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

Chapter 93 The Vine Tree Becomes a Spirit, Reaching a Realm Beyond Integration

In the mountains and forests, Gu An was leading Yang Ni in sowing seeds. As he buried the seeds in the soil, he glanced at the herbs beside him and said, "That's the song-shy grass. Its leaves tend to curl up easily, and when the wind blows through, it makes a strange sound like singing. Often at times like this, you have to help it open its leaves to avoid affecting its growth..."

Yang Ni squatted down to the side, listening attentively, her eyes full of curiosity.

When Li Ya left, Yang Ni said she wanted to stay and plant flowers and grass. Gu An thought it was a joke, but it turned out to be true. She started to participate in planting and always asked him questions, behaving very humbly.

After changing her attitude, Yang Ni began to integrate into Xuan Valley and communicate with other miscellaneous disciples.

Gu An wanted to try to assimilate her and make her a true member of Xuan Valley, so he taught her very seriously.

"From now on, you'll be in charge of the herbs in this garden. Let's test your skills and see if you can protect the garden as well as people," Gu An said with a smile as he stood up.

Yang Ni did not refuse; instead, an expectant look appeared on her face.

Afterwards, Gu An left, leaving Yang Ni to observe the garden alone.

He returned to Xuan Valley and saw Chu Jingfeng standing in front of the wooden railing, lost in thought.

Having been in Xuan Valley for so many years, Chu Jingfeng has always been like this. If Gu An asks him to do something, he will do it, but if Gu An doesn't assign him any miscellaneous tasks, he will just sit there in a daze, completely lost in thought.

Out of consideration for their past friendship, Gu An decided to lend him a hand.

"Brother Chu, I just acquired a sword technique. Could you take a look at it for me?" Gu An patted Chu Jingfeng on the shoulder and asked with a smile.

Chu Jingfeng nodded expressionlessly, then followed him into the deserted woods.

He was also a sword cultivator. Although his cultivation had been destroyed, his memories remained, so he felt he could help Gu An.

Despite his quiet demeanor, he is actually very grateful to Gu An.

When he first arrived, he wished he could disappear into a crack in the ground when he faced Gu An. But Gu An did not laugh at him. On the contrary, he treated him very well and maintained this attitude for so many years. It couldn't be fake. He couldn't understand what use he was to Gu An. He could only think that Gu An was genuinely kind-hearted. After all, the disciples in the valley all had a very high opinion of Gu An.

Under Chu Jingfeng's watchful gaze, Gu An performed a set of basic sword moves from the Tai Cang Jing Shen Sword. Even though his execution was clumsy and not smooth enough, it still caught Chu Jingfeng's eye.

"Master Gu... what kind of sword technique is this?" Chu Jingfeng asked, barely suppressing his excitement.

As a swordsman, how could one not be delighted to see such profound swordsmanship?
Gu An scratched his head and said, "I don't know either. I met a senior when I went to the Heaven-Mending Platform. He taught me this sword technique. He said that if I could master this sword technique, I could become a sword god among mortals."

Chu Jingfeng hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.

Gu An laughed and said, "How about it? Do you want to learn? I'll teach you. I only have one request: that you return to your former self. I miss the spirited Chu Jingfeng. Even if you lose your cultivation, you can still practice swordsmanship. Isn't there a legend that someone never gathered qi in his life but attained enlightenment through swordsmanship? If others can do it, why can't you?"

Upon hearing this, Chu Jingfeng's expression changed, and he began to struggle.

In the end, he agreed.

He didn't actually want to be decadent; he just couldn't find any meaning in living.

Now, he suddenly realized that Gu An's words made sense: if one loses their cultivation, they can no longer practice swordsmanship.

Shouldn't sword cultivators rise to the challenge?

And so, Chu Jingfeng began to cultivate the Tai Cang Jing Shen Sword. He memorized the sword moves at an extremely fast speed, which amazed Gu An and made him more and more confident.

……

Late at night.

A dozen miles away from Xuan Valley, by the river, Gu An moved aside the rubble, opened a stone slab, and crawled inside. Immediately afterward, the stone slab closed again, and the surrounding rubble uncontrollably gathered together, restoring the scene as if it had never been moved.

Gu An followed the tunnel all the way to the Eight Views Cave.

A black dragon, five zhang long, burst out of the underground river and flew swiftly to his front.

As always, he took out the demon sheep's carcass and placed it on the ground. Haolong then opened his mouth and spewed out a vast expanse of flames to start roasting the sheep.

"In two or three years, I'll take you out, how about that?" Gu An asked with a smile, stroking Haolong's head.

Gu An plans to release Haolong when he breaks through to the next level, so that it can live in the mountains of Beihai.

He had previously wanted Haolong to learn the art of transformation, but unfortunately there was no such art. He did pass on the Demon Shadow Divine Art to Haolong, but after several years of practice, he still hadn't mastered it.

Upon hearing that he could leave, Haolong immediately stopped roasting the lamb and excitedly asked where they were going.

Gu An gave a brief introduction to the Beihai Mountains, which made Haolong even more eager to visit.

He instructed it not to reveal his existence and that of the Eight Views Cave after it left, and it promised not to.

Actually, it doesn't matter if he's exposed. When Gu An returns from the North Sea Mountains, he will definitely have surpassed the Integration Realm. At that time, even if the entire Thousand Autumns Pavilion comes, they won't be able to take away his Azure Vine Tree.

Of course, he believed Haolong would keep quiet.

"You'd better cultivate diligently from now on, or you'll get eaten by monsters as soon as you go out," Gu An teased.

Haolong proudly raised his head and said, "How could a dragon be eaten by a monster!"

Gu An rubbed its dragon head, then walked towards the ancient vine tree.

Gu An valued this seventh-tier spirit tree very much. Every time he came to the Eight Scenery Cave, he would observe it to prevent any problems from arising.

Arriving under the tree, Gu An looked up to observe the branches of the ancient vine tree.

As he watched, he suddenly frowned. He noticed that a branch trembled slightly, though very slightly, but it did happen.

Haolong was still roasting lamb not far away; it wasn't him who caused the trouble.

Could this tree possibly become a spirit?

As Gu An thought about it, he felt it was increasingly possible.

This is the sacred tree of Qianqiu Pavilion; it must be sinister, and it's not impossible for it to become a spirit.

Gu An continued to stare, but the vine tree did not show any further movement, as if what he saw ahead was just his imagination.

He used his divine sense to investigate but found nothing unusual. However, doing so could warn the vine tree not to act recklessly.

After staying for half an hour, Gu An finally left.

There's one more thing to be careful about now. Gu An isn't worried about the vine tree becoming a spirit; on the contrary, he's somewhat looking forward to it.

……

Spring comes and goes, and two years have passed.

Gu An's lifespan has reached 950,000 years, and he feels that he will reach a million years by the end of the year, which fills him with anticipation and keeps him energetic all year round.

On this day, Ye Lan came to Xuan Valley to visit Gu An.

The two stood by the window of the attic, chatting as they watched their busy disciples.

Ye Lan talked about the recent major events in the cultivation world, which Gu An listened to with great interest.

A new sect has emerged in the cultivation world, called the Ephemeral Flower Sect. No one knows where the Ephemeral Flower Sect is. The cultivators of this sect have been constantly invading various demonic sects, plundering cultivation techniques, spells, treasures and so on, causing bloodshed in the demonic path, while the righteous sects remain unaffected.

Some say that the Tanhua Sect was supported by the Taixuan Sect because a powerful demonic cultivator who killed enemies with leaves appeared in the Tanhua Sect, which is very similar to the Taixuan Sect's Fudao Sword Master.

Hearing this, Gu An was very unhappy. How could someone be using my reputation again?
"You've said so much, but none of it is directed at the Tai Xuan Sect. It seems our Tai Xuan Sect has already established an absolutely powerful reputation," Gu An said with a smile.

He was genuinely happy; the more peaceful the Tai Xuan Sect was, the better, since he could become stronger by planting flowers and grass anyway.

If he cultivates for another fifty years, surely no one in the Nine Dynasties region will be stronger than him?

Ye Lan thought for a moment and said, "There really is one. A cultivator in the cultivation world called himself Ghost Thief. He is both righteous and evil. He used to like to rob the rich and help the poor. Later, his reputation grew. Half a year ago, he claimed that he would come to Tai Xuan Sect to steal the Xuanqing Tree. He said that Tai Xuan Sect had gathered 90% of the resources of the Tai Cang Dynasty, which was against the Heavenly Dao. He wanted to steal the Xuanqing Tree and plant it on the edge of Tianze."

Xuanqing Tree?
Upon hearing this, Gu An frowned deeply.

This is a seventh-tier spirit tree bestowed upon him by the Tai Xuan Sect. Now that it has grown, how can he allow anyone to steal it?
This thief has already found a way to die!
Fine, I'll spare him since his actions align with chivalry, but I must scare him a little to prevent him from coming back.

Gu An asked curiously, "Are Ghost Thieves powerful?"

"He must be incredibly powerful, otherwise, how could he have survived to this day after offending so many people and stealing so many treasures?" Ye Lan rolled her eyes at Gu An.

Indeed, when asked what she wanted to do, she didn't even know what realm was above the Nascent Soul stage.

Gu An smiled and then asked her how her cultivation had been going lately and whether she had been diligent.

Although everyone must eventually part ways, he hoped that the day he and Ye Lan would be separated by death would come later.

His question earned him a scolding from Ye Lan.

Ye Lan shared the same thought as him, hoping that he could cultivate diligently and prolong his life.

The two began to bicker.

After a long while, Ye Lan suddenly asked, "Senior brother, do you know the current emperor?"

Gu An raised an eyebrow and asked, "Junior Sister, why do you ask that?"

"The Emperor introduced the Spring Festival, which began at the beginning of this year and has already covered all the states. The etiquette and rules are exactly the same as your Spring Festival," Ye Lan said with a solemn expression.

Gu An said nonchalantly, "I heard it from an unknown old man. Besides, the Spring Festival has been held for so many years, it's normal for people to know about it, after all, the meaning is quite good."

Ye Lan thought it made sense, but still reminded him, "Recently, the higher-ups have issued orders for us to collect more information about Emperor Li Xuandao, and they have also assigned more disciples to Cangzhou. It seems that the higher-ups have designs on the throne."

"What do you mean? The sects want to seize the throne?"

"No, that's not it. The Crown Prince is a disciple of our sect, but he has been the Crown Prince for a hundred years, so the sect naturally has to lend him a hand."

Gu An couldn't help but look towards the woods a hundred feet to the west, where he saw Yang Ni watering the flowers and plants, wondering if she was eavesdropping.

The two chatted for a while longer. Ye Lan closed the window and tried to talk to Gu An about something else, even making unwanted physical advances, which earned her a stern reprimand from him.

Ye Lan glared at Gu An with shame and anger, then left.

As Gu An watched her departing figure, his thoughts drifted to the mountains of Beihai.

I need to go to the library to find a map to prepare for the breakthrough.

I wonder what realm lies beyond the fusion stage?
Gu An went downstairs and was about to walk towards the teleportation platform when Yang Ni suddenly stopped him and transmitted her voice, "Be careful of the Crown Prince. If he finds out about your relationship with Li Ya, he will definitely come looking for you and plot against you."

(End of this chapter)