Amidst the dark snowy night, Zuo Yijian's sword intent formed a shocking and domineering pillar of energy, stirring the wind and snow as it connected the sky and the mountain, fiery flames rising from within the pillar, transforming into a fire dragon soaring upward.
Zuo Lin was left dumbfounded, never imagining his father's Devouring Flame Sword Technique had reached such heights, something he had never heard of before.
Bang!
A booming sound suddenly came from behind Zuo Lin, like a sudden clap of thunder, causing him to instinctively turn around. Before his face was fully turned, a bright sword light illuminated his face. His eyes widening, he glimpsed a dazzling sword light sweeping across the dim sky.
The sword light was incredibly bright, beyond words to describe. The flying snow was impacted by the sword light, forming a huge wave of air, as if the entire night sky was about to be pierced by it. This scene deeply shocked Zuo Lin.
Zuo Lin's mind went blank, leaving him no time to think.
The dazzling sword light streaked through the night sky, flying over his head, the wind it created instantly activated the formation around him, a protective shield appeared around him, violently fluctuating, on the verge of breaking apart.
Under Zuo Lin's gaze, the brilliant sword light collided with Zuo Yijian's sword intent with an unstoppable force.
Zuo Yijian reacted faster than Zuo Lin, but not fast enough to match his opponent.
He had no time to perform sword techniques, relying solely on his sword intent to forcefully resist.
Bang!
The terrifying pillar of energy enveloping him was directly shattered, the crimson flame dragon instantly dissipating into smoke, Zuo Yijian's sword intent forcibly shattered.
His robe was torn open, blood spurted from his body surface.
His eyes widened, reflected in his pupils was a single leaf.
"How is this possible..."
This thought flashed in Zuo Yijian's mind. He didn't even have time to feel fear as the leaf pierced his shoulder. The terrifying sword qi burst forth, pushing him backward, crashing through several mountain bodies, and finally smashed into the mountain forest ten miles away.
A trail was shot through the night sky, the surrounding snow vaporizing into mist when it neared, suspending among the mountains, incredibly spectacular.
On the mountaintop, Zuo Lin stood within the formation, looking in disbelief at the direction where his father had disappeared.
He collapsed to his knees, unable to accept what he had witnessed.
His invincible father actually lost...
And lost without any means of resistance...
Ten miles away, on another mountaintop.
Gu An maintained the gesture of waving his hand, the cold wind laced with flying snow made his white robe flutter violently, his gaze under the mask was so calm.
"How can your hundred years of Dao level withstand my two thousand years of lifespan investment?"
Gu An thought to himself, knowing he had already shown mercy, aiming at Zuo Yijian's shoulder instead of his head.
He turned and left, disappearing into the vast snow, as if he had never been there.
...
In the morning, Gu An, as usual, led the disciples in exercises.
Zhen Qin twisted her waist while looking at the sky, saying, "The snow seems to be lighter today."
Wuxin looked into the distance, saying, "It's not just the snow, that powerful sword intent has also vanished."
Hearing this, the other disciples immediately became excited.
"Could that person already be gone?"
"It's possible, it's said that sword cultivators seeking sword enlightenment need to find places with beautiful scenery to comprehend nature, our area isn't considered a blessed land."
"Don't be careless, what if he's just napping?"
"Did you forget the thunder tribulation a few days ago? A Great Cultivator of that level needs to nap?"
Listening to their argument, Gu An couldn't help but laugh.
He cleared his throat and said, "Do the exercises seriously. Whether that senior has left or not, we will know soon."
He hoped no one else would come to the vicinity for tribulation crossing or sword enlightenment in the future.
If he accidentally went overboard, the scene would be ugly!
In the following two days, with no sword intent enveloping the world, the disciples of Mystic Valley confirmed that the other party had indeed left, and so, Mystic Valley returned to its usual pace of life.
Occasionally, cultivators would fly over Mystic Valley, something the disciples had become accustomed to, only Gu An knew that these people were probably investigating the injury of Zuo Yijian, because he detected that one of the cultivators had a Nascent Soul Realm level six cultivation.
At night.
Several days later, Gu An visited Jiang Qiong at the Eight Scenic Caves.
After greeting her, Gu An said, "It seems that senior Zuo Yijian has already left."
Jiang Qiong, who was not practicing but performing alchemy, stared at the flames under the pill furnace and said, "Not left, he's either dead or injured."
"What? Why do you say that?" Gu An asked in feigned shock.
He even added, "He's a Great Cultivator of the Nascent Soul Realm!"
Jiang Qiong rolled her eyes at him and replied, "So what? There are realms above the Nascent Soul Realm. There were two strong sword intents battling a few days ago, one far exceeding Zuo Yijian's, and the fight ended instantly, showing the other's strength far surpassed Zuo Yijian's."
Upon hearing this, Gu An felt secretly delighted.
On the surface, however, he frowned and hesitated, "Will Mystic Valley be in danger?"
"Don't worry, it's been days already. Do you think a person seeing an ant on the roadside would deliberately step on it?" Jiang Qiong looked back at the pill furnace and said softly.
She seemed calm, but was actually filled with a sense of urgency.
She realized she might have fallen out of touch with the Immortal Cultivation World.
Seventy years, enough to change dynasties. It took her only forty years to reach the Core Formation Realm. Who knows what the Immortal Cultivation World is like now.
"In future breakthroughs and tribulation crossing, be more cautious, don't imitate Zuo Yijian. He might have thought no one would dare interfere, but didn't know the Supreme Sect's internal strife is fierce." Jiang Qiong said softly.
