In the woods, Gu An couldn't win against Li Ya and ultimately had to perform a clumsy rendition of the Li Family's Seven Swords, only then did he realize that feigning ineptitude was even harder than pretending to be skilled.
Facing Gu An's stiff sword techniques, Li Ya criticized him for a good while before he began to patiently teach him how to practice the sword.
Through his sword techniques, Gu An could tell that Li Ya had been practicing the Nine Devastating Swords—considered a talent, at least his Sword Dao talent was greater than Gu An's.
When the next day arrived, Li Ya still wanted to drag Gu An to practice the sword.
Gu An couldn't stand it any longer!
"Brother Li, I have no talent for swordsmanship, let's just forget it, my life is just a few decades, practicing the sword so painstakingly, wouldn't that be a waste? Rather than sword practice, I'd prefer to plant and water flowers."
Gu An said helplessly, secretly stimulating the Dragon Force within his body, causing his eyes to redden.
Seeing this, Li Ya, holding a sword, suddenly felt a blockage in his heart.
What was he doing?
Paying back Junior Brother Gu in the way he liked?
Wasn't this also a form of harm?
Li Ya couldn't help but think of his childhood, when his father the emperor forced him to learn with his royal brothers, but he could never learn what his brothers were good at.
He sighed, walked up to Gu An, patted his shoulder, and said, "Junior Brother Gu, it was inconsiderate of me, I'm sorry."
Gu An forced a smile, "It's okay, Senior Brother, you had my best interests in mind, it's just that I'm not up to par, lacking in talent."
The more Gu An said this, the guiltier Li Ya felt.
The two sat down and started talking about their first year in the valley, diffusing the tense atmosphere from the sword practice.
In the following days, Li Ya stopped pestering Gu An to practice the sword, but he still took an hour to teach Xiaochuan and others the sword.
For Xiaochuan and others who still had dreams, being able to learn swordsmanship from an Outer Disciple was a rare opportunity.
Until five days later when Li Ya was prepared to leave.
Gu An, along with the brothers and sisters, escorted Li Ya to the mouth of the valley. Xiaochuan and others were very reluctant as they learned a lot from following Li Ya.
"Senior Brother, this will always be your home, do come back to visit often," Gu An said, unable to hide his sadness.
Home?
A ripple stirred in Li Ya's heart, but he smiled lightly and replied, "Yeah, I will come back."
After saying that, he turned around and left, his black robe in the woods like a rampant black flame, vigorous and insuppressible by the sorrowful autumn wind.
Gu An felt that he was burning with a certain fighting spirit, possibly related to his recent injury.
Only once Li Ya had disappeared deep into the woods did Gu An retract his gaze. He turned to face the brothers and sisters, smiling, "Practice well, and go to the Outer Sect to find Senior Brother Li soon, to bring glory to our Profound Valley."
Lu Jiujia immediately burst out with an ambitious vow to enter the Outer Sect.
Xiaochuan said the same, although clearly he was not as confident.
Ye Lan had a lot on her mind, evidently pondering something.
Wuxin spoke up, "I'm not going to the Outer Sect, I want to stay with the eldest brother for a lifetime!"
When these words were spoken, everyone looked at him in astonishment, including Gu An.
"This kid..."
Gu An was somewhat moved in his heart. Could it be that he had misunderstood Wuxin?
These days, Wuxin had been very honest, not sneaking about at night, and nothing had been stolen from Profound Valley, so it was premature to conclude that Wuxin had malicious intent.
In that case, from now on, he would assign more menial tasks to Wuxin.
Ye Lan felt regret that she hadn't been the first to speak these words.
At the same time, she realized that perhaps in her heart, the eldest brother was important, but not as important as the pursuit of Immortal Cultivation and longevity.
Lu Jiujia could not help but ridicule Wuxin for being too much of a suck-up, and soon Xiaochuan, Ye Lan, and Wuxin were arguing with him again.
Gu An led them back to the valley, his mind drifting to the trouble beneath the ground.
Li Ya had already left, now it was time to prepare to tackle the underground issue.
...
In the dead of night, Eight Scenic Cave Heaven.
Gu An, holding the hilt of the Celestial Star Sword, came before the mud-encased Meng Lang, who was still lying on the grass.
"There are traces that the grass around here has been disturbed, indeed there is someone."
Gu An keenly noticed subtle changes in the grass around Meng Lang, something difficult for an ordinary Cultivation Level to detect, he was only able to notice because he had made a point to observe before he left last time.
He pinched the Celestial Star Sword, then stepped toward the cave entrance from which Meng Lang had originally run out.
Soon, he vanished into the darkness.
This tunnel didn't have as many Crystal Stones and was very dim, but for the Divine Sense of a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator, it made no difference.
The chilly Spirit Wind whistled through the tunnel, blowing Gu An's robes, as his Divine Sense already reached the end of the tunnel.
There was a spacious cavern, not as big as the main chamber of the Eight Scenic Cave Heaven, but still not small. There were coffins standing, and a large blue-green Crystal Stone the size of a water tank embedded in the ceiling, its eerie light casting a sinister glow on these coffins.
Besides the coffins, there was nothing else.
Gu An's Divine Sense immediately detected a living person inside one of the coffins, the faint signs of life not escaping the detection of a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator's Divine Sense.
Gu An didn't feel danger from this weak sign of life, but he wasn't careless.
He walked for a long time, finally reaching the end of the tunnel.
He stood at the entrance, carefully sticking his head out as he cautiously said, "Is there anybody there?"
No one answered him, as if there was not a soul in the chamber.
Gu An picked up a stone from the ground and threw it inside, making a "da" sound as the stone struck a coffin, which remained still, but it seemed to startle him, his eyes widening.
