Gu An did not immediately invest his lifespan into evolutionary cultivation. With the precedent of the Dragon Force Divine Origin Technique, he feared the commotion would be too great.
He would wait until night!
Even if the disturbance was huge then, given Cheng Xuandan and Zhang Chunqiu's nerve, they would probably huddle in their shells and not dare leave their rooms.
Night soon fell.
Only after Meng Lang had gone into his room to rest did Gu An bring up his Attribute Panel.
He focused on the Spring Origin Art and chose to invest one thousand years of lifespan into evolutionary cultivation.
Heaven above, bless me. Don't let these thousand years of lifespan go to waste!
As Gu An prayed, he rubbed the White Spirit Mouse, trying to borrow some of the mouse's luck.
[You invested one thousand years of lifespan into 'Spring Origin Art' for evolutionary cultivation.] [You cultivated the Spring Origin Art for one year. Due to your mediocre comprehension and aptitude, your cultivation improved only slightly.] [You cultivated the Spring Origin Art for ten years. Your understanding of the Spring Origin Art reached an entirely new realm.] [You cultivated the Spring Origin Art for one hundred years. You comprehended the earth and mountain forests, gaining more ideas about the Spring Origin Art.] [You cultivated the Spring Origin Art for two hundred years. Your Spring Origin Art advanced into the Verdant Wood Springbirth Technique.] [You cultivated the Spring Origin Art for five hundred years. Your understanding of the Verdant Wood Springbirth Technique reached perfection, and your Wood Spirit Root improved.] [You cultivated the Spring Origin Art for eight hundred years. You comprehended heaven, earth, and nature, and your Verdant Wood Springbirth Technique advanced into the Divine Wood Pure Yang Technique.] [You cultivated the Spring Origin Art for one thousand years. Your mastery of the Divine Wood Pure Yang Technique reached consummate perfection, and your Wood Spirit Root improved.]
As Gu An watched the lines of prompts before him, he caught several key words and was instantly overjoyed. Then a flood of memories poured into his mind.
His consciousness sank into the inheritance. Green light burst from his body, while strands of deep-green spiritual energy rose from the floor within the room.
At the same time.
Zhang Chunqiu, who was cultivating inside his room, opened his eyes. He looked toward his windowsill as a fierce wind suddenly rose outside, rattling his window.
He hurriedly got up and walked to the window. After taking only one glance outside, he quickly shut it.
He strode to the table, blew out the oil lamp, and hid beneath his blankets.
"No, I have to leave sooner. This Medicine Valley is getting more and more sinister..."
Meng Lang was similarly frightened. He trembled beneath his blanket, while Xiao Chuan, exhausted from the day, slept like a dead pig, his snores rolling like thunder.
Cheng Xuandan sat cross-legged before his pill furnace. Sensing the disturbance outside, he looked into the night sky beyond the window. His gaze was deep, holding neither fear nor the slightest curiosity, calm as an ancient well.
A long while later.
Gu An finally awoke. Opening his eyes, he felt as though the entire world had become different.
He could clearly sense the wood-attributed spiritual energy in the air, as well as the vitality within every flower, blade of grass, and tree. The feeling was extraordinarily wondrous.
With a thought, the earlier prompts appeared before him again. Seeing that his Wood Spirit Root had improved, he was greatly delighted.
Cultivating techniques could actually improve Spirit Roots. Then he would no longer need to force-feed lifespan into his Spirit Root aptitude in the future. That thing was simply a bottomless pit. Gu An had only tried it once, yet it had already left him with lingering trauma.
He tried circulating the Divine Wood Pure Yang Technique. Unlike before, he could absorb the wood spiritual energy between heaven and earth at once. Once it entered his body, it flowed into his dantian before transforming into wood-attributed spiritual power.
The whole process was smooth and silky!
A single casual breath surpassed half a year of his previous efforts!
Gu An suddenly felt as if he were dreaming, as though he had become a genius overnight.
In that case, there was no rush to raise his cultivation.
When his lifespan had broken through one thousand years, he had unlocked the Lifespan Inspection ability. Perhaps when his lifespan broke through ten thousand years, another new ability would appear.
Besides, with his current cultivation speed, he felt that he could raise his cultivation through cultivation itself.
