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

Seven-Tier Spirit Tree!

This is the grade and rank of the Green Vine Tree, the Supreme Sect actually managed to produce a Spirit Tree on par with the Holy Tree of the Thousand-Autumn Pavilion?

Could it be that the Green Vine Tree within the Eight Scenic Caves isn't a true Holy Tree, or perhaps it hasn't fully matured yet?

Gu An became excited instantly, as he simply couldn't refuse such a treasure.

What's so difficult about keeping the Holy Daughter behind?

Doesn't she like to read books?

I'll write her some spin-off stories of Investiture of the Gods!

"When will the Holy Daughter arrive?" Gu An took a deep breath and asked, his joyful heart not showing on the surface, instead, he feigned worry and solemnity.

Elder Gu Zong smiled and said, "She will arrive within a year at most, you don't have to feel pressured."

Gu Yu, standing nearby, teased, "Don't worry about her expecting you to reciprocate with your person, after all, the gap in cultivation level is evident. She just likes your book."

Gu An nodded, as he was not so narcissistic to think that of all the people who liked Investiture of the Gods, it was only about him.

Elder Gu Zong looked at Elder Tian standing by and asked, "How have you been staying here?"

Elder Tian nodded and said, "Very good, the Valley Master has treated me well."

Gu An felt helpless inside his heart. Had Elder Gu Zong brought his distant relative in fearing that he wouldn't be suspicious?

No way!

The act must be played through completely!

Gu An looked towards Elder Gu Zong, hesitating to speak.

Elder Gu Zong seemed to notice his confusion and said with a smile, "He has long known of your Pan An identity. It's because he likes Investiture of the Gods that I asked him to come here. Besides him, only the people of the Hall of Elders know. Don't worry, we are even more concerned than you about your Pan An identity being exposed."

Before the appearance of Investiture of the Gods, there were always disciples writing books, but the impact brought by Pan An had been unprecedented.

No one had anticipated that a book could bring more disciples to a sect, resources for cultivation, and even help the sect with foreign relations, especially after the book Supreme Immortal Venerable came out, the entire world's attention was on Supreme Sect. Being in a high position, he saw it most clearly.

Gu An breathed a sigh of relief.

Suddenly, Gu Yu said, "Zhou Tongyou has been quite good to Gu Yu, I take back my previous words. Let's not have Gu Yu bully him anymore."

Gu An looked at him, his gaze peculiar.

Elder Gu Zong smiled and said, "My own image isn't bad either. No matter where I go, I can hear people mentioning my name, asking when I will return to clean up those evil people for my son?"

"Cough cough, we can't reveal that in advance. If we did, there would be no suspense."

"That's true."

Gu An changed the subject, inquiring about the Holy Daughter of Daotian Sect, knowing he must find out as much as possible to better face her.

Elder Gu Zong began to introduce the Holy Daughter.

Shen Zhen, with a triple Spirit Root, the youngest daughter of the Daotian Sect Hierarch, although not the top in talent, her aptitude for musical spells is incredibly high, and she normally loves zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting.

Just by the introduction, Gu An felt that Shen Zhen's character wasn't very dominant.

With a liking for zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting, her temperament should be quite good.

...

Late at night, the Eight Scenic Caves.

Beneath the Green Vine Tree, Gu An was practicing swordsmanship, practicing the Wood Spirit Sword Technique.

The Wood Spirit Sword Technique was the swordsmanship Zuo Lin had passed on to him as a test of his depth, this technique wasn't rare, it was purchasable within the Outer City.

Because it was a wood attribute, Gu An decided to practice it himself and not invest life span into this sword technique.

But, isn't real-time just another form of life span?

With his mastery of the Taicang Divine-Shocking Sword and his exceptional talent as someone with the Five Elements Heavenly Spirit Root, Gu An found a genius's sense in the Wood Spirit Sword Technique.

He had already mastered the Wood Spirit Sword Technique and was now pursuing a higher realm.

