If I become a saint, a celestial official will summon me to raise horses.

Chapter 28 Flying Leaves Slay the Enemy, What Domineering Sword Qi!

Ignoring Li Ya, Chan Ji stared at Li Xuanyu and said with a bewitching smile, "Li Xuanyu, aren't you a proud daughter of heaven? How come you look so disheveled? It seems that you and your siblings are no match for us."

Xu Ruye walked towards Li Ya.

Li Xuanyu suddenly threw the sword in her hand, and the blade suddenly split into four sword shadows in flight, all attacking Xu Ruye.

Xu Ruye reacted extremely quickly, waving her right hand and unleashing a burst of purple energy that forcefully blocked Li Xuanyu's sword.

Chan Ji appeared behind Li Xuanyu like a ghost, a red fan appearing in her hand. She fanned it forcefully, and billowing red poisonous mist surged out, forcing Li Xuanyu to jump away.

The red poisonous fog spread rapidly through the mountains and forests, and a giant python could be vaguely seen darting around in the fog. Wherever it passed, red fog rose, and in a very short time, it surrounded Li Ya and Li Xuanyu.

Li Xuanyu landed beside Li Ya, her gaze sweeping around. She could no longer see Chan Ji, while Xu Ruye hovered above the forest, looking down at them.

"In the territory of the Tai Xuan Sect, do you dare to harbor murderous intent?" Li Ya asked in a deep voice.

Xu Ruye's lips curled up as he sneered, "I've long heard that the Tai Xuan Sect is vast and powerful. Since the current sect leader took office, the Tai Xuan Sect has been constantly weakening its control over the peripheral areas. It seems that the sect wants its disciples to resolve conflicts in the peripheral areas. The eight outer sect cities are like a wall. Inside the wall are the prestigious sects, while outside the wall is a world of survival of the fittest, no different from the demonic path."

"We've been fighting for so long, and still no one has come. It seems the Tai Xuan Sect hasn't sent anyone to guard the outer sect at all. Today, I'll kill you and kidnap your sister. At worst, I'll just not participate in the World Outer Sect Tournament. What do you say?"

"And those people in the Medicine Valley, kill them all too. For Princess Li to come and protect you personally, you must have a close relationship with them."

Xu Ruye seemed to have thought of something and licked her lips.

"Buy me some time," Li Xuanyu said softly. She then sat down cross-legged and quickly cast a spell with her hands. A golden flame appeared between her brows, flickering in and out of sight.

Li Ya's eyes narrowed, and he suddenly crouched down before leaping up. His long sword rose from the ground like sword energy, soaring into the sky. The violent energy caused the forest within a radius of dozens of feet to shake violently, accompanied by billowing red mist. The scene was magnificent and spectacular under the twilight.

Xu Ruye smiled contemptuously. He quickly took out a large purple flag from the storage bag at his waist. The flag was embroidered with a ferocious demon that seemed ready to burst out of the flag at any moment.

He flipped his left hand down, unleashing a burst of spiritual power that formed a massive palm shadow that crushed down, forcefully suppressing Li Ya's sword energy.

Li Ya frowned. His spiritual power was far inferior to Xu Ruye's, and he couldn't contend with him at all.

Under his gaze, the purple flag in Xu Ruye's hand burst forth with a purple whirlwind, captivating him completely.

not good!

Li Ya's expression changed drastically as a strong sense of dizziness struck him. What terrified him most was that his body could not fall.

"He wants to steal your soul; he's truly audacious!"

The old ancestor's voice echoed in Li Ya's mind, his tone filled with shock and anger.

Upon hearing this, Li Ya was even more alarmed.

"Let me taste the soul of the Tai Cang Emperor's lineage!" Xu Ruye grinned ferociously, his eyes filled with greed.

call out--

A sharp whooshing sound came from afar, causing Li Ya, who was locked in a stalemate in mid-air, to glance over instinctively. Even Li Xuanyu, who was meditating and circulating her internal energy, couldn't help but look up.

A leaf, carrying a sharp sword aura, streaked across the sky with lightning speed, heading straight for Xu Ruye.

Xu Ruye glanced down instinctively, but the leaf was too fast for him to react.

Bang!
His head exploded, blood mist scattered, and the red mist that shrouded the mountains and forests was swept away by a strong wind. Li Ya was thrown to the ground, and Li Xuanyu activated her spiritual power to resist the strong wind, but she was still forced to get up quickly.

"Xu Lang!"

Amidst the raging wind, Chan Ji cried out in alarm. Just as she was about to leap up, another whooshing sound came from the air. She turned her head and saw a terrifying strong wind pressing down on her body, causing the red poisonous mist to sweep over her. Her robes were forcefully pulled back, outlining her perfect figure.

A leaf was reflected in her eyes.

boom!
The leaf pierced her skull, blood splattering and staining the forest. The leaf sped along, cutting down trees and kicking up clouds of dust, before finally embedding itself in the trunk of a large tree.

thump! thump!
Xu Ruye's body fell to the ground, and Chan Ji's body followed suit. Then, only the sound of the wind remained in the mountains and forests.

Li Ya propped himself up and sat on the ground, his black hair flying wildly, completely stunned.

Li Xuanyu, who was not far away, was also frightened. Looking at the corpses of Xu Ruye and the other person, she fell into a daze.

"Flying Leaf Slays Enemy, what domineering sword energy! This person is at least at the Nascent Soul Realm, and his swordsmanship is extremely advanced!" The ancestor's voice rang in Li Ya's mind.

Li Ya woke up with a start, quickly got up, clasped his hands in greeting, and asked, "May I ask which senior made the move?"

After hearing this, Li Xuanyu stood up and looked around.

Unfortunately, no one responded to them.

