Gu An gazed at the mysterious and immense entity with a sense of trepidation.
He could sense that the entity was incredibly powerful, far surpassing the Sun and Moon Nether Emperor, likely reaching the Ninth Heaven of the Immortal Dao.
Thanks to the protection of the Lifespan Barrier, the entity didn't detect Gu An's presence and soon departed from this space.
Within the cosmos, the spiritual energy of the Grand Dao surged violently, its range of influence expanding unpredictably. Instead of forming vortexes, it spread chaotically, making it impossible for passing entities to trace its origin—an eerie phenomenon.
While Gu An remained wary of them, the hidden beings were equally cautious, and the cosmic space of the Desolation Domain became shrouded in tension.
As the inheritance memories deepened, Gu An closed his eyes and immersed himself in understanding the mysteries of the Eternal Great Infinite Art.
Time flew by.
Another hour passed, and Gu An completely grasped the transformative nature of the Eternal Great Infinite Art.
Gu An marveled at the power of simulated cultivation.
Even though he possessed the memories of Long Zhan, Lu Han, and others, mastering their techniques and divine abilities still required diligent cultivation. Merely retaining memories wasn't enough—his physical body and soul had to evolve as well.
Simulated cultivation accomplished this, compressing the process into just an hour. For someone at his level, this was indistinguishable from direct mastery.
Cultivating the inherited technique consumed another four million years of his lifespan.
Gu An glanced at the over 920 million years remaining in his lifespan and felt at ease.
Suddenly, a thought struck him. Instead of elevating all his divine abilities and supreme arts to their highest realm, he could focus on refining the most prominent techniques of Xiao Shengtian, Long Zhan, and Lu Han to the Return-to-Origin Realm. This could significantly enhance his overall strength while possibly reducing lifespan consumption.
With this in mind, Gu An immediately acted.
He opened his attribute panel and began investing lifespan.
Ultimately, he elevated the Seven Divine Golden Bodies, Battle Will, Heavenly Dragon Reincarnation Divine Aspect, and Extinguishing Dao Fate Seal to the Return-to-Origin Realm, consuming a total of ninety million years of lifespan.
Each of these abilities was remarkable in its own right, governed by distinct rule-based powers. To his surprise, Xiao Shengtian's Battle Will rivaled Long Zhan's Heavenly Dragon Reincarnation Divine Aspect and Lu Han's Extinguishing Dao Fate Seal, leaving Gu An astonished.
Interestingly, Battle Will was categorized as "Dao Intent" rather than a divine ability, spell, or supreme art within the attribute panel.
Xiao Shengtian, who lived only 143 years, had achieved such profound mastery—a testament to his extraordinary aptitude.
Unfortunately, he encountered the Black Xuan Emperor.
Perhaps this was why the Black Xuan Emperor targeted him.
Of course, Xiao Shengtian's ability to seize lifespans since childhood didn't necessarily prove his aptitude was superior to Long Zhan or Lu Han.
The Lifespan Barrier consumed an additional eight million years, and Gu An shifted his focus to cultivation.
Cultivation was the cornerstone!
He decided to start with an investment of 100 million years of lifespan to test the waters.
Gu An recalled that advancing to the Divine Thought True Immortal Realm required 300,000 years per tribulation. He wondered how much time it would take for this breakthrough.
[You cultivated for 400,000 years. Using the profound mastery of the Eternal Great Infinite Art, you forcibly attempted to ascend to the Free Immortal Realm. You began the tribulation but failed to endure the Heavenly Dao's Nine Tribulations of Immortal Annihilation. Tribulation failed.]
[You cultivated for 800,000 years. Using the profound mastery of the Eternal Great Infinite Art, you forcibly attempted to ascend to the Free Immortal Realm. You began the tribulation but failed to endure the Heavenly Dao's Nine Tribulations of Immortal Annihilation. Tribulation failed.]
...
Each tribulation required 400,000 years!
Fortunately, the difficulty had only increased by 100,000 years, reflecting the impact of his enhancements to physique and techniques. According to Long Zhan and Lu Han's memories, the gap between the Divine Thought True Immortal and Free Immortal was immense.
A Free Immortal at the First Layer could effortlessly crush a Ninth Layer Divine Thought True Immortal!
This was the foundation of supremacy that once allowed Xiao Shengtian to dominate the Heavenly Spirit World and intimidate the Desolation Domain.
Gu An speculated that without his enhancements, failing a tribulation might require more than 800,000 years before the next breakthrough attempt.
As Gu An pondered, notifications began flooding in.
[You cultivated for 24.8 million years. Using the profound mastery of the Eternal Great Infinite Art, you forcibly attempted to ascend to the Free Immortal Realm. You endured the Heavenly Dao's Nine Tribulations of Immortal Annihilation. Tribulation succeeded. Your cultivation advanced to the First Layer of the Free Immortal Realm.]
[You cultivated for 31 million years. Your cultivation advanced to the Second Layer of the Free Immortal Realm.]
[You cultivated for 39 million years. Your cultivation advanced to the Third Layer of the Free Immortal Realm.]
...
[You cultivated for 85 million years. Your cultivation advanced to the Seventh Layer of the Free Immortal Realm.]
