Chapter Summaries

Gu An used his newly unlocked Longevity Deduction cautiously, then invested fifty thousand years of lifespan to transform all five of his Spirit Roots into Supreme Heavenly Spirit Roots. He used another ten thousand years to break through to the ninth layer of the Spirit Transformation Realm and the first layer of the Void Crossing Realm, leaving him with nearly forty thousand years of lifespan.

• Gu An learned that Longevity Deduction could answer questions about karma and fate, but it required 300 years of lifespan to determine whether Jiang Qiong wanted to kill him, so he declined.
• Gu An traveled to a secluded forest and invested lifespan to transform his Spirit Roots, eventually gaining a Supreme Five Elements Heavenly Spirit Root.
• Gu An spent another ten thousand years improving his Spirit Roots, transforming his Earth, Fire, Water, and Gold Spirit Roots into Supreme Heavenly Spirit Roots.
• Gu An invested ten thousand years in cultivation and broke through the Five Elements Heavenly Tribulation to reach the ninth layer of the Spirit Transformation Realm.
• Gu An overcame the Mystic Nether Heavenly Tribulation and reached the first layer of the Void Crossing Realm, with nearly forty thousand years of lifespan remaining.

Gu An broke through to the first level of the Void Crossing Realm after absorbing vast amounts of spiritual qi, alarming cultivators across the Taixuan Sect. After returning to Mystic Valley, he learned from Ye Lan that the Devil Lord might be about to attack.

• Gu An’s cultivation surged through the Spirit Transformation Realm while his Longevity Barrier concealed him, but the massive drain of spiritual qi drew many powerful cultivators into the area.
• At dawn, Gu An reached the first level of the Void Crossing Realm, ended the barrier, and returned to Mystic Valley.
• Gu An reassured his disciples about the previous night’s strange loss of spiritual qi, then expanded the medicinal gardens to replace herbs consumed during his breakthrough.
• Ye Lan returned to Mystic Valley, sealed the pavilion, and warned Gu An that the Devil Lord might be about to attack.

Gu An reassured Ye Lan about the suspected Demonic Path attack, then dealt with a Thousand Autumn Pavilion agent who came seeking the Azure Vine Tree. After Du Ye invited him to a Ji Family banquet for Ji Xiaoyu, Gu An decided to improve his Eight Directions Step.

• Ye Lan warned Gu An that Devil Lord Jiye might attack the Taixuan Sect and urged him to flee with her, but Gu An calmed her and advised her to focus on cultivation.
• Gu An stayed in Mystic Valley and refrained from cultivating while the Outer Sect's spiritual energy recovered.
• Fu Xiong secretly visited Gu An, revealed that the Azure Vine Tree was Thousand Autumn Pavilion's sacred tree, and tried to recruit Gu An as his disciple in exchange for a share of the Medicine Valley's harvest.
• Gu An used the Soul Capture Technique to search Fu Xiong's mind, killed him, burned his remains and belongings, and found that Fu Xiong knew nothing about the Azure Vine Tree's location.
• Du Ye told Gu An that Ji Xiaoyu had mastered the Qilin Step and that the Ji Family would hold a banquet in ten days, then asked him to prepare medicinal herbs as a gift.
• Gu An decided to spend lifespan that night improving his Eight Directions Step so he could compare it with Ji Xiaoyu's Qilin Step.

Gu An used his lifespan to evolve the Eight Directions Step into the Boundless Traceless Profound Heaven Step and Jiang Qiong’s Demonic Shadow Divine Technique into the Great Yin-Yang Transformation. After arriving in the Inner Sect City with Du Ye to attend the Ji Family banquet, he began exploring alone to buy spiritual herb seeds and learn about the city.

• Gu An spent five thousand years evolving the Eight Directions Step into the Boundless Traceless Profound Heaven Step and tested its movement ability after returning to Mystic Valley.
• Gu An spent two thousand years evolving the Demonic Shadow Divine Technique into the Great Yin-Yang Transformation, which could conceal his true form from divine sense, treasures, and deduction.
• Gu An met Du Ye in the Inner Sect City and learned about its scale, the Teleportation Array, and the sect’s surrounding territories.
• Gu An and Du Ye reached Ji Mansion, where they took over guard duty from two Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators.
• Gu An paid Du Ye a hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones to cover his post and left to buy spiritual herb seeds, but someone called out to him.

Gu An explored Inner Sect City with Zuo Lin, learned more about the Taixuan Sect, and attended the Ji Family banquet, where Gu Zong unexpectedly asked him to become a disciple. Gu An deferred the offer, and the chapter ended with Ji Xiaoyu summoning him.

• Gu An met Zuo Lin, who showed him the Scripture Pavilion and the formations; Gu An bought basic techniques for his disciples but found teleportation arrays too expensive.
• Gu An returned to Ji Mansion with Du Ye, met Ji Lin, and helped prepare to welcome guests to the banquet.
• Gu An recognized Luo Xunye and Jiang Qiong among the guests, then discovered that Gu Yu's father, Gu Zong, was a Second-layer Void Crossing Realm cultivator.
• Gu Yu urged Gu Zong to take Gu An as his disciple, and Gu Zong publicly offered to accept him; Gu An asked to discuss it later.
• Gu Zong said Gu An could instead help him with a matter in exchange for having his requests fulfilled, and a Ji Family cultivator then summoned Gu An at Ji Xiaoyu's request.

Gu An met with Ji Xiaoyu, who offered him a Medicine Valley, a Teleportation Array, and a Talisman Treasure after learning he wrote Investiture of the Gods. He learned that demonic sects planned to target Ji Xiaoyu for her Innate Dao Talisman, then met Gu Zong and Gu Yu as the banquet continued.

