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

In the cave, the fire flickered.

Li Ya sat on a stone, bare-chested, wrapping his wounds with white cloth. Fresh blood continuously seeped out, a frightful sight, yet he did not frown.

Floating beside him was a Soul Body, that of a tall old man, who stroked his beard as he watched him.

"To withstand the toxicity of the Thousand-Handed Demon Vine, your physique has grown stronger," the ancestral spirit praised.

Li Ya said calmly, "It's not enough. Compared to Lv Xian and Ji Xiaoyu, it's hardly anything, not to mention that another An Hao has emerged within the Sect. It's said that his talent is even more exaggerated than that of the two of them."

The ancestral spirit chuckled and said, "They're naturally born geniuses, but you're different, you're a genius of effort. It's not impossible for you to surpass them. In my opinion, innate talent isn't the most important; the most crucial are an unyielding Daoist Heart and the heart of struggle that refuses to give up."

Li Ya nodded, about to respond, when suddenly the flames on the fire surged violently and his complexion followed suit and radically changed.

"Spiritual Energy sinking?"

Li Ya frowned as he spoke, and his ancestral spirit also frowned.

The ancestral spirit frowned and said, "Could it be not man-made, but a natural disaster? What does this presage?"

He calculated with his fingers, but alas, could deduce nothing.

...

When the Spiritual Energy of the North Sea Mountain Range began to sink, the roars of Demon Beasts echoed everywhere, and Cultivators hidden in the caves all ran out, even those who were fighting had to cease.

Under the tree.

Gu An was surrounded by five-colored Spirit Light, at a glance looking like a radiant egg, and he was meditating within it, his figure immovable.

He, too, heard the roars from all directions, but such commotion no longer frightened him.

This was just the beginning, after enhancing the Spirit Root, the next steps were to improve the Cultivation Technique, and then the Cultivation Level.

The Spiritual Energy of the North Sea Mountain Range was very dense, far surpassing the vicinity of Mystic Valley, and even if the Spiritual Energy began to sink, it didn't greatly affect the overall Spiritual Energy of the range.

As time passed, Gu An's attention started to focus on the Life Span Barrier's depletion.

He must not be careless!

He had a premonition that the Life Span Barrier's consumption this time was not a small figure; he did not want to die from an exhausted life span.

Half an Ancient Hour later, Gu An completely transformed into a Five Elements Treasure Body. He could feel the changes throughout his entire body, Qi-Blood, strength became stronger, and the speed at which he generated Spiritual Power increased, his senses also undergoing earth-shattering changes.

He even felt the surrounding Five Element Spiritual Energy merge with him, this sensation was truly marvelous.

Gu An, stifling his joy, planned to explore the subtleties of the Five Elements Treasure Body later. For now, he had to continue to sacrifice life span!

First, to upgrade Mystic Yellow Dragon Energy Skill!

This skll was essential as it allowed him to hide his Cultivation Level and aura!

A hundred thousand years, invested!

Prompt after prompt crazily popped up, Gu An looked carefully.

Mystic Yellow Dragon Energy Skill advanced to Earth Divine Energy Skill, which then advanced to Primordial Ruyi Skill!

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Two upgrades!

Not bad!

The memories associated with Primordial Ruyi Skill flooded his mind.

Primordial Ruyi Skill not only increased the ability to hide one's Cultivation Level and aura but also awakened Divine Skills, Great and Minor Ruyi.

By enveloping objects with Spiritual Power, it allowed anything to shrink or enlarge, including Living Spirits, including oneself. This Divine Skill made Gu An truly appreciate the profound mysteries of the Immortal Path.

Gu An immersed himself in the enlightenment of the Path, forgetting outside disturbances.

In the distance.

Li Xuandao, sitting on the Array Platform, took out a Compass and began casting spells for deduction. The needle on the Compass moved erratically, his expression turning grave as a result.

It took a while, but as the needle's movement slowed, though still trembling slightly, the divination was complete.

"Heaven's will obscured, unseen for a thousand years..."

