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

Watching Wuxin's complex expression, Gu An wanted to laugh, but his years of acting experience kept him from breaking character.

Gu An's expression kept changing, first shock, then relief, and finally tension.

Seeing the changes in his senior brother's expression, Wuxin felt even more awkward, but he did not regret revealing the matter.

Since the last time they opened their hearts to each other, Wuxin felt that his senior brother was the closest person to him, and there should be no secrets between them.

"You must not speak of this matter, or I can't protect you!" Gu An took a deep breath and said seriously.

Wuxin nodded solemnly, recalling the previous battle, which sent chills down his spine.

Curious, Gu An asked, "Can you recognize the person just now, what realm was he in?"

He wanted to gauge the depth of Thousand-Autumn Pavilion.

Upon hearing this, Wuxin scratched his head and guessed, "I didn't see his true face, but he might be in the Nascent Soul Realm, his movement technique was too fast, it feels like those in Core Formation Realm would scarcely possess such capability..."

Gu An was stunned.

This foolish boy...

He remarked emotionally, "You say your father doesn't care about you, but look, he still sends people to protect you."

"He really doesn't care about me, but it might also be because he fears I might tarnish his reputation, or perhaps the person who acted just happened to be on a mission to Supreme Sect," guessed Wuxin, feeling unmoved and still resistant to his father.

Afterwards, Gu An gave a few more instructions and then took Wuxin downstairs.

Gu An did not let the disciples clean up the courtyard but preserved the scene, waiting for Wuxin to go to the Outer Sect the next day to find the Disciple of Law Enforcement Hall.

All the disciples in the valley had witnessed the previous battle; hiding it was impossible, so it was better to inform Supreme Sect in advance.

He stood in front of Qiu Qianli's Pill Furnace, observing the elixir inside it; he couldn't tell what elixir Qiu Qianli was concocting, but decided to keep it for Supreme Sect to determine.

That night.

Gu An went to the Eight Scenic Caves, and as usual, fed the Sky Dragon sheep meat. Afterward, he took out Qiu Qianli's Storage Bag.

He emptied everything inside and then destroyed the Storage Bag.

One must say, a Cultivator in the Divinity Transformation Realm was indeed rich, with just Spirit Stones and Spirit Energy Elixirs amounting to a massive sum.

He inspected each item, burning all those of no use to prevent anyone from tracking him.

For the Magic Artifacts, he also erased Qiu Qianli's marks one by one, making all the artifacts ownerless.

In the end, he was left with a letter containing a blank sheet, which required Divine Sense to read and an individual had to be in the Divinity Transformation Realm to discern it.

After investigating, he learned why Qiu Qianli had come, which was for the Primordial Daoist Talisman.

Qiu Qianli's mission was to rendezvous with a member of Wanyin Sect at the Outer Sect and steal the Primordial Daoist Talisman.

Apart from Thousand-Autumn Pavilion, Wanyin Sect had planted many spies inside Supreme Sect, and the individual Qiu Qianli was supposed to meet must be of high cultivation level.

Demon Path spies truly infiltrated everywhere!

How many were there, just like he had been, coerced into such roles?

Gu An felt a mix of emotions and then stood up to check the medicinal herbs within the Eight Scenic Caves.

...

The next morning, Wuxin, along with Tang Yu and Su Han, headed for the Outer Sect. Gu An had the other disciples carry on with their normal tasks—grazing sheep, weeding, watering.

By noon, the trio returned. Their quick return was due to a ride from a Core Formation Realm Cultivator on a giant redwood fan, which accommodated dozens of people. Ye Lan was also there.

As everyone landed, Gu An greeted them.

The leader was an Elder of the Law Enforcement Hall named Murong Ying.

[Murong Ying (Core Formation Realm Layer 3): 268/503/908]

Murong Ying wore a purple robe, was tall and handsome, sporting a head of hair mixing black and white. His every action displayed the poise of a high-ranking individual.

After hearing the full account of the incident from Gu An, he nodded slightly, saying, "You've done well. We will clean up this area, and we will not allow any Demon Cultivator to lurk."

