Spring passed and autumn came, five years flew by in the blink of an eye.
In these five years, Gu An continued his plan of dedicating a year of his life every night, resulting in an expenditure of over eighteen hundred years of his life over the five years, and his cultivation realm reached the eighth layer of the Nascent Soul Realm.
After surpassing the fifth layer of the Nascent Soul Realm, the time required for each subsequent sub-realm doubled, and Gu An, who was in the process of transformation, could only train rigorously, taking even more time.
Presently, he had a remaining life span of about ten thousand and two hundred years, the addition of the Eight Scenic Caves increased his annual lifespan income.
Five years passed, and three more servant disciples joined Mystic Valley, all of whom became disciples of Gu An: two males and one female, named Tang Yu, Su Han, and Zhen Qin in order of age from oldest to youngest.
Gu An no longer selected disciples based on qualifications; he chose those with mediocre qualifications to avoid trouble. Their maximum life span was around two hundred years, and on this basis, he chose disciples who appealed to him.
On this day, at the mouth of the valley, Xiaochuan, Ye Lan, Wuxin, Tang Yu, Su Han, and Zhen Qin surrounded Lu Jiujia.
"Senior brother, I wish you success!"
"Uncle Master, don't forget us when you go to the Outer Sect."
"Don't worry, Medicine Valley has me."
"If you fail, I'll definitely laugh at you."
Today was the day Lu Jiujia was going to the Outer Sect for the assessment. Gu An cut a Green Vine Fruit into four parts and distributed them to the four junior brothers and sisters, significantly boosting their cultivation level, with Lu Jiujia being the first to reach the ninth layer of the Qi Cultivation Realm.
It was worth mentioning that ever since consuming the Green Vine Fruit, Wuxin had completely calmed down, practicing diligently in his room every night without wandering the mountains. He also became more hardworking in his tasks.
The twenty-three-year-old Lu Jiujia was full of high spirits. He looked towards the pavilion where his senior brother lived and saw his senior brother standing by the window watching him, which warmed his heart.
"Wait for my good news, I won't let you down, Senior Brother!"
Lu Jiujia said with a proud smile, then turned and left.
With years of practice in the Residual Wind Leg, he felt he could make a name for himself in the Outer Sect.
Gu An, dressed in a white-bottomed black robe, watched Lu Jiujia leave from afar, with mixed emotions in his heart.
He couldn't tell whether it was relief or reluctance, perhaps both.
"I'm only twenty-seven and already feeling so emotional, what will happen when I'm two hundred, two thousand, or even twenty thousand years old?" Gu An laughed self-deprecatingly.
He turned and walked to the table, sat down, picked up the Green Hero Travelogue, and continued to savor it.
This Green Hero Travelogue was published last year and in his opinion, it was a peak masterpiece. The author's skills in writing about fleeting emotions had reached the Transformation Realm.
An ancient hour later.
Wuxin came to visit. At twenty-one, he was still dressed as a monk. Gu An often teased him as a handsome Monk Tang, especially after Gu An had specially ordered a monk robe for him from the Outer Sect, enhancing his charm even more.
"Senior Brother, I have finished watering the garden on the mountain, is there anything else you need today?" Wuxin softly asked as he walked to Gu An's side, casting a glance at the Green Hero Travelogue, his fair face instantly turned red.
Without raising his eyes, Gu An said: "There's nothing else, you can go practice now."
Wuxin walked to the opposite side of the table but did not leave, looking hesitant.
Gu An glanced at him and asked: "Is there something else?"
In his black robe, he already had the oppressive aura of a superior. In recent years, Medicine Valley's harvest was good, and he without a private fund, bought new clothes for everyone in Medicine Valley, making them no longer look like servant disciples.
Wuxin gritted his teeth and said: "Senior Brother, to be honest, with my qualifications, I can never join the Outer Sect. I truly wish to accompany you in the Medicine Valley for the rest of my life."
Gu An put down the Green Hero Travelogue and studied him carefully.
Isn't this just one meaning behind his words?
He wanted to progress!
Gu An frowned with a look of difficulty.
Seeing his expression, Wuxin became anxious and directly knelt down.
"Senior Brother, what's missing in me? I work harder and am more obedient than them, yet they all want to go to the Outer Sect, but I don't." Wuxin said excitedly, his eyes turning red.
Gu An noticed that he had activated some cultivation technique, causing his qi-blood to surge.
You brat, are you trying to imitate me?
Gu An said earnestly: "Wuxin, in my heart, there is no one better or worse, like the Green Vine Fruit, I split it equally among you. But the position of the chief disciple is very important, even representing the next Valley Master. Although I am a servant disciple, my treatment is not inferior to that of ordinary Outer Sect disciples. I must repay the sect's kindness."
"You seem to be hiding something from me, of course, everyone has their unspeakable reasons. I don't want to ask more, you will always be my junior brother, but the position of the chief disciple..."
He sighed at the end, showing a helpless expression.
Wuxin was stunned, not expecting that his actions from years ago had been noticed by Senior Brother early on. His first reaction was panic, followed by moving emotion.
That night time intelligence probe took place five years ago, yet Senior Brother had tolerated him for five years.
What does that mean?
Senior Brother truly considered him as one of his own!
Putting himself in Senior Brother's shoes, Wuxin felt that if he were in Senior Brother's place, he would have severely punished such a junior brother long ago.
Wuxin felt more and more ashamed the more he thought. He really couldn't act anymore.
