Recaps

Gu An established Tianya Valley, planted medicinal herbs, and put three captured Monkey Demons to work before returning to Mystic Valley. He secured permission to remain a valley master after Foundation Establishment and learned that Zhou Tongyou, a famed young genius, would soon challenge Taixuan Sect cultivators.

• Gu An used the Heavenly Abode Sword to establish his authority with Luo Hun, who explained that Taicang's imperial swords represented the Emperor.
• Luo Hun activated Tianya Valley's protective formation, built five pavilions, and captured three second-rank Monkey Demons, whom Gu An named Sun Da, Sun Er, and Sun San.
• Gu An returned to Mystic Valley with invisibility talismans from Luo Hun and planned to raise his apparent cultivation while overseeing both valleys.
• Gu An asked Liu Chang to let him remain a valley master after establishing his foundation, and Liu Chang agreed to arrange it through Gu Yu.
• Liu Chang told Gu An that Zhou Tongyou of Jueshan Sect would visit to challenge cultivators under a hundred years old, describing his extraordinary strength.
• Gu An announced his successful Foundation Establishment to Mystic Valley's disciples, then reassured them that he would stay and told Wuxin he could soon take charge of the valley.

Ye Lan returned to Mystic Valley for the Spring Festival, gave Gu An a rare spirit tree root, and warned him about Lu Jiujia’s ties to the Taixuan Sect’s internal conflict. Months later, Gu Yu arrived with a Valley Master Token and took Gu An to his new Medicine Valley.

• Ye Lan gave Gu An a Human-Face Tree root as a Foundation Establishment gift, and Gu An decided to save it for his Third Medicine Valley.
• At the Spring Festival gathering, Ye Lan told the disciples about a dangerous mission and later warned Gu An that Lu Jiujia had joined an elder aligned against the Sect Master.
• Ye Lan cautioned Gu An that the Taixuan Sect’s internal struggle could lead to a purge, while Gu An listened to her account of the conflict’s wider reach.
• After the half-year deadline passed, Gu Yu arrived at Mystic Valley with Gu An’s Valley Master Token and his father’s notes, and asked Gu An to portray Zhou Tongyou as his admirer in Investiture of the Gods.
• Gu An agreed to alter Zhou Tongyou’s name by one character, then set off with Gu Yu to see his new Medicine Valley.

Gu An established the Third Medicine Valley and settled Su Han, Zhen Qin, and Ye Yan there to cultivate and tend its fields. After a mysterious cultivator repeatedly beat Ye Yan while Gu An was away, Gu An sensed the man had returned and prepared to confront him.

• Gu An built teleportation arrays, recruited disciples to help establish the Third Medicine Valley, and moved Su Han, Zhen Qin, and Ye Yan there.
• Ye Yan continued training with his spear, while Zhou Tongyou approached him and challenged him to a technique-only spar.
• Zhou Tongyou beat Ye Yan, and Gu An promised to protect him and gave him healing pills.
• The mysterious man repeatedly returned to beat Ye Yan whenever Gu An was absent, doing so four times over two months.
• Gu An sensed the man had come back and watched Ye Yan from a tree, ready to act.

Gu An protected Ye Yan from Zhou Tongyou and repeatedly defeated him in technique-only duels, earning his respect and medicinal herb seeds. At year's end, Gu An returned to Tianya Valley and learned that Luo Hun wanted him to bring more books.

• Gu An confronted Zhou Tongyou over how he had treated Ye Yan, then defeated him with a branch and secured an apology and a body-tempering manual for Ye Yan.
• A month later, Zhou Tongyou returned to Third Medicine Valley seeking another duel, but Gu An disarmed him and stopped his spear with his fingers; Zhou Tongyou fled after losing.
• Zhou Tongyou came back again with more medicinal herb seeds, and Gu An defeated him in three moves, leaving him hopeful of eventually winning.
• At year's end, Gu An inspected Medicine Valley with three Monkey Demons and checked his lifespan as winter snow covered Tianya Valley.
• Luo Hun asked Gu An to bring him books, requesting more volumes of Travels of the Green Hero alongside the latest Investiture of the Gods.

