Steadily becoming a saint, the immortal officials hired me to tend the horses Chapter 103

Chapter 103: Chapter 103 Ephemera Tree, Gu An Dispels Demons

“What kind of tree?”

Gu An looked at the Green Vine Tree and asked. The Green Vine Tree was nearly three hundred years old and capable of speech, which was not surprising to him.

The Green Vine Tree's voice resembled Jiang Qiong's, likely because it had overheard Jiang Qiong frequently while it was developing spiritual wisdom.

“I don't know… But I can sense it. It will eat me…”

The Green Vine Tree's voice sounded again, causing Gu An to frown.

Gu An first thought of the Human-Faced Tree. That thing also came from the Thousand-Autumn Pavilion and was quite sinister, but the Human-Faced Tree's grade and rank were lower than the Green Vine Tree's. How could it frighten the Green Vine Tree so?

“Where is it?” Gu An asked further.

“I don't know…”

“Is it close to you?”

“Very far, very far…”

Upon hearing this response, Gu An ruled out the Human-Faced Tree.

Could it be related to the Ephemera Sect?

Could the missing townsfolk have been devoured by one of the Ephemera Sect's evil trees?

The more Gu An pondered, the more it seemed possible.

Thinking further about Zhong Liang keeping an eye on him made him very uneasy.

He wasn't afraid of Zhong Liang; he was afraid of someone discovering he had hidden his cultivation level.

This can't go on!

He couldn't sit and wait for death!

Gu An's eyes sharpened, and the terrifying Divine Sense of a Mahayana Realm cultivator spread out, directly covering the Taicang Dynasty.

The Taicang Dynasty was vast, but it couldn't escape the Divine Sense of a Mahayana Realm cultivator!

He was going to conduct a thorough search for Zhong Liang, even if it meant turning the place upside down!

To his surprise, Taicang Dynasty's cultivators were numerous. Gu An felt like he was panning for gold.

Gu An did not retreat despite the difficulty, determined to find the hidden enemy.

Inside a dim underground chamber, Su Han, bare-chested, sat meditating within the Cold Pool. The water emitted a chilling mist, and beside him stood a jade-white longsword, appearing as though made from white bones, with a blade shrouded in blood aura, eerie and shocking.

Su Han's face showed pain, but he gritted his teeth and persevered.

After a while.

He suddenly heard wailing from afar, opening his eyes involuntarily he looked at a figure meditating against the cave wall and asked, “Master, what was that sound just now?”

Zhong Liang, with his eyes closed, replied indifferently, “Do not mind them. They are just a pitiful bunch begging for heavenly mercy, whether they live or die has nothing to do with you.”

His white hair hung loosely, and he wore a large robe. His facial features were square, and his brows always seemed furrowed, creating the illusion of a third eye between them.

Su Han couldn't calm his heart after hearing those wails.

“Do not forget the purpose of joining the sect, or why you took up my sword,” Zhong Liang's voice sounded again, with a hint of impatience.

Su Han took a deep breath and closed his eyes again.

Once he closed his eyes, Zhong Liang opened his, looking at him with a cold glint.

“The kid's hatred is still insufficient. I need to find his master and use him to provoke him,” Zhong Liang thought.

Suddenly.

Zhong Liang's heart trembled, experiencing a brief moment of panic, causing him to frown.

“What's happening? Is this an illusion?”

Zhong Liang felt uneasy and immediately spread his Divine Sense but saw no sign of an enemy.

Elsewhere.

Within the Eight Scenic Caves.

Gu An's eyes suddenly changed.

Found!

Gu An searched the entire Taicang Dynasty but did not find the Ephemera Sect's stronghold. He recalled the underground and probed it again, looking for special spiritual energy, eventually discovering Su Han.

Beside Su Han sat a Unification Realm cultivator. In a vast underground space miles away from the two, there stood a giant spiritual tree. Upon seeing it, Gu An confirmed this must be the existence feared by the Green Vine Tree.

This should be the Ephemera Sect's stronghold. None of them were good; kill them all and then hunt down Zhong Liang!

Not killing Zhong Liang left him restless!

Gu An looked back at the Green Vine Tree and said, “In the future, whenever you sense fear or notice anything unusual nearby, tell me immediately. I won't treat you badly.”

The Green Vine Tree twisted its trunk, making a timid sound, “Okay, master.”

Gu An then stepped away.

Even in front of the Green Vine Tree, he didn't show his true strength; keeping it hidden was always beneficial.

Leaving the Eight Scenic Caves, Gu An entered a forest, using the Limitless Freedom Step to speed away.

In the underground chamber, Zhong Liang's frown deepened. He scanned with his Divine Sense several times, finding nothing unusual, but he did not trust his senses to be wrong.

Suddenly, a hand pressed on his shoulder.

His face changed drastically, instinctively wanting to jump away, but to his horror, he found himself unable to break free.

At this moment, he felt the same as Zong Ying did earlier.

Inconceivable!

Fear!

Despair!

He was a Unification Realm cultivator at the third level, yet he was pinned down by a single hand, unable to move.

Zhong Liang glanced sideways and saw a figure emitting Demonic Qi standing beside him.

It was Gu An, using the Nine Extremes Yin Yang Body, surrounded by purple-black Demonic Qi, making it impossible for Zhong Liang to see his true face.

This stronghold had over a hundred types of formations and restrictions, but Gu An, with his Nine Extremes Yin Yang Body and Limitless Freedom Step, entered without a trace, not triggering any alarm, and even the monitoring formations didn't detect the intrusion.

Gu An pressed Zhong Liang with one hand, his gaze shifting to Su Han.

