Chapter 681: Terrible Grandmaster

“So this is what it means to be carefree and unrestrained…”

An Xin murmured softly. She thought of An Hao, and a wave of heaviness washed over her.

When she was a child, her parents had been eaten by monsters. If An Hao hadn’t risked his life to protect her, she would’ve died too. So in her heart, An Hao had always been her real older brother. Even though they only relied on each other for a few short years before he left, she had never stopped thinking about him.

An Hao was like a soaring eagle that never stopped. He would always fly higher and farther, constantly burdened with new missions, ultimately dying for the sake of all living beings.

In this life, he had reincarnated as Tian Hao, and yet again, he had to set off for the Ethereal Immortal Court for the sake of the Heavenly Spirit Great World.

After learning about An Hao’s fate, An Shengtian no longer resented their founder. Instead, he began treating An Hao as a goal—he wanted to surpass An Hao and prove that the descendants of the An family weren’t a burden.

Young An Zizai still didn’t understand the meaning behind his name. When An Xin fell silent, he couldn’t help but call out to Gu An, “I have a name! I don’t want to be called An Zizai!”

Gu An smiled and asked with a grin, “Then what’s your name?”

“My mom called me Xiaochun.”

“You can keep that name. People don’t have to stick to just one.”

Gu An’s words made An Zizai relax quite a bit.

For some reason, being renamed made him feel really nervous—as if he’d been sold off or something.

At that moment, Shen Zhen, Tian Yao’er, and the others arrived one after another, curious about the kind of talent An Xin had taken in as her disciple.

Naturally, An Zizai’s aptitude was nothing short of excellent—his maximum lifespan was nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine years.

In the Nine Spirits Continent, orphans like him weren’t uncommon, especially if you looked back across hundreds of thousands of years.

Over the course of such long ages, tragedies like his were countless. An Xin never went out of her way to intervene—unless someone crossed her path directly.

What made An Zizai stand out to her was the way he had, in his moment of despair, stirred the laws of heaven and earth—even though he didn’t have a single shred of cultivation.

But nowadays, a nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine-year maximum lifespan wasn’t so rare in the mortal world anymore. Physical aptitude wasn’t the key factor now. What truly determined how far a cultivator could go was their comprehension—the intangible qualities that couldn’t be seen or touched.

An Zizai was cute, and that quickly stirred a sense of affection in everyone who saw him.

Gu An didn’t plan on teaching An Zizai himself—it was a good chance to test An Xin’s ability to mentor others.

An Zizai’s arrival broke the quiet atmosphere of the Wushi Dao Field. The disciples stopped their seclusion training and began spending more time helping him grow.

After all, this was Wushi’s very first third-generation disciple. Even though there was always some competition when it came to passing on teachings, everyone genuinely hoped An Zizai would become exceptional.

So they all took turns teaching him.

For the next ten years, the Wushi Dao Field was unusually lively. Although An Zizai was an orphan, he wasn’t antisocial. In fact, he was a bit wild and energetic, constantly stirring up chaos and noise around the Dao Field.

By the age of seventeen, An Zizai had already formed his Nascent Soul. His talent was outstanding, and all of Wushi’s disciples had great confidence and expectations for him.

During the summer, Gu An sat in a tree by the mountain stream, reading a book while enjoying the cool, refreshing breeze.

A figure suddenly appeared beneath the tree and looked up at him.

It was An Zizai.

He wore a tight-fitting robe of blue and white, his long hair loosely tied back with a cloth strip. His handsome face still held a trace of youthful innocence.

“Hey, Grandmaster, you’re reading again? What book is that? Must be a really good one!”

An Zizai called out to him. His divine sense couldn’t get close to Gu An, so he had no way of knowing what he was reading.

Since he was little, even though Gu An never personally taught him how to cultivate, all the other disciples made sure he knew—his grandmaster was the strongest person in the world.

But Gu An loved messing with him. When he was a kid, Gu An would randomly yank his pants down in public just to embarrass him. Because of that, An Zizai never spoke to him with much respect. In fact, he harbored a bit of resentment.

In his heart, this grandmaster was simply too terrible. Every time the other martial uncles praised him, Gu An would strike him down with cold truths, pointing out all his flaws. Worst of all, those flaws were real—it made him feel so stifled.

“This book is for adults. Don’t ask.”

Gu An replied casually. Even though he didn’t personally guide An Zizai, he genuinely liked the kid. Ever since his arrival, the Dao Field had become more lively, and life more interesting.

Sometimes, Gu An had to admit—he really was getting old.

Old folks loved kids. He never used to be like this.

After hearing that, An Zizai grew even more curious about the book in Gu An’s hands. But he wasn’t happy with that answer—he was practically grown now.

“Master told me to tell you that the Prodigy Combat Tournament hosted by Qiankun Sect is starting. She asked if you’re going to watch it with us.”

An Zizai asked, still full of curiosity. Since coming to the Wushi Dao Field, he hadn’t left the place once. Everything in the outside world was new and fascinating to him.

“I’ll go watch, but not with you all.”

“Tch.”

An Zizai curled his lips and playfully shook his fist at Gu An before vanishing on the spot. He could hardly wait to head over to Qiankun Sect.

Gu An didn’t mind his little gesture and went back to reading, his thoughts drifting toward the Path of the Grand Dao.

The Blood Prison Saint had already succeeded in completing a Reincarnation Projection, which meant he had officially stepped onto the path of becoming a Hunyuan Dao Emperor.

By now, the number of beings who had entered the path of the Hunyuan Dao Emperor had surpassed one thousand. Although no one had yet achieved that title, many factions were already investigating this new path.

Even the Heavenly Court!

Gu An had spotted a Heavenly God digging into matters related to the Hunyuan Dao Emperor. That god even had a conversation with one of the contenders on the path.

That Heavenly God looked familiar to Gu An. Though the divine presence of the Heavenly Court masked deductions, Gu An immediately noticed the resemblance to Long Xin.

A suspicion slowly formed in his heart.

Even if that Heavenly God had no ties to the Long family, Gu An wouldn’t go out of his way to suppress them.

Back when he created the path of the Hunyuan Dao Emperor, he had anticipated that this day would come.

He wasn’t worried about anyone tracking him through the destiny of the Hunyuan Dao Emperor. The moment that destiny took form, it became a force equal to the Grand Dao. The Grand Dao was boundless—who could possibly trace its origin?

Fang Xuan had grown well on the path of the Hunyuan Emperor. After undergoing multiple Reincarnation Projections, his understanding of the Grand Dao far exceeded his peers.

If he were to fight other cultivators of the same realm on the emperor path, Gu An was confident Fang Xuan wouldn’t lose.

This proved the Hunyuan Dao Emperor path truly had the potential to rival the Dao Emperor of the Grand Dao.

After observing for about an hour, Gu An closed his book, The Adventures of Green Hero, and tucked it into his robe. Then, he began walking toward Qiankun Sect.

He wasn’t going to watch the Prodigy Combat Tournament.

He was going to meet an old friend.

That old friend was none other than Xuan Tianyi—the author of The Adventures of Green Hero.

Xuan Tianyi had spent hundreds of thousands of years traveling the world, and this was his first time ever stepping into Qiankun Sect. He didn’t come with any particular goal—he had just happened to arrive.

Gu An was genuinely looking forward to their meeting.

They hadn’t seen each other in hundreds of thousands of years. All the copies of The Adventures of Green Hero he had read were purchased from the mortal world—none had come directly from Xuan Tianyi.

At that very moment—

Xuan Tianyi was walking through the bustling main city of Qiankun Sect. He had visited many flourishing sects like this before. As he walked through the crowd, he quietly observed the atmosphere of the sect, hoping to draw some inspiration.

“This Qiankun Sect really isn’t ordinary. Its foundation runs deep, and from the moment I entered until now, I haven’t seen a single case of bullying or someone abusing their power. No wonder they’re the leading righteous force of this domain.”

Xuan Tianyi sighed inwardly, and his thoughts drifted to Tai Xuan Sect.

Ever since Gu An left, he hadn’t returned to Tai Xuan Sect either. He had no idea whether it now carried the same kind of righteous spirit.