Spring gave way to autumn, and Taixuan Sect's Medicine Valley passed another unnoticed year amid the changing seasons.
The door of a pavilion opened, and sixteen-year-old Gu An emerged with Meng Lang and Li Ya. They turned and bowed toward the room before Meng Lang closed the door.
All three let out a sigh of relief, then headed down the stairs.
Once they reached their own courtyard, Meng Lang could no longer resist complaining. "He spent an entire hour talking about that little bit of stuff. Wouldn't it have been easier to just pass the Record of Hundred Herbs in his hand directly to us?"
Li Ya shook his head helplessly. He then walked to a corner of the courtyard, picked up the sword planted in the earth, and began practicing swordsmanship.
Although his Spirit Root aptitude was mediocre, he was still from the Imperial Family and possessed an exquisite sword art. He intended to use it to turn his fortunes around.
The Great Cang Dynasty revered the path of immortality. Every civil and military official cultivated, while the dynasty divided its people across the thirteen provinces into ranks: slaves, commoners, officials, and immortals, from lowest to highest.
Merchants were included among the commoners. Only those who attained immortal status were considered true nobility. Ordinary official status only allowed one to hold office in towns. The lords of prefectural cities and provincial governors all possessed immortal status, to say nothing of Changluo, the Imperial City. To enter Changluo, one had to possess immortal status.
Many immortal-status clans cast out descendants with poor Spirit Root aptitude in order to preserve the excellence of their bloodlines. The Imperial Family was no exception.
No matter how down and out Li Ya, who possessed immortal status, became, he was not someone Gu An could provoke.
Because Gu An was of slave status.
Over the past year, Gu An had specifically helped Li Ya and Meng Lang gather medicinal herbs. Most of the gathering took place during summer or in the early mornings, so his efforts had earned the two of them considerable goodwill.
At other times, such as planting, watering, fertilizing, and other chores, Gu An did not help them. They were too embarrassed to keep asking, and whenever they planted, Zhang Chunqiu would stand atop the pavilion and watch them.
While listening to Meng Lang chatter without end, Gu An watched Li Ya practice his swordsmanship.
Every man had a dream of becoming a swordsman.
After living together day and night for a year, the three had built a decent bond. Li Ya did not stop them from watching him practice his swordsmanship. After all, he could not exactly hide somewhere to practice, and the Li Family's sword art had its own secret qi-circulation formula. Simply learning the sword moves was useless.
After talking for quite a while, Meng Lang finally stopped, though he still seemed dissatisfied. He patted Gu An's shoulder and laughed. "You never cultivate in your spare time, so why are you so interested in swordsmanship?"
Gu An casually replied, "My aptitude is mediocre, so I cannot be bothered to cultivate. I only watch him practice because I'm bored. Don't you think life in Medicine Valley is terribly dull?"
"Yeah, it's far too boring. Back home, I had four maidservants entertaining me. Do you know..." Meng Lang sighed emotionally, then began rambling on again.
Gu An had long grown accustomed to his boastful nature and could not be bothered to expose him.
Only when dusk descended did Li Ya finish practicing. He planted his sword in the courtyard and said while wiping away his sweat, "I'm going to take a look around the little woods."
Without waiting for Gu An or Meng Lang to respond, he headed for the courtyard gate.
After he left the courtyard, Meng Lang muttered softly, "What do you think that kid is always going to the little woods for?"
Gu An shrugged. "How would I know? He's from the Imperial Family. It's normal for him to carry some secrets. What if he returns someday and becomes a prince?"
"How could that happen? He was sent here to be a Handyman Disciple."
"But think about it. Taixuan Sect isn't the only sect in this world, so why did he come to Taixuan Sect to be a Handyman Disciple?"
Gu An shook his head. His words left Meng Lang stunned.
Then Gu An walked to the well, scooped up a ladleful of water from a wooden bucket, drained it in one gulp, set down the ladle, and headed outside the courtyard.
Meng Lang did not follow him. He knew what Gu An was going to do. After muttering something under his breath, he returned to his room to cultivate.
