Steadily becoming a saint, the immortal officials hired me to tend the horses

Gu An, suppressing his complicated emotions, asked, "This thing is too groundbreaking, are you really going to do it? The commotion might be bigger than writing a book."

In fact, the *Supreme Secret Records* written by Shen Zhen had always been forbidden by the Supreme Sect. If she were not the Holy Daughter of the Daotian Sect, Gu An suspected she would have long been captured.

Shen Zhen retorted, "I haven't killed or set fires, what's the Supreme Sect going to do, throw me in jail?"

"But you are, after all, a woman. If this gets exposed, how will people see you? How will they view your father, or the Daotian Sect?"

Gu An spoke earnestly. Shen Zhen's nature wasn't bad, nor did she have any emotional entanglements. Whenever he used his divine sense to survey the world, he would also glance at her. When she wasn't seeking him, she was mostly in her cave cultivating or delving into music, chess, calligraphy, and painting.

Shen Zhen fixed her gaze on him and asked, "You don't like what I'm doing?"

Gu An responded, "I'm just worried about you."

Shen Zhen couldn't help but smile, and she took out a new jade scroll, handing it to Gu An.

Gu An hesitated for a moment but still used his divine sense to inspect the jade scroll.

Immediately, his eyebrows raised.

It wasn't just an action illusion, but the process of cultivating divine skills. The person in the jade scroll was Shen Zhen, and it recorded her divine skills cultivation process, even including the meditation spells.

After a while,

Gu An withdrew his divine sense, his gaze fixed on Shen Zhen.

Shen Zhen hummed, "This is my real creation, isn't it more conducive to inheritance?"

Gu An nodded, saying, "Very good, it gives people more direction during cultivation."

With that, he placed the two jade scrolls on the table.

Shen Zhen began to recount the experience of her and Lu Lingjun's training. They had ventured into the grotto heaven of an ancient great cultivator, filled with dangers, and only after great effort did they obtain the inheritance and treasures.

Gu An listened avidly, occasionally exclaiming in amazement, gratifying Shen Zhen's desire to talk.

She loved discussing these things with Gu An, while talking to others might attract unwanted attention. With Gu An, she enjoyed his praise without that risk.

After a long time,

Shen Zhen finally stood up and said, "I'll leave this divine skills jade scroll with you."

Before Gu An could refuse, she headed for the door and quickly went downstairs.

Gu An looked at the jade scroll on the table, wanting to call out to Shen Zhen. Why not take the other one?

Forget it!

He'd better keep this one to prevent anyone from going astray.

Gu An had memories of his past life and had long experienced the corruption of this thing. His willpower in this aspect was far beyond that of the people in the Immortal Cultivation World. He felt it was his duty to bear this mental burden for the cultivators.

Elsewhere,

Shen Zhen, upon going downstairs, couldn't resist teasing the Blood Prison Great Saint, annoying him greatly.

Until nightfall, Gu An finally took the Blood Prison Great Saint back to Mystic Valley. Late at night, Gu An quietly arrived at Nianchu Cave of Heavenly Phoenix Mountain.

Tian Yao'er was cultivating, while two cat demons were playing. Seeing Gu An appear, they quickly stopped and lay on the ground. Although they hadn't shape-shifted yet, they were highly intelligent and, under Tian Yao'er's guidance, they were very respectful towards Gu An.

Gu An nodded at them, then sat at the stone table and began contemplating the matters of a grotto heaven.

With his current cultivation level, opening up an independent minor heaven and earth wasn't difficult, but the challenge was in raising the spiritual energy.

He couldn't instantly create a minor heaven and earth filled with spiritual energy.

Next, he planned to collect high-grade celestial treasures to prepare for his grotto heaven. He was now thinking about where to hide the grotto heaven.

Although the minor heaven and earth within the grotto heaven was hidden in another space, the entrance to the real world was fixed and couldn't move.

After much thought, Gu An decided to open the grotto heaven on the mainland.

This mainland was vast and had fewer immortal realms, making it suitable for him to develop slowly.

At this time, Tian Yao'er approached and asked what he was thinking.

Gu An didn't hide anything, as the grotto heaven would eventually need to be managed by her.

To seize life span, he needed to personally harvest it with his mana, as puppets or clones weren't reliable.

The clones of his Nine Extremes Yin Yang Body, though called clones, were actually formed by his mana and lacked independent thought.

Gu An had no interest in clones; he preferred to directly experience life and growth.

Tian Yao'er, upon hearing this, was secretly shocked.

The master had already opened a minor heaven and earth?

She wondered if Heaven Phoenix Demon Mother could do the same?

Having cultivated for so long, she wasn't naive. She was increasingly certain that the master was stronger than the Demon Mother. It was just that he claimed he couldn't defeat the Demon Mother to encourage her to cultivate.

She felt no resentment towards this. Her enemies needed to be dealt with by her own hands.

"Just set it here at Heavenly Phoenix Mountain. It's said that Heavenly Phoenix Mountain was once a habitat for phoenixes. Every few thousand years, enormous spiritual energy surges from the ground, producing countless celestial treasures." Tian Yao'er said earnestly.

Gu An thought it made sense.

Then, he sent his divine sense underground to open up a minor heaven and earth.

The grotto heaven couldn't be too close to Nianchu Cave to avoid affecting the growth of medicinal herbs here. It should ideally be near the great earth spirit lineage, so it could absorb the underground spiritual energy.

An hour later, Gu An successfully opened it. Unlike other great cultivators who needed to fill it with soil and water, he could directly manifest it with his mana, thanks to his Five Elements attribute. However, the plants would still need to be relocated manually.