Every Cultivation Technique, Spell, and Ultimate Skill has minor realms, which according to his summary, from low to high, are Initial Learning, Initial Insight, Proficiency, Minor Achievement, Integration, Mastery, Pinnacle, and Returning to Simplicity.

It felt like leveling up proficiency in a game, which Gu An found quite interesting.

The Sky Dragon, a zhang long, watched Gu An practicing his sword technique from above the tree. It now possessed the dignity of a True Dragon, without any deformity.

Gu An moved within a three-zhang radius underneath the tree, creating a series of afterimages as if nearly ten versions of himself were practicing swordsmanship. His Heavenly Residence Sword in hand was extremely sharp, with strength energy overflowing. This strength energy dissipated after traveling some distance without damaging any of the plants around.

After practicing for an ancient hour, Gu An finally stopped.

Clang—

The Heavenly Residence Sword sheathed with a sound like a dragon's chant.

He threw the Heavenly Residence Sword into his Storage Bag and then stretched lazily.

The Sky Dragon descended from the sky, speaking in a young boy's tender voice, "Master, that was amazing. Can you teach me?"

Gu An glanced at it and asked with a smile, "Can your dragon claws wield a sword?"

"With claw as sword, wouldn't that work?" the Sky Dragon asked, blinking its dragon eyes.

Gu An paused for a moment, struck by the idea.

Interesting!

He immediately took out the Wood Spirit Sword Manual he had drawn from his Storage Bag and threw it to the Sky Dragon, saying, "Then practice on your own. When I come back, you can ask me anything you don't understand."

The Sky Dragon caught the Sword Manual with its claws and quickly said, "Remember to bring me some roast chicken!"

Gu An nodded with a smile and then turned to leave.

The Sky Dragon landed and laid the Sword Manual on the ground, flipping through it with its claws.

After leaving the Eight Scenic Caves, Gu An walked into the forest. Beneath the night sky, the forest was covered with snow, yet he left no footprints.

Early the next morning, just after Gu An had accompanied the disciples through their drills, he was planning to head to the Third Medicine Valley when Ye Lan arrived.

Junior Sister has arrived, so naturally, Gu An must keep her company.

The two of them went up to the loft to chat.

Gu An first inquired about her recent condition. Even if he were busy, she would visit him every year. Gu An would be lying if he said he wasn't moved.

"Since last year, disciples from the Outer Sect have frequently gone missing. Our Law Enforcement Hall has investigated, but cannot find the real culprit. Instead, it's the Demon Extermination Hall that constantly finds spies from the demonic cult to admit their guilt," Ye Lan sighed.

After the Sect Leader position changed hands, she and Lu Jiujia ceased contact, mainly because their respective departments were at odds, having reached the point of being utterly incompatible.

Gu An laughed and said, "Then let the Demon Extermination Hall do the catching, which would be perfect because you can spend time cultivating."

Ye Lan shook her head and said, "It's not that simple. The leader of the Demon Extermination Hall wants to annex the Law Enforcement Hall, and it seems like the Outer Sect's Great Elder has similar intentions. If our hall fails to accomplish anything, it will eventually be dissolved."

"It's fine. If it's dissolved, just come back. The elixirs I can provide are no worse than what the Law Enforcement Hall offers."

"That won't do, what about you if you give them to me?"

Ye Lan outright refused, her expression very serious.

Seeing this, Gu An couldn't say much more; he could only change the topic to discuss other matters.

Since Ye Lan wanted to stay a few more days, Gu An decided to stay in Mystic Valley until after the Spring Festival was over before leaving.

...

After the Spring Festival, the winter snow had completely melted. Gu An first went to Tianya Valley and harvested thousands of years of life span before planting anew. After spending two days there, he headed to the Third Medicine Valley.

Mystic Valley was bustling, Tianya Valley had three monkey demons -- neither were desolate, but the Third Medicine Valley was different. Each time Gu An visited, it was utterly silent.