Gu An arrived at a garden plot where second-tier spirit herbs, Calm Heart Grass, were planted.
Over the past year, Gu An had only gathered first-tier medicinal ingredients. Moreover, the herbs here were not ordinary plants and took longer to mature. Many herbs needed several years before they could be harvested, so he had not gathered many herbs in the past year.
Zhang Chunqiu had said that in another month, they could harvest the Calm Heart Grass in this garden plot. It would be their first time gathering second-tier medicinal herbs, and Gu An had been looking forward to it for a long time.
In his eyes, those stalks of deep-blue Calm Heart Grass were not medicinal herbs, but numbers representing lifespan.
Suddenly.
Gu An spotted a stalk of Calm Heart Grass swaying. He focused his gaze, and his expression changed drastically at once. He immediately vaulted over the wooden fence and rushed over.
He saw a palm-sized white-furred rat clawing at the soil beneath the Calm Heart Grass, seemingly intending to uproot it entirely.
When it saw Gu An charging over, the white-furred rat was so frightened that it instantly darted away, swift as lightning. It quickly vanished beneath the wooden fence at the edge of the plot, fleeing without a trace.
Gu An had wanted to chase after it, but when he saw that the Calm Heart Grass had been bitten and its stem snapped, he hurriedly crouched down and pulled out a strip of Spirit Protection Paper from his waist.
With his left hand, he swiftly plucked the broken Calm Heart Grass. With his right, he wrapped Spirit Protection Paper around its roots to prevent its spiritual energy from dissipating.
After bandaging it, Gu An stood up.
[You successfully seized 4 years of lifespan from Calm Heart Grass (second-tier)]
Before Gu An could smile, another line of text appeared before his eyes:
[Your lifespan has exceeded one thousand years for the first time. Lifespan Inspection function unlocked.]
Lifespan Inspection?
Gu An was secretly curious. He could not help looking at a stalk of Calm Heart Grass on the ground and silently thought, Inspect lifespan.
[Calm Heart Grass (second-tier): 4/25/102 years (age/lifespan/lifespan limit)]
This stalk of Calm Heart Grass had a lifespan limit of one hundred and two years?
The lifespan he seized was also different from its original lifespan. It seemed he could not completely strip a target of all its lifespan. Most of that lifespan dissipated with the target's death.
Gu An did not know what the difference was between lifespan and lifespan limit. Perhaps it had something to do with cultivation.
He picked up the bandaged Calm Heart Grass, rose, and headed toward Zhang Chunqiu's pavilion.
All medicinal herbs in Medicine Valley had to be handed over to Zhang Chunqiu for safekeeping. Every half year, Gu An and the other two received Taixuan Sect Handyman Disciple stipends, all of which consisted of Spirit Stones and spirit pills used for cultivation. Zhang Chunqiu would also reward them with medicinal herb seeds based on their performance.
Three stalks of Calm Heart Grass were planted in Gu An's room, one more than Meng Lang and Li Ya had. Neither of them was jealous of this.
Just as Gu An left the garden plot, he saw someone climbing the stairs to Zhang Chunqiu's pavilion. It was a black-clad elder carrying a bookcase on his back and wearing a black cloth cap, looking exceedingly mysterious.
As Gu An watched the Black-Clad Elder from afar, his heart stirred. He inspected the other man's lifespan, and two lines of prompts immediately appeared before his eyes:
[Cheng Xuandan (Qi Refining Realm, eighth level): 104/120/180]
Cheng Xuandan!
The master of Medicine Valley, and Gu An's nominal master. Gu An had only heard Zhang Chunqiu mention him before. Cheng Xuandan had spent these years traveling abroad, and this was the first time Gu An had seen him.
Cheng Xuandan was one hundred and four years old, with a lifespan of one hundred and twenty and a lifespan limit of one hundred and eighty. In other words, barring unforeseen circumstances, he could only live another sixteen years.
Gu An found Lifespan Inspection quite interesting. It could help him identify others' cultivation and aptitude.
He guessed that lifespan limit might represent the height of one's natural aptitude, though he would need to use it repeatedly to confirm that guess.
