Chapter Summaries

Gu An welcomed the injured Li Ya back to Medicine Valley and learned about the dangers he had faced as an Outer Sect disciple. Li Ya offered Gu An a treasured sword in exchange for an Azure Vine Fruit, and Gu An recognized the sword as a divine weapon.

• Gu An discovered that the Azure Vine Fruit strengthened his body but did not increase his lifespan, while the White Spirit Mouse grew to the size of a cat and began obeying his commands.
• Gu An announced plans to visit the Outer Sect in seven days and chose Ye Lan and Xiao Chuan to accompany him.
• Li Ya returned to Medicine Valley injured, and Gu An invited him to stay and recover.
• Li Ya recounted dangerous missions involving a third-rank Demon Beast and a rival cultivator's master, while Gu An listened and served him tea.
• Li Ya asked Gu An for an Azure Vine Fruit to heal his injuries, and Gu An gave him one without asking for payment.
• Li Ya gave Gu An his mother's treasured sword, and Gu An recognized it as a divine weapon.

Li Ya gave Gu An the Heavenly Abode Sword, and Gu An secretly spent two thousand years of lifespan mastering the Great Vast God-Startling Sword. The next day, Li Ya offered to teach Gu An and the others swordsmanship, unaware that Gu An had already surpassed him.

• Li Ya gave Gu An Heavenly Abode, explaining that the sword had belonged to his mother and would not bring trouble from the Li Family.
• Li Ya's Old Ancestor identified Gu An's Azure Vine Fruit as a sixth-rank treasure from Thousand Autumn Pavilion and discussed Li Ya's reluctance to fight for the throne.
• Gu An secretly spent two thousand years of lifespan evolving the Li Family Seven Swords into the Great Vast God-Startling Sword and used his Sword Intent to subdue Heavenly Abode.
• Li Ya recovered enough to join Gu An and the others during their morning exercises, then offered to teach them swordsmanship.
• Li Ya took Gu An into the forest and asked him to demonstrate the Li Family Seven Swords so he could teach him proper sword techniques.

Gu An stopped Li Ya from forcing him to practice swordsmanship and saw him off before investigating the hidden chamber beneath the Eight Sceneries Grotto-Heaven. There, he met his Martial Ancestor Jiang Qiong, who gave him the Soul-Shaking Bell and the Yin-Yang Art and asked him to guard her for ten years.

• Gu An feigned a lack of sword talent until Li Ya apologized and stopped urging him to practice, then Li Ya spent five days teaching Xiao Chuan and the others before leaving the valley.
• Gu An encouraged his junior brothers and sisters to cultivate, and Wuxin declared he wanted to stay with Gu An rather than enter the Outer Sect.
• Gu An noticed signs of disturbance near Meng Lang and entered the underground chamber, where he cautiously called out to its hidden occupant.
• Jiang Qiong revealed that she was Cheng Xuandan's Martial Ancestor and asked Gu An to guard her for ten years until she could leave Taixuan Sect.
• Jiang Qiong gave Gu An the Soul-Shaking Bell and the Yin-Yang Art, recognized that he had reached Foundation Establishment, and offered to pass on more spells and recommend him to Thousand Autumn Pavilion.

Over five years, Gu An reached the Nascent Soul Realm Eighth Layer and watched Lu Jiujia leave for the Outer Sect assessment. Wuxin revealed his ties to Thousand Autumn Pavilion, and Gu An agreed to train him as chief disciple before discovering Jiang Qiong emerging from her coffin.

• Gu An's five years of investing lifespan brought his cultivation to the Nascent Soul Realm Eighth Layer, while three new disciples joined Mystic Valley.
• Lu Jiujia left for the Outer Sect assessment after his fellow disciples wished him well.
• Wuxin confessed that he was the son of a Thousand Autumn Pavilion Pavilion Master and had sought opportunities to prove himself.
• Gu An promised to nurture Wuxin into the chief disciple and ordered him to keep his origins secret.
• In Eight Sceneries Grotto-Heaven, Jiang Qiong's coffin opened, and Gu An inspected her lifespan as she emerged.

Jiang Qiong recovered much of her strength with a pill she refined, but she still needed five more years to heal and promised to teach Gu An a spell. At dawn, Li Ya visited Gu An with an Azure Vine Fruit he had bought for far more than Gu An had received when selling it, then said he had another matter to discuss.

