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

Chapter 341 Projecting the Past, the Birth of Long Qing

Gu An put down the Azure Sky Peak and hung it back on his belt. He didn't completely believe the old man in black, but he could tell that the magical technique he had taught was safe.

While the Blood Prison Great Sage was carrying him to inspect the Medicine Valley, he began to weigh the pros and cons.

After thinking it over carefully, he felt he could give it a try.

The Dark War Emperor slaughtered countless people as soon as he descended; his cruelty and brutality must be guarded against.

Even if he is connected to the Holy Land, he cannot be trusted.

Let's see how the demonic fetus reacts after it's born. At worst, we'll just destroy it. So what if we offend the Heavenly Demon!
Gu An made his decision. He didn't set off immediately. In any case, the Dark War Emperor hadn't come out of the coffin yet. He could feel the aura inside the coffin increasing, so he estimated that the Emperor wouldn't be out of the coffin for a while.

An hour later, Gu An arrived at the cave at the foot of Dingtian Peak without anyone noticing.

He stood before the stone pillar, probing its interior with his divine sense. The demonic fetus remained curled up, unchanged from decades ago.

Gu An immediately activated the Life Barrier, enveloping the entire cave, and then used the magical technique taught by the old man in black on the demonic fetus.

More and more black mist rose from the surface of the stone pillar, and the strong and powerful heartbeat of the demonic fetus began to resound from inside the pillar.

Time passes minute by minute.

The birth of the demonic fetus does not absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, which also makes the lifespan barrier deplete relatively quickly, giving Gu An some comfort.

Half an hour later, Gu An moved the demonic fetus out. The demonic fetus had shrunk to the size of an ordinary baby. It was still surrounded by demonic energy, but it could not completely conceal its form.

Gu An used his lifespan probe on it.

[Long Qing (Ninth Level of Qi Refining): 0/1000/9999]

Ok?
Why is your surname Long?

With the Dark War Emperor, who had just received the inheritance of the War Court, now another person with the surname Long has appeared, Gu An can't help but think more deeply.

He stared intently at the still unconscious Long Qing, trying to discern the cause and effect within his body.

Long Qing's cause and effect is very complicated, but Gu An inherited all of Long Zhan's memories, and Long Zhan had also studied the Dao of Cause and Effect.

After observing for a long time, Gu An felt that Long Qing's soul was deeply connected with the soul of Long Zhan's son, Long Xin. In other words, Long Qing was very likely a descendant of Long Xin.

Long Zhan was born into the Long family, but Zhan Ting was named by Long Zhan himself. The ancestors of the Long family never founded Zhan Ting. This confirms that Long Qing must be a descendant of Long Zhan. Long Zhan was born in the past, not the future.

The cycle of evolution can truly be projected into the past!

Was this something destined to happen, or did his decision change the past?
It should be known that this demonic embryo was hidden in Dingtian Peak before his reincarnation.

However, he only discovered the demonic fetus after the cycle of reincarnation had ended, and he was unsure whether the demonic fetus's identity had changed.

Gu An felt this was a question worth considering.

Long Qing was still absorbing the accompanying demonic energy, and his cultivation level soon reached the Foundation Establishment stage.

Could this kid be like the immortal spirits of the Immortal Dynasty, born with the cultivation of immortality?
Gu An secretly guessed that Long Qing's cultivation level increased rapidly in the following period of time, entirely due to the accompanying demonic energy around him, without absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

Time passes quickly.

Three hours later.

Long Qing's cultivation level surpassed the Mahayana realm, reaching the first level of the Nirvana realm, and his maximum lifespan transformed to 999,999 years.

Gu An felt that if he were to be born, it would surely attract a heavenly tribulation, which would be troublesome.

Once Long Qing's cultivation level stopped increasing, Gu An used the Divine Dao of Returning to Origin to suppress Long Qing's cultivation and change his aura to that of an ordinary person. Now, he can still suppress the other party's karma by using the Divine Dao of Returning to Origin. Before the seal is broken, the Heavenly Demon will not be able to find Long Qing.

The demonic energy surrounding Long Qing completely dissipated, vanishing in an inconceivable way.

Long Qing slowly opened his eyes. His eyes were big and bright. His two little hands were clenched into fists. As soon as he saw Gu An, he smiled and opened his little mouth, making a giggling sound.

For some reason, when Gu An looked at the newborn Long Qing, he suddenly thought of how Long Xin looked when he was just born; they were exactly the same.

A smile appeared on Gu An's face as he began to tease Long Qing.

During this process, Gu An once again felt the same way Long Zhan did when he first faced his son.

only……

The arrival of Zhan Ting and the descendants of the Long family in the Tianling Great World is rather too coincidental.

Gu An secretly became vigilant, vowing never to reveal his true cultivation level to those around him in the future, and this was still true for now, but he would maintain it.

In life, you should always keep something in reserve!
Gu An used the Stepping Through Time technique to arrive outside the Tai Xuan Gate in one step, and then dispelled the Lifespan Barrier.

He took out a robe from his storage bag and wrapped it around Xiao Longqing.

The sunlight made Xiaolongqing even more excited, laughing non-stop, his little hands grabbing at everything, but because his arms were too short, he couldn't grab anything.

Fortunately, this baby wasn't an ordinary infant, otherwise Gu An would have had to consider breastfeeding him.

Gu An hugged him, walked to a nearby tree and sat down, continuing to tease him.

Bringing a child home suddenly would definitely attract attention, so Gu An wanted to wait one night before going back so he could make up a reason.

