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

After entering the Hidden Spirit Palace, Gu An flashed to the center of the grand hall and sat down to meditate, beginning to cultivate energy.

He felt a strange power trying to harm him.

It was somewhat like the Way of Cause and Effect, but more terrifying than that!

Gu An used his own power of the Way of Cause and Effect to resist, but he couldn't neutralize this eerie force quickly.

As time passed, Gu An gradually understood this eerie force.

It was Karma Retribution!

It seemed that there was some power in the cosmos maintaining balance over those who used the Way of Cause and Effect, to prevent the collapse of order.

Though the Way of Cause and Effect is one of the Three Thousand Great Dao, it has the ability to influence all Dao, involving time, Reincarnation, life and death, and so on—a small change in cause and effect could overturn the past.

Without suppression, the Way of Cause and Effect would be tantamount to the strongest Dao.

But in fact, the Three Thousand Great Dao are all equal, with no distinctions of strong or weak, depending only on the cultivator's Achievement in their respective Dao.

The stronger the force of Cause and Effect used, the greater the Karma Retribution suffered.

Gu An opened his eyes and pulled up his Attribute Panel to check; he found that his Life Span was decreasing, yet his Life Span had already been the number he had seized, which was now fifty-four billion years.

While cultivating energy, he waited.

Karma Retribution couldn't possibly deduct his fourteen billion years of Life Span, could it?

If so, then this was equivalent to no Life Span stolen at all.

Worse, not only had he not gained Life Span, but he had also lost it...

Gu An furrowed his brows, but fortunately, after a short while, the speed at which the Life Span numbers jumped began to slow.

After the time of one stick of incense had passed, his Life Span no longer decreased; he had lost a total of two billion years of Life Span, which meant that he still gained twelve billion years of Life Span.

That was a huge profit!

Gu An exhaled in relief; he raised his right hand, looked at his palm, and saw black lines emerge, like the creepy wounds of poisoning.

He had withstood the Karma Retribution, but these remaining traces still required time to erase.

For the time being, his strength hadn't been damaged, only leaving the short-term indelible marks of cause and effect, which was no significant trouble.

But having just used the Infinite Sword Book and encountered such Retribution, what about the future?

Gu An felt the need to continue improving the Infinite Sword Book, to enhance its power of Cause and Effect so that one day he could escape Karma Retribution.

Regardless, this time not only had he eliminated a hidden danger, but he had also gained ten billion years of Life Span, making it a double blessing.

Gu An adjusted his emotions and looked back at the Infinite Sword Book.

In the process of using the Infinite Sword Book, Gu An also saw Sword Gu Ming and the antlered elder through the Sword of Cause and Effect, but he couldn't deduce their causality through this perspective anymore.

...

Under the starry sky, before the Celestial Dao Golden Core.

An Hao and the Yang Immortal Emperor sat side by side in meditation, each cultivating their energy.

Suddenly.

The Yang Immortal Emperor opened his eyes, furrowing his brow, and sharply turned to look at the Celestial Dao Golden Core.

The Celestial Dao Golden Core was still burning fiercely, appearing mystical and powerful, with its surface flames resembling the laws of the operation of all things, continuously renewing, displaying various Great Dao on it.

An Hao, sensing his movement, also opened his eyes to look at him, asking curiously, "What's wrong?"

The Yang Immortal Emperor stared at the Celestial Dao Golden Core and said, "Suddenly, one great disaster lessened in the world. It's strange, but indeed so."

"One great disaster lessened? What did you see before?" An Hao grew more curious.

"While contemplating the Celestial Dao Golden Core, I saw the future, where a river hung in the heavens for all living beings to see. This river, manifested by the Sword Dao, would bring a cataclysm to annihilate heaven and earth."

The Yang Immortal Emperor replied, his thoughts drifting back, narrating with a tone filled with certain feelings that made An Hao visualize the scene depicted in his words.

An Hao couldn't help but ask, "So, such a calamity suddenly disappeared; could it be that a Great Power has changed the destiny of Great Heaven and Earth? Does that mean the Celestial Spirit Great World will be peaceful from now on and no longer chaotic?"

The Yang Immortal Emperor snorted, "Do you really think the tribulations of the world stem from the ambition of some powerful being? It's not so. Whether it's the Immortal Dynasty or the Holy Court, Destiny is shrinking. Only by devouring the Destiny of the other can one preserve the Daoist Lineage. This is the will of Great Heaven and Earth at play, continuously unleashing Cause and Effect, forcing catastrophe after catastrophe to come."

He turned back, took a deep breath, and said, "When this great disaster ends, a new one will begin. There's only one way to put a complete stop to it."

"What way?" An Hao asked with a frown.

He disliked this kind of predestined fate, as it made him feel that his Talent was a gift from heaven, and that the Dao Practice he cultivated was also chosen by the will of Great Heaven and Earth.

Everything seemed to lose its meaning.

The Yang Immortal Emperor replied, "That is for the Immortal Dynasty and Holy Court to become one, with the victor annihilating ninety-nine percent of all living beings, reducing the vitality of Great Heaven and Earth to the extreme, reshaping the Rules of Heaven and Earth, whereafter the will of Heaven and Earth will naturally subside."

An Hao's face changed dramatically; ninety-nine percent of all living beings must die?

Such a will of Heaven and Earth contradicted his fantasy.

"At that time, such a situation would be against the Righteous Dao, and the victor would hardly be at ease. No one wants to slaughter all living beings, so the Immortal Dynasty and Holy Court decided to fight to the death, also reducing the number of each other's beings," said the Yang Immortal Emperor, his expression indifferent as if devoid of any emotion.

An Hao's brow furrowed deeper.

He thought of another matter, asking, "Could the invasion from Outer Heaven become an unpredictable factor? Don't let the Outer Heaven Power have the last laugh."

