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

The night was dark and windy, with no stars or moon.

A slender figure, dressed in a large gray robe and wearing a bamboo hat that concealed his face, moved silently through the dense forest outside the Qingmu Sect.

This is Gu An in disguise.

He had been preparing for this trip for a long time. He had a "Concealing Breath Talisman" on his body that still had some effect even though it had expired, and he wore a pair of soft boots made of spirit rabbit skin, so that he walked almost silently.

Thirty miles of mountain road is not far for cultivators, but Gu An walked very slowly and cautiously.

He constantly used his not-so-powerful divine sense to probe the slightest movement within a ten-foot radius.

The Ghost Market is located in a rift called Soul-Severing Valley. This is a no-man's-land, a melting pot of rogue cultivators, demonic cultivators, and scum from sects.

Upon reaching the valley entrance, two guards wearing ghost masks blocked their way.

"Entry fee: one spirit stone." The voice was hoarse, carrying undisguised malice.

With a heavy heart, Gu An took out a small piece of spirit stone, no bigger than a fingernail, and handed it over. This was his savings of half a year.

As you enter the valley, the view suddenly opens up before you.

Although it was late at night, many lanterns emitting a faint green glow hung in the valley, illuminating the entire market like a ghost town. The streets were lined with stalls, most of the vendors were wrapped up tightly, and some even covered their goods with black cloth, only lifting a corner when a buyer asked.

There were no shouts of vendors, only the low murmurs of bargaining.

Gu An didn't look around; he had already inquired about the rules. He lowered his straw hat and headed straight for a shop in the corner with a sign that read "Buying and Selling Spiritual Materials".

This shop looks unremarkable, but it's said to have a decent reputation and doesn't cheat people out of their money.

Upon entering the shop, a one-eyed old man was dozing off on the counter.

"Shopkeeper, do you accept rice?" Gu An asked in a deliberately feigned hoarse voice.

The one-eyed old man opened his remaining eye, his cloudy gaze sweeping over Gu An, seemingly seeing through his low cultivation level, but he said nothing, only lazily nodding: "What's your quality?"

Gu An took a handful of yellow rice from the storage bag in his arms and placed it on the counter.

The rice grains are plump and round, with a restrained spiritual energy and a faint shimmering light.

A hint of surprise flashed in the one-eyed old man's eyes: "Oh, top-grade yellow sprout rice? Judging from its quality, it must have been irrigated with the Lesser Cloud Rain Technique, and the heat is quite high."

Gu An didn't reply, but simply asked, "What's the price?"

"Two spirit stones, weighing one hundred catties." The old man held up two withered fingers.

"Too low." Gu An shook his head, turned to leave, "The going rate outside is two and a half yuan."

"That's the selling price!" The old man tapped on the counter. "Young man, judging by your attire, you must be from a sect, right? I won't ask whether this rice is legitimate or not. In the Ghost Market, safety comes first. I'll give you two dollars and two jiao, take it all, cash on delivery, no haggling."

Gu An paused in his steps.

The other party recognized him, which made his heart tighten. But he knew the old man was right; these kinds of smuggled goods were all about quick in and quick out.

"make a deal."

Without further hesitation, Gu An poured out all seventy catties of spirit grain.

After weighing, it weighed a total of seventy-two jin.

The old man readily agreed, calculating one low-grade spirit stone plus sixty broken spirit stones.

When the warm, white-glowing low-grade spirit stone landed in his palm, Gu An's hands trembled slightly with excitement.

This is the first complete low-grade spirit stone he has acquired in the three years since he transmigrated!

With it, you can buy Qi-gathering powder to aid cultivation, or a decent attack spell.

"Is there anything else you'd like?" the old man asked with a smile as he put away the rice.

Gu An pondered for a moment, his gaze sweeping over the shelves behind the counter.

"I want to buy talismans."

What kind of talisman do you need?

"Swiftness Talisman, Vajra Talisman, Fireball Talisman," Gu An rattled off three basic talismans in one breath.

Offense, defense, and escape – the three essentials.

"A Swift Travel Talisman costs three spirit stones, a Vajra Talisman five, and a Fireball Talisman two," the old man quoted. "A total of ten spirit stones."

That's expensive!

Gu An gritted his teeth and bought it. In this world of cultivation, spirit stones can be earned back, but once life is gone, it's truly gone.

After the transaction was completed, Gu An left the shop without lingering. Instead of leaving the valley immediately, he wandered around the ghost market a few times, even spending two spirit stones to buy a useless, broken magic artifact fragment, pretending to be a wandering cultivator looking for treasures.

Only after confirming that he was not followed did he blend into the crowd and leave the Valley of Broken Souls.

On the way back, Gu An was more careful than when he came.

He didn't take the main road, but instead deliberately chose the thorny, animal trails. He didn't care that his clothes were torn.

Just when he was only ten miles away from the sect, he passed through a place called "Mass Burial Mound".

Suddenly, a rustling sound came from the woods ahead.

