Chapter 323 The Way of Destiny

Gu An couldn’t help but cast Lifespan Perception on Shen Zhen.

【Shen Zhen (Transformation Stage, Second Level): 329/1200/5800】

Her lifespan limit had increased by more than a thousand years again!

Could she also possess the Profound Saint Body of Innate Enlightenment?

Curiosity filled Gu An’s heart, and he decided to observe Shen Zhen more closely in the future.

Shen Zhen began explaining the imaginative process behind her painting, while Gu An carefully studied the scroll.

It seemed to depict mortals begging for mercy from immortals, but in a bizarre twist—the person kneeling on the ground was smiling, while the immortals above frowned.

The outlines of the sea of clouds, the lines of the mountains, the ripples in the river—everything was a manifestation of the Laws of Heaven and Earth. As the painting unfolded, the real-world rules subtly began to shift toward it. In the eyes of a Divine Soul Immortal, the world became surreal and distorted.

But Shen Zhen, immersed in the scene, couldn’t sense the changes in the laws around her. She was still excitedly sharing her creative process.

Gu An began to peer into Shen Zhen’s Karma and Destiny, witnessing every experience of her life.

Suddenly, he realized that—without even knowing when—it was he who had become the most karmically connected person in Shen Zhen’s life.

Shen Zhen was drifting further from the Dao Tian Sect. Though she was the daughter of the sect leader, her father had many children. Having little contact over the years had caused their father-daughter bond to deteriorate, and her mother had long since passed away.

A bold thought struck Gu An.

Could it be… Shen Zhen was being influenced by him?

After all, he was a Divine Soul Immortal. Even with his cultivation hidden, the essence of his life was vastly different from the disciples around him.

Over the years, the time it took for disciples to graduate from Xuan Valley had become shorter—perhaps this too was due to his influence.

Shen Zhen’s accomplishments were no doubt due to her extraordinary perception, but without Gu An, perhaps she wouldn’t have come this far.

Gradually, Gu An’s comprehension of Karma and Destiny deepened.

Thinking it over, it was clear that he had already impacted the entire Taixuan Sect. For whatever reason, the sect had indeed entered an era of unprecedented growth.

After a while—

Shen Zhen’s voice pulled him back to reality. “Hey, are you even listening?”

Gu An turned his head and saw Shen Zhen glaring at him, though her expression didn’t look fierce—if anything, it made him want to pinch her cheek.

“I’m listening. You’re seriously amazing. I honestly can’t wrap my head around how you did it. If what you said is true, then maybe you really do have talent in comprehending the Dao,” Gu An praised.

Shen Zhen’s face lit up instantly, and she said proudly, “Then I’ll give this painting to you! I’m going back to meditate!”

With that, she turned and left.

Gu An didn’t see her off. Instead, his gaze fell onto the scroll on the table.

He sensed that the aura downstairs had returned to normal—Ji Xuanyu was back to cultivating. He paid it no mind.

Sitting in his chair, he stared at the scroll and fell into deep thought.

His influence on the surroundings wasn’t solely his doing; Heaven’s Fate was also at play. This brought him a deeper understanding of the Dao of Heaven and Earth.

He had this inexplicable feeling—he wanted to stay hidden, but the Dao of Heaven and Earth didn’t want him to hide. That’s why the environment around him kept changing.

Heaven’s Momentum was like a great tide, and Karma and Destiny were like an inescapable net—no living being could resist or escape it.

Everything had pros and cons. While he was helping the environment, he was also getting entangled in more karmic threads.

At that moment, Gu An suddenly understood why so many powerful cultivators went into closed-door cultivation for years on end. Perhaps it wasn’t just to comprehend the Dao.

Like the Grand Cold Demon Sect, which surely had many powerful cultivators hiding in seclusion—because of that, they had avoided catastrophe. Wasn’t that also a kind of survival strategy?

But Gu An didn’t fear because of this. Instead, he pondered how the heavens operated—how Karma and Destiny worked, forming the one rule most feared by all beings:

Fate.

Gu An never believed fate was truly unchangeable. It only felt that way because one was still trapped within the rules. But if one surpassed the rules—how could they still be controlled?

How to transcend fate? How to surpass the Dao of Heaven and Earth?

That was the direction Gu An truly needed to consider.

He sat in silence through the night. By morning, he was riding the Blood Prison Grand Sage to the Outer Sect City to watch the excitement.

One night passed. Zuo Yijian was still in the midst of enlightenment, guarded by over a hundred Taixuan Sect Grandmasters. The Heaven-Splitting Axe inheritance trial was temporarily halted—no one was allowed near him.

Zuo Yijian’s cultivation wasn’t noteworthy in today’s Taixuan Sect, but he had inherited the Sword Intent of the Sword Sovereign of the Righteous Path, which was a different matter entirely—one worthy of the sect’s full attention. It was also a way to honor the Sword Sovereign.

Gu An had barely arrived in the Outer Sect City when he ran into someone—a middle-aged man with a group of young men and women. They moved through the crowd, eyes wide with curiosity at everything.

“Chuan Yue, long time no see.”

A voice reached Chuan Yue’s ears. He instinctively turned and saw the Blood Prison Grand Sage—and Gu An.

The Blood Prison Grand Sage stood as tall as an adult, exuding pressure by merely being there. But Chuan Yue had seen even larger mounts, so he wasn’t shaken.

He looked at Gu An and asked cautiously, “And you are…?”

The man was clearly a cultivator, riding a beast—Chuan Yue didn’t dare be careless.

