Longevity Barrier, Breaking Through to the Golden Core Realm

Inside the Eight Sceneries Grotto-Heaven, the glow from the fruit of the Azure Vine Tree shone against the cave walls, where the shimmering reflections of the underground river also danced, making the grotto both tranquil and beautiful.

Gu An walked to the base of the Azure Vine Tree, turned around, and placed his hands on his hips, looking over the area he had cultivated with a satisfied smile on his face.

No pain, no gain!

Farming in the world of cultivation was the true romance he pursued!

As for all that fighting, killing, and scheming, he wanted it all to stay far away from him!

Gu An felt self-satisfied as his gaze drifted elsewhere.

He wanted to build a Pavilion inside the Eight Sceneries Grotto-Heaven so he could occasionally hide away and rest.

He was still young now, but in fifty or sixty years, he could learn from Cheng Xuandan and let his head disciple handle all the affairs, allowing himself to enjoy life.

However, a head disciple was still a long way off; after all, Medicine Valley was his foundation, so he had to find the right person. It wasn't just whoever became his disciple first that could manage everything.

Various plans popped into Gu An's mind.

First, he had to cultivate a deputy valley master!

Xiao Chuan was worth considering; his aptitude was poor and he was honest, but he was a bit too blunt when speaking and dealing with others.

Lu Jiujia would eventually have to go to the Outer Sect, so he was ruled out immediately.

Ye Lan...

No, he had better let her leave early, lest she ruin his Dao heart.

As for Wuxin, he would wait and see!

He still needed to recruit more disciples!

Gu An pondered while looking up.

He was very curious about the fruit of the Azure Vine Tree. Some rare treasures took the form of fruit; if he picked the Azure Vine Fruit individually, would it grant him lifespan?

He decided to act on the thought!

Gu An leaped upward, reached out to grab a fruit, and plucked it off.

He landed on the grass and examined the fruit in his hand. It was as large as a pumpkin, and after weighing it, he estimated it to be about seven or eight pounds.

Gu An took a piece of Spirit Protection Paper from his Storage Bag and wrapped it around the long stem at the top of the fruit to prevent the spiritual energy from leaking and the nutrients from being lost.

This was all money!

About ten breaths of time passed, and a line of text jumped out before his eyes:

[You successfully obtained 85 years of lifespan from the Azure Vine Fruit (Tier 6)]

Good heavens!

85 years of lifespan!

The way Gu An looked at the Azure Vine Tree changed.

This damn thing was a money tree!

He absolutely could not pull it up!

He had to let it live out its full life; he would treat it like a treasure from now on!

Gu An grew excited. He tossed the Azure Vine Fruit into his Storage Bag and counted the fruits on the tree. There were sixteen Azure Vine Fruits as large as the one he just picked, while the others were smaller and could not be touched yet.

He immediately began to act.

Some of the Azure Vine Fruits were in high positions, so he had to climb the tree to reach them.

At this moment, he longed for the Sword Flight Technique more than ever.

He couldn't fly through the air yet in the Foundation Establishment realm, and he had no other means of flight or levitation.

After much struggling, Gu An finally successfully harvested all sixteen Azure Vine Fruits, gaining a total of 1,360 years of lifespan.

His total lifespan had now reached 8,400 years!

He was getting closer and closer to the 10,000-year mark!

Forget it!

Strike while the iron is hot!

Once he reached 10,000 years, he could burn his lifespan to boost his cultivation, then investigate the other seven cave entrances. Once he cleared everything up and eliminated all potential dangers, he could enjoy a peaceful life!

With a plan in place, Gu An began to execute it.

There were many herbs in the Eight Sceneries Grotto-Heaven, and he kept his eyes on his attribute panel while harvesting; as long as he reached 10,000 years of lifespan, he would stop.

Half an hour later.

A notification appeared before Gu An's eyes.

[Your lifespan has broken through 10,000 years for the first time, unlocking the Longevity Barrier function]

[Longevity Barrier: Consume lifespan to activate the Longevity Barrier, which can shield against all prying, sensing, and deduction. The amount of lifespan consumed is determined by your cultivation aura and the spiritual energy required.]

Longevity Barrier?

Seeing the words "consume lifespan," Gu An frowned immediately. Wasn't this just asking for his life?

But after reading the explanation that followed, he was pleasantly surprised.

