Chapter 136: Chapter 136 The First Step on the Immortal Path, I Am the True Immortal of the Mortal World

Gu An looked up at the woman in red, able to sense the dense demonic energy emanating from her.

Generally, demons capable of complete shape-shifting were great demons, but the demonic energy of this one was merely comparable to the ninth layer of the Foundation Establishment Realm, which was rather peculiar.

He immediately cast a life span detection spell.

[Tian Yao’er (Foundation Establishment Realm, ninth layer): 17/999/18000]

Huh?

Her maximal life span exceeded that of the Underworld Demon Emperor, breaking the record of demon clan qualifications known to Gu An.

Aside from the Spirit Tree, the highest maximal life span belonged to the Ghost Mother of Ephemera, reaching fifty-four thousand years, but the Ghost Mother of Ephemera was a ghost and incomparable.

Gu An couldn’t help but sigh, as the human race was truly struggling, with a destiny limit of less than ten thousand years.

Of course, the human race’s comprehension was higher than that of demon clans and ghost clans. At least, Gu An had not seen any demons or ghosts cultivating faster than Li Xuandao.

While Gu An was lost in thought, he waited for the breakthrough to end.

As spiritual power transformed into mana, its intensity underwent a dramatic change to an extent that Gu An felt he could easily crush his former self.

Perhaps this was the true path of immortality!

With the nine layers of the Immortal Path, he had already crossed into the first layer and was no longer a mortal spirit.

Unfortunately, unlike other cultivators, breaking through did not extend his life span, perhaps because of his unusual situation. Having not experienced a real heavenly tribulation, his life span could only be seized but not increased through breakthroughs.

Nevertheless, this wasn’t much of a problem, as his speed in seizing life spans was already fast enough.

Once the life span barrier ceased absorbing the spiritual energy of Heavenly Phoenix Mountain, the entire mountain fell into a silent and oppressive state.

Gu An sensed that the majority of demon creatures were fleeing from Heavenly Phoenix Mountain, as such phenomena signified calamity in their eyes.

Time flew by.

When Gu An’s cultivation level reached the ninth layer of the Nirvana Realm, he was immersed in a profound sensation.

He slowly opened his eyes and examined the consumption of the life span barrier; this breakthrough had consumed nearly fifty thousand years of life span.

In total, he had consumed four hundred and fifty-four thousand years of life span to reach the ninth layer of the Nirvana Realm!

He still had one million nine hundred twenty thousand years of life span left, not counting the fractions!

Not bad!

Gu An stood up and took out a black robe. While dressing, he glanced at Tian Yao’er in the distance.

Now he could see things invisible to certain living beings. He observed a trace of gray aura on Tian Yao’er and, as his divine sense probed into the gray aura, he saw scenes from Tian Yao’er’s past.

Was this the legendary karma?

Gu An began to glimpse into Tian Yao’er’s past, so he did not immediately dispel the life span barrier.

After the breakthrough, the consumption of the life span barrier significantly slowed down, and leaving it active a bit longer wouldn’t cause much loss.

After dressing, Gu An dispelled the life span barrier and walked towards Tian Yao’er.

His insight into karma wasn’t very strong, only allowing him to explore the karma of the past decade for Tian Yao’er, unable to deduce the future.

Glimpsing the karma of the past decade was already quite impressive!

In just a few breaths, the past decade of Tian Yao’er’s life unfolded before his eyes.

Gu An approached Tian Yao’er, bent down to embrace the unconscious Tian Yao’er, and then walked out of the forest.

The moonlight bathed them, stretching their shadows far behind.

…

Tian Yao’er had a nightmare, dreaming that she was surrounded by a group of demons who wanted to tear her apart and boil her into soup to offer to the Demon Mother.

She jolted awake, sitting up from the ground, gasping for air.

Instinctively glancing around, she found herself in a cave. Her eyes were drawn to the fire, where a figure sat meditating beside it, causing her to shrink back and press against the wall in fear.

“You…” Tian Yao’er stammered, unsure of what to say, still shaken.

Looking closely, she saw the person was dressed in black, wearing a mask, exuding an air of mystery.

It was Gu An!

At that moment, Gu An was deeply immersed in the overwhelming power of the Nirvana Realm. His divine sense covered vast lands, even allowing him to see the entirety of the Nine Dynasties’ territories from Heavenly Phoenix Mountain, a sensation he found utterly fascinating.

Was this the Realm of Immortal Path?

Gu An felt like a true immortal of the mortal world, omnipotent.

Tian Yao’er’s gaze shifted to a bottle of elixirs on the ground. After a moment of hesitation, she stepped forward carefully, picked up the bottle, and opened it. The fragrance of the elixirs made her eyes light up, and she immediately poured the elixirs into her mouth.

After swallowing the elixirs, she felt her energy recover significantly, an indescribable sensation washing over her.

She felt refreshed and invigorated!

Noticing that the wounds on her body had already scabbed over, she shrank back again, curling up against the cave wall, covering her mud-caked feet with the hem of her dress.

After calming down, she realized it was the black-clad individual who saved her.

She curiously studied Gu An, finding his aura unfamiliar.

Since breaking out of her shell, she had not encountered any cultivators of the human race.

She had been raised by the Demon Mother since childhood, and the red dress she wore was also passed down from the Demon Mother.

After a while.

Gu An withdrew his divine sense and slowly opened his eyes. He turned his head to look, the eyes revealed by the mask meeting Tian Yao’er’s, making her pause and then snap back to alertness.

“Thank you for saving me, senior…”

Tian Yao’er said timidly, like a small kitten.

Gu An asked, “What are your plans now?”

