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

Chapter 480 Fighting Against Heaven

After entering the Hidden Spirit Palace, Gu An flashed to the center of the main hall, sat down to meditate, and began to circulate his internal energy.

He sensed a strange force trying to harm him.

Similar to cause and effect, but even more terrifying!
Gu An used his own power of cause and effect to resist, but he was unable to neutralize this strange power in a short time.

As time went by, Gu An gradually came to understand this strange power.

This is a case of cause and effect backfiring!

In the darkness, there seems to be a force that checks and balances those who use the principles of cause and effect, preventing the collapse of order.

The Way of Cause and Effect, though one of the three thousand Great Ways, has the power to influence all the Great Ways. It involves time and space, reincarnation, life and death, and so on. A small change in cause and effect can overturn everything.

Without suppression, the Way of Cause and Effect is actually like the strongest Great Way.

In reality, all three thousand Great Daos are equal, with no distinction between strong and weak; it all depends on the cultivator's attainments in their respective Great Daos.

The stronger the causal power used, the greater the causal backlash will be.

Gu An opened his eyes and checked his attribute panel. He found that his lifespan was decreasing, but it was the lifespan after he had taken it from him. It was now 5.4 billion years.

He circulated his internal energy while waiting.

Surely the karmic retribution shouldn't cause him to lose all 1.4 billion years of his lifespan?
If that's the case, then this time it's as if no lifespan was taken.

Not only did it not shorten your lifespan, it actually reduced it...

Gu An frowned, but fortunately, after a while, the rate at which the lifespan number jumped began to slow down.

After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, his lifespan stopped decreasing. He had lost a total of 200 million years of lifespan, which is equivalent to him still gaining 1.2 billion years of lifespan.

Big profit!

Gu An breathed a sigh of relief. He raised his right hand and looked at his palm. He saw fine black lines on his palm, like poisoned wounds, which was quite gruesome.

He has already borne the consequences of karma, but the traces left behind will take time to erase.

Currently, his strength has not been damaged; he has only been left with causal traces that are difficult to erase in the short term, but there is nothing seriously wrong with him.

But what if he suffers such a backlash right after using the Wuji Sword Manual?
Gu An felt that the Wuji Sword Manual needed further improvement to enhance its causal power, so that one day it could escape the causal backlash.

In any case, this time not only was a hidden danger eliminated, but also a lifespan of 1.2 billion years was gained, which can be considered a double blessing.

Gu An composed himself and looked at the Wuji Sword Manual again.

While using the Wuji Sword Manual, Gu An also saw Jian Guming and the old man with deer antlers through the Sword of Cause and Effect, but he was unable to deduce their cause and effect from this perspective.

……

Beneath the starry sky, before the Heavenly Dao Golden Elixir.

An Hao and Emperor Yang sat side by side, each cultivating their inner energy.

Sudden.

Emperor Yang opened his eyes, his brows furrowed, and he abruptly turned his head to look at the Heavenly Dao Golden Core.

The Heavenly Dao Golden Core continued to burn fiercely, appearing mysterious and powerful. Its surface aura resembled the laws governing all things, endlessly regenerating, and various Great Daos could be seen within it.

An Hao noticed his movement, then opened his eyes and looked at him, asking curiously, "What's wrong?"

Emperor Yang stared at the Heavenly Dao Golden Core and said, "It's strange that the world has suddenly been spared a great calamity, but it is true."

"A catastrophe was spared? What did you see before?" An Hao was even more curious.

"In the process of comprehending the Heavenly Dao Golden Elixir, I saw the future. I saw a river suspended in the sky, visible to all living beings. This river was formed by the Dao of Sword, and it will bring a cataclysmic calamity to all living beings."

Emperor Yangxian replied, his thoughts drifting into reminiscence, and he spoke in a leisurely manner, his tone filled with a certain artistic conception, reminding An Hao of the scene he described.

An Hao couldn't help but ask, "Such a calamity suddenly disappeared. Could it be that a powerful being changed the fate of heaven and earth? Is the Heavenly Spirit Realm now at peace? Will it never be chaotic again?"

Emperor Yangxian snorted, "Do you really think that the calamities of heaven and earth are due to the ambition of some powerful being? Not so. Whether it is the Immortal Dynasty or the Holy Court, their fortunes are shrinking. Only by devouring the fortunes of the other can they preserve their lineage. This is the will of heaven and earth at work. It will continuously spread cause and effect, forcing one calamity after another to come."

He turned around, took a deep breath, and said, "When this catastrophe ends, a new catastrophe will follow. There is only one way to end it completely."

"What road?" An Hao asked, frowning.

He disliked this predetermined fate, which made him feel that his talent was a gift from God and that the cultivation he had achieved was the choice of the will of Heaven and Earth.

Everything seemed to have lost its meaning.

Emperor Yang replied, "That means the Immortal Dynasty and the Holy Court will each survive, with the winner annihilating 99% of all living beings, reducing the life force of heaven and earth to its lowest point, reshaping the rules of heaven and earth, and causing the will of heaven and earth to naturally subside."

An Hao's expression changed drastically. Ninety-nine percent of the living beings would die?
Such a will of heaven and earth contradicted his imagination.

"Of course, such a situation goes against the righteous path, and the victor will find it hard to feel at ease. No one wants to slaughter all living beings, so the Immortal Dynasty and the Holy Court have decided to fight to the death, and incidentally reduce the number of each other's lives." When Emperor Yangxian said these words, his face was indifferent, as if he had no emotions at all.

An Hao's brows furrowed even more.

He thought of something else and asked, "Could an invasion from outer space become a variable? Don't let the outer space forces have the last laugh."

Emperor Yangxian scoffed, saying, "They are nothing but bandits. If their ambitions go too far, they will only perish and their cultivation will be extinguished."