His previous breakthrough to the Foundation Establishment realm had caused such a massive commotion; what would happen when he broke through to even higher realms?

If this continued, he would sooner or later alert the entire Taixuan Sect, a prospect that had worried Gu An.

Now, he wasn't afraid anymore!

This function is just too prudent!

I love it!

Gu An chuckled as he walked toward the cave entrance.

Once he reached the Golden Core realm, he would go and investigate the other entrances.

Although the Eight Sceneries Grotto-Heaven was protected by formations, there might be dangers inside the grotto, so he decided to make his breakthrough outside, which would also be a perfect way to test the Longevity Barrier.

No matter what was hidden in the shadows, he wasn't worried at all!

It was already late at night by the time Gu An returned to Medicine Valley.

He had moved into the Pavilion where Cheng Xuandan used to live; there were still many secret manuals, pill recipes, and rare books hidden here that he would read through one by one in the future.

After entering the house, Gu An walked to a wooden cabinet. This cabinet was made of special wood capable of retaining the spiritual energy of heavenly treasures as much as possible, something Cheng Xuandan had mentioned before, and there were several more cabinets like this one.

He took out all the Azure Vine Fruits and placed them inside the cabinet.

Suddenly thinking of something, he took out one more Azure Vine Fruit and set it on the table.

He sat down at the table, took out the Secret History of the Thousand Autumn Pavilion from his robes, and read it quietly.

It wasn't until the middle of the night that the White Spirit Mouse finally returned.

It ran all the way onto Gu An's shoulder, its small eyes fixed intently on the Azure Vine Fruit on the table.

Gu An gently picked it up, placed it on the table, and waited for it to act.

The White Spirit Mouse walked up to the Azure Vine Fruit, sniffed at it, then climbed onto the fruit and began to nibble gently.

Gu An wasn't sure what miraculous effects the Azure Vine Fruit had, as the Record of Hundred Herbs didn't contain information on heavenly treasures above the fifth rank, so he could only use the White Spirit Mouse to test it.

He let the White Spirit Mouse choose for itself; it was a spirit beast, after all. If the Azure Vine Fruit were poisonous, it should be able to smell it.

If it couldn't smell it, then Gu An would give it a proper burial.

The Azure Vine Fruit was ten times larger than the White Spirit Mouse, and it struggled quite a bit to gnaw on it; Gu An didn't help it.

Since waiting was boring, he might as well make his breakthrough tonight!

Gu An stood up, left the Pavilion, slipped out of Mystic Valley without anyone noticing, and headed west, traveling nearly twenty miles over mountains and ridges.

He first leaped to the top of a large tree to observe in all directions, and only after confirming there were no signs or auras of other cultivators did he go to a grassy area in the mountains to meditate.

It had been a while since he "burned" his life, and he was quite looking forward to it.

With the Longevity Barrier in place, Gu An could safely evolve his cultivation this time.

"Let's test the waters by investing a thousand years first."

Gu An thought with the confidence of the wealthy. Sitting on a lifespan of ten thousand years, what was a one-time investment of a thousand years?

It was just a drop in the bucket!

He invested a thousand years of lifespan toward his cultivation to evolve his practice.

[You practiced Qi refinement for 30 years, and your cultivation broke through to the eighth level of the Foundation Establishment realm.]

[You practiced Qi refinement for 100 years, and your cultivation broke through to the ninth level of the Foundation Establishment realm.]

[You practiced Qi refinement for 150 years. Utilizing your profound mastery of the Divine Wood Pure Yang Technique, you forcibly charged toward the Golden Core realm and began to undergo the tribulation. You failed to survive the Minor Heavenly Tribulation, and the breakthrough failed.]

[You practiced Qi refinement for 200 years. Utilizing your profound mastery of the Divine Wood Pure Yang Technique, you forcibly charged toward the Golden Core realm and began to undergo the tribulation. You failed to survive the Minor Heavenly Tribulation, and the breakthrough failed.]

[You practiced Qi refinement for 450 years. Utilizing your profound mastery of the Divine Wood Pure Yang Technique, you forcibly charged toward the Golden Core realm and began to undergo the tribulation. You successfully survived the Minor Heavenly Tribulation, condensed your Golden Core, and stepped into the Golden Core realm.]

[You practiced Qi refinement for 500 years, and your cultivation broke through to the second level of the Golden Core realm.]

[You practiced Qi refinement for 600 years, and your cultivation broke through to the third level of the Golden Core realm.]

[You practiced Qi refinement for 720 years, and your cultivation broke through to the fourth level of the Golden Core realm.]

[You practiced Qi refinement for 850 years, and your cultivation broke through to the fifth level of the Golden Core realm.]

[You practiced Qi refinement for 1,000 years, and your cultivation broke through to the sixth level of the Golden Core realm.]

Lines of prompts flashed frantically before Gu An's eyes.

Seeing the six failed tribulations earlier, Gu An almost lost his breath—that was just too brutal!

Is undergoing the tribulation really that difficult?

As the final prompt appeared, Gu An's body began to circulate energy on its own. Sensing that the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was about to go berserk, he hurriedly activated the Longevity Barrier.

[Longevity Barrier activated. Lifespan consumed: 0 years.]

This prompt hung directly before his eyes, and as the spiritual energy of heaven and earth surged into his body, the number 0 jumped directly to 1.

"I hope the consumption isn't too great..."

Gu An prayed silently.

Accompanied by the majestic spiritual energy of heaven and earth pouring madly into his body, he felt his entire being clear and unobstructed, experiencing an indescribable sense of relief.

This time, he did not move while breaking through, so he felt no pain.

With him as the center, waves of air appeared on the ground, rushing in from all directions and drilling into his body; one could vaguely see an invisible air barrier with a diameter of nearly five zhang.

Gu An looked outside the barrier, only to find that there wasn't a trace of wind or waves outside; the flowers, grass, and trees were all calm, clearly unaffected by him.

He was immediately curious as to why there was no impact.

Soon, he understood.

Once the barrier was opened, what he absorbed while cultivating was the spiritual energy from beneath the ground.

With this, he was completely relieved.

Not long after, his cultivation reached the ninth level of the Foundation Establishment realm, and the lifespan consumed by the barrier reached five years, which made his heart ache a little.

This thing was too expensive!

It reminded him of his experience playing mobile games in his past life.

In a word, a rip-off!

Just as Gu An was grumbling to himself, he suddenly caught sight of a bright light above the mountain forest in the distance. He squinted his eyes and vaguely saw the scene of cultivators fighting.

Ten miles away.

Above the mountain forest, Shi Yang swung his sword to slash out streaks of sword qi, sweeping across like a gale through the woods, causing leaves to dance in chaos.

Li Ya, dressed in black, stood atop a tree, raising his sword to block in front of him. A powerful surge of energy erupted from his body, forming a pale golden bell shadow that withstood all of Shi Yang's sword qi.

Shi Yang's black hair was blown into a frenzy by the gale, and a ferocious, arrogant smile appeared on his face. He laughed loudly, "Li Ya, is this all you've got? With just your ability, you want to fight against the Fourth Prince? Do you think you can even make it alive into the Inner Sect?"

Li Ya's expression was cold and stern, his gaze flickering toward the direction of Mystic Valley.

No!

If this continues, it will alert the people in Medicine Valley.

Li Ya did not want to bring trouble to Gu An and the others, so he immediately thrust his sword, dispersed the sword qi, and flew in the direction opposite to Mystic Valley. Shi Yang pursued him relentlessly, and the two stepped on their swords and vanished rapidly into the end of the night sky.

Gu An, inside the Longevity Barrier, could not clearly see the cultivators fighting in the distance, but fortunately, those lights had disappeared.

He did not dare to relax. The Longevity Barrier could not be spied upon, sensed, or deduced, but it didn't say it would turn completely into nothingness. What if someone accidentally stumbled in?

Time passed quickly under Gu An's anxious mood.

A Golden Core began to condense within his body!

When the lifespan consumed by the Longevity Barrier exceeded fifty years, his Golden Core formation was successful!

Although the consumption of the Longevity Barrier was great, it was within a range that Gu An could accept.

Before starting, he had worried that this thing might be too much of a trap and drain him dry in one go.

Now, his worries had vanished into thin air.

Another thought popped into his head.

Reaching the sixth level of the Golden Core realm in a thousand years—should he keep paying to win?

Gu An: Brothers, begging for monthly tickets and recommendation tickets! By the way, should I keep paying to win?