Longevity: Starting as a menial servant in the Green Wood Sect

The veins on the back of the third brother's hand, which was gripping the knife, bulged. He leaned against the damp, cold rock wall, his eyes bloodshot from extreme tension, staring intently at the fissure in the ground that was churning with black and red mist.

"Fourth brother! Forget about that broken array plate! Let's kill this troublesome guy first!"

The third brother roared, his voice trembling almost imperceptibly.

That rat lurking in the shadows is too cunning. If we don't deal with this annoying errand boy soon, they'll suffer the consequences sooner or later.

The demonic cultivator known as the fourth brother was a thin, middle-aged man who was currently squatting on the ground, covered in cold sweat, his hands pressing hard on the array plate he had picked up from next to the second brother's corpse.

The runes on the array plate flickered, clearly indicating that they were disturbed by the recent events.

"Shut up! If the formation doesn't work, the boss can't get up, and we'll all die if we keep dragging this out!" The fourth brother gritted his teeth, frantically channeling spiritual energy into the formation plate. "Even if it costs us our lives, this spirit-guiding formation has to be set up!"

Once the guiding formation is complete, the seventh-level Qi Refining leader underground will emerge from the ground. At that time, crushing that little brat in the shadows will be as easy as crushing an ant.

Thirty feet away, on the top of a withered mulberry tree. Gu An put the two thunderbolts he was holding back into his pocket.

We cannot detonate the thunderbolt yet, as it is not a last resort. While detonating it would kill or injure these two, the massive commotion would inevitably attract the attention of other patrolling cultivators in the buffer zone outside the valley, and might even draw in stronger demonic cultivators.

This secluded valley is his private domain and his sacred place for cultivation; it must never be exposed to the light of day.

To kill someone, you need to use a quieter method.

Gu An took a deep breath, and the green wood spiritual power in his dantian began to reverse.

"Rise," he murmured to himself. With a flick of his fingertips, several obscure incantations were cast into the surrounding humid air.

This isn't for rain, but rather—to create fog.

[Minor Cloud Rain Technique: Mastery]

The already dense Yin energy within the valley instantly boiled over under Gu An's deliberate guidance of his spiritual power.

Sizzling sounds filled the air as the damp mud on the ground began to bubble, and thick, inky black mist rose from nowhere. This mist was heavy and cold, and it had a strong adhesive quality, carrying away the dust on the ground. In the blink of an eye, it enveloped the area within a hundred feet in pitch blackness.

"Damn it! What the hell is this thing?!"

The third brother exclaimed in surprise, discovering that when he probed his divine sense into the black mist, it was like a mud ox sinking into the sea, with his perception range compressed to less than three zhang.

"Don't panic! This is a water-based illusion! If we stand back to back, we won't be afraid of this troublesome guy getting close!" The third brother waved his knife to protect his front and retreated towards the fourth brother.

Gu An landed silently in the mist. [Spiritual Plant Affinity] activated.

Although his vision was obstructed, everything around him became crystal clear in Gu An's perception.

Every fallen weed and every trembling mulberry leaf was conveying a message to him.

Three zhang to the left, the Ghost-Faced Vine was trembling—caused by the violent fiery aura emanating from the third brother.

Five zhang to the right, the clump of sawgrass was bent over by the weight of the grass—that was where the fourth brother was crouching.

Gu An moved through the mist like a ghost, his footsteps avoiding all the withered branches and fallen leaves. He ignored the third brother who was wildly waving a knife, and instead, like a venomous snake, silently slithered toward the fourth brother who was repairing the array plate.

Kill the enemy formation first.

As the Turtle Breathing Technique unfolded, Gu An grew closer and closer to these demonic cultivators.

Five zhang (approximately 10 meters).

Four zhang (approximately 10 meters).

Three zhang (approximately 10 meters).

Gu An could even hear the fourth brother's rapid breathing due to tension, as well as the buzzing sound as the array plate repair was about to be completed.

Now! Gu An suddenly exerted force with his feet, no longer concealing himself, and like a broken bow, he instantly tore through the black mist and launched a sudden attack.

"Found you!!!"

Although his vision was obstructed, the third brother was extremely sensitive to killing intent. The moment Gu An charged out, he roared and unleashed a fiery blade of light over ten feet long, aimed directly at Gu An's back.

If Gu An hadn't dodged that blow, he would have been cleaved in two by the scorching wind.

If they dodge, the rhythm of the surprise attack on the fourth brother will be interrupted, and once the formation is complete, the whole game will be lost.

In a flash, Gu An made a crazy decision.

He neither dodged nor flinched! He suddenly bit his tongue, and the golden spiritual energy that had been suppressed within him for a long time accumulated at his fingertips, then burst forth with a roar.