Gu An immediately expressed his gratitude.

The Disciples of Law Enforcement Hall did not linger to chat with the valley's disciples. They went to Xiaochuan's courtyard and on seeing the bloodstains on the walls and ground, everyone was terrified.

Murong Ying headed to Qiu Qianli's Pill Furnace, peered inside, and quickly furrowed his brows.

Meanwhile.

Ye Lan came over to Gu An, comforting him.

Gu An had Wuxin seek her out first as her intervention made it easier to mobilize the Law Enforcement Hall, so when she heard about the incident in Mystic Valley, she was eager to rush over immediately.

After about half an hour, Murong Ying took the Pill Furnace away and then motioned for the Disciples of Law Enforcement Hall to leave.

Watching the departing figures of the Law Enforcement Hall disciples, Zhen Qin couldn't help but look at Gu An and asked, "Is it over just like that?"

Gu An didn't have high expectations for Law Enforcement Hall to take action, reporting the incident was sufficient; he did not want to be branded as a spy for the Demon Path.

"They will investigate, at the very least you must trust your Martial Uncle Ye," Gu An said with a smile.

Upon hearing that, Zhen Qin felt it made sense.

Still, the demeanor of the Law Enforcement Hall had stung her, and she secretly vowed to become an Outer Disciple as soon as possible.

For Mystic Valley, Qiu Qianli was merely a hiccup, but for Gu An, it was a caution.

How many dangers had Mystic Valley already faced?

No!

It was time to advance his Cultivation Level!

...

Before they knew it, seven days had swiftly passed.

That evening, Gu An quietly left Mystic Valley and sat down in a forest a hundred miles away.

He summoned his Attribute Panel and focused on the Divine Wood Pure Yang Skill.

First, he would enhance his cultivation technique!

He instantly sacrificed ten thousand years of his life span.

In the end, the Divine Wood Pure Yang Skill leveled up to become the Yang Wood Primordial Skill, achieving mastery in the process.

The Yang Wood Primordial Skill also awakened a Divine Skill, which delighted Gu An.

He immediately activated a Life Span Barrier and transmitted the Yang Wood Primordial Skill.

An hour later, the transmission ended, and Gu An had also understood the mysteries of the Divine Skill.

This Divine Skill, named Yang Wood Boundless, could channel spiritual power into the earth to condense Yang Wood, which would cover the land. This Yang Wood could devour the essence, spirit, and even the spiritual power of living beings, which was extremely terrifying. As long as the practitioner had enough spiritual power, it could cover tens of thousands of miles.

A very domineering Divine Skill, Gu An liked it very much!

Gu An continued to look at the cultivation level in his Attribute Panel, planning to level his cultivation to the ninth layer of the Void Crossing Realm. As for breaking through, he feared it might be too conspicuous, and currently, he only had just over twenty thousand years of life span left.

He first sacrificed a thousand years of his life span, successfully moving from the first to the fourth layer of the Void Crossing Realm, which was quite good.

However, after sacrificing another thousand years, his cultivation level only reached the fifth layer of the Void Crossing Realm.

In the end, he had used a total of seven thousand five hundred years of his life span, reaching the ninth layer of the Void Crossing Realm.

He still had thirteen thousand years of life span left and decided to stop there.

As the spiritual energy of heaven and earth surged into his body, he began to carefully perceive the mysteries within him. He couldn't always rely on sacrificing life span; he wanted to establish his own understanding of cultivation.

Spiritual energy of heaven and earth entered his body, gathered atop his Golden Core, generated spiritual power, and nourished his muscles, bones, and Primordial Spirit, continuously enhancing his cultivation level.

Even upon reaching the Void Crossing Realm, a cultivator's Golden Core remained within the dantian, and after reaching the Void Crossing Realm, Gu An could feel even more the significance of the Golden Core.

This made him think of the Daoist myth of the Golden Core Path.

