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

Du Ye came quickly and left quickly, and Gu An could feel his excitement, as if he truly believed himself to be a surname Ji.

Gu An was also very interested in the Inner Sect, and being able to visit the Inner Sect through the relationship with the Ji Family banquet was a good thing.

He planned to gather more Spirit Stones during these days so that he could also make some purchases when visiting the Inner Sect.

Until nightfall.

Gu An quietly left Mystic Valley, heading in the opposite direction of where he had made his breakthrough, and after about fifty miles, he stopped.

Sitting in front of a cliff, he pulled up his Attribute Panel.

He looked directly at the Eight Directions Step and invested five thousand years of lifespan into it.

As a movement technique, it wasn't only helpful in combat but also for escape, so it was essential to improve it.

Accompanying the fall of his thoughts, a series of notifications popped up:

[You have invested five thousand years of lifespan into evolving and practicing the Eight Directions Step]

[You practiced the Eight Directions Step for one year, and you have successfully mastered the Eight Directions Step]

[You practiced the Eight Directions Step for ten years, and your understanding of the Eight Directions Step has reached its peak, improving your comprehension of movement techniques]

[You practiced the Eight Directions Step for fifty years, and you have gained insight into the Eight Directions Step, promoting it to the Eight Directions Mystic Step]

[You practiced the Eight Directions Step for one hundred years, and your understanding of the Eight Directions Mystic Step has reached its peak, improving your comprehension of movement techniques]

...

[You practiced the Eight Directions Step for three hundred years, and your Eight Directions Mystic Step has returned to its essence, capturing a trace of the true meaning of space, promoting it to the Qilin Step]

...

[You practiced the Eight Directions Step for a thousand years, and your Qilin Step has returned to its essence, enhancing your comprehension of movement techniques and space, promoting it to the Heavenly Dragon Mystic True Step]

...

[You practiced the Eight Directions Step for four thousand years, and your persistent practice has finally resonated with heaven and earth, breaking through the limit of your Heavenly Dragon Mystic True Step, promoting it to the Infinite Traceless Mystic Heaven Step]

[You practiced the Eight Directions Step for five thousand years, and your Infinite Traceless Mystic Heaven Step has reached the Mastery Realm, enhancing your comprehension of space]

Eight Directions Step, Eight Directions Mystic Step, Qilin Step, Heavenly Dragon Mystic True Step, Infinite Traceless Mystic Heaven Step!

Gu An was secretly exhilarated, and at the same time, a flood of memories began to pour into his mind. He quickly activated his Life Span Barrier and then immersed himself in the inheritance.

After an hour, Gu An opened his eyes.

He first looked at the Life Span Barrier, which had only consumed two hundred years of lifespan.

Although inheriting Cultivation Techniques and Spells wouldn't increase one's Cultivation Level, it still required the absorption of Spiritual Energy; after all, in evolutionary practice, no matter what one practiced, one was always in an environment infused with Spiritual Energy.

Compared to his breakthrough to the Void Crossing Realm, the Spiritual Energy he absorbed this time was not much.

Gu An looked at the Attribute Panel again, falling into thought.

His Cultivation Level certainly still needed to be raised, but recently he had to lay low and couldn't act rashly.

Moreover, he wanted to improve his Cultivation Technique before his Cultivation Level. He planned to visit the Inner Sect to see if there was a Five Elements Skill. If there wasn't a good option, he would bite the bullet and fully commit to the Divine Wood Pure Yang Skill.

After a moment of consideration, Gu An decided to invest in the secret technique taught by Jiang Qiong from the Thousand-Autumn Pavilion, the Demon Shadow Divine Skill.

Jiang Qiong said this secret technique was very suitable for intelligence work, and he wanted to see exactly how suitable it was.

A small investment should do, let's put two thousand years of lifespan into it!

[You have invested two thousand years of lifespan into evolving and practicing the Demon Shadow Divine Skill]

[You practiced the Demon Shadow Divine Skill for ten years, and you have preliminarily mastered the Demon Shadow Divine Skill]

[You practiced the Demon Shadow Divine Skill for a hundred years, and your Demon Shadow Divine Skill has reached the Mastery Realm, speeding up your execution of the Demon Shadow Divine Skill]

[You practiced the Demon Shadow Divine Skill for two hundred years, and your Demon Shadow Divine Skill has reached its peak, improving your comprehension of movement techniques]

...

