Steadily becoming a saint, the immortal officials hired me to tend the horses

Gu An did not immediately invest his lifespan in evolutionary cultivation because of the example set by the Dragon Strength Divine Primordial Skill; he feared the disturbance would be too great.

Let's wait until tonight!

By then, even if there's a great disturbance, given the timid nature of Cheng Xuandan and Zhang Chunqiu, they would probably be scared into hiding and not dare to leave their houses.

Night swiftly fell.

Only after Meng Lang settled down to rest in his room did Gu An bring up his Attribute Panel.

He focused on the Spring Origin Art and chose to invest one thousand years of his lifespan to evolve it.

May the heavens bless me, please don't waste these thousand years of my lifespan!

While praying, Gu An also gave the White Spirit Rat a rub for some good luck.

[You have invested one thousand years of lifespan in the evolution and cultivation of 'Spring Origin Art']

[You have cultivated the Spring Origin Art for one year, and because of your mediocre comprehension and qualifications, the growth in your cultivation level is minimal]

[You have cultivated the Spring Origin Art for ten years, and you have reached a whole new realm of understanding]

[You have cultivated the Spring Origin Art for one hundred years, and you have gained deeper insights into the great earth and forests, developing more thoughts about the Spring Origin Art]

[You have cultivated the Spring Origin Art for two hundred years, and your Spring Origin Art has advanced to the Withered Wood Spring Birth Skill]

[You have cultivated the Spring Origin Art for five hundred years, and your understanding of the Withered Wood Spring Birth Skill has reached the Transformation Realm, enhancing your Wood Spirit Root]

[You have cultivated the Spring Origin Art for eight hundred years, and you have sensed the nature's spirit, elevating your Withered Wood Spring Birth Skill to the Divine Wood Pure Yang Skill]

[You have cultivated the Spring Origin Art for one thousand years, and your mastery of the Divine Wood Pure Yang Skill has reached perfection, enhancing your Wood Spirit Root]

Looking at the series of prompts before his eyes, Gu An caught a few keywords and was suddenly overjoyed. Then, a flood of memories poured into his mind.

His consciousness was immersed in the inheritance; his entire being emanated a green light, and wisps of verdant spiritual energy sprouted from the ground inside the room.

At the same time.

Zhang Chunqiu, who was practicing inside his house, opened his eyes. He looked toward his windowsill, where a sudden gust of wind began shaking his window.

He hurriedly got up, walked to the window, and with only a glance outside, he swiftly closed it.

He walked quickly back to his desk, blew out the oil lamp, and then hid in bed.

"No, I must leave early. Medicine Valley is becoming more and more bizarre..."

Meng Lang was also scared; he shivered under his blanket. Xiaochuan, exhausted from the day's events, was already sleeping like a log, snoring thunderously.

Cheng Xuandan sat in meditation in front of the pill furnace. Sensing the activity outside the window, he looked into the night sky. His gaze was profound, without a trace of fear or curiosity, as serene as a deep well.

After a long while.

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Gu An finally awoke. When he opened his eyes, he felt as if the entire world had changed.

He could clearly sense the Wood Attribute Spiritual Energy in the air and could feel the vitality of the plants and trees, a very marvelous sensation.

With a thought, the previous prompts reappeared before him. Seeing that his Wood Spirit Root had been enhanced, he was pleasantly surprised.

To think that one's Spirit Root could be improved through the cultivation of techniques meant that he needn't forcefully enhance his Spirit Root Qualification, which was a bottomless pit. Gu An had tried it only once but was already traumatized by the experience.

He tried to operate the Divine Wood Pure Yang Skill and, unlike before, he could now effortlessly absorb the Wood Spirit Energy from the world around him. The Wood Spirit Energy entered his body, flowed into his dantian, and transformed into Wood Attribute Spiritual Power.

The whole process was smooth and slick!

Just a single breath was more effective than half a year's worth of his previous efforts!

Gu An suddenly felt as if he were dreaming, as though he had become a genius overnight.

In this case, there was no rush to enhance his Cultivation Level.

He had unlocked Life Span Detection when his lifespan broke through a thousand years, and perhaps when it surpassed ten thousand years, new abilities might emerge.

