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

Gu An gazed upon that mysterious and colossal entity, feeling a deep sense of wariness in his heart.

He could sense that this being was immensely powerful, far surpassing the Sun and Moon Netherworld Emperor, likely having reached the Ninth Level of the Immortal Path!

Thanks to the protection of the Life Span Barrier, the other side did not detect Gu An's presence and quickly left the area.

The Tao Spiritual Energy within the universe was in turmoil, expanding its influence increasingly vast. It did not spread out in the manner of a vortex but expanded irregularly, making it impossible for passing beings to trace its origin, which was quite bizarre.

While Gu An was wary of them, those hidden beings were also wary of this region—the universe space within the Silent Destruction Domain was filled with a tense atmosphere.

As inherited memories continued to delve deeper, Gu An closed his eyes, immersed in them, perceiving the mysteries of the Eternal Infinite Skill.

Time moved swiftly.

Another ancient hour passed, and Gu An had completely mastered the intricacies of the Eternal Infinite Skill.

Gu An couldn't help but marvel at the power of evolutionary cultivation.

Even though he possessed the memories of Long Zhan and Lu Han, mastering their cultivation techniques and divine skills still required cultivation because simply remembering was not enough; one needed to transform both body and soul.

Evolutionary cultivation could accomplish this, and even compress the time to about an ancient hour, which, for his level, was almost the same as direct mastery.

Inheriting cultivation techniques cost another four million years of life span.

Gu An looked at his remaining life span of nine billion and over twenty million years, feeling quite composed.

An idea suddenly struck him. He needn't only enhance his own divine skills and ultimate techniques to a higher realm; he could also elevate Xiao Shengtian's, Long Zhan's, and Lu Han's proudest divine skills to the Returning to the Truth Realm, potentially increasing all aspects of his strength and possibly consuming less life span.

Having thought this, Gu An began to act.

He brought up his Attribute Panel and started investing life span.

In the end, he elevated Seven Divine Bodies, Fighting Will, Heavenly Dragon Reincarnation Dharma Aspect, and Destruction Dao Seal to the Returning to the Truth Realm, consuming a total of ninety million years of life span.

These four transformations each had their prowess, involving different forces of rules. While Seven Divine Bodies was slightly weaker, Xiao Shengtian's Fighting Will was surprisingly on par with Long Zhan's Heavenly Dragon Reincarnation Dharma Aspect and Lu Han's Destruction Dao Seal, which came as a surprise to Gu An.

In the Attribute Panel, Fighting Will was not categorized as a divine skill, spell, or ultimate technique but created its separate entry known as Daoist Intent.

Xiao Shengtian lived only 143 years but could fathom such transformations; his talent was certainly terrifying.

Unfortunately, he had encountered the Black Profound Emperor.

Perhaps this was why the Black Profound Emperor sought him out.

Of course, the fact that Xiao Shengtian had the ability to seize lifespan from a young age did not prove his talent was stronger than that of Long Zhan or Lu Han.

Another eight million years of life span was consumed by the Life Span Barrier, so Gu An turned his focus onto his cultivation level.

Cultivation was the paramount concern!

Let's try with one hundred million years of life span to test the waters!

Gu An remembered that when he was assaulting the Divine Thought True Immortal Realm, it required three hundred thousand years for each tribulation crossing, but he wondered how much it would need this time.

[You performed Qi Absorption Cultivation for four hundred thousand years, forcibly assaulting the Free Immortal Realm with the great accomplishment of the Eternal Infinite Skill, started the tribulation, but failed to withstand the Heavenly Dao Punishing Immortal Nine Severe Array, tribulation failed.]

[You performed Qi Absorption Cultivation for eight hundred thousand years, forcibly assaulting the Free Immortal Realm with the great accomplishment of the Eternal Infinite Skill, started the tribulation, but failed to withstand the Heavenly Dao Punishing Immortal Nine Severe Array, tribulation failed.]

…

Four hundred thousand years per tribulation crossing!

