If I become a saint, a celestial official will summon me to raise horses.

Chapter 173 A Meeting Too Late, Journey to the West
Gu Yu's arrival disrupted the game between Gu An and Lu Lingjun. Lu Lingjun was also interested in Xuan Tianyi, so she asked Gu Yu a few questions.

After chatting for a while, Gu Yu finally left.

Seeing that Lu Lingjun's mind was wandering, Gu An knew that she was thinking about Xuan Tianyi.

He stood up, turned and left.

Lu Lingjun suddenly said, "After the New Year, you should also go and listen to the Dao. This is a very rare opportunity; cultivators at the Mahayana Realm are not often seen."

Gu An turned to look at her and saw the longing on her face. He chuckled softly and said nothing more.

The influence of Mahayana teachings was immense. As winter approached, more and more disciples returned, and cultivators from other sects also came.

Xuan Tianyi's name spread throughout the cultivation world, and his cultivation deeds were revealed and widely circulated.

The strongest genius in the Tai Xuan Sect since ancient times formed the Core at the age of twenty, the Nascent Soul at the age of forty-two, the Deity at the age of seventy, the Void Transcending at the age of one hundred, and the Body Integration at the age of two hundred!
Because of his extraordinary talent, the Tai Xuan Sect concealed his true age before he reached the ninth level of the Integration Realm. After he reached the ninth level of the Integration Realm, he went south to seek immortal opportunities. This made the Tai Xuan Sect even more afraid to mention his talent, for fear of causing great disaster.

After searching for immortals overseas for three hundred years, I have returned having already reached the Great Ascension Realm!
With the Tai Xuan Sect's extensive promotion of Xuan Tianyi's legendary life, Xuan Tianyi quickly became famous throughout the world, overshadowing the Nine Cultivators.

Most cultivators who heard about his deeds found it unbelievable, and even thought that the Tai Xuan Sect was exaggerating his achievements.

When Gu An heard about Xuan Tianyi's deeds in the outer city, he also thought it was exaggerated.

But thinking about it, it makes sense. No wonder some people in the sect said that if a true disciple wanted the position of sect leader, Lü Baitian would have to give up his position within a day.

Faced with such talent, no matter how great Lü Baitian's contributions were, he had to yield.

Although Xuan Tianyi's growth trajectory subverted the common understanding of cultivators, his return did indeed greatly boost the morale of the Tai Xuan Sect. Even before the Spring Festival, the outer city already had a festive atmosphere.

Amidst the vast expanse of winter snow, Gu An arrived at the Third Medicine Valley from Xuan Valley.

As soon as he arrived, he sensed two powerful auras, one of which was surprisingly at the Mahayana realm.

Xuan Tianyi has arrived!
Gu An walked calmly toward his attic.

After going upstairs and opening the door, he saw two people in the room: one was the deputy sect leader Ji Hantian, and the other was a man in blue.

Xuan Tianyi was dressed in a green robe and had a youthful appearance, making him seem more like a young disciple than a Mahayana cultivator.

"Gu An, you've finally arrived. Close the door, sit down and let's chat," Ji Hantian said with a smile, as if he were the owner of this pavilion.

Gu An didn't mind, closed the door, and then came to the two of them, clasping his hands in greeting.

Before Ji Hantian could introduce them, Xuan Tianyi asked first, "Are you Pan An?"

[Mysterious Heavenly Intent (Sixth Level of Mahayana Realm): 598/4800/5000]

Looking at Xuan Tianyi's lifespan, Gu An was secretly surprised.

How could someone with a lifespan of five thousand years cultivate so quickly?

Judging from this, Xuan Tianyi will surely be able to undergo Nirvana within 4,500 years, at which time he will break the mandate of heaven and have another limit to lifespan.

Based on Gu An's experience, Xuan Tianyi's spiritual root aptitude should be at the level of a five-thousand-year lifespan limit. At least his physical aptitude is not as good as Ji Xiaoyu and An Hao, but his comprehension must be amazing. Coupled with extraordinary opportunities, he has become who he is today.

