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

Chapter 18 Myriad Gu Mystic Art, Seven Thousand Years of Lifespan
After the cave entrance was completely closed, Gu An continued walking along the cave passage.

With her Foundation Establishment Level 7 divine sense, Gu Anru walked in the daylight without any hindrance, and the cave passage became wider and wider as she walked, as if it had no end.

Gu An became even more curious about Cheng Xuandan's master. What kind of extraordinary person could build such a massive underground tunnel?

The tunnel wound downwards, and after traveling for more than ten miles, Gu An still hadn't reached the end.

He can now confirm that the area beneath the stone slab is connected to this underground passage.

A refreshing breeze came from the cave ahead and brushed against Gu An's face, making him feel relaxed and happy.

Light began to appear in the cave ahead, and Gu An saw crystals of different colors embedded in the cave walls. Upon closer inspection, he realized they were not spirit stones, which greatly disappointed him.

If they were all spirit stones, he would be incredibly wealthy!

Gu An continued forward, lost in thought.

His senses were constantly on edge. Although Cheng Xuandan treated him very well until the end, he dared not be careless when he thought about the methods Cheng Xuandan used on Meng Lang.

What if Cheng Xuandan is just acting?
After walking for several more miles, Gu An saw that the cave ahead had become very bright, and he heard the sound of water.

We've reached the cave entrance!

Gu An cautiously made his way over. When he arrived at the cave entrance, he looked into the underground space ahead, and his eyes widened.

"It really happened..."

Gu An murmured to himself, a look of surprise in his eyes.

Following his gaze, ahead lay a vast underground space, several times larger than Xuan Valley, stretching over a hundred feet from the ground to the ceiling. A giant tree, over a hundred meters tall, stood there, its trunk requiring more than a dozen people to encircle it. Its branches and leaves were not numerous, but it bore fruits that resembled lanterns, all of which were crystal clear and glowed with a blue light.

Beneath the tree was a lush meadow, next to which flowed an underground river two zhang wide, right at the edge of the underground space, against the mountain wall.

【Old Vine Tree (Tier 7): 245/9999/87600】

The maximum lifespan is 87,000!
A current lifespan of nearly ten thousand!
Upon seeing this prompt, Gu An felt an urge to uproot the tree, but he restrained himself.

According to Cheng Xuandan, this seventh-order spirit tree is the key to the underground formation. It presides over the entire formation, allowing other rare and precious materials to grow freely. The spiritual energy gathered by these materials will then activate the formation, which in turn nourishes the seventh-order spirit tree.

By uprooting the vines, Gu An lost a potentially huge planting area.

At the same time, this place can also serve as his cave dwelling. Master Cheng Xuandan has set up a wealth of formations, so he can cultivate and break through here without making any noise.

Gu An scanned the area and saw that the cave walls in all directions were inlaid with distinctive stone statues, numbering in the dozens. There were also special runes between the statues, making them mysterious and profound.

He stepped out of the cave entrance, and as soon as he entered, he noticed a stone tablet standing nearby with four characters engraved on it:
Eight Scenic Grottoes!

Gu An glanced at it and continued walking into the cave.

Along the way, he frantically explored the lifespan of the device.

The ground was covered with third- and fourth-order spiritual herbs and flowers. The closer one was to the ancient vine tree, the higher the grade of the herbs became, which dazzled him.

With such a huge treasure trove hidden away, how come Cheng Xuandan couldn't even reach the Foundation Establishment stage?
Gu An didn't know whether to sympathize with Cheng Xuandan's poor aptitude or his lack of alchemy skills.

Even if his alchemy skills are insufficient, he can sell some herbs to exchange for spirit stones, or ask the alchemists of the Tai Xuan Sect to help him refine pills.

In Gu An's view, a sect like the Tai Xuan Sect could easily produce a Foundation Establishment cultivator if it really needed the resources.

Of course, there is another possibility: Cheng Xuandan is afraid that her identity will be exposed.

Gu An walked to the old vine tree. Standing under the tree, he could feel the tree's vastness, grandeur, and vibrant life even more.

He circled the ancient vine tree and saw that the Eight Views Cave Heaven had more than one entrance; there were eight entrances in total.

He suspected that one of the openings would connect to the stone slab he had previously discovered.

He had no immediate plans to explore other cave entrances. He turned around, took out the Herbal Record from his storage bag, and began to refer to it one by one.

If they are already ripe, then pick them directly!
Some of the harvested herbs can be taken to the outer sect to exchange for more high-level seeds for continued development!
Gu An felt excited just thinking about it.

Half an hour passed quickly, and Gu An had already picked more than 130 third-tier medicinal herbs, frantically harvesting more than 900 lifespans, causing his total lifespan to leap over the 5,000-year mark.

This identity as a spy for the demonic path is worthwhile!

Gu An was in high spirits. The Eight Views Cave had a great many medicinal herbs, but he had only harvested one-tenth of them so far, and those were the lowest grade herbs.

From now on, this will be his cave, his secret base!
Just as Gu An was about to bend down to pick the next herb, he suddenly heard a noise, immediately turned around, and looked toward a cave entrance in the distance.

The cave entrance was pitch black, and it looked terrifying.

Gu An moved to the side.

The grass wasn't all medicinal herbs; there were also ordinary weeds. He suspected a battle was about to break out, so he had to move to avoid disturbing his herbs.

Those are all his lives!
Gu An walked towards the underground river, his eyes fixed on the cave entrance.

Soon, footsteps and heavy breathing could be heard from inside the cave, as if a wild beast was about to rush out.

A foot stepped out of the darkness, and when Gu An could see the true face of the person who had entered the cave, he couldn't help but frown.

