After Li Ya left, Gu An threw himself into the construction of Mystic Valley. His leisurely days began to dwindle, because those young Sheep Demons were incredibly troublesome.
At four months old, they could race through the mountains and forests as though walking on level ground, as swift as cheetahs from Earth in his previous life. If the valley had not been filled with cultivators, they would have long since run away.
Gu An had no choice but to study the Ziwei Array Record Jiang Qiong had left behind, learning some low-level restrictions to seal the sheep pen.
When the half-year period arrived, Gu An had Wuxin take Xiao Chuan to the Outer Sect to recruit two more Handyman Disciples, Chen Hong and Zhen Xiao'er. Their aptitude was mediocre, which pleased him greatly.
The number of Handyman Disciples in Mystic Valley reached ten, making every day lively.
Time flew like an arrow, and time passed like a White Dragon-Horse flashing through a crack—gone, never to return.
Three years passed in the blink of an eye.
Autumn came again.
Xiao Chuan was inspecting the various gardens, followed by rows upon rows of ducks, flocking together in a mighty procession.
Disciples sat atop the mountains around Medicine Valley, meditating and drawing in spiritual energy. From time to time, the forests swayed—that was the commotion of Tang Yu and Su Han chasing the Sheep Demons.
Gu An emerged from the western forest with a smile on his face.
He had just harvested another batch of medicinal herbs, gaining several hundred years of lifespan. He was drawing ever closer to one hundred thousand years of lifespan.
His lifespan had now reached eighty thousand years.
Over the past three years, he had earned nearly fifty thousand years of lifespan. Most of it came from medicinal herbs cultivated for many years finally reaching maturity, while ten thousand years had come from tending the Cave Mansions of Outer Sect disciples.
The petite Zhen Qin ran out from the woods with a bamboo basket on her back. She hurried over to Gu An and said, "Master, can you teach me alchemy today?"
A dead leaf still rested on her head, and the hair by her cheeks was slightly disheveled.
Gu An chuckled. "Of course, but you must use your own herbs. That way, you'll be more careful."
Once, Zhen Qin had heard that Gu An had taken a Youth-Preserving Pill. She had immediately developed an interest in alchemy and began pestering him relentlessly. This had gone on for nearly half a year.
"I prepared everything long ago!" Zhen Qin said excitedly, bouncing around beside Gu An like a girl who would never grow up.
Whoosh—
A sound tore through the air above Mystic Valley. Gu An looked up and casually cast Lifespan Inspection.
Another Nascent Soul Realm cultivator!
More than ten Nascent Soul Realm cultivators had passed over Mystic Valley this year, leaving Gu An faintly uneasy. He always felt that something major was about to happen.
Even the World Outer Sect Assembly back then had not drawn so many Nascent Soul Realm cultivators.
No!
He needed to raise the Dragon Force Divine Origin Technique. What if a Great Cultivator far beyond the Nascent Soul Realm appeared and saw through his cultivation?
Gu An made up his mind in secret.
After so many years, the Dragon Force Divine Origin Technique's increase to his lifespan had grown smaller and smaller. Now, gaining one year of lifespan in half a year was already decent. He estimated that after another ten years, this technique would no longer increase his lifespan.
Afterward, Gu An brought Zhen Qin back to his loft and began teaching her alchemy.
Late into the night, Gu An quietly entered the Eight Sceneries Grotto-Heaven.
Since Jiang Qiong's departure, Gu An had explored the other six cave passages as well. At the ends of every passage were corpses like Meng Lang's, refined by Cheng Xuandan and Jiang Qiong using different Gu techniques from the Myriad Gu Profound Technique.
For the time being, Gu An had no intention of touching these Gu Corpses.
He went all the way beneath the Azure Vine Tree, rolled up his sleeves, and sat down cross-legged on the spot.
At that moment, a Dark Shadow dropped from the tree and burrowed into his arms.
A little black dragon!
Its body was slender, about two feet long, with a pair of dragon horns, dragon whiskers by its mouth, and tiny black dragon scales covering its body. Its four claws were sharp, and it looked very much like the dragons of ancient Huaxia legends, save for its different color.
This was the Ancient Hao Sect's Saint Beast, the Hao Dragon!
