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

The night sky was silent, with only the occasional cries of birds and beasts, as the mountain forest lay quiet in the darkness.

Gu An sat meditating within the Life Span Barrier, enjoying the moonlight.

The moon tonight was beautiful, just like his mood.

His cultivation level had reached the fourth layer of the Core Formation Realm, drawing ever closer to its end.

He planned to keep investing, right up until he broke through to the Nascent Soul Realm, and then invest in an ultimate skill, for the Gale Shadowless Leg no longer satisfied him.

What Nascent Soul Realm Great Cultivator would use legs?

It had to be a sword!

Gu An decided to bestow his favor upon the Li Family's Seven Swords; with the cultivation level of the Nascent Soul Realm, he needed the attack methods worthy of it.

Assume Cheng Xuandan's master is a Nascent Soul Realm Great Cultivator!

Gu An intended to overestimate his opponent as much as possible to reduce the chance of defeat.

After the Cultivator he had combated earlier left, he never returned, allowing Gu An's heart to finally relax.

As a Core Formation Realm Cultivator, he had enough influence in the Outer Sect to swagger around; even if someone were to burst in suddenly, they wouldn't be able to withstand a single kick from him!

Core Formation Realm, fifth layer!

With another increase in cultivation level, Gu An's Divine Sense also grew stronger.

The Core Formation Realm and the Foundation Establishment Realm were as different as heaven and earth.

The difference in Spiritual Power was like the gap between the sky and the earth; his Divine Sense now could be concentrated to form a powerful impact force.

Having reached the Core Formation Realm, he felt as though he truly resembled a Cultivator.

If the Core Formation Realm was like this, how powerful would the Nascent Soul Realm be?

Gu An could hardly wait to invest his life force.

He was forced to wait until his cultivation level reached a breakthrough to the sixth layer of the Core Formation Realm, then he finally pulled up the Attribute Panel.

His gaze involuntarily drifted towards his Spirit Root.

He had once tried to enhance his Spirit Root, but it was in vain, causing him a psychological shadow, fearful that it was a bottomless pit, so he shifted his life span to other areas. Moreover, deducing cultivation techniques could also improve Spirit Root Qualification.

Now that he was strong enough and had plenty of life span left, it was time to try and elevate his Spirit Root once more.

After some time, once the increase in his cultivation level halted, Gu An directly invested two thousand years of life span into his Spirit Root!

"You have invested two thousand years of life span into the evolutionary cultivation of your Spirit Root"

"You have comprehended the natural ways of heaven and earth for a hundred years, enhancing your Five Elements Spirit Root perception"

"You have comprehended the natural ways of heaven and earth for two hundred years, enhancing your Five Elements Spirit Root perception"

…

"You have comprehended the natural ways of heaven and earth for a thousand years, finally capturing a trace of the Heaven and Earth True Meaning.

Your Spirit Root is baptized by heaven and earth, the qualifications of your Five Elements Spirit Root begin to transform, all of your Five Elements Spirit Root qualifications evolve into second-rate mortal qualifications, with the Wood Spirit Root being particularly prominent"

"You have comprehended the natural ways of heaven and earth for twelve hundred years, enhancing your Five Elements Spirit Root perception"

…

"You have comprehended the natural ways of heaven and earth for two thousand years, finally capturing a trace of the Heaven and Earth True Meaning, and at the same time, comprehending the earth's vein flows. Your Spirit Root is baptized by heaven and earth; the qualifications of your Five Elements Spirit Roots begin to transform.

All of your Five Elements Spirit Root qualifications evolve into first-rate mortal qualifications, with the Wood Spirit Root and the Earth Spirit Root being particularly prominent"

Line after line of prompts appeared before Gu An's eyes.

When he saw the initial prompts about the Five Elements, his heart began to bleed.

What a blunder! This thing truly is a bottomless pit!

Seeing that the qualifications of all Five Elements Spirit Roots had reached first-rate, his mood lightened somewhat. However, he still felt pained, especially considering that his prior comprehension of the Divine Wood Pure Yang Skill had already brought his Wood Spirit Root to first-rate.

That's not the right way to think!

He should consider that it took a thousand years for the Divine Wood Pure Yang Skill to bring just one Spirit Root to first-rate; to get all Five Spirit Roots up there would require at least five thousand years.