• Jiang Qiong told Gu An she distrusted Cheng Xuandan and urged him to cultivate faster while promising to become his Nascent Soul Realm backer.
• Gu An kept watch as Jiang Qiong refined and swallowed a pill that restored her body, increased her lifespan, and raised her aura to the Golden Core Realm.
• Jiang Qiong tested Gu An with a sudden palm strike, then told him she would not harm her descendants and asked him to bring new clothes and return the next night for a spell lesson.
• Li Ya arrived at Medicine Valley and gave Gu An an Azure Vine Fruit he had purchased from the Outer Sect's Alchemy Hall four years earlier.
• Gu An admitted he had sold the fruit to the Alchemy Hall for twenty Mid-grade Spirit Stones, while Li Ya had paid ten High-grade Spirit Stones, and Li Ya introduced another matter to discuss.

Gu An accepted a yearlong job tending an Outer Sect disciple’s medicinal garden and continued learning spells from Jiang Qiong, whose respect for his swordsmanship grew after they sparred. At the Cave Mansion, he overheard Chen Li, Li Xuanyu, and Xiao Chenyun discussing the coming World Outer Sect Assembly and the rival sects’ hidden geniuses.

• Li Ya took Gu An to Chen Li’s Cave Mansion, where Gu An agreed to tend the medicinal herbs for a year in exchange for a Mid-grade Spirit Stone and Spirit Qi Pills.
• Jiang Qiong struggled to teach Gu An the Soul Capture Technique, then challenged him to a sword-move spar and praised his exceptional swordsmanship after he bested her.
• Gu An continued nightly spell lessons with Jiang Qiong and visited Chen Li’s Cave Mansion monthly to tend its garden.
• When Gu An arrived at the Cave Mansion in winter, he found Chen Li, Li Xuanyu, and Xiao Chenyun inside and recognized Xiao Chenyun as a Golden Core Realm cultivator.
• Chen Li and Xiao Chenyun discussed the upcoming World Outer Sect Assembly, the rival sects’ dual Spirit Root geniuses, and the pressure on the Taixuan Sect.

Gu An prepared Mystic Valley for Spring Festival when two Ten Thousand Yin Sect cultivators arrived and threatened the valley, but Li Xuanyu intervened. Later, Gu An sensed a battle and found Li Xuanyu and Li Ya injured as they faced Xu Ruye and Cicada Concubine.

• Li Xuanyu asked Gu An to manage her Cave Mansion, gave him a token, and questioned him about his relationship with Li Ya.
• Gu An established Spring Festival in Mystic Valley and explained its meaning to Zhen Qin as the disciples decorated the valley.
• Xu Ruye and Cicada Concubine landed in Mystic Valley and demanded to rest there, frightening Gu An and the other disciples.
• Li Xuanyu confronted Xu Ruye and Cicada Concubine and led them away from Mystic Valley.
• Gu An sensed fighting nearby and found Xu Ruye and Cicada Concubine facing the wounded Li Xuanyu and Li Ya.

Li Ya and Li Xuanyu survived an attack by Xu Ruye and Cicada Concubine when an unseen sword expert killed both with leaves from ten li away. After Mystic Valley's Spring Festival, Gu An learned that Thousand Autumn Pavilion had planted spies throughout Taixuan Sect and that Mystic Valley was intended to become one of its strongholds.

• Cicada Concubine and Xu Ruye attacked Li Ya and Li Xuanyu, and Xu Ruye used a Purple Great Banner to try to seize Li Ya's soul.
• A distant sword expert killed Xu Ruye and Cicada Concubine with flying leaves, and Li Ya and Li Xuanyu found a leaf embedded in a tree two hundred zhang away.
• Gu An celebrated Mystic Valley's Spring Festival with his disciples and reflected on the lifespan he gained from the two Demonic Cultivators' deaths.
• Gu An brought food and wine to Jiang Qiong, who explained that Mystic Valley would become a Thousand Autumn Pavilion stronghold and that the Pavilion had spies in other Medicine Valleys and among Taixuan Sect's elders.
• Jiang Qiong praised the food and promised to teach Gu An a Thousand Autumn Pavilion secret technique.