Gu An reunited with Li Ya, who shared his dangerous travels and left to pursue Golden Core formation after Gu An’s advice. Later, Zhou Tongyou revealed his identity as a Jueshan Sect disciple and warned of major changes at Taixuan Sect; after Sect Master Lu Baitian’s death was announced, Gu An returned to Third Medicine Valley and found Gu Yu with the suspicious Elder Tian.

• Gu An welcomed Li Ya back and heard how he survived a Spirit Transformation cultivator’s attempt to possess him, gained transformed Sword Intent, and avenged a persecuted woman.
• Gu An told Li Ya to pursue what made life meaningful, and Li Ya decided to return and form his Golden Core, leaving him pills made from Millennium Spirit Fat.
• Zhou Tongyou revealed that he was from Jueshan Sect, said Taixuan Sect would soon undergo great changes, and flew away after bidding farewell to Gu An and the disciples.
• Gu An began writing a novel about Gu Zong and Gu Yu, intending to temper the growing praise of Pan An.
• Two years later, Gu An heard that Sect Master Lu Baitian had died from cultivation deviation and that Chu Tianqi had succeeded him.
• At Third Medicine Valley, Gu An found Gu Yu introducing the frail Elder Tian as a distant relative who would assist in the valley, and Gu An recognized Lu Baitian’s status display over the old man.

Gu An hosted Elder Tian, who was secretly Sect Master Lu Baitian, while continuing to build his life in Medicine Valley. Li Xuandao visited to discuss Li Ya and growing political unrest, and three years later Gu An helped Su Han and Zhen Qin enter the Outer Sect before meeting the newly promoted Lu Jiujia.

• Gu Yu paid Gu An a Supreme-grade Spirit Stone to make him the protagonist of Gu An’s new book, and Gu An welcomed Elder Tian to Medicine Valley.
• Gu An discovered that Elder Tian was the fallen Sect Master Lu Baitian and spent the next half year showing him around the valley.
• Li Xuandao visited Tianya Valley, questioned Gu An about Li Ya, and described how the Ji Family’s rising influence and the backlash over Investiture of the Gods threatened his rule.
• Li Xuandao told Gu An that Tianya Valley had an important role in building forces for the imperial court, then left after three days and Luo Hun asked Gu An to bring only Travels of the Green Hero.
• Three years later, Gu An harvested nearly five thousand years of lifespan from Tianya Valley’s mature herbs and helped Foundation Establishment disciples Su Han and Zhen Qin register at the Outer Sect Elder Hall.
• Lu Jiujia greeted Gu An in Outer Sect City, said his master had promoted him, and gave Gu An a black token.

Gu An celebrated with Elder Tian and Ye Yan, who revealed his wish to join the army after reaching Foundation Establishment. Later, Gu Zong and Gu Yu told Gu An that the Daotian Sect Saintess was coming to the Taixuan Sect to meet him, and that the Elder Hall would reward him with a Seventh-rank Spirit Tree sapling if he persuaded her to stay.

• Gu An accepted Lu Jiujia's Demon Extermination Hall token and later shared wine and roast chicken with Elder Tian and Ye Yan in Third Medicine Valley.
• Elder Tian asked why Gu An devoted so many resources to others, and Gu An said he preferred helping younger people and wanted Elder Tian to live well.
• Ye Yan said he planned to join the army after reaching Foundation Establishment so he could fight demons and protect people, and Gu An supported him.
• At Mystic Valley, Gu An let Wuxin inspect the crates of gifts sent by Lu Jiujia's men from the Demon Extermination Hall.
• Gu Zong and Gu Yu told Gu An that Taixuan Immortal Venerable had become popular across the cultivation world and that the Daotian Sect Saintess planned to cultivate at the Taixuan Sect to meet him.
• Gu Zong said the Elder Hall would grant Gu An a Seventh-rank Spirit Tree sapling if he persuaded the Daotian Sect Saintess to remain.

Gu An learned that the Daotian Sect Saintess, Shen Zhen, would visit Taixuan Sect and arrived in the Third Medicine Valley after Spring Festival. When Shen Zhen met him, she offered him her own book, Travels of the Black Hero, leaving Gu An startled.

