In the mountain forest, Gu An could not refuse Li Ya, and ultimately performed a clumsy set of the Li Family Seven Swords. Only then did he realize that pretending to be inept was harder than pretending to be proficient.
Faced with Gu An's stiff sword forms, Li Ya criticized him for quite a while before patiently beginning to teach him swordsmanship.
From his sword forms, Gu An could tell that he was already cultivating the Astonishing Nine Swords. He counted as a genius, at least possessing greater talent in the sword than Gu An.
When the next day came, Li Ya still wanted to drag Gu An into practicing swordsmanship.
Gu An could not take it anymore!
"Brother Li, I have no talent for swordsmanship, so let's forget it. I only have a few decades to live. If I painstakingly cultivate the sword, wouldn't that be wasting my life? Compared to practicing the sword, I'd rather plant and water flowers."
Gu An spoke helplessly as he secretly activated the dragon force within him, making his eyes redden.
Seeing this, Li Ya, who held a sword, suddenly felt as though his heart were blocked.
What was he doing?
Was he repaying Junior Brother Gu in the way he himself enjoyed?
How was that not another kind of harm?
Li Ya could not help recalling his childhood, when his imperial father had forced him to study with his elder imperial brothers. Yet no matter what, he could never learn the things his elder brothers excelled at.
He sighed, walked before Gu An, and patted his shoulder. "Junior Brother Gu, this senior brother failed to consider things properly. I'm sorry."
Gu An forced a smile. "It's all right. Senior Brother was thinking of my sake too. It's just that I'm useless and lacking in talent."
The more he acted this way, the guiltier Li Ya felt.
The two sat down and began talking about their first year after entering the valley, easing the tense atmosphere brought by sword practice.
Over the following days, Li Ya no longer pestered Gu An to practice swordsmanship, though he still set aside one hour each day to teach Xiao Chuan and the others.
For Xiao Chuan and the others, whose dreams had yet to be extinguished, being able to learn swordsmanship from an Outer Sect disciple was an exceptionally rare opportunity.
It was not until five days later that Li Ya prepared to leave.
Gu An brought his junior brothers and sisters to see Li Ya off at the mouth of the valley. Xiao Chuan and the others were deeply reluctant to part with him; they had learned far too much from Li Ya.
"Senior Brother, this will always be your home. Come home often and take a look," Gu An said with a reluctant expression.
Home?
Waves stirred in Li Ya's heart, yet his smile remained light as drifting clouds and a gentle breeze. "All right. I'll come back."
With that, he turned and left. Dressed in black, he was like a mass of Black Flame in the mountain forest, blazing fiercely. The bleak autumn wind could not extinguish his fire.
Gu An felt that some fighting spirit was burning within him, perhaps related to the injury he had suffered this time.
Only after Li Ya had vanished into the depths of the forest did Gu An withdraw his gaze. He turned to his junior brothers and sisters and smiled. "Cultivate well. Enter the Outer Sect early and find Senior Brother Li. Bring glory to our Mystic Valley."
Lu Jiujia immediately made a bold declaration, swearing that he would enter the Outer Sect.
Xiao Chuan said the same, though he was clearly less confident than Lu Jiujia.
Ye Lan, meanwhile, was preoccupied, lost in thought.
Wuxin spoke up. "I'm not going to the Outer Sect. I want to stay with Eldest Senior Brother for the rest of my life!"
The moment those words came out, everyone looked at him in surprise, including Gu An.
"This kid..."
Gu An felt somewhat moved. Had he misunderstood Wuxin?
These past days, Wuxin had been very well-behaved. He no longer groped about everywhere late at night, and nothing had ever gone missing from Mystic Valley, so it could not yet be determined that Wuxin harbored ill intentions.
Since that was the case, he should assign more chores to Wuxin in the future.
Ye Lan felt regretful. How had Wuxin gotten those words out before her?
At the same time, she realized that perhaps Eldest Senior Brother was important in her heart, but not as important as cultivating immortality and pursuing longevity.