Gu An learned the Demonic Shadow Divine Technique from Jiang Qiong while Li Ya settled in Mystic Valley to guard the disciples after a deadly encounter with Demonic Cultivators. As Jiang Qiong prepared to leave in two years, Gu An secretly advanced his cultivation and spotted Zuo Yijian and Zuo Lin flying overhead; by the next day, Li Ya had brought Zuo Lin to Mystic Valley.

• Gu An learned that Jiang Qiong intended to teach him the Demonic Shadow Divine Technique, which she said would help him become a better spy.
• Li Ya told Gu An that Xu Ruye and Cicada Concubine had died after attacking him and Li Xuanyu, and he agreed to stay in Mystic Valley for half a year to protect the disciples.
• Jiang Qiong continued teaching Gu An, and after four more days of practice, the Demonic Shadow Divine Technique appeared on his Attribute Panel.
• Jiang Qiong said she would leave in at most two years, and Gu An hid his relief as he went out to invest lifespan in his cultivation.
• Gu An sensed Zuo Yijian, a Ninth-layer Golden Core cultivator, and Zuo Lin flying past him at night.
• Li Ya returned from the Outer Sect with Zuo Lin the next day.

Gu An reached the ninth layer of the Nascent Soul Realm while the World Outer Sect Assembly drew notice to Ji Lin and Zuo Lin stayed in Mystic Valley to practice swordsmanship. After Zuo Lin taught Gu An a sword technique, Gu An discovered that the Wood Spirit Sword Technique had appeared on his Attribute Panel, but he chose to save his lifespan for the next function.

• Li Ya brought his childhood friend Zuo Lin to stay in Mystic Valley, where Zuo Lin praised Ji Lin’s performance at the World Outer Sect Assembly.
• A month later, Gu An reached the ninth layer of the Nascent Soul Realm and realized that Zuo Lin’s swordsmanship talent was mediocre.
• Zuo Lin noticed something unusual about Gu An’s calisthenics and asked him to teach the movements, then offered to teach him swordsmanship.
• Gu An pretended to struggle with Zuo Lin’s sword technique, then slipped away after half an hour of lessons.
• Zuo Lin complained to Li Ya, who told him to stop bothering Gu An.
• Gu An checked his Attribute Panel and found the Wood Spirit Sword Technique, but decided to save his lifespan until he reached one hundred thousand years.

Gu An found a rare Hao Dragon egg and, after learning it was an Ancient Hao Sect Saint Beast with True Dragon blood, left it beneath the Azure Vine Tree for Jiang Qiong to raise. He expanded his herb-tending work and began writing a book, but a sudden storm and oppressive heavenly might interrupted him.

• Gu An discovered that the White Spirit Mouse had brought him a Demon Beast egg and asked Jiang Qiong to identify it.
• Jiang Qiong recognized the egg as a Hao Dragon, a powerful ninth-rank Demon Beast revered as the Ancient Hao Sect's Saint Beast, and persuaded Gu An to leave it beneath the Azure Vine Tree.
• After cultivators stopped passing through Mystic Valley, Gu An resumed tending herbs at Chen Li and Li Xuanyu's Cave Mansions.
• Li Xuanyu connected Gu An with five more Outer Sect disciples, expanding his herb-tending work to seven Cave Mansions.
• Gu An raised his apparent cultivation to the sixth level of Qi Refining so he could travel more easily, then began writing a book to earn Spirit Stones.
• As Gu An wrote in the loft during winter, thunderclouds gathered and a terrifying heavenly might enveloped the mountains and forests.

Gu An watched Zuo Yijian’s lightning tribulation and learned that the newly ascended Nascent Soul cultivator’s sword practice was endangering Mystic Valley. To protect his medicinal herbs, Gu An confronted Zuo Yijian in disguise and launched a leaf imbued with Sword Qi, leaving their duel about to begin.

• Gu An observed Zuo Yijian’s three-day lightning tribulation and later felt his powerful Sword Intent threatening Mystic Valley.
• Jiang Qiong told Gu An that Zuo Yijian was an old acquaintance who had once pursued her, then taught Gu An the gu arts of the Myriad Gu Profound Technique.
• After Zuo Yijian’s Sword Qi damaged a mountain near Mystic Valley, Gu An decided to wait two days before moving the disciples to safety.
• Zuo Yijian meditated with five swords while Zuo Lin watched nearby, hoping to become a powerful sword cultivator like his father.
• Gu An disguised himself ten li away and challenged Zuo Yijian’s presence by silently hurling a leaf transformed by Sword Qi.

