After parting ways with Bai Ziya, Gu An made a circuitous route before finally returning to the Third Medicine Valley. Once back, he finished writing the manuals he had been compiling and then descended from his pavilion to join the disciples in clearing snow.
As he swept, his thoughts kept drifting to the vast expanse beyond the heavens.
When would the wandering Sacred Court cultivators disperse?
It wasn't as though they could pose a threat to him, but Gu An worried about the potential disturbances his breakthrough might cause. If the commotion attracted these cultivators to his Lifespan Barrier, what then? What if someone accidentally breached it?
Gu An had no desire to provoke unnecessary enmity with the Sacred Court, but neither did he wish for his true cultivation level to be exposed.
Thus, he could only wait.
Winter turned to spring, and the years quietly passed.
The tale of the Sword Master of Dao's salvation of the world spread widely across this human region. With each retelling, his legend grew, his renown gradually reaching across the Grand Heaven.
Compared to the upheavals on the seas, the mainland quickly returned to tranquility. It wasn't the first time these people had heard of the Sword Master of Dao's achievements.
However, the human domain on the mainland experienced significant shifts in power dynamics. The factions that had fled during the crisis returned, only to find themselves unable to reclaim their former dominance. Meanwhile, the groups that had chosen to stay earned greater public favor and quickly began to flourish.
Across the continent beyond the Nine Nether Path, the dangers intensified. The sects and noble families of the Tai Cang Dynasty found it impossible to establish themselves there. Within a few short years, every force that had ventured into that territory returned battered and defeated.
Jiang Qiong returned to focus on developing the Gathering Flower Sect in peace.
Gu An's days returned to a leisurely rhythm.
In the blink of an eye, ten years passed.
At last, the Sacred Court cultivators roaming beyond the heavens scattered, and Gu An had been waiting for this day.
Without hesitation, he moved.
With a single step, he was deep within the cosmos, flying toward a location he had selected long ago.
It was a massive meteorite, larger even than the continent where Tai Xuan Sect resided.
Gu An landed on the meteorite, gazing into the distance. Heavenly Spirit Grand Heaven was now a faint dot in the distance. Even a Heaven and Earth Flying Immortal cultivator would struggle to observe it with the naked eye.
Turning around, he looked into the pitch-black void stretching behind him. The path to the Void Extinction Zone was far closer than the way back to Heavenly Spirit Grand Heaven.
He had chosen this spot deliberately. If any anomalies occurred, the Sacred Court might mistake them as being caused by celestial demons.
Sitting cross-legged, Gu An activated his Lifespan Barrier and opened his attribute panel.
[Name: Gu An]
[Lifespan: 220/639,660,342]
[Physique: Tai Chu Supreme Dao Body]
[Cultivation: Ninth Layer of Dao Void Profound Immortal Realm]
The sight of his lifespan was deeply satisfying.
This time, he resolved to be cautious. His last breakthrough had already consumed tens of millions of years of lifespan—a cost that was far from negligible.
Taking a deep breath, Gu An decided to forge ahead in his cultivation.
Each tribulation demanded a staggering thirty million years of effort.
"Well then, one hundred million years of lifespan—let's see where this gets me!"
[You cultivated for 300,000 years, relying on the great mastery of Boundless Great Creation Infinite Art to force a breakthrough to the Divine Thought True Immortal Realm. Tribulation begins. You failed to endure the Heavenly Dao's Forty-Nine Mysterious Void Tribulations.]
[You cultivated for 600,000 years, relying on the great mastery of Boundless Great Creation Infinite Art to force a breakthrough to the Divine Thought True Immortal Realm. Tribulation begins. You failed to endure the Heavenly Dao's Forty-Nine Mysterious Void Tribulations.]
Gu An's expression remained stoic—he was accustomed to failure.
"No matter. I still have five hundred million years of lifespan. I refuse to believe this will drain me dry!"
But then, the unimaginable happened.
After failing to overcome the tribulation a hundred times, his expression grew solemn.
After failing two hundred times, his face darkened.
When an entire hundred million years of lifespan had been expended with no success, his resolve began to crack.
"What kind of ridiculous tribulation is this Heavenly Dao's Forty-Nine Mysterious Void Tribulations?! Is this even possible?!"
Once he succeeded, Gu An vowed to investigate the origins of this absurd Heavenly Tribulation.
It was well-documented that tribulations varied even within the same realm. At the Mortal Peak, records detailed over ten thousand types of tribulations.
The prevailing wisdom in the cultivation world was simple: the stronger one's power within a realm, the more terrifying their tribulation. Yet even the most challenging trials could often be mitigated with formations, treasures, or assistance from sects.
But Gu An had to face his alone—without any external aid.
He had honed every aspect of his being to unimaginable strength. How was it possible that even he could fail three hundred times?
Gritting his teeth, Gu An committed another thirty million years of lifespan to the effort.
