NOVPUBNine-Fingered Divine Lord had no idea what Gu An was thinking. When he noticed a change in Gu An’s expression, he worried the kid might actually believe it, so he quickly said, “I was messing with you. Just think about your cultivation—if that really were a Supreme Immortal Treasure, you’d be ash the moment you touched it.”
Gu An breathed a sigh of relief inside, but on the surface, he put on a troubled face, as if he couldn’t accept the truth.
He lowered his head and looked down. Shen Xinzi was already caught in a deadlock, still struggling with all his might.
“Let me do it,” Gu An said as he patted Shen Xinzi on the shoulder.
Shen Xinzi took a deep breath and then stood up.
Nine-Fingered Divine Lord began collecting the pieces—he played black—and looked at Gu An with a smile. “I’ve made some progress in my Go skills. You’d better watch out this time.”
Gu An sat down, twirling the Fate-Setting Brush in his hand. “When it comes to Go, I don’t lose.”
Standing nearby, You Yingying had a strange look on her face. For some reason, Gu An sounded incredibly imposing when he said that.
Nine-Fingered Divine Lord made the first move, and the match began.
The onlookers were completely absorbed in the game. Shen Xinzi also wanted to study Gu An’s strategy.
Full of confidence, Nine-Fingered Divine Lord played fast, abandoning his old strategy of dragging the match out like with Shen Xinzi.
About half an hour later, Gu An stood up and walked off under the admiring gazes of the crowd. You Yingying quickly followed.
Shen Xinzi stared at the board with admiration in his eyes.
Meanwhile, Nine-Fingered Divine Lord’s face was grim as he stared at the board, eyes locked. For some reason, he felt the gap between him and Gu An was growing wider—and he couldn’t understand why.
Gu An was heading off to check on Long Qing, but You Yingying kept following him.
He could tell she’d sensed something different about him, but he wasn’t worried. In the Heavenly Spirit Great Realm, no one could see through his cultivation.
No matter how much his aura had changed, he was still in the Nascent Soul Stage, so Nine-Fingered Divine Lord and Shen Xinzi hadn’t paid any attention to it.
They started chatting casually. Gu An brought up the Starsea Sect Alliance. Xuantian Yi had already returned to the Taixuan Sect. An Hao and Li Ya had also left the Starsea Sect Alliance. Although the Taixuan Sect still maintained a cooperative relationship with the alliance, it was rarely mentioned within the sect.
You Yingying had come from the Starsea Sect Alliance, but since arriving at the Taixuan Sect, she hadn’t gone back.
Gu An used to worry her Heaven Demon identity would cause trouble, but now he didn’t care.
The Oblivion Domain was full of Heaven Demons—compared to that, her karma was nothing like Long Qing’s.
“Want to cultivate?” Gu An suddenly asked.
The reason You Yingying couldn’t break through was because of the karmic suppression tied to her Heaven Demon past. Maybe her previous life feared discovery and had locked her reincarnation away from higher cultivation.
With Gu An’s current ability, he could erase that karmic restriction from her body.
You Yingying gave him a sidelong glance. “Of course I do. But with my special identity, I can’t cultivate.”
“What if I could help you?”
Hearing that, her eyes deepened. She shook her head. “No need. I’ll just live this life out honestly and reincarnate early. I don’t want to become a disaster.”
Gu An fell silent and didn’t reply.
“Why aren’t you asking why I think I’d be a disaster?” You Yingying said, dissatisfied.
This guy was always chatty with others, so why couldn’t he talk properly with her?
Gu An turned to study her. “Do I need to ask?”
That sarcastic response infuriated You Yingying, and she pounced at him with her claws out.
The two of them bickered and played all the way until they reached a forest, where the grass was blanketed in snow. In the snowy clearing, Long Qing was practicing his punches.
At eighty-two years old, Long Qing looked incredibly youthful. His body was robust, and each strike carried powerful force.
When he saw Gu An and You Yingying, he smiled and greeted them warmly.
He had been raised by An Xin until age four, and after that, it was You Yingying who brought him up. To him, You Yingying was like a mother—someone he respected deeply. Gu An even felt that she held the highest place in Long Qing’s heart.
“Master, Godmother, how’s my punch technique look?” Long Qing said, launching into a demonstration.
Gu An and You Yingying stood side by side, watching him perform. The punching winds whirled, and the snapping of his robe echoed through the forest.
You Yingying’s face was filled with pride as she watched Long Qing’s movements.
In her heart, Long Qing was like her own child. Because of him, she no longer brooded or felt empty—each day was fulfilling. She looked forward to the day he’d make a name for himself across the land.
Gu An, meanwhile, mentally compared Long Qing to Yang Jian, who was the same age. In terms of physical strength, Long Qing had the edge, but his reaction speed fell short—likely due to his lack of cultivation.
Still, for someone without spiritual power, Long Qing’s sheer strength was already astonishing.
When he finished his routine, Long Qing turned toward the two of them, raised a fist, and said, “I feel like I could spar with someone at the Nascent Soul Stage. Master, how about a round?”
Seeing his spirited attitude, Gu An couldn’t help laughing.
You Yingying shot Long Qing a glare. “You brat, how dare you challenge your master? Did I go too easy on you lately and you’ve forgotten how I taught you?”
