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

The owner of that giant red hand crawled out of the crack in the ground.

Standing nine feet tall, it resembled a moving mountain of flesh, its muscles bulging and twisted, displaying an eerie purplish-red hue, with undried lava and black mud clinging to its body.

Qi Refining Level 7, Blood Blade Sect, Tu Lie.

He wasn't holding a knife, but rather a three-foot-long, blood-red two-pronged fork, its tips gleaming with a chilling light, the eerie color of someone who had drunk their fill of blood.

"boom!"

The rocks beneath Tu Lie's feet shattered instantly, and his massive body unleashed an incredible speed that seemed completely disproportionate to his size.

Without a word or a probe, the blood fork in his hand flew out, transforming into a crimson streak that tore through the air with a piercing shriek, aiming straight for Gu An's chest.

That strike was too fast and too heavy!

The air seemed to solidify under the pressure of this violent force, and Gu An felt his breath catch in his throat, with every hair on his body standing on end.

There's no way to avoid it; there's absolutely no way to avoid it.

The gap between the third and seventh levels of Qi Refining cannot be bridged by movement techniques alone, especially since he doesn't have any movement techniques at all; all he has is the Turtle Breathing Technique, which allows him to conceal his aura.

However, Gu An did not give up and wait to die. He had been in this world for nearly three years and had endured the torment until now. If he wanted to give up, he would have died the moment he became a menial servant.

Gu An roared, forming a hand seal and channeling the metal element throughout his body.

"Golden Light Technique!"

The remaining spiritual energy in his body surged out like water, and the golden light shield on his body instantly solidified to the extreme, even emitting a humming sound due to the overload of spiritual energy.

At the same time, he forcefully twisted his body to the left, channeling spiritual power into the black iron hoe in his hand, and smashed it fiercely towards the line of blood.

With a loud "clang!", the hard black iron hoe shattered into dust like tofu the moment it touched the blood fork.

The blood-red fork veered off course by only half a point, still heading straight for Gu An.

"puff!"

The golden shield shattered like thin paper.

The fork grazed Gu An's right shoulder, spraying a large amount of blood and bits of flesh.

Gu An was sent flying by the terrifying gust of wind, crashing heavily onto a boulder and rolling to the ground.

A piercing pain spread throughout his body, and Gu An gasped. He didn't want to experience that near-death blow again. At this moment, his right shoulder was a bloody mess, and the white bone was even visible.

If it had been even an inch off, his neck would have been ruined.

[Severely damaged, with only 10% of spiritual power remaining]

Lifespan: 19/91 (Under Damage: -5 days/half an hour)

The red text on the panel was flashing wildly, but Gu An didn't even have time to glance at it. Facing an opponent of vastly superior strength, he dared not be distracted.

The path of cultivating immortality is not child's play, but a series of real trials and tribulations.

Crossing borders is a plot device confined to novels and cannot be replicated in the current situation.

"what?"

Tu Lie let out a soft exclamation and waved his hand to retract the blood fork. He hadn't expected that an ant at the third level of Qi Refining could survive his fatal blow.

"That's interesting, but that's all for now."

Tu Lie grinned maliciously, took a step forward, causing the ground to tremble, and closed in on Gu An as if shrinking the distance between them.

The murderous intent surged forth like a tidal wave.

Gu An covered his wound, neither begging for mercy nor running around like a headless fly.

Using the force of the impact, he rolled into the mulberry grove behind him and raced towards the deepest part of the valley.

There, there stands the thickest, most robust mutated ghost mulberry tree. It is also the core node where the Yin energy of this Ghostly Firefly Valley leaks out.

"Run? Where can you run to in this massive formation?"

Tu Lie followed behind unhurriedly, as if toying with prey on its deathbed. He wasn't in a hurry; although the array at the valley entrance hadn't been set up, the sealing array left by Zhao Feng was still intact, and this kid couldn't escape.

Ignoring everything else, Gu An gasped for breath like a bellows, leaving a bloody footprint on the ground with every step.

Ten zhang (approximately 33 meters).

Five zhang (approximately 10 meters).

We've arrived! Gu An lunged at the roots of the massive Ghost Mulberry Tree, which was as thick as a person's embrace. This tree was the "Gu King" that he had nurtured the most with his own blood and the Reverse Meridian Technique in order to cultivate the Xuan Yin Silkworm.

Its roots are planted directly in the weakest part of the Yin meridian.

Tu Lie had already caught up to within three zhang of Gu An when he saw Gu An stop under the tree. He couldn't help but sneer, "Heh, already planning your own grave?"

He raised the blood-red trident, ready to deliver the final blow. However, Gu An turned around, leaning against the old tree with its hideous, grotesque face.

On that deathly pale face, there was no despair, only a madness and determination that chilled even Tu Lie to the bone.

"Since you don't want me to live, then none of you should live."

Gu An slammed his bloodied left hand onto the tree root. Normally, he would follow the yin energy and carefully guide it. But this time, he did the opposite.

The remaining spiritual power of the "Green Wood Everlasting Spring Technique" within his body was forcibly reversed, transforming into the purest and most explosive Yang Wood vitality, which was then unreservedly channeled through his palm into the tree roots filled with Yin Sha Qi.

