"Junior Brother Gu, let me introduce you. This is my childhood friend, Zuo Lin. He wishes to discuss sword techniques with me, so I’ll let him stay in my courtyard," Li Ya said as he walked up to Gu An and introduced him.
Zuo Lin, dressed in yellow, had a handsome face with an unrestrained arrogance that he couldn’t hide. A treasured sword hung at his waist, and its quality was clearly high.
Li Ya introduced Gu An to Zuo Lin, but Zuo Lin merely nodded slightly and remained silent.
Gu An, however, didn’t find this strange. He smiled and said, "Then, Senior Brother Li, you can settle him in."
Li Ya nodded, his eyes expressing some apology.
Zuo Lin pulled Li Ya forward, his excitement apparent as he said, "Today, Ji Lin from the Ji family was really impressive. Did you see his sword technique? It was exquisite. I feel he has a chance of becoming the final victor."
Ji Lin?
An image of a proud and handsome face flashed through Gu An's mind. Ji Lin had entered Tai Xuan Sect along with Ji Xiaoyu. Though Gu An hadn’t interacted with him much, he remembered that Du Ye had once helped Ji Lin gather herbs.
Gu An didn’t expect Ji Lin to already be making a name for himself in the Outer Sect Tournament. After all, Ji Lin wasn’t much older than him. Of course, this might be due to the cultivation resources he had access to. With the support of both Tai Xuan Sect and the Ji family, rapid progress in cultivation was understandable.
Gu An walked back under the tree, but he continued to eavesdrop on Li Ya and Zuo Lin's conversation.
The Outer Sect Tournament had already begun, with top disciples from both the righteous and demonic paths gathering to compete. According to Li Ya and Zuo Lin, the competition was conducted one-on-one, and many disciples were already making names for themselves with undefeated streaks.
Gu An didn’t hear Ji Xiaoyu’s name mentioned, but it made sense. She wasn’t part of the Outer Sect.
Meanwhile, Xiao Chuan, Wu Xin, and the others were all curious about Zuo Lin, huddling together in small groups to gossip.
Zuo Lin’s arrival didn’t disrupt the peace of Medicine Valley. He looked down on labor disciples and spent most of his time practicing swordsmanship with Li Ya or meditating in his room.
Because of their presence, Gu An reduced the frequency of his trips to Eight Views Heavenly Cave, but he still adhered to his daily routines.
A month passed quickly.
Gu An finally reached the ninth layer of Nascent Soul Stage, and that night, as he walked back, he felt as if he were floating on air.
When he returned to Medicine Valley, he noticed someone practicing swordsmanship in Li Ya’s courtyard.
Gu An entered his building and went to the window to observe.
It was Zuo Lin practicing.
When Zuo Lin first arrived, Gu An had thought he was a swordsmanship genius.
However, after a month of watching him practice, Gu An realized that Zuo Lin’s talent in swordsmanship was quite mediocre.
By now, Gu An had gained considerable insight into swordsmanship, and he could tell that Zuo Lin’s talent wasn’t even as good as Su Han’s.
Su Han had the best swordsmanship talent in the valley, but even he wouldn’t be considered exceptional outside of it.
After watching for a while, Gu An closed the window.
At dawn, Gu An went downstairs and found Zuo Lin still standing in the courtyard, staring at his sword with a furrowed brow.
Gu An called his junior brothers, sisters, and disciples for their daily exercises, and their movements soon caught Zuo Lin’s attention.
"You don’t have to force yourself with swordsmanship. Your spiritual root talent is extraordinary. If you focus on raising your cultivation first, you might find that learning sword techniques later will be much easier," Li Ya advised Zuo Lin gently as he approached. r
Zuo Lin’s expression darkened, and he replied, "No, I must become a sword cultivator. My father is the Sword Maniac of Canghu Lake!"
Li Ya had wanted to persuade him otherwise, but then he thought about his own situation—how he, too, wanted to prove himself to his father.
Zuo Lin’s eyes remained fixed on Gu An and the others as they practiced. For some reason, he felt that Gu An’s movements held some mysterious profundity. Although Gu An’s actions were the same as everyone else’s, there was an underlying secret to them.