Though there was no rush to improve his cultivation, he needed to improve his offensive methods!
The Dragon Force Divine Origin Technique was an auxiliary technique and possessed no moves. His gaze fell on the Residual Wind Leg.
The Li Family Seven Swords was a sword technique. He had no treasured sword in hand, and sword techniques likely depended on cultivation.
The Residual Wind Leg was different. It relied on his legs. His physical strength could already easily slap a Foundation Establishment Realm Greed-Hatred Demon Ghost to death. If paired with the Residual Wind Leg, its power would surely soar.
How much lifespan should he invest?
Gu An fell into a dilemma. Investing too little would be meaningless, but investing too much hurt his heart.
Forget it. He would make it a round number and spend five hundred years!
Excitedly, Gu An invested five hundred years of lifespan into the Residual Wind Leg for evolutionary cultivation.
[You cultivated the Residual Wind Leg for one year. Due to your mediocre comprehension and aptitude, although your leg techniques became fluid, you failed to unleash the power of the Residual Wind Leg.] [You cultivated the Residual Wind Leg for ten years. Years of arduous cultivation brought your Residual Wind Leg to the pinnacle.] [You cultivated the Residual Wind Leg for one hundred years. Your Residual Wind Leg returned to simplicity, and you gained a new insight. Your Residual Wind Leg advanced into the Wind Shadow Leg.] [You cultivated the Residual Wind Leg for two hundred years. Your Wind Shadow Leg reached great mastery, and your understanding of body techniques improved.] [You cultivated the Residual Wind Leg for four hundred years. Your Wind Shadow Leg advanced into the Gale Absolute Shadow Leg.] [You cultivated the Residual Wind Leg for five hundred years. Your Gale Absolute Shadow Leg reached the realm of complete integration, and your understanding of body techniques and movement techniques improved.]
Could understanding of body techniques and movement techniques mean comprehension?
The moment that thought arose in Gu An's mind, memories of the Gale Absolute Shadow Leg filled his head.
At dawn, the first ray of sunlight swept across Medicine Valley. Before it could touch the threshold of Gu An's room, the door opened.
Gu An walked into the courtyard and faced the rising sun. He stretched lazily, his entire bearing utterly transformed.
His face was wreathed in smiles, and his excitement had yet to fully fade.
He silently brought up his Attribute Panel:
[Name: Gu An] [Lifespan: 19/1862] [Spirit Root: First-rate Wood Spirit Root, four fairly good Five Elements Spirit Roots (lifespan may be invested for evolutionary cultivation)] [Cultivation: Qi Refining Realm, Second Layer (lifespan may be invested for evolutionary cultivation)] [Techniques: Fire Control Art (not mastered), Divine Wood Pure Yang Technique (consummate perfection), Dragon Force Divine Origin Technique (consummate perfection) (lifespan may be invested for evolutionary cultivation)] [Ultimate Arts: Gale Absolute Shadow Leg (complete integration), Li Family Seven Swords (not mastered) (lifespan may be invested for evolutionary cultivation)]
Second Layer of the Qi Refining Realm!
During last night's inheritance of the Divine Wood Pure Yang Technique, his spiritual power had already increased considerably. Combined with a whole night of absorbing qi in cultivation, he had smoothly broken through to the Second Layer of the Qi Refining Realm.
He was no longer a useless cripple without spiritual power!
Spending lifespan felt unbelievably good!
Gu An gained even more ideas about his path of immortal cultivation.
He had no desire to venture outside. Slaying demons and exterminating devils to seize lifespan might let his lifespan increase faster, but the risk of death would also skyrocket.
What he thought of was the master of Medicine Valley!
Cheng Xuandan did not have many years left, and Zhang Chunqiu intended to descend the mountain. The position of valley master would undoubtedly be his!
Then he could recruit another batch of Handyman Disciples to cultivate for him, while he only needed to harvest. It would be simply wonderful.
Gu An planted his hands on his hips and looked toward the surrounding mountain peaks.
Perhaps more medicinal herbs could be planted on the mountains as well!
Cheng Xuandan had not expanded Medicine Valley, perhaps because expansion held no meaning for him. He was merely a worker for the Taixuan Sect.
But it was different for Gu An. He did not need a greater share of medicinal herbs. He only wanted to seize the herbs' lifespans.
