Steadily becoming a saint, the immortal officials hired me to tend the horses - Chapter 90

Chapter 90: Chapter 90: Time Flies, Ranked in the Venerable Pavilion

Generally, Gu An was not interested in demon path cultivators and avoided them as much as possible, but there was one exception.

That was Xu Jue!

Xu Jue had previously led a demon army to besiege Ji Xiaoyu, allowing Gu An to gain over fifty thousand years of life span, which left a profound impression on him.

After leaving Mystic Valley, Gu An flew towards the Outer Gate City. After flying quite a distance, he performed the Great Yin-Yang Transformation, turning into a shadowy form, and disappeared into the mountains and forests with the Infinite Traceless Mystic Heaven Step.

In a dense forest two hundred miles away from Mystic Valley, Xu Jue was meditating under a tree. His hair was disheveled, and his black robe was tattered, looking very miserable.

Small flags were entangling his surroundings, forming a faint light shield to protect him.

The Vice Sect Hierarch of the Wanyin Sect suddenly changed his expression and spat out a mouthful of black blood onto the grass, causing the weeds to wither and emit wisps of black smoke.

“Damn Ji Family…”

Xu Jue gritted his teeth, his tone filled with hatred.

During the chase by Ji Chen, he had also encountered ambushes from other great cultivators of the Ji Family and had nearly lost his life, making him fearful just thinking about it.

The demon path gathered the might of five sects: the Thousand-Autumn Pavilion, the Ancient Sky Sect, the Wanyin Sect, the Heavenly Extinction Sect, and the Cold Poison Valley, yet they were repelled in just one day; the strength of the Supreme Sect left Xu Jue terrified.

Thinking of the Ji Family members in his sect, Xu Jue suddenly desired to return and slaughter all Ji Family cultivators.

But just thinking about the might of the Ji Family, he sighed.

Forget it.

Bear with it a little longer!

Sooner or later, he would obliterate the entire Ji Family!

As Xu Jue was lost in thought, a gust of wind suddenly came from deep within the forest, causing him to instinctively look over.

Bang!

The formation around him suddenly shattered, and a purple-black figure appeared in front of him, pressing a finger against his temple with an intimidating aura that rendered him immobile.

“Demon Shadow Divine Skill… which high-ranking member of the Thousand-Autumn Pavilion are you?”

Xu Jue’s expression changed drastically, and he asked cautiously.

Did the Thousand-Autumn Pavilion have such a powerful presence?

He was in the ninth layer of the Void Crossing Realm, even though he was seriously injured, a cultivator at Void Crossing shouldn’t be able to suppress him.

“I have a question.” Gu An spoke, his voice hoarse.

Xu Jue felt a bit relieved internally and replied, “Please ask, Senior!”

Damn the Thousand-Autumn Pavilion!

I must lead the Wanyin Sect to flatten you all!

Gu An suddenly remembered that Xu Jue was Xu Ruye’s father, and Xu Ruye had died by his hand.

“Forget it.”

Just as Gu An’s voice rang out, a stream of sword qi shot through Xu Jue’s temple along his fingertip, severely damaging his primordial spirit.

Xu Jue’s pupils dilated, and before he could fall, Gu An followed up with the Soul Capturing Skill to search his memories.

The spells of the Jiang Qiong Sect were very practical, and Gu An could use them for a long time.

The memory of a ninth layer Void Crossing Realm cultivator was vast, but Gu An only searched for spells related to the demon army, which had only been yesterday, making it easy to find.

Half an hour later.

Gu An withdrew his hand, and Xu Jue fell to the ground.

[You successfully seized 153 years of life span from Xu Jue (ninth layer Void Crossing Realm)]

Good, the life span gained was quite high!

Gu An suddenly found Xu Jue quite agreeable and took Xu Jue’s storage bag, then burned his corpse to ashes.

After doing all this, he finally left.

He did not return to Mystic Valley but actually headed towards the Outer Gate City.

Outside the Outer Gate City, there was a massive giant peak, which upon closer inspection, was actually the corpse of a giant bird.

Heaven-Swallowing Dark Bird!