• Gu Zong told Gu An that the Saintess would arrive within a year and that Elder Tian knew Gu An was Pan An.
• Gu An practiced the Wood Spirit Sword Technique beneath the Azure Vine Tree and gave the Hao Dragon an illustrated manual to study.
• Ye Lan visited Gu An and told him the Law Enforcement Hall was threatened with disbandment amid conflict with the Demon Extermination Hall.
• After Spring Festival, Elder Tian asked Gu An what he would do as Sect Master and offered to teach him an extraordinary cultivation method, but Gu An declined.
• Gu Zong brought Shen Zhen to the Third Medicine Valley, where she asked Gu An about his books and presented him with Travels of the Black Hero.

Gu An learned from Shen Zhen that the Nine Dynasties faced a devastating Demon Calamity within a century, then received a Seventh-rank Spirit Tree whose energy began reviving his Human-Face Tree. As reports of demonic infiltrators spread, Gu An returned to Mystic Valley, where Li Ya revealed he had reached the Golden Core Realm and planned to protect him from the Devil Lord of the Heavenly Absolute Sect.

• Gu An read Shen Zhen's Travels of the Black Hero, discussed books with her, and learned that demons threatened the Nine Dynasties with a Demon Calamity within a hundred years.
• Shen Zhen said she would establish her Cave Mansion nearby, and Gu An welcomed her departure because it secured the Seventh-rank Spirit Tree.
• Gu Zong delivered the Mystic Clarity Tree sapling, which Gu An planted in the Third Medicine Valley; Gu An later sensed its spiritual energy flowing toward the buried root of the Human-Face Tree.
• Gu An saw Demon Extermination Hall disciples arrest a suspected spy in the Outer Sect City, bought three Spirit Dogs, and heard Lu Jiujia warn him about a powerful Demonic Cultivator in the Outer Sect.
• Gu An arrived in Mystic Valley and found Li Ya teaching sword practice; Li Ya told him he had reached the first layer of the Golden Core Realm and had come to protect him from the Devil Lord of the Heavenly Absolute Sect.

Li Ya stayed in Mystic Valley to protect Gu An, but a mysterious Devil Lord lured him away and gravely injured him before Gu An killed the attacker, Elder Chen. Gu An urged Li Ya to investigate the Outer Sect’s corruption from the Inner Sect, and Li Ya departed determined to protect him.

• Gu An and Li Ya argued about whether Li Ya could protect Mystic Valley, then spent the night catching up without Gu An revealing that he was Pan An.
• A mysterious figure watched Li Ya from the forest and drew him to a river, where it attacked and badly wounded him.
• Gu An appeared behind the attacker, killed Elder Chen, took his Storage Bag, and gained thirty-seven years of lifespan.
• Li Ya returned to Mystic Valley, and Gu An gave him several dozen bottles of pills while urging him to go to the Inner Sect and investigate the trouble in the Outer Sect.
• Li Ya agreed to leave for the Inner Sect and vowed that anyone who harmed Gu An would regret it.

Gu An tried to protect his disciples as Demonic Cultivators threatened the Outer Sect, while Shen Zhen revealed that the Taixuan Sect was secretly sacrificing lower-level disciples to test a demonic art. He was left confronting the sect’s hidden scheme and asking Shen Zhen to stop naming her book’s protagonist after him.

• Gu An told Elder Tian about the attack on the Outer Sect and mentioned Li Ya’s efforts to protect him, prompting Elder Tian to pass the concerns to Elder Gu Zong.
• Gu An stayed in Mystic Valley, where Wuxin organized spell practice to help the disciples attract reinforcements if they came under attack.
• Ye Lan gave Gu An the Qinghong Sword, which would alert her through its connection to her Bailing Sword if he faced danger.
• Gu An returned to Third Medicine Valley, harvested herbs, and learned from Elder Tian that he had told Elder Gu Zong about the Outer Sect’s danger.
• Shen Zhen revealed that the Taixuan Sect was using the Outer Sect city as a hidden trial site for a demonic art that sacrificed lower-level disciples to help Great Cultivators break the Heavenly Mandate.
• Shen Zhen asked Gu An what he thought of her writing, and he objected to her naming the protagonist of Travels of the Green Hero after him.

