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

The person holding An Hao's shoulder was none other than Gu An. An Hao turned around cautiously, and when he saw Gu An, the joy in his heart completely erupted.

"Master!"

An Hao couldn't help but turn around and hug Gu An tightly.

Although Gu An still wore a mask and his attire was different from before, An Hao recognized him as his master at a glance.

When Gu An suddenly disappeared, An Hao staggered forward a step involuntarily.

He turned to look, and Gu An appeared seven steps away, which made him breathe a sigh of relief.

In the instant his master vanished, he thought he had been caught in an illusion.

"Tell me, what's going on," Gu An said.

Even as the mountain trembled, An Hao was not panicked. With Gu An's appearance, he was excited instead, and began to recount the grudge.

Gu An listened attentively.

Not far away, Si Yan'er's eyes widened in amazement as she looked at Gu An.

This man was An Hao's master?

How did he get in here?

While An Hao was speaking, he couldn't help but probe for Gu An's true face with his Divine Sense, only to have it repelled by the power contained in the mask, which startled him.

Gu An remained silent, which made An Hao feel ashamed; he did not dare to offend his master again and focused on telling the story of his enmity with the Prince of the Tianwei Dynasty, Si Zong.

Two months ago, following the map given by Sage Xuan Miao, he found this cave dwelling site, but he couldn't enter. After a month of attempts, he went out to gain experience and then met Si Zong and Si Yan'er.

Si Zong had also participated in the Golden List Conference back then and made it to the top ten. They had been opponents once, and upon meeting again, they got along quite well. This made An Hao think he had made a friend like Sage Xuan Miao. So, the three of them traveled together and had a pleasant time.

Later, An Hao shared the opportunity he was seeking with Si Zong and his sister, not expecting Si Zong to harbor resentment over his previous defeat to An Hao. Once he knew An Hao was after an opportunity, he plotted to capture him.

After a fierce battle, both were wounded. An Hao then kidnapped Si Yan'er.

An Hao brought Si Yan'er back here, and as they argued, they accidentally opened the mechanism, revealing an entrance in the mountainside.

Just as they were about to enter, to their surprise, Si Zong quickly pursued them with the accompaniment of a Void Crossing Realm Cultivator.

While trying to enter the cave with Si Yan'er, An Hao was ambushed and severely injured. Fortunately, the entrance closed in time, allowing him to escape a disaster.

When An Hao finished speaking, he was furious and cursed, "That son of a bitch, Si Zong, I trusted him so much. I must have been blind!"

Si Yan'er pursed her lips, remaining silent and not speaking up for Si Zong since she also disapproved of his actions.

Boom!

An explosion echoed from the tunnel, followed by a gust of wind that billowed their robes.

Gu An looked toward the statue in the center of the cave, seemingly lost in thought.

Footsteps approached, and An Hao, not in a panic, moved next to Si Yan'er, ready to take her hostage.

"Let her go. What's the point of using a woman as a hostage? It's meaningless," Gu An's voice sounded.

Si Yan'er's face lit up with a smile at his words, and she quickly said, "Thank you, senior. You truly understand righteousness!"

An Hao glared at her but still dutifully tore off the Talisman Paper attached to her.

Once the Talisman Paper was removed, Si Yan'er instantly regained control of her body. She breathed a sigh of relief, not running toward the tunnel but standing beside An Hao instead.

A group of Cultivators came from the entrance, led by Si Zong. Following him was a man wearing a gold-trimmed black robe with an imposing presence, half of his hair white, his appearance handsome, his eyes cold and detached, exuding an indescribable sense of oppression.

Si Zong's gaze fell on Gu An, and his eyebrows furrowed. He raised his hand in greeting and asked, "May I inquire who Daoist Friend is and what brings you here?"

Si Yan'er said, "Brother, he is An Hao's master. Let's just put an end to this matter."

Master?

Si Zong's frown deepened even more, and he asked, "Could it be Sect Master Lu has arrived?"

Gu An glanced at the robed man behind him and cast Life Span Detection.

[Ancestor Xingyan (Second Layer of the Mystic Heart Realm): 1904/4400/4600]

The nine dynasties truly harbor hidden dragons and crouching tigers!

It was unclear whether this person had been cultivating in Tianwei all the time or had returned from the Ephemera Sect overseas.

Gu An said, "I'm not Lv Baitian. This cave dwelling was first found by my disciple. I would advise everyone to stop right here."

The Cultivators behind Si Zong were taken aback, not expecting such a forthright stance from this person.

An Hao, on the other hand, became exhilarated and provocatively looked at Si Zong.

Ancestor Xingyan stepped forward, positioning himself in front of Si Zong. He sized up Gu An and said, "May I inquire about your name, Daoist Friend? Why not show us your true face?"

His Divine Sense too failed to penetrate Gu An's mask, which made him a bit wary of Gu An.

But it was only a slight wariness; after all, he was a Mystic Heart Realm Cultivator!

In previous battles with the Ephemera Sect, he had fought other cultivators of the Mystic Heart Realm, with both victories and losses. As someone of the same realm, it wasn't possible for him to be killed so easily.

Unless this person before him was like the Sect Hierarch of the Ephemera Sect, having reached the even higher Mahayana Realm.

The Mahayana Realm?

Ancestor Xingyan didn't believe it. If such a powerful individual existed, why wasn't he known before?

Gu An turned to face Ancestor Xingyan and uttered a single word: "Leave."