[You practiced the Demon Shadow Divine Skill for five hundred years, and your Demon Shadow Divine Skill has returned to its essence, elevating to the Carefree Demon Body Skill]

...

[You practiced the Demon Shadow Divine Skill for a thousand years, and your Carefree Demon Body Skill has reached its peak, enhancing your comprehension of movement techniques and causality]

[You practiced the Demon Shadow Divine Skill for thirteen hundred years, and your Carefree Demon Body Skill has returned to its essence, elevating to the Great Yin-Yang Transformation]

[You practiced the Demon Shadow Divine Skill for two thousand years, and your Great Yin-Yang Transformation has reached its peak, improving your comprehension of movement techniques and causality]

Demon Shadow Divine Skill, Carefree Demon Body Skill, Great Yin-Yang Transformation!

It only evolved twice; this secret technique must be rather complex in itself, and Jiang Qiong did not deceive him.

Gu An immediately activated the Life Span Barrier and then submerged his consciousness into the inheritance.

After a long while.

He slowly opened his eyes, his gaze filled with surprise and delight.

This secret technique was indeed perfect for espionage!

The Demon Shadow Divine Skill allows the caster to be covered in Demonic Qi, forming a demon shadow that even Divine Sense cannot penetrate. The Great Yin-Yang Transformation was even more exaggerated; it can't be forcibly dispelled, allowing the caster to maintain the demon shadow state until death, with their true body remaining hidden even after death.

Most importantly, the technique could not be deduced, and neither Magic Artifacts nor Dharma Treasures could reveal the true body.

So domineering!

With this skill, Gu An could do many things in the future.

Especially when combined with the Infinite Traceless Mystic Heaven Step, it was invincible, for the Infinite Traceless Mystic Heaven Step already contained the mystery of the Teleportation Divine Power, and each step could manifest a Dharma Aspect, allowing for both evasion and attack, with endless profundity.

Gu An pulled up his Attribute Panel again, his face showing satisfaction.

Name: Gu An

Life Span: 34/30823

Spirit Root: Supreme Five Elements Heavenly Spirit Root

Cultivation Level: Void Crossing Realm First Layer

Cultivation Techniques: Fire Control Art (unfinished), Divine Wood Pure Yang Skill (Mastery), Mystic Yellow Dragon Energy Skill (Peak), Alchemy (Initial Insight), Myriad Poison Mystic Skill (unfinished), Yin Yang Art (unfinished)

Ultimate Skills: Gale Shadowless Leg (Complete Understanding), Taicang Divine-Shocking Sword (Complete Understanding), Infinite Traceless Mystic Heaven Step (Mastery), Great Yin-Yang Transformation (Peak), Wood Spirit Sword Technique (Novice), Ziwei Array Chronicles (Novice)

Spells: Soul Capturing Skill (Novice), Sword Control Technique (Complete Understanding), Enchanting Eyes (unfinished), Poison Wood Array (Initial Insight), Wind Control Skill (Complete Understanding), Corpse Control Skill (unfinished)

Divine Powers: Mystic Yellow Dragon Might (Minor Achievement)

What a fruitful night!

Gu An deactivated the Life Span Barrier, then stood up and took a step forward; his figure vanished into thin air, only to reappear dozens of yards away in the forest. Then, with another step, he disappeared again.

He was like a consistently reappearing flash; such was the mysterious essence of the Infinite Traceless Mystic Heaven Step. And this was merely a trivial trial; the maximum distance he could cross was much farther.

Soon after, he returned to Mystic Valley.

...

It was high noon, and the sunlight was brilliant.

Gu An stood in the city, his eyes filled with curiosity as he looked around at the towering buildings. The streets where he stood were bustling with passersby and even demon beast figures could be seen. Above, numerous cultivators flew back and forth. The city alone probably housed hundreds of thousands of people.

The Supreme Sect had four major Inner Sect cities; each housed hundreds of thousands of disciples. This was almost too astonishing.

Gu An suddenly felt he had underestimated the strength of the Supreme Sect as well as the vastness of the Taicang Dynasty.