As Gu An stroked it, he checked its lifespan.
[Hao Dragon (First Rank): 1/965/18000]
Its lifespan had increased again!
When the Hao Dragon had just been born, it only had five hundred years of lifespan. In merely a year, its lifespan had nearly doubled.
As expected of a Demon Beast with ninth-rank potential!
Gu An recalled how the Hao Dragon had acknowledged him as its master last year, and could not help smiling.
The newborn Hao Dragon had directly bitten him, making him so angry that he flung it away. Then it had pitifully crawled back over and rubbed against him.
Gu An felt that the Hao Dragon had not truly acknowledged a master. Rather, through blood, it had decided that he was its family.
They had formed a kind of soul resonance. He could understand its thoughts, but he could not directly control its life and death.
The Hao Dragon served only one master in its lifetime. This showed that although it was violent by nature, it was exceedingly loyal and devoted.
"Good boy, go eat."
Gu An took out a Demon Sheep he had slain from his Storage Bag. He had killed it only yesterday morning, and it had given him just three years of lifespan.
The Hao Dragon's eyes lit up. It immediately seized the Sheep Demon corpse and flew to the side.
The Sheep Demon's corpse was several times larger than the Hao Dragon, yet it held it in its dragon claws with remarkable ease, as though the Sheep Demon had no weight at all.
Gu An summoned the Attribute Panel and looked toward the cultivation techniques section, investing two thousand years of lifespan into the Dragon Force Divine Origin Technique.
The Dragon Force Divine Origin Technique could conceal his cultivation and aura. It was the foundation that kept him standing, the most important thing of all. He even felt that this technique was more important than the Divine Wood Pure Yang Technique.
[You invested two thousand years of lifespan into the Dragon Force Divine Origin Technique for evolutionary cultivation.] [You cultivated the Dragon Force Divine Origin Technique for ten years. The spiritual energy of heaven and earth tempered your body, strengthening your flesh and blood.] [You cultivated the Dragon Force Divine Origin Technique for one hundred years. The spiritual energy of heaven and earth tempered your body, strengthening your flesh and blood.] [You cultivated the Dragon Force Divine Origin Technique for two hundred years. Your Dragon Force Divine Origin Technique reached the realm of perfection.] [You cultivated the Dragon Force Divine Origin Technique for four hundred years. On this day, you grasped the true meaning of the earth. Your Dragon Force Divine Origin Technique returned to simplicity and advanced into the Earth Vein Imperial Qi Technique.] ... [You cultivated the Dragon Force Divine Origin Technique for one thousand five hundred years. You sensed the aura of the earth's laws. Your Earth Vein Imperial Qi Technique broke through its limits and advanced into the Mysterious Yellow Dragon Qi Technique.] [You cultivated the Dragon Force Divine Origin Technique for one thousand eight hundred years. Your understanding of the Mysterious Yellow Dragon Qi Technique improved, and you achieved complete mastery.] [You cultivated the Dragon Force Divine Origin Technique for two thousand years. Your understanding of the Mysterious Yellow Dragon Qi Technique reached the realm of perfection. You comprehended the divine ability—Mysterious Yellow Dragon Might.]
Line after line of notifications appeared before Gu An.
The Dragon Force Divine Origin Technique had advanced into the Earth Vein Imperial Qi Technique, then advanced again into the Mysterious Yellow Dragon Qi Technique!
It had even awakened a divine ability!
Gu An was overjoyed, feeling that his luck this time had been exceptionally good.
A vast amount of memories rapidly flooded into his mind, plunging him into boundless information about the Dao.
The Hao Dragon, which was gnawing on sheep meat, turned its head. Curiosity shone in its gem-like eyes.
Wisps of green energy rose from the grass beneath Gu An, swirling around him. With his eyes closed, he began breathing in and out unconsciously, and a faint dragon's cry seemed to ring out.
The Mysterious Yellow Dragon Qi Technique used the mysterious yellow energy of the earth to temper the body, allowing the flesh to become one with heaven, earth, and nature. The so-called dragon's cry was actually the sound of the earth rumbling.
Only after two full hours did Gu An awaken.
When he opened his eyes, his brows immediately furrowed.