Moreover, with his current rate of cultivation, he felt he could rely on cultivation to enhance his Cultivation Level.

While there was no rush to enhance his Cultivation Level, his offensive methods needed improvement!

The Dragon Strength Divine Primordial Skill was a Supporting Skill without any specific combat techniques. His gaze then fell on the Residual Wind Leg.

The Li Family's Seven Swords were swordsmanship techniques, and he lacked a treasured sword. Moreover, the effectiveness of swordsmanship probably relied on one's Cultivation Level.

The Residual Wind Leg was different as it relied on legs. His physical strength was already sufficient to easily kill a demon from the Foundation Establishment Realm. If he combined it with the Residual Wind Leg, the power would surely increase significantly.

How much lifespan should he invest?

Gu An fell into a dilemma; too little investment would be meaningless, and too much would be heart-wrenching.

Forget it, let's go with a round number, five hundred years it is!

Excited, Gu An invested five hundred years of his lifespan in the evolutionary cultivation of the Residual Wind Leg.

[You have cultivated the Residual Wind Leg for one year, and because of your mediocre comprehension and qualifications, your movement technique is smooth but fails to unleash the full power of the Residual Wind Leg]

[You have cultivated the Residual Wind Leg for ten years, and years of arduous practice have brought your Residual Wind Leg to the pinnacle]

[You have cultivated the Residual Wind Leg for one hundred years, your Residual Wind Leg has returned to its purest form, and you have gained new insights, advancing your Residual Wind Leg to the Wind Shadow Leg]

[You have cultivated the Residual Wind Leg for two hundred years, and your Wind Shadow Leg is fully realized, improving your understanding of body techniques]

[You have cultivated the Residual Wind Leg for four hundred years, and your Wind Shadow Leg has transitioned into the Gale Shadowless Leg]

[You have cultivated the Residual Wind Leg for five hundred years, your Gale Shadowless Leg has reached the realm of integration, enhancing your understanding of body techniques and movement technique]

Does a better understanding of body and movement techniques mean an improvement in comprehension?

Just as Gu An had this thought, his mind was instantly flooded with the memories of the Gale Shadowless Leg.

...

At the break of dawn, as the first rays of sunlight skimmed over Medicine Valley, before even touching the threshold of Gu An's house, the door was already opening.

Gu An walked into the yard and faced the rising sun, stretching lazily, his spirit and vitality completely transformed.

His face was full of smiles, and his excitement had not fully subsided.

He silently summoned his attribute panel:

[Name: Gu An]

[Life Span: 19/1862]

[Spirit Root: First-Rate Wood Spirit Root, Four Attributes Above Average Spirit Root (life span can be invested for evolutionary cultivation)]

[Cultivation Level: Energy Cultivation Realm Second Layer (life span can be invested for evolutionary cultivation)]

[Cultivation Techniques: Fire Control Art (unachieved), Divine Wood Pure Yang Skill (Mastery), Dragon Strength Divine Primordial Skill (Mastery) (life span can be invested for evolutionary cultivation)]

[Ultimate Skill: Gale Shadowless Leg (achieved mastery), Li Family's Seven Swords (unachieved) (life span can be invested for evolutionary cultivation)]

Energy Cultivation Realm Second Layer!

Just last night, during the inheritance of Divine Wood Pure Yang Skill, his spiritual power had increased substantially. Coupled with a night of energy absorption cultivation, he had smoothly broken through to the second layer of the Energy Cultivation Realm.

He was no longer the powerless waste!

The feeling of spending life span was just too awesome!

Gu An had more ideas about his path to immortal cultivation.

He didn't consider adventuring; while slaying demons and ghosts to obtain life span could accelerate his life span growth, the risk of death would skyrocket.

What he thought of was the Medicine Valley's master!

Cheng Xuandan didn't have many years left to live, and Zhang Chunqiu meant to descend the mountain—the position of valley master was his for the taking!

When the time came, he could recruit a group of servant disciples to tend the gardens for him—he would only be responsible for the harvest, an idyllic arrangement.

Gu An placed his hands on his hips and looked around at the surrounding peaks.

Perhaps more medicinal herbs could grow on the mountain!