[You cultivated for 100 million years. Your cultivation advanced to the Eighth Layer of the Free Immortal Realm.]
He actually succeeded!
Gu An's face lit up with joy. He had braced himself to potentially waste 100 million years but was content with spending less than 300 million years of lifespan for this breakthrough.
Reaching the Free Immortal Realm, each subsequent layer required millions of years of lifespan to advance. Gu An accepted this without complaint. Simulated cultivation inherently consumed more lifespan than real-time cultivation, and at this realm, progress relied not just on absorbing spiritual energy but also on comprehending universal laws.
Long Zhan had encountered Free Immortals who struggled for tens of millions of years to break through a single layer.
Could this breakthrough have benefited from previous reincarnation simulations?
Without overthinking, Gu An cheerfully invested more lifespan, eventually spending another 20 million years to ascend to the Ninth Layer of the Free Immortal Realm.
The spiritual energy of the Grand Dao erupted wildly around him, causing turbulence across the cosmos.
This commotion far exceeded anything before!
...
In the vast Heavenly Spirit World, within the Tai Xuan Sect, Gu An's Lifespan Barrier shimmered faintly, shielding him from the chaotic spiritual energy surging through the void. The glow of the Eternal Great Infinite Art enveloped him, resonating harmoniously with his aura as his cultivation began its next transformation.
As Gu An officially stepped into the Free Immortal Realm, his internal golden core began its metamorphosis.
During his earlier breakthrough to the Unrestrained Primordial Immortal Realm, the golden core could already accumulate the rules of heaven and earth, allowing him to form his own Dao. Each stage of cultivation reinforced either the golden core or the soul, striving for balance. The Mystical Spirit Immortal Realm refined the soul into a divine spirit, the Dao Void Profound Immortal Realm fortified the Dao within the golden core, and the Divine Thought True Immortal Realm tempered the soul into divine thought.
This time, it was the golden core's turn to evolve.
Gu An's golden core pulsated, expanding and collapsing repeatedly as the Dao within it continued to grow, obliterate itself, and recondense into a more refined form. The transformation was reaching a critical point, and Gu An was fully aware of what lay ahead.
The Dao Seed.
Drawing on Long Zhan's memories, Gu An knew the secret behind transcending the Ninth Heaven of the Immortal Dao and achieving the legendary realm beyond—everything hinged on the Dao Seed.
Once the Dao Seed matured into the Dao Fruit, it would propel a cultivator to an entirely new level of existence.
The Free Immortal Realm was the process of nurturing this Dao Seed. As Gu An's golden core gradually transformed into the Dao Seed, his cultivation continued to soar. The Dao Seed, now rapidly taking form, brimmed with immense vitality and energy. When Gu An reached the Ninth Layer of the Free Immortal Realm, the Dao Seed would reach its peak, achieving perfect harmony.
The birth of the Dao Seed came with numerous advantages. It enhanced every aspect of a cultivator's being—spiritual power, physical body, and soul. More importantly, as long as the Dao Seed remained intact, the cultivator would not truly perish. Even if their body and soul were destroyed, the Dao Seed could regenerate both.
This resilience stemmed from the fact that the soul's essence had merged with the Dao Seed. Unlike the physical body or the soul, the Dao Seed was highly adaptable and capable of fusing seamlessly with the Grand Dao's rules, avoiding any form of rejection. In essence, the Dao Seed was akin to the nascent form of the Grand Dao itself, making survival within the universe far easier.
This was the true meaning of being "Free."
Reaching this realm, Gu An felt an even stronger connection to the invisible forces governing the cosmos. A power distinct from the Grand Dao seemed to influence all things, guiding their fates and destinies.
Lost in the wondrous transformation of the Free Immortal Realm, Gu An delved deeper into its mysteries, completely absorbed.
As he meditated with closed eyes, a pair of shadowy eyes emerged in the distant darkness, observing him from the void. After a moment, the presence receded, vanishing without a trace. Phantom-like silhouettes flitted through asteroid fields, appearing and disappearing as if they were mere illusions.
As the moon set and the sun rose, the golden light of dawn swept across the Tai Cang Continent, banishing the remnants of night. A new day began, and the disciples of the Third Medicine Valley started their morning training as usual. Their synchronized movements created a magnificent spectacle.
At the same time, Wu Jue arrived at Gu An's residence early in the morning. To his surprise, Gu An was nowhere to be found. Instead of leaving, he stood at a distance, watching the disciples' practice session.
Once the training concluded, An Xin approached Wu Jue and asked, "Are you here to see Master?"
Wu Jue nodded.
"Master left yesterday," An Xin explained. "He should return today. If you don't mind waiting, he'll likely be back soon."
Hearing this, Wu Jue decided to stay. He wandered over to the chess area, watching other disciples play their matches. While Wu Jue preferred watching chess games over playing, his interest piqued when a conversation about Romance of the Three Kingdoms caught his attention. Unable to resist, he joined the discussion.
Debating whether Liu Bei was truly benevolent, Wu Jue and a senior cultivator from the sect argued passionately, their faces reddening with emotion.
At that moment, the teleportation platform flickered to life. A brilliant light erupted, and Gu An emerged from the array, his presence calm and collected.