From one hundred million to thirty million—Gu An wasn't backing down. He simply felt he was on the verge of success and didn't want to waste additional lifespan unnecessarily.
Yet…
It all failed again!
Gu An's eyes turned bloodshot. He refused to believe it.
"Another thirty million years! Bring it on! Let's see if it can consume five hundred million years!"
With this stubborn resolve, Gu An pressed forward once more.
Failure.
Failure.
Failure.
Just as Gu An was about to commit another portion of his lifespan, the system's prompts finally changed.
He had succeeded!
[You cultivated for 23.3 million years, relying on the great mastery of Boundless Great Creation Infinite Art to force a breakthrough to the Divine Thought True Immortal Realm. Tribulation begins. You endured the Heavenly Dao's Forty-Nine Mysterious Void Tribulations and successfully broke through to the first layer of the Divine Thought True Immortal Realm.]
[You cultivated for 26 million years and broke through to the second layer of the Divine Thought True Immortal Realm.]
[You cultivated for 30 million years, and your cultivation deepened.]
"Four million years and still no minor breakthrough? This Divine Thought True Immortal Realm is absurd!"
As the universe's spiritual energy surged into his body, Gu An hurriedly channeled more lifespan to keep cultivating.
Third layer.
Fourth layer.
He wasn't stopping until he reached the ninth layer. Only then would he feel content.
Ultimately, he spent another 54 million years of lifespan before successfully reaching the ninth layer of the Divine Thought True Immortal Realm.
The immense surge of spiritual energy flooding into his body was far greater than during his breakthrough to the Dao Void Profound Immortal Realm. Even more startling was the discovery that he was now absorbing the latent rule force of the cosmos itself!
He immediately closed his eyes to better sense it.
As he meditated, the laws of the universe became vividly clear. These rules cascaded down like falling threads, disappearing into his Lifespan Barrier as if they had always belonged there.
Suddenly, Gu An detected a sweeping divine sense originating from the Void Extinction Zone.
"An Unrestrained Primordial Immortal?"
As time passed, the intensity of his breakthrough attracted more divine senses. Even the weakest among them was at the Heaven and Earth Flying Immortal Realm.
After the time it took to burn an incense stick, Gu An sensed a divine sense at the Wondrous Mystical Spirit Immortal level scanning his location.
Fortunately, none of these observers dared to reveal themselves outright; they merely probed from afar.
Half an hour later, Gu An felt something unusual. He instinctively opened his eyes, only to be met with a startling sight.
In the deepest void of the cosmos, a massive pair of eyes appeared.
They looked entirely human—ordinary and unremarkable—yet their cold gaze was anything but mortal.
These eyes dwarfed the stars and planets nearby, making them seem as insignificant as specks of dust.
Gu An had the unsettling impression that this gaze was fixed directly on him. It sent a chill through his heart.
"Could my Lifespan Barrier have been compromised?"
After a tense moment, the eyes shifted their pupils away.
Gu An exhaled sharply, muttering to himself, "What kind of dirty trick is that? Do they think they can scare me into surrendering? Not a chance!"
Just then, he finally completed his breakthrough. An endless stream of memories flooded his mind, all pertaining to the Divine Thought True Immortal Realm.
The essence of the realm was clear: Divine Thought True Immortals transcended their divine sense, transforming it into Divine Will. This allowed them to slay enemies with a mere thought or cast spells through sheer intent.
To be a "True Immortal" was to align perfectly with the cosmos. One's body and soul underwent profound refinement, becoming creations of the natural order rather than products of cultivation.
Gu An's consciousness delved into the legacy within these memories, revealing countless scenes.
Any being with even the slightest karmic connection to him could now have their past lives exposed to his vision. The sensation was both extraordinary and indescribable.
However, when Gu An attempted to view Ji Xiaoyu's past life, he found himself blocked. He could only observe Ji Xiaoyu's experiences starting from her current birth.
The greatest surprise came when he discovered traces of karma linked to Chu Lu and Xiao Shengtian.
"Could this mean that the cycles of reincarnation within the simulated evolutions manifest as reality?"
This realization sent Gu An's thoughts racing.
Immersed in these karmic visions, Gu An lost track of time. Far from being overwhelmed, he felt a profound sense of joy and clarity.
Peering into the threads of karma filled his mind with countless vivid images. The process resembled the exhilaration of cultivation, invigorating him with boundless energy.
By the time Gu An successfully stabilized his realm in the Divine Thought True Immortal Realm, he was still lost in these visions.
His cultivation continued to ascend.
From the first layer to the second.
From the second layer to the third.
Meanwhile, powerful entities began passing through the area, skimming the meteorite Gu An had chosen as his secluded spot.
Some took fleeting glances, but none lingered for long.
The ripple of his breakthrough was drawing attention, but for now, Gu An's presence remained secure.