https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-51-Zhou-Tong-s-Solitary-Confinement-The-Strongest-in-a-Century/12575103/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-53-Gu-An-s-Anger-and-Realization/12575105/
Chapter 52: Internal Strife, The Third Medicine Valley
Chapter 52: Internal Strife, The Third Medicine Valley
As winter melted away and spring arrived, the new year was soon upon them.
At Xuan Gu, the disciples were busy preparing for the Spring Festival, while Gu An patrolled the various sectors with White Spirit Mouse in his arms.
The little mouse relished being cradled, its eyes closed as if in a blissful slumber.
A piercing sound tore through the sky, and Gu An turned his head with a smile on his face.
Ye Lan had returned.
She landed gracefully beside him and sheathed her flying sword into her storage bag. With a radiant smile, she said, "Senior brother, I'm back for the festival. Surely you're not going to turn me away?"
Gu An looked at her and asked with a smile, "Isn't the Enforcement Hall busy?"
"Even if we are, we can still spare a few days. Appropriate relaxation aids cultivation, isn't that what you always say, senior brother? I've always kept that in mind," Ye Lan replied with a playful wink.
After some pleasantries, Ye Lan pulled Gu An towards the loft. As they walked, she said, "Senior brother, let's go to your room first. I have a treasure to show you."
A treasure?
Gu An placed the White Spirit Mouse on the ground and followed Ye Lan.
As they climbed the stairs to the loft and entered the room, Ye Lan left the door open, which eased Gu An's mind somewhat.
Ye Lan walked to the table and pulled out a brocade box from her storage bag. She turned to Gu An with a sidelong glance and a proud smile. "Senior brother, this is a special foundation-building gift I prepared for you."
"That's too much trouble. I didn't give you a gift when you were building your foundation," Gu An said.
"Without your foundation-building pill, how could I have built my foundation? I'm not one of those geniuses who can force a foundation with their own spiritual root talent," Ye Lan shook her head and laughed.
Hearing this, Gu An stopped refusing. He walked to her side, curious about the contents of the box.
Ye Lan opened the brocade box to reveal a tree root that resembled ginseng. Unless one paid close attention, they would hardly notice the faint spiritual energy emanating from it.
[Human-faced Tree (Resurrected State): 0/600/22000]
A maximum lifespan of twenty-two thousand years?
Gu An raised an eyebrow, as it was the first time he had seen the words "Resurrected State."
Ye Lan explained, "This is the root of a sixth-grade spirit tree. As long as it's buried in the soil for a few years, it will grow again and enhance the spiritual energy of the surrounding area."
Intrigued, Gu An asked, "Where did you get such a precious treasure?"
Ye Lan blinked and said, "During the recent capture of a Demon Path spy, I found this in the cave of a Qian Qiu Pavilion spy. I didn't hand it over."
"Isn't that... a bit inappropriate?" Gu An asked, concerned.
"Don't worry, other Enforcement Hall disciples keep some things too. The higher-ups turn a blind eye as long as we don't get too greedy, and no one knows about this treasure," Ye Lan assured him.
Gu An's worries lessened upon hearing this. After some thought, he said, "If there's any herb you need in the future, just let me know. I'll soon have a second medicine valley, and we can help each other out from then on."
"Sure," Ye Lan smiled. "I'm going to find the others now. I brought gifts for them too."
Gu An nodded, and Ye Lan left.
He looked at the brocade box on the table, pondering where to plant it.
After much consideration, he decided to keep it for the third medicine valley. The new valley needed an enhancement in spiritual energy, and the more abundant the spiritual energy, the faster the herbs would grow.
Xuan Gu already had its own rhythm and didn't need the spirit tree, and Tian Ya Valley was out of the question. Why should he have to pay for the seeds himself? Tian Ya Valley belonged to Li Xuandao, and Gu An only had management rights. If he ever needed anything for Tian Ya Valley, he could always ask Li Xuandao for it.
Subsequently, Gu An put the brocade box into his storage bag and walked to the writing desk. He picked up the brush and ink and began writing on the paper.
Ye Lan's arrival brought a more festive atmosphere to Xuan Gu.
As night fell, the Spring Festival activities commenced, filling the valley with laughter and excitement. Once everyone was seated and the wine started flowing, Zhen Qin asked Ye Lan to share some of her experiences as an outer disciple on missions. Ye Lan happily obliged.
In addition to guarding the outer sect, disciples of the Enforcement Hall also had to go out for training. Ye Lan was no exception.
"The mission we undertook was to eradicate evil in a small town. Almost a thousand households had perished within a few days. To prevent further harm to the common folk, the local government sought help from Tai Xuan Gate. There were seven of us..."
Ye Lan vividly recounted her experiences, and with it being night, her tale had the disciples on the edge of their seats, especially the female disciples, who huddled together in fear.
Seeing the little girl who used to follow him around now all grown up and capable, Gu An couldn't wipe the smile off his face.
When Ye Lan described the ghosts and monsters, the disciples' hearts raced, including those of Xiao Chuan, Wu Xin, and Su Han, who were usually calm and collected.
It was well into the night by the time the disciples dispersed.
Ye Lan followed Gu An back up to the loft. He took out a secret manual he had obtained from the inner sect and handed it to her. "This is a leg technique manual I got from the inner sect. You can practice it when you have free time."
"Fierce Wind and Shadowless Legs!" Ye Lan took the manual but didn't open it. Instead, she put it into her storage bag and looked at Gu An. "Senior brother, be careful around Lu Jiujia from now on."