All the flowers and grass around him had withered. He hurriedly rose and swept his gaze over the medicinal herbs within the Eight Sceneries Grotto-Heaven. Only after looking around did he finally let out a sigh of relief.
Only weeds had withered. The spiritual flowers and herbs had not been greatly affected.
He could not act recklessly in the future!
Whether improving a cultivation technique or breaking through, he had to leave the Eight Sceneries Grotto-Heaven, lest he drain all the spiritual energy here.
Gu An sat down again and began reviewing the Mysterious Yellow Dragon Qi Technique while circulating it according to its method.
He condensed a mouthful of Mysterious Yellow Dragon Qi, allowing his body to become one with nature!
The Hao Dragon had already eaten its fill and lay sleeping beside the sheep corpse. Within the Eight Sceneries Grotto-Heaven, only the sound of wind remained.
At dawn.
Gu An walked down from the loft. He had changed into a green robe, his black hair casually tied behind his head, with two long strands left by his ears. He exuded the unworldly, elegant air of a cultivator.
His body had not yet fully adapted to the Mysterious Yellow Dragon Qi Technique, but he was in no rush. By cultivating every night, he would produce Mysterious Yellow Dragon Qi within at most a month.
As for the divine ability that came with the Mysterious Yellow Dragon Qi Technique, Mysterious Yellow Dragon Might, he did not need to cultivate it separately. Once Mysterious Yellow Dragon Qi was born, dragon might would naturally take shape.
The so-called dragon might was in truth the might of heaven and earth, capable of intimidating all living beings.
Gu An began calling the disciples over for their exercises. Once everyone had gathered and the exercises began, they could all sense that Gu An was in a particularly good mood today.
Zhen Qin curiously asked her master what had made him so happy.
"Nothing. I read a book last night called Investiture of the Gods. You can borrow it from the Library Pavilion when you have time," Gu An said with a smile as he exercised.
Xiao Chuan's eyes lit up. "I know Investiture of the Gods. Almost everyone in the Outer Sect has a copy. They say it records ancient secrets of the cultivation world."
The disciples became interested and began asking Xiao Chuan what Investiture of the Gods was about.
Gu An did not speak again. In his heart, he was still pondering the Mysterious Yellow Dragon Qi Technique.
Over the next month, he cultivated the Mysterious Yellow Dragon Qi Technique every night. In the end, he successfully cultivated a mouthful of Mysterious Yellow Dragon Qi within his abdomen, bringing his concealment of cultivation and aura to a higher level.
Gu An felt as though a heavy burden had been lifted. Now, he could safely keep lying low.
This year passed as blandly as the years before it. To Gu An, blandness was the best possible outcome.
As the winter snow had only just begun to melt, Mystic Valley welcomed the new spring once more. All the disciples were preparing for the Spring Festival.
Gu An sat beneath a tree reading Travels of the Green Hero, utterly absorbed.
Zhen Qin suddenly walked over, clasping her hands behind her waist as she bent down and asked, "Master, what would you like to eat tomorrow night? I'll make it for you."
Without taking his eyes off the book, Gu An answered, "Anything. Whatever you make, I'll eat."
Zhen Qin grew curious and leaned in to see what book he was reading, but he stopped her.
"Hurry and prepare the ingredients. If you delay tomorrow night's festival, be careful—I won't teach you alchemy anymore!" Gu An said sternly on purpose.
At that, Zhen Qin immediately pursed her lips and could only turn to leave.
Gu An vaguely heard her mutter, "Reading improper books again."
The corner of his mouth twitched.
Who exactly had spread this rumor?
They were ruining his reputation!
Now all the Medicine Valley disciples knew he liked reading Travels of the Green Hero. Though they did not dare mention it in front of him, they often teased him about it in private.
Gu An stood up and tucked Travels of the Green Hero into his robe.
Starting today, he would quit!
Gu An walked out of the courtyard, preparing to inspect the gardens. Suddenly, his gaze was drawn to the valley entrance, and his brow furrowed.
A man in white robes was strolling toward them. He looked to be in his thirties, with handsome features and an extraordinary bearing.
What made Gu An frown was that he could not sense the other man's aura at all.
He immediately cast Lifespan Inspection on him.
[Li Xuandao (Spirit Transformation Realm, Eighth Layer): 230/899/3020]
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