That raised the question: why hadn't he cultivated techniques of the other four attributes?

As a person, you must always try new things to find the most perfect path.

As Gu An reflected upon himself, the Earth Spirit Energy surged once more, not to increase his cultivation level this time, but to temper his sinews and bones.

Pain!

Gu An experienced an unprecedented level of pain and could only grit his teeth and bear it.

To divert his attention, he began thinking about the Attribute Panel again.

It seemed that Spirit Root Qualification was the hardest to elevate, which made sense—Spirit Root Qualification was akin to maximum life span, and cultivation level represented current life span. Breaking through the maximum limit was always the hardest.

No amount of hard work could compare to breaking through a fate set by the heavens.

That's why the Supreme Sect treated geniuses so well; for them, Ji Xiaoyu with Dual Spirit Roots was far more important than a Core Formation Realm Cultivator.

For most people, the fewer the Spirit Roots, the higher the qualification. If a person's total Talent Value represented by their Spirit Roots is one hundred, then dual Spirit Roots could split fifty each, but if there were Five Elements Spirit Roots, the talent value for each would be only twenty, and being versatile sometimes means being mediocre.

Now it was different for Gu An; by elevating his Spirit Root qualifications, it was as though he was increasing the total Talent Value from one hundred upward.

Regrettably, he couldn't invest cultivation into enhancing a single Spirit Root attribute. Currently, the other Spirit Roots weren't of much help as he cultivated the Divine Wood Pure Yang Skill, so his cultivation speed increased only slightly.

However, he noticed in the prompts that the prefix "mortal" preceded the first-rate qualification.

Could there also be Holy Bodies and Spirit Bodies?

Gu An let his thoughts wander, and meanwhile, the consumption rate of the Life Span Barrier began to slow down. From the start of the breakthrough, a total of one hundred thirty-four years had already been spent.

As his Spirit Root Qualifications continued to improve, Gu An noticeably felt each attribute of Spiritual Energy become more distinct, which also caused his perception of the entire world to change.

The sensation of pain was being replaced by a sense of novelty!

After a long time.

Gu An's body no longer absorbed spiritual energy, and the spirit root on the attribute panel changed to a top-tier five elements spirit root. He did not rise to his feet but instead invested two thousand years of life span into his cultivation level.

The failure of his tribulation cast a long shadow, so he decided to achieve a miracle by a bold stroke. If he were to invest only a thousand years of life span and got stuck at the ninth layer of the Foundation Establishment Realm, he would have no choice but to spit blood.

Such a possibility did exist!

After failing the tribulation, he would have to waste fifty years before he could continue to charge forth; it was all too real. In reality, failing a tribulation would result in either death or injury, and indeed recovering from such injuries took time.

And the tribulations of the Nascent Soul Realm were bound to be even more difficult, with the number of failures likely to be nothing less than more!

Begin!

[You practiced energy absorption for a hundred years, and your cultivation level has broken through to the seventh layer of the Elixir Formation Realm.]

[You practiced energy absorption for two hundred years, and your cultivation level has broken through to the eighth layer of the Elixir Formation Realm.]

[You practiced energy absorption for three hundred years, and your cultivation level has broken through to the ninth layer of the Elixir Formation Realm.]

[You practiced energy absorption for four hundred years. With the great accomplishment of the Divine Wood Pure Yang Skill, you forcefully charged into the Nascent Soul Realm, began the tribulation, but you did not endure the Sanxuan heavenly tribulation, tribulation failed.]

...

[You practiced energy absorption for a thousand and five hundred years. With the great accomplishment of the Divine Wood Pure Yang Skill, you forcefully charged into the Nascent Soul Realm, began the tribulation, but you did not endure the Sanxuan heavenly tribulation, tribulation failed.]

[You practiced energy absorption for one thousand six hundred years. With the great accomplishment of the Divine Wood Pure Yang Skill, you forcefully charged into the Nascent Soul Realm, began the tribulation, and finally endured the Sanxuan heavenly tribulation, tribulation succeeded, promotion to Nascent Soul Realm.]

[You practiced energy absorption for one thousand eight hundred years. your cultivation level has broken through to the second layer of the Nascent Soul Realm.]

[You practiced energy absorption for two thousand years. your cultivation level has broken through to the third layer of the Nascent Soul Realm.]

Damn!

To actually fail twelve times!

