"I am the Island Lord. And you are?"
Gu An asked with a puzzled expression, while Hu Xiaojian, standing beside him, tensed up.
The presence of the Chi Ming Immortal Lord was imposing, and it was evident that his strength far surpassed Gu An's.
The Immortal Lord scrutinized Gu An and said calmly, "Serve me. I need this island."
Hu Xiaojian's mouth fell open in shock, finding the man's audacity utterly outrageous.
His instinctive glance around revealed something alarming—everything had come to a halt. The passersby froze mid-step, the swaying grass and flowers stopped moving, as if time itself had paused.
Gu An's expression darkened as he warily faced the Immortal Lord.
"It's just a little trick," the Immortal Lord said nonchalantly. "This way, no one will overhear our agreement. Serve me, and I will become your greatest support. Tell me, what is the highest cultivation realm you know of?"
Gu An took a deep breath and replied, "The Heaven and Earth Flying Immortal Realm."
The Immortal Lord smirked faintly. "Beyond the Heaven and Earth Flying Immortal Realm is the Unrestrained Primordial Immortal Realm. Above that is the Wondrous Mystical Spirit Immortal Realm. My cultivation surpasses even that of the Wondrous Mystical Spirit Immortal Realm."
At those words, Gu An and Hu Xiaojian's faces turned pale. Hu Xiaojian trembled uncontrollably, overwhelmed by the weight of such power.
The Immortal Lord fell silent, awaiting Gu An's response.
Feigning hesitation, Gu An gritted his teeth and asked, "Do I have another choice?"
The Immortal Lord frowned, a flash of displeasure crossing his eyes.
[The Chi Ming Immortal Lord has developed hostility toward you and harbors murderous intent. Would you like to perform Lifespan Investigation on him?]
Such quick animosity? Gu An mused inwardly, thinking the Dao Void Profound Immortal was rather narrow-minded.
The Immortal Lord's voice turned cold. "Of course, you may refuse. But when you face an insurmountable calamity, you will regret today's choice."
With that, he turned and walked away. Time resumed its flow, the frozen figures of people and creatures in the surroundings moving once more. Birds resumed flight, and the wind set flowers and trees swaying again.
Hu Xiaojian stared after the Immortal Lord's departing figure, his face pale with lingering fear.
When the man disappeared into the crowd, Hu Xiaojian turned to Gu An. "Island Lord, what should we do?"
Gu An withdrew his gaze and said calmly, "If the soldiers come, we'll fight them; if the waters rise, we'll block them. Worst case, we escalate the matter to the domain's main city. There's no need to worry."
Reassured by Gu An's composure, Hu Xiaojian's anxiety began to ease.
Gu An motioned for him to continue leading the way. Compared to the Immortal Lord's posturing, Gu An was far more focused on acquiring herb seeds.
As the conflict between the Immortal Dynasty and Sacred Court intensified, more figures like the Immortal Lord would inevitably emerge. This realization only heightened Gu An's sense of urgency.
He needed to reach One billion years of lifespan and achieve a breakthrough into a higher realm, and soon.
By evening.
The Chi Ming Immortal Lord left Xunxian Island, flying at a measured pace. His divine sense swept across the Broken Sea Domain, searching for islands similar to Xunxian Island.
In his mind, Xunxian Island already belonged to him, but he needed more locations to establish his presence.
Recalling Gu An's defiance, he let out a cold snort.
"Let's see how you handle the Heaven and Earth Flying Immortal Realm-level beasts." A smirk spread across his face.
The Immortal Lord began to imagine the scene of Gu An groveling before him, begging for his intervention.
Smack!
A hand suddenly landed on his shoulder, halting him in mid-air. His Dao heart trembled violently, his face contorting in shock. Instinctively, he tried to dodge, only to find his spiritual power suppressed by an overwhelmingly dominant force.
A Divine Thought True Immortal!
In an instant, he realized the level of power he faced.
The scene before his eyes blurred, and when it cleared, he found himself in a dense forest. He quickly discerned that he had been teleported far from the Broken Sea Domain.
Attempting to turn around, he found himself unable to move.
Boom!
A surge of tyrannical divine intent invaded his mind, rendering his eyes lifeless and his thoughts blank.
Moments later, Gu An, having employed the Ultimate Void Transformation Body, obliterated the Chi Ming Immortal Lord, erasing his soul entirely and leaving no trace of his physical body.
[You have successfully seized 98,641 years of lifespan from the Chi Ming Immortal Lord (Dao Void Profound Immortal Realm, Third Layer).]
"Not bad. It'll do for now," Gu An muttered, pocketing the Immortal Lord's storage ring before disappearing into the forest.
The Immortal Lord's demise caused no ripple in the grand scheme of events. In the days that followed, Gu An continued to use his divine sense to observe the world.
He witnessed battles breaking out across the seas, with Immortal Spirits of the Immortal Dynasty clashing against the Sacred Court's forces. Though the Sacred Court had greater numbers, the Immortal Spirits often displayed superior combat prowess within the same realm.
As the frequency of battles increased, the mounting tension began to overshadow the joy and blessings brought by Yuanxu Immortal Ancestor's golden rain.
Over the next five years, news of the Immortal Dynasty and Sacred Court's struggle reached every corner of the world. Even the lowest-level cultivators in Tai Cang Continent were aware of the conflict between these two colossal forces. The possibility of their battlefield descending upon Tai Cang Continent sent waves of unease through the populace, for it would be nothing short of a cataclysm.
Perhaps it was because the Sacred Court had drawn the Immortal Dynasty's attention that the death of the Chi Ming Immortal Lord never provoked an investigation from the Immortal Dynasty.