The woods were filled with birdsong and the fragrance of flowers. Gu An listened to Xiao Longqing's laughter, his thoughts drifting away.

The memories he had gained through reincarnation and evolution appeared before his eyes.

It was in the main hall of the War Court. Long Zhan had his back to Long Xin in the hall. Long Xin questioned him about why he had become so cruel, but Long Zhan did not answer.

“Father, I prefer the you who took me hunting in the mountains back then to the present. You weren’t invincible then, but you were more like a father.”

Long Xin left after saying these words, and the father and son never saw each other again until Long Zhan perished.

As Gu An pondered this, he was filled with emotion.

He needed to learn from this experience and not become obsessed with getting stronger. His current state was good enough; he could continue to grow stronger while maintaining good relationships with those around him. Gu An looked up at the sky beyond the woods.

Looking up from here, the sky really is high.

……

Early morning hours.

The disciples of the Third Medicine Valley had just finished their morning exercises when An Xin turned around and saw Gu An walking down from the teleportation platform, carrying something in his arms.

An Xin immediately went over, and some disciples who were close to Gu An also came over. When they saw that Gu An was holding a baby, they all exclaimed in surprise.

"Master, where did this child come from?"

"Wow, so cute! Can I hug you?"

"Boy or girl?"

"Master, what's his name?"

He's smiling at me!

Faced with his disciples' questioning, Gu An said that he found the baby boy in the mountains and forests. Unable to find his parents, he had no choice but to bring him back to raise. None of the disciples questioned him, because their master was indeed so kind.

An Xin thought of herself, her eyes reddened slightly, and she looked at Long Qing with even greater affection.

However, Gu An did not let them carry him, but instead carried Long Qing back to his own pavilion.

Arriving at the pavilion, Ji Xiaoyu stepped out of the room and stood before him, curiously examining the child in his arms.

“He looks quite like you,” Ji Xiaoyu said almost unconsciously, her eyes full of meaning.

Gu An said irritably, "You don't think this is a child someone else secretly had for me, do you?"

Ji Xiaoyu smiled but did not reply.

Gu An ignored her and carried Long Qing upstairs.

far away.

Shenxinzi calculated Long Qing's cause and effect with his fingers and found that it was consistent with what Gu An had said, so he paid no attention to it.

Although the disciples were curious about Long Qing, they didn't pay much attention. However, they noticed that Gu An carried Long Qing everywhere he went for a while, which made the disciples think more about it.

Months passed.

Autumn is here.

The crimson coffin containing the Dark War Emperor remains unopened, but numerous cultivators have gathered on that desolate continent, even setting up a large array near the crimson coffin.

On this day, Ye Lan brought Zhen Qin to visit Gu An.

Upon seeing Gu An holding a baby, the two women were shocked. After learning that the baby was not Gu An's child, Ye Lan breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's rare to find a child so destined for me, so I brought him back and will take him as my disciple in the future," Gu An said with a smile.

Zhen Qin held Long Qing in her arms, finding the little guy adorable. She asked, "Master, have you named him yet?"

Gu An replied, "Yes, he was named Long Qing. The stream beside him was very clear, and so were his eyes, so he was named Qing (clear)."

"Then why is the surname Long?" Zhen Qin pressed.

Gu An laughed and said, "Look at his back."

Zhen Qin subconsciously pulled open the swaddling clothes covering Long Qing and saw mysterious black patterns on his back, which at first glance looked like a black dragon.

"It seems this little guy has quite a background," Zhen Qin remarked in amazement.

Ye Lan saw it too, and she completely relaxed, a smile appearing on her face, as she took Long Qing.

"Don't spread this around. Since he has been abandoned, let him stay away from the strife and stay peacefully in Medicine Valley. Consider the mark on his back as my doing," Gu An instructed.

The two women nodded in agreement, praising him for being so thoughtful.

The two women stayed in the Third Medicine Valley for three days before leaving. They were very busy with the branch sect recently and had to go out on missions. They would not see each other again for several years.

Long Qing was able to walk when he was six months old and began to babble when he was one year old. Dressed in exquisite little clothes, he became the little ray of joy in Medicine Valley.

A year has passed since the crimson coffin descended upon the Heavenly Spirit Realm, yet there has been no further activity. However, its existence has become widely known, with various sects referring to it as an extraterrestrial evil, and even the Human Peak is discussing the matter.

That year, in the summer.

Gu An sat in the pavilion, picked up the Azure Sky Peak, and probed it with his divine sense, arriving at the dilapidated temple.

As soon as he entered the temple, the old man in black appeared and asked anxiously, "Why are you so late? Where is the Emperor?"

Gu An took a deep breath and said, "I failed. I was just about to use the magic technique you taught me when he escaped. I couldn't catch up with him, and now I don't know where he went."

The old man in black's expression changed drastically, and his body trembled involuntarily.

"The good news is that the Dark War Emperor has not yet emerged from his coffin. It's been a year. Why is there no movement from him?" Gu An asked, frowning.

Upon hearing this, the old man in black's expression softened slightly. He thought for a moment and said, "They may be preparing something. Senior, could you please let me leave? I need to find the Great Emperor!"

Gu An shook his head and said, "I'm sorry, I can't completely trust you. I'll release you after ten thousand years. Let's get through this first."

Ten thousand years?

The old man in black almost cursed, but considering the other party's unfathomable level of skill, he could only hold back.

No matter how important the emperor's whereabouts are, they are not as important as one's own life.

(End of this chapter)