Lu Jiujia could not help mocking Wuxin for being too good at brown-nosing. For a time, Xiao Chuan, Ye Lan, and Wuxin began bickering with him again.
Gu An led them back into the valley, while his thoughts drifted underground.
Li Ya had already left. Next, it was time to prepare to deal with the trouble beneath the ground.
Late at night, within the Eight Sceneries Grotto-Heaven.
Gu An gripped the Heavenly Abode Sword's scabbard as he came before Meng Lang. Meng Lang, whose seven orifices had been sealed with soil, still lay on the grass.
"There are traces of disturbance in the grass nearby. Sure enough, someone has been here."
Gu An keenly noticed subtle changes in the grass around Meng Lang. Ordinary cultivators would find it difficult to notice such details. He had only discovered them because he had deliberately observed the area before leaving last time.
He squeezed the Heavenly Abode Sword in his hand, then stepped toward the hole Meng Lang had once crawled out of.
Before long, he vanished into the darkness.
This tunnel did not contain many crystals and was extremely dim, but to the divine sense of a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator, that posed no obstacle whatsoever.
Chilly spiritual winds howled through the passage, fluttering Gu An's robes. His divine sense had already reached the end of the tunnel ahead of him.
It was a spacious cave chamber. Though not as large as the main chamber of the Eight Sceneries Grotto-Heaven, it was still quite sizable. Coffins stood one after another throughout it, while a blue-green crystal as large as a water vat was embedded in the ceiling. Under its ghostly glow, those coffins looked terrifying and sinister.
Apart from the coffins, there was nothing else.
Gu An's divine sense immediately caught a living person lying inside one of the coffins. That faint breath of life could not escape the divine sense of a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator.
Gu An did not sense danger from that trace of life, but he did not let down his guard.
He continued onward. Only after walking for a long while did he reach the end of the tunnel.
Standing at the entrance, he cautiously poked his head out and carefully asked, "Is anyone there?"
No one answered him, as though there was not a single person in the chamber.
Gu An picked up a pebble from the ground and tossed it inside. With a tap, the pebble struck a coffin. The coffin did not react, but he seemed to be frightened, his eyes widening.
He instinctively took two steps back, putting on a terrified expression.
Why was there still no sound?
If he kept acting, it was going to get awkward!
Gu An grew anxious. The reason he was putting on this act was to determine that being's attitude. After all, the other party had never harmed him before, and he did not want to wrongly kill a good person.
At the very least, he needed to be able to live with it himself!
Gu An gritted his teeth, suddenly drew his sword, and charged into the chamber. He slashed wildly, and with a crack, the Heavenly Abode Sword struck a coffin lid and became lodged in it. He gave it a hard tug, and due to the momentum, staggered two steps backward.
"Pfft—ha..."
A soft laugh rang out, piercingly sharp within the cave chamber.
Gu An nearly broke out in goosebumps. It was actually a woman's voice. At first listen, it sounded like a female ghost laughing.
Holding the Heavenly Abode Sword, he nervously swept his gaze around, constantly turning in circles, afraid that some demon or monster might rush out from beside him.
"Boy, are you Cheng Xuandan's disciple?"
That mysterious female voice rang out again, its coquettish tone enough to set the imagination running wild.
Gu An hurriedly replied, "That's right, Senior. Cheng Xuandan is my master. Who are you, and why are you here?"
"Anyone who can be here is naturally your Martial Ancestor. Cheng Xuandan is this one's disciple. Since you were able to enter, that means his allotted lifespan has run out, hasn't it?" The mysterious woman's voice lost its mirth, carrying a trace of melancholy.
Gu An answered, "So you are Martial Ancestor. Greetings, Martial Ancestor. Master's allotted lifespan did indeed run out. He said he wished to follow your example and find a place unknown to anyone to meet the end of his life."
The cave chamber fell silent with him.
Gu An remained vigilant. If the other party wanted to attack him, then Martial Ancestor or not, she could not blame him for being merciless.
The Heavenly Abode Sword in his hand had yet to see blood!
