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Chapter 358 Desperate Straits
Chapter 358 Desperate Straits
"I am the Island Master," Gu An asked with a puzzled face, while Hu Xiaojian next to him became anxious.
The Immortal Lord, at first glance, was no simple character, his aura clearly stronger than Gu An's.
The Immortal Lord looked at Gu An and said, "Serve me, I require your island."
After hearing this, Hu Xiaojian couldn't help but open his mouth in shock, finding the person quite arrogant.
He subconsciously looked around, his face changing drastically as he discovered that everyone nearby had stopped moving, even the flowers and grass at the side of the street no longer swayed.
It was as if everything had fallen into stillness.
Gu An's face turned ugly, warily watching the Immortal Lord.
The Immortal Lord calmly said, "It's just a little trick to prevent others from knowing our agreement. Work for me, and I will become your support. Do you know what the highest realm is?"
Gu An took a deep breath and said, "Heaven and Earth Flying Immortal."
The Immortal Lord replied, "Above the Heaven and Earth Flying Immortal Realm is the Carefree Immortal Realm, and above that is the Divine Immortal of Wondrous Dharma Realm. My realm is even higher than the Divine Immortal of Wondrous Dharma Realm."
As these words came out, both Gu An and Hu Xiaojian's faces turned pale, with Hu Xiaojian trembling all over.
The Immortal Lord stopped speaking, waiting for Gu An's decision.
Gu An pretended to grit his teeth and asked, "Do I have any other choice?"
The Immortal Lord frowned, a flash of displeasure in his eyes.
[The Immortal Lord harbors enmity towards you and intends to kill you. Will you perform Life Span Detection on him?]
This quickly led to murderous intent?
Gu An pondered internally, feeling that this Dao Void Mysterious Immortal was too petty.
He was already on the path to his own death!
The Immortal Lord coldly said, "You can naturally refuse. But from this day on, when you encounter insurmountable calamities, you will regret today's choice."
His words dropped, and he turned to leave. The stillness around them returned to normal; cultivators and demons continued on their way, the street's flowers and trees swaying in the wind, and birds flew in the sky.
Watching the Immortal Lord's departing figure, Hu Xiaojian's eyes filled with fear.
After the Immortal Lord disappeared into the crowd, Hu Xiaojian turned to Gu An and asked, "Island Master, what should we do now?"
Gu An withdrew his gaze and said, "When soldiers come, block them, when the water comes, cover them with earth. At worst, we will take this matter to the main city of the Broken Sea Domain. Don't worry."
Seeing him still composed, Hu Xiaojian's nervousness and unease began to ease.
Gu An let Hu Xiaojian continue to lead the way. Compared to the Immortal Lord, he cared more about medicinal herb seeds.
With the constant clashes between the Immortal Dynasty and the Holy Court, more supreme beings like the Immortal Lord would appear, which gave Gu An a sense of urgency.
He must reach a lifespan of ten billion years and breakthrough to a major realm as soon as possible!
...
At dusk.
The Immortal Lord flew out of Immortal Seeking Island. His flying speed was not fast, his Divine Sense covering the Broken Sea Domain as he searched for islands similar to Immortal Seeking Island.
In his mind, Immortal Seeking Island already belonged to him, but he needed more arrangements.
The thought of Gu An's rejection made him scoff.
"Let's see how you deal with demon creatures above the Heaven and Earth Flying Immortal Realm," the corner of the Immortal Lord's mouth curled in anticipation.
He began to look forward to Gu An kneeling on the ground, begging him to act.
Snap!
Suddenly a hand landed on his shoulder, forcibly making him stop, which tremored his Daoist Heart fiercely, his face changing greatly. He instinctively tried to avoid it, only to discover that the mana inside his body was suppressed by an extremely domineering force.
A Divine Immortal!
The Immortal Lord guessed the other's cultivation level in an instant.
His vision blurred and then he found himself in a forest. He quickly realized he'd been taken far away from Broken Sea Domain.
He wanted to turn back, but he just couldn't.
Boom!
A domineering Divine Thought broke into his mind, causing his eyes to lose their luster, his entire being falling into a daze.
After a while, Gu An, using the supreme art of Transformation into Nothingness, executed the Immortal Lord, leaving not a trace of his soul, obliterating his body.
[You have successfully acquired 98,641 years of lifespan from the Immortal Lord (Dao Void Mysterious Immortal Realm Third Layer)]
That'll do!
Holding the Immortal Lord's Storage Bracelet, Gu An vanished into the woods.
...
The demise of the Immortal Lord did not cause any ripples. Gu An frequently used Divine Thought to observe the world in the days that followed.
He saw battles erupting constantly across all sea domains, all between the Immortal spirits of the Immortal Dynasty and the people of the Holy Court. Though the Holy Court had more people, the Immortal spirits of the Immortal Dynasty had stronger fighting power in equal realms.
As the number of battles increased, the tense atmosphere began to spread, overshadowing the joy people felt from the Blessing of the Primordial Immortal Ancestor.
Five years later, news of the clash between the Immortal Dynasty and the Holy Court had spread throughout the world, and even the lowest-ranking cultivators of the Taicang Continent knew that two colossal forces were warring, and should their battlefield fall upon Taicang Continent, it would be catastrophic.
Perhaps because the Holy Court drew the attention of the Immortal Dynasty, the death of the Immortal Lord never triggered an investigation by the Immortal Dynasty.
Seven years had passed since the fall of the Immortal Lord.