From his earlier glimpses, Gu An knew Tian Yao’er was a demon nurtured by a demon king of the Unification Realm. There were other demons in that cage, all very young, capable of shape-shifting at a young age, indicating their extraordinary qualifications.

Due to the sudden depletion of spiritual energy, the demons believed a disaster was imminent and thus migrated. During their migration, they encountered a great demon, resulting in a battle. Amidst the chaos, Tian Yao’er escaped.

Subsequently, she fled all the way to Gu An.

Perhaps due to their shared lack of parents, Gu An felt a tinge of sympathy for Tian Yao’er and did not leave immediately.

Tian Yao’er hesitated, unsure how to respond, feeling lost.

“I’ll give you two options. One, I take you out of Heavenly Phoenix Mountain to a distant place for you to survive. Two, you serve me from now on. In return, I will ensure your safety.”

Gu An’s voice resonated, and upon hearing it, Tian Yao’er showed signs of internal conflict in her eyes.

Tian Yao’er gritted her teeth and asked, “Can you avenge me? My parents were killed by the Demon Mother. If you can avenge me, I’ll follow you forever.”

“The Heaven Phoenix Demon Mother is too powerful. I’m not her opponent, but I can teach you cultivation techniques. You can avenge your own parents in the future,” Gu An replied.

The Heaven Phoenix Demon Mother was in the Unification Realm, certainly not someone Gu An could defeat at present, but he didn’t want to reveal his full strength.

From Tian Yao’er’s memories, there were hints that the Heaven Phoenix Demon Mother had lived for thousands of years. Killing her would likely only yield a two-digit life span gain, not worth exposing his cultivation level.

Even though Gu An intended for Tian Yao’er to manage his new cave mansion, he preferred not to reveal his true power.

One must always hold something back!

Currently, he was only in the first realm of the Immortal Path, far from being invincible. What if someone traveled through time in the future to kill him?

He wanted to ensure that no one would ever know when he truly became powerful!

Tian Yao’er showed a look of disappointment in her eyes, but after reconsidering, it made sense. She had never heard of anyone mightier than the Heaven Phoenix Demon Mother.

She cautiously asked, “If I follow you and cultivate, will I have a chance to avenge them?”

“You’ll at least have a better chance, won’t you?”

“Alright, I’ll follow you!”

Immediately, Gu An waved his sleeve, and the vacant ground behind him suddenly collapsed, soon filling with water to form a pool.

“Go wash up,” Gu An said, standing up and heading towards the cave’s entrance.

Tian Yao’er hurriedly got up and nervously asked, “Where are you going?”

“Just to take a look outside. I’ll come back after you’re done,” Gu An responded without stopping, merely waving his hand.

Tian Yao’er watched his retreating figure, hesitating to say more.

For some reason, Gu An’s attitude made her feel more favorable towards him.

Maybe following him would be better than her previous life.

Tian Yao’er turned to the pool, gazing into it, wondering in surprise, “He seems really powerful, is he truly no match for the Demon Mother?”

Elsewhere…

Gu An stepped out of the cave, sunlight pouring down on him.

Standing halfway up the mountain, surrounded by flora, his view was unhindered.

Looking out, he saw an array of mountains and rivers, enveloped in dense mist, resembling an immortal realm. It was difficult to associate such a beautiful scene with the Demon Land.

Gu An’s divine sense spread out, searching for a suitable place to establish his cave mansion.

Today, he planned to create an underground cave mansion, settling Tian Yao’er before he returned.

Fortunately, he had already prepared all kinds of formation materials, enough to set up a concealed cave mansion, which he would continue to refine over time.

Soon, he located a spirit lineage, deciding to establish the cave mansion beside it.

Leaving behind a Yin Yang Clone, his true self disappeared into thin air.

Half an hour later…

Tian Yao’er crouched by the fire, hugging her knees. Firelight illuminated her delicate face as she stared into the flames, lost in thought.

When she heard footsteps from the cave’s passage, she snapped out of her daze and quickly stood up.

Moments later, Gu An entered the cave chamber. Seeing the cleaned-up Tian Yao’er, he felt satisfied internally.

She looked pleasing enough to manage the cave mansion, serving as an eye-pleaser.

With a wave of his sleeve, a breeze blew towards Tian Yao’er, causing her long hair to flutter and her clothes to swell, compelling Gu An to avert his gaze.

Tian Yao’er felt her hair suddenly fluff up, her clothes drying, and all traces of moisture on her body disappearing.

Gu An raised his hand, beckoning her into the air, grabbing her shoulder, and the two vanished from the cave.

Tian Yao’er felt as if the world was spinning, an uncomfortable sensation preventing her from opening her eyes, with her divine sense unable to extend, prompting her to instinctively grab Gu An’s belt tightly.

Soon, she felt her feet touch the ground, the discomfort dissipating.

She opened her eyes, and her eyes widened in disbelief.

They had arrived in a vast underground space, similar in size to the Mystic Heaven Cave Mansion, with various spirit stones encrusted on the walls, glowing and imbuing the air with dense spiritual energy, making Tian Yao’er feel at ease.

This cave mansion was personally carved out by Gu An, appearing as though naturally formed, with an environment that seemed crafted by supernatural forces.

“From now on, you’ll live here. Rest and recover first, don’t go outside. This is still Heavenly Phoenix Mountain. If you get bored, you can read these books.” Gu An produced books like Investiture of the Gods and Supreme Immortal Venerable from his sleeve and placed them on the ground.

With that, he disappeared into thin air.

Tian Yao’er crouched down and picked up a copy of Investiture of the Gods, flipping it open, her face full of confusion.

She was illiterate.