Fortunately, the difficulty had only increased by one hundred thousand years. The enhancements to his physique and cultivation technique had worked. According to the memories of Long Zhan and Lu Han, the gap between the Free Immortal and Divine Thought True Immortal was enormous.

A first-level Free Immortal could easily crush a ninth-level Divine Thought True Immortal!

This was also why Shengtian dominated the Great Heavenly Spirit Land and intimidated the Silent Destruction Domain.

Gu An guessed that, had he not been enhanced, he would need more than eight hundred thousand years to wait for the next breakthrough after failing the tribulation.

Just as Gu An was pondering, multiple prompts started to flash rapidly.

[You performed Qi Absorption Cultivation for twenty-four million eight hundred thousand years, forcibly assaulting the Free Immortal Realm with the great accomplishment of the Eternal Infinite Skill, started the tribulation, endured the Heavenly Dao Punishing Immortal Nine Severe Array, tribulation succeeded, your cultivation level advanced to the first layer of the Free Immortal Realm.]

[You performed Qi Absorption Cultivation for thirty-one million years, your cultivation level advanced to the second layer of the Free Immortal Realm.]

[You performed Qi Absorption Cultivation for thirty-nine million years, your cultivation level advanced to the third layer of the Free Immortal Realm.]

…

[You performed Qi Absorption Cultivation for eighty-five million years, your cultivation level advanced to the seventh layer of the Free Immortal Realm.]

[You performed Qi Absorption Cultivation for one hundred million years, your cultivation level advanced to the eighth layer of the Free Immortal Realm.]

It actually succeeded!

Gu An's face lit up with joy. He had been prepared to lose one hundred million years without gain, but as long as the breakthrough consumed less than three hundred million years of life span, he could accept it.

Once reaching the Free Immortal Realm, each level required millions of years of life span to advance. Gu An didn't find this excessive as evolutionary cultivation naturally required more life span than real life. Moreover, once attaining the Free Immortal Realm, increasing cultivation was as much about understanding the rules as it was about Qi Absorption Cultivation.

Long Zhan had encountered several Free Immortals who had struggled to break through for tens of millions of years.

Could it be that the previous Reincarnation Evolution had played a part?

Gu An did not dwell on the thought, his mood cheerful as he continued to invest life span, spending another twenty million years to elevate his cultivation level to the ninth layer of the Free Immortal Realm.

Tao Spiritual Energy began to surge around him, stirring upheaval throughout the universe once more.

This disturbance was far greater than the previous one!

…

In the Great Heavenly Spirit Land, within the Immortal Dynasty.

Beneath the dazzling starry sky stood a majestic peak with a vast and sprawling square at the summit, dotted with stone pillars emitting golden light.

The lord of the Immortal Dynasty, Yang Xian Emperor, was meditating on a white jade dais. He suddenly opened his eyes, looked up, and furrowed his brow.

"It's an disturbance from the Silent Destruction Domain..."

Yang Xian Emperor murmured to himself, his eyes filled with concern.

The Immortal Dynasty and Holy Court refrained from waging all-out war partly because the Silent Destruction Domain served as a check, fearing mutual destruction would provide an opportunity for the Heavenly Demon.

The disturbance from the Silent Destruction Domain had already affected the cosmic spiritual energy beyond the Outer Heaven, and this influence continued to expand, possibly reaching the Great Heavenly Spirit Land.

Even someone as powerful as Yang Xian Emperor could not determine what this signal meant.

He recalled a similar disturbance near the Silent Destruction Domain in the universe area beyond the Outer Heaven years ago, but it was nowhere near the scale of the current disturbance.

Could these two incidents be related?

He knitted his brow, lost in thought.

At the same time.

On the other side of the Great Heavenly Spirit Land, in the Holy Land where the Holy Court resided, several figures flew out and swiftly reached the outer light layer, looking towards the distance.

"It's an disturbance from the Silent Destruction Domain!"

"Could someone be breaking through? This disturbance is too exaggerated, isn't it?"

