Steadily becoming a saint, the immortal officials hired me to tend the horses

Gu An calculated that Ji Xiaoyu, due to not encountering the Heavenly Demon Great Emperor, would end up battling against the Demon God Xuanhuang, and furthermore, there would be even stronger beings targeting her, wishing to forcefully drag her from the Reincarnation Rules.

Indeed, troublesome!

He had helped Ji Xiaoyu handle the Heavenly Demon Great Emperor, but in doing so, he had attracted the attention of an even more formidable existence.

"It's precisely because of the Reincarnation Rules that even if I'm not his match, there won't be any trouble. At worst, I'll just be expelled back to the Yin Yang Domain," Ji Xiaoyu calmly replied.

Gu An couldn't directly reveal the future, so he asked, "Aren't you afraid there are other beings behind the Heavenly Demon Great Emperor?"

Ji Xiaoyu closed the door and then walked over to the table. She looked at Gu An and said, "The appearance of the Demon God Xuanhuang indicates that there are stronger beings plotting from behind the scenes, but it's none of my concern. I'm not burdened with the mission of saving all living beings."

She leaned forward, raising her right hand toward Gu An.

Gu An could have avoided it, but sensing a farewell atmosphere, he chose not to.

Ji Xiaoyu reached across the table and grabbed his collar. Her eyes were complex as she said, "It's strange. We haven't gone through any heart-wrenching story nor faced adversity together. The days we spent together were so mundane, yet why am I moved by you, feeling emotions I never had before?"

Gu An tilted his head and asked, "You're asking me? I'm curious too—is it because I'm too handsome?"

Usually, Ji Xiaoyu would have glared at him, but she was not in the mood to care about such trivial matters now.

Her right hand suddenly pulled with force, drawing Gu An toward her.

In that moment, Gu An had plenty of time to react, and countless thoughts raced through his head, but inexplicably, he chose not to resist.

The two quickly drew closer, and eventually, their lips met.

Gu An's eyes widened, but seeing Ji Xiaoyu's somewhat resentful gaze, he lost the interest to pretend.

The two just looked at each other, and the entire world seemed to fall silent; in their eyes, there was only each other.

Gu An understood what she was thinking. Discover stories with My Virtual Library Empire

Ji Xiaoyu couldn't figure out what was on his mind, but she wasn't disappointed because she had already made her decision.

After a while, Ji Xiaoyu let go, gently pushing Gu An back.

Looking at Ji Xiaoyu's expression returning to indifference, Gu An couldn't help but sigh, "When I first saw you as a child, your gaze was just like it is now; I thought you were emotionless."

Ji Xiaoyu stared at him and said, "You guessed right. After tonight, I will sever these feelings. Your cultivation level is higher than mine, so if we meet again later, let's pretend this past never existed."

Gu An asked, "Why? Are you afraid I'll become your weakness?"

Ji Xiaoyu shook her head, speaking in a very calm tone, "No, it's just that I want to become the strongest, and you are also that kind of person. How can there be two 'strongest' in this world?"

With that, she turned and walked away.

She walked to the door and glanced back at Gu An, saying, "You are the only man who has ever moved my heart, in all the reincarnations."

Clang—

Ji Xiaoyu opened the door and left, closing it behind her.

Gu An turned to look outside the window, where Demonic Qi obscured the moon. He raised his hand to touch his lips and let out a light chuckle.

"Love in this world, what is it really? It commands people to pledge their lives to each other..."

Gu An murmured to himself, not feeling sad, his tone even slightly cheerful.

...

This morning at dawn, Ji Xiaoyu departed with the Sun and Moon Netherworld Emperor. They had few close friends in Medicine Valley, so their departure went largely unnoticed.

As Gu An wandered through the valley, he found himself standing before Ten Thousand Sword Mountain, where Jue Luo Sword Monarch stood before a stele, lost in contemplation of the mountain.

"The Great Heavenly Spirit Land is in peril; why do you not leave?" Gu An approached him and asked curiously.

