Steadily becoming a saint, the immortal officials hired me to tend the horses

Li Xuandao!

How did this guy inherit the power of the Ephemera Sect?

Gu An opened his mouth and asked, "Inheriting power, what power does the Ephemera Sect have to inherit?"

Chen Snake struggled to reply, "The Ephemera scattered all over the world are there to absorb spiritual energy for the Spirit of Ephemera, an ancient species. It can use the Ephemera to absorb the spiritual energy of the world. Once it merges with a living being, all Ephemera will lose their vitality, leaving only their shells..."

The figure that burst forth from its eyes was indeed Li Xuandao, even revealing his true face. Li Xuandao seemed to be communicating with someone, but no sound was heard.

Gu An asked, "Is your injury because you stopped him?"

"Exactly, he has the support of the Mystic Heart Realm, but he didn't kill me..." Chen Snake replied.

Gu An asked, "Do you want me to kill him?"

"If possible... it would be best to cripple his cultivation level... the Spirit of Ephemera is ultimately an ominous entity..."

"Then you better heal well and take care of him yourself later, your poison will dissipate soon."

Gu An casually answered, without concerning himself with the truth or falsehood. How could he possibly listen to Chen Snake's words and cripple whoever he's told to?

Chen Snake remained silent for a moment before saying, "I was presumptuous..."

Gu An then disappeared from its forehead.

Chen Snake also possessed the cultivation level of the Mystic Heart Realm. Once the poison is resolved, the demons of Heavenly Phoenix Mountain will not be able to harm it.

Feeling Gu An disappear, Chen Snake closed its eyes, and its breaths began to weaken.

Elsewhere.

Gu An returned to the Nianchu Cave, astonished to find Tian Yao'er already drunk, sprawled over the table.

He picked up the jar, only to find it empty of wine.

This girl...

Gu An smiled helplessly as he picked up Tian Yao'er and walked inside the house.

"Master... master... help me... kill the Demon Mother... avenge my parents..."

Tian Yao'er, clinging to Gu An's neck, muttered to herself, her hot breath spilling onto his neck.

Gu An didn't tell her that the Heaven Phoenix Demon Mother was already dead.

Having a target for her hatred would drive her to cultivate harder.

...

The next day at noon, Gu An arrived at Tianya Valley.

Last night, he had captured with his divine sense that Li Xuandao had already returned to Tianya Valley.

From afar, Gu An could see the figure of Li Xuandao, who was sitting at a stone table under a tree, holding a book in one hand.

[Li Xuandao (Void Crossing Realm Seven Layers): 271/1599/6050]

Void Crossing Realm Seven Layers!

His cultivation level had increased again!

Most crucially, his maximum life span had doubled. Gu An remembered that it was just over three thousand years.

Such a significant effect from the Spirit of Ephemera?

Gu An suddenly felt that Li Xuandao was truly extraordinary. Those with higher maximum lifespans than him didn't cultivate as fast as he did.

Even An Hao's cultivation speed might not match his!

Most importantly, no one knew Li Xuandao's real cultivation level. He cultivated some special secret skill, and his apparent cultivation level was now at the first layer of the Core Formation Realm.

Disguising the Void Crossing Realm Seven Layers as the Core Formation Realm first layer, how cunning!

While thinking this, Gu An walked towards Li Xuandao.

"I pay respect to Uncle," Gu An approached Li Xuandao and raised his hand in greeting.

Li Xuandao put down the Investiture of the Gods he was reading and smiled, "Gu An, you've finally arrived. Your uncle has prepared a superior quality Golden Core for you, the original owner of the Golden Core was a top-tier genius.

Once your cultivation level reaches the ninth layer of the Foundation Establishment Realm, your uncle will have a Great Cultivator help you achieve the Core Formation Realm."

Upon hearing this, Gu An hurriedly thanked him.

Li Xuandao signaled for him to sit down and began talking to himself, "Recently, I've reanalyzed the Investiture of the Gods and gained profound insights. What do you think would have happened if King Zhou had allied with the Chan Sect from the beginning?"

Gu An responded, "There are not so many what-ifs. Different natures lead to different choices, and many events are destined to happen. King Zhou was domineering, the Chan Sect might not have approved of his ways."

Li Xuandao shook his head, "Too one-sided. I think the Investiture of the Gods also conveys deeper meanings."

Has he lost his mind?

Suddenly unsure how to continue the conversation, Gu An paid careful attention to Li Xuandao's energy, but he didn't sense any aura of the Ephemera.

He grew intensely curious about Li Xuandao's cultivation technique, intuitively feeling it was extremely powerful, possibly even stronger than Lv Baitian's Defying Fate Divine Skill.

Li Xuandao attracting talents was one thing, but behind him was even the Mystic Heart Realm!

Gu An wondered how he had managed that. Was it through using benefits to woo noble families, or had he taken a high-ranking master as his teacher?

Most likely the latter; otherwise, how could a Great Cultivator of the Mystic Heart Realm take interest in an Emperor?

Li Xuandao began sharing his interpretations of the Investiture of the Gods, getting more profound and even analyzing the motives of the characters.

Gu An noticed Yi Liuyun and Lv Xian hadn't returned.

Given that Lv Xian once possessed remnants of the Ephemera Sect's Evil Emperor, he suspected Li Xuandao's acquisition of the Spirit of Ephemera was connected to Lv Xian.

After a long discussion, Li Xuandao eventually concluded his seemingly endless insights, then sent Gu An off to gather herbs.

