https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-46-Primordial-Dao-Talisman-Devilish-Ambitions/12575098/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-48-Yang-Wood-Fusion-Technique-Crossing-the-Ninth-Layer-of-the-Xu-Realm/12575100/
Chapter 47: Demon Shadow Divine Art, Initial Display of Power
Chapter 47: Demon Shadow Divine Art, Initial Display of Power
The reason Gu Zong sought out Gu An was to ask him to write a book about his life. Gu An, of course, would not refuse, after all, he wasn't being asked to portray Gu Zong as the protagonist of a mythical tale.
In exchange, Gu Zong would promote Gu An's status to that of an outer disciple and bestow upon him a medicinal valley twice the size of Xuan Gu.
Half a year later, Gu Yu would bring things to find Gu An.
Writing a book in exchange for a medicinal valley—Gu An felt it was a fair deal, as he usually had nothing to do anyway.
That evening, after Du Ye returned to his room, he questioned Gu An about his meeting with Gu Zong.
"It's a sect secret. Are you sure you want to pry?" Gu An asked meaningfully, his words sending a shiver down Du Ye's spine, silencing him.
The next morning, as the guests at Ji Manor began to disperse, a cultivator found Gu An and handed him a storage bag, saying it was from the Third Miss. He scanned it with his divine sense and found it filled with abundant array formation materials.
Gu An hesitated about whether to remind Ji Xiaoyu, but when he saw that the number of Ji family cultivators at the manor had increased rather than decreased, and that many cultivators were even meditating on the rooftops, he realized that the Ji family had already anticipated the crisis.
Since that was the case, there was no need for him to worry.
At noon, Gu An bade farewell to Du Ye and set off for Xuan Gu once more.
After parting ways with Du Ye, Gu An made his way towards Xuan Gu.
He had already begun planning the cultivation layout for the second medicinal valley in his mind.
With the addition of Li Xuandao's medicinal valley, he would possess three such valleys, and his longevity and income were sure to soar in the future.
Even though he had already attained the first layer of the Crossing the Void realm, Gu An did not consider his longevity sufficient. There were surely many more layers beyond the Crossing the Void realm, and the higher one went, the more longevity was needed.
His goal was eternal life, to reach the pinnacle of the path of cultivation!
Standing amidst the winds as he rode his flying sword, Gu An's heart was filled with dreams of eternal life.
When he returned to Xuan Gu, his brows furrowed.
He landed, and his flying sword retracted into his storage bag. Not far away, Ye Yan, who had been weeding, spotted him and immediately ran over.
"Master, you're finally back. A senior came to our medicinal valley to stay temporarily yesterday," Ye Yan reported immediately.
Gu An nodded. "I know. You can continue with your work."
He noticed the flags hidden among the grass in the surrounding mountains, clearly indicating an array formation.
He first sensed the other party's aura, then pretended not to have noticed the formation and walked towards the direction of the cultivator's aura, quickly observing his herbs along the way.
Goodness!
Six fourth-rank herbs were missing!
Gu An's eyes turned cold.
The other party's cultivation was not simple; he was a Transformation Realm cultivator. But even if he was a Transformation Realm cultivator, daring to steal his herbs would come at a price!
Gu An made his way to Xiao Chuan's courtyard, where he saw someone refining a pill. The pill furnace looked ancient and was about half a person's height, with wisps of green smoke rising from it.
The pill refiner was an old man with a stooped back, short and stout, his hair tied in a grass rope at the nape of his neck.
[Chou Qianli (Transformation Realm Layer 2): 486/930/1050]
After confirming that the old man was not hiding a more powerful cultivation base, Gu An approached and asked, "May I ask for your name and where you're from?"
His tone was sharp, a stark contrast to his usual demeanor.
Chou Qianli stood up and turned to face Gu An, a smile on his face. "I am Chou Qianli, and I happened to pass by this medicinal valley and thought to stay for a few days."
"Are you from Tai Xuan Gate?" Gu An asked.