Yin and Yang clash, they are inherently incompatible! Not to mention Gu An's deliberate guidance.

The Ghost Mulberry Tree, which had been greedily absorbing Yin energy, suddenly trembled. The veins beneath its bark burst forth instantly, emitting a teeth-grinding "crackling" sound, as if it were about to explode at any moment.

Immediately afterwards, Gu An took out three crumpled talismans from his pocket.

That was a cheap, low-quality item he got from Zhao Feng—an [Exploding Talisman].

Although not very powerful, it could be used to detonate an already unstable powder keg...

"What are you trying to do?!"

Tu Lie's pupils shrank sharply, his intuition as a high-level cultivator made him sense an extremely dangerous aura.

That's a harbinger of the impending collapse of the earth's veins! This madman is actually going to detonate the Yin vein nodes?!

"You dare to do this? Stop right now!!!"

Tu Lie roared, and the blood fork in his hand shot out in a burst of red light, trying to nail Gu An to death before he could make a move.

Unfortunately, it was too late.

Gu An's lips curled into a blood-stained smile as he slammed three explosive talismans hard onto the root nodes of the Ghost Mulberry tree.

"burst!"

There was no earth-shattering roar. Only a muffled "hum."

It was as if all the sounds in the world had been sucked away in an instant.

The sparks from the three exploding talismans instantly ignited two completely opposite and violent spiritual energies, yin and yang.

The enormous ghost mulberry tree, along with the ground behind Gu An, collapsed instantly.

The next instant. Rumble—!!!

A jet-black beam of light, three zhang in diameter, burst forth from the collapse, carrying with it the extreme cold and yin energy and the raging earth fire that had been suppressed underground for thousands of years.

The blood fork had only flown halfway when it was swept back by this terrifying torrent of energy, losing all its spiritual light.

"You're insane! You're a madman!"

Tu Lie's expression changed drastically. The destructive aura contained within that pillar of light made even him tremble with fear. He couldn't care less about killing; he retreated rapidly, summoning a bone shield to protect his entire body.

Gu An was closest and bore the brunt of the explosion. But he was prepared; at the moment of detonation, he slid into an underground cavity like an eel through the cracks in the collapsed tree roots.

When the "Turtle Breathing Technique" is activated to its fullest extent, it seals off all the pores of the body, allowing one to feign death and avoid disaster.

But the shockwave was too strong.

The sealing array set up by Zhao Feng above was like a fragile soap bubble in the face of this pillar of Yin energy that shot straight into the sky.

With a soft "pop," the azure light curtain that had enveloped Ghostly Valley for months shattered instantly.

The black beam of light pierced the sky without obstruction, turning the originally dim twilight sky into a deathly inky black.

It is clearly visible for miles around!

This was not just an explosion; it was the highest-level enemy attack alert issued to the entire Qingmu Sect!

……

Inside the underground cavity, Gu An was shaken so badly that blood flowed from his seven orifices, and his consciousness became blurred.

On the panel, the words "[Azure Wood Everlasting Spring Technique: Second Level (15/400)]" flashed by—it was a rebound after the spiritual energy was completely exhausted.

But he won his gamble; the blockade was broken.

The commotion had grown too big, and the Blood Blade Sect's sneak attack plan had been completely exposed to the light of day.

On the ground, Tu Lie stared at the black light that pierced the heavens and the earth, his face ashen as if he had swallowed a dead fly.

It's over. The surprise attack has turned into a full-scale assault, and the covert maneuver has turned into a grand, public display.

He stared intently at the collapsed pit where Gu An had disappeared, the killing intent in his eyes almost tangible.

"Aaaaaah! You've ruined my plans! I'm going to tear your soul apart and refine it!"

Tu Lie roared, wanting to rush over and dig out the servant and tear him to pieces.

Just then, a long blue rainbow streaked across the sky like a shooting star, carrying a terrifying pressure that could crush everything, and flew by at lightning speed.

That was the escape light of a Foundation Establishment cultivator!

"What kind of demon dares to offend my Green Wood Sect!"

A clear whistle, like rolling thunder, resounded over the Valley of Shadows.

Tu Lie froze, his steps halting abruptly.

He glanced at the bottomless pit, then at the fleeting blue rainbow on the horizon, and finally gritted his teeth.

"Walk!"

He grabbed the bodies of two of his men from the ground and, without hesitation, jumped back into the not-yet-completely-collapsed underground passage, fleeing frantically into the depths of the earth.

The foundation has been laid; if you don't leave now, you won't be able to leave at all.

A moment later, a middle-aged scholar dressed in a moon-white Taoist robe and riding a flying sword with a blue light descended on the sky above Youying Valley.

He looked at the mess on the ground, felt the strong demonic energy remaining in the air, and saw the gap in the earth's veins still spewing out yin energy. His face turned ashen.

His divine sense swept across the entire valley like a tsunami.

Finally, it rested beneath the ruins on the boy who was curled up deep in the tree roots, his breath as faint as a candle flame.