Gu An witnessed Zuo Yijian confront Outer Sect Grand Elder Chen Xuanjin, who had cultivated demonic arts and attacked his fellow disciples. When Chen Xuanjin nearly killed Zuo Yijian, Gu An intervened as the Flying Leaf Sword Immortal and struck him with a sword-qi-wreathed leaf.

• Shen Zhen traded Gu An a copy of Mystic Sound Art for permission to use his name in her story.
• At Outer Sect City, Zhu Qinglu warned Gu An to move to the Inner Sect and said a formation platform was being built to protect the city.
• Li Xuanyu paid Gu An and said she looked forward to competing with him when he entered the Inner Sect.
• Gu An traveled into the mountains to prepare for a breakthrough and discovered Zuo Yijian facing Chen Xuanjin, who admitted to cultivating demonic arts.
• Zuo Yijian used his own sword art to battle Chen Xuanjin but was left badly wounded.
• Gu An, acting as the Flying Leaf Sword Immortal, pierced Chen Xuanjin's chest with a sword-qi-wreathed leaf, and Zuo Yijian recognized him as the senior who had guided him before.

Gu An spent over twelve thousand years of lifespan forcing his way through repeated tribulation failures until he reached the first level of the Body Integration Realm. His breakthrough stirred spiritual qi across the Taixuan Sect, alarming its cultivators as Chen Xuanjin awaited the arrival of the figure behind him.

• Gu An spared Chen Xuanjin after piercing his chest with a leaf carrying Sword Qi, while Zuo Yijian recovered alone among the ruins.
• Gu An invested lifespan in repeated attempts to overcome the Five-Elephant Divine Lightning Tribulation, eventually succeeding and beginning a massive surge in cultivation.
• Chen Xuanjin told the person in the Ancient Bronze Mirror that the Flying Leaf Sword Immortal had nearly killed him and that Zuo Yijian was obstructing their plan; the person promised to come to the Outer Sect the next day.
• Ye Lan challenged Lu Jiujia over his support for their path, but he denied causing the latest disturbance and warned of a possible Demonic Cultivator invasion.
• Gu An's breakthrough drew spiritual qi from across the Taixuan Sect as cultivators, including Gu Zong and more than ten Void Crossing Realm cultivators, patrolled overhead without detecting him.
• Gu An completed his breakthrough to the first level of the Body Integration Realm and sensed his spiritual power and connection between body and Primordial Spirit transform.

Chen Xuanjin and the black-robed man prepared to activate the Heaven-Mending Platform, while Gu An kept his disciples in Mystic Valley and avoided interfering in the Taixuan Sect’s schemes. As Outer Sect disciples gathered before the completed platform, Jiang Qiong arrived with the Hunchbacked Elder, and the black-robed man and Chen Xuanjin prepared for what would happen the next day.

• The black-robed man ordered Chen Xuanjin to prepare the formation and said he would personally bear the risk, while Chen Xuanjin accepted despite his injuries.
• Gu An assured his disciples they could leave Mystic Valley if they wished, but Tang Yu and the others chose to stay; Ye Lan visited to confirm Gu An was safe.
• Gu An watched the Heaven-Mending Platform being built, decided not to interfere in the Taixuan Sect’s plans, and continued tending his Medicine Valleys.
• At Tianya Valley, Luo Hun heard from Gu An that Li Ya had been injured by Demonic Cultivators, then sent a message toward Li Xuandao using a talisman.
• Su Han and Zhen Qin saw the Heaven-Mending Platform as Outer Sect disciples gathered in the city, while Jiang Qiong and the Hunchbacked Elder decided to stay and inspect it the next day.
• The black-robed man told Chen Xuanjin, now inhabiting a young disciple’s body, that they did not need to summon Handyman Disciples from nearby valleys, beast farms, and mines.

The Demon Extermination Hall’s hunt for supposed Demonic Path traitors was exposed as a trap when Chu Xian arrived and used the Demon-Subduing Umbrella to reveal demonic energy among the hall’s disciples. He then sealed everyone on the Heaven-Mending Platform and declared the Outer Sect would be destroyed, while Gu An noticed the Qinghong Sword trembling violently in Mystic Valley.

• Su Han and Zhen Qin tried to leave Outer Sect City, but Demon Extermination Hall disciples captured them and brought them to the Heaven-Mending Platform.
• Ye Lan asked Lu Jiujia to free Su Han and Zhen Qin, and Lu Jiujia later returned with them.
• Chu Xian appeared above the Heaven-Mending Platform and used the Demon-Subduing Umbrella to expose the Demon Extermination Hall disciples as Demonic Cultivators.
• The umbrella’s power caused Lu Jiujia and other Demon Extermination Hall disciples to writhe in pain as demonic energy rose from their bodies.
• Chu Xian activated blood patterns beneath the platform, sealing the gathered disciples’ spiritual power and declaring that the Outer Sect had no reason to exist.
• In Mystic Valley, Gu An noticed the Qinghong Sword trembling and heard a faint birdlike cry from it.

Gu An used the Qinghong Sword to rescue more than a hundred thousand disciples from Chu Xian’s sacrifice, killing the Void Crossing Realm cultivator and carving “Righteous Path” into the Heaven-Mending Platform. As the sword flew away, a Daoist-robed man caught up with it and demanded to know who wielded it.

• Chu Xian activated the Universe Nirvana Array and began draining the disciples’ cultivation, while Jiang Qiong and the Hunchbacked Elder tried to leave Outer Sect City.
• Gu An controlled the Qinghong Sword from Mystic Valley, shattering the Demon-Subduing Umbrella, killing Chu Xian, and freeing the disciples.
• Elder Tian, Ye Yan, Shen Zhen, and Jiang Qiong witnessed the pillar of Sword Qi and realized a powerful sword cultivator had intervened.
• The Qinghong Sword carved “Righteous Path” into the Heaven-Mending Platform before flying beyond the horizon.
• A Daoist-robed man caught up with the Qinghong Sword and asked who its wielder was.

Gu An used the Qinghong Sword to defeat Ji Hantian, then learned that the Taixuan Sect was investigating Chu Xian’s slaughter of Outer Sect disciples. Two days later, Ji Hantian visited Gu An with Gu Zong and angrily demanded that Pan An expose the sect’s crimes.

• The Qinghong Sword overwhelmed Ji Hantian’s defenses but stopped short of injuring him, and Ji Hantian gave up the chase.
• Gu An returned the sword to Mystic Valley, while Taixuan Sect Great Cultivators arrived to investigate Chu Xian’s crimes and reassure the surviving disciples.
• Ye Lan, Su Han, and Zhen Qin returned to Mystic Valley and recounted the incident; Gu An offered the badly injured Lu Jiujia a place to live and work in the valley.
• Ye Lan resolved to prioritize cultivation so she could stand beside Gu An, while reports emerged that the investigation might reach the Elder Hall.
• Gu Zong brought Ji Hantian, the Taixuan Sect’s Vice Sect Leader, to see Gu An, and Ji Hantian demanded that Pan An expose the sect’s sins.

After helping Ji Hantian expose the Demon Extermination Hall’s massacre, Gu An secured a hundred miles of land and resources for his Medicine Valley. A month later, Jiang Qiong summoned him as the newly appointed Outer Sect Grand Elder and asked him to search for Pan An, whose identity the Elder Hall was concealing.

• Ji Hantian asked Gu An to record how the Demon Extermination Hall had used over a hundred thousand disciples in a Formation, and Gu An agreed in exchange for expanding his Medicine Valley.
• Ji Hantian granted Gu An the land within a hundred-mile radius of the Third Medicine Valley and a Sixth-Rank Spirit Protection Array, while Gu Zong arranged for nearby disciples to move and for Gu An to keep twenty Handyman Disciples.
• Elder Tian told Gu An that later generations should judge whether the Taixuan Sect was righteous or evil.
• A month after the Outer Sect calamity, Gu An encountered Jiang Qiong in Outer Sect City and learned she had become its Grand Elder, accompanied by the Spirit Transformation Realm cultivator Hu Mo.
• Jiang Qiong told Gu An to keep the Azure Vine Tree’s whereabouts secret and agreed to promote Ye Lan from the Law Enforcement Hall.
• Jiang Qiong asked Gu An to watch for news of Pan An, whose identity the Elder Hall had concealed.