With Ji Xiaoyu about to form her core, he couldn't help but be suspicious of the old man's identity.
Usually, no Transformation Realm cultivators came to his medicinal valley.
The disciples, who had been busy with their tasks, also turned their attention to this courtyard, sensing that Chou Qianli was no ordinary cultivator. Seeing Gu An's return, they breathed a sigh of relief.
"And who might you be? Are you the owner of this medicinal valley?" Chou Qianli asked with a smile.
"Yes, I am. Why didn't you answer my question?" Gu An replied.
Chou Qianli shook his head and laughed to himself. "A mere Qi Condensation Realm cultivator dares to speak to me in such a tone."
He suddenly crouched down and slapped the ground with his right palm.
In an instant, the ground shook, and the flags hidden in the mountains on all sides trembled, releasing streams of demonic energy. The demonic energy quickly rose and formed a demonic net that enveloped the entire Xuan Gu. Then, the demonic net turned transparent, as if what had just happened had been an illusion.
"What are you trying to do?" Gu An asked, feigning panic.
The disciples in the distance sensed something amiss and rushed over.
The first to arrive were Ogawa and Ye Yan, followed by Wu Xin, Zhen Qin, and Su Han. The others dared not approach too closely and could only stand outside the courtyard, anxiously watching.
Su Han stood at the forefront, sword in hand, but his trembling legs betrayed his nervousness.
Zhen Qin's face was as white as a sheet, yet she still stood in front of Gu An, which made him want to laugh.
What a silly girl!
Chou Qianli's right palm was surrounded by a sinister demonic aura as he slowly stood up, a hideous smile on his face. "Now that the valley master has returned, I won't hide anymore. If you want to live, listen to my instructions. Otherwise, I'll flay your skin, extract your soul, and make you beg for death!"
Feeling his terrifying aura, all the disciples were filled with dread.
Wu Xin plucked up the courage to ask, "We're just miscellaneous disciples. Even if you refine our souls, it won't benefit you. Let's talk this through. What do you want from us?"
He was afraid that Gu An wouldn't be able to see through the old man's cultivation level, so he took the initiative to speak.
Chou Qianli let out a cold laugh. "It seems you know what's good for you. From now on, you will all stay put in this valley and await my instructions. I plan to borrow this valley of yours to refine some pills. Don't even think about trying to escape. My array is invisible and formless; even a Nascent Soul cultivator would instantly turn into a pool of blood upon encountering it."
Having witnessed the formation themselves, the group naturally believed his words.
Chou Qianli turned to Gu An with a mocking smile. "Valley Master, I shall now tell you my origins. I am from the Myriad Yin Cult. What do you have to say about that?"
The Myriad Yin Cult!
They truly are relentless in their pursuit...
Gu An had not killed many people in his life. Aside from Fu Xiong, everyone else he had killed was from the Myriad Yin Cult.
Feigning fear, Gu An said, "Please forgive my earlier offense, Senior. As long as you do not harm my disciples, I will do as you say. If you want to refine souls, please start with mine!"
Upon hearing this, the disciples panicked but dared not utter a word, afraid of angering Chou Qianli.
Wu Xin clenched his fists inside his sleeves, regretting his lack of diligence in cultivation. "If I had practiced harder and achieved mastery in my art, how could I let Senior Brother be in such a situation..."
Zhen Qin, Ogawa, Su Han, and Ye Yan shared similar thoughts.
Chou Qianli laughed, his laughter filled with contempt.
Gu An quickly added, "Senior, I have a fifth-rank herb in my house, which is particularly suitable as a catalyst for pill refining. Do you need it?"
"Good, you are quite sensible," Chou Qianli said, waving his sleeve. "Go and get it now!"
Gu An immediately turned and ran towards his tower.
The others warily eyed Chou Qianli, afraid of what he might do next.
Chou Qianli scratched his ear, his gaze falling on Zhen Qin. "Little girl, come here and assist me."