"Senior Brother, actually..." Wuxin gritted his teeth, seeming to make a huge decision.
"Actually, I come from the Thousand-Autumn Pavilion, my father is one of the seventy-two Pavilion Masters of the Thousand-Autumn Pavilion. I am dull-witted and constantly bullied by my brothers and sisters, so I escaped. The reason I wandered around during those nights was because I heard about Senior Brother Li Ya's deeds. I wanted to see if there was any opportunity to prove myself to my father in the future, but I have given up now. I can't compare to my brothers and sisters, or even to Lu Jiujia..."
Wuxin said in one breath, lowering his head, not daring to look at Gu An.
Gu An's face showed shock and disbelief.
"You..."
Hearing Senior Brother's trembling voice, Wuxin felt even more ashamed, pressing his forehead tightly to the ground.
Gu An truly hadn't expected Wuxin to be from the Thousand-Autumn Pavilion.
What is this?
Might as well call it the Thousand-Autumn Valley instead of the Mystic Valley!
Gu An secretly spread his divine sense, forming an invisible barrier to prevent eavesdropping.
He was silent for a while, then heavily sighed and said: "Forget it, stand up and talk first."
Tense and uneasy, Wuxin breathed a sigh of relief.
Wuxin stood up and saw the complex expression on Gu An's face, feeling even more moved.
Indeed, Senior Brother truly cared for him!
"I'm not very familiar with the Thousand-Autumn Pavilion, I heard it's a demonic sect?" Gu An asked, taking a deep breath.
Wuxin nodded and said: "Indeed it is, and the most evil demonic sect, skilled in corpse path, poison skills, soul capturing, and poison creatures. I couldn't stay there, so I escaped..."
"Will your father come looking for you? I have to consider other disciples." Gu An asked worriedly.
Wuxin quickly waved his hand: "He would never look for me, he would rather I was dead, I am his greatest humiliation!"
Hearing this, Gu An's face relaxed a bit, sternly scolding: "Wuxin, I won't allow you to belittle yourself like this, how can a person's worth be judged solely by their cultivation level?"
Wuxin scratched his head and said with a silly laugh, "I know, but the Thousand-Autumn Pavilion is a demonic sect, and people in demonic sects are not normal."
Gu An nodded, as if remembering something, and asked: "By the way, have you heard of the name Jiang Qiong in the Thousand-Autumn Pavilion?"
"Jiang Qiong?" Wuxin was taken aback, frowning in thought.
After a few breaths, he suddenly recalled and said: "I remember, she was the top genius of the Thousand-Autumn Pavilion a hundred years ago and the daughter of the second Pavilion Master, but she has fallen for many years. I heard my father mention her when I was young, he even wanted my elder brother to marry Jiang Qiong."
Hearing this, Gu An couldn't help but ask curiously: "How old is your father?"
Wuxin replied: "Almost five hundred years old, with over a hundred children, so he wouldn't care even if I was lost."
Gu An was silent.
The demonic sect's style is somewhat enviable.
Gu An asked a few more questions, but Wuxin didn't know much about Jiang Qiong.
"Since you have confessed your origins, I will train you to be the chief disciple. If the chief disciple position of a valley can bring back a lost demonic cultivator, it can be considered a merit. But for now, you cannot reveal this to anyone, you must win over everyone in the valley with your actions." Gu An said seriously.
Hearing this, Wuxin was overjoyed.
He was about to bow and thank Gu An, but Gu An continued to remind: "From now on, you cannot mention the Thousand-Autumn Pavilion even one bit, not even when alone. This is the Supreme Sect, even self-talk might be overheard."
Wuxin nodded repeatedly, following the guidance meticulously.
The two brothers shifted topics and chatted about other casual matters.
Wuxin felt closer to Senior Brother, a feeling that made him grateful and realizing that he should have confessed to Senior Brother much earlier.
...
At night, in the Eight Scenic Caves.
Gu An came to an open space by the underground river and began planting medicinal herbs.
His movements were slow. Normally, he didn't practice much but enjoyed the planting process, planting lives instead of plants.
The love of farming ingrained in Huaxia people came with his soul to the immortal cultivation world.
After planting, he looked at his newly developed garden with satisfaction, orderly and uniquely beautiful.
"My dear disciple, come in for a moment."
Jiang Qiong's melodious voice came from within a cave, and Gu An immediately walked over.
Over the years, Jiang Qiong often called him to help pick herbs, sometimes even for alchemy.
Gu An wasn't working for free, his alchemy skills improved significantly in the process.
Jiang Qiong's alchemy was far superior to Cheng Xuandan's, evident even in teaching.
Arriving at the cave room, it was still dimly lit, with a pill furnace half the height of a person placed in the open space, ashes piled under the furnace.
Just as Gu An was about to speak, he heard a noise and looked closely, only to see a coffin in the depths start to shake.
Boom!
The coffin lid fell, crashing to the ground, raising a cloud of dust.
Gu An saw a skeletal hand, like a ghost claw, emerge from the standing coffin. He immediately cast a Life Span Detection.
[Jiang Qiong (Core Formation Realm Ninth Layer): 185/304/2490]
Good heavens!
A maximum life span close to two thousand five hundred years!
Why did the Core Formation Realm Ninth Layer only have three hundred years of life span?
Could it be related to her injuries?
Gu An wondered, while the last trace of apprehension in his heart disappeared.