Chapter 154: Chapter 154 Gathering Ascenders

On the hillside, a gentle breeze blew, rustling Gu An’s robe as he stared at the stone statue in front of him. His divine sense had already penetrated the statue, capturing the residual soul within.

This residual soul looked exactly like the stone statue, representing an old man. The soul body was curled up as if in a deep sleep.

Earlier, the sound was triggered by some kind of restriction that activated whenever any living being entered this cave mansion.

Moreover, during his investigation, Gu An discovered that there were other transmission arrays in this minor heaven and earth within the cave mansion. Including the one they came through, there were a total of eight transmission arrays, each corresponding to different directions, which led him to speculate more about this cave mansion.

A Mahayana cultivator’s cave mansion!

Gu An raised his hand, drawing out the residual soul from within the stone statue. A ball of light appeared in his palm.

[Daoist Star-Master (Mahayana Realm third layer): 0/0/0]

All zeroes?

Did this mean Daoist Star-Master was truly dead?

He immediately sent his divine sense into the residual soul of Daoist Star-Master, performing the Soul Capturing Skill to search for memories.

Rumble—

In the distance came earth-shaking sounds, the noises of An Hao and Si Yan’er battling, entangled with a group of wooden puppets.

Gu An didn’t turn around, focusing on soul searching.

An ancient hour later.

The residual soul in Gu An’s hand dissipated into smoke.

Daoist Star-Master had indeed long perished, leaving behind a residual soul in hopes of revival or taking over a body. However, the secret technique he used to preserve his soul couldn’t withstand the erosion of time.

Over the long years, his soul power was completely exhausted, leaving only a soul shell with some memories.

Daoist Star-Master came from the Seven Stars Spirit Realm, regarded as the Holy Land of this continent.

In Daoist Star-Master’s memories, Gu An learned a terrifying truth.

The Demon Ancestor actually originated from the Seven Stars Spirit Realm!

Daoist Star-Master and several sect mates were ordered to bring the Demon Ancestor out, to nurture and have him create the Demon Clan. Later, for unknown reasons, Daoist Star-Master left the Seven Stars Spirit Realm, journeyed south to the sea to escape the continent, but was ambushed by other cultivators from the Seven Stars Spirit Realm, severely injured, and finally hid in the Tianwei to open a grotto heaven, from which he never emerged until his final moment.

Gu An didn’t see the true form of the Demon Ancestor from his memories. The Demon Ancestor was sealed in a wooden box, deeply feared by Daoist Star-Master and his sect mates. After placing the box down, they immediately left, unsealing it remotely and quickly fleeing.

However, when the wooden box was unsealed, the skyrocketing demon energy left a profound impression on Daoist Star-Master.

Apart from these memories, the rest were scenes of Daoist Star-Master nurturing spirit beasts within the grotto heaven.

The Demon Ancestor being related to the Seven Stars Spirit Realm greatly differed from the legends Tian Yao’er had heard.

Various possibilities filled Gu An’s mind, but he had no desire to investigate further.

Daoist Star-Master was a Mahayana cultivator, indicating the likely presence of immortals within the Seven Stars Spirit Realm.

At this stage, he absolutely could not appear on the Seven Stars Spirit Realm’s radar.

His greatest advantage was having no grudges or enemies, allowing him to steadily grow stronger.

With that thought, Gu An turned around, ready to harvest the medicinal herbs here and transport a batch of heavenly treasures away.

…

By dusk, Gu An returned to the Third Medicine Valley.

This afternoon’s harvest extended his life by over three hundred thousand years. He could continue the harvesting in the future, as the grotto heaven was vast and had become a self-sustaining ecosystem, so he didn’t uproot everything.

How could he be shortsighted and destroy a place that could continuously extend his life just for temporary greed?

The plants that could extend his life must contain spiritual power or spiritual energy, essentially ranking as heavenly treasures. The majority of plants in the grotto heaven were ordinary, and the dense spiritual energy was due to the cave mansion’s restrictions that prevented leakage.

An Hao and Si Yan’er were still inside that cave mansion, making friends with the spirit beasts there, facing no danger for now.

Daoist Star-Master left behind cultivation techniques and divine skills in the grotto heaven, enough for An Hao and Si Yan’er to explore for years.

As soon as he returned to the pavilion, Lu Lingjun came to see him.

With the door closed, Lu Lingjun sat down at the table and said, “Don’t wander around every day. Today, I felt a strong divine sense coming from the Outer Gate City. The moment it sensed mine, it withdrew. I couldn’t trace its whereabouts.”

“Are you saying there’s a potential danger within the Supreme Sect?” Gu An asked with a frown.

Lu Lingjun nodded, “It should be a demon. A demon’s divine sense is different from a cultivator’s, and I’ve dealt with demons enough to see through this point.”

Being able to evade Lu Lingjun’s probing indicated their target was also at the Mystic Heart Realm!

A Mystic Heart Realm demon?

Gu An planned to investigate the Supreme Sect at night, at least to ensure it posed no threat to his Medicine Valley.

“With you here, whether the intruder is a demon or not, they surely wouldn’t dare touch my Medicine Valley. In the future, the Third Medicine Valley will count on your protection. Don’t worry, I will personally cultivate your medicinal herbs!” Gu An smiled, revealing admiration, which Lu Lingjun enjoyed.

Lu Lingjun snorted, “Rest assured, unless the Mountain God descends, no one can damage the Third Medicine Valley.”