"It's hard to say; it could also be the Heavenly Demon plotting something."

"We should still be careful, and not forget the person from beyond the Outer Heaven who stole treasures from the Holy Court."

"Could it be related to the Immortal Dynasty? They could very well be colluding with the Heavenly Demon."

The Great Cultivators of the Holy Court discussed heatedly, most of them bearing serious expressions, occasionally glancing towards the direction of the Immortal Dynasty.

As time passed, the Great Sects within the Great Heavenly Spirit Land also became aware of the anomaly beyond the Outer Heaven, and more and more Great Cultivators flew out of the Great Heavenly Spirit Land reaching the outer light layer.

…

Boom!

Within the Life Span Barrier, Gu An's aura rose sharply, his entire body glowing with the brilliance of the Eternal Infinite Skill.

He had officially stepped into the Free Immortal Realm, becoming a Free Immortal!

Upon reaching the Free Immortal Realm, the Golden Core within his body began to transform!

When he had reached the Carefree Immortal Realm previously, his Golden Core could accumulate the force of Heaven and Earth rules, forming his own path.

Divine Immortal of Wondrous Dharma molded the Immortal Soul of Wondrous Dharma, Dao Void Mysterious Immortal solidified the path within the Golden Core, and Divine Thought True Immortal allowed his soul to temper out Divine Thought.

The Golden Core and soul continuously alternated in elevation, achieving a certain balance.

This time, it was his Golden Core's turn. His Golden Core was transforming into another existence, within which the Dao bloated and annihilated, condensing anew his own path.

Gu An knew what his Golden Core was about to transform into.

Tao Seed!

Owning the memory of Long Zhan, Gu An knew what realm lay beyond the Nine Layers of the Immortal Path; the key to reaching that realm lay in the Tao Seed.

The Tao Seed would condense Tao Fruit, and once it bore fruit, one could reach a whole new level.

The Free Immortal Realm was the process of nurturing a Tao Seed!

Once the Golden Core completely evolved into a Tao Seed, Gu An's cultivation continued to rise, and his Tao Seed grew rapidly.

When he reached the ninth layer of the Free Immortal Realm, his Tao Seed would be in its most perfect state!

The birth of the Tao Seed brought many benefits, enhancing his mana, physique, and soul; if the Tao Seed was indestructible, the person would not die, even if his flesh and soul were annihilated, the Tao Seed could regenerate flesh and soul.

This was because the soul's origin had already merged into the Tao Seed.

The Tao Seed was more flexible than the flesh and soul and could merge with the laws of the Great Dao without being repelled. In other words, the Tao Seed was like a nascent Dao, making it easier to exist within the universe. This is the true meaning of being "free."

Upon reaching this realm, Gu An could better sense the subtle intentions of the universe.

An entirely different force from the rules of the Great Dao was restraining everything!

Enveloped in the transformations of the Free Immortal Realm, Gu An was utterly captivated.

As he closed his eyes, another pair of eyes appeared in the distant darkness, spying on the void, and soon vanished.

Shadowy figures swept past meteor clusters, like illusions, fleeting in an instant.

…

The moon set, and the sun rose.

Sunlight swept across the Taicang Continent, dispersing the darkness.

A new day dawned, and the disciples of the Third Medicine Valley began their usual training, a magnificent sight.

Wu Jue came early in the morning to visit Gu An but did not see him. He did not leave but stood at a distance watching the Medicine Valley disciples train.

After the disciples had finished their training, An Xin approached Wu Jue, asking if he had come looking for Gu An.

Wu Jue nodded, and An Xin informed him that their master had gone out the day before and would likely return today. Wu Jue then decided to wait.

He walked over to the Go area and watched others play.

He preferred watching Chinese Chess over Go. Hearing some discuss the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, he couldn't help but join the conversation.

The argument was whether Liu Bei was truly virtuous, engaging in an endless debate with a Great Cultivator from the sect, red-faced with anger.

Just then, the Transmission Array Platform lit up, and Gu An walked out.