"Boy, go take a look over there!" The old ancestor's voice rang out again, urging Li Ya to walk in a certain direction.

Li Ya immediately went over. He was trembling, and his injuries, coupled with the soul-capturing, made him feel very uncomfortable.

Li Xuanyu then went to examine the bodies of Xu Ruye and Chan Ji, and she even stabbed them twice, using her sword energy to shred their hearts.

Li Ya walked a full two hundred zhang before stopping in front of a tree. His gaze fell on the trunk, and his expression immediately changed.

“How is this possible…” Li Ya said in a trembling voice. Following his gaze, a leaf was stuck in the tree trunk, with a wisp of sword energy swirling around it. The entire tree trunk was cracked, as if it would explode at any moment.

"This person made his move from ten miles away. I could only sense the direction, not his presence."

The old ancestor's voice was full of emotion, and he clicked his tongue in amazement: "It seems that the Tai Xuan Sect is not so bad after all, with powerful cultivators watching over the outside world."

Li Ya looked at the leaf, trying to calm himself down.

At this moment, Li Xuanyu walked up from behind him, and when she saw the leaf clearly, she was also stunned.

……

As night fell, the Valley Master's pavilion in Xuan Valley was brightly lit and decorated. Gu An and his disciples sat around a large round table, toasting each other in a cheerful atmosphere.

Xiao Chuan and Tang Yu were having a drinking contest. Xiao Chuan's face was already flushed, but he refused to admit defeat and continued drinking despite the advice of others.

The wine they drank was no ordinary wine; it was spirit wine that Gu An had specially bought from the outer sect. One jar was worth two low-grade spirit stones, equivalent to two months' salary for a menial disciple.

"We encountered two demonic cultivators today. Will there be more demonic cultivators coming later?" Su Han suddenly asked, and the atmosphere at the dinner table immediately turned cold.

The smiles vanished, and everyone began to worry.

Gu Ankuan smiled reassuringly and said, "Don't worry, there are outer sect disciples patrolling. Didn't you see that today? Perhaps after this incident, the patrol efforts will be increased."

He wasn't worried, because he was immersed in joy.

By killing Xu Ruye and Chan Ji, he successfully gained 112 years of lifespan.

He was summarizing the numerical patterns of lifespan loss. He could only determine that the years in which lifespan was lost were between half and twenty percent of the target's remaining lifespan. The exact amount was not fixed and felt somewhat random.

Although killing cultivators grants a greater lifespan, Gu An doesn't expect to encounter such a situation again.

Killing too many enemies will inevitably lead to trouble sooner or later. It's better for him to rely on herbs to prolong his lifespan, which is at least safer.

There are always people stronger than you, and there is always a higher level to reach. Even if Gu An can quickly become stronger by killing enemies, he will still die if he encounters an enemy far stronger than himself.

He couldn't be sure how high the strongest cultivation level in the human world was.

But he felt that if he could just live a thousand or ten thousand years, he would be invincible among men.

Hearing Gu An's words, everyone agreed that they made sense, and the atmosphere became cheerful again.

Gu An stopped thinking about his own affairs and started chatting with his junior brothers and sisters, asking them about their next cultivation goals. The atmosphere became increasingly lively, and eventually even he started drinking.

Xuan Gu's first Spring Festival was a complete success.

It wasn't until late at night that everyone left.

Gu Anze arrived at the Eight Views Cave.

Jiang Qiong was meditating under the ancient vine tree, her body surrounded by demonic energy, making her look sinister and terrifying.

Gu An brought the food to her and said, "Grandmaster, today is the Spring Festival in Xuan Valley. This is a meal prepared by my junior sister. Would you like to try it? I wish you a speedy recovery of your power."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Qiong opened her eyes and asked in confusion, "Spring Festival? What's that?"

Gu An delivered his prepared statement, and no matter who asked, his answer was that he had heard it from an old man.

“Yes, setting a holiday is indeed a good idea; it can bring people together.” Jiang Qiong nodded approvingly, then looked at the wooden basket box in Gu An’s hand.

Gu An immediately put down the wooden basket and took out the dishes and a small jar of wine.

Upon seeing this, Jiang Qiong's beautiful eyes lit up. She pondered for a moment and said, "Since it is your kind gesture, I cannot refuse to eat it."

She picked up a bowl of food and started shoveling it into her mouth, wolfing it down.

Gu An quickly poured her some wine, and asked curiously, "Grandmaster, there's something I've never understood."

"You said..." Jiang Qiong said indistinctly, then took the wine bowl, drank it in one gulp, her mouth was full of water stains, it was hard to tell if it was oil or wine.

"Why would Qianqiu Pavilion plant spies outside the outer gate? It seems Xuan Valley can't gather any information," Gu An asked.

Jiang Qiong rolled her eyes at him and said irritably, "Who told you to gather intelligence? Your job is to stay here and wait until the Azure Vine Tree is fully grown. This place will become the base of the Thousand Autumns Pavilion. Others will take care of gathering intelligence."

Hearing this, Gu An became even more uneasy.

what?
They want to use it as a base?
Gu An frowned and asked, "Is Xuan Valley the only place that can serve as a base?"

"Of course not. Besides Xuan Valley, there are at least five other Medicine Valley masters who are spies of Qianqiu Pavilion. They just don't know each other's identities. A hundred years ago, some Qianqiu Pavilion spies climbed to the position of true disciples, and now they are probably elders." Jiang Qiong replied casually.

Gu An remained silent.

Is the Tai Xuan Sect already riddled with holes?
Jiang Qiong put down the plate she had already finished eating, picked up a large chicken leg, and said with a smile, "The taste is not bad. Although I have long since abstained from grains, it is not bad to satisfy my appetite occasionally. As a reward, I will teach you the secret techniques of Qianqiu Pavilion later."

(End of this chapter)