Jue Luo Sword Monarch came back to his senses, turned, and gave Gu An a respectful bow, saying, "The seniors have not left; why should I? Moreover, this catastrophe is aimed at all living beings of Great Heaven and Earth. As a Free Immortal such as myself, as long as I do not become their enemy, I should not encounter any trouble."

Gu An nodded, then followed with another question, "Has your Da Hong Sword Heaven ever experienced such a calamity?"

Jue Luo Sword Monarch replied, "Yes, a very long time ago. It is said that Da Hong Sword Heaven was the only survivor of that era. Indeed, having endured such a calamity is what qualified Da Hong Sword Heaven to traverse the myriad universes."

As he spoke of Da Hong Sword Heaven's past, his face showed a trace of pride.

"Who is the current ruler of Da Hong Sword Heaven?" Gu An asked curiously.

The Daoist tradition of Da Hong Sword Heaven lay in the far-off Da Hong Realm, beyond his ability to deduce its causality.

Yet he had an intuition that Yang Ping'an might be an ancient figure in relation to today's Da Hong Sword Heaven.

Jue Luo Sword Monarch answered, "Currently, it is headed by the Supreme Sword Venerable, a descendant of Da Hong Sword Heaven's ancestral master, and the inheritor of the master's Sword Dao."

Upon hearing this, Gu An fell silent.

Jue Luo Sword Monarch observed Gu An's expression, speculating in his heart.

He had always felt that Gu An possessed the Holy Heart Sword Dao; if Gu An had been of low cultivation level, he might simply have been an inheritor. But Gu An's cultivation level was profound and unfathomable, which made him suspect that Gu An might very well be the Holy Heart Sword Dao itself.

There was a legend within Da Hong Sword Heaven that the master of their ancestral master, the Saint Ancestor of Sword Dao, did not fall, but that with the Holy Heart Sword Dao, he became eternal and indestructible. The Saint Ancestor of Sword Dao dispersed into the cycle of reincarnation, impossible to find, only potentially revealing himself when the Holy Heart Sword Dao reappeared in the Mortal World.

Over the years, some had come to understand the Holy Heart Sword Dao, but none were the true Saint Ancestor of Sword Dao. Nonetheless, Da Hong Sword Heaven continued to search for the Saint Ancestor, fulfilling the ancestral master's will.

As long as Da Hong Sword Heaven exists, so must the search for the Saint Ancestor continue.

Boom—

A rumbling roar came from afar, and a tremendous oppressive force descended.

Jue Luo Sword Monarch turned his head, murmuring, "The Reincarnation Path Emperor truly is extraordinary; worthy of being one of the Four Emperors of Yin Yang. My master once said her talent was the strongest among the four; it's just that she is the youngest."

Gu An also looked towards the distance.

Ji Xiaoyu did not seek out the Heavenly Demon Divine Emperor, but instead chose to make a move against Demon God Xuanhuang.

"Speaking of which, she has a very good relationship with the Saintly lands of the Great Heavenly Spirit Land. If she can find Shengtian, with Shengtian's abilities, perhaps he could preserve the Holy Court. In that way, at least some living beings would survive, and this era might not be completely annihilated," Jue Luo Sword Monarch lamented.

Gu An asked, "Have you ever heard of the Annihilation God Emperor?"

Upon hearing this, Jue Luo Sword Monarch's face changed drastically, and he looked at Gu An in astonishment.

He struggled for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "The name of a God Emperor, I dare not utter casually; what do you wish to ask, senior?"

Gu An looked up at the sky, speaking softly, "I didn't mean to ask anything in particular; I merely wished to test the edge of the Annihilation God Emperor."

At these words, Jue Luo Sword Monarch trembled with fear. He wanted to flee the place immediately, yet he feared offending Gu An.

Although he was unsure of the extent of Gu An's strength, the Annihilation God Emperor was certainly not someone he could provoke.

Even if the Annihilation God Emperor was only a mythical legend, he held a deep wariness of him, a feeling common among cultivators who had ventured into the Silent Destruction Domain.