"Brother Gu, you're doing quite well!" a cunning voice rang out.

As soon as he finished speaking, a figure darted out of the woods. As the person approached, Gu An recognized him—Xun Meng, a spirit farmer from the Bingzi No. 7 spirit field district, and Zhao Feng's lackey. He was a tyrant who usually relied on Zhao Feng's influence to bully others in the Bingzi spirit field district.

Now that he's found out here, this matter is unlikely to end well.

Although a servant's act of sneaking away is not a capital offense, he would still face severe consequences if discovered by the sect's deacons. Not to mention that he had also secretly hoarded spirit grains; if discovered, his crime would be even more serious, and he would likely be crippled even if he didn't die.

The fact that Xun Meng was able to find this place means that he must have followed along the way, or that Zhao Feng sent him here to inquire about the cultivation of spirit grains.

But no matter which one it was, Gu An dared not gamble. After all, he had already committed the crime, so the person in front of him had to die. Only the dead cannot speak.

The moment Xun Menggang appeared, Gu An had already calculated in his mind how confident he was in killing him when he was off guard.

First of all, Xunzi was at best a servant who pleased his master. If he were truly gifted, how could he be unknown in this Bingzi District and only be a dog who pleases his master all day long?

Gu An remembered that Xun Meng entered the sect not much earlier than him. They had the same four spiritual roots, the same cultivation progress, and were at the same realm. Gu An was 70% confident that he could launch a sneak attack that would catch the other party off guard.

Just as he was pondering this, Xun Meng approached again, adopting his usual arrogant demeanor, and threatened, "Oh ho, you've got some nerve, kid. Sneaking out of the sect is one thing, but you even dare to secretly sell spirit grains. If this gets back to the sect's enforcement hall, do you think you'll survive?"

Perhaps because he was used to being domineering, Xun Meng had no intention of pretending. Now that he had caught Gu An in the act, he would not let him leave peacefully unless he got something good out of the kid.

As for reporting to the sect, which would be a thankless and arduous task, Xun Meng had no intention of doing it. He could tell the difference between being full at one meal and being well-fed at another. With this leverage over him, he could live off it for the rest of his life. As long as Gu An was a member of the Qingmu Sect, he could keep Gu An under his control and extract good things from him continuously.

However, what he didn't know was that Gu An had already decided to kill him. Gu An, who was well aware of the wickedness of people's hearts, would never let this guy who knew all his secrets leave.

Seeing that Gu An remained silent for a long time, Xun Meng assumed that he was afraid and directly offered the conditions for keeping quiet that he wanted.

"Hehe, don't be afraid, brother. After all, we're from the same sect. How about this: hand over all your remaining spirit stones and all the talismans you just bought, and I'll pretend this never happened. What do you think, Brother Gu?"

"Oh, Brother Xun, can you really keep your mouth shut?" Gu An feigned a compromise, luring the enemy to temporarily lower his guard.

"Brother Gu, don't you know my reputation in the sect? I'm a man of my word!" Xun Meng was overjoyed, believing he had Gu An under his control.

Gu An sneered inwardly: "Reputation, my foot! What reputation do you, Xun Meng, have in the sect? Knowing your character, I'm even less likely to let you go back!"

"Since you've agreed to keep my secret, I should naturally offer some tokens of my sincerity. However, those three talismans have already drained almost all of my savings. I wonder if you could ask for fewer spirit stones?"

"Sure, sure. You can make up for the spirit stones later. As for the talismans..." A greedy glint flashed in Xun Meng's eyes.

"Of course it should be given to my older brother!" Gu An said, making a gesture as if he was about to take out a talisman from his pocket.

Xunzi and Mengzi were overjoyed and had long since neglected to be wary of others.

But the next second, a flame ignited.

"call out!"

A fireball flew out from Gu An's palm, the increasingly solid flame heading straight for Xun Meng. Even though Xun Meng had just reacted, it was already too late.

The fireball struck him, igniting the fabric covering his body. Within moments, the fire intensified, and Xun Meng was caught off guard, only able to wail in agony as he was engulfed in flames!

"Gu An, you fucking dared to frame me!"

"Even as a ghost, I won't let you go, ah, ah ah..."

Gu An looked at the corpse that was gradually turning into charcoal and felt a pang of regret. He wasn't upset that a life had been lost at his hands.

To be honest, he had become numb to this dog-eat-dog world. Watching people in the sect die every day for various reasons, who knew if he would be next?

Gu An was disappointed that the fireball talisman, which he hadn't even had a chance to warm up, was gone just like that. However, he had to do this to keep it a secret, since he didn't have much time left. Right now, his opponent was Xun Meng, who was at the same level as him, and he could still handle him. But what if it was Zhao Feng, who was at the sixth level of Qi Refining? How could he possibly win?

The only way to survive is to improve his strength as soon as possible, reach the fourth level of Qi Refining, and become an outer disciple before Zhao Feng comes looking for him because of Xun Meng's death.