Seven years had passed since his demise.
On this day, Gu An returned from an outer sect city after submitting the final volume of Three Kingdoms. Over the years, he had used the process of creating Three Kingdoms to suppress his inner anxiety.
To him, the conflict between the Immortal Dynasty and Sacred Court seemed distant, something unlikely to focus on someone as insignificant as himself. Yet deep in his heart, he worried about unintended consequences. If these two titanic powers went all out in their war, would they destroy the Heavenly Spirit World itself, just as Yuanxu Immortal Ancestor had blessed all beings before?
The thought left him restless.
As Gu An made his way back to the valley, he resolved to accelerate his plans.
It was time to take a risk.
Gu An spread his divine sense across the world, searching for sects rich in medicinal herbs.
He wasn't willing to harm innocent beings. The idea of outright killing was something he couldn't stomach. Instead, he decided to "help" other sects by harvesting their mature herbs—picking without taking credit, a good deed without leaving a name.
Deep down, even as he rationalized this approach, a sense of shame lingered.
A mighty Divine Thought True Immortal, resorting to such petty actions!
But for the sake of survival, this would be the only time.
No one would know, after all.
Gu An's attention locked onto an ocean sect: Purple Pill Palace.
This sect, dedicated entirely to the Dao of Alchemy, cultivated a vast collection of medicinal herbs to sustain their craft. Though their combat strength wasn't particularly formidable, their alchemical expertise earned them the protection of surrounding sects.
But for someone like Gu An, who could move undetected even by peak powers of the Sacred Court and Immortal Dynasty, Purple Pill Palace's safeguards posed no challenge.
Returning to the valley, Gu An bided his time until nightfall.
Under the cover of darkness, Gu An first visited Xuan Valley to conceal his departure before stealthily leaving. With a single step, he entered Purple Pill Palace's territory.
The sect, located in the depths of the sea, was situated on a small continent filled with towering peaks. The highest peak soared over twenty thousand zhang.
In the moonlight, the peaks of Purple Pill Palace were dotted with flickering lights. Gu An landed silently within a grove of trees, his divine sense sweeping the area. At least four hundred thousand disciples were refining pills at this moment.
He moved toward the nearest herb garden.
At the edge of the garden, an elder sat before a pill furnace outside a small building. His eyes were closed, fanning the flames beneath the furnace with steady, rhythmic motions.
Gu An walked right past him. The elder didn't notice a thing—not even when Gu An was directly in front of him.
Even if he opened his eyes, he wouldn't see Gu An.
Such was the capability of a skill used by an Unrestrained Primordial Immortal. For someone like Gu An, whose Divine Thought True Immortal cultivation powered this skill, only a Dao Void Profound Immortal or stronger could perceive him.
Entering the garden, Gu An avoided random harvesting. He only picked herbs that were close to maturity.
After some time, he moved on to the next herb garden, maintaining his peculiar habit of only helping with the harvest. He left every herb behind without taking a single one.
Purple Pill Palace was vast. Gu An took care not to disrupt its operations, so his pace was measured, and his progress slow.
But he wasn't in a hurry. Night after night, he returned to Purple Pill Palace, gathering herbs in secret.
Fifteen days later, Gu An had harvested every mature herb in Purple Pill Palace, amassing an astounding 150 Million years of lifespan in one go.
However, the sheer volume of harvested herbs couldn't go unnoticed. The sect grew increasingly alarmed, and soon their leaders called upon nearby sects for reinforcements.
But all of this had nothing to do with Gu An.
His focus had already shifted to a different sect far from the Broken Sea Domain.
On his first night in the new sect, Gu An only managed to harvest for an hour before someone noticed the disturbance. The alert quickly mobilized the entire sect, forcing Gu An to retreat.
Although he could have pushed forward, Gu An chose not to escalate the situation.
He knew that great cultivators could deduce the recent past of any sect. Attracting the attention of figures like the Black Xuan Emperor or Annihilation God Emperor was something he wished to avoid at all costs.
After all, while the Sacred Court seemed to rule over the Heavenly Spirit World, who could guarantee that there wasn't an existence beyond the Ninth Heaven of the Immortal Dao lying in wait?
Caution was paramount. Life only came once, and no amount of lifespan would matter if he encountered an invincible foe.
That evening.
Among a range of mountains lay a vast, shimmering lake. The surface sparkled like diamonds, dotted with countless floating spirit flowers. Gu An descended, quietly harvesting the flowers.
Once gathered, he transported the flowers to the lakeshore.
As he was about to leave, a figure emerged from the forest, sprinting toward the lake.
It was a girl in yellow robes.
She dashed to the shore, froze at the sight of the mound of flowers, and stood motionless as if struck by lightning.
After several breaths of silence, she ran forward to inspect the flowers. Finding that their spiritual essence was intact, she let out a sigh of relief.
Turning to survey her surroundings, she saw no sign of the culprit. She then crouched down and buried her face in her arms.
Gu An stopped in his tracks, stunned.
Was she... crying?
Curious, he performed Lifespan Investigation.
[Zhu Xi (Foundation Establishment Realm, Third Layer): 17/350/9999]
Nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine years of lifespan!
Gu An had scanned countless cultivators during his ventures, and the highest lifespan he had seen below Nirvana Realm was a mere eight thousand years.
His curiosity was piqued, and he decided to observe her further.
Zhu Xi remained crouched for some time before rising. Gu An expected her to seek out her master or a senior within her sect to handle the situation.
However, under his watchful gaze, Zhu Xi raised her hands, casting a spell to absorb the spiritual energy of the flowers directly.
"Little flowers," she murmured, "I don't know who picked you, but I will avenge you..."