Li Xuandao murmured to himself, then with joy in his eyes, he added, "Although the Spiritual Energy is sinking and not suitable for cultivation or Tribulation Crossing, what I need is not Spiritual Energy, but the means to Cross Tribulation. Isn't Heaven's obscured will an excellent opportunity for me?"

He frowned again, hesitant.

As he was unsure of the cause of the Spiritual Energy sinking, if it was the doing of a Great Cultivator, would he invite trouble by Crossing Tribulation here?

But thinking of the situation in the court, Li Xuandao gritted his teeth.

Cross!

Better to die in heavenly tribulation than on the court!

His goal wasn't just the Void Crossing Realm, but also the Unification Realm!

He aspired to be an immortal Emperor like the Heavenly Emperor of myths!

Li Xuandao put down the Compass, raised his arms, and in an instant, the formations in the valley were activated one after another, screens of light rising up while the Spiritual Energy above his head swirled into a cyclone, slowly condensing into dark clouds.

He waved his sleeves and all the Elixir Bottles uncapped. After completing these actions, he finally looked up.

The sky darkened, thunderclouds billowed, and the light from the formation clearly illuminated the Tribulation Clouds above him, the converging heavenly might hardening his gaze into resolution.

He must succeed!

...

Inheriting the Primordial Ruyi Skill cost Gu An half an Ancient Hour, but he deemed it quick as this skill was far more complex than the previous ones, and he could pass it on to himself as if he'd cultivated for a hundred thousand years in a short time, signifying that his Golden Finger of life span was also becoming stronger.

He had once worried that, as his Cultivation Level rose, the actual breakthrough time would lengthen and that in the future, casually inheriting a Cultivation Technique might take days, and breakthroughs months. How could that be manageable?

Fortunately, he had worried over nothing!

Gu An glanced at the life span consumed by the Life Span Barrier, and the situation was still manageable.

Continue!

Gu An injected a hundred thousand years of life span into the Yang Wood Primordial Skill!

Once again prompts surged before his eyes, but they didn't disrupt his calm.

Yang Wood Primordial Skill advanced to Primordial Earth Immortal Skill!

Only one advancement, but the addition of the word "immortal" filled Gu An with anticipation.

Tonight, two cultivation techniques beginning with "Innate" have already emerged, leading Gu An to involuntarily think of the Primordial Daoist Talisman within Ji Xiaoyu's body.

Could "Innate" be a phase?

If that were true, wouldn't Ji Xiaoyu be born with an advantage that ordinary people strive for over a hundred thousand years?

No wonder he's such a monster!

Gu An sighed in his heart, and immediately after, the vast inheritance memories occupied his thoughts.

Spiritual Energy sank once again, causing the hearts of all beings in the North Sea Mountains to be suspended anew.

Shadows emanating powerful auras continuously darted across the skies above the forest where Gu An was, including massive silhouettes as big as mountains, yet no one noticed there was a person hidden in this forest, and he was the culprit for the descending Spiritual Energy.

This night was destined to be a restless one for the North Sea Mountains!

...

An hour and a half later, when Gu An opened his eyes and saw he had a remaining life span of 680,000 years, he exhaled a breath.

The Life Span Barrier had already consumed tens of thousands of years of his life, and he was beginning to feel that things were not going too well.

He turned his gaze to the Cultivation Level column.

Just as he was about to invest life span, a battle's oppressive might suddenly came from the east, causing him to frown.

A Unification Realm battle!

It was not too far from him, maybe about two hundred li.

This distance was very close for those in the Unification Realm!

Gu An immediately stopped rushing his breakthrough, deciding to wait until the others had left the vicinity before proceeding. What would he do if the two Great Cultivators in the Unification Realm entered his Life Span Barrier during his breakthrough?

Ah, it would be nice if the Life Span Barrier could be upgraded in the future!

Gu An sighed in his heart, but he was not panicked.

If they really intruded, he would have no choice but to grant them death.

Cultivating to the Unification Realm was not easy, he hoped they would take care of themselves.

Fortunately, things did not develop in the worst way Gu An had imagined. The two Great Cultivators fought for a while before starting a chase, eventually disappearing into the distance.

Let's get started!

First off, a hundred thousand years to ease the shock!