Seeing his lecherous smile, Zhen Qin felt repulsed, but fear dominated her emotions.
What should she do?
Based on the array formation earlier, no one in this valley could be a match for this demonic cultivator.
As Zhen Qin stood there, terrified, a purple-black figure suddenly appeared out of thin air beside Chou Qianli.
Chou Qianli's pupils abruptly contracted as he turned his head instinctively.
So fast!
How is this possible!
Just as Chou Qianli was about to make a move, the figure's right hand shot out like a sword, piercing through his chest and lifting him into the air.
His eyes widened in disbelief as he looked down at the figure below him.
It was a figure shrouded in dark purple flames, its true appearance obscured, as if it had emerged from the depths of the underworld.
Wu Xin, Zhen Qin, and the others were equally startled by the sudden appearance of the mysterious figure, and they all took a step back.
"Th-Thousand Autumn... Pavilion... Demonic Shadow Divine Art..." Chou Qianli stammered, his voice filled with fear.
He desperately tried to gather his spiritual power but realized he couldn't. In that single strike, his opponent had shattered his Golden Core, and the overpowering spiritual force had suppressed his primordial spirit within his body, preventing it from escaping.
His opponent was definitely above the Transformation Realm!
Gu An, who had been manifesting the Great Yin-Yang Transformation, turned his head slightly and glanced at Wu Xin.
Wu Xin seemed to understand something, and his face paled.
Immediately after, Gu An's right hand, which had pierced Chou Qianli, clenched into a fist. Terrifying sword energy erupted, instantly shattering Chou Qianli's physical body into pieces, leaving only his primordial spirit hanging from Gu An's arm, while Chou Qianli's storage bag fell into his other hand.
Flesh and blood splattered everywhere, splashing onto Wu Xin and the others. They were too shocked to react and could only stand there dumbfounded.
"Yo..."
Chou Qianli's primordial spirit tried to speak, but before he could finish, it was crushed by Gu An's overwhelming spiritual force.
Gu An's figure vanished into thin air.
The next moment, the sound of a door being flung open rang out from a distance. Gu An, holding the fifth-rank Tiger Blood Flower, leaped down from the tower platform.
He rushed towards the courtyard where Wu Xin and the others were located and shouted, "Senior! Don't cause any trouble!"
Leaping over the wall, he reached Zhen Qin's side and surveyed the bloody scene in the courtyard. Turning to the disciples, he counted them and breathed a sigh of relief, seeing that no one was missing.
He asked anxiously, "Where... where did that demon go?"
His voice was low, as if he was afraid of being heard by Chou Qianli.
Zhen Qin, as if startled awake, screamed and grabbed Gu An's robe, her voice trembling. "Master, he's dead... He was..."
The other disciples also snapped out of their daze and turned to look in other directions, afraid that the mysterious demonic figure would reappear.
It took Gu An quite some time to understand what had happened from their explanations.
It had to be said that acting was also quite exhausting.
Gu An instructed the disciples to remain vigilant and not let their guard down.
At the same time, he secretly channeled his spiritual power into the ground, causing it to spread underground and destroy the invisible formation.
Suddenly, a demonic aura curtain appeared above Xuan Gu, and the mysterious demonic formation began to collapse. The demonic aura dissipated as if it had never existed, and the autumn leaves on the mountaintop drifted downward.
"Is the formation dispelled?" Ye Yan asked cautiously.
Wu Xin took a deep breath and looked at Gu An. "Senior Brother, let's go somewhere else to talk."
After killing Chou Qianli and gaining sixty-six years of lifespan, Gu An was in a pleasant mood. He feigned confusion and hesitated for a moment before nodding in agreement.
The two of them headed towards Gu An's tower, while the other disciples gathered together to discuss the recent events.
Inside the tower, Wu Xin closed the door and turned to face Gu An, gritting his teeth. "The one who made the move earlier should be a Grand Master from the Thousand Autumn Pavilion. Perhaps my father sent someone to protect me..."
(End of Chapter)
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