"What happened?" Gu An asked, puzzled.
Ye Lan sighed. "Remember how we talked about the internal strife in Tai Xuan Gate and how the elders who oppose the sect master are secretly recruiting disciples? Lu Jiujia has taken an elder from the Outer Sect Elder Hall as his master. That elder is working for the sect master's opponent. If this goes on, a major conflict will inevitably erupt within Tai Xuan Gate. If the sect master comes out on top, he will definitely punish the rebellious disciples, and Lu Jiujia won't be able to escape."
"I've tried to convince him before, but he wouldn't listen," Gu An said. "He said that the path of cultivation is one of conflict, and it's better to take a chance and strive than to live an unremarkable life. His choice isn't wrong, but I'm worried that if you get too close to him, you'll be implicated later on. He probably thinks the same way, which is why he didn't return to Xuan Gu."
Upon hearing this, Gu An fell silent. He couldn't interfere with Lu Jiujia's choice because what he said was true—cultivation was a path of conflict.
The reason he didn't engage in such conflicts was that he could seize lifespans, so he had no right to lecture others on their path of cultivation.
Ye Lan changed the subject and began talking about other matters, focusing on the outer sect. The internal strife within Tai Xuan Gate even involved the Ji family and the royal disciples, and Gu An listened with great interest.
It wasn't until the early morning that Gu An saw Ye Lan off.
The two had chatted all night and still felt energized.
Before she left, Gu An reminded her not to forget to cultivate the Fierce Wind and Shadowless Legs technique. Ye Lan nodded, but there was a hint of resentment in her eyes.
After she left, Gu An called out to his disciples to begin their morning exercises.
...
On a scorching summer day, the now 35-year-old Gu An stood by the window, gazing up at the sky with a furrowed brow.
He was waiting for Gu Yu.
Half a year had passed, and he hadn't shown up yet? Gu An eagerly anticipated his third medicine valley and had already prepared the seeds, ready to plant them.
Could something have happened?
Gu An felt anxious. The previous month, when he had gone to the outer sect, he had sensed an unusual atmosphere. There was a new group of disciples in black clothing in the city, reportedly established by the new outer sect grand elder, known as the Demon-Extermination Hall.
The Demon-Extermination Hall was directly under the control of the grand elder, and its disciples had a minimum cultivation base of the fifth layer of the Qi Refining realm. Their treatment surpassed that of the other halls.
With eight outer sect cities, and the inner sect and main sect city, such strife would undoubtedly affect the Ancient Sect.
Ai!
It's so annoying! It's disrupting my herb-growing! Gu An felt like punching those troublemakers.
Just then, he sensed something, and his gloomy face suddenly broke into a smile.
He's here, he's here!
Gu An detected Gu Yu's presence and struggled to calm his emotions. He didn't go downstairs.
After a while, Gu Yu finally landed within Xuan Gu.
"Gu An!"
Gu Yu called out loudly, immediately attracting the attention of the disciples in the valley.
Gu An opened the door and looked at Gu Yu. "Brother Gu, let's talk upstairs."
Gu Yu put away the compass in his hand and went upstairs.
After entering the room, Gu An closed the door and poured tea for Gu Yu, who didn't sit down but instead browsed the bookshelf as if looking for something.
"I haven't written the final volume of The Investiture of the Gods yet," Gu An said.
Upon hearing this, Gu Yu's expression fell, and he turned to sit at the table. He took out several books from his storage bag, and finally, a token.
"This is your Valley Master Token. Your medicine valley is located between the outer and inner sects, less than a hundred miles from the outer sect city. For someone at your current cultivation level, traveling back and forth won't be too troublesome. As for these books, they are my father's accounts of his life experiences. You can use them as a reference. My father said that you don't have to write exactly what happened; you can modify it as you see fit or even create a fictional story inspired by his experiences."
Gu Yu explained, and as he spoke, his expression became rather intriguing, his eyes signaling something to Gu An.
Gu An placed a teacup in front of him and casually picked up the Valley Master Token. Unlike the bronze token of Xuan Gu, this one was silver-white and contained multiple restrictions.
"Wait, and I'll take you to the medicine valley," Gu Yu said after drinking a cup of tea. "If you get lost later, probe the token with your spiritual sense, and it will guide you."
Gu An nodded, eager to see his new medicine valley.
Gu Yu seemed to remember something. "Oh, right, when you write about me, include Zhou Tongyou as well. Write that he's the strongest genius of the younger generation in the cultivation world but that he especially admires me and follows my every word."
Gu An's face twitched. "I'm not sure that's a good idea. I'm afraid writing it that way might cause me trouble."
"Ask for whatever you want; I can satisfy any request."
"It's not about the price."
"One hundred high-grade spirit stones!"
"If he sees it, he'll definitely investigate me..."
"A thousand high-grade spirit stones! That's all I have!"
"How about using a homophone?"
At this suggestion, Gu Yu's eyebrows rose. "That can be arranged, but you can only change one character."
"Deal!"
Gu An agreed, but he had no intention of slandering Zhou Tongyou in the book. He considered making the two of them brothers who loved and hated each other, so neither would offend the other.
He could tell that Gu Yu didn't hold any ill will towards Zhou Tongyou; otherwise, he wouldn't have made him a younger brother in the book but would have humiliated him instead.
Gu Yu was probably just jealous of Zhou Tongyou. If they were portrayed as brothers with an emotionally charged relationship, Gu Yu would likely be satisfied.
After resting for half an hour, the two immediately set off, flying away from Xuan Gu on their swords.
(End of Chapter)
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