Immortality: Starting with a grave, I'm invincible when burying corpses.

"They feed on all living beings, extending their lifespan by refining living beings..."

The morning sunlight shone through the arched windows onto Mu An's face, illuminating his expressionless face.

Although Mu An's expression didn't change, for some reason, Xuan Yuan Wu Mu felt that the senior sitting opposite him seemed to be in a bad mood.

His childhood experience surviving in the Taiyuan Empire's palace made Xuan Yuan Wu Mu instinctively shrink back, trying to minimize his presence as much as possible. At the same time, a sense of unease arose in his mind.

"Damn it! Could this great senior in front of me also want to learn from those demons and refine all living beings? These powerful beings of heaven and earth are all lunatics! Damn it, I should have known better than to say that..."

On the other side, after muttering something to herself, Mu An stopped moving.

Xuan Yuan Wu Mu's conjecture did not surprise him. To be honest, it was not a particularly novel idea. Mu An had had a similar thought nearly a hundred years ago.

Over the past century, Mu An has also made related deductions. If we put everything else aside, the method of refining all living beings in Mu An's deductions does indeed have its feasibility.

If enough living beings are refined, it can not only extend a person's lifespan, but also elevate them to the level of a terrestrial immortal.

Intelligent life forms are products of the creation of heaven and earth. If they "eat" enough, they can indeed make up for the deficiencies of the laws of the Great Dao to a certain extent, thereby replenishing their soul and body and prolonging their lifespan in this way.

While it's impossible to have a lifespan as long as a true demon, extending it by three to five hundred years is not difficult. If one were to directly transform into a terrestrial immortal, living for three thousand years would be an easy task.

Among the Nine Realms, the one most proficient in this art is actually the Old Celestial Master.

If the Old Celestial Master wants to replace the Heavenly Way, he will inevitably have to "consume" enough living beings.

Over the long years, the Old Celestial Master has already "eaten" dozens of land deities, and will "eat" even more living beings in the future, before finally completing his ultimate leap.

For a fleeting moment, such a thought flashed through Mu An's mind.

If the Old Celestial Master can do it, why can't Mu An do it?

The seasons change, and living beings are replaced; life is born and dies at every moment.

The law of the jungle, where the strong prey on the weak, is a natural law.

Even if one refines the beings of a region, what then?

Hundreds or thousands of years from now, the world will return to its original state.

only……

Images from the past flashed through Mu An's mind: his appearance when he first arrived in the Nine Realms, the people he had met over the years, and the scenes of his time with his family.

Mu Ping, who took him in and cared for him meticulously; Lin Zhimin, who spent most of his life practicing medicine and saving lives; Zhuang Sheng, who persisted in his ideals and beliefs until the last moment of his life; Xiao Lü, who devoted herself to him for a lifetime; Xiao He, who always talked about being kind to others; and Mu Ling'er, who repeatedly "caused trouble" for him...

Mu An really didn't think that Mu Ling'er would be willing to use the method of "eating people" to ensure the continuation of her life, given that she was so "foolish" that she would even give up becoming a god.

Nothing more than that the little guy once again acted pitiful in front of him, lying on the table and crying incessantly, while shouting things like he had changed.

Or the little one might react more intensely, arguing with him for days and nights, and finally pitifully pleading with him to return to his original form.

"It is easy to have good intentions at the beginning, but difficult to maintain them to the end."

How could Mu An not know about the changes in herself?

However, having reached this point, Mu An herself has gradually lost her way, unable to distinguish between right and wrong.

Or perhaps, there is no right or wrong in any of this.

Whether it's a bond or a weakness, whether it's putting the cart before the horse or following one's heart, Mu An doesn't actually have a clear answer.

If this is what Taoism calls an inner demon, then Mu An can only draw this conclusion.

As long as humanity remains, inner demons will never disappear and may reappear at any level. No matter how many times they are slain, they can never be completely eradicated.

But Mu An also knew in her heart that there was no such thing as inner demons; all of these things were just part of the journey forward.

Mu Ling'er tends to push all the blame onto the Book of Creation and the Great Dao, because in Mu Ling'er's eyes, Mu An is perfect and the best Da An in the world.

But Mu An knew in her heart that the truth might not be exactly what Mu Ling'er thought.

He wasn't as perfect as Mu Ling'er remembered, nor did he possess as much kindness as Mu Ling'er.

His upbringing and the world he saw were different from Mu Ling'er's.

Having reached this point, Mu An's own mindset has changed. He is no longer the boy who would stand up for beggars, and his former passion has faded away with the passage of time.

The essence of life transforms again and again, and mortals become more fragile than ants. Even the world becomes a plaything in our hands. How can we still maintain our former beliefs?

Now, many things are nothing more than a continuation of past habits.

Mu An understood this clearly, but he didn't know if Mu Ling'er understood it.

Perhaps they know, perhaps they don't, or perhaps they know but pretend not to.

From childhood to adulthood, Mu Ling'er has always been a "willful" child.

……

Bathed in sunlight, Mu An stood up and walked to the window.

In the early morning, the Jin Huan Palace was shrouded in a thin layer of mist. The sunlight and mist intertwined, forming a series of magnificent rainbows in the mountains.

He stood by the window, gazing at the distant mountain scenery, watching the rising sun gradually dispel the fog.

In just a short while, Mu An had seen about a hundred disciples of the Jin Huan Palace fly by in mid-air, riding flying swords through the clouds.

Compared to the Nine Realms, the Spirit Realm has more abundant spiritual energy and a much more complete cultivation system.

The cultivators living here can advance along a complete cultivation system, unlike the warriors of the Nine Domains who, after reaching the Celestial Martial Saint level, lose their way and can only feel their way across the river like blind men.

In the Spirit Blossom Realm, even lower-level cultivators can wield flying swords, soaring through the heavens and becoming revered immortal masters.

In terms of basic combat strength alone, the Spirit Blossom Realm is far stronger than the Nine Domains.

The long evolution has given the lower-level cultivators of the Spirit Blossom Realm the means to counter the higher-level cultivators. As long as there are enough people and they are well prepared, even the weak have the possibility of killing the strong.

In this respect, the Nine Realms are extremely unbalanced. The immortals on land reside high in the sky, looking down on all living beings. The fate of mortals depends entirely on the attitude of the strong.

Birds flew across the mountains and forests, deer drank by the stream, mythical beasts ran through the mountains, and disciples, scattered in groups, walked through the forest paths, each heading to their desired destination...

The tranquil and peaceful scene made Mu An linger for a long time before she finally turned her gaze back to Xuan Yuan Wu Mu.

"A good place for spiritual practice."

"You flatter me, senior." Xuan Yuan Wu Mu hurriedly bowed, but before he could raise his head again, he heard these words.

"Give me directions. Over the next month, I will visit each of the sects you mentioned that possess longevity-extending items. As for the Taiyuan Empire, which you care about most, I will visit them after I have obtained what I want."

"Visit them one by one? Are you trying to snatch them away one by one?"

Xuan Yuan Wu Mu's face paled for a moment as various terrible images flashed through his mind. Fortunately, he quickly regained his composure and bowed to Mu An.

"What do you mean, senpai?"

Mu An didn't care about the change in Xuan Yuan Wu Mu's expression, and just glanced at him indifferently.

"If you accomplish this task well, you will become the next emperor of the Taiyuan Empire."