"Golden Light Technique! Condense!"

A thick, solid layer of pale golden light instantly enveloped his entire body, making him look like a golden statue.

boom!

The fiery blade struck the golden light shield behind Gu An with a fierce blow.

The golden light vibrated violently, emitting a teeth-grinding crack, and instantly became covered with spiderweb-like cracks before shattering with a deafening roar.

The immense impact made Gu An's throat taste sweet, as if his internal organs had shifted, but he used this thrust to increase his speed by another 30%!

The fourth brother had just finished repairing the array plate and was about to embed the spirit stones when he looked up and saw a blood-covered figure, radiating broken golden light and with blood spilling from the corner of his mouth, lunging at him like a demon.

"you……"

The fourth brother was terrified and instinctively tried to activate his protective magic shield.

Unfortunately, it was too late.

Gu An's right index finger had long since transformed into the sharpest spear.

All the spiritual power of the green wood and all the energy of the metal metal converged without reservation at the fingertip.

Once mastered, the Gengjin Finger technique is no longer an ordinary method, but transforms into the most ferocious killing art. When a finger is extended, it is as if a spearhead has suddenly appeared.

puff!

There was no earth-shattering explosion, only a slight, muffled thud, like a sharp blade piercing flesh.

That finger, shimmering with a dark golden luster, easily pierced through the fourth brother's still-developing protective aura, cutting straight into his brow like a hot knife through oil.

With a burst of finger force, the demonic cultivator's brain was instantly turned into mush, and with a bang, it all exploded.

Previously, Gu An might have been driven to nausea by this bloody scene. But now, having witnessed countless killings, he was clearly numb.

The person who was replaced by the fourth brother stared wide-eyed, and before he could react, his entire head burst open. The spirit stone in his hand slipped from his grasp, and the array plate that had not yet been activated also fell to the ground with a "clang".

Gu An struck successfully and didn't even glance at the corpse.

He reached back and grabbed the rickety array plate, then suddenly raised his left hand.

Boom! The two porcelain bottles exploded in mid-air.

That was his specially made mixed poison powder—ash from bone-rotting grass mixed with poisonous moth scales. It was a poison he had concocted in the valley, perfect for deception and self-defense.

A large plume of grayish-green toxic smoke exploded in the black fog, instantly turning the area into a dead zone.

"Fourth brother!!!"

The third brother, who arrived shortly after, looked at his companion lying in a pool of blood, his eyes wide with rage. He charged headlong into the poisonous smoke, his protective aura crackling and sizzling as it was corroded.

"Cough cough... You little bastard! I'm going to skin you alive!"

The third brother went mad, wildly swinging his long sword and smashing the surrounding rocks to pieces.

But Gu An had already used the poisonous smoke as cover and retreated to the rocky forest ten feet away in a few leaps.

He leaned against a boulder, panting heavily, clutching the stolen array plate tightly in his hand.

[Defeat a Qi Refining Level 3 Formation Master, Combat Experience +20]

[Golden Light Technique Experience +5]

[Geng Metal indicates +5 experience]

[Current Status: Minor internal injuries, 30% spiritual energy remaining]

Despite his injuries, Gu An's lips curled into a cold smile. Without the array plate and the array master, it would be incredibly difficult for that giant creature underground to come up.

However, his smile froze on his face before it could fully bloom.

The ground suddenly stopped shaking.

That chilling silence was even more terrifying than the roar just now.

From the depths of the earth's fissure came a low, suppressed roar, as if it came from the deepest hell.

"roar--!!!"

The sound, imbued with a tangible spiritual pressure, instantly dispersed the black mist within the valley, causing Gu An's eardrums to bleed.

Immediately afterwards, a giant hand covered in red hair suddenly emerged from the edge of the crack in the ground and gripped the rock tightly.

Crack! The rock, as hard as iron, crumbled like tofu under that giant hand.

Without any protective formation, that madman... actually managed to shatter the narrow earth vein passage with sheer brute force!

A terrifying, suffocatingly bloody pressure swept through the entire Ghostly Valley like a tsunami.

This is the strength of the seventh level of Qi Refining!

Gu An's heart clenched, and the hairs on his body stood on end.

Behind that giant hand, a hideous, enormous head slowly rose from the ground. It was a giant man, at least nine feet tall, covered in blood, his skin a strange purplish-red, his eyes like two burning will-o'-the-wisps, fixedly locked on the direction where Gu An was hiding.

"Mere ants..."

"How dare you disrupt my sect's grand formation... kill my comrades... I will kill you!"

The giant opened his mouth, which was full of fangs, and spat out a mouthful of scorching blood mist.

"I will... refine you into a blood lamp, and burn it for a hundred years!"