For now, he wasn't in a hurry. He would let the grotto heaven absorb spiritual energy first.

...

With the arrival of the New Year, the Supreme Sect was busy with celebrations and all cities were bustling.

Gu An rode the Blood Prison Great Saint to the Outer Gate City. Although they attracted many gazes along the way, no one was surprised. Nowadays, many disciples in the Outer Gate City rode mounts, and numerous majestic demon birds circled above the city.

The Blood Prison Great Saint was also very interested in the Outer Gate City, constantly looking around.

"Brother Gu, long time no see."

A light laugh sounded, and Gu An turned his head to see Di Xie approaching.

Di Xie had gotten acquainted with Zuo Lin and Gu An when he first arrived. He had always hidden his true identity, and now only the high levels of the Supreme Sect knew that he was the son of the Demon Emperor.

Gu An dismounted with a smile, raised his hand, and cupped his fists.

Di Xie looked at the Blood Prison Great Saint, examining it, and said, "Brother Gu, this mount of yours seems to have a unique bloodline?"

Although the Blood Prison Great Saint's cultivation level was low, Di Xie could still sense some unusual traits, but nothing more.

Gu An laughed, "He's quite good. I like him a lot, so I take him everywhere with me, but his speed is a bit slow."

Di Xie smiled and nodded, then invited Gu An for a drink, which Gu An didn't refuse. He led the Blood Prison Great Saint and followed Di Xie.

They chatted and laughed along the way, their relationship harmonious.

After experiencing the Demon Catastrophe, Di Xie cherished his friendship with Zuo Lin and Gu An even more.

The human and demon races shouldn't be forever locked in conflict; they could coexist peacefully, just like him and Gu An.

The two found an inn. Gu An left the Blood Prison Great Saint by the inn's door and asked the innkeeper to keep an eye on him.

The two went to the second floor by the window.

"The first sword competition in the world is about to start. I'm planning to participate. You must come to watch then." Di Xie said with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Gu An immediately agreed and wished him success in advance.

"I've heard they're preparing to recruit some demon clan disciples. Brother Gu, what do you think about this?" Di Xie asked curiously.

He was pleased but also worried when he heard this. He knew well the nature of some demons. If they harmed someone in the Supreme Sect, would that not worsen the conflict?

After all, the Demon Catastrophe had only ended recently, and there was still significant resentment towards demons among the human cultivators.

"It's a good thing. Didn't some demons help us fight off the Evil Demons during the catastrophe? Now that the Demon Ancestor has fallen, but Evil Demons remain, which are a greater calamity. The human and demon races should unite to overcome the tribulation." Gu An said casually.

Di Xie observed his expression, trying to figure out his true thoughts, but his words made Di Xie happy.

They started drinking, passing cups back and forth, and soon, two jars were emptied.

An hour later, sounds of a cow and the innkeeper's voice interrupted Gu An and Di Xie's conversation.

"I need to go down and check." Gu An said, standing up.

Di Xie nodded and followed him downstairs.

In front of the inn's door, more and more disciples gathered.

The innkeeper stood in front of the Blood Prison Great Saint, wearing a forced smile as he looked at the luxurious robed man in front of him, saying, "Sir, I really can't sell this cow. If you want to buy it, you should find the owner upstairs."

The man in luxurious robes was arrogant, with four attendants behind him, all looking formidable.

He looked down at the innkeeper and said, "Go call him down."

Before the innkeeper could respond, Gu An's voice came from behind, "Brother, sorry, but this cow is not for sale."

Gu An approached the Blood Prison Great Saint, patting its head, and gave the luxurious robed man a life span detection. This was his habitual action to see the other person's maximum life span.

[Zhou Ye (Divinity Transformation Stage Fifth Level): 402/880/1200]

Surname Zhou?

Gu An thought to himself.

After the Ji Family left the Supreme Sect, the Zhou Family also started leaving, reportedly to support the Cangtian Sect.

Zhou Ye looked at Gu An and said, "Two top-grade spirit stones, I'll take it."

As soon as he said this, the surrounding disciples were in an uproar.

A first-order demon beast worth that much?

Listening to the discussions around, the Blood Prison Great Saint was infuriated, his eyes flaring up with rage.

He accepted being Gu An's steed, but who did this kid think he was?

The Blood Prison Great Saint judged from the other's aura that he was just a low-level Divinity Transformation cultivator.

Gu An frowned, shaking his head in difficulty.

Di Xie suddenly stepped in front of him and said, "My brother said it's not for sale, stop pestering!"

Zhou Ye looked him up and down and sneered, "Do you know what my cultivation level is?"

"What, being in the Divinity Transformation Stage Fifth Level makes you arrogant?" Di Xie retorted coldly.

The crowd was in an uproar again, and the innkeeper stepped back in fear, with Gu An also pretending to be shocked.

Zhou Ye asked, frowning, "Who are you?"

Di Xie said calmly, "I am Di Xie, Mystic Heart Realm Third Layer."

Bang!

The whole street exploded into chaos.

Zhou Ye and the four behind him all retreated together.

Di Xie glanced at Gu An, giving an apologetic look.

The Blood Prison Great Saint, at the Mahayana Realm Eighth Layer, felt humiliated. Was the Mystic Heart Realm that prestigious?

After he ascended, he shouldn't have been so arrogant!

Gu An, at the Heaven and Earth Flying Immortal Realm Ninth Level, feigned tension, continuously stroking the cow's head.