When I Achieved Sainthood, the Immortal Official Actually Called Me to Raise Horses!-Chapter 358: Taking Risks

Chapter 358 Taking Risks

"I'm the island master. And you are?"

Gu An asked with a confused look. Beside him, Hu Xiaojian tensed up.

It was obvious at a glance that the Commanded Immortal Lord wasn’t someone ordinary—his aura was clearly stronger than Gu An's.

Sizing up Gu An, the Commanded Immortal Lord said, "Serve me. I need this island."

Hu Xiaojian couldn’t help but gape at his words, finding this person unbelievably arrogant.

He instinctively looked around, and his face changed drastically when he realized everything around them had frozen—even the flowers and plants by the roadside had stopped moving.

It was as if everything had come to a halt.

Gu An’s face darkened as he stared at the Commanded Immortal Lord with vigilance.

The Commanded Immortal Lord said calmly, "Just a little trick, to keep others from overhearing our agreement. Work for me, and I’ll be your backer. Tell me—what’s the highest realm you know of?"

Gu An took a deep breath and said, "Celestial Ascension."

The Commanded Immortal Lord replied, "Above Celestial Ascension is the Free Soaring Immortal Stage. Beyond that is the Mystic Celestial Immortal Stage. And my cultivation? It's even higher than that."

Upon hearing this, both Gu An and Hu Xiaojian’s expressions changed drastically. Hu Xiaojian even started trembling all over.

The Commanded Immortal Lord said no more, simply waiting for Gu An’s answer.

Feigning hesitation, Gu An gritted his teeth and asked, "Do I have any other choice?"

The Commanded Immortal Lord frowned, a flash of displeasure in his eyes.

[The Commanded Immortal Lord has developed hostility toward you. Killing intent detected. Activate Lifespan Perception?]

Killing intent, just like that?

Gu An muttered inwardly, finding this Dao-Void Celestial Immortal absurdly petty.

He’s basically asking to be killed.

The Commanded Immortal Lord said coldly, "Of course, you can refuse. But when you face an unavoidable catastrophe in the future, you’ll regret the decision you made today."

With that, he turned to leave. Everything that had been frozen around them returned to normal—cultivators and demons resumed their movements, flowers and trees swayed once more, and birds flew across the sky.

Watching the Commanded Immortal Lord’s departing figure, Hu Xiaojian’s eyes were filled with fear.

Once the man disappeared into the crowd, Hu Xiaojian finally turned to Gu An and asked, "Island Master, what now?"

Gu An withdrew his gaze and replied, "If soldiers come, we’ll fight. If water floods, we’ll block it. Worst case, we escalate this all the way to the main city of the Severed Sea Region. Don’t worry."

Seeing him so calm, Hu Xiaojian’s nervousness slowly faded.

Gu An told Hu Xiaojian to continue leading the way. Compared to the Commanded Immortal Lord, he was more concerned with herb seeds.

With the ongoing conflict between the Immortal Dynasty and the Holy Court, more and more transcendent beings like the Commanded Immortal Lord would emerge. This filled Gu An with a sense of urgency.

He had to reach one billion years of lifespan and break through to a major realm—fast!

Dusk.

The Commanded Immortal Lord flew away from Seeker’s Island, moving slowly through the air. His divine sense spread across the Severed Sea Region, searching for islands similar to Seeker’s Island.

In his mind, Seeker’s Island was already his. But he needed more foundations.

Thinking back to Gu An’s rejection, he let out a cold snort.

"Let’s see how you handle the beasts of the Celestial Ascension Stage," the Commanded Immortal Lord sneered.

He was already looking forward to the day Gu An would kneel and beg for his help.

Smack!

A hand suddenly landed on his shoulder, forcibly stopping him in place. His Dao Heart trembled violently as his expression shifted. He instinctively tried to evade, only to realize that a domineering power had sealed his spiritual force completely.

Divine Soul Immortal!

In that instant, the Commanded Immortal Lord guessed the opponent’s cultivation level.

His vision blurred, and the next moment, he found himself standing in a forest—far from the Severed Sea Region.

He tried to turn around but couldn’t.

Boom!

A tyrannical divine sense invaded his mind, leaving his eyes dull and his consciousness muddled.

Moments later, Gu An—having activated his Ultimate Incarnation of Void Form—completely annihilated the Commanded Immortal Lord. Not even a sliver of soul remained. His body was reduced to dust.

[You have successfully seized 98,641 years of lifespan from the Commanded Immortal Lord (Third Level of the Dao-Void Celestial Immortal Realm)]

Not bad. Decent haul.

Gu An took the Commanded Immortal Lord’s storage ring and vanished into the forest.

The Commanded Immortal Lord’s fall caused no ripple in the world. In the days that followed, Gu An often scanned the world using divine sense.

He witnessed battles erupting across the oceans—clashes between the Immortal Dynasty’s Celestials and the Holy Court’s forces. The Holy Court had the numbers, but the Celestials were stronger in same-realm combat.

As the battles grew more frequent, tension spread across the realm, gradually washing away the joy of receiving blessings from the Primordial Void Ancestor.

Over the next five years, news of the Immortal Dynasty and the Holy Court’s conflict reached all corners of the world. Even the lowest cultivators on the Taicang Continent were aware of the struggle between these two giants.

