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

Chapter 787 Truth or Falsehood, Ask Yourself

"Bring him in."

Gu An responded, and An Zizai immediately went to meet him.

He already knew who the visitor was and what their intentions were.

Now, almost all the people he can meet in person are his old friends from his time at the Tai Xuan Sect.

His old friends who were no longer by his side were all living their own lives, experiencing both hardship and happiness. Not everyone could receive his secret protection.

About half an incense stick's time later, An Zizai brought one person into the courtyard.

This is a man dressed in a simple Taoist robe. He has a robust build and an unkempt face, giving him the air of a chivalrous hero.

This person's face bears some resemblance to Li Ya's, but appears more weathered.

It was Li Ya's younger brother, Li Lingtian.

Li Lingtian had cultivated in the Third Medicine Valley and had a very good relationship with Yang Jian. Now that he is alive, he has already reached the cultivation level of a True Immortal of Divine Sense.

He once possessed talent surpassing Li Ya's; now, Li Ya has become someone he looks up to, and a legend in their Li family.

Li Lingtian watched Gu An's retreating figure, his whole body trembling with excitement, his eyes even turning red.

An Zizai hesitated whether to leave or not. At this moment, Gu An's voice came: "Zizai, listen to this too. You will be in charge of bringing people to help him later."

Upon hearing this, An Zizai breathed a sigh of relief and immediately agreed.

He was very curious about the relationship between Li Lingtian and Gu An, and he was secretly delighted to hear that he could go out for a trip.

Now that he is in charge of all matters, big and small, he is inevitably tired. If he can go out for a walk, it would be a good way to relax.

When Li Lingtian heard Gu An directly offer to help him, he could no longer control his emotions and knelt down on the ground with a thud.

“Senior, I have come for Yang Ni. You should still remember her. She offended a great cultivator of the Heavenly Spirit Alliance and was imprisoned within the Heavenly Spirit Alliance. She was wronged, but I can’t find anyone to help me. Even my father doesn’t have that much power.”

Li Lingtian gritted his teeth and said that Yang Ni, whom he mentioned, was the younger sister of Li Ya's mother. She had joined the Tanhua Sect to investigate the cause of Li Ya's mother's death and had also been sent by Li Xuandao to protect Gu An.

Gu An had not seen her for many years, but he still remembered that heroic woman.

When Li Lingtian spoke of the grudges, his voice choked with emotion, no longer displaying the arrogant demeanor of his youth.

Gu An turned around, looked at him calmly, and listened to him recount his grievances.

Before he arrived, Gu An had already seen through the cause and effect at a glance. It was nothing more than a struggle for interests. After Li Lingtian and Yang Ni joined the Heavenly Spirit Alliance, they offended an internal force. Gu An was not very interested in this. As long as he was sure that Yang Ni was indeed wronged, that was enough.

Although Gu An protects his old friends, he also knows how to distinguish right from wrong. If someone is guilty of their own fault, he will ignore it and let them suffer a little.

After Li Lingtian finished speaking, he looked at Gu An expectantly.

The Heavenly Spirit Alliance is very strong, and their adversary is also very powerful. It is an ancient giant family that possesses existences beyond the Free Immortal Realm, but he believes that no family is worth mentioning in front of Gu An.

Gu An smiled and helped Li Lingtian up. He sighed, "How old were you when you first came to me? Now you're capable of standing on your own. Things have really changed."

These words brought tears to Li Lingtian's eyes. In his heart, Gu An had always been an elder, but it had been so many years since they last met that he felt very awkward. In his mind, Gu An's face and personality had become blurry. Before coming here, he had considered all sorts of possibilities, but he never expected that Gu An would be so kind to him.

Even his father, who once doted on him, now feels distant to him.

Gu An began to reminisce about the past, and his words pulled Li Lingtian back to that time.

An Zizai was also very curious about Gu An's past. He stood aside and listened attentively. Later, Shen Zhen and Shangguan Xian'er also came out to join in the fun.