He instinctively stepped back, feigning a look of terror.
Why hasn't there been a peep?
If I keep acting, it's going to be awkward!
Gu An grew anxious inside. He was making commotion to determine the attitude of that entity; after all, that being had previously done him no harm, and he did not wish to mistakenly kill a good person.
He had to feel all right about it, at least in his heart!
Gu An clenched his teeth, suddenly drew his sword, and charged into the chamber, wildly hacking away, when "ka" - the Celestial Residence Sword struck a coffin lid and got stuck. He pulled hard, and due to inertia, his body staggered backwards a couple of steps.
"Pu cha—"
A light laugh echoed, sounding very grating within the chamber.
Goosebumps nearly rose on Gu An's skin; it was a woman's voice, and at first listen, it seemed like a ghostly giggle.
He held the Celestial Residence Sword and nervously scanned his surroundings, his body constantly spinning, fearing a demon or ghost might pounce from the side.
"Kid, are you Cheng Xuan Pill's disciple?"
That mysterious female voice came again, its charming tone leading to fanciful thoughts.
Gu An hastily replied, "Yes, senior, Cheng Xuan Pill is my master. Who are you, and why are you here?"
"Anyone here would naturally be your ancestor. Cheng Xuan Pill is my disciple. The fact that you can enter here means his time has come, hasn't it?" The mysterious female voice softened its laughter, a tinge of emotion in her tone.
Gu An replied, "So, it's the ancestor, greetings ancestor. Indeed, my master's time has come. He said he wanted to follow your example and find an unknown place to welcome the end of life."
The chamber then fell into silence.
Gu An remained on alert, ready to act if the other party had any intention of attacking; whether she was his ancestor or not, he would not be blamed for being ruthless.
The Celestial Residence Sword in his hand had yet to taste blood!
A long while.
Just as Gu An was about to speak out of impatience, the other's voice echoed once more, "Did Cheng Xuan Pill tell you who I am?"
Gu An softly answered, "My master told me everything. You come from Thousand-Autumn Pavilion. He also told me to be ready to assist people from Thousand-Autumn Pavilion at any time..."
"Seeing as you're so timid and cautious, coming in so carefully, you must not have been willing at first, right? It was only after he entrusted the role of Valley Master to you that you learned all this?" The other party teased.
Gu An let out a sigh; it was all too clear without words.
This time, he wasn't acting—it was true helplessness.
"Now that you have taken him as your master, you are naturally my grand-disciple. Guard for me for another ten years; after ten years, I can leave the Supreme Sect and will no longer cause you trouble."
Upon hearing this, Gu An couldn't help but ask, "May I know the ancestor's honored name?"
"My family name is Jiang, and my given name is Qiong. As for my reputation in the Immortal Cultivation Realm, it's better left unmentioned."
Jiang Qiong?
The name was quite nice to hear, but he had no idea how old she was.
While Gu An was pondering, a coffin in front of him suddenly opened, startling him into raising his sword.
Two items flew out of the coffin and landed in front of him.
He looked down to see a small black bell and a secret manual.
"Consider these a meeting gift from me to my grand-disciple. The Soul Shaking Bell can command all Gu Techniques of the Myriad Poison Profound Skill. With a single shake of it, all the Corpse Gu in this cave will obey your orders."
"That secret manual is my cultivation method, the Yin Yang Technique. Within the Yin Yang Technique, there's the spell to refine the Soul Shaking Bell. This is something even your master never learned."
The voice of Jiang Qiong came through, sounding somewhat weary.
Gu An quickly bowed in thanks and couldn't help asking, "Your grand-disciple has mediocre talent, why does ancestor bestow such kindness upon me?"
"Ha ha, mediocre talent? Kid, although I don't know what miracle skill you've cultivated, your actual cultivation level is definitely beyond the fourth level of Qi Cultivation Realm. You must have already reached Foundation Establishment, haven't you? To establish the foundation at such a young age, you can be considered a genius. You managed to suppress your pride and diligently hide away as a menial disciple in the Outer Sect. Though I'm unsure of what you carry on your shoulders, at least it seems you have an aversion to the Supreme Sect."
"I am satisfied with your talent, and your manner of action is even more to my liking. Cultivate well, I'll teach you spells later. One day when you inherit my mantle, I'll then introduce you to the Thousand-Autumn Pavilion as a True Disciple."
Jiang Qiong's voice returned to her coquettish chuckle, causing Gu An's expression to change with a sense of being seen through and unable to save face.
Gu An took a deep breath and said, "Thank you, ancestor. If you have any commands, feel free to tell me at any time."
With that, he picked up the Soul Shaking Bell and the Yin Yang Technique, and turned to leave.
No further sound came from Jiang Qiong in the chamber, while Gu An quickly returned to the Eight Scenic Cave Heaven.
He sat down under a tree, beginning to pore over the Yin Yang Technique.
He considered whether Jiang Qiong harbored any ill-intent.
But ten years wasn't too fearsome; he was not just a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator but also wielded the Tai Cang Divine-Shocking Sword.
Jiang Qiong obviously was no saint, merely wary of the power Gu An held at Foundation Establishment Realm. How could she move from being wary of Foundation Establishment Realm to easily killing a Nascent Soul Realm in just a short ten years?
She wasn't freshly hidden here; according to Cheng Xuan Pill, she had been dead for seventy years.
Taking advantage of these ten years, he intended to extract more spells and secrets from her. After ten years, if she leaves as promised, then Gu An wouldn't betray his mentor.
If she had ill-intentions, then Gu An would only have to let the Celestial Residence Sword see some blood.