Ye Yan and Elder Tian both enjoyed this tranquility, not disturbing each other.

Gu An walked into a garden and began to harvest the ripe medicinal herbs.

Elder Tian approached, curious, he asked, "Why do you always pick them yourself?"

Gu An replied, "I must do something, and when I personally pick them and wrap them up, I feel a sense of satisfaction from contributing to the sect."

Hearing this, Elder Tian laughed and said, "You are indeed contributing, it's not just self-satisfaction."

"I hope the higher-ups feel the same way," Gu An said with a light laugh as he continued picking.

Suddenly, Elder Tian asked, "What would you do if you were made the Sect Leader?"

Gu An's heart skipped a beat, but his movements didn't stop as he said with annoyance, "Stop daydreaming, you're not the Sect Leader, how could you pass it to me? Besides, I can only manage Medicine Valley, not the millions of disciples in the Supreme Sect."

"With my cultivation level, who would listen to me if I really became the Sect Leader?"

He definitely did not want to become the Sect Leader!

He wanted to cultivate in peace, not face the pressure head-on. If he became the Sect Leader and met an enemy he couldn't defeat, could he run away?

Gu An was not so loyal to the Supreme Sect!

Elder Tian laughed and asked no more.

Elder Tian followed Gu An into the loft after he finished picking.

"Actually, I know an extraordinary cultivation technique; do you want to learn it? Even Elder Gu Zong doesn't know it," Elder Tian suddenly asked.

"I'm not learning. Wouldn't it be better to write books with that time? Haven't you seen? I don't usually practice; my cultivation level depends entirely on elixirs."

"You're still young, how can you be so..."

"You don't understand, right? This is called enjoying life. I like to act within my capacity. Of course, that's just me. Everyone has different pursuits," Gu An said casually. What's with this old man and his chattiness today?

Trying to ruin my Daoist heart?

Elder Tian wanted to continue speaking, but suddenly, a noise came from the sky. Both of them turned their heads to look. They saw Gu Zong flying on a magic artifact with a black-clothed woman behind him, her face covered with a black veil, revealing only a pair of bright and captivating eyes.

The Holy Daughter of the Daotian Sect had arrived?

Gu An asked Elder Tian to place the herbs inside the house first while he turned to greet Gu Zong and his companion.

He conducted a life span detection.

[Shen Zhen (Elixir Formation Realm Second Layer): 78/660/1050]

After the golden wheel landed, Gu Zong smiled and said, "Gu An, this is the Holy Daughter of the Daotian Sect, Shen Zhen. You must treat her well."

He turned to Shen Zhen, who lifted her hand to salute him. He nodded in acknowledgement and swiftly left on his golden wheel.

Shen Zhen looked at Gu An, her eyes scrutinizing him intently. Just by looking at her eyes, one could imagine that she was an exceptionally beautiful woman.

Gu An saluted with his hand, saying, "My name is Gu An; it's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Shen."

Shen Zhen nodded slightly, then curiously asked, "Which do you prefer, 'Investiture of the Gods' or 'Supreme Immortal Venerable'?"

Testing me right off the bat?

Gu An, unruffled, replied, "I like both. It's not possible for someone to like only one book. Depending on one's mood, they would want to read different books, right?"

At this, Shen Zhen's eyes immediately lit up.

"Actually, I've written a book too. Do you want to see?" asked Shen Zhen, blinking.

Gu An naturally wouldn't refuse and said, "Shall we go upstairs to take a look?"

Shen Zhen nodded, then followed Gu An up to the second floor of the loft.

Gu An originally wanted to leave the door open, as it could be awkward for a man and a woman to be alone in a room, but Shen Zhen closed the door behind them.

They sat down at the table, and Shen Zhen took a book out from her storage bag. Her brows slightly furrowed as she seemed to hesitate. After a moment's thought, she still handed the book in her hand to Gu An.

Gu An took it and his brows shot up.

Black Hero's Travelogue?

What in the world!