Its corpse lying on the ground was several thousand feet tall, larger than the surrounding mountains.

Standing on a flying sword, Gu An observed from afar, filled with curiosity about where such a gigantic beast lived usually.

He felt that the Taicang Dynasty should not have a habitat for such a bird; it was probably captured by the demon path from beyond the Nine Dynasties.

After the great battle, the gates of the Outer Gate City had become heavily guarded, scrutinizing every entering and exiting disciple thoroughly.

Upon entering the city, Gu An went to find Ye Lan first.

He encountered Ye Lan patrolling a street.

“Senior Brother, what brought you here?” The moment Ye Lan saw Gu An, her icy face bloomed into a smile. Her subordinates tactfully dispersed; it was not the first time they had seen Gu An and knew about their relationship.

“I came to check on you. How are you, not injured, are you?”

Gu An asked concernedly, and Ye Lan shook her head, then pulled him aside to talk about the events of the previous day.

After the battle yesterday, the Outer Gate City had suffered heavy casualties, mainly due to a terrifying demon called the Underworld Demon Emperor launching an attack within the city, breaking the city’s formation and plunging it into a bitter struggle.

In the end, the Underworld Demon Emperor left triumphantly, leaving a shadow in the hearts of all in the Outer Gate City.

Listening to this, Gu An felt even more the brutality of the Immortal Cultivation World.

Fortunately, those he cared about were safe.

After chatting with Ye Lan for a while, Gu An took his leave.

He went to the area around the Heavenly Repair Platform, and the number of people on the platform had significantly dwindled, with most of the remaining individuals being injured.

The Ghost Mother of Ephemera was still there, with bloodstains on her body, as if she were truly a disciple fighting for the Supreme Sect.

It seemed she was not aligned with the demon path or the Underworld Demon Emperor.

After scanning around the Heavenly Repair Platform, Gu An went to find Jiang Qiong.

Jiang Qiong was at her residence. After closing the door, Gu An looked at her and asked, “Didn’t you say this city wouldn’t be affected?”

Jiang Qiong sat in a chair, looking very distressed, her qi and blood unstable, clearly injured.

“The situation changed. The information I received was false; it seems the Thousand-Autumn Pavilion already suspects me.” Jiang Qiong took a deep breath and said softly.

Hearing this, Gu An felt a bit happy and said, “In that case, you might as well abandon the dark side and join the light. Sever ties with the Thousand-Autumn Pavilion!”

He had too many undercover identities, and he himself felt conflicted about it; he needed to discard some.

Jiang Qiong shook her head, saying, “It’s not that easy.”

Gu An did not comfort her but instead asked, “By the way, did the Sword Venerable Fudao show up?”

He was very concerned about who was impersonating him!

“No, that person was not Sword Venerable Fudao at all but a spy from the demon path, who had been lurking in the Supreme Sect for hundreds of years, posing as Sword Venerable Fudao. Once the demon path learned his true identity, their fear of him dissipated, prompting the launch of this great battle.”

Upon mentioning this, Jiang Qiong couldn’t help but rub her temples.

Gu An asked in surprise, “Did the demon path betray each other? Or did that person turn and become Supreme Sect’s bait?”

Jiang Qiong shook her head, “I don’t know. I’m very confused now. It’s said that Chu Tianqi has already fled, and the late Lv Baitian has taken over as the sect leader, preparing to thoroughly investigate the Supreme Sect. For the next period, you should come here less often. I need to handle the upcoming examinations from above. This morning, news from above said that the Supreme Sect will establish a Venerable Pavilion, which will be above the Hall of Elders. Sword Venerable Fudao will be one of the members, and the sect leader will select three individuals from the Hall of Elders to join the Venerable Pavilion.”

“The Venerable Pavilion will reorganize the Supreme Sect and eliminate its negative practices.”

Lv Baitian really took Gu An’s advice.

How nice to listen to advice!

Gu An proposed this not only to deal with Lv Baitian but also to genuinely hope the Supreme Sect would improve. If Lv Baitian didn’t have time to manage, let others do it.