The Chuan Family juniors behind him were also staring curiously at Gu An. They never thought someone in the Taixuan Sect would recognize their grandfather.

Gu An smiled, “You don’t remember? I met you at your house. You were fifteen, begging your grandfather to take you to cultivate.”

Chuan Yue was stunned. His eyes widened. “You’re the one who visited Grandpa back then? But how are you still so…”

So young!

Gu An asked, “How’s your grandfather?”

Chuan Yue quickly replied, “He’s doing well. Just cultivates and drinks tea every day, no need to stress over anything…”

The Chuan juniors exchanged glances. Wasn’t Grandpa’s Grandpa their family’s founder? They had only seen Xiao Chuan once or twice. To them, he was gentle but far too exalted to relate to. All they felt was reverence.

After a brief chat, Gu An learned that Chuan Yue had brought his descendants to broaden their horizons—and hopefully find some opportunities.

Gu An pulled a token from his sleeve and tossed it to Chuan Yue. “If your talent isn’t that special and you’ve got no other way in, head to the Errand Hall as Errand Disciples. With this token, you can enter the Third Medicine Valley.”

Chuan Yue caught it reflexively and was about to ask something, but the Blood Prison Grand Sage stepped forward, brushing past him.

He turned to look at Gu An’s departing back. “Senior, may I ask your name?”

Gu An merely raised his hand and said nothing.

Chuan Yue looked at the token in his hand, frowning deeply.

Just then, a male cultivator approached and chuckled, “Brother, you’ve got great fortune. Third Medicine Valley, huh? With that connection, Foundation Establishment is practically guaranteed. That’s a solid start on the cultivation path.”

Foundation Establishment!

The eyes of the Chuan juniors lit up instantly, their breathing quickened.

Chuan Yue hurriedly bowed to the male cultivator, asking about the Third Medicine Valley.

The cultivator gave a rough rundown—over a thousand errand disciples, countless herbs, sightings of high-level Taixuan Sect figures every day—everything overwhelmed Chuan Yue.

Just who was that man from earlier, to wield such influence?

Chuan Yue couldn’t help but ask, “Do you know who he is?”

The male cultivator laughed and shook his head, patting Chuan Yue’s shoulder before walking away—making Chuan Yue all the more curious and respectful.

Meanwhile, Gu An, having turned onto another street, chuckled to himself. That brat still liked playing little tricks, just like back in the Medicine Valley.

The cultivator who had introduced Third Medicine Valley to Chuan Yue was, in fact, a graduate of that very valley.

By now, the number of disciples who had graduated from the Third Medicine Valley and Xuan Valley had exceeded tens of thousands, so Gu An often ran into old acquaintances.

His reputation had spread far and wide. Considering the sheer number of Foundation Establishment Pills required by those disciples, who else in the Inner or Outer Sect could afford that?

And after all these years, Gu An had never demanded anything extra from errand disciples—one of the reasons people admired him.

Soon, Gu An arrived at the Library Hall, intending to chat with the fellow readers inside.

Seven days later—

The Heavenly Rankings Tournament officially began!

Even the Nine-Fingered Divine Lord was participating on behalf of Taixuan Sect. With Li Ya unable to return, the sect needed a Roving Immortal level powerhouse. How the sect persuaded the Nine-Fingered Divine Lord was beyond Gu An’s knowledge—he hadn’t watched back then and didn’t care to find out now.

That day, Lü Baitian came to find Gu An and dragged him from the dueling arena to an attic. Apart from new disciples, most people were indifferent to the matches.

After sitting down, Lü Baitian uncharacteristically avoided official matters and started talking about his son, Lü Xian.

“That brat’s hopelessly loyal to Li Xuandao. I don’t know what he’s thinking. No matter how the Taicang Empire develops, it’s still the Li Family’s world. What’s he even going to get out of it?” Lü Baitian fumed.

Gu An didn’t comment—family matters were best left untouched.

Truthfully, Lü Baitian and Li Xuandao were quite alike—in behavior and in their strained father-son relationships.

Even Li Ya once resented Li Xuandao, and Lü Xian still wanted to kill Lü Baitian.

Gu An had no interest in sorting through their tangled karma. Outsiders couldn’t fix family issues anyway.

“Recently, Li Xuandao sent him to the Main City of the Severed Sea Region. I don’t know if it’s a blessing or a curse. I have a feeling that city was built to target the Sword Sovereign of the Righteous Path,” Lü Baitian said with concern.

Gu An asked, “Why do you say that?”

“The Grand Cold Demon Sect didn’t even exist in that region before. That means the Holy Court established it—but they don’t usually bother managing specific territories. From their perspective, setting up that city was about defense… and investigating the Sword Sovereign.”

“In that case, why not go to the Heaven-Splitting Axe and ask the Sword Sovereign to leave?”

“Nonsense! Don’t ever say such things again!”

Lü Baitian glared and scolded sternly.

Gu An gave a helpless smile—this guy always lost his temper so easily.

Lü Baitian then mentioned Li Lingtian, whose fame had skyrocketed over the years. He had even taken first place in the Golden Ranking Tournament and Hundred Clans Conference, his spotlight outshining even that of An Hao and Lü Xian back in the day.

Gu An didn’t have much of an opinion. Clearly, Li Lingtian had returned to the Taicang Continent for Yang Jian. Gu An found it hard to be interested in the squabbles of the younger generation.

What caught his attention was the mysterious grandmaster who had recently arrived at Taixuan Sect.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep