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Li Xuanyu suddenly threw her sword, and as it flew through the air, the blade split into four sword shadows, all striking toward Xu Ruye.

Xu Ruye reacted swiftly. With a wave of his hand, a burst of purple energy shot out like raging flames, forcibly blocking Li Xuanyu’s sword.

Chan Ji, like a ghost, appeared behind Li Xuanyu. A crimson fan appeared in her hand, and with a forceful wave, rolling waves of red poisonous mist surged forth, forcing Li Xuanyu to retreat.

The red mist rapidly spread through the forest, and within it, a giant serpent silhouette darted about. Wherever it passed, the red mist surged, quickly surrounding Li Ya and Li Xuanyu.

Li Xuanyu landed beside Li Ya, her eyes scanning the surroundings, but Chan Ji’s figure was nowhere to be seen. Meanwhile, Xu Ruye floated above the forest, looking down on them.

“You dare harbor murderous intent within the grounds of Tai Xuan Sect?” Li Ya asked sternly.

Xu Ruye’s lips curled into a mocking smile. “I’ve long heard that Tai Xuan Sect’s vast territories have been increasingly neglected ever since the current sect master took over. It seems they prefer to let their disciples handle their own conflicts on the outskirts. The eight outer sect cities may be like a wall, with justice and righteousness inside, but outside, it’s nothing more than survival of the fittest, no different from the demonic sects.”

“We’ve been fighting for this long, and yet no one’s come. It seems Tai Xuan Sect has sent no one to patrol the outer regions. Today, I’ll kill you, then take your sister. If it means skipping the Grand Outer Sect Tournament, so be it. What do you think?”

“And those people in Medicine Valley? I’ll kill them too. If Princess Li herself came to protect them, they must be quite important to you.”

As Xu Ruye spoke, he licked his lips, clearly relishing the idea.

“Buy me some time,” Li Xuanyu whispered. She then sat down cross-legged, her hands moving rapidly through a series of hand seals. A faint golden flame flickered between her brows, appearing and disappearing.

Li Ya’s eyes narrowed. He suddenly crouched, then leapt into the air, his sword pointing skyward. Sword qi burst forth from the ground like a geyser, surging with a powerful force that shook the forest within a radius of several dozen meters. The red mist churned in response, creating a massive spectacle under the twilight sky.

Xu Ruye smirked disdainfully. From his storage pouch, he pulled out a large purple banner embroidered with a terrifying ghostly face, as if ready to leap from the fabric at any moment.

With a flip of his left hand, Xu Ruye unleashed a tremendous wave of spiritual power, creating a giant palm that slammed down, crushing Li Ya’s sword qi with sheer force.

Li Ya frowned. His spiritual power was far weaker than Xu Ruye’s, and he couldn’t compete.

As he watched, a dizzying purple whirlwind spun from Xu Ruye’s banner, threatening to seize his very soul.

Not good!

Li Ya’s face paled as a wave of intense dizziness washed over him. What frightened him the most was that his body refused to respond.

“He’s trying to steal your soul. The audacity!” the voice of the ancestral spirit boomed angrily in Li Ya’s mind.

Li Ya panicked even more upon hearing this.

“Let me savor the taste of a soul from the Tai Cang imperial bloodline!” Xu Ruye laughed sinisterly, his eyes filled with greed.

Whoosh—

A sharp whistling sound suddenly cut through the air from afar. Both Li Ya, suspended midair, and Li Xuanyu, who was sitting in meditation, instinctively glanced up.

A single leaf, infused with sharp sword qi, streaked across the sky like a lightning bolt, heading straight for Xu Ruye.

Xu Ruye glanced at it, but the leaf moved too fast for him to react.

Bang!

Xu Ruye’s head exploded instantly, blood mist spraying into the sky. The red poisonous mist that shrouded the forest was swept away by a powerful gust of wind. Li Ya was thrown to the ground, while Li Xuanyu channeled her spiritual power to resist the wind, but she was still forced to stand up.

“Xu Lang!”

Chan Ji screamed in the midst of the storm. Just as she was about to leap into the air, another whistling sound pierced through the air. She turned to look, only to see a powerful wind slicing through the red mist, whipping at her robes and outlining her perfect figure.

In her pupils, a single leaf was reflected.

Bang!

The leaf pierced through her head, splattering blood across the forest. The leaf continued on its trajectory, slicing through trees and stirring up dust before embedding itself in the trunk of a large tree.

Thud! Thud!

Xu Ruye’s body hit the ground, followed shortly by Chan Ji’s. Silence fell over the forest, broken only by the howling wind.

Li Ya propped himself up, sitting on the ground with his hair in disarray, staring in disbelief.

Not far away, Li Xuanyu was similarly stunned, her eyes fixed on the bodies of Xu Ruye and Chan Ji, as if in a trance.

“Flying leaf to slay an enemy, such domineering sword qi. This person must at least be at the Nascent Soul stage and has achieved profound mastery in the way of the sword!” the ancestral spirit’s voice echoed in Li Ya’s mind.

Li Ya snapped back to reality. He immediately stood up, cupped his fists, and shouted, “May I ask which senior has saved us?”

Li Xuanyu quickly stood up as well, scanning the surroundings.

But no one answered.

“Boy, go check over there!” the ancestral spirit urged, directing Li Ya toward a certain direction.

Li Ya obediently headed toward the indicated spot, though his injuries and the lingering effects of the soul attack made him unsteady on his feet.

Meanwhile, Li Xuanyu walked over to inspect the corpses of Xu Ruye and Chan Ji. She even stabbed each of them twice, using sword qi to destroy their hearts.