With a hundred thousand years, I should definitely break through, right?

[You have invested one hundred thousand years of life span into cultivating your Cultivation Level]

[You practiced Energy Absorption for five hundred years, and with the Great Accomplishment of the Primordial Earth Immortal Skill, you forcefully attempted a breakthrough to the Mystic Heart Realm, starting a tribulation. You didn't survive the Cang Yuan Five Spirits Heavenly Tribulation, and your tribulation crossing failed]

[You practiced Energy Absorption for fifteen hundred years, and with the Great Accomplishment of the Primordial Earth Immortal Skill, you forcefully attempted a breakthrough to the Mystic Heart Realm, starting a tribulation. You didn't survive the Cang Yuan Five Spirits Heavenly Tribulation, and your tribulation crossing failed]

...

Failing the tribulation once per millennium is acceptable, indicating he has a high margin for error.

After a hundred attempts, I should be able to succeed, right?

After all, I've enhanced two cultivation techniques!

Failure!

Failure!

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Failure!

The continual failures were jarring, and before he had spent fifty thousand years of life span, Gu An felt it was bearable.

When he failed at the sixty-seven-thousand-five-hundred-year mark, he began to grind his teeth.

The sixty-eighth attempt failed!

Who could endure this?!

And the failures continued!

[You practiced Energy Absorption for eighty-one thousand five hundred years, and with the Great Accomplishment of the Primordial Earth Immortal Skill, you forcefully attempted a breakthrough to the Mystic Heart Realm, starting a tribulation. You didn't survive the Cang Yuan Five Spirits Heavenly Tribulation, and your tribulation crossing failed]

[You practiced Energy Absorption for eighty-two thousand five hundred years, and with the Great Accomplishment of the Primordial Earth Immortal Skill, you forcefully attempted a breakthrough to the Mystic Heart Realm, starting a tribulation.

You survived the Cang Yuan Five Spirits Heavenly Tribulation, and your tribulation crossing was successful, and your Cultivation Level broke through to the first layer of the Mystic Heart Realm]

[You practiced Energy Absorption for eighty-three thousand years, and your Cultivation Level broke through to the second layer of the Mystic Heart Realm]

[You practiced Energy Absorption for eighty-four thousand years, and your Cultivation Level broke through to the third layer of the Mystic Heart Realm]

...

[You practiced Energy Absorption for ninety-nine thousand years, and with the Great Accomplishment of the Primordial Earth Immortal Skill, you forcefully attempted a breakthrough to the Mahayana Realm, starting a tribulation. You didn't survive the Mystic Yellow Five Divine Heavenly Tribulation, and your tribulation crossing failed]

[You practiced Energy Absorption for a hundred thousand years, still preparing for the tribulation]

When the last prompt appeared, Gu An let out a sigh of relief.

Ninth Layer of the Mystic Heart Realm!

The next major realm is Mahayana!

Gu An secretly marveled, it turned out that breaking through minor realms wasn't difficult, but the true challenge was in tribulation crossing, which was outrageous. In the future, could there be situations where I fail hundreds or even thousands of times?

Earth Spirit Energy once again surged towards Gu An, and the commotion, compared to the previous ones, was not much larger, after all, it was still an investment of a hundred thousand years of life span.

Gu An accessed his Attribute Panel, looking at the remaining five hundred and eighty thousand years of life span and hesitated. Should he break through another major realm level, or upgrade his Divine Skills?

The Infinite Traceless Mystic Heaven Step and the Great Yin-Yang Transformation were essential to upgrade; they could help him escape and conceal his identity.

Apart from those two, he needed to improve two offensive techniques.

Thinking this way, why do I feel like there's not enough life span?

Maybe skimp a bit on the offensive techniques?

After all, he didn't fight across boundaries, and besides, the spells and ultimate skills he currently mastered were considered extremely profound in the Immortal Cultivation World of the Nine Dynasties.

Gu An was conflicted as he began to upgrade his Cultivation Level.

The tremendous surge of Spiritual Energy flowed into his body, causing his Cultivation Level to steadily increase, his robes billowing intensely as though they would burst at any moment.