After reaching the Mystic Heart Realm, she regained the arrogance she once had while overlooking the lower realm. She felt her path of immortal cultivation had just begun!

After chatting for a while, Lu Lingjun finally revealed her true purpose.

She used the reminder of the great demon in the sect as a pretext; her real intention was to have Gu An write a book with her as the protagonist, similar to the book about the Supreme Immortal Venerable.

“You are a Mystic Heart Realm cultivator. If you desire, you could easily gain fame. Why would you need me to write?” Gu An hesitated.

He didn’t expect Lu Lingjun to have this hobby.

Raising her eyebrows, Lu Lingjun said, “Name your price.”

“You’re at it again! What kind of talk is that?”

“When I returned from the Taichen Dynasty earlier, I sensed an Eighth Rank Spirit Tree hidden within a certain sect. If you help me write the book, I’ll steal that tree afterward.”

“If you dare to steal, I don’t dare to take it.”

“I can use a secret technique to seal the tree. Once the turmoil subsides, you can find a place to plant it.”

“I don’t have a place to plant it…”

“Don’t pretend. You must be hiding something. Why else would you go out so often?”

“Ahem, don’t slander me. Writing the book is negotiable, but don’t defame me, understand?”

Feeling amused by Gu An’s words, Lu Lingjun laughed, “Yes, yes, I won’t slander you. How could you have any secrets? You are selfless and dedicated to the Supreme Sect.”

“Hmm, that’s more like it. Now tell me your story so I can seek inspiration.” Gu An nodded in satisfaction.

Recently, with some free time, writing a book wasn’t a bad idea, showcasing his calligraphy skills to the world!

Lu Lingjun fell into her memories and began telling her story.

One whole night passed as she spoke.

At dawn, Lu Lingjun finally left Gu An’s pavilion.

Early morning training, Tang Yu saw this and widened his eyes, quickly averting his gaze, pretending he hadn’t seen anything.

The news that Lu Lingjun was an elder in the sect had already spread through the valley. Disciples kept their distance from her out of respect.

“Master is truly impressive, even the sect elder couldn’t escape his charm. Indeed, a handsome face can bridge the gap in cultivation levels,” Tang Yu thought to himself.

As Lu Lingjun returned to her pavilion, Gu An overheard her conversation with the White Spirit Demon Emperor.

Lu Lingjun had placed advanced restrictions on her pavilion, but they had no effect on Gu An, and their pavilions were adjacent, making it easy for him to eavesdrop.

“Can we really connect with other ascenders through his book?”

“Hard to say, but it’s worth a try. Pan An’s reputation has spread throughout the Nine Dynasties. I can’t exactly announce that I’m an ascender, can I?”

“True, though your idea is quite good. If you can unite other ascenders and form your strength, it would greatly aid your future bid for the sect leader’s position.”

Hearing this, Gu An put down his pen, falling into deep thought.

…

Noon, in the Outer Gate City.

Upon the Heavenly Repair Platform.

A white-robed man arrived at the bottom of the orthographic symbol. He marveled at the sword intent contained within, his eyes filled with astonishment.

“Just this sword intent alone likely makes Sword Venerable Fudao invincible in the Mystic Heart Realm. It’s uncertain if he’s reached an even higher level.”

The white-robed man was in awe, squatting down to touch it.

“Hey, don’t touch randomly, or the sword intent might hurt you!”

A voice came from beside him. The speaker was Zuo Lin.

Ever since Sword Venerable Fudao used Zuo Yijian’s sword to kill enemies, Zuo Yijian had no longer come to the Heavenly Repair Platform, staying cooped in his room, comprehending that sword. Not even his son could disturb him.

Zuo Lin had no other means to comprehend Sword Venerable Fudao’s sword intent and could only sit in silence at the Heavenly Repair Platform.

The white-robed man looked at Zuo Lin and asked with a smile, “Brother, how long have you been at the Heavenly Repair Platform?”

Zuo Lin replied, “Since these two characters came into being, I’ve been meditating here. You seem new. First time here?”

He eyed the white-robed man suspiciously.

The Heavenly Repair Platform was filled with many stories, leading him to overthink.

The white-robed man laughed, “I come from the Chentang Dynasty. This year, I just joined the Supreme Sect as a guest elder of the Outer Sect. My joining was inspired by Sword Venerable Fudao.”

Hearing this, Zuo Lin immediately beckoned him over, signaling him to sit beside him.

The white-robed man didn’t hesitate and quickly came over to sit down.

Zuo Lin was about to speak when he suddenly saw someone, his eyes lit up, and he called out immediately, “Gu An, come over here!”

In the distance, Gu An wandered through the crowd, appearing idle.

Hearing Zuo Lin’s call, he hesitated for a moment but still walked towards him.

The white-robed man turned his head, seeing the person Zuo Lin called out to be a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator, then shifted his attention away.

Gu An conducted a life span detection on him.

[Di Xie (Mystic Heart Realm third layer): 2450/8000/19000]

A demon over two thousand years old!

The reason Gu An came to the Outer Gate City was precisely because of Di Xie.

The demon who alarmed Lu Lingjun was Di Xie!

Di Xie cultivated some special technique, showing no traces of demon energy on him, but his technique couldn’t escape the divine sense of a Nirvana Realm great cultivator.

Watching Gu An approach slowly, Zuo Lin remarked to Di Xie, “Though my cultivation is low, I have an Exquisite Spirit Heart. At a glance, I could tell you were exceptional.”

Hearing this, Di Xie’s heart tensed.