Cheng Xuandan didn't expand Medicine Valley, possibly because expansion had no meaning for him—he was just a worker for the Supreme Sect.

But for Gu An, it was different; he didn't need to share more herbs, all he wanted was the life span contained within them.

The more Gu An thought about it, the more excited he became, and he began kicking in place, stretching his body.

He was practicing the leg techniques of the Residual Wind Leg, powerful and imposing, the movements creating blasts of air.

Before long, Meng Lang walked out of the neighboring house and caught sight of Gu An's leg technique, his eyes widening in amazement.

Nineteen-year-old Gu An had fully grown into his body, his legs whipping through the air like a lash. Though he didn't move his stance, the force of the air reached Meng Lang's face, leaving him dumbfounded.

Meng Lang couldn't help but rub his eyes, wondering if he had mistaken someone else for Gu An.

When had Gu An become so formidable?

Feeling Meng Lang's gaze, Gu An stopped his kicks, turned around to look at him, and smiled, "Did I wake you up?"

Meng Lang hurriedly approached him, scrutinizing him carefully before saying, "How did you suddenly become so powerful? Did you notice the demon wind last night? Does it have anything to do with you?"

Gu An rolled his eyes at him, saying, "That's right, it was me. Last night as I practiced the Residual Wind Leg taught by my master, it stirred the heavens, the earth trembled, it was so formidable it could startle both heaven and earth and make demons weep. Since you heard the noise, why didn't you come out and witness my might?"

Meng Lang certainly wouldn't admit his embarrassing moment, and he huffed, "Your leg technique might be fierce, but without spiritual power support, how could it stir up last night's strong winds? Moreover, it wasn't just strong wind last night, there was also a fluctuation of spiritual energy. Either a demon was absorbing nature's spiritual energy or a Great Cultivator was breaking through."

Gu An let out a chuckle and kicked Meng Lang in the rear.

"You dare to kick me, rebelling, are you? With Li Ya gone, do you no longer acknowledge me as your elder brother?" Meng Lang exclaimed.

"If I recognized you as an elder brother, wouldn't I have to stick with you here for life? Don't you want to become an Outer Disciple?"

"Fair point, you're right about that, I'm different from you."

The two began to play and tease each other.

An ancient hour later, Zhang Chunqiu found Gu An and led him around Medicine Valley, explaining in detail every inch of land and herb within the valley.

Gu An listened attentively, but as he listened, he began to feel something was amiss.

Was this like handing over one's last will and testament?

Could the commotion last night have scared him out of his wits?

Gu An had wanted to persuade him, but then he thought that Zhu Moyan was no good person. He probably did a lot of dirty work for the Demon of Greed behind him. Once Chu Jingfeng resolved the matter, Zhang Chunqiu would likely get implicated.

After all, they were good friends.

It was better for him to descend the mountain sooner!

Gu An swore he wasn't angling for the position of head disciple; he was genuinely considering Zhang Chunqiu's well-being.

Having mastered the Divine Wood Pure Yang Skill, Gu An was not in a rush to contact Chu Jingfeng. Firstly, he now had the power to protect himself, and secondly, he didn't want to startle the enemy.

His return to Medicine Valley was so recent, and Chu Jingfeng's arrival the next day would be hard to dissociate from suspicion.

Gu An was not wary of Zhu Moyan but the person behind him; according to what Zhang Chunqiu had previously mentioned, that person held a high position, and the entire Medicine Valley combined couldn't shake them.

It was just as well to improve his cultivation level while waiting!

After an ancient hour of touring with Zhang Chunqiu, even climbing the surrounding mountains and speaking until he was parched and exhausted, he then took Gu An to find Cheng Xuandan.

Gu An saw the Pill Furnace in front of Cheng Xuandan and his eyes were filled with curiosity.

He had long heard that Cheng Xuandan was skilled in alchemy; he wondered if he could learn it too.

Once he learned it and invested his life span, he could transform directly into an Alchemy Grandmaster!

Cheng Xuandan rose and looked at Gu An, saying, "From now on, you are the eldest disciple of this Medicine Valley."

Upon hearing this, Gu An was shocked and looked instinctively at Zhang Chunqiu, asking in a flurry, "Eldest disciple, what's wrong with you?"