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

Chapter 245 Are you really at the Qi Refining Realm?

The battles for the top thirty in the Heavenly Ranking Tournament are even more intense than before. At this stage, it takes a long time for opponents of the same realm to win, unless there is a significant difference in their minor realms.

Days passed.

More and more cultivators came to Tai Xuan Sect to watch the battle. The entire cultivation world was talking about the Heavenly Ranking Tournament. The cultivators who showed their prowess in the Heavenly Ranking Tournament became famous throughout the world and became the object of admiration for countless cultivators.

Half a month later, only fifteen people remained in the Heavenly Ranking Tournament. Qiao Dai of the Tai Xuan Sect once again received a bye, successfully breaking into the top fifteen, which aroused much discussion among cultivators.

Everyone could see that the Tai Xuan Sect was protecting Qiao Dai, but Qiao Dai's family, the Qiao family, came from the Seven Star Spirit Realm, which made many people dare not question Qiao Dai in public.

Li Ya also successfully made it into the top fifteen, but his condition was worrying. The high-intensity combat caused his physical body to suffer constant shocks. When mortals fight against immortals, their souls are also injured.

Everything has its advantages and disadvantages. Gu An didn't help Li Ya too much. He needed to make Li Ya respect a power far beyond his own.

Regardless, the Tai Xuan Sect has already succeeded, because none of the top fifteen are cultivators from the Cang Tian Sect. Apart from the Tai Xuan Sect, the best ranking among the three sects is only twenty-ninth, and that person is a Dao Lord from the Cang Tian Sect.

The fact that two cultivators from the Tai Xuan Sect were among the top fifteen is enough to establish the Tai Xuan Sect's position in the cultivation world of the Three Dynasties.

Ten more days have passed, and only eight cultivators remain to compete for the top spot on the Heavenly Ranking. The Tai Xuan Sect occupies two of these spots: Li Ya, who had a divine spirit fight for him, and Qiao Dai, who advanced by a bye.

In the quarterfinals, Qiao Dai fell in the first match, finishing in eighth place.

Li Ya made it into the top four with the help of the Mysterious City, but ultimately stopped at fourth place. He was exhausted and collapsed in the formation as soon as he summoned the army of mystical ghosts.

The disciples of Tai Xuan Sect were not disappointed by this; on the contrary, they greatly admired Li Ya.

Li Ya is only a little over a hundred years old, yet he shoulders the honor and disgrace of the entire sect. It is already quite remarkable that he was able to make it into the fourth place in the Heavenly Ranking Tournament.

During the last Golden List Competition, Li Ya encountered An Hao ahead of time and failed to even make it into the top 500. This time, he won third place, and Gu An felt that he should have no regrets.

Just as Gu An had guessed, the final contenders for the top spot on the Heavenly Ranking were the Yellow-Clad Immortal Lord and Yan Qitian.

The battle between the two lasted for three days and three nights, and finally ended with Yan Qitian admitting defeat.

The Tai Xuan Sect was still bustling with activity. The taxes from various resource transactions made the Tai Xuan Sect leaders very happy. The first Heavenly Ranking Conference was a great success. With such a lineup, other sects couldn't even try to follow suit.

It wasn't until autumn that the Tai Xuan Sect returned to peace.

Before leaving, Li Ya visited Gu An, and the two chatted for two hours before Li Ya departed gracefully.

He truly became a hero this time, stealing the limelight. In the cultivation world of the Three Dynasties, his fame surpassed that of the Yellow-Clad Immortal Lord and Yan Qitian, both because he was one of their own and because of his age and legendary experiences.

These matters were irrelevant to Gu An. The Heavenly Ranking Tournament was just a minor episode for him. What truly pleased him was the storage bag that Tai Xuan Sect had obtained before acquiring the Heaven-Severing Axe. It was a top-grade storage bag containing an immense amount of spirit stones. After checking it, he felt that Tai Xuan Sect had not cheated him and had shown great sincerity.

The disappearance of that storage bag made the higher-ups of the Tai Xuan Sect even happier, leading them to believe that the relationship between the Tai Xuan Sect and the Sword Master Fu Dao was even closer.

