In the Eight Scenic Caves, the glow of the Green Vine Tree's fruit reflected off the cave walls, and the shimmering light of the underground river was also mirrored on the walls, creating a tranquil and beautiful grotto heaven.
Gu An walked to the Green Vine Tree, turned around, placed his hands on his hips, and looked at the area he had planted, a satisfied smile appearing on his face.
One reaps what one sows!
Immortal cultivation and farming were the romance he pursued!
All the fighting and scheming should stay far away from him!
Gu An felt self-satisfied as his gaze shifted.
He wanted to build a pavilion in the Eight Scenic Caves so he could occasionally hide here to rest.
He was still young now, but in fifty or sixty years, he could learn from Cheng Xuandan, making the first disciple manage everything while he enjoyed life.
However, it was still early for his first disciple, after all, Medicine Valley was his foundation. He had to find the right person; it wasn't just about being the first to become his disciple and handling all matters.
Many plans emerged in Gu An's mind.
First, he needed to nurture a Deputy Valley Master!
Xiaochuan was worth considering, low aptitude but honest, though too blunt in speech and demeanor.
Lu Jiujia would eventually go to the Outer Sect, so he was excluded directly.
Ye Lan…
No, better to send her away early to avoid ruining his Daoist Heart.
As for Wuxin, let's see!
Still need to recruit more disciples!
Gu An thought as he looked up.
He was very curious about the Green Vine Tree's fruit; some natural treasures were fruit-shaped, but picking the Green Vine Tree's fruit individually, would it extend his lifespan?
He decided to act on his thoughts!
With a leap, Gu An raised his hand to grab a fruit and pulled it down.
He landed on the grass and then appraised the fruit in his hand, which was as large as a pumpkin. He estimated it weighed seven or eight pounds.
Gu An took out a piece of Spirit Protection Paper from his storage bag and wrapped it around the long stem at the top of the fruit to prevent spiritual energy leakage and nutrient loss.
These were valuable!
After about ten breaths, a line of text appeared before his eyes:
[You have successfully extracted 85 years of life from the Green Vine Fruit (sixth tier)]
Wonderful!
85 years of life!
Gu An's eyes changed as he looked at the Green Vine Tree.
This was a money tree!
Absolutely must not uproot it!
It must be nurtured well and revered in the future!
Gu An became excited. He tossed the Green Vine Fruit into his storage bag and counted the fruits on the tree. There were sixteen fruits as large as the one he had just picked; the smaller ones couldn't be touched.
He began to take action immediately.
Some of the Green Vine Fruits were very high up, requiring him to climb the tree.
At that moment, he craved the Sword Control Technique immensely.
Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators couldn't fly in the sky directly, and he had no other flying or levitation means.
After a long struggle, Gu An finally managed to pick all sixteen Green Vine Fruits, gaining a total of 1,360 years of life.
His total lifespan reached 8,400 years!
Getting closer and closer to the ten-thousand-year mark!
Enough!
All in one go!
After reaching ten thousand years, he could improve his cultivation, explore the other seven cave entrances, once everything was clear, eliminate all potential dangers, then enjoy peace and tranquility!
With a plan in mind, Gu An began to implement it.
The Eight Scenic Caves were abundant with medicinal herbs; he focused on his attribute panel while picking, stopping once he accumulated ten thousand years of life.
An hour later.
A prompt appeared before Gu An's eyes.
[Your life span has surpassed ten thousand years for the first time, unlocking the Life Span Barrier function]
[Life Span Barrier: Consumes lifespan to activate a barrier that shields from all prying, perception, and deduction. The consumed lifespan corresponds to your cultivation level and the required spiritual energy]
Life Span Barrier?
Seeing the words "consumes lifespan," Gu An frowned; wasn't this taking his life?
But after reading the explanation, he was thrilled.
Breaking through the Foundation Establishment Realm had already caused a big commotion; what if he broke through to higher realms?
Over time, the Supreme Sect would be alarmed; Gu An had worried about this.
Now, he wasn't afraid!
This function was too useful!
I like it!
Gu An laughed as he walked toward the cave entrance.
After breaking through to the Core Formation Realm, he would explore the other cave entrances.
Although the Eight Scenic Caves had formations, potential dangers might still exist within the caves, so he decided to break through outside, just to test the Life Span Barrier.
No matter what was hidden, he wasn't scared!
Returning to Medicine Valley, it was already late at night.
He had moved to the pavilion where Cheng Xuandan had lived; it still housed numerous secret books, elixir records, and rare books. He would read them all eventually.
After entering the room, Gu An approached a wooden cabinet. This cabinet was made from special wood that could retain the spiritual energy of natural treasures as much as possible, which Cheng Xuandan had mentioned before. There were several such cabinets.
He placed all the Green Vine Fruits into the cabinet.
Suddenly, he thought of something, took out one Green Vine Fruit, and placed it on the table.
Sitting at the table, he pulled out the Thousand-Autumn Pavilion Secret History from his pocket and began to read quietly.
It was well past midnight when the White Spirit Rat finally returned.
It ran up to Gu An's shoulder, its tiny eyes staring intently at the Green Vine Fruit on the table.
Gu An gently picked it up and set it on the table, then waited.
The White Spirit Rat approached the Green Vine Fruit, sniffed, then began to nibble gently.
Unclear about the Green Vine Fruit's effects, as the Hundred Herbs Collection didn't document treasures above the fifth tier, Gu An had to test it with the White Spirit Rat.
He let the White Spirit Rat choose; it was a spirit beast. If the fruit were poisonous, it should be able to smell it.
If it couldn't, Gu An would bury it properly.
The Green Vine Fruit was ten times the size of the White Spirit Rat, making it difficult for the rat to nibble. Gu An didn't assist it.
Finding waiting boring, he decided to break through that night!
Gu An stood up and left the pavilion stealthily, leaving Mystic Valley and heading west, crossing mountains and valleys, traveling nearly twenty miles.
He first jumped onto the top of a tall tree, observing in all directions to confirm no cultivators were around. Then he sat on a grassy patch between the mountains to meditate.
Having not advanced his lifespan for a while, he was quite eager.
With the Life Span Barrier, he could cultivate without worries this time.
"Let's try a thousand years first."
Gu An thought lavishly, sitting on ten thousand years of life; what was a thousand years at once?
A mere drop in the bucket!
He directed a thousand years of lifespan towards his cultivation level to cultivate and advance.
[You cultivated Energy Absorption for thirty years, breaking through to Foundation Establishment Realm Eighth Layer]
[You cultivated Energy Absorption for one hundred years, breaking through to Foundation Establishment Realm Ninth Layer]
[You cultivated Energy Absorption for one hundred fifty years, forcing your way to the Core Formation Realm with the Great Accomplishment in the Divine Wood Pure Yang Skill, beginning tribulation crossing, but you failed to endure the Minor Heavenly Tribulation, and the crossing failed]
[You cultivated Energy Absorption for two hundred years, forcing your way to the Core Formation Realm with the Great Accomplishment in the Divine Wood Pure Yang Skill, beginning tribulation crossing, but you failed to endure the Minor Heavenly Tribulation, and the crossing failed]
...
[You cultivated Energy Absorption for four hundred fifty years, forcing your way to the Core Formation Realm with the Great Accomplishment in the Divine Wood Pure Yang Skill, beginning tribulation crossing, you successfully endured the Minor Heavenly Tribulation and formed a Golden Core, stepping into the Core Formation Realm]
[You cultivated Energy Absorption for five hundred years, breaking through to Core Formation Realm Second Layer]
[You cultivated Energy Absorption for six hundred years, breaking through to Core Formation Realm Third Layer]
[You cultivated Energy Absorption for seven hundred twenty years, breaking through to Core Formation Realm Fourth Layer]
[You cultivated Energy Absorption for eight hundred fifty years, breaking through to Core Formation Realm Fifth Layer]
[You cultivated Energy Absorption for a thousand years, breaking through to Core Formation Realm Sixth Layer]
Line after line of prompts crazily popped up before Gu An's eyes.
Seeing the six consecutive failed tribulation crossings made Gu An almost choke; how could it be this difficult?
Was tribulation crossing that hard?
With the last prompt falling, Gu An's body autonomously began cultivating energy, instantly feeling the spiritual energy of nature becoming volatile. He hastily activated the Life Span Barrier.
[Activating Life Span Barrier, Life Span consumed: 0 years]
This prompt hovered before his eyes, as nature's spiritual energy flowed into him, the 0 changed directly to 1.
"Hope the consumption isn't too high…"
Gu An silently prayed.
As the vast spiritual energy fervently surged into his body, he felt entirely unblocked, an indescribable pleasurable sensation.
This time, he didn't move during the breakthrough, so he didn't feel the pain.
Centered around him, the ground formed ripples of air, converging from all directions into his body, vaguely visible was a translucent barrier, about five yards in diameter.
Gu An looked outside the barrier; there were no wind waves outside, the flowers, grasses, and trees were very calm, apparently not affected by him.
He immediately became curious, why was there no impact?
Soon, he understood.
With the barrier activated, he absorbed spiritual energy from the ground during cultivation.
Now he was completely reassured.
It didn't take long for his cultivation level to reach Foundation Establishment Realm Ninth Layer, and the barrier's lifespan consumption grew to five years, making him a bit distressed.
This thing was too expensive!
It reminded him of some mobile game experiences from his previous life.
One word, dark!
While Gu An internally complained, he suddenly noticed a bright light in the distant mountain forest. Narrowing his eyes, he vaguely saw a scene of cultivators battling.
Ten miles away.
Above the mountain forest, Shi Yang swung his sword, unleashing waves of Sword Qi like fierce wind sweeping through the forest, scattering leaves.
Li Ya, dressed in black, stood atop a tree, raising his sword to block. A powerful energy burst from his body, forming a faint golden bell shadow that resisted all of Shi Yang's Sword Qi.
Shi Yang's black hair flew wildly in the wind, a sinister and arrogant smile on his face, as he laughed loudly: "Li Ya, is this all you got? You want to fight the Fourth Prince, can you even live to enter the Inner Sect?"
Li Ya's face was stern, glancing toward Mystic Valley.
Not good!
If this continued, it would alarm people in Medicine Valley.
Li Ya didn't want to trouble Gu An and others, so he immediately pushed his sword, dispersing the Sword Qi, then flew in the direction opposite to Mystic Valley. Shi Yang chased closely, and the two rode their swords, quickly disappearing into the night sky.
Gu An, within the Life Span Barrier, couldn't clearly see the battling cultivators in the distance, but luckily those lights disappeared.
He didn't dare relax; the Life Span Barrier could shield prying, perception, and deduction, but it didn't become entirely invisible. What if someone stumbled in by chance?
Time passed quickly in Gu An's anxious state.
He began to form the Golden Core within his body!
As the barrier consumed over fifty years of lifespan, he successfully formed the Golden Core!
Although the barrier consumed a lot, it was within Gu An's acceptable range.
Before starting, he worried this thing might be too much, draining him dry at once?
Now his worries were gone.
Another thought emerged.
One thousand years to reach Core Formation Realm Sixth Layer; should he continue?