The Hall of Elders had too many people, so by the time they reached a consensus, those below were already mired in problems. The establishment of the Venerable Pavilion should alleviate some of the difficulties for the Supreme Sect.

Afterward, Jiang Qiong took out a storage bag, saying it contained high-rank seeds she had exchanged with eighty percent of her savings, all above the fifth rank. She told Gu An to come see her again once these medicinal herbs matured.

This meant they would not see each other for several years.

It seemed Jiang Qiong was facing very dangerous circumstances; the Thousand-Autumn Pavilion did not trust her, and the Supreme Sect might investigate her.

Truly walking on thin ice.

Gu An could only wish her good luck in his heart, then left with the storage bag, in high spirits.

…

The demon path five sects’ siege on the Supreme Sect swept through the Immortal Cultivation World like a whirlwind, shaking the entire Taicang Dynasty.

The Supreme Sect’s strength also terrified the entire demon path. In the following period, the Immortal Cultivation World fell into an eerie calm.

After Lv Baitian resumed his role as sect leader, he launched major reforms, established the Venerable Pavilion, weakened the Hall of Elders’ power, and thoroughly investigated demon path spies, executing over a thousand spies.

After Chu Tianqi’s escape, the Chu Family faced Lv Baitian’s relentless vengeance, with all Chu Family members in the sect either being killed or imprisoned. Some younger disciples with relatively good conduct were stripped of their cultivation, branded with curse seals, and sent to the outer sect as servant disciples.

Mystic Valley received a servant disciple with the surname Chu.

It happened to be someone Gu An knew.

Chu Jingfeng!

When Gu An first joined the Supreme Sect and was attacked by the Demon of Greed in the Medicine Valley, the Inner Sect disciple Cheng Xuandan had invited for aid was Chu Jingfeng, who lost an arm because of it. Later, he even helped Gu An clear out the evil cultivators around Mystic Valley associated with the Demon of Greed.

Gu An looked at the aged face of Chu Jingfeng sitting opposite him, feeling a mixture of emotions.

The last time they talked, Chu Jingfeng had promised that if Gu An ever faced any trouble, he could seek help from the Chu Family.

Time had passed, and the Chu Family had fallen completely.

Chu Jingfeng still maintained his one-armed form, wearing shabby clothes, with messy hair, a face full of stubble, and looking ragged and desolate.

“Brother Chu, as long as a person is alive, there is always hope. Work hard, and if you perform well, your punishment might be revoked.” Gu An tried to comfort him.

Wuxin had quietly left, and now, Gu An, as the head of Mystic Valley, needed to cultivate new talents.

He thought Chu Jingfeng was a good candidate.

If Chu Jingfeng performed well, Gu An could consider passing on the Daoist Expansion Skill to him.

The Daoist Expansion Skill, which relied on accumulating spiritual power to break through limits, might save Chu Jingfeng, whose cultivation had been abolished.

Chu Jingfeng nodded numbly without speaking.

Gu An didn’t push him, gave some instructions, and let him go.

After Chu Jingfeng left the room and closed the door behind him with a low posture, Gu An could see no respect on him, only despair.

Alas!

So pitiful!

Gu An shook his head and picked up his pen to start writing.

Half a year had passed since the great battle between the righteous and the demon path. Winter had gone, spring was over, and it was already summer again. At fifty-one years old, he had gained many feelings about life he wished to express in his book.

Until dusk, Gu An left the loft and reached the Transmission Array Platform, heading to the Third Medicine Valley.

He sensed that Shen Zhen was inside his house.

Since Gu An had threatened to write her into his book half a year ago, they had lost contact.

Now she appeared; was she here to settle scores?

After all, she was the Holy Daughter; how could she not care about her face?

Thinking about this, Gu An went upstairs to find Shen Zhen.

Upon entering the house, he saw Shen Zhen calmly sitting at the table, wearing a veil and looking at him with nothing particular to do.

Something was wrong!

This was not like her usual self!

Could she be about to lose her temper?

Gu An quickly closed the door, then turned to her, just about to inquire when she asked first, “Have you started writing the Medical Hero Travelogue?”