Leave!

Everyone present changed color, especially those on Si Zong's side who knew of Ancestor Xingyan's background.

"How dare you! You dare to speak so arrogantly to a Great Cultivator of the Mystic Heart Realm!"

An elder chided angrily, but Ancestor Xingyan laughed, his laughter cold and chilling.

An Hao was extremely excited, worthy of being his master, so domineering!

Si Yan'er looked at Gu An, feeling that this person's arrogance was backed by real power.

Just as Ancestor Xingyan was about to speak, Gu An sighed and muttered to himself, "Troublesome."

As soon as he finished speaking, Gu An suddenly waved his sleeve, and mana erupted, transforming into a gale that rushed towards Ancestor Xingyan, Si Zong, and the others.

His action was too fast, so fast that everyone was too late to react.

As the gale swept by, Ancestor Xingyan and others all turned to ash, with storage bags and storage rings falling to the ground one after another.

The cave chamber quickly fell silent.

An Hao's eyes widened, and Si Yan'er was so shocked that she couldn't help but rub her eyes.

Row after row of prompts appeared before Gu An's eyes, slaying fifty-seven cultivators and seizing over twelve hundred years of life span.

Ignoring the shock of An Hao and Si Yan'er, Gu An then walked up to the stone statue.

"Mystic Heart Realm... dead?" Si Yan'er muttered, cold sweat starting to bead her forehead, instinctively feeling fear.

An Hao was stunned for a moment, then began to cheer. He came to Gu An's side, excitedly saying, "Master, how are you so powerful? What is your realm? Could it be the Mahayana Realm as mentioned by the Sect Hierarch of the Ephemera Sect?"

Mahayana Realm!

These three words made Si Yan'er's heart race.

She no longer cared about Si Zong's death, her mind filled only with panic and fear.

She immediately ran towards the cave entrance, An Hao only glanced at her and did not stop her.

After Gu An's move just now, his confidence was inflated, even if the entire Tianwei Dynasty came to encircle them, master and disciple, it would be suicidal.

Gu An paid no attention to An Hao, who saw his master observing the stone statue and didn't dare to interrupt, standing obediently aside.

He looked at Gu An, his heart burning with fervor.

He couldn't help but stimulate his Spiritual Power, exciting his senses to assure himself that this wasn't a dream.

"If Master is so powerful, could he destroy the Ephemera Sect without the Mountain God's intervention?"

The idea flashed through An Hao's mind, and his gaze towards Gu An grew even more worshipful.

Before long.

Si Yan'er came back. It turned out she wasn't escaping but was telling the cultivators outside to leave quickly to avoid dying because of Si Zong.

She came to An Hao's side and waited quietly.

An Hao frowned and glanced at her; she turned up her nose at him.

Just then.

Gu An raised his hand and struck the stone statue. Under his control of mana, the statue began to spin, and as the turtle-shaped statue moved, water began to flow from its base.

After the statue spun halfway around, the turtle's mouth opened, and a beam of white light shot out, striking the mountain wall.

Under the gaze of An Hao and Si Yan'er, ancient and complex characters appeared on the mountain wall, each character twisting as if it were trying to break away from the wall, making them both widen their eyes.

Bright light shone on their faces, and their pupils seemed to hold a sun that was growing larger.

Upon closer inspection, a bright light emerged from the mountain wall etched with strange characters, expanding as if a door to an exotic world were opening.

The stone statue suddenly lifted its stone staff and tapped it lightly. The bright light in front of it suddenly expanded, enveloping the entire cave and a rich Spiritual Energy rushed towards the three people.

Gu An immediately headed towards the mountain wall, followed closely by An Hao.

Si Yan'er gritted her teeth and followed as well.

Once they entered the bright light, An Hao was unable to cast spells, and even his Divine Sense could not spread out; he could only press on resolutely.

About ten steps in, he suddenly bumped into someone. He stopped immediately, just about to speak when the bright light in front of him dissipated, and his vision cleared.

What entered his sight was a breathtakingly beautiful world; they stood atop a cliff with endless green mountains in front of them, the sky azure blue, the white clouds scattered.

Such rich Spiritual Energy!

An Hao was so attracted to the Spiritual Energy of this world that he couldn't help but take a deep breath.

"What's that?" Si Yan'er next to him exclaimed, pointing towards a forest in the distance. An Hao turned to look, following the direction she pointed, a piece of woodland ten miles away was shaking as if some giant creature was moving through it.

"Welcome, three fated ones, to my abode. If you can pass my test, you may inherit my mantle, and it's not impossible that you might gaze into the Mahayana Realm one day!"

An echoing, vast voice resounded through the heavens and earth.

Mahayana Realm!

An Hao and Si Yan'er's hearts raced.

Gu An was very calm. He could sense that this Minor Heaven and Earth hid four Spirit Beasts comparable to the Unification Realm and a remnant soul of the Mahayana Realm.

The remnant soul was in a stone statue hundreds of miles away, extremely weak.

Gu An spoke, "Try your luck and see if you are blessed enough."

Hearing this, An Hao leapt into the woods, with Si Yan'er bowing to Gu An before following him.

"Wait for me!"

Si Yan'er called out, her figure quickly disappearing into the forest.

Gu An's figure vanished from thin air, covering a distance of hundreds of miles, arriving halfway up a mountain where another identical stone statue sat just like the one they had encountered in the cave.