It was Meng Lang!
At this moment, Meng Lang was disheveled, dressed in rags, barefoot, with bloodstains all over his neck, his face was flushed red as if he had been burned, his eyes were bloodshot, and he was exhaling white breath.

"Roar--"

Meng Lang roared at Gu An and charged towards him. He was incredibly fast, getting closer and closer to Gu An.

Instead of retreating, Gu An advanced and charged forward.

The distance between the two sides quickly shortened, kicking up grass clippings along the way.

Meng Lang leaped forward, intending to tackle Gu An, but Gu An dodged to the side and delivered a knee strike to his abdomen, sending him flying back.

Gu An frowned even more deeply, and his right leg felt a little numb.

Good guy!
How did Meng Lang become so stubborn?
Gu An felt that none of the greedy, angry, demonic ghosts were as tough as him. Although he did not use his full strength or spiritual power, he could roughly judge.

He held back his strength to see if Meng Lang could still come back to life.

He shook his right leg and charged at Meng Lang again.

Meng Lang fell to the ground, seemingly oblivious to the pain, and immediately got up and lunged at Gu An.

Gu An stepped forward with his right foot, forcibly stopping his body. He then raised his left leg, channeling spiritual energy into it, and unleashed the Gale Shadowless Kick.

A strong gust of wind rose from the ground, and a series of leg shadows landed on Meng Lang, sending him flying once again. After landing, he rolled more than a dozen times before finally stopping.

His hands and feet were visibly twisted. He tried to get up, but collapsed the next second, his forehead hitting the grass hard.

Gu An pulled his leg back, a look of curiosity on his face.

Is Cheng Xuandan's poisonous insect really that powerful?

With such a powerful physique at only the first level, it feels no less than that of a greedy, angry, or demonic being!
How could Cheng Xuandan possibly compare to the great cultivator behind the Greedy, Angery, Demonic Ghost?
Gu An became increasingly certain that Cheng Xuandan was hiding something, probably related to her master.

He walked up to Meng Lang, looked down at his grotesque, demonic body, and hesitated, unsure of what to do.

"He's already dead, so why should I care about his status in life?"

Gu An's eyes flickered, and the grass clippings and dust around his feet began to slowly rise, indicating that he was circulating his internal energy.

This time!

Gu An noticed a corner of a book peeking out from Meng Lang's arms. He immediately reached out and used his spiritual power to pull the book out of the air, and it quickly flew into his hand.

"The Myriad Poisons Technique..."

Gu An read it aloud softly. He quickly flipped through it. It was a cultivation technique, and a fragment at that, with a clear gap in the content on the last page.

In addition to the cultivation methods described earlier, there were also five types of Gu techniques recorded later, each accompanied by an illustration. After comparing them, he finally found the Gu technique that had afflicted Meng Lang.

Flame Corpse Gu!
"Those afflicted by the Gu poison nourish their bodies with fiery energy, their flesh becoming as hard as deep rock, their strength boundless... There is no medicine to save them, no magic to cure them, until they are shattered to pieces..."

After Gu Annian finished speaking, she couldn't help but look at Meng Lang, her eyes filled with sympathy.

How pitiful.

The Myriad Gu Mystic Art records a method to suppress the Flaming Corpse Gu. Simply cover its seven orifices to prevent the Gu worms from consuming spiritual energy, and the Gu worms will fall into a state of suspended animation, rendering the Gu body unable to move.

He immediately sealed Meng Lang's seven orifices with mud, then got up and looked at the cave entrance Meng Lang had come from.

Instead of immediately going to explore, he put the Myriad Gu Mystic Art into his storage bag and turned back to continue picking herbs.

Even if Cheng Xuandan's master is still alive, the fact that the other party did not attack him, a Qi Refining cultivator, means either that he had no intention of killing him or that he was unable to act. In that case, why should he alert the enemy?
The longer it goes on, the more advantageous it will be for Gu An.

Half an hour later.

Gu An left the Eight Views Cave Heaven with great satisfaction; his lifespan had reached an astonishing seven thousand years!
He harvested all the harvestable third-tier herbs. Next, he needed to plant them, but it would take many more years for the new seeds to mature.

After harvesting the third-tier herbs, it's time to harvest the fourth-tier herbs!
To prevent the formation's ecosystem from being destroyed, Gu An did not harvest all the mature herbs at once. He harvested some and planted others, which was a sustainable and effective way to ensure healthy development.
Moreover, even if the herbs mature, they can be left behind. The longer they live, the more lifespan they can steal. Of course, there is a certain critical point in this process, which Gu An is still observing.

……

The next morning, the newly appointed Master of Xuan Valley, Gu An, came out of his room early and urged his junior brothers to come out as soon as he came out.

After hearing Xiaochuan's response, he walked towards Yelan's courtyard.

"Junior sister, it's time to come out," Gu An called out.

"Okay, senior brother."

Ye Lan answered quickly, even more enthusiastically than her junior brothers.

Before long, everyone was standing in front of Gu An.

Gu An glanced at them and smiled, "Congratulations! You'll be becoming senior uncles from now on. When I take on more menial disciples, they'll be my students and your junior nephews."

Upon hearing this, everyone became excited and eagerly discussed the future. No one mentioned Cheng Xuandan. It wasn't that they were heartless; it was something they had agreed upon in private, and they would not mention Cheng Xuandan for the next month.

Gu An gave a few encouraging words and then began to lead his junior brothers and sisters in exercises to loosen their muscles and bones. Afterwards, he still had to go to the Eight Views Cave to plant flowers and plants.

Life's going to get busy!

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I'll update daily at midnight and midnight, a total of 6,000 words. Don't expect me to update in bulk! I've only had the book published for a week; I'll start updating in bulk once it's officially released.
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(End of this chapter)