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

Gu An placed Qingtian Peak down and hung it back on his belt. He didn't fully believe what the man in black had said, but he could judge that the miracle technique the man had imparted to him was free of hidden dangers.

Taking advantage of the Blood Prison Great Saint carrying him on a patrol around Medicine Valley, he began to weigh the pros and cons.

Upon careful consideration, he felt it was worth a try.

The Dark Battle Emperor had just arrived and slaughtered the beings of one area; his cruelty and ferocity had to be guarded against.

Even if he was related to the Holy Land, he couldn't be trusted.

He would first see how the Demon Fetus would react once born. If worse came to worst, he would simply destroy it—even if it meant offending the Heavenly Demon!

Gu An made his decision. He did not set out right away; the Dark Battle Emperor had not yet emerged from his coffin, and Gu An could sense that the presence within the coffin was growing stronger. He estimated that it wouldn't emerge for a little while.

An hour later, Gu An arrived at a cave at the foot of Dingtian Peak, undetected by gods or ghosts alike.

He stood in front of the Stone Pillar, extending his Divine Thought into it, and saw that the Demon Fetus was still curled up, unchanged since decades ago.

Gu An immediately activated the Life Span Barrier, enveloping the entire cave, and then applied the miracle technique taught by the man in black to the Demon Fetus.

More and more black Qi began to emerge from the surface of the Stone Pillar, and the heartbeat of the Demon Fetus within grew strong and powerful.

Time passed, second by second.

The birth of the Demon Fetus would not absorb nature's spiritual energy, which meant that the consumption of the Life Span Barrier wasn't rapid, providing Gu An with a bit of relief.

Half an hour later, Gu An moved the Demon Fetus out; it had shrunk to the size of an ordinary baby, still surrounded by Demonic Qi, but its form could not be completely concealed.

Gu An performed a Life Span Detection on it.

[Long Qing (Energy Cultivation Realm Nine Layers): 0/1000/9999]

Huh?

Why does it have the surname Long?

With the Dark Battle Emperor, who inherited the Battle Court's lineage, having just appeared, and now one with the surname Long, Gu An couldn't help but wonder.

He stared intently at the still-unconscious Long Qing, probing the cause and effect within him.

The cause and effect of Long Qing were complex, but Gu An had inherited all memories of Long Zhan, who had also delved into the Way of Cause and Effect.

After a long while, Gu An felt that Long Qing's soul had a deep connection with the soul of Long Xin, the son of Long Zhan, which meant it was very likely that Long Qing was a descendant of Long Xin.

Long Zhan was born into the Long family, but the name Battle Court was chosen by Long Zhan himself; the ancestors of the Long family had not established the Battle Court. This confirmed that Long Qing was definitely a descendant of Long Zhan, who lived in the past, not the future.

Reincarnation Evolution could indeed project into the past!

Was this predestined to happen, or did his decision change the past?

Before his Reincarnation Evolution, the Demon Fetus was already hidden within Dingtian Peak.

But it was only after his Reincarnation Evolution ended that he discovered the Demon Fetus, unclear if its identity had changed.

Gu An considered this a problem worth contemplating.

Long Qing continued to absorb the innate Demonic Qi, rapidly reaching the Foundation Establishment Realm.

This kid couldn't possibly have been born with a cultivation level of the Immortal Path like the Immortal Spirits of the Immortal Dynasty, could he?

Gu An guessed to himself, and in the time that followed, Long Qing's cultivation level quickly intensified, relying solely on the surrounding innate Demonic Qi and not consuming any spiritual energy.

Time sped away.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Three ancient hours later.

Long Qing's cultivation level surpassed the Mahayana Realm, reaching the first layer of Nirvana Realm, with his maximum lifespan metamorphosing to nine hundred ninety-nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine years.

Gu An felt that if he were to come into the world, he would be sure to attract Heavenly Tribulation, and that would be troublesome.

Once Long Qing's increase in cultivation ceased, Gu An used the Divine Skills of Path of Returning Primordial Spirit to suppress Long Qing's cultivation, changing his aura to that of an ordinary person. For now, using the Path of Returning Primordial Spirit, he could also suppress the opposing party's cause and effect. Before the seal was lifted, not even the Heavenly Demon would be able to locate Long Qing.

The Demonic Qi surrounding Long Qing completely dissipated, vanishing in an unfathomable manner.

Long Qing slowly opened his eyes. They were big and sparkling, and his small hands remained clenched into fists. Upon seeing Gu An, he broke into a smile, his little mouth opened, and he let out a giggling sound.

For some reason, seeing the newly born Long Qing made Gu An suddenly think of Long Xin's appearance when he was born; they were exactly alike.

A smile appeared on Gu An's face as he began to play with Long Qing.

During this process, Gu An once again experienced the feeling Long Zhan had when he faced his son for the first time.

But…

The descendants of the Battle Court and the Long family arriving in the Great Heavenly Spirit Land seemed a little too coincidental.

Gu An silently stayed on guard, vowing to never reveal his true cultivation level to anyone around him, not now nor in the future. He had to keep up the act.

In life, one must always keep something in reserve!

Gu An performed the Stepping Path of Ages Step and stepped outside the Supreme Sect, then lifted the Life Span Barrier.

He took robes from his Storage Bag and wrapped the little Long Qing in them.

Sunlight poured down, causing little Long Qing to become even more excited, laughing nonstop, his small hands reaching around in a futile attempt to grab at things, for his arms were too short to reach anything.

Luckily, the little fellow was not an ordinary baby, or else Gu An would have had to consider feeding him milk.

Gu An, cradling him, walked to a nearby tree and sat down, continuing to amuse him.