Gu An feigned hesitation and looked at Ji Hantian.

Ji Hantian laughed and said, "To tell you the truth, this is Xuan Tianyi, the eldest disciple of our sect. He is not an outsider; he is our most outstanding disciple."

Xuan Tianyi ignored his flattery and instead looked at Gu An with curiosity, his eyes bright.

Gu An immediately replied, "I do indeed have a pen name, Pan An."

Upon hearing this, Xuan Tianyi smiled and said, "Your Investiture of the Gods is very good. Someone sent it to me before, and I liked it very much. I even mass-produced it and spread it overseas. Your book has already spread widely in the ocean and is much more popular than my book."

"Thank you for your appreciation, senior. May I ask what book you have written?" Gu An asked, bowing in thanks.

Xuan Tianyi coughed lightly and said, "My book was just something I wrote casually, it can't compare to Investiture of the Gods."

"Let's not talk about his books." Ji Hantian shook his head and chuckled.

This made Gu An even more curious about what book Xuan Tianyi had written.

However, Xuan Tianyi was unwilling to talk about it, and instead pulled Gu An aside to chat about the Investiture of the Gods.

Faced with his questions, Gu An could only answer them one by one. Ji Hantian stopped talking and got up to leave. After leaving the room, he closed the door behind him.

Xuan Tianyi didn't act like a Mahayana cultivator. When certain plots from the Investiture of the Gods were mentioned, he was indignant, especially about the story of Nezha returning his bones to his father and his flesh to his mother.

Gu An couldn't memorize every single word of Investiture of the Gods, so he added many stories to the book, such as the legends of Nezha cutting off his own flesh and blood to return to his parents and Yang Jian rescuing his mother from Peach Mountain, making the characters more three-dimensional. This is also why Investiture of the Gods was so popular.

Xuan Tianyi was very curious about how Gu An managed to write such a remarkable book.

Gu Anze replied that he encountered an immortal touching his head in a dream, which suddenly enlightened him.

The reason it was "all at once" is because he never wrote another masterpiece like Investiture of the Gods after that.

"Your Tai Xuan Immortal Venerable and Shattering the Void are not bad, but I still feel that they are not as good as the Investiture of the Gods," Xuan Tianyi said with lingering interest.

Gu An did not refute him, but instead asked him what books he had written.

Xuan Tianyi suddenly felt embarrassed and stammered.

Gu An seized the opportunity and kept pressing for answers, until Xuan Tianyi finally revealed the book's title.

"What? You wrote The Travels of Qingxia?" Gu An slammed his hand on the table and stood up, excitedly asking. Whether it was Xuan Tianyi's imagination or not, for a moment he felt inexplicably flustered, unsure if he was frightened by Gu An or if he had something to hide.

He nodded reluctantly.

Gu An raised his hand and took out a series of Qingxia Travelogues from his storage bag. Xuan Tianyi took a closer look and was moved.

"I love Qingxia Travelogue so much! I've read each book at least a hundred times..." Gu An talked on and on about his love for Qingxia Travelogue.

Xuan Tianyi listened, his heart filled with an unprecedented surge of emotion.

Finally, someone can appreciate his talent!
He immediately felt a sense of regret for not having met her sooner.

On the way back, he lay on the deck of the boat. With each reading of Investiture of the Gods, he felt more and more connected to Pan An. The anticipation brought by this feeling even surpassed the thrill of returning to save his sect.

Sure enough, Pan An was the soulmate he could never find in his life!
Xuan Tianyi became more and more excited as he thought about it. He suddenly stood up, grabbed Gu An's shoulders with both hands, and said, "Pan An, no, Gu An, let's become sworn brothers. From now on, I will be your elder brother!"

Gu An was stunned.

What kind of brain circuit is this?