Gu An expanded Third Medicine Valley while the fame of Sword Venerable Fudao spread and drew challengers. After meeting the Emperor’s sword attendant Yi Liuyun, Gu An returned to the Heaven-Mending Platform, where he spotted someone above the character for “Path.”

• Jiang Qiong asked Gu An to look for information about Pan An, and Gu An visited the Heaven-Mending Platform, where Zuo Yijian, Zuo Lin, and Su Han studied Sword Venerable Fudao’s Sword Intent.
• Shen Zhen warned Gu An that sword cultivators from the Great Yu Dynasty planned to challenge Sword Venerable Fudao, then gave him her book, Taixuan Secret Biography.
• Gu An read Shen Zhen’s book overnight, expanded Third Medicine Valley with his disciples, and learned that the Library Hall had rejected her manuscript.
• At Tianya Valley, Gu An met Yi Liuyun, the Emperor’s foremost sword attendant, who asked about Sword Venerable Fudao and flew to Taixuan Sect to study his Sword Intent.
• After the Spring Festival, Gu An returned to the Heaven-Mending Platform and saw Yi Liuyun meditating beneath someone positioned above the character for “Path.”

Gu An discovered that the Yellow Spring Demon Emperor was studying Sword Intent on the Heaven-Mending Platform, while his book Righteousness and Demon spread through the Great Cang Dynasty. After recruiting eleven Handyman Disciples, Gu An returned to the platform, where an old Daoist suddenly claimed to understand the words Righteous Path.

• Gu An used Lifespan Inspection to identify the Yellow Spring Demon Emperor among the cultivators meditating on the Heaven-Mending Platform and resolved to keep a low profile.
• Gu Yu showed Gu An the privately circulated Taixuan Secret Biography, and Gu An read it before returning to work on expanding Third Medicine Valley.
• Ji Xiaoyu praised Righteousness and Demon to Ji Hantian, who revealed that Gu An had written it and said the book strengthened his influence in the Elder Hall.
• The Ji Family delivered fourth-grade and higher medicinal herb seeds to Gu An, who planned to recruit more Handyman Disciples and outfit them with Demon Beasts.
• Gu An brought Elder Tian to Outer Sect City, recruited eleven Handyman Disciples, and led them to the Heaven-Mending Platform, where he saw the Yellow Spring Demon Emperor mimicking a move from the Great Vast God-Startling Sword.
• An old Daoist leaped into the air above the Heaven-Mending Platform and announced that he understood the words Righteous Path.

Pang Yu tried to destroy the Heaven-Mending Platform, but Taixuan Sect cultivators drove him away, while the words Righteousness and Demon continued to raise the platform’s renown. More than two years later, Gu An prepared to resume cultivating as Li Ya visited to discuss the upcoming Hundred Clans Assembly, where Li Ya and the hidden genius Lu Xian could face Zhou Tongyou.

• Pang Yu threatened the Heaven-Mending Platform, but Yi Liuyun and a Taixuan Sect Void Crossing elder confronted him, and Gu Zong pursued him as he fled.
• Gu An returned to Third Medicine Valley with the new Handyman Disciples, where he noticed Elder Tian had advanced to the eighth level of Qi Refining.
• Over two years, Gu An filled the land within a hundred li with medicinal herbs, and the Heaven-Mending Platform became a renowned holy land for sword cultivators.
• Gu An decided to restart his nightly cultivation plan, then met Li Ya, who had grown stronger and came to discuss the Hundred Clans Assembly.
• Li Ya declared he would defeat Zhou Tongyou at the assembly, and Elder Tian revealed that Lu Xian had formed a Golden Core at thirty.

Gu An watched Lu Xian leave for the Hundred Clans Assembly after learning about his strange dreams and boundless ambition, then returned to Mystic Valley and discovered that Ye Lan suspected him of writing Taixuan Secret Biography. Ye Lan warned him that the Sword Sect planned to arrest his disciple Su Han over a forbidden sword art, and Gu An sought Shen Zhen's help, only for her to say there might be a problem.