Tai Xuan Sect acted swiftly, and the roster of the Heavenly Ranking Tournament quickly spread throughout the cultivation world. Moreover, it was distributed free of charge. Through the roster, they learned about the origins and terrifying cultivation levels of the Heavenly Ranking Grandmasters. Imperceptibly, Tai Xuan Sect's image in their minds became even more lofty.

The fact that the Tai Xuan Sect can summon so many immortals to fight demonstrates that it is definitely the number one sect in the cultivation world!

In the garden of the imperial palace in Cangzhou, during the Taicang Dynasty.

Li Xuandao, dressed in a dragon robe, sat at the table, flipping through the Heavenly Ranking, and softly praised, "The Tai Xuan Sect's move is ruthless. With this book, everyone in the world will believe that the Tai Xuan Sect has the qualifications to summon immortals."

Sitting opposite him was a woman, Jiang Qiong.

Behind Jiang Qiong stood two figures, two ghost cultivators from the Thirteen Fiends of the Nine Netherworlds, while behind Li Xuandao stood two great cultivators, one of whom was Yi Liuyun, who had once cultivated in Tianya Valley.

Jiang Qiong laughed and said, "Isn't Your Majesty the one who truly benefits? Prince Li Ya is famous throughout the land; who doesn't know he's your son now?"

Speaking of Li Ya, she had very mixed feelings.

She and the Ghost Mother of the Ephemeral Flower ventured into the City of Mysteries, nearly facing death, only to find that a junior had obtained the City of Mysteries. How could they not feel envious and disappointed?
Most importantly, she knew about Gu An's interpersonal relationships when she was the Grand Elder of the outer sect of Tai Xuan Sect, and the person with Gu An's best relationship was Li Ya.

This kid is really lucky to have such a fortunate senior brother.

With her by his side, Gu An could live a peaceful life even without leaving the valley.

Thinking of this, Jiang Qiong's lips curled up.

Li Xuandao put down the Heavenly Ranking, looked at Jiang Qiong, and said, "I have a clear understanding of the strength of the Juhua Sect, but even if I unify the world, it will be difficult for the Juhua Sect to overthrow the position of the Taixuan Sect."

Jiang Qiong replied, "There's no need to overthrow it; as long as we can stand firm, that's enough."

She had no desire to compete with the Tai Xuan Sect.

The true master of the Juhua Sect is the Sword Venerable Fudao, so why bother fighting for it?
Moreover, Gu An is still inside the Tai Xuan Sect.

Li Xuandao nodded and said, "Tianwei no longer poses a threat. If you can help us conquer the Great Jiang Dynasty, I will definitely support the Juhua Sect during my reign and shape it into a righteous sect."

Li Xuandao held the Juhua Sect in high regard, recognizing its formidable strength.

Jiang Qiong nodded, then continued to state the needs of the Juhua Sect, and Li Xuandao listened patiently.

As the autumn wind blows, fallen leaves flutter up from the garden and drift into the distance.

Time flies like an arrow.

Leaves drifted down, one falling from the sky and landing in Gu An's hand. It was autumn again, and Gu An stood before the wooden railing, admiring the scenery of the Medicine Valley.

Two years have passed since the end of the Heavenly Ranking Tournament, and Yan Qitian has yet to return, causing Gu An to have many questions.

Yang Jian suddenly walked over, holding a long weapon in his hand. It was made based on Yang Jian's weapon in the Investiture of the Gods and was called the Three-Pointed Double-Edged Sword.

Two years have passed, and his aura has become even stronger. Even when he conceals his cultivation level, people still feel that he is not simple and not to be trifled with.

“Master, a cultivator has arrived at the entrance of the valley. He calls himself Zhou Tongyou and says he is an old acquaintance of yours,” Yang Jian said, his gaze involuntarily turning to the distance.

Zhou Tongyou was watching two handyman disciples play Go, and he was very curious.

Gu An turned around and looked at Zhou Tongyou, feeling a mix of emotions.

He killed Zhou Yu, so how could he not feel any emotion when he saw Zhou Tongyou again?