Gu An asked in surprise, "You mean the person who attacked Zuo Yijian was a cultivator of the Supreme Sect?"
"Of course, other sects' Great Cultivators wouldn't rashly intrude into the Supreme Sect, and the other side disappeared quickly, without a second fight, so it can only be someone from the Supreme Sect." Jiang Qiong nodded.
You've really guessed it right!
After making his move last night, Gu An quickly left the scene. Upon reaching Mystic Valley, he sensed several powerful divine senses sweeping past, making him break out in cold sweat.
Thankfully, his Dragon Strength Divine Primordial Skill was strong enough!
Jiang Qiong clearly had a lot on her mind, and she started educating Gu An on how to navigate the Immortal Cultivation World in the future.
After chatting for a while, Gu An finally got away and went to check on the Sky Dragon Egg.
The Sky Dragon Egg was placed under a tree by Jiang Qiong, surrounded by hay, with numerous talisman papers underneath, inscribed with Jiang Qiong's spells to help the egg better absorb nature's spiritual energy.
What will the Sky Dragon look like when it hatches?
Gu An began to fantasize about the scene of riding a True Dragon and traveling across the Mortal World.
...
The news of Zuo Yijian being seriously injured had a greater impact than Gu An had anticipated. Even after more than half a month, when he came to the Outer Sect, he often heard people mentioning it along the way.
Previously, news of Nascent Soul Realm cultivators was rare in the Outer Sect, but now the entire city was talking about Zuo Yijian, possibly because he just crossed a tribulation.
Before crossing the tribulation, Zuo Yijian was an elder of the Outer Sect, ranking among the first-rate experts in the Outer Sect.
Gu An followed Elder Zhu Qinglu of the Elixir Hall to the Book Collection Hall in the Outer Sect.
The Book Collection Hall managed all the Book Towers in the Outer Sect, including the Scripture Pavilions in various places.
Cultivation techniques, side-door scriptures, curiosities, and travelogues, any books entering the Supreme Sect had to be registered in the Book Collection Hall.
"Young brother, it's a good idea to write books. I support you. If it passes, I will speak to get your first batch increased." Zhu Qinglu walked ahead, looking back with a smile.
Since he benefited from the Green Vine Fruit, he treated Gu An like family, at least on the surface.
Gu An smiled and said, "Thank you, senior, for your support. I won't forget your kindness."
"Hahaha, don't mention it." Zhu Qinglu laughed, though his smile grew even brighter.
The Book Collection Hall was large, no less than the Elixir Hall. After passing through numerous corridors, the two arrived in a lobby where an elderly man sat sipping tea, with rows of bookshelves in the side hall.
"Elder Liu, long time no see, how have you been?" Zhu Qinglu stepped over the threshold, clasped his hands, and smiled warmly.
Gu An immediately used a life span detection.
[Liu Chang (Foundation Establishment Realm Ninth Layer): 226/270/340]
Upon seeing Zhu Qinglu, Liu Chang set down his tea cup and stood to greet him.
After a few polite exchanges, Liu Chang invited Zhu Qinglu to sit down, reminiscing about their previous encounter and even talking about joining the Supreme Sect together two hundred years ago.
Gu An stood behind Zhu Qinglu, looking serious and curious, while Liu Chang occasionally glanced at him, feeling satisfied.
After chatting for about an hour, Zhu Qinglu finally stated his purpose.
"It's a simple matter. Junior brother, give me your book. I'll take a look. If it's good, this matter is settled." Liu Chang said to Gu An with a big smile.
Gu An immediately took out the book he had written.
Liu Chang accepted it, glanced at it, and smiled, "Investiture of the Gods? Nice name."
He began to read, while Zhu Qinglu stood up and walked towards a nearby bookshelf.
Gu An stood obediently by the side.
At first, Liu Chang was casual, but as he read on, he sat up straight.
Just then, a young man in white stepped in and loudly said, "Elder Liu, do you have any books about sword cultivators? I want to see who in Taicang World can defeat the Maniac Swordsman of Canghu Lake with a leaf!"
Liu Chang raised his hand, gesturing for him to be quiet.
Gu An turned to look and instinctively used a life span detection.
[Gu Yu (Foundation Establishment Realm Eighth Layer): 34/291/1402]
A genius!
Gu An had seen such geniuses before, so he didn't give Gu Yu another glance.
Gu Yu leaned over to Liu Chang's side, peering at the Investiture of the Gods in his hands.
After a while, Gu Yu also became engrossed.
An hour passed.
Zhu Qinglu returned, surprised, and asked, "Brother Liu, weren't you just skimming? Why are you reading for so long?"
He glanced at Gu An.
What did this kid write?
Is it overstepping boundaries?
Liu Chang looked up, paused for a moment, then stood up, staring sharply at Gu An, and asked, "Did you really write this?"
Gu An nodded, thinking, yes, it was written by an old ancestor from Earth.
Zhu Qinglu frowned, "Is there a problem? If it's not good, I'll have him rewrite it."
"No problem, it's very good." Liu Chang shook his head, looking at Gu An again, "This book can be distributed. You have talent. I'll set a thirty-percent profit share for you. Five percent of the book's selling spirit stones go to the Sect, and two percent to the Book Collection Hall."
Gu An quickly thanked him.
Zhu Qinglu nodded slightly, feeling that Liu Chang had given him face.
Liu Chang smiled and asked, "Will you use your real name as the author?"
Gu An shook his head, "Better not. I fear future troubles."
"Then use the name Pan An." He said.