The Core Formation Realm might just have laid the foundation; the true mysteries of the Golden Core would need to be explored at higher realms, just like the Spirit Root. Gu An always felt that cultivating a single Spirit Root would hit a barrier at some stage.

Immortals are omnipotent; how could they only possess methods of a single attribute?

The same goes for the Primordial Spirit and the Golden Core. The Primordial Spirit is the manifestation of the soul, enabling cultivators to break free from the physical body's constraints.

Gu An wanted to try, in the coming days, to integrate other attribute skills with the Yang Wood Primordial Skill. He aimed to create a perfect Five Elements Skill that would perfectly match his supreme Five Elements Heavenly Spirit Root.

Two hours later, Gu An had successfully reached the ninth layer of the Void Crossing Realm. The spiritual energy between heaven and earth had been depleted by him, probably alarming the Outer Sect once again.

That was good; the Supreme Sect would surely be more vigilant, increasing the pressure on the spies from the Demon Path, and this could also improve Ji Xiaoyu's chances of successfully crossing the tribulation.

Gu An inwardly felt satisfied, having lent a hand to Ji Xiaoyu.

...

Sure enough, the next morning, while Gu An was leading his disciples in exercises, he saw several Great Cultivators sweeping across the sky above Mystic Valley, with the disciples also talking about the previous day's descent of spiritual energy.

The consumption of spiritual energy from advancing from the first to the ninth layer of the Void Crossing Realm was in no way inferior to advancing from the first layer of the Divinity Transformation Realm to the first layer of the Void Crossing Realm, and might even be more substantial. The Supreme Sect's Outer Sect having encountered this situation twice in a row was probably in a tight spot.

Gu An planned to continue saving up life span, so he wasn't worried about being discovered.

Next, it was time for the grand development of Medicine Valley!

The autumn wind was bleak, and Mystic Valley lived a secluded life.

Since the disaster brought by Qiu Qianli, the disciples in the valley trained even harder.

A month quickly passed.

That day, Gu An was studying the Ziwei Array Chronicles under a tree, while the White Spirit Rat dozed off next to him, looking as plump as a fat dog.

As he read the Ziwei Array Chronicles, his right hand petted the White Spirit Rat, quite cozily.

Suddenly!

Gu An seemed to perceive something and looked toward the distance, in the direction of the Inner Sect.

He felt a powerful aura from the Void Crossing Realm, with a Great Cultivator in the midst of battle!

It seemed Ji Xiaoyu had successfully formed his core, and the spies from the Demon Path could no longer restrain themselves and were engaged in a massive battle.

Gu An couldn't help but think of Jiang Qiong, hoping she wouldn't act recklessly. With her cultivation at the first layer of the Nascent Soul Realm, it would be quite difficult for her to snatch Ji Xiaoyu's Golden Core.

The Inner Sect was so far from the Outer Sect that the disciples in Mystic Valley didn't feel the battle's aura and continued their own cultivation practices.

Even as night fell, Gu An could still feel the distant battle's aura, a testament to its intensity.

The cold wind blew in from the window; Gu An sat at the desk reading, when footsteps approached from outside.

"Senior brother, may I come in?" Wuxin's voice came through.

Gu An replied, "Come in."

He quickly switched the book in his hand from Green Hero Travelogue to Cheng Xuandan's Hundred Herbs Collection.

Wuxin pushed the door open, then closed it behind him and walked to the desk. Seeing the Hundred Herbs Collection in Gu An's hands, he secretly admired it and his eyes firmed up even more.

The senior brother is so studious; I must help him!

Gu An looked up and asked, "What brings you here so late?"

Wuxin took a deep breath and said, "Senior brother, you've been stuck at the ninth layer of the Qi Cultivation Realm for some time now, haven't you?"

Gu An raised his eyebrows, what does that mean?

You wouldn't be dissatisfied with the position of the first disciple and coveting my Valley Master position, would you?

Followed by Wuxin, who said, "Senior brother, actually I am a genius, but I practice a Divine Skill that suppresses the growth of my cultivation. This skill, meant for slow accumulation and sudden burst, possesses the mysterious power to change one's fate!"