• Li Ya left Third Medicine Valley, and Gu An secretly invested five years of lifespan into his cultivation on the way to Tianya Valley.
• Gu An watched Lu Xian spar with Yi Liuyun and challenged him to win the Hundred Clans Assembly before Gu An would learn his spells; Lu Xian set out the next morning.
• Yi Liuyun told Gu An that Lu Xian experienced dreams of becoming powerful rulers and sword experts whenever he cultivated.
• Ye Lan accused Gu An of writing Taixuan Secret Biography, then told him that the Sword Sect intended to arrest Su Han for using its forbidden Hating Heaven Divine Sword.
• Gu An went to Shen Zhen for help protecting Su Han, and Shen Zhen hesitated after hearing the details.

Gu An learned that Su Han’s Hating Heaven Divine Sword could lead him to become a murderous demon, but Su Han refused to abandon it and Ye Lan arranged to send him away from the Taixuan Sect. After a moment of unexpected Dao comprehension, Gu An met the Sword Madman Han Ming, who challenged Sword Venerable Fudao and offered to pass his sword art to Gu An before the duel.

• Shen Zhen explained that the Hating Heaven Divine Sword was forbidden across the Great Yu Dynasty because it could cause its wielder to lose control and slaughter others.
• Gu An and Ye Lan learned that Su Han would not give up the sword art, which he treasured as his connection to his father and as a means of revenge, so Ye Lan arranged to send him out of the Taixuan Sect.
• While reflecting on the choices of Su Han and Lu Jiujia, Gu An entered a wondrous state of Dao comprehension and met Han Ming on the Heaven-Mending Platform.
• Han Ming announced that he would challenge Sword Venerable Fudao in one month and offered to teach Gu An his sword art; Gu An brought him to Third Medicine Valley.
• Han Ming listened to Gu An’s account of his worries and offered to pass down his entire sword Dao during the month before the duel.

Gu An refused Han Ming’s offer to teach him swordsmanship and later decided to reach the ninth layer of the Body Integration Realm before Han Ming’s challenge drew more attention. He completed the breakthrough in a remote mountain forest amid a terrifying demonic upheaval, while two captive children struggled to escape a monster’s cave.

• Gu An declined Han Ming’s offer to take him as a disciple, then recommended Zuo Lin as a possible inheritor; Han Ming agreed to assess him.
• Gu An told Elder Tian that he had refused Han Ming out of loyalty to Taixuan Sect, while news of Han Ming’s challenge to Sword Venerable Fudao spread through the sect.
• After hearing Luo Hun and Yi Liuyun discuss the challenge, Gu An decided to break through to the ninth layer of the Body Integration Realm before facing Han Ming.
• Gu An traveled deep into the mountains and spent eighteen thousand years of lifespan advancing to the ninth layer as demons and ghosts gathered around him.
• Two captive children tried to escape a cave while a monster approached, but the bloated figure was suddenly dragged away and eaten by something outside.
• At dawn, Gu An completed his breakthrough, sensed a dramatic increase in power, and reminded himself not to underestimate opponents or become careless.

After stabilizing his cultivation, Gu An rescued Goudan and Xiaohua from a Wolf Demon and learned that Goudan had an extraordinary maximum lifespan. He taught them immortal cultivation, renamed them An Hao and An Xin, and returned to Mystic Valley as the Taixuan Sect investigated a recent disturbance.

• Gu An encountered Goudan and Xiaohua fleeing a Wolf Demon and drove it away with Sword Qi.
• After learning that demons had killed the children’s families and taken them captive, Gu An brought them to safety and offered to teach them cultivation.
• Gu An taught the children the Yang Wood Primordial Chaos Technique; An Hao quickly cultivated spiritual energy while An Xin struggled to memorize the first layer.
• Before leaving, Gu An named Goudan An Hao and Xiaohua An Xin, then returned to Mystic Valley.
• Gu An saw cultivators flying over the Taixuan Sect, apparently responding to the disturbance from the previous night.