That's jumping way too fast!
Seeing his hesitation, Xuan Tianyi said confidently, "Brother, let me tell you, with my cultivation level, I am absolutely invincible on this continent. Become my elder brother, and no one will dare to bully you in the future. I heard that Lü Baitian wants to take you as his disciple? Don't listen to him. His Fate-Defying Divine Art is of dubious origin and extremely evil. I can pass on my divine art to you. With our brotherly relationship, I can't say I'll help you defy fate, but leading you to the Integration Realm will be no difficult task!"

Gu An wanted to refuse. What a joke! Me, a dignified wandering immortal, becoming your younger brother?

But Xuan Tianyi's next words moved him.

He was worried about how to live for a thousand years. Under normal circumstances, once he reached the Nascent Soul stage, others would no longer regard him as an ordinary person.

Now it's better. If he had reached the Integration Realm through the power of the Profound Heaven Intent, others would at most envy him, but wouldn't think he was a threat.

However, Gu An still had to put on an act.

So he pretended to refuse, but Xuan Tianyi persisted. After several attempts, Xuan Tianyi became furious and forced him to agree.

"Since you think so highly of me, I will call you Brother Xuan from now on," Gu An said helplessly.

Xuan Tianyi beamed and took out a jade slip, saying, "This contains the cultivation technique I practice. Take it and practice it. I'll have someone send you a batch of cultivation resources after the New Year."

"This...isn't this inappropriate?" Gu An said, holding the jade slip in his hand, feeling embarrassed.

Xuan Tianyi glared at him and said, "If you feel bad about it, then write a second Investiture of the Gods. Don't write anything about breaking through the void anymore. It's too absurd and tasteless!"

Gu An, feeling indebted to the person who had given him the gift, could only smile and say, "Okay, I'll definitely write it."

"Oh? Do you already have a plan?"

"Well, it's fine to tell you in advance, it's called Journey to the West."

"Journey to the West? That name doesn't sound right. It's definitely not as good as Investiture of the Gods. You should think about it some more."

"Hehe, you don't understand, you'll find out when the time comes."

Xuan Tianyi stopped criticizing Journey to the West and started talking about other books, pulling one out of his hand.

"The inspiration for 'The Travels of Qingxia' came from it," Xuan Tianyi said mysteriously, waving the book in his hand.

Gu An looked down and his eyelids twitched. He then took out a book from his storage bag.

Xuan Tianyi was stunned when he saw it.

"How come you also have Master Xunchun?" Xuan Tianyi asked excitedly, his eyes wide.

"It was given to me by Elder Xu Lu of the Library Hall."

"So you're the junior who's been chasing after Master Xunchun all this time! Hahaha, we really are destined to meet. This book was brought back to him by someone I had someone bring it back!"

Xuan Tianyi was overjoyed and pulled Gu An aside to start discussing Daoist Xunchun.

The two chatted until evening, during which Ji Hantian knocked on the door but was chased away by Xuan Tianyi.

It wasn't until the next morning that Gu An saw him downstairs.

Watching Xuan Tianyi's departing figure, Gu An's face was full of smiles.

They chatted all night without feeling tired at all. Both of them felt like they hadn't had enough. If Xuan Tianyi hadn't had important business to attend to today, they could have continued chatting.

Lu Lingjun suddenly walked over and asked, "Is he the true disciple?"

Gu An nodded.

Lu Lingjun sized him up with a strange look in her eyes and asked, "You've been together for a whole day and night, haven't you...?"

"Can't do anything?"

"It is said that some great cultivators, after experiencing the ultimate bliss in the human world, began to seek other pleasures to satisfy their empty hearts, such as homosexuality..." Lu Lingjun did not finish her sentence, but Gu An already understood.

Gu An rolled her eyes at her and snorted, "Oh? You guessed it? Then don't even think about me being your Daoist partner anymore!"

Looking at his expression, Lu Lingjun smiled and said, "It seems I was overthinking it."

(End of this chapter)