By the time Gu An saw that he failed the tribulation six times, his heart sank to the bottom. When he failed for the tenth time, his vision turned black.

Thankfully, he eventually succeeded in breaking through to the Nascent Soul Realm.

Is the Nascent Soul Realm that difficult to break through?

Collapsing into thought, Gu An realized why the life span consumed during simulated cultivation was higher than the actual expenditure.

Simulated cultivation was akin to practicing without any aids. Normal cultivation would involve consuming elixirs, using formations to gather spiritual energy, both of which could also assist with crossing the tribulation, not to mention the marvelous effects of some rare and exotic treasures.

The spiritual energy of heaven and earth surged again, and the consumption speed of the life span barrier began to accelerate.

Gu An calmed his heart and began to enjoy the upgrade of his cultivation level.

...

The rising sun skimmed across the mortal world's landscape, lighting up Mystic Valley as it gradually brightened. Standing on the mountaintop, Gu An looked down upon the autumn-colored forest; his robe fluttered in the wind, and the sunlight showered down upon him, as if at any moment, he might ascend and become an immortal.

He had already condensed his nascent soul, becoming a true cultivator of the Nascent Soul Realm!

To reward himself, he increased his apparent cultivation level by one layer to the fourth layer of the Energy Cultivation Realm, and henceforth, he planned to increase it by one layer each year until he hit the ninth layer. This way, he would not be conscripted.

He couldn't resist checking his attribute panel once more.

[Name: Gu An]

[Life Span: 22/4502]

[Spirit Root: Top-tier five elements spirit root (with wood and earth attributes being more prominent) (life span can be invested for simulated cultivation)]

[Cultivation Level: Nascent Soul Realm third layer (life span can be invested for simulated cultivation)]

[Cultivation Technique: Fire Control Art (not mastered), Divine Wood Pure Yang Skill (mastery), Dragon Strength Divine Primordial Skill (mastery), Alchemy (Initial Insight) (life span can be invested for simulated cultivation)]

[Ultimate Skill: Gale Shadowless Leg (Integration and comprehension), Li family Seven Swords (not mastered), Eight Directions Step (not mastered) (life span can be invested for simulated cultivation)]

In the future, Gu An planned to invest more in the Li family Seven Swords and then continue to accumulate life span—saving up to a significant milestone of a hundred thousand years before making use of it.

For now, he needed a few days of rest to settle his excited heart.

With his cultivation level of the Nascent Soul Realm, he could certainly go to the Supreme Sect to obtain decent positions and treatment. However, the thought of the sect possibly sending him out to slay demons and engage in combat with the demon path, or even possibly face infighting, quelled those stray thoughts.

He who does not forget his beginnings, achieves the intended outcome!

It didn't matter who came calling; he was determined to hunker down in Mystic Valley till the end!

Occasionally, he could search for heavenly materials and earthly treasures, but he must not divert his primary focus away from Mystic Valley.

Higher status might allow his life span to increase much faster, but there was an equally proportional increase in danger. After all, since he had no enemies, why the hurry?

Gu An turned around and started walking down the mountain.

Already capable of flying in the sky at the Nascent Soul Realm, he chose not to do so, opting for walking down the mountain instead.

When he got to Medicine Valley, Xiaochuan and the others gradually came out to greet him.

"Senior Brother, you went up the mountain so early?" Ye Lan greeted Gu An, and whether it was her imagination or not, she felt that today's Senior Brother seemed even more handsome.

Gu An smiled and replied, "I went to check on the seeds. You will lead them in their practice today."

Ye Lan nodded in agreement, wishing to ask more, but Gu An had already started walking towards the loft.

Not far away, Wuxin watched Gu An's figure, secretly thinking, "There must be a secret in the woods! I will surely find it!"

Gu An ascended the stairs, pushed the door open, and upon entering, he immediately saw the White Spirit Rat lying on the table, its body inflated like a balloon, while the Green Vine Fruit was nowhere to be found.

Still breathing, not dead!

He immediately performed a life span detection on the White Spirit Rat.

[White Spirit Rat (first order): 12/120/180]

Hmm?

Its life span had increased by seventy years; initially, the White Spirit Rat had only fifty years.

Was the Green Vine Fruit's medicinal effect so strong?

Gu An immediately went over to the wooden cabinet, took out a Green Vine Fruit, and began to nibble on it.

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