At first, Zuo Lin thought it was just his imagination, but the more he watched, the more convinced he became.
Li Ya, however, didn’t disturb Zuo Lin any further and left for the forest, needing time to train as well.
Though he rarely spoke about his defeat at the hands of Xu Ruyue, it still weighed heavily on his mind.
Zuo Lin’s eyes darted as he said, "How about this? I’ll teach you a sword technique, and you can give it a try."
Gu An wanted to refuse, but seeing Zuo Lin’s persistence, he reluctantly agreed.
Might as well learn it!
Seeing that Gu An didn’t have a sword, Zuo Lin pulled out a spare from his storage pouch and handed it to him, while he drew his treasured sword from his waist and began demonstrating the technique.
This kid really doesn’t know how to be considerate! Why swing the sword so fast?
Gu An silently complained but watched intently.
From a distance, Tang Yu and Su Han watched the scene, not daring to approach but observing from afar.
"If Master learns this, won’t that mean he can teach us?" Su Han said eagerly. Of all the various paths of cultivation, swordsmanship was what most captured his imagination.
Tang Yu nodded. "If Master learns it, we can ask him. He definitely wouldn’t refuse."
In their minds, Gu An was the best master. The only question was whether he could learn Zuo Lin’s sword technique.
The answer was yes. After all, Gu An had invested two thousand years of lifespan in mastering the Li Family Seven Swords. His swordsmanship was already quite advanced.
Although Zuo Lin’s technique was decent, it didn’t compare to the advanced Seven Swords Technique, let alone the Nine Strikes of Supreme Swordsmanship.
Then again, Zuo Lin wouldn’t start by teaching his strongest technique.
After demonstrating, Zuo Lin turned and asked, "How much did you remember?"
Gu An shook his head. "About twenty percent... I’m not sure. Your swordsmanship was too fluid. It made me dizzy, and I’ve already forgotten the earlier moves."
Zuo Lin frowned and immediately asked Gu An to try it out.
So, Gu An began to imitate the sword technique Zuo Lin had just shown him, but his movements were hesitant and stiff, making Zuo Lin frown even more deeply.
Tang Yu and Su Han, watching from afar, lost all hope. It seemed their master wouldn’t be able to learn it after all.
After Gu An awkwardly finished the routine, Zuo Lin, still unsatisfied, demonstrated it once more, this time even slower. However, Gu An still didn’t remember all of it.
After half an hour of frustration, Gu An found an excuse and slipped away.
An angry Zuo Lin went to Li Ya, complaining that Gu An was making a fool of him.
Li Ya, upon hearing the whole story, couldn’t help but laugh. "He really doesn’t have any talent for swordsmanship, and he hates practicing it."
"Really?" Zuo Lin’s anger dissipated, but he couldn’t help thinking about the way Gu An had moved earlier. There had to be something hidden.
"He’s my junior brother. Wouldn’t I know?" Li Ya shot him a glance and then warned, "Don’t bother him anymore. You’re lucky I’m letting you stay. If you keep pestering him, go back to the Outer Sect and find your father!"
Zuo Lin fell into contemplation, his gaze drifting toward Gu An’s residence as he wondered what secrets he might be hiding.
Meanwhile, inside the building...
Gu An sat cross-legged on his bed, his eyes closed as he meditated on the sword technique Zuo Lin had demonstrated.
He slowly opened his eyes, and a gleam of sword light flickered within them.
He pulled up his status panel, and under the Special Techniques section, the "Wood Spirit Sword Technique" had appeared.
Wood Spirit?
Could it be a wood attribute sword technique?
Gu An’s Divine Wood Pure Yang Technique was also wood attribute. If he practiced wood attribute techniques, he would see double the results with half the effort. That’s why he had quickly mastered the Poison Wood Formation Jiang Qiong had taught him.
However, for now, he didn’t want to invest time in advancing this sword technique. He needed to accumulate a lifespan of one hundred thousand years first.
At one thousand years, he had unlocked the Lifespan Investigation ability. At ten thousand years, he had unlocked the Lifespan Barrier ability. He was eagerly anticipating what ability would be unlocked at one hundred thousand years.