Bringing a child back all of a sudden was bound to attract attention, so Gu An decided to wait until evening to return, so he could fabricate a reason.

The woods were filled with the chirping of birds and the fragrance of flowers, and Gu An listened to little Long Qing's laughter as his thoughts drifted away.

Visions from his Reincarnation Evolution surfaced before his eyes.

It was in the great hall of the Battle Court, with Long Zhan standing with his back to Long Xin atop the hall. Long Xin questioned him about why he had become so ruthless, but Long Zhan did not answer.

"Father Emperor, I preferred you back when you took me hunting in the mountains. Though you were not invincible, you were more like a father."

Long Xin left after uttering those words, and from that point on, father and son never saw each other again, until Long Zhan's downfall.

Deep in thought, Gu An couldn't help but be moved.

He would take it as a lesson not to obsessively seek power. His current state was just fine, constantly increasing his strength while maintaining good relationships with those around him.

Gu An looked up at the sky beyond the woods.

From here, the sky seemed truly high.

...

At dawn.

The disciples of the Third Medicine Valley had just finished their morning exercises, and An Xin turned her head and saw Gu An walking down from the Transmission Array Platform, carrying something in his arms.

An Xin immediately approached, and some disciples who were close to Gu An followed suit. When they saw that Gu An was holding a baby, they exclaimed in surprise.

"Master, where did this child come from?"

"Wow, so cute, can I hold him?"

"A boy or a girl?"

"Master, what's his name?"

"He's smiling at me!"

Faced with the disciples' inquiries, Gu An said that the male infant was one he had found in the forest and that he was unable to find its parents, so he had no choice but to bring him back to raise. The disciples didn't question it because their master indeed had such kindness.

An Xin in particular thought of herself, her eyes reddening slightly, her gaze towards Long Qing growing even closer.

However, Gu An did not let them hold him but carried Long Qing back to his own attic.

Arriving in front of the attic, Ji Xiaoyu came out of her room to his side, curiously looking at the child in his arms.

"He looks quite a bit like you," Ji Xiaoyu blurted out inexplicably, her eyes full of insinuation.

Gu An replied, displeased, "You don't think this is a child someone secretly bore for me, do you?"

Ji Xiaoyu smiled and did not continue the conversation.

Gu An couldn't be bothered with her any longer and carried Long Qing upstairs.

In the distance.

Shen Xinzi calculated Long Qing's fate with his fingers and found that it was consistent with what Gu An had said, so he did not take it to heart.

Though the disciples were curious about Long Qing, they did not pay too much attention, but they noticed that, in the following days, Gu An carried Long Qing wherever he went, prompting them to wonder.

Months passed.

Autumn arrived.

The deep red coffin harboring the Dark Battle Emperor had still not opened, but many cultivators had gathered on the desolate continent, even setting up a large array near the coffin.

One day, Ye Lan brought Zhen Qin to visit Gu An.

Upon seeing a baby in Gu An's arms, the two women were shocked, and Ye Lan breathed a sigh of relief when she learned that the baby was not Gu An's child.

"It's rare to see a child with such fate, so I brought him back. I'll accept him as a disciple from now on," Gu An said cheerfully.

Zhen Qin held Long Qing, finding the little one adorable, and asked, "Master, have you named him?"

Gu An replied, "Yes, his name is Long Qing. There was a clear stream beside him when I found him, and his eyes are clear like it, hence the name Qing."

"And the surname Long?" Zhen Qin inquired further.

Gu An smiled and said, "Take a look at his back."

Zhen Qin instinctively opened the swaddling clothes around Long Qing, seeing mysterious black patterns on his back that, at a glance, resembled a black dragon.

"It seems this little fellow's background is not simple," Zhen Qin remarked with amazement.

Ye Lan also saw it and completely relaxed, smiling as she took Long Qing in her arms.

"This matter should not be spread. Since he has been abandoned, let him stay away from strife and live peacefully in Medicine Valley. The mark on his back can be considered my doing," Gu An instructed.

The two women nodded, agreeing and praising him for his thorough consideration.

After staying in the Third Medicine Valley for three days, the women left. Their sub-sect was busy with tasks that required them to be away, and they would not meet again for several years.

By the age of half a year, Long Qing could walk; by one year, he began to babble. Dressed in fine clothes, he became the joy of Medicine Valley.

A year had passed since the deep red coffin arrived in the Great Heavenly Spirit Land, and there was still no movement, but its presence had become widely known. The various sects labeled it an evil object from Outer Heaven, and even the Mortal World Peak was abuzz with discussions.

This year, during the summer.

Gu An sat in the attic and picked up Qingtian Peak, extending his Divine Thought into it to enter the ruined temple.

As soon as he entered the temple, the man in black appeared, anxiously asking, "Why did you only come now? Where's the Emperor?"

Gu An took a deep breath and said, "It failed. I was just about to use the miracle technique you taught me when he escaped. I couldn't catch up, and now I have no idea where he's gone."

The man in black's face changed dramatically, his body trembling uncontrollably.

"The good news is that the Dark Battle Emperor hasn't emerged from his coffin, it's been a year, why no movement?" Gu An asked with a frown.

Hearing this, the man in black's face relaxed slightly. After pondering, he said, "He might be preparing for something. Ancestor, could you release me? I must go in search of the Emperor!"

Gu An shook his head. "Sorry, I can't fully trust you. I'll release you after ten thousand years, once we get through this calamity."

Ten thousand years?

The man in black nearly burst into curses, but thinking of the profound and inscrutable Dao Level of the other party, he could only suppress his emotions.

What good was the whereabouts of the Emperor if his own life was at stake?