• Ji Xiaoyu summoned Gu An, agreed to seek another Medicine Valley for him, promised a Teleportation Array, and gave him a Talisman Treasure that could kill Golden Core cultivators.
• Gu An told Ji Xiaoyu that he had written Investiture of the Gods, and she warned him to keep his authorship secret because other sects were searching for Pan An.
• Jiang Qiong secretly gave Gu An a jade pendant revealing that she and other Demonic Path forces planned to seize Ji Xiaoyu's Innate Dao Talisman after she formed a Golden Core.
• Gu An watched Ji Xiaoyu demonstrate the Qilin Step at the banquet while the hidden Demonic Cultivators held back.
• Gu Zong and Gu Yu visited Gu An, and Gu Yu promised to return within half a year with a large Medicine Valley for him.

Gu An returned to Mystic Valley and found Qiu Qianli, a Ten Thousand Yin Sect cultivator, threatening his disciples and stealing medicinal herbs. Gu An secretly killed him using the Demonic Shadow Divine Technique, then learned from Wuxin that the mysterious protector may have been sent by Wuxin's father.

• Gu Zong promised to make Gu An an Outer Sect disciple and give him a second Medicine Valley in exchange for a book about his deeds.
• Gu An returned to Mystic Valley and discovered that Qiu Qianli had taken six fourth-grade medicinal herbs and trapped the valley in a Formation.
• Qiu Qianli revealed that he belonged to the Ten Thousand Yin Sect and threatened Gu An and the disciples, demanding to use the valley for pill refining.
• Gu An used the Great Yin-Yang Transformation to appear as a mysterious cultivator, destroy Qiu Qianli's Golden Pill, kill him, and secretly dispel the Formation.
• Gu An pretended to return with medicinal herbs after the killing, while the frightened disciples described what had happened.
• Wuxin told Gu An that the mysterious cultivator was likely a Great Cultivator from Thousand Autumn Pavilion sent by Wuxin's father to protect him.

After Qiu Qianli’s death, Gu An reported the incident to Taixuan Sect and secretly advanced to the ninth level of the Void Crossing Realm. As fighting erupted near the Inner Sect over Ji Xiaoyu’s Golden Core, Wuxin told Gu An that he was a genius whose cultivation was suppressed by a divine technique.

• Gu An warned Wuxin to keep the mysterious protector’s intervention secret, then preserved the crime scene and prepared to report Qiu Qianli’s death.
• Gu An searched Qiu Qianli’s Storage Bag, discovered that he had come to assist a Ten Thousand Yin Sect spy seeking the Innate Dao Talisman, and destroyed items that might reveal his identity.
• Murong Ying and the Law Enforcement Hall investigated Mystic Valley, took Qiu Qianli’s pill furnace, and left after Gu An recounted the incident.
• Gu An spent 7,500 years of lifespan to advance the Divine Wood Pure Yang Technique into the Yang Wood Primordial Chaos Technique and raise his cultivation to the ninth level of the Void Crossing Realm.
• A month later, Gu An sensed Void Crossing Realm cultivators fighting near the Inner Sect and suspected that Demonic Path spies were trying to seize Ji Xiaoyu’s Golden Core.
• Wuxin visited Gu An at night and revealed that he cultivated a divine technique that suppressed his growth while letting him accumulate strength and change his fate.

Wuxin taught Gu An the Dao Derivation Technique, and Gu An secretly began cultivating it. After teaching Su Han swordsmanship, Gu An met with Jiang Qiong, who revealed that she had been injured during the attempt to seize Ji Xiaoyu’s Innate Dao Talisman and entrusted him with a Ji Family Divine Ability Treasury fragment.

• Wuxin explained that the Dao Derivation Technique let him accumulate cultivation without raising his realm, then taught it to Gu An.
• Gu An defeated Su Han in a spar and explained how he used the Hating Heaven Divine Sword to read and counter Su Han’s attacks.
• Jiang Qiong arrived at Mystic Valley and told Gu An that a Ji Family Nascent Soul cultivator had seriously injured her while Ji Xiaoyu escaped unharmed.
• Jiang Qiong explained that she had hoped Gu An would warn the Ji Family, then revealed she had taken a bronze fragment containing one of the Ji Family’s ten great divine abilities.
• Jiang Qiong asked Gu An to hide the Divine Ability Treasury fragment in the Eight Sceneries Grotto-Heaven until she could obtain blood from a direct Ji Family descendant.

Gu An broke the restriction on the Bronze Fragment and learned the divine ability Heaven and Earth Dao Gang. He then left Mystic Valley with Luo Hun to take charge of Li Xuandao’s remote Tianya Valley, where he discovered an overgrown valley that needed to be reclaimed.

• Jiang Qiong recovered in Mystic Valley, taught Zhen Qin an unusual technique, and departed after nearly a month.
• Gu An broke the Bronze Fragment’s restriction in the Eight Sceneries Grotto-Heaven and learned that it contained Heaven and Earth Dao Gang.
• Luo Hun arrived with Li Xuandao’s summons, gave Ye Yan a spear manual, and took Gu An toward Tianya Valley.
• Luo Hun told Gu An that Tianya Valley would nurture geniuses and could not be connected to Mystic Valley because its existence had to remain secret.
• Gu An reached Tianya Valley and found it twice the size of Mystic Valley but overgrown with weeds, while Luo Hun said he would capture demons to help reclaim it.

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.