Gu An defeated Zuo Yijian with a sword strike from a leaf, then kept his involvement secret as Mystic Valley settled down. He later submitted his novel Investiture of the Gods to the Outer Sect Library Hall, where it was approved for distribution under the pen name Pan An.

• Zuo Yijian’s Sword Intent was shattered by Gu An’s leaf, and Zuo Yijian was blasted into a distant forest with a grave shoulder wound.
• Gu An led Mystic Valley’s morning exercises while the disciples speculated that the powerful Sword Intent had disappeared, and he later pretended to be surprised when Jiang Qiong concluded Zuo Yijian had been injured or killed.
• Jiang Qiong warned Gu An to be cautious when breaking through and undergoing tribulations, then showed him how she was nurturing the Hao Dragon egg.
• Gu An accompanied Zhu Qinglu to the Library Hall to submit his book, Investiture of the Gods, for approval.
• Liu Chang and Gu Yu became engrossed in Gu An’s book, and Liu Chang approved it for distribution with a thirty percent profit share for Gu An.
• Gu An chose Pan An as his author name because he feared his real name might bring trouble.

Gu An’s life in Mystic Valley continued to flourish as he expanded the valley and watched his disciples advance. After Jiang Qiong left him the Ziwei Array Record, he gave Ye Lan a Foundation Establishment Pill and urged her to pursue cultivation.

• Gu An recruited Yan Mei, Yang Min, and Ye Yan as Handyman Disciples, while Wuxin began helping him manage the valley.
• The White Spirit Mouse brought Gu An a jade ring filled with Spirit Stones, and Lu Jiujia returned as a Foundation Establishment cultivator before leaving Mystic Valley a month later.
• Two years passed, Gu An’s lifespan surpassed thirty thousand years, and eleven Outer Sect disciples had entrusted him with managing their Cave Mansions.
• Jiang Qiong departed Mystic Valley and gave Gu An the Ziwei Array Record, a secret manual of formations.
• Gu An gave Ye Lan a Foundation Establishment Pill and told her to focus on cultivation; Ye Lan confessed that she would never love another man.

After Ye Lan left, Gu An expanded Mystic Valley’s work by buying sheep demons and putting Xiao Chuan in charge of raising them. As Investiture of the Gods spread through the cultivation world, Li Ya announced he was leaving to seek a Spirit Transformation Realm inheritance, prompting Gu An to resolve to reach that realm before he returned.

• Gu An decided to start raising livestock in Mystic Valley, assigned Xiao Chuan to manage the beasts, and arranged for fifty young sheep demons to be brought from the Outer Sect.
• Xiao Chuan returned with Tang Yu and Su Han and led three Double-Horned White Eagles carrying the sheep demons into Mystic Valley.
• Zuo Lin urged Zuo Yijian to stop brooding, then left a copy of Investiture of the Gods with him; Zuo Yijian eventually began looking at the book.
• Li Ya visited Gu An and praised the popularity of Investiture of the Gods, then said he planned to seek the inheritance of a dying Spirit Transformation Realm sword cultivator in Ji Province.
• After Li Ya departed, Gu An decided he would reach the Spirit Transformation Realm before Li Ya returned.

Over three years, Gu An expanded Mystic Valley and raised his cultivation concealment by evolving the Dragon Force Divine Origin Technique into the Mysterious Yellow Dragon Qi Technique, which granted him the Mysterious Yellow Dragon Might divine ability. As spring arrived, a powerful stranger named Li Xuandao entered the valley, and Gu An discovered that he was a Spirit Transformation Realm cultivator.

• Gu An recruited Chen Hong and Zhen Xiao'er, bringing Mystic Valley's Handyman Disciples to ten, while his lifespan rose to eighty thousand years over the following three years.
• Gu An met the Hao Dragon in the Eight Sceneries Grotto-Heaven and invested two thousand years of lifespan into the Dragon Force Divine Origin Technique.
• The technique evolved into the Earth Vein Imperial Qi Technique and then the Mysterious Yellow Dragon Qi Technique, allowing Gu An to comprehend the Mysterious Yellow Dragon Might divine ability.
• Gu An cultivated the new technique for a month, producing Mysterious Yellow Dragon Qi and strengthening his concealment of cultivation and aura.
• As spring returned, Gu An noticed a white-robed stranger entering Mystic Valley and identified him as Li Xuandao, an Eighth Layer Spirit Transformation Realm cultivator.

