Saint Who Lay Low

The Third Medicine Valley, with autumn winds gently blowing.

Gu An stepped out of the teleportation platform and walked towards a distant section of the valley.

Even though he had just broken through, he hadn't forgotten the ripening schedule of the herbs in the various sections.

After only a few steps, Lu Lingjun hurried over to him, saying, "Valley Master, let me accompany you for the harvest."

Gu An nodded, not objecting.

After walking several miles, Gu An bent down to start picking the herbs, while Lu Lingjun took out a bamboo basket to collect them.

"Valley Master, with the world in chaos, shouldn't someone of my cultivation go out and make a name for themselves?" Lu Lingjun suddenly asked.

So that was it! No wonder she was suddenly being so attentive!

Gu An casually replied, "Then you should talk to the Sect Master and see how he plans to arrange you."

"If he intended to summon me, he would have already sent word."

"In that case, stay here in the valley. Who knows? Someday the demonic cultivators of the Ephemeral Blossom Sect might infiltrate the valley, and we will need you to defend it."

"But—"

"Lu Lingjun, for someone as accomplished as you, how can your Dao heart be so restless? All efforts are valuable. Protecting the herbs is also a contribution. Do you think that this contribution is less important than going out to kill enemies?"

Gu An said sternly, though his hands never stopped working.

After using up over 400,000 years of lifespan, he needed to make up for it.

Lu Lingjun sighed in resignation. The reason she wanted to go out and fight demons was also to aid her ambition of becoming the Sect Master.

However, she couldn't yet reveal her intentions to Gu An, as his relationship with Lü Baitian was much closer.

Seeing her plan fail, Lu Lingjun shifted the topic, asking, "Valley Master, do you think immortals exist in this world? The world is vast, yet why can mortals never see an immortal?"

"Of course they exist. Otherwise, why would we, as cultivators, pursue immortality? We are simply still on the path toward it," Gu An responded.

Of course, immortals exist!

I'm one of them!

But I can't tell you that!

Gu An felt a surge of pride, but then another thought crossed his mind.

Could immortals be hiding among the mortals, and his divine sense simply wasn't strong enough to detect them? Or perhaps immortals resided on the other side of the ocean, with a separation between mortals and immortals. Even after becoming an immortal, they would still have to compete for higher realms.

Nirvana was just the first step on the Immortal Path, and there were eight more tribulations to cross before reaching the pinnacle of immortality.

But what lies beyond immortality?

For a moment, Gu An's thoughts drifted into endless possibilities. Despite his wandering mind, it didn't affect his herb-picking in the slightest.

"In the place where I was born, there were no immortals. Once a cultivator reached a certain level, they could only seek to shatter the void. We believed that immortals and gods hid in realms beyond the reach of mortals," Lu Lingjun continued, her face tinged with sorrow.

After her ascension, she realized that it didn't feel much different from before. She was still caught in the turmoil of the mortal world, only now, the world seemed even larger, and the path to true immortality was still distant.

Gu An listened quietly, occasionally offering a response.

After half an hour, the two returned to the pavilion area, where they parted ways.

Gu An, meanwhile, headed toward the Mysterious Clear Tree. From afar, he saw Xiao Chuan crouching by the tree, watching the White Spirit Mouse sleep beneath it.

Though Xiao Chuan had raised many spirit beasts, his favorite was still the White Spirit Mouse, despite its aloofness.

Gu An suddenly noticed that Xiao Chuan's figure seemed to have aged.

Xiao Chuan was only three years younger than Gu An, now seventy years old, and still had not reached the Foundation Establishment Realm. Naturally, age had begun to show.

Gu An had once given him a Youth Retaining Pill, which had only kept his appearance youthful. But Xiao Chuan's demeanor and mindset had already started to age.

This left Gu An feeling a bit disoriented.

In another hundred years, Xiao Chuan would depart from him.

Xiao Chuan never liked to cultivate, and Gu An couldn't force him. Still, even without significant achievements in cultivation, Xiao Chuan lived a happy life. Because of Gu An, Xiao Chuan had no regrets in this lifetime.

Gu An walked up behind Xiao Chuan with a smile, asking, "Xiao Chuan, what are you looking at? If you want to hold it, just pick it up."

Xiao Chuan looked up and helplessly replied, "It's got quite the temper. I tried to hold it before, but it scratched me."

"Oh? Why didn't you tell me? This little rascal!"

Gu An immediately walked over, grabbed the White Spirit Mouse by the tail, and lifted it into the air.

The White Spirit Mouse woke up startled, but upon seeing it was Gu An, it stopped struggling.

Gu An placed it into Xiao Chuan's arms, giving the mouse a stern look that warned it not to resist. The White Spirit Mouse reluctantly curled into a ball, acting submissively.

Finally holding the White Spirit Mouse, Xiao Chuan broke into a smile, gently stroking its back.

Just then, Gu An sensed the distant aura of battle.

A Grandmaster-level battle!

One of the participants was none other than Xuanquan Ancestor!

Gu An glanced over briefly but had no intention of intervening.

Unless a Mahayana Realm cultivator from the Ephemeral Blossom Sect joined the fray, he wouldn't bother taking action. This calamity belonged to the Nine Dynasties, not just to him. Besides, he couldn't let Tai Xuan Sect become overly reliant on the Swordmaster of the Dao.

After chatting with Xiao Chuan for a short while, Gu An finally took his leave.

Xiao Chuan placed the White Spirit Mouse down, and with a swoosh, it darted back to the Mysterious Clear Tree to continue its nap.