Should their battlefield ever shift to the Taicang Continent, it would mean disaster.

Perhaps because the Holy Court had drawn the Immortal Dynasty’s attention, the Commanded Immortal Lord’s death was never investigated.

It had been seven years since his fall.

One day, Gu An returned from the Outer Sect City, having just submitted the final volume of Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

Over the years, he had used Three Kingdoms to suppress his inner unease.

He believed that as long as the conflict between the Immortal Dynasty and the Holy Court didn’t involve him, he could keep surviving in peace.

But deep down, he feared the all-out war might bring unforeseen consequences. If even the Primordial Void Ancestor could bless all living beings, what could these two giants do if they went all in?

Would they destroy the Heavenly Spirit Great Realm?

Every time the thought crossed his mind, he grew restless.

On his way back to the valley, Gu An made up his mind—it was time to speed up his progress.

Time to take a risk.

He swept the world with his divine sense, searching for sects rich in herbs.

He couldn’t bring himself to kill innocent beings just to extend his life. So he decided to help other sects harvest their herbs—he’d pick without taking. Do good deeds without leaving a name.

...Okay, maybe it sounded self-righteous, but Gu An still felt a bit ashamed.

A Divine Soul Immortal resorting to this kind of thing.

But survival came first. Just this once!

No one would know anyway.

Soon, Gu An locked onto a sect located over the sea.

Zidan Palace—a sect that specialized in alchemy. Their grounds were filled with medicinal herbs cultivated for pill refining.

While their strength wasn’t top-tier, their expertise in alchemy made them a valued ally. Neighboring sects protected them.

Honestly, Gu An could go wherever he wanted—so long as it wasn’t the Immortal Dynasty or the Holy Court—without being discovered.

After returning to his valley, Gu An didn’t act immediately. He waited until nightfall.

When the night came, he first visited Xuan Valley, then quietly departed.

With a single step, he arrived at Zidan Palace.

Located in the depths of the ocean within the Severed Sea Region, Zidan Palace sat on a small continent covered in towering peaks—the tallest reaching over twenty thousand feet.

Under the night sky, each peak glowed with lamplight. Gu An landed in a forest, divine sense sweeping the area. At least four hundred thousand disciples were refining pills.

He stepped toward the nearest herb garden.

At the edge of the garden, a senior cultivator sat before a pill furnace, eyes closed, gently waving a fan to control the flames beneath the cauldron.

Gu An walked right past him. The old man didn’t sense a thing.

Even if he opened his eyes, he wouldn’t see Gu An.

This was a Free Soaring Immortal’s ability. With Gu An’s Divine Soul Immortal cultivation, not even a Mystic Celestial Immortal could detect him. It would take at least a Dao-Void Celestial Immortal.

Gu An entered the herb garden, carefully picking only those nearly ripe.

After a while, he moved on to the next herb garden. He took nothing—just helped harvest mature herbs.

Zidan Palace was massive. To avoid causing panic, Gu An moved carefully, so his pace wasn’t fast.

But he wasn’t in a rush. He’d come back each night.

Fifteen days later, he had harvested all the mature herbs in Zidan Palace. In one sweep, he gained 150 million years of lifespan.

But his actions didn’t go unnoticed. The abnormal activity threw Zidan Palace into panic. They even invited other sects to help stand guard.

None of that concerned Gu An.

He set his sights on another sect—this one far from the Severed Sea Region.

On the first night, he’d only been picking for an hour when someone sensed something. That person quickly alarmed the entire sect, sending disciples out to patrol. Gu An had to retreat.

Honestly, he could’ve forced his way through. But he didn’t want to make a scene.

High-level cultivators could trace a sect’s history. Gu An didn’t want people like the Black Profound Emperor or the Extinction God Emperor tracking him. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com

Sure, the Holy Court seemed to rule the realm. But who could say if there weren’t beings even above the Nine Heavens of the Immortal Dao?

Caution above all. You only get one life. A big number on your lifespan means nothing if you’re dead.

That night.

Nestled in the mountains, a large lake shimmered under the moonlight. Floating on the surface were countless Spirit Flowers. Gu An descended from the sky and began harvesting them.

He moved them to the lakeside as he picked.

Just as he finished and began to lift off, he saw someone darting out from the forest.

It was a girl in yellow robes. She ran to the lakeside and, seeing the pile of Spirit Flowers, looked as if she’d been struck by lightning.

She stood frozen for a few seconds, then rushed over to inspect them. Seeing that the flowers still retained their spiritual energy, she sighed in relief.

She looked around, saw no one, and squatted down, burying her face in her arms.

Gu An blinked in surprise. Was she… crying?

He cast Lifespan Perception on the yellow-robed girl.

[Zhu Xi (Third Level of Foundation Establishment Stage): 17 / 350 / 9999]

Nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine years of lifespan!

During his previous visits, Gu An had scanned many along the way. Below the Nirvana Stage, the max he’d seen was around eight thousand.

Zhu Xi piqued his interest. He didn’t leave, choosing instead to observe her.

Zhu Xi remained there for a long time before finally standing up. Gu An thought she’d go seek her master or a senior from her sect.

But...

Under his gaze, Zhu Xi raised her hands and began casting a spell—to absorb the spiritual energy from the flowers.

"My dear flowers… I don’t know who picked you, but I’ll get revenge for you…" she muttered.