Su Han's cultivation had reached the ninth layer of the Foundation Establishment Realm, but his maximum lifespan hadn't increased, remaining at 199 years.

Normally, a ninth-layer Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator's lifespan would exceed 200 years. Clearly, the Hateful Heaven Divine Sword had potential beyond its limits but couldn't break the restriction of its own destiny.

No wonder those who cultivated the Hateful Heaven Divine Sword, despite rapid progress, became increasingly prone to deviation as they advanced.

Su Han hadn't noticed Gu An's arrival as he focused on his cultivation.

Gu An looked at Zhong Liang, preparing to use the Soul Searching Skill, trying to find Zhong Liang via life span detection.

Hmm?

It's you, kid!

Then you die!

Gu An crushed with his right hand, infusing terrifying spiritual power of the Mahayana Realm into Zhong Liang's body, annihilating him, body and soul!

A gust of wind swept across, causing Su Han to instinctively open his eyes. His pupils dilated suddenly as he quickly got up and grabbed the jade-white longsword beside him.

“Who are you?” Su Han pointed his sword at Gu An, querying sternly.

Where was Master?

Why did he suddenly disappear?

Su Han was filled with terror; Gu An's presence was intimidating, especially in the dimly lit chamber.

A terrifying pressure burst from Gu An, instantly overpowering Su Han, who fell into the pool, dazed.

Gu An turned and walked to a nearby cave entrance, disappearing into the darkness.

Miles away in a vast underground space, dimly lit, stood a giant tree a hundred feet tall with blood-red leaves. Vines hung from its branches, each holding a person bound at the bottom.

These people had vines around their necks, unable to escape, their bodies withering at a visible rate, many already reduced to dried corpses.

The scene was horrifying and extremely ghastly.

Beneath the giant tree stood members of the Ephemera Sect, each holding cultivators. Both men and women had talisman papers all over their bodies, sealing their spiritual power, resembling common prisoners, looking very disheveled.

The prisoners numbered over a thousand, while the Ephemera Sect members guarding them were over a hundred.

All the prisoners looked despairingly at the giant tree feeding on them.

“It's a demon… a demon…”

“You will die horribly for deceiving me into joining only to feed me to this evil tree!”

“Is this a monster, or a demon?”

“Damn it!”

Some cursed, some wailed, some pleaded. Their voices made the dark underground space even more terrifying.

A demon cultivator woman, with a seductive figure and beautiful face, snorted coldly, “Victors write history. What are you yelling for? You're no good people either. Maybe the heavens think we're eradicating evil!”

While speaking, she picked up a man beside her, bringing her mouth to his forehead and started to devour his life essence, making the man's complexion rapidly pale and his eyes lose their sparkle.

Whoosh—

A cold wind blew by. The demon cultivator woman instinctively looked at the weeds at her feet, seeing the leaves tremble. Before she could react, swoosh, the blade of grass shot up, piercing her forehead, blood splattering in her mind.

Not only her, but the other demon cultivators of the Ephemera Sect also simultaneously got killed by grass blades, regardless of their cultivation level, all dropping dead.

The prisoners were stunned, sensing something, they turned their heads in unison, seeing a figure approaching from the darkness.

“Demon Shadow Divine Skill! A member of the Thousand-Autumn Pavilion!” someone shouted in delight.

As the words fell, Gu An suddenly accelerated, becoming multiple afterimages passing all the prisoners, arriving beneath the giant tree.

The prisoners seemed immobilized, all frozen in place. A breath later, they all turned to ashes simultaneously.

Gu An lifted his eyes to see a prompt appear before him:

[Ephemera Tree (Eighth Rank): 340/42000/230000]

Eighth Rank!

No wonder the Green Vine Tree was scared!

The main trunk of the Ephemera Tree started to crack, revealing a giant human face, only its features visible, gender indistinguishable but with a greedy, sinister expression.

The vines loosened, all attacking Gu An simultaneously.

Clang—

The sound of the sword being drawn echoed in the underground space, ear-piercing.

The Ephemera Tree was cut in half, its vines falling like rain, its greedy face also split in two, freezing in expression. The two halves of the tree body suddenly shattered as sword qi burst forth, spectacularly.

Gu An sheathed the Heavenly Residence Sword and put it in his storage bag, then used his Spiritual Fire to burn the Ephemera Tree.

Lines of life span gains frenziedly appeared before his eyes.

The Eighth Rank spiritual tree was strong, its aura no less than a Unification Realm's, but alas, it faced a Mahayana Realm cultivator.

At noon.

In the Third Medicine Valley, Gu An walked down from the Transmission Array Platform in good spirits, having harvested over 40,000 years of life span the previous night, with the Ephemera Tree contributing 5,000 years.

Only Su Han remained alive at the Ephemera Sect's stronghold.

Knowing those prisoners were demon cultivators, Gu An had shown no mercy, ensuring there were no potential threats left.

As he stepped off the platform, Gu An sensed the auras of Lv Baitian, Gu Zong, and Ji Hantian, who were waiting in his pavilion.

Gu An immediately walked there. Upon reaching the pavilion, the door opened.

He crossed the threshold, intending to salute, but Gu Zong waved his sleeve, closing the door and setting a restriction again.

Gu An noticed their unusual expressions, suspecting that the Ephemera Sect was about to attack.

He did not panic, believing that once the Ephemera Sect discovered the loss of the Ephemera Tree, they'd have no time to deal with the Supreme Sect.

Lv Baitian's face was extremely grim, appearing very weak, pale-faced. He looked at Gu An, gritting his teeth: “I have to tell you some cruel bad news.”

Chapter end

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