An Hao really wanted to say that if it weren't for his master hundreds of years ago, we would all have died and the world would have been taken over by the Heavenly Demon.

But then he thought again, perhaps his master's intervention was also part of the will of heaven and earth, or perhaps there were other powerful beings who intervened even without his master.

Yes.

Why would a master, who is so powerful, remain in the Heavenly Spirit Realm?
Could it be that Master represents the will of heaven and earth? An Hao felt a sudden sense of enlightenment upon thinking about this.

Having traveled the world for so many years, he has a great understanding of history and knows that peaceful times have lasted for countless years, and the current upheaval is something that happens only once in millions of years.

The Sword Master of the Dao has only existed for a little over a thousand years, and that was after the Holy Heaven disappeared.

The more he thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed, as if he had seen through the truth of the world.

Wait, if Master represents the Heavenly Dao, then Master chose him...

An Hao's eyes changed, and he fell into a mysterious state.

Emperor Yangxian noticed the change in him and could only lament the injustice of Heaven in his heart.

Rather than being jealous of An Hao, he was more curious about why that catastrophe had disappeared.

In his observation, that catastrophe was even more desperate than the previous calamities, and he could not forget the figure of Jian Guming.

That figure was even more terrifying than the previous Xuanhuang Demon God and the Silent God Emperor.

"What kind of forces are vying for power behind the scenes? Is this a battle against the heavens?"

"Can one truly win by fighting against fate?"

Emperor Yang thought to himself, then looked at An Hao. If An Hao was chosen by the Heavenly Dao and would have to fight against such an existence in the future, did this boy really have a chance of winning?

He couldn't imagine what An Hao's attitude would be like in the future.

……

In early autumn, within the Xuan Valley.

Gu An sat on the cliff, watching Jiang Shi and An Shengtian fighting in the air ahead.

Both of them are already at the Profound Heart Realm. When An Shengtian first arrived, he was only in his teens or twenties, but now he is approaching a thousand years old.

It is estimated that in another five hundred years, this master and disciple will be able to break through to the Nirvana Realm.

Gu An only nurtured them in Xuan Valley, and he didn't put in much effort. Their ability to reach the Xuanxin Realm is inseparable from their own hard work.

Sitting behind Gu An, the Great Sage of Blood Prison sighed, "This kid An Shengtian is truly becoming more and more like his ancestor."

An Shengtian looks a lot like An Hao, and his powerful aura makes him even more like An Hao.

"He's still a long way off," Gu An said casually.

An Hao has already inherited the Heavenly Dao's legacy, and his cultivation is improving at an incredibly rapid pace. An Shengtian will never be able to surpass An Hao in this lifetime; the gap will only widen.

Not only An Shengtian, but among his peers, everyone could only look up to An Hao.

Gu An suddenly thought of the Heavenly Sect inheritance in his hands. The Heavenly Sect inheritance is also a kind of Heavenly Dao fortune, which can make people live forever, but also lose their freedom and be manipulated by the Heavenly Dao.

Should An Shengtian accept the Heavenly Sect's inheritance?

Forget it, regardless of whether he can catch up or not, there's no need for him to cause trouble for An Hao.

No matter how many disciples he takes on, An Hao is still Gu An's most valued and anticipated disciple. An Shengtian is not as good as An Hao in his heart.

An Hao was the first disciple he truly nurtured with care, someone he had watched grow up from childhood.

Gu An cared more about Jiang Shi than An Shengtian.

Since joining Xuan Valley, Jiang Shi has been diligent and conscientious. In the past, he joined Xuan Valley by any means necessary and may have even caused Lu Jiujia's death, so Gu An had a somewhat bad impression of him.

After so many years of getting along, Jiang Shi proved his loyalty over a thousand years, and Gu An began to value him.

Unlike An Shengtian's visibly powerful strength, Gu An felt that Jiang Shi had more potential. This kid deliberately held back when facing an opponent of the same level, his purpose being to highlight An Shengtian's strength.

Gu An even sensed a trace of the Dao from him.

Before even reaching the Nirvana Realm, Jiang Shi had already begun to comprehend the Dao of Cause and Effect. Judging from his talent for enlightenment, this kid is a once-in-a-millennium genius.

Of course, it is also related to Gu An's cultivation of Daoist principles.

Since discovering that Jiang Shi possessed an extraordinary talent for perceiving the Dao of Cause and Effect, Gu An had been intentionally or unintentionally releasing the power of cause and effect into him.

“Indeed, there is a long way to go. It’s been a long time since we’ve heard from An Hao. Is he in seclusion?” Blood Prison Great Sage asked curiously, believing that his master must know where An Hao was.

Gu An did not answer immediately because someone was flying in.

A figure flew in from the Xuan Valley; it was An Xin.

Anxin landed beside Gu An and excitedly exclaimed, "Master, immortals and gods have appeared in the mortal realm!"

Immortal god?

Blood Prison Great Sage turned to look at An Xin, and Jiang Shi and An Shengtian, who were fighting, were also drawn to his attention.

Without turning his head, Gu An asked, "What immortals and gods? Tell me."

Anxin sat down beside him and said, "An immortal has descended to earth, saying that by collecting all nine true copies of the Treatise on the Heavenly Dao, one can comprehend the Record of the Heavenly Dao and inherit the legacy and destiny of a true immortal!"

The Great Sage of Blood Prison couldn't help but ask, "What immortal has descended to earth? Why is the commotion so quiet?"

In the past, Gu An fought against those powerful figures, and his battles were truly earth-shattering.

In the eyes of the Great Sage of Blood Prison, if a true immortal were to arrive, the commotion would be considerable.

(End of this chapter)