Fortunately, Zhou Tongyou was unaware of this matter.

He strode toward Zhou Tongyou, with Yang Jian following closely behind.

Thinking back to the first time he met Zhou Tongyou, it was decades ago. At that time, Zhou Tongyou came to Tai Xuan Sect as a guest and swept through all the disciples under the age of 100. He happened to see Gu An's disciple Ye Yan practicing with a spear, so he gave him pointers and beat Ye Yan up until he was covered in injuries. Gu An had no choice but to take action.

The two became friends after a fight. Later, Gu An wrote "Tai Xuan Immortal Venerable", and the second male lead in the novel was based on Zhou Tongyou.

He never expected that Zhou Tongyou would still remember him after all these years.

Soon, Gu An arrived behind Zhou Tongyou and said with a smile, "Fellow Daoist Zhou, it's been a long time."

Zhou Tongyou turned to look at him, a smile on his face.

Just like decades ago, Zhou Tongyou remained arrogant and his prodigious nature was impossible to conceal.

"Having come to the Tai Xuan Sect, how could I not come to visit you? The scale of your Medicine Valley is truly impressive; it's remarkable," Zhou Tongyou said with a smile.

The two began exchanging pleasantries.

Zhou Tongyou came here on behalf of the Jueshan Sect for exchanges. He was not alone; a group of talented disciples were also there, but he was acting alone.

Zhou Tongyou thought of Gu An because he had met Gu An's apprentice, Ye Yan, many years ago.

"Although your disciple's cultivation level is not high, his comprehension of the spear is truly remarkable. He has already grasped the essence of the spear..." Zhou Tongyou praised Ye Yan.

Yang Jian was curious; was Ye Yan his senior brother?

But as he listened, he realized that Ye Yan was probably just a menial disciple in the valley and had not received the master's true teachings. He was only nominally considered Ye Yan's senior brother, not the senior brother his master was talking about.

My master is truly amazing; he can cultivate geniuses with just a few pointers.

At the end of their conversation, Zhou Tongyou looked intently at Gu An and said, "It's been many years. Shall we have another spar? I'll suppress my cultivation to the same level as yours again, how about it?"

Among his peers, he had only lost to two people: Lü Xian and Gu An. He lost to Gu An because he suppressed his cultivation level.

Gu An feigned hesitation.

"Suppress your cultivation level? Then I'll fight you on behalf of my master!" Yang Jian suddenly said.

Zhou Tongyou frowned and looked at Yang Jian, about to refuse, but when he met Yang Jian's eyes, his heart inexplicably trembled.

For some reason, he thought of the exceptionally talented Lü Xian from back then.

“Alright, then let me test your strength and see if I can match your master,” Zhou Tongyou said with a smile, his eyes becoming aggressive.

The two disciples who were playing chess couldn't help but look up, wanting to see what was going on.

Gu An said, "Let's find a secluded place."

He patted his two disciples on the head, urging them to concentrate on the game.

Zhou Tongyou and Yang Jian followed Gu An's footsteps. As they walked, Zhou Tongyou showed concern for Yang Jian as an elder. He felt somewhat relieved after learning that Yang Jian had been chosen by Gu An as a menial disciple.

He was genuinely afraid that this person was a genius that Gu An had unearthed from a prestigious family.

Ordinary handyman disciples could not possibly be geniuses, after all, the spiritual root tests of major sects can withstand the test.

An incense stick's time later, in a grove of trees outside the Medicine Valley.

Zhou Tongyou clutched his chest, his face filled with astonishment. He looked at Yang Jian, who was still in a kicking stance, as if he were looking at a monster.

"Are you really at the Qi Refining Realm?" Zhou Tongyou couldn't help but ask.

Yang Jian withdrew his leg and said, "Neither of us used spiritual power, so our cultivation levels are irrelevant, aren't they?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Tongyou nearly vomited blood; he felt as if his sternum was about to shatter.

How can this guy be so strong?
It should be noted that Zhou Tongyou was also a body cultivator and had even mastered the Demon-Suppressing Golden Body...

In his eyes, Yang Jian had become even more terrifying than Lü Xian!
(End of this chapter)