Shen Zhen still remembered Li Lingtian, and seeing the boy in such a sorry state now, she couldn't help but sigh.

The best thing she ever did was follow Gu An. Initially, she just wanted to escape her sect, but since she and Gu An got along extremely well, she severed all ties and only followed Gu An.

Unexpectedly, Gu An turned out to be the Sword Master of the Dao.

As time went by, Shen Zhen couldn't figure out why she followed Gu An back then. Occasionally, she would wonder if she had seen something extraordinary about Gu An that led her to him.

Regardless, the ending was good, and she felt that she was the luckiest person in the world, even luckier than An Xin, Tian Yao'er, and others.

It wasn't until evening that An Zizai left with Li Lingtian. He planned to gather several Wushi disciples and personally go to the Tianling Dao Alliance to rescue Yang Ni.

Shangguan Xian'er also went along, leaving only Gu An and Shen Zhen in the courtyard.

Shen Zhen stared at Gu An's profile, lost in thought.

What kind of trouble could make this man frown?

What is the world like in his eyes?
How does he view the people around him?

Li Lingtian's appearance stirred up Shen Zhen's past memories, and also caused her a lot of confusion and curiosity.

Gu An looked at the horizon and said, "Do you think a life without immortality is important?"

Shen Zhen snapped out of her reverie and replied, "Of course it's important. Being able to live through this world, whether it's suffering or happiness, at least you've lived, right?"

"But for many people, living is worse than dying."

"That's because they suffered hardship; before that hardship, they had enjoyed life."

"What meaning does everything have in life after a person dies? Just like the Tai Xuan Sect in the past, too many people have died, and even their names have been forgotten by you and me. There is no trace of them in this world."

After Gu An finished speaking, he turned his head to look at Shen Zhen.

Shen Zhen pondered for a moment and said, "Why must it have meaning? Living is simply living, and everything we experience is our own feeling. Why must we pursue leaving something behind in the world?"

Gu An smiled and said, "Yes, your own feelings are the most important. Why worry about other things and add unnecessary troubles?"

Upon hearing this, Shen Zhen was stunned. She glared at Gu An and asked, "Tell me honestly, can you hear what other people are thinking?"

"I'm not that good."

"really?"

"really."

Shen Zhen smiled. After Gu An's encouragement, she realized that her confusion was meaningless. As long as she was doing well and living a carefree life, and Gu An didn't look down on her, wasn't that enough?

Gu An continued, “Actually, over the years, I have often gone to the mortal world and experienced different lives. I have married and had children, and I have been a son of others. But I only let my wives and concubines think that something had happened between us, so that they would have more memories. Including my parents, the relationships were all given to them by me. Of course, these identities of mine were what they wanted. And my so-called children were just created out of thin air. Even if the souls of these children settle in the cycle of reincarnation and become real living beings, I still have some feelings.”

“From my perspective, everything is fake, but to them, I am real. Everything that happened between us was something they actually experienced. They will never know that my identity is a false existence. They may even forget their own lives in the cycle of reincarnation.”

Shen Zhen listened to his words and fell silent.

Gu An looked at her and asked a question: "This is the difference brought about by the gap in realms. I can make all living beings unable to distinguish between truth and falsehood, but do you think there is any existence that can make even you and me unable to distinguish between truth and falsehood? Are the so-called Heavenly Dao and Great Dao really real?"

He had expected Shen Zhen to ponder this question for a while, but she answered without hesitation, "Whether it's true or false, we are cultivating. The so-called 'seeking the Dao' is about asking ourselves, asking ourselves the meaning of our existence, asking ourselves what we want. If you want something real, as long as you work hard, even if it's false, you still have hope of making it real, don't you?"

Even if you tell me that everything I am doing now is fake, I will still be grateful to you, because I cherish everything I have now and enjoy every day of it.

After saying that, she looked up at Gu An and stared at him intently.

(End of this chapter)