Cheng Xuandan entered Zhang Chunqiu's room and closed the door behind him.
Gu An then entered Zhang Chunqiu's courtyard, placed the bandaged Calm Heart Grass on a long table, and turned to leave.
He returned to his own courtyard and first checked on Meng Lang, who was cultivating in his room.
[Meng Lang (Qi Refining Realm, second level): 17/90/190]
Mm, as expected. Useless.
After learning Meng Lang's lifespan, Gu An did not chat much with him and soon returned to his own room.
He waited until night fell. Once he heard Li Ya's footsteps, he rose and stepped outside.
Li Ya had just been about to head to his room when he saw Gu An open the door. He could not help asking, "What is it?"
While inspecting his lifespan, Gu An answered, "Master has returned. How about we pay him a visit together tomorrow?"
[Li Ya (Qi Refining Realm, sixth level): 18/210/1550]
Hiss—
A lifespan limit of one thousand five hundred and fifty years!
Was this the aptitude of an Imperial Family descendant?
Did Li Ya not also have mixed Spirit Roots?
The look in Gu An's eyes immediately changed as he looked at Li Ya. Perhaps Li Ya was a buried genius who would sooner or later shine with dazzling brilliance.
And this fellow's cultivation had already reached the sixth level of the Qi Refining Realm!
What did that mean?
Playing the pig to eat the tiger?
The cultivation realms Gu An had encountered, from low to high, were Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, and Spirit Transformation. Each major realm was further divided into nine minor levels. For Li Ya to reach the sixth level of the Qi Refining Realm at eighteen, he would likely achieve Foundation Establishment in only a few years and become an official disciple of Taixuan Sect.
He absolutely had to build a good relationship with such a talented fellow disciple!
Hearing this, Li Ya raised his brows slightly and nodded. "Sure. You've thought it through well. Wake me once you get up tomorrow."
With that, he turned and walked toward his room.
Gu An watched him close the door, his heart filled with emotion.
Sure enough, class existed in every world. The gap in status meant it would be difficult for him and Li Ya to become true friends.
Gu An was not angry. Having been a household servant since childhood, he had endured countless cold stares and slights. Nor did he blame Li Ya. Who could blame him for appearing so utterly ordinary?
No matter. With the cheat ability to seize lifespan, Gu An believed he would become an immortal sooner or later. Before then, what he needed was to keep a low profile and safely get through this stage of stockpiling lifespan.
If he wanted stability, then he could not clash with others or stir up trouble. The lower his profile, the better!
A smile appeared on Gu An's face. Then he turned and shut his door.
The moon was full that night, and moonlight spilled across the stone steps in the courtyard like flowing water.
Early the next morning, in the main hall.
Gu An, Meng Lang, and Li Ya stood side by side. Before them, Cheng Xuandan sat in a chair holding a cup of hot tea, while Zhang Chunqiu stood respectfully beside him, looking every bit the dutiful senior brother.
[Zhang Chunqiu (Qi Refining Realm, fifth level): 54/110/175]
Gu An felt that his senior brother's aptitude was rather low, but on second thought, it made sense. There was more than one Medicine Valley like this in Taixuan Sect. For someone like Li Ya to appear here was already exceptionally rare.
Besides, compared to these people, Gu An himself had initially been the most useless one.
Cheng Xuandan raised his clouded eyes and sized up Gu An and the other two. He said, "I have learned about your performance from your senior brother. Since this is our first meeting, I should give each of you a greeting gift."
"You may choose one among the Record of Hundred Herbs, the Qi Cultivation Technique, and the spell Poisonwood Vine. You may only choose one, and you may not teach one another. If I discover that you have done so, you will be severely punished."
The moment Meng Lang heard this, he spoke first. "Master, I want Poisonwood Vine!"
Gu An thought that no one would surely want the Record of Hundred Herbs. He might as well let Li Ya choose first and do him a favor along the way.
Li Ya then said, "This disciple wishes to choose the Record of Hundred Herbs."
Gu An looked at him in surprise.
Brother, why weren't you following the script?
Before you continue