That day, Gu An returned from the Outer Gate City, having just submitted the last volume of Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
Over the years, he had been suppressing his unease with Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
In his opinion, the battle between the Immortal Dynasty and the Holy Court should not target him, and he could continue to survive quietly.
But deep down, he was worried that an accident might be triggered by the great war between the Immortal Dynasty and the Holy Court. If the Primordial Immortal Ancestor could bestow blessings upon all beings, then might these two colossal entities, if they went to full-scale war, destroy the Great Heavenly Spirit Land?
Each time he thought this, it made him uneasy.
On his way back to the valley, Gu An decided to continue to push forward.
It was time to take a risk!
Gu An's Divine Thought swept across the world, searching for a sect rich in medicinal herbs.
He found it difficult to kill beings with whom he had no enmity, deciding instead to help other sects harvest their herbs, taking without stealing, doing good deeds without leaving a trace.
Alright, no matter the self-promotion, Gu An still felt a bit ashamed.
A Divine Immortal was engaging in such activities.
But in order to survive, just this once!
No one would know anyway!
Soon, Gu An's gaze focused on a sea-based sect.
Purple Pill Palace, a sect that specialized in Alchemy Technique, where a great number of medicinal herbs were cultivated for the purpose of alchemy.
Purple Pill Palace's strength was not very strong, but because of their Alchemy Technique, the nearby sects would all protect them.
Let alone the nearby sects of Purple Pill Palace, looking across the world, Gu An could go wherever he wanted without being detected, apart from Immortal Dynasty and Holy Court.
After returning to the valley, Gu An did not act immediately but waited for nightfall.
As night fell, Gu An first went to Mystic Valley and then quietly left.
With a single step, he directly entered Purple Pill Palace.
Purple Pill Palace, sitting deep in the ocean, was a sizable continent with many mountain peaks, the tallest of which exceeded twenty thousand feet.
Under the dark night, there were lights on the peaks of Purple Pill Palace. Gu An landed in a forest. His Divine Thought swept over, and at that moment, at least four hundred thousand disciples of Purple Pill Palace were engaged in alchemy.
He walked towards the nearest Medicine Garden.
At the edge of the Medicine Garden, in front of a building, an old cultivator sat in front of a Pill Furnace, his eyes closed, holding a fan and gently waving it, controlling the flames beneath the furnace.
Gu An walked past him without him noticing Gu An's presence.
Even if he were to open his eyes, he would not see Gu An.
This was the skill of the Carefree Primordial Immortal, employed by Gu An with the power of a Divine Immortal. Not even Divine Immortals could see him unless their cultivation level reached Dao Void Mysterious Immortal.
He entered the garden, not picking herbs at random, only harvesting the ones close to maturation.
After a while, Gu An moved on to the next Medicine Garden without taking a single herb, simply helping with the harvesting.
Purple Pill Palace was vast and to avoid causing disturbance, Gu An moved gently, which slowed down his harvesting speed.
He was not in a hurry; taking his time, he would visit each night.
Fifteen days later, Gu An had harvested all the mature medicinal herbs within Purple Pill Palace, gaining one hundred and fifty million years of lifespan.
He had harvested so many herbs that Purple Pill Palace eventually noticed something was wrong, falling into panic and even inviting other sects to provide protection.
All of this was irrelevant to Gu An.
He had now set his sights on other sects, this time choosing one far away from Broken Sea Domain.
On the first night, after just an ancient hour, someone detected the disturbance. This person quickly alerted the entire sect, causing all the disciples to start patrolling. Gu An had to withdraw.
In reality, even if discovered, Gu An could have forcefully harvested, but he feared making too big a scene.
Great Powers were capable of divining the past of a sect, and Gu An certainly did not want to draw the attention of existences like the Black Profound Emperor or the Annihilation God Emperor.
Although the Great Heavenly Spirit Land seemed to be dominated by the Holy Court, who could guarantee that there were no entities hiding that were above the Nine Heavens of Immortal Path?
It is always better to be cautious. Life is precious, and if faced with an insurmountable foe, no amount of lifespan would matter.
That night.
Among the mountains, there was a large lake with sparkling waves. Closer inspection revealed many Spirit Flowers floating on its surface. Gu An descended from the sky and began harvesting the Spirit Flowers.
He transferred the harvested Spirit Flowers to the lakeshore.
Just as he finished and began to fly away, he suddenly saw a figure rushing out of the woods.
It was a yellow-clad young girl who ran to the lakeside. Seeing the pile of Spirit Flowers on the shore, she was struck as if by lightning.
She stood stunned for a few breaths, then hurried over to inspect them, relieved when she saw that the Spiritual Energy within the flowers had not yet dissipated.
She turned to look around, seeing no sign of the culprit, then crouched down and buried her head in her arms.
Gu An, witnessing this, was taken aback. Was this...
Crying?
Gu An threw a Life Span Detection towards the yellow-clad young girl.
[Zhu Xi (Foundation Establishment Realm Third Layer): 17/350/9999]
Nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine years of lifespan!
When visiting other sects before, Gu An would cast Life Span Detection on any cultivator he passed by. Below Nirvana Realm, the longest lifespan he had seen was eight thousand years.
Gu An took interest in Zhu Xi and didn't leave but decided to observe her further.
Zhu Xi crouched for a long while before standing up. Gu An expected her to seek her master or elders to deal with the situation.
However...
Under Gu An's gaze, Zhu Xi used a spell and began directly absorbing the Spiritual Energy from the Spirit Flowers.
"Little flowers, although I don't know who harvested you, I will avenge you..." Zhu Xi murmured to herself.