The ten days had come to an end. Early yesterday, Gu An had already visited the Outer Sect where he was tasked with managing the disciples' Caves. Having finished the work by dawn, and when noon arrived today, he found Du Ye and the two of them used the Teleportation Array to arrive directly at the Inner Sect City.

According to Du Ye, the Outer Sect City was thousands of miles away from the Inner Sect City, with lands in between where demon beasts raised by the Supreme Sect lived, as well as secret realms for disciples to train and Medicine Valleys for planting high-rank medical herbs.

"The Teleportation Array is an amazing creation; I must study it thoroughly," Gu An thought to himself. He had already asked Du Ye about purchasing arrays in the Inner Sect, and that it was possible as long as he had enough Spirit Stones or Spirit Energy Elixirs.

In the Immortal Cultivation World, Spirit Energy Elixirs also served as a form of currency, capable of restoring a cultivator's Spiritual Power as well as being used like Spirit Stones. Various sects had already standardized Spirit Energy Elixirs so that each Elixir contained Spiritual Energy equivalent to one Low-Grade Spirit Stone, with the same value.

Ever since Li Xuandao invited him to manage Medicine Valley, he had planned to expand his management of the valleys.

If every Medicine Valley had a Teleportation Array, how convenient would that be?

"Gu An, hurry up," Du Ye urged from ahead, and Gu An quickly caught up with his pace.

Along the way, Du Ye introduced him to the buildings they passed by. Gu An listened attentively, planning to explore in the coming days.

The Ji Family banquet would not end in just a few days; he had plenty of opportunity to explore.

Gu An wasn't just listening; he was also using Life Span Detection.

He had yet to see anyone in the Foundation Establishment Realm; the worst were in the Elixir Formation Realm, but almost all these Elixir Formation Realm disciples were over two hundred years old.

After a few streets, Gu An finally detected the presence of someone in the Foundation Establishment Realm; the person was only forty years old and had already reached the ninth layer of Foundation Establishment Realm. It was clear that they were a talented individual who had qualified for the Inner Sect based on their Spirit Root.

It seemed as though Du Ye was deliberately trying to broaden Gu An's horizons with his unhurried pace, which Gu An was happy to accommodate.

After half an hour,

They arrived in front of a mansion. This mansion was vast, its courtyard walls stretching for miles, and the plaque above the gate bore two characters.

Ji Mansion!

What boldness! Could all Ji Family Inner Sect Disciples live here?

Gu An quietly criticized the situation, feeling a sense of foreboding.

If this continued, one day the Supreme Sect would suppress the Ji Family, and then he would really become an infiltrator for the Ji Family.

Although he was currently affiliated with the Supreme Sect, in his heart, the Ji Family was of greater importance.

The Ji Family had raised and nurtured him, allowed him to grow up, and led him to join the first Sect like the Supreme Sect. Such favors could not be repaid by simply dedicating low-rank medical herbs.

Of course, Gu An wouldn't impose himself to repay the Ji Family, but should the Ji Family need him, as long as it wasn't too much to ask, he wouldn't refuse.

In front of Ji Mansion's gates, two Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators were on guard. Gu An cast his Life Span Detection and saw that their ages had already surpassed a hundred years; obviously they were not geniuses and were probably similar to Gu An and Du Ye—likely house servants from the Ji Family.

Du Ye immediately stepped forward, taking out his Token, his demeanor humble and subservient.

"Then you can take over for us. When it gets dark, we'll take you to your place to stay," the cultivator named Zhang Yan said thoughtfully.

Du Ye dared not refuse and immediately agreed.

Just like that, Gu An and Du Ye began their guard duty upon arrival.

Gu An took his position in front of a Qilin statue and suddenly had an idea.

"Du Ye, you keep watch for me, I'll give you a hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones. I want to go to the Inner Sect to buy some medical herb seeds; this is also for Miss Third's business," Gu An said."

Upon hearing this, Du Ye was momentarily stunned. He wanted to argue but found he couldn't refuse.

A hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones!

The kid was quite generous!

Thus, after handing over a hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones to Du Ye, Gu An left and began to wander alone within the Inner Sect City.

He hadn't gone far when a voice called out: "Gu An, what are you doing here?"