Watching Gu An's departing figure, Xiao Chuan suddenly felt as though he was growing further and further away from Gu An.

Even though they were together every day and Gu An showed no signs of leaving Tai Xuan Sect, Xiao Chuan couldn't shake the inexplicable feeling of loss.

Fortunately, the feeling passed as quickly as it had come.

"Xiao Yang, come with me to check on the spirit chickens. They should be laying eggs today," Xiao Chuan called to a servant disciple nearby, his face lighting up at the thought of the spirit chickens laying eggs.

...

Back at Tianhuang Mountain.

Inside the underground cave, Gu An sat on the ground, staring at a stone tablet before him, stroking his chin in thought.

Tian Yao'er crouched nearby, curiously watching him. She held her silence for a long time before finally asking, "What are you thinking about?"

"I'm thinking of a name for this cave residence," Gu An replied.

Suddenly, he had an idea. Opening his eyes, he looked at Tian Yao'er and said, "If you could name it, what would you call it?"

Hearing this, Tian Yao'er tilted her head, thinking for a moment, and said, "How about... Tian Yao's Little Den?"

Gu An closed his eyes again, not bothering to respond.

Tian Yao'er pouted, lifting her hands into claw-like shapes and playfully swiping at Gu An, sticking out her tongue as if trying to claw him.

After an incense stick of time passed...

Gu An stood up abruptly, startling Tian Yao'er, who quickly jumped to her feet, wide-eyed and watching him.

Gu An raised his right hand, extending two fingers toward the stone tablet. With a flick of his fingers, a faint energy appeared, etching four characters onto the surface of the tablet.

Nian Chu Cave Residence.

Nian Chu, meaning to never forget one's original aspirations. Gu An feared that he might become arrogant in the future.

His conversation with Xiao Chuan today had left him reflecting deeply on life. The name "Nian Chu" was also a reminder to himself to remember the first group of people he met upon entering the Immortal Path.

After carving the name, Gu An picked up the stone tablet and walked off into the distance.

Tian Yao'er followed closely behind, staying no more than seven steps away from him since his return.

Once he placed the stone tablet in the ground, Gu An turned around and began casting spells, eventually squatting down and slapping the ground.

In truth, this level of effort was unnecessary, but Gu An liked to put on a show in front of Tian Yao'er.

As his power surged into the soil, barren ground suddenly began to sprout grass. Within three breaths, the entire area of Nian Chu Cave Residence was covered in green, leaving Tian Yao'er wide-eyed in astonishment.

This was Gu An's Grandmaster-level divine ability, which he called the Divine Descent of All Things!

The Divine Descent of All Things could do more than just this. By using his energy to grow plants and trees, its range could extend as far as his divine sense could reach. The plants were imbued with his power and could provide him with vision, with countless applications and rapid execution speeds.

With a wave of his hand, Gu An could conjure walls of trees as tall as ten thousand feet, but even he wasn't sure what the upper limits of this technique were.

Just thinking about it filled him with anticipation.

Moreover, this divine ability allowed him to accelerate plant growth.

Today, Gu An planned to test whether speeding up the growth of herbs would affect the lifespan he could absorb from them.

He took out a seed and buried it in the soil.

Tian Yao'er was utterly dumbfounded. Looking at the greenery covering the ground, she seriously began to doubt that Gu An was being truthful. At least, she had never seen the Demon Mother use such techniques.

Half an hour later...

Gu An looked at the freshly matured second-grade spirit herb in his hand and sighed.

Accelerated growth had indeed reduced the lifespan.

By forcing the second-grade spirit herb to mature in half an hour, he had failed to extract any lifespan from it. According to his lifespan investigation, this spirit herb was already nearing its end, though the investigation could not accurately display how many months it had left, making it difficult for him to judge directly.

It seemed he would have to rely on traditional farming methods.

Cursing his own greed, Gu An scolded himself. His ability to harvest lifespan was already extraordinary, and yet he had dared to hope for even faster results.

He stood up, and Tian Yao'er immediately followed suit, mimicking his every move.

"Do you not have anything to do?" Gu An asked, unable to contain his curiosity.

Tian Yao'er blinked and asked, "Like what?"

"Aren't you seeking revenge? Shouldn't you be cultivating?"

"But... you haven't taught me how to cultivate yet..." Tian Yao'er replied pitifully.

It had to be said, she looked quite endearing when she was upset.

Gu An silently cursed her as a "little demon" before asking, "How did your cultivation increase up until now?"

He had only looked into Tian Yao'er's past ten years, and since the very beginning, she had been raised by the Demon Mother, who regularly fed her various pills and medicinal soups. Gu An had assumed she had learned a cultivation method in her early years.

"I don't know, it just kept growing..." Tian Yao'er answered.

Gu An thought for a moment. This was probably for the best, at least she wouldn't have to abandon her existing foundation and start over.

Thus, Gu An began teaching Tian Yao'er the Innate Celestial Immortal Art.

Tian Yao'er was a complete novice when it came to cultivation, forcing Gu An to explain the basics.

By the time dawn broke, Tian Yao'er had finally learned how to draw in spiritual energy on her own, allowing Gu An to breathe a sigh of relief.

During this time, he realized that Tian Yao'er couldn't read.

He glanced at the various books scattered in the distance, debating whether to leave behind a copy of Tai Xuan Secrets, as it had illustrations.

But he quickly dismissed the idea.

Too improper!

He couldn't let this naive little demon girl read such a book!

If she got any wrong ideas, it could even disturb his peace while cultivating here.

It was all Shen Zhen's fault, making Gu An's thoughts increasingly impure. Some books were restricted for good reason!