https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-75-Breaking-Through-the-Ninth-Layer-of-the-Fusion-Realm/12575216/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-77-The-World-s-Gaze-The-Path-of-the-Sword-Cultivator/12575218/
Chapter 76: Exaggerated Lifespan Limits, Gu An Takes on Disciples
Chapter 76: Exaggerated Lifespan Limits, Gu An Takes on Disciples
Once his cultivation stabilized, Gu An shut down the lifespan barrier.
This time, the lifespan barrier had consumed over eight thousand years. If he continued like this, activating the lifespan barrier would eventually become a massive drain on his lifespan.
He needed to work hard to earn more lifespan. While he appeared wealthy now, it wouldn't be enough if he wanted to improve across the board!
Gu An stood up, stretched lazily, and then reached for his chest.
The Fusion Realm seemed like a transitional stage, lacking the distinct phases of the previous realms, but this transition was a significant test of cultivation accumulation.
Gu An could sense that the next realm was connected to the heart, and the substance condensed in his heart was a sign, though he couldn't pinpoint exactly what it meant just yet.
He took a step forward and continued on his way.
Still using the Infinite Traceless Xuan Tian Step, he kept shifting, covering hundreds of miles with each step. At the same time, he spread out his spiritual sense to carefully feel the differences in the ninth layer of the Fusion Realm.
Suddenly,
Gu An halted, his gaze fixed in one direction, his brow furrowed slightly.
He hesitated for a moment but eventually moved toward that direction.
...
By a small river in the mountains, a boy covered in bloodstains and dirt stood in front of a cliff. He held a large stone in his hand, and behind him stood a girl in a similar state of disarray, staring fearfully ahead.
Across the river, the trees parted, and a two-zhang-tall wolf demon emerged from the forest. It walked upright, its body covered in deep black fur, and even in the morning light, its wolf eyes shone with an intimidating ferocity.
The wolf demon opened its mouth, exhaling foul breath, its gaze fixed on the two children in front of it.
The boy, whose name was Gou Dan, trembled with fear but bravely stepped forward.
They didn't notice a figure appearing on the mountain peak behind them—none other than Gu An.
Gu An had temporarily changed into a white robe, and he wore a specially crafted mask that concealed his face. During his free time, he had created this mask, imbued with restrictions that blocked spiritual sense probing.
The breeze ruffled Gu An's robe as he looked down at the two children, probing their lifespans.
Gou Dan (Below Average): 12/99/9999
Xiaohua (Below Average): 12/78/230
9,999 years of lifespan limit?
Gu An wondered if he was seeing things. This broke the human record set by Ji Xiaoyu.
Could this boy also have a primordial Dao symbol within him?
Just then, the wolf demon lunged at Gou Dan, but Gu An raised his hand and sent a sword qi that landed between the wolf demon and the boy. Stones shattered, and water splashed, frightening the wolf demon, which immediately stopped and turned to flee.
Dust and dirt flew towards them, causing Gou Dan to close his eyes and start coughing.
When the dust settled, he looked intently and saw a crack half a zhang wide and a hundred zhang long next to the river, as if it had been sliced by a massive sword.
Footsteps sounded from beside them, causing Gou Dan to flinch and turn to see Gu An.
Although Gu An appeared human, the mask he wore kept Gou Dan from lowering his guard, and he continued to hold the stone tightly.
"Are you... human... or demon?" Gou Dan asked cautiously, his voice weak and trembling.
"Of course, I'm human. Why else would I save you?" Gu An replied, altering his voice to sound weathered, as if he were in his forties or fifties.
Hearing this, Gou Dan breathed a sigh of relief but still didn't lower the stone, which earned him a glance of appreciation from Gu An.
"Where is your home? I'll send you back," Gu An continued.
At this, Gou Dan fell silent.
At that moment, Xiaohua, who was standing behind him, burst into tears.
"My father and mother... were eaten by monsters..." she sobbed, her voice choking with emotion. Her outburst caused Gou Dan's eyes to turn red as well.
Then, Gou Dan recounted their experiences.
A group of monsters had raided their village, devouring all the adults. They had then taken the children to this area, and every day, they witnessed their peers being boiled into soup. The night before, it had been their turn, but suddenly, the mountain shook, and the monster guarding them ran out.
After daybreak, they had escaped the cave and found no trace of the monsters, so they began to flee. However, not long into their escape, a wolf demon traveling on the road had spotted them and given chase.
Gu An listened silently, realizing that this was the first time he was truly witnessing the hardships of the mortal world.
Having grown up in the Ji family and later joined the Tai Xuan Gate, he had never experienced the threats of demons and monsters firsthand. His path to cultivation had been relatively smooth, thanks to his ability to take lifespans.
Compared to him, these two children had truly endured suffering.
Gu An felt a surge of compassion, but Gou Dan's exaggerated lifespan limit made him hesitate to bring them back.
With such an exceptionally long lifespan, if he started cultivating, he would undoubtedly attract countless troubles.
Gu An even suspected that Gou Dan carried a grand fortune, which was why he alone had survived in his family. Just as he was about to be eaten, Gu An had been breaking through in this area, and just as the wolf demon was about to catch him, Gu An had saved him.
Coincidence after coincidence—this was more than just a string of coincidences!
A child of fortune?
However, seeing that the two children had lost their parents and had no relatives to rely on, Gu An's heart softened.
After some thought, he decided to take them to a safe place first.