Once Gu An was done, he came before Li Xuandao to take his leave. Before leaving, he curiously asked, "Uncle, what brings you here this time?"

Li Xuandao, looking at the book and casually answering, "Waiting for the Venerable Pavilion from the Supreme Sect to find me."

The Venerable Pavilion?

Gu An grew even more curious. Had Li Xuandao managed to win over one of the three major noble families?

He did not continue to ask questions, letting these people fight, as long as it did not affect him.

With his current cultivation level, he could not claim to be invincible across the continent, but at least within the Nine Dynasties, no one could threaten him.

His curiosity was more about enjoying the spectacle.

Standing on high, watching these people fight, was indeed quite interesting.

...

After the world became peaceful, Gu An's days returned to normal, moving between various Medicine Valleys and occasionally visiting the Outer Sect City to chat with his friends there; he found every day interesting and not at all dull.

Time flew by.

Five years passed.

That summer, Gu An turned seventy-nine, and his life span broke through five million years, getting ever closer to ten million years.

The Mystic Heart Realm was no longer a secret, as he even heard people in the Inner Sect City discussing the stories of the Mystic Heart Realm Great Cultivators.

One day, Gu An went to the Inner Sect City and invited Wu Jue for a drink at the inn.

Wu Jue was happy about his visit.

After they each drank a jug of wine, Wu Jue said, "Brother Gu, I will be leaving next month and it would be difficult to return within the next ten years."

Over the years, Wu Jue's maximum life span had not increased, possibly due to the overly comfortable life.

Gu An curiously asked, "Where are you going?"

Wu Jue replied, "Isn't the current Emperor calling for the unification of the Nine Dynasties, and then gathering the world's strength to resist the great demon calamity decades later? My master has sent me to support him."

Zhou Family!

Five years ago, because Gu An was curious about whom Li Xuandao was meeting with, he used his Divine Sense to spy and discovered that the person was none other than Wu Jue's master, Zhou Yu.

After their meeting, Li Xuandao returned to the Empire and made that shocking declaration.

Unite the world to fight against the demons!

This arrogant declaration caused dissent within the Supreme Sect, yet things didn't turn out as the disciples expected.

The Supreme Sect actually sent disciples to support the Dynasty and assist Li Xuandao.

This obviously wasn't Lv Baitian's intention, and Gu An could feel the atmosphere in the Inner Sect becoming tense. It's worth mentioning that Lv Baitian hadn't looked for Gu An in those five years either.

If it weren't for his previous probe using Divine Sense, confirming that Lv Baitian was alive and well, concentrating on his practice, Gu An would have thought Lv Baitian had suffered from deviation again.

"I have a disciple named Ye Yan. He joined the army many years ago. If you meet him, please take good care of him," Gu An said with a smile.

Wu Jue slapped his chest and laughed, "Of course, no problem. Your disciple is my disciple as well."

Gu An raised his wine bowl and clinked it against Wu Jue's again.

The two continued to chat, and Wu Jue was very enthusiastic, starting to talk about his practice; he had gained a deeper understanding of the Sunset Fist and Gale Shadowless Leg and had realized even stronger moves.

Suddenly,

Gu An's gaze shifted to the staircase on the second floor, where he saw a person walking up.

[Lord Wei of the Heaven (Mystic Heart Realm third level): 3889/4500/4600]

Mystic Heart Realm third level!

Gu An glanced and then withdrew his gaze, feeling inwardly curious.

Who is this person?

Living for over three thousand eight hundred years, even Ancestor Xuan Tian, were he alive, would probably be considered a junior in his presence.

Lord Wei of the Heaven wore a blue robe, held a horsetail whisk, and his beard hung past his jaw with his hair tied atop his head. His aura resembled that of the Elixir Formation Realm, so he did not attract the attention of other disciples.

This kind of attire was not rare in the world of immortal cultivation; even on the second floor of the inn alone, there were two other similarly dressed people.

Lord Wei of the Heaven scanned the room, his gaze landing on Wu Jue. He stepped forward, came to the table, and asked with a smile, "May I join you two young friends?"

Wu Jue frowned and looked towards Gu An.

Gu An smiled and said, "Since we are fellow sect members, how could we refuse. Daoist Friend, please take a seat."

Lord Wei brushed his beard and smiled before sitting down, introducing himself, "I am Wei, not a disciple of the Supreme Sect. I am just a guest here. Seeing you two today felt like seeing kindred spirits, so I came up to join."

This statement made Wu Jue's frown deepen.

In the first half of Wu Jue's life, the Supreme Sect had already suffered several disturbances from spies, so he was quite wary of cultivators from other sects.

Gu An asked, "May I know which sect Brother Wei comes from?"

Lord Wei turned to Gu An, smiled, and said, "I am from the Seven Stars Spirit Realm. Have you two heard of it?"

Gu An shook his head.

Wu Jue said irritably, "What exactly do you want to find out? Be direct and don't disturb our drinking."

Lord Wei shook his head with a chuckle, took out a green jade piece from his sleeve, placed it on the table, and pushed it toward Wu Jue, saying, "Seeing your extraordinary foundation and your top of the skull exuding a spiritual aura, you seem destined for the Seven Stars Spirit Realm. I would like to invite you to cultivate there."

He turned to look back at Gu An, who couldn't help but look forward to his response.

Yet the man just smiled, nodding politely yet awkwardly.

Gu An maintained his smile, remaining silent.