Saint Who Lay Low

Gu An had no idea what Yang Ni was thinking. The reason he chose Lu Jiujia as his chief disciple was simply because there was no better option.

As for Yang Ni, Gu An had already assumed she would leave sooner or later, so he never considered her for the position of chief disciple.

Late at night, after the feast had ended and everyone returned to their rooms, Gu An quietly made his way to the Eight Views Heavenly Cave.

Lately, he had been deeply immersed in studying the Ten Thousand Gu Mysterious Technique and had made considerable progress.

Under the Ancient Vine Tree, Gu An willed a figure to emerge from a cave entrance, moving like a gust of wind, scattering grass and leaves in its wake.

The figure was none other than Meng Lang, now transformed into a Gu Corpse.

Gu An controlled Meng Lang with his mind, commanding him to harvest a mature herb.

After Meng Lang finished picking it, Gu An waited for a while but never received a notification that he had successfully siphoned any lifespan.

The plan had failed!

It seemed he would have to handle such matters personally in the future.

Though feeling slightly disappointed, Gu An wasn't discouraged. With the output from the Third Medicine Valley and Tianya Valley increasing, his annual lifespan income was already exceeding 100,000 years and was still rising.

In less than a century, he would have accumulated 10 million years of lifespan!

At such a speed, Gu An was already quite satisfied. After all, how many realms could an ordinary cultivator ascend in a century?

He sent Meng Lang back into the cave, then drew his Heavenly Solemn Sword and began practicing the Wood Spirit Sword Technique.

...

The next morning, Gu An descended from the pavilion and led the disciples in their morning exercises. Even Yang Ni joined in. After the exercises, she quickly hurried into the forest.

Gu An noticed that something seemed off about her behavior today, so he decided to observe from a distance. He saw her planting seeds in the forest, which raised his eyebrows.

The seeds she was planting seemed unfamiliar!

As a cultivator at the Mahayana Realm, Gu An's memory was flawless, and his keen observation immediately recognized that the seeds she held were of a type he had never seen before.

Curious, he approached and called out, "What are you planting?" As Yang Ni stood up, he secretly cast Lifespan Investigation on her.

[Ephemeral Blossom (Sixth-Grade): 0/120/5000]

A sixth-grade spirit flower?

And its name was Ephemeral Blossom!

Gu An couldn't help but connect this flower to the Ephemeral Blossom Sect.

Yang Ni answered, "These seeds came from an enemy's storage bag years ago. I'm not exactly sure what they are called. I've had them in my bag for decades, and only today did I think to plant them."

"Is that so?" Gu An responded thoughtfully.

Yang Ni observed his expression and asked, "Is it not okay to plant them?"

"Go ahead."

Gu An smiled, not pointing out the true origin of the flower.

If Yang Ni wanted to plant a sixth-grade spirit flower, why would he stop her?

After all, he would be the one harvesting the herbs anyway.

Encouraging her with a few words, Gu An turned and left.

Yang Ni watched his retreating figure, finding him more and more difficult to read.

"I can't believe I was actually fooled by a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator," Yang Ni thought to herself, amused. She crouched back down and continued planting the Ephemeral Blossoms.

No matter what Gu An suspected, as long as he allowed her to plant the Ephemeral Blossoms, she would plant them!

She glanced once more at Gu An's back and thought to herself, "Once I make my mark in the sect, I'll spare his life. By then, I'll even recommend him to join the Ephemeral Blossom Sect."

After spending so many years together, she had grown fond of Gu An. It would be a pity for such talent to be lost in the power struggles between sects.

Someone like him should shine brighter within the Ephemeral Blossom Sect.

...

After the new year, spring returned, bringing renewed vitality to the Tai Xuan Sect, which once again bustled with activity.

In early March, Gu An was discussing books with Shen Zhen in the pavilion when both of them suddenly sensed something and put down their books.

Gu An cleared his throat and said, "Let's tidy these things up."

Shen Zhen blushed, quickly gathering the sheets of painting paper on the table and storing them in her storage bag.

Once everything was neatly packed away, the two of them headed downstairs.

Outside the pavilion, they looked up to see a group of cultivators flying towards them from the horizon. Among them was a familiar face, Ji Xiaoyu.

There were eleven cultivators in total, and Gu An used Lifespan Investigation on them one by one.

Apart from the lead cultivator, the other ten were all under a hundred years old, with the weakest among them being at the eighth level of the Core Formation Realm, and two of them had already reached the Nascent Soul Realm.

Nascent Soul cultivators under a hundred years old—these talents were terrifying.

Each of these geniuses had an extreme lifespan of at least two thousand years.

The lead cultivator was Lü Chen, who was at the second layer of the Void Crossing Realm. After landing, he cupped his hands toward Gu An and said, "These ten disciples are the ones the Sect Master instructed me to bring here for cultivation. I'll leave them in your care, Valley Master."

He was very courteous to Gu An, showing none of the arrogance typical of a Void Crossing cultivator. This made Gu An wonder what kind of work Lü Baitian had done to foster such respect.

The Lü Family certainly knew how to handle people!

Gu An returned the greeting with a respectful gesture. "Thank you for your trouble, Senior."

Lü Chen smiled, nodded, and then took his leave, flying off into the distance.

Gu An turned to face the ten Tai Xuan Sect geniuses, who were also scrutinizing him.

"Miss Shen, why are you here?" a young man in green robes asked with a frown, clearly displeased at seeing Shen Zhen standing behind Gu An.

This man's name was Liu Yu, and he was at the ninth level of Core Formation, with an extreme lifespan of 2,409 years.

Shen Zhen ignored him and said to Gu An, "Since the Medicine Valley has guests now, I'll take my leave. We can have more time alone next time."

With that, she leaped into the air and quickly disappeared behind the mountains.

"Alone?"

The ten geniuses exchanged odd looks, and a cold glint flashed in Liu Yu's eyes.

[Liu Yu has developed hostility toward you and is considering attacking you. Would you like to perform a Lifespan Investigation on him?]

Thinking of attacking me?

What kind of level of hatred is this?

Gu An spoke up, "Miss Shen and I merely enjoy reading books and occasionally discussing them. There's nothing more to it. In fact, she's mentioned that her goal for a Dao companion is the Sword Master of the Dao."

The young geniuses, being sharp-minded, couldn't help but chuckle upon hearing this, and even Liu Yu forced an awkward smile, offering Gu An a slight nod of apology.

None of them were foolish. Lü Baitian had personally assigned Gu An to lead them, meaning Gu An must possess some extraordinary qualities. Even if he didn't, he was still one of Lü Baitian's people, and none of them dared to offend someone so favored.

Geniuses were prized in the Tai Xuan Sect, but being a genius didn't mean one could act recklessly. After all, if Lü Baitian decided to deal with them, their families would have to think twice before stepping in.

Ji Xiaoyu spoke up, "Valley Master, whatever you need us to do, just give the word."

The moment she spoke, the others quickly reined in their expressions and looked expectantly at Gu An.

The Sect Master had told them that cultivating their minds here would enhance their training, so they assumed that whatever this process involved would ultimately benefit their cultivation.

Gu An smiled and said, "Then follow me. But don't complain about being tired or uncomfortable. Only useless people quit halfway."

His words stirred the competitive spirit within them, and the young geniuses exchanged glances filled with silent rivalry.

Geniuses were always driven to compete!

Gu An led them deep into a forest several dozen miles away, instructing them to clear the land and plant seeds. He then guided them through inspecting various herbs.

Though these tasks were mundane, the ten disciples took them seriously, not daring to overlook even a single stone along the way.

After a few days, someone could no longer hold back.

A disciple named Chang Zang stopped and, with a deep voice, asked, "Are you toying with us? Is this so-called cultivation of the mind just about turning us into herb gatherers?"

The others, including Ji Xiaoyu, turned their eyes to Gu An, their brows furrowing.

Gu An had already known this plan wouldn't go smoothly, but Lü Baitian had insisted.

With a sigh, he retrieved ten books from his storage bag and tossed them to the disciples.

Their faces lit up with joy as they caught the books.

"Scripture of Shenzhou?" one of them read the title aloud, his eyes gleaming.

The name alone made it sound like something extraordinary.

Gu An turned and said, "You'll have to figure it out for yourselves."

With that, he walked away, leaving the group behind to dive into their new reading material.

Liu Yu opened the first page and began to read, "The Dao that can be spoken of is not the eternal Dao, the name that can be named is not the eternal name…"

As Gu An walked away, a smirk tugged at the corner of his lips.

The Scripture of Shenzhou wasn't actually the Dao De Jing. He had simply pieced together famous quotes from ancient Chinese classics, creating a mishmash of a text that would be impressive enough to fool them.

He couldn't bear to write out the real Dao De Jing. What if someone truly grasped its profound meaning? That would be a disaster!

...

After receiving the Scripture of Shenzhou, Ji Xiaoyu and the others each found their own secluded spot to meditate on its contents. None of them disturbed each other, and their presence did not disrupt the normal routine of the Third Medicine Valley.

Five days later, Ji Xiaoyu closed the scripture and glanced down at the laboring servant disciples below. After a moment of contemplation, she stood up and descended the mountain to help them.

A genius watching from another mountaintop seemed to have a similar epiphany and followed suit.

Though they didn't fully comprehend the scripture, it certainly felt profound. Perhaps the wisdom lay in the simplicity of labor, in finding enlightenment through working in the fields.

Another ten days passed, and by then, all the young geniuses had joined the valley's daily chores. Every day, they diligently worked, studied the scripture during breaks, and practiced cultivation at night.

This pleased Gu An greatly. Lü Baitian had truly chosen well—these were not just talented individuals, but disciplined ones. If they believed something was worthwhile, they would commit to it wholeheartedly.

In the blink of an eye, six months passed.

Gu An turned fifty-nine. On this particular day, he was in Tianya Valley, harvesting herbs when something caught his attention. His expression shifted as he quickly handed the herbs to Sun Da and left the valley without explanation.

This left Luo Hun and the others in the valley baffled, but they didn't dwell on it.

Since discovering that Gu An had mastered the Xuanwu Tempest Palm, Lu Xian had stopped bothering him. In fact, he had even stopped bothering everyone else, spending all his time in secluded cultivation, as if possessed. His cultivation was advancing rapidly, and at this rate, he would form his Nascent Soul within a few years.

Once Gu An was a hundred miles from Tianya Valley, he vanished into thin air. Three steps later, he reappeared across a vast distance, arriving at Xuan Valley. From there, he used the transmission array to reach the Third Medicine Valley.

Stepping out of the array platform, Gu An briskly walked toward the Mysterious Clear Tree.

The tree was still there, but someone was standing in front of it, observing it closely.

From a distance, Gu An used Lifespan Investigation:

[Zong Ying (Body Fusion Realm, Fourth Layer): 860/2800/3100]

This guy had practiced some secret technique, disguising his true cultivation as Nascent Soul, Second Layer.

Gu An was intrigued by the technique. Although his Mahayana Realm divine sense could see through the disguise, it couldn't fully unravel the mystery behind it.

He approached Zong Ying and said, "I'm Gu An, the master of this valley. May I ask who you are?"

Zong Ying, wearing a Daoist robe, had sharp, narrow features and a small mustache that gave him a shifty appearance.

He smiled and raised his hand in greeting. "I am Zong Ying, an inner sect disciple. I was passing by and sensed the extraordinary nature of this tree. Could it be the legendary Mysterious Clear Tree?"

Gu An stepped closer, grasping Zong Ying's wrist with his right hand and applying a slight amount of strength, using only Foundation Establishment-level power. He smiled and said, "Yes, it is. Do you want it?"

Zong Ying found the situation amusing. A mere Foundation Establishment cultivator dared to lay hands on him?

The Tai Xuan Sect must really be lacking people if they assigned a Foundation Establishment cultivator to tend to the Mysterious Clear Tree.

Still, it made sense—such a low-level cultivator would attract less attention.

Zong Ying decided to pull his hand away using the power of his Nascent Soul cultivation, thinking it would be enough to put Gu An in his place.

But the next second, his expression changed.

His eyes narrowed, and his brows furrowed as he struggled to pull free.

His expression changed again, shifting from surprise to sheer terror.

How is this possible!?