A long time passed.
Just as Gu An was about to lose patience and speak, her voice sounded again. "Did Cheng Xuandan tell you this one's identity?"
Gu An replied quietly, "Master told me everything. You came from Thousand Autumn Pavilion, and he also told me to be ready at any time to receive people from Thousand Autumn Pavilion..."
"Looking at you, timid and cowardly, and seeing how cautiously you entered, you must not have come willingly, right? Only after he handed the Valley Master position to you did you learn about all this?" she asked teasingly.
Gu An sighed. Everything that needed to be said was left unsaid.
This time, he was not acting. He truly felt helpless.
"Since you have already taken him as your master, you are naturally this one's martial granddisciple as well. Guard this place for this one for another ten years. After ten years, this one will be able to leave Taixuan Sect and will not bring you trouble."
Hearing this, Gu An could not help asking, "May I ask Martial Ancestor's honored name?"
"This one's surname is Jiang, given name Qiong. As for this one's title in the cultivation world, there is no need to mention it."
Jiang Qiong?
It was quite a pleasant name, though who knew how many years she had lived.
As Gu An pondered this, one of the coffins ahead suddenly opened, startling him into raising his sword.
Two items flew out of the coffin and landed before him.
He lowered his gaze. They were a small black bell and a secret manual.
"This is this one's greeting gift to my martial granddisciple. The Soul-Shaking Bell can command every gu art within the Myriad Gu Profound Technique. With a single shake, all the corpse gu in this cave will await your orders."
"That secret manual contains this one's cultivation method, the Yin-Yang Art. The Yin-Yang Art includes the incantation for refining the Soul-Shaking Bell. Even your master was unable to learn this."
Jiang Qiong's voice came from within the cave, her tone seeming somewhat weary.
Gu An quickly bowed in thanks, but he could not help asking, "This martial granddisciple's aptitude is mediocre. Why is Martial Ancestor treating me so well?"
"Hehe, mediocre aptitude? Boy, though this one does not know what strange art you cultivate, your actual cultivation is absolutely not merely at the fourth layer of Qi Refining. You should have already reached Foundation Establishment, right? Reaching Foundation Establishment at such a young age makes you a genius. You can suppress your arrogant heart and hide diligently in the Outer Sect as a Handyman Disciple. Though this one does not know what you carry upon your back, at the very least, it seems you are quite resistant to Taixuan Sect."
"Your aptitude satisfies this one, and your way of conducting yourself suits this one's taste even more. Cultivate well. This one will pass more spells on to you later. Once you inherit this one's mantle, this one will recommend you to Thousand Autumn Pavilion as a True Disciple."
Jiang Qiong resumed her earlier coquettish laughter. Gu An's expression changed, and he felt as though he had been seen through, unable to save face.
Gu An drew a deep breath. "Thank you, Martial Ancestor. If you have any instructions, you may tell me at any time."
With that, he bent down to pick up the Soul-Shaking Bell and the Yin-Yang Art, then turned to leave.
Jiang Qiong's voice no longer sounded within the chamber, while Gu An hurried back to the Eight Sceneries Grotto-Heaven.
He sat cross-legged beneath a tree and began reading the Yin-Yang Art.
He considered whether Jiang Qiong harbored malicious intentions.
If it was only ten years, there was nothing to fear. He was not merely at the Nascent Soul Realm; he had also mastered the Great Vast God-Startling Sword.
Jiang Qiong was clearly no good person. She was merely wary of Gu An's Foundation Establishment Realm strength. In just ten short years, how could she go from fearing someone at Foundation Establishment to casually slaughtering a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator with a turn of her hand?
She had not only just hidden here. According to Cheng Xuandan, she had already been dead for seventy years.
During these ten years, he would find a way to coax more spells and secret manuals out of her. If she honestly left after ten years, Gu An would not deceive his master and destroy his ancestors.
If she harbored malicious intentions, then Gu An could only let the Heavenly Abode Sword see some blood.
What should he eat for lunch?
Before you continue