Li Ya walked about two hundred feet before stopping in front of a tree. His gaze fell on the trunk, and his expression changed dramatically.

“How is this possible…” Li Ya whispered in shock. Following his line of sight, one could see a single leaf embedded in the tree trunk, still radiating traces of sword qi. The entire trunk was cracked, as if it could shatter at any moment.

“This person struck from ten miles away. I can sense the direction but cannot capture their presence,” the ancestral spirit mused, marveling at the feat. “It seems Tai Xuan Sect isn’t so weak after all; a powerful expert must be watching over the outer regions.”

Li Ya stared at the leaf, trying to calm his racing heart.

Just then, Li Xuanyu walked over, and when she saw the leaf, she too was momentarily stunned.

...

Night had fallen over Medicine Valley. The Valley Master\'s pavilion was lit up, and Gu An and his disciples sat around a large table, eating, drinking, and chatting merrily.

Xiao Chuan and Tang Yu were in the midst of a drinking contest. Xiao Chuan, already red-faced, refused to admit defeat, continuing to drink despite the others’ attempts to stop him.

The wine they were drinking wasn’t ordinary alcohol—it was spirit wine, which Gu An had specially purchased from the Outer Sect. One jar cost two low-grade spirit stones, equivalent to two months’ wages for a servant disciple.

“Earlier today, we encountered two demonic cultivators. Do you think more might come?” Su Han suddenly asked. His words immediately dampened the lively atmosphere around the table.

Everyone’s smiles faded as they began to worry.

Gu An laughed reassuringly. “Don’t worry. The Outer Sect disciples are patrolling. Didn’t you see that today? After this, I’m sure they’ll strengthen the patrols.”

Inside, Gu An wasn’t worried at all. He was still basking in the joy of his earlier success.

Killing Xu Ruye and Chan Ji had granted him 112 years of lifespan.

He was now trying to figure out the pattern behind the amount of lifespan he could seize. It seemed that the years he took ranged between ten to twenty percent of his target’s remaining lifespan, but the exact number wasn’t fixed. There appeared to be an element of randomness involved.

While killing cultivators did yield more lifespan, Gu An wasn’t eager to face such situations again.

Killing too many enemies would eventually bring trouble. It was far safer to accumulate lifespan by harvesting medicinal herbs.

There was always someone stronger out there. Even though killing enemies allowed Gu An to grow quickly, if he encountered an overwhelmingly powerful foe, he could still end up dead.

He couldn’t be sure how powerful the strongest beings in the world were.

But he figured that if he could lay low for a thousand or ten thousand years, he might eventually become invincible in the mortal realm.

Hearing Gu An’s words, everyone felt reassured, and the cheerful atmosphere returned.

Gu An set aside his own thoughts and began chatting with his disciples, asking about their cultivation goals. The mood grew livelier, and even Gu An joined in the drinking.

The first Spring Festival in Medicine Valley was a resounding success.

Late into the night, everyone continued to disperse.

Gu An made his way to the Eight Views Heavenly Cave.

Jiang Qiong was meditating under the Ancient Vine Tree, shrouded in demonic energy that gave her a sinister and fearsome aura.

Gu An brought a tray of food to her side and said, “Grandmaster, today is the Spring Festival in Medicine Valley. This is a meal prepared by my junior sisters. Please try it, and I wish you a speedy recovery.”

Upon hearing this, Jiang Qiong opened her eyes in confusion and asked, “Spring Festival? What kind of holiday is that?”

Gu An had already prepared an explanation and gave the same response he used for anyone who asked—that it was something he had heard from an elderly man.

“Hmm, establishing a holiday does seem like a good way to build unity,” Jiang Qiong nodded approvingly, then turned her gaze toward the wooden food box Gu An was holding.

Gu An quickly placed the tray down and started to take out the dishes, including a small jar of wine.

Jiang Qiong’s eyes lit up when she saw the meal. She muttered to herself, “Since you’ve shown such thoughtfulness, it would be rude not to partake.”

Without hesitation, she grabbed a bowl of food and began eating heartily, shoveling the food into her mouth like someone who had been starving.

Gu An hurriedly poured her some wine, then asked curiously, “Grandmaster, there’s something I’ve never fully understood.”

“Speak,” Jiang Qiong replied, her mouth full of food. She grabbed the wine bowl from Gu An and drank deeply, leaving traces of grease and wine around her lips.

“Why does the Thousand Autumn Pavillion place spies beyond the Outer Sect? It feels like Medicine Valley isn’t really positioned to gather any meaningful intelligence,” Gu An asked.

Jiang Qiong gave him a sidelong glance and replied with a hint of annoyance, “Who said your job was to gather intelligence? Your role is to watch over this place. Once the Ancient Vine Tree fully matures, this will become a base for Thousand Autumn Pavillion. The task of gathering intelligence is handled by others.”

Hearing this, Gu An’s unease deepened.

What? They plan to establish a base here?

Gu An furrowed his brows and asked, “Is Medicine Valley the only place suited for this?”

“Of course not. Aside from Medicine Valley, at least five other Medicine Valley masters are Thousand Autumn Pavillion spies. They don’t know each other’s identities, of course. Over a century ago, some Thousand Autumn Pavillion spies even climbed to the rank of true disciples. By now, some may have already become elders,” Jiang Qiong said casually.

Gu An fell silent.

Has Tai Xuan Sect become that full of holes?

Jiang Qiong, now done with her meal, grabbed a large chicken leg and laughed, “The food tastes quite good! Even though I no longer need to eat, it’s nice to indulge once in a while. As a reward, I’ll teach you one of Thousand Autumn Pavillion’s secret techniques later.”