The Yang Immortal Emperor scoffed, "They are mere bandits. If their ambition becomes too great, they will only perish along with their Dao."

An Hao wished he could say that hundreds of years ago, if not for his master, we would all have died or been taken over by the Heavenly Demon.

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But then he thought again, perhaps his master's intervention was a part of the will of Great Heaven and Earth, or if not his master, then some other powerful being would have intervened.

Yes.

His master was so powerful, why would he remain in the Celestial Spirit Great World?

Could it be that his master represents the will of Great Heaven and Earth?

An Hao reached this conclusion and suddenly felt an epiphany.

Wandering the world for so many years, he had a good understanding of history, knowing that an era of peace had lasted countless years and the current upheaval was a rarity in a million years.

The Supporting Dao Sword Venerable had appeared only a little over a thousand years ago, after the disappearance of Shengtian.

The more he thought about it, the more it seemed to make sense, as if he had seen through the truths of the world.

Wait, if his master represented the Heavenly Dao, then his master choosing him...

An Hao's eyes changed as he entered a mysterious state.

The Yang Immortal Emperor, sensing this change, could only lament inwardly that the Heavenly Dao was unjust.

Rather than envy An Hao, he was more curious as to why the calamity had vanished.

In his peering, that calamity was more desperate than any past disasters, and he could not forget the figure of Sword Gu Ming.

That figure was even more terrifying than the Profound Desolate Demon God or the Silent Destruction God Emperor.

"What kind of being is contending from behind the scenes? Is this a battle against Heaven?"

"Can one really win against Heaven?"

The Yang Immortal Emperor mused silently, then looked back at An Hao. If An Hao was the chosen of the Heavenly Dao, would he stand a chance against such beings in the future?

He couldn't imagine what An Hao would look like in the future.

...

When autumn came, within Profound Valley.

Gu An sat on a cliff, watching Jiang Shi and An Shengtian engaged in Combat in the sky before him.

Both had reached the level of Profound Heart Realm. When An Shengtian first arrived, he was just a teenager, barely twenty years old, and now he was nearing a thousand.

It was estimated that in another five hundred years, this master-disciple pair would attempt to break through to the Nirvana Realm.

Gu An had cultivated them within Profound Valley and had not invested much effort; their reaching the Profound Heart Realm was inseparable from their own hard work.

The Blood Prison Great Saint sat behind Gu An, remarking, "An Shengtian, this kid, really is increasingly showing the demeanor of his ancestor."

An Shengtian, who bore a strong resemblance to An Hao, had a presence that grew even more pronounced after becoming powerful.

"He's still a far cry from it," Gu An said offhandedly.

An Hao had already inherited the True Immortal Inheritance, and his cultivation level was advancing at an incredibly exaggerated pace. An Shengtian could never surpass An Hao in this lifetime; the gap would only widen.

Not just An Shengtian, anyone of his generation could only look up to An Hao. Read new chapters at My Virtual Library Empire

Gu An suddenly thought of the Celestial Sect legacy in his own possession. The Celestial Sect legacy was also a kind of Celestial Dao Destiny, which could grant longevity but at the expense of one's freedom, being manipulated by the Heavenly Dao.

Should he let An Shengtian accept the Celestial Sect legacy?

Never mind whether he could catch up or not; there was no need to trouble An Hao further.

No matter how many disciples he had, An Hao was still the disciple Gu An valued and anticipated the most; An Shengtian could not compare to An Hao in his heart.

An Hao was the first disciple he had truly cultivated with all his heart from a young age.

Compared with An Shengtian, Gu An was more concerned about Jiang Shi.

Since Jiang Shi had entered Profound Valley, he had been diligent and hardworking. Initially, his eagerness to join Profound Valley at all costs, even possibly causing the death of Lu Jiujia, had left a poor impression on Gu An.

But over the years, Jiang Shi had proven his loyalty over a millennium, and Gu An had begun to place great importance on him.

Unlike the visible strength of An Shengtian, Gu An felt Jiang Shi had more potential. This young man deliberately held back against opponents of the same realm, aiming to highlight An Shengtian's strength.

Gu An even sensed a trace of Dao Intent emanating from him.

Not yet at the Nirvana Realm, Jiang Shi had already begun to comprehend the Way of Cause and Effect. Judging by his talent for Enlightenment, this young man was a prodigy of the millennium.

Of course, this was also related to the cultivation of Dao Intent by Gu An.

Ever since he discovered Jiang Shi had an extraordinary perception talent for the Way of Cause and Effect, Gu An had been intentionally and unintentionally exposing him to the power of cause and effect.

"Indeed, it's a far cry. Speaking of which, it's been a long time since I've heard any news about An Hao. Is he in seclusion?" the Blood Prison Great Saint asked with curiosity, believing his master must know An Hao's whereabouts.

Gu An did not answer immediately, as someone was flying in.

A figure emerged from Profound Valley, it was An Xin.

An Xin landed beside Gu An, excitedly saying, "Master, there's an Immortal God appearing in the Human World!"

Immortal God?

The Blood Prison Great Saint turned to look at An Xin, and both Jiang Shi and An Shengtian, who were engaged in Combat, also turned their attention.

Without turning his head, Gu An asked, "What Immortal God? Tell me more."

An Xin sat down beside him and said, "An Immortal has descended, claiming that by collecting nine true copies of the Theory of Heaven, one can comprehend the Celestial Dao Record, inherit the True Immortal legacy and one's Destiny Pattern!"

The Blood Prison Great Saint couldn't help asking, "What Immortal has descended? And so quietly?"

In the past, battles between Gu An and those powerhouses had been earth-shattering.

In the Blood Prison Great Saint's view, if a real Immortal came, the commotion wouldn't be small.

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