He appeared behind Gou Dan in a single step, picked him up, and then went to Xiaohua's side, carrying one child in each hand as he swiftly shifted through the air.
The two children were startled by his movement and stopped crying, their bodies tense.
Ten breaths later.
In a lush forest, Gu An came to a stop and gently set the two children down on the ground.
He took out a bottle of spirit pills from his storage bag and poured half into each of their mouths.
The children coughed and spluttered as the pills went down, but soon, a warm current flowed down their throats and spread throughout their bodies, an extraordinary sensation.
Their eyes widened in disbelief.
Gu An sat down cross-legged in front of them and asked, "Do you want to become immortals?"
He didn't dare take Gou Dan back with him, but he could teach them the path of cultivation so that they could join the Tai Xuan Gate on their own later, thus severing any connection to him.
By sending a top genius to the Tai Xuan Gate, he would also make amends for the times he had taken their spiritual energy over the years.
"Are you an immortal?" Gou Dan exclaimed, his face lit up with excitement.
"No, I'm not. I'm just striving to become one. Since you have nowhere else to go, I'll teach you the methods of cultivation. In the future, when you join the Tai Xuan Gate, you'll have a place to belong." Gu An replied, still disguising his voice to sound older.
Gou Dan eagerly nodded and even bowed his head to the ground, calling Gu An 'Master'.
He turned to Xiaohua, who was still standing there in a daze, and pushed her head down, saying, "Quickly, call me Master too!"
Xiaohua obediently called out, "Master!"
Gu An had intended to refuse, but seeing their hopeful faces, he couldn't bring himself to do so.
Damn it!
Was this the influence of great fortune?
Gu An felt that it wasn't his soft-heartedness but rather the influence of Gou Dan's great fortune on him.
After all, cultivation was all about fortune, cause and effect, and belief in those intangible existences.
"Alright, now I'll teach you the mental techniques and incantations. Pay close attention and remember them well." Gu An said solemnly.
The two children straightened up immediately and stared intently at him, afraid to displease him.
Gu An imparted the Yang Wood Mixed Elemental Art to them. He wasn't worried about Gou Dan mastering it, as he would need to accumulate a million years of lifespan before he could further develop this art.
In fact, Gu An was curious to see how far Gou Dan could take the Yang Wood Mixed Elemental Art.
Even now, he wasn't sure how his own cultivation art and techniques compared to those in the immortal cultivation world.
Time passed quickly.
Gu An spent half a day teaching them, mainly instructing Xiaohua, as Gou Dan had memorized the first layer of mental techniques after hearing it just once.
The limit of their lifespans was indeed extraordinary!
Gu An asked Gou Dan to step aside and practice on his own while he instructed Xiaohua separately.
"Master, I feel like there's something inside me! Could it be spiritual power?"
In the afternoon, as Xiaohua was still deep in thought, Gou Dan suddenly exclaimed in excitement from a short distance away.
Xiaohua's eyes widened in disbelief, and her face fell as she processed what he had said.
Gu An calmly said, "Shouting like that is inappropriate. Do you want to attract the attention of demons?"
Gou Dan quickly closed his mouth.
As evening approached, Xiaohua finally memorized the first layer of mental techniques of the Yang Wood Mixed Elemental Art.
A night passed.
Gou Dan had fully embarked on the path of immortal cultivation, while Xiaohua had not yet cultivated spiritual power.
It usually took a month for someone with a normal five-elemental spiritual root to cultivate spiritual power, so Gu An wasn't disappointed in Xiaohua.
As dawn broke, Gu An prepared to leave.
"Gou Dan, I'm going out for a while and will be back tonight. Take care of your junior sister while I'm gone," Gu An said.
Gou Dan opened his eyes and quickly got up, asking anxiously, "Master, will you really come back? Please don't leave us here. I promise I won't shout loudly again."
Hearing this, Xiaohua also opened her eyes and got up. She ran over and hugged Gu An's waist, not letting him go.
Gu An was both amused and touched, but he maintained a serious tone as he said, "Your master is going to slay demons. Do you want to hold me back?"
Upon hearing this, Xiaohua quickly let go.
Gou Dan's eyes lit up, and he said, "Master, we're already cultivators now. How about you give us new names?"
He felt that being named by his master would be meaningful and would strengthen their bond.
Gu An hesitated for a moment, then raised his right hand and used his sword qi to write in the air.
Gou Dan hurried over and stood beside him to watch.
Although they were from a mountain village, there was a teacher in their village, so he could barely recognize the characters.
After Gu An finished writing, Gou Dan asked curiously, "An... what An? Master, what's the last character?"
"Your name is now An Hao. 'Hao' represents the heavens, and I hope that you can become your junior sister's heaven and also forge your own path."
"As for Xiaohua, her new name is An Xin. I hope that she will live a peaceful and content life."
Gu An spoke calmly, and then he disappeared into thin air.
Gou Dan, now known as An Hao, looked around but couldn't see any trace of Gu An. He squatted down and stared at his new name, mumbling, "An Hao, Hao..."
He seemed to be trying to commit the character 'Hao' to memory.
An Xin squatted down next to him and accompanied him as he stared at the characters written on the ground.
Meanwhile, on the other side.
Gu An hurried back towards the Tai Xuan Gate. When he returned to Xuan Gu, he saw that Wu Xin was still leading the disciples in their morning exercises.
As he walked from the valley entrance, he noticed several cultivators flying overhead. It seemed that the commotion from the night before had attracted the attention of the Tai Xuan Gate.
(End of Chapter)
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