The more Gu An thought about it, the more excited he became. He began kicking his legs in place, stretching his body.
He was practicing the leg techniques of the Residual Wind Leg. His movements were sharp and powerful, stirring the wind with every strike.
Not long afterward, Meng Lang emerged from the room next door and happened to see Gu An's leg technique. His eyes widened involuntarily.
Nineteen-year-old Gu An had fully grown into his frame. His legs swung like whips. Though his position did not shift, the fierce wind had already rushed into Meng Lang's face, leaving him stunned.
Meng Lang could not help rubbing his eyes, thinking he had mistaken him for someone else.
Since when had Gu An become so formidable?
Sensing Meng Lang's gaze, Gu An withdrew his leg, turned to him, and smiled. "Did I wake you?"
Meng Lang hurried over, scrutinizing him closely before asking, "How did you suddenly become so powerful? Last night, a demonic wind raged everywhere. Did you notice it? It couldn't have been related to you, could it?"
Gu An rolled his eyes at him. "That's right, it was me. I practiced the Residual Wind Leg Master taught us last night and stirred the Heavenly Dao, making the earth quake and cry out. It was enough to shake heaven and make ghosts weep. Since you heard the commotion, why didn't you come out and witness my magnificence?"
Meng Lang would never reveal his embarrassing state. He snorted. "Your leg technique may be fierce, but without spiritual power to support it, how could it stir up last night's gale? Besides, it wasn't just strong wind last night. There were spiritual energy fluctuations too. Either demons were devouring the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, or a Great Cultivator was making a breakthrough."
Gu An smiled and lifted his leg, giving Meng Lang a kick on the backside.
"You dare kick me? Are you rebelling? Li Ya is gone, so do you no longer want to acknowledge me as your big brother?" Meng Lang yelped.
"If I acknowledge you as my big brother, wouldn't that mean you have to stay here with me for the rest of your life? Don't you want to become an Outer Sect disciple?"
"That makes sense. You're right. I'm not like you."
The two began roughhousing.
An hour later, Zhang Chunqiu found Gu An. He led Gu An around Medicine Valley, explaining every inch of land and every medicinal herb within it.
Gu An listened attentively, but as he listened, he sensed something was off.
Why did this sound like Zhang Chunqiu was arranging his final affairs?
Could last night's disturbance have frightened the guts out of him?
Gu An had wanted to persuade him, but on second thought, Zhu Moyan was no good person. He had likely done plenty of dirty work for the Great Cultivator behind the Greed-Hatred Demon Ghost. Once Chu Jingfeng resolved the matter, Zhang Chunqiu would probably be implicated.
After all, the two were friends.
It would be better for him to descend the mountain early!
Gu An swore that he was not coveting the position of eldest senior brother. He was sincerely considering Zhang Chunqiu's well-being.
After mastering the Divine Wood Pure Yang Technique, Gu An was in no rush to contact Chu Jingfeng. First, he now possessed the strength to protect himself. Second, he did not want to alert the enemy.
He had only just returned to Medicine Valley, and Chu Jingfeng arriving the very next day would make it difficult to clear himself of suspicion.
What Gu An feared was not Zhu Moyan, but the person behind Zhu Moyan. From what Zhang Chunqiu had said before, that person held an extremely high position. Even the combined weight of all Medicine Valley could not shake that person in the slightest.
It was the perfect time to raise his cultivation while he waited!
Zhang Chunqiu led Gu An around for an hour and even climbed the surrounding mountains with him. Only after talking until his mouth was dry did he bring Gu An to Cheng Xuandan.
Seeing the pill furnace before Cheng Xuandan, Gu An's eyes brimmed with curiosity.
He had long heard that Cheng Xuandan was skilled in pill refinement. He wondered whether he could learn it.
After learning it, he could spend lifespan and directly transform into a grandmaster of pill refinement!
Cheng Xuandan rose and looked at Gu An. "From today onward, you are the eldest senior brother of this Medicine Valley."
At those words, Gu An was shocked out of his wits. He instinctively looked at Zhang Chunqiu and asked in alarm, "Eldest Senior Brother, what happened to you?"
Thanks to Mo Yizi Mo for the reward of 600 Qidian coins~~
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