Long Qing quickly explained, “It’s just sparring—nothing serious! The problem is, there aren’t any Nascent Soul Stage cultivators in Medicine Valley, and I can’t just go challenge people in the Inner Sect…”
“It’s fine. Come on.” Gu An smiled.
Long Qing’s face lit up, and he quickly thanked him.
You Yingying looked worriedly at Gu An. “This kid doesn’t know how to hold back. Be careful.”
Gu An shrugged. “Please, I was once a Golden Ranking Genius.”
The Golden Ranking and Heavenly Ranking of the Taixuan Sect still held weight. Every round of Golden Ranking Geniuses drew elite talents from across the continent—but Gu An no longer took part.
Hearing that, You Yingying immediately stepped aside.
Long Qing moved ten paces away and began warming up. He was excited—he’d been dying to test Gu An’s strength.
There was a legend in the Third Medicine Valley: Gu An was seriously powerful!
He might not compare to Nascent Soul Stage powerhouses like Nine-Fingered Divine Lord or Shen Xinzi, but in the same realm, Gu An was undeniably elite.
Gu An held the Fate-Setting Brush and beckoned to Long Qing.
Long Qing dashed forward, closing the distance in a flash.
So fast!
You Yingying’s eyes couldn’t keep up—her pupils widened.
Long Qing launched a punch like a dragon leaping from the sea, a booming shockwave behind it. Gu An reached out and blocked it with the Fate-Setting Brush, stopping the fist inches from his chest.
Long Qing’s face changed. He couldn’t push his arm any further forward. In that moment, he felt Gu An’s power—unshakable like a mountain.
His greatest asset had always been his strength. But now that his opponent was stronger, how could he not panic?
Gu An smirked and suddenly lifted his brush, hoisting Long Qing into the air before kicking up with his leg.
Bang!
The kick slammed into Long Qing’s chest. His eyes bulged, and his mind went blank for a moment.
It all happened in an instant. You Yingying didn’t even catch Gu An’s move.
All she saw was Long Qing charging in—and then getting kicked into a tree.
Snow tumbled from the tree branches, almost burying him.
“You hit too hard!” she snapped at Gu An, then hurried over to Long Qing.
Gu An sighed. You were just worried he’d hurt me—now you’re playing the good guy?
Supported by You Yingying, Long Qing sat up. He opened his eyes and looked at Gu An. For some reason, a sense of awe welled up inside him.
Gu An’s silhouette burned into his mind—invincible.
Not even his second master, Shen Xinzi, had ever given him that feeling.
“You’ve got work to do, Qing’er. I’ll be waiting for your next challenge.” Gu An’s voice rang in Long Qing’s ears, snapping him out of his daze.
He took a deep breath and nodded seriously. His arrogance had vanished completely.
Winter snow continued to fall.
While Long Qing processed the blow, cultivators beyond the heavens were growing anxious.
Since the disturbances in the Oblivion Domain ceased, the Heaven Demons had grown restless and begun moving toward the Heavenly Spirit Great Realm.
They suspected the disturbances were caused by something in the Heavenly Spirit Great Realm—while those in the realm suspected a trap.
In the days that followed, more and more Heaven Demons emerged, flying into the cosmic region near the Heavenly Spirit Great Realm, forming a clear standoff with the cultivators stationed on the outer light layer.
Year’s end came swiftly.
One day—
Gu An was in the Hidden Realm sparring with Tian Yao’er, Tianqing, and Tianbai.
The three demons surrounded him. Though they couldn’t overpower him, their movements were agile and their spells impressively fierce.
Gu An parried and dodged each spell effortlessly with his Fate-Setting Brush.
He was secretly pleased. Despite being tucked away in Nianchu Cave Dwelling and the Hidden Realm for so long, the three demonesses had steadily grown stronger.
Any one of them could now easily defeat Long Qing. Together, they could even stand against someone in the Integration Stage. 𝒏𝒐𝒗𝒑𝒖𝒃.𝙘𝒐𝒎
The strongest, Tian Yao’er, had already reached the seventh level of the Void Transformation Stage—thanks to both her innate talent and Gu An’s generous supply of pills.
Tian Yao’er finally called out, “That’s enough for now.”
Tianqing and Tianbai stopped as well, panting heavily, their hair slick with sweat.
Their eyes sparkled with admiration as they threw themselves at Gu An, each clinging to one of his arms and praising their master’s strength.
Gu An was used to it by now. They were his own demon pets—what could he do but indulge them?
Tian Yao’er moved in front of him. “Master, I’ve been feeling uneasy lately. Can you check on me?”
Gu An raised an eyebrow. “Check how?”
Tian Yao’er reached for the front of her robe.
“Stop—don’t joke around. Just describe what you’re feeling,” Gu An said quickly.
He suspected these three were plotting something.
Tian Yao’er pouted, then described her recent condition—whenever she tried to cultivate, her blood and energy surged uncontrollably, making it hard to focus.
She even felt as if something was calling out to her, which deeply unsettled her.
Gu An looked up in surprise. Reflected in his pupils was a sun—with a phoenix inside it.
As the Heaven Demons advanced en masse, the seven suns beyond the heavens had also stirred. The divine beings within had awakened, fixing their gaze on the demons, ready for battle.
