.
Gu An admired his own handwriting, feeling more and more pleased with himself.
He then disappeared from the spot and returned to the Taixuan Sect.
The ocean depths were silent, and outside the Subtle Spirit Palace was darkness, like an abyss. Occasionally, a massive shadow, akin to a mountain range, would pass above the palace, but Gu An's clone remained meditating with his eyes closed.
...
Fifteen years later, in the early summer, Gu An was sitting in a pavilion in Mystery Valley, examining his attribute panel. He was very close to reaching a lifespan of five billion years.
The high-grade medicinal herbs from the Beyond World Cavern would bring him a significant increase in lifespan in the coming years, making him feel delighted.
Life was simple, but Gu An didn't find it dull. Watching his lifespan grow gave him a sense of achievement, as if he were leveling up in a game.
There was a knock on the door, and Gu An casually said, "Come in."
As he spoke, the door opened, and Lu Jiujia entered.
Lu Jiujia, at five hundred and eighteen years old, looked to be in his early forties. He had a long beard and an imposing aura.
He approached the table and bowed to Gu An, saying, "Senior Brother, the Chen Family's medicine valley doesn't agree to my conditions and continues to encroach on Mystery Valley's territory. What should we do?"
Over the years, as the Taixuan Sect grew stronger and no one dared to invade, more and more medicine valleys appeared outside the outer sect. Some were managed by the Taixuan Sect, while others were established by aristocratic families to gather resources for their descendants.
A medicine valley appeared near Mystery Valley, and its territory was even more expansive.
The Chen Family was a newly risen aristocratic family in the last thousand years. Their highest position in the Taixuan Sect was an elder in the inner sect's city, a powerful and influential role.
Hearing this, Gu An replied, "Don't worry. I'll send An Xin De tomorrow. Within three days, their medicine valley will be gone."
Lu Jiujia's face lit up with a smile upon hearing this. He didn't doubt his senior brother's words; his senior brother's influence was not to be underestimated. The Chen Family was testing his senior brother's limits, or they would have found a way to seize Mystery Valley long ago.
Gu An looked at Lu Jiujia and asked, "How's your cultivation recently?"
Decades ago, Lu Jiujia had broken through the limitations of his Xiantian Reincarnation Technique. With Gu An's secret assistance in his cultivation, his maximum lifespan had reached seven hundred years.
Seven hundred years wasn't considered long, and Lu Jiujia's cultivation progress was too slow. He was only at the ninth layer of the Core Formation Realm, and even if he unleashed his full potential, it was unlikely he could reach the Soul Transformation Realm.
No matter how you looked at it, Lu Jiujia had no hope of achieving Nirvana in this lifetime.
Hearing this, Lu Jiujia scratched his head and said, "To be honest, Senior Brother, I feel increasingly powerless. During cultivation, I often feel mentally exhausted and prone to random thoughts."
Gu An replied, "There's no other way; you have to find a way to overcome it."
Lu Jiujia could only nod.
He felt helpless and ashamed.
Over the years, his senior brother had taken such good care of him, and he felt like he had let his senior brother down.
Changing the subject, Lu Jiujia said, "By the way, Senior Brother, there's a genius in the medicine valley. Do you want to meet him?"
Mentioning the genius, Lu Jiujia became excited.
Managing the affairs of Mystery Valley for centuries, he had never encountered such a talent, and it made him proud.
(End of Chapter)
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