Gu An discovered that his guest, Li Xuandao, was the Great Cang Emperor and Li Ya’s father. Li Xuandao rewarded Gu An with the Heavenly Abode Sword and recruited him to manage a new Medicine Valley, demanding his loyalty.

• Li Xuandao arrived at Mystic Valley, claimed he was visiting his child, and Xiao Chuan praised Gu An while showing him to a room.
• Gu An stayed cautious around Li Xuandao, who watched the disciples’ exercises and discussed Investiture of the Gods and the emperor with him.
• Li Xuandao revealed that he was the Great Cang Emperor and told Gu An to treat him as Li Ya’s father.
• Li Xuandao inspected the Heavenly Abode Sword, bestowed it on Gu An, and offered him a role managing a new Medicine Valley in exchange for his loyalty.

Gu An agreed to serve Li Xuandao as a spy in exchange for support, then celebrated the Spring Festival with him and planned to grow strong enough to protect himself. Later, Gu An discovered Su Han practicing the sinister Hating Heaven Divine Sword and began learning it himself; the chapter ended with Lu Jiujia hinting at a major upheaval in the Taixuan Sect.

• Li Xuandao recruited Gu An as a spy, promised to send someone for him in two years, and celebrated the Spring Festival in Mystic Valley.
• Du Ye told Gu An that Ji Lin planned to send a Foundation Establishment Pill and help him keep managing Medicine Valley.
• Gu An discovered Su Han practicing the Hating Heaven Divine Sword, warned him about its sinister methods, and promised he could remain in Mystic Valley.
• Gu An began cultivating the Hating Heaven Divine Sword in Eight Sceneries Grotto-Heaven after giving Su Han a volume of Investiture of the Gods.
• Gu An visited Lu Jiujia and Ye Lan in Outer Sect City, where Lu Jiujia revealed that something major had happened in the Taixuan Sect.

Gu An learned that a power struggle was spreading through the Taixuan Sect, then encountered Lin Futian, a Nascent Soul cultivator disguised as an Outer Sect Law Enforcement Hall disciple, on his way home. After killing Lin Futian and returning to Mystic Valley, Gu An decided to lie low and build up his lifespan, until Zhen Qin arrived to report that Tang Yu and Su Han were fighting.

• Ye Lan and Lu Jiujia told Gu An that the Sect Master was fighting a rival elder’s faction, and Ye Lan offered to seek more patrols around the Medicine Valleys.
• On his way back to Mystic Valley, Gu An met Lin Futian, who posed as a Law Enforcement Hall disciple and questioned him about Xu Ruye’s death.
• Lin Futian trapped Gu An and revealed that he had fifteen other disciples in his wine gourd, but Gu An unleashed his hidden power and killed Lin Futian and his Nascent Soul with sword-infused leaves.
• Gu An took 25 years of Lin Futian’s lifespan, made a detour back to Mystic Valley, and resolved to stay inside while harvesting herbs and increasing his lifespan.
• Zhen Qin hurried into the pavilion and told Gu An that Tang Yu and Su Han had started fighting.

Gu An stopped Su Han from attacking Tang Yu and urged the two disciples to reconcile, while the Taixuan Sect investigated Lin Futian’s death and suspected the Flying Leaf Sword Immortal was a fellow sect member. With his lifespan nearly at one hundred thousand years, Gu An prepared to leave Mystic Valley at night and burn lifespan to break through.

• Gu An subdued Su Han during his sword-fueled frenzy, sent the injured Tang Yu to stop the bleeding, and later urged Su Han to apologize and consider what mattered most to him.
• Su Han acknowledged his wrongdoing and resolved to make amends with Tang Yu, while Gu An harvested herbs nearing maturity to build his lifespan.
• Chu Jingfeng and an old man examined a leaf marked with sword traces and concluded that the Flying Leaf Sword Immortal likely belonged to the Taixuan Sect.
• Ye Lan repeatedly passed over Mystic Valley while searching the area around Lin Futian’s death, and Gu An understood that she was concerned about him.
• Gu An noticed his lifespan had reached ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety years, taught Zhen Qin the Residual Wind Leg, and slipped out of Mystic Valley after dark with two third-grade medicinal herbs.