Chapter 671: The Restless Hearts of the World

After parting ways with Zhu Xi, Gu An's life returned to calm once again. He focused on creating his own Dao, but this path was unimaginably difficult, even causing someone like him, a Dao Extreme Grand Luo Immortal, to struggle and ponder deeply.

Time passed quickly.

Another one hundred thousand years went by.

This year, the Tai Qian Empire launched a surprise attack on the Dao Court, stirring up a war across the mortal world.

In the imperial garden of the Tai Cang Imperial Palace—

Li Xuandao poured wine for Gu An as he sighed, “That Tai Qian really is something. To dare attack the Dao Court, regardless of success or failure, just the courage of the Tai Qian Heavenly Emperor alone is enough to earn my respect.”

Tai Qian was the strongest empire in the world. Although the Tai Cang Empire had not been annexed, it still felt the overwhelming might of Tai Qian like a tiger looming at the borders.

If not for Tai Qian’s conflict with the Dao Court, Li Xuandao believed that Tai Qian would’ve already marched its army into the Tai Cang continent.

Gu An played with the jade statue gifted by Li Xuandao, smiling as he said, “What, is Your Majesty also thinking of following Tai Qian’s example?”

He had visited Tai Qian before. That empire, from top to bottom, exuded a warlike spirit. The attack on the Dao Court wasn’t driven by personal vendetta but used as an excuse to carry out a grand plan for domination.

Behind Tai Qian stood countless powerful sects—this was the source of their confidence.

In the coming years, both sides would wage war for thousands of years, the skies and earth turning dim from the bloodshed, until Zhao Rushen personally led the Dao Court to suppress Tai Qian and ascended as the new leader of the Dao Court. That would mark the end of the Tai Chu Era.

What followed would be the era known as the Tai Gu Era—a far longer epoch than Tai Chu. The final battle of the Tai Gu Era would plunge the mortal realm into desolation and open the curtain to the Huang Gu Era.

Gu An’s gaze could stretch far, far ahead into time, even reaching the Tianyuan Era where Ji originated.

Only, the future Tianyuan Era was already entirely different from the Tianyuan Era Ji came from.

But Ji would definitely be born. If he weren’t, then the memories Ji brought him would be false.

“To say I don’t want to imitate them would be a lie. As an emperor, who wouldn’t want to unify the world? But the Dao Court is far too powerful. Without absolute certainty of victory, I won’t drag the people of Tai Cang into death,” Li Xuandao shook his head.

By now, he had reached the realm of Unrestrained Primordial Immortal. Though his cultivation couldn’t match the monstrous pace of Wu Shi’s disciples, it was still fast by worldly standards.

The two of them chatted about worldly affairs, occasionally drifting to topics about Li Ya, Yang Jian, Long Teng, and the others.

Currently, the person Li Xuandao valued most wasn’t Yang Jian, nor any prince—it was Long Teng.

As the son of Long Qing, and now the current patriarch of the Long family, Long Teng had fully grown. He had reached the Wondrous Mystical Spirit Immortal Realm and was hailed as the greatest prodigy of the Tai Cang Empire, a peerless genius whose name had spread far and wide.

Li Xuandao asked curiously, “Right, I’ve been meaning to ask. That brat Long Teng, his cultivation speed keeps getting faster and faster. Even Yang Jian is shocked. Are you secretly helping him from behind the scenes?”

Wondrous Mystical Spirit Immortal was the sixth level of the Immortal Dao. One who could roam freely beyond the heavens. Reaching this stage before the age of one million made one a once-in-an-era genius.

Gu An raised his wine cup, smiling, “Seeing through it but not pointing it out.”

He did indeed favor Long Teng. He often disguised himself as others to get close to Long Teng. What Long Teng had achieved today was largely thanks to Gu An’s Dao Intent. When Long Teng cultivated, Gu An’s Dao Intent would envelop him, helping him comprehend the Dao.

Long Teng still didn’t know about this.

In truth, while Gu An’s Dao Intent could support others, it mainly served to amplify one’s progress. If Long Teng’s comprehension had been poor, even constant help would’ve done nothing to shape him into what he was now.

Hearing that, Li Xuandao became even more delighted and began pouring more wine.

The two drank for a full two hours before Gu An got up to take his leave.

Li Xuandao looked at Gu An’s departing figure and couldn’t help but ask, “Gu An, how much longer can days like these last?”

To him, one hundred thousand years was unimaginably long. Even more so because he was an emperor—he had witnessed far more life and death than ordinary people.

He had already sent off many descendants. The ministers in court had changed batch after batch.

Only when facing Gu An could his heart settle. Only then would he feel that some things could not be erased by time.

The most heartless place of all is the imperial household. Li Xuandao had long become a solitary ruler.

Gu An raised the jade statue in his hand and replied, “Until the day you tire of me.”

Watching him suddenly vanish, Li Xuandao couldn’t help but shake his head with a laugh and mutter, “How could I ever tire of you…”

His expression slowly became complicated. He didn’t rise, but remained seated at the wine table, silently lost in thought.

After leaving the Tai Cang Empire, Gu An appeared above the sea of clouds, walking leisurely.

“In the end, the hearts of people are always changing.”

Gu An sighed. He didn’t want to interfere too much in Li Xuandao’s life.

Li Xuandao had been emperor for far too long. Once the Tai Cang Empire stopped expanding, internal strife began to surface. He had even executed rebellious members of the royal family, gradually pushing himself further and further away from his kin.

Li Ya and Li Lingtian had long wandered the world freely and never returned.

When Gu An didn’t go looking for him, Li Xuandao would always shut himself inside the palace chambers or the imperial study—either cultivating or reading.

It wasn’t just Li Xuandao. Many other old friends had encountered the bottlenecks of life. These weren’t caused by environment, but more by their own inner state.

The cultivation path was endlessly long. When one remained stagnant for many years, their fighting spirit would begin to wane, and their thoughts would become chaotic.

Ambition and emotion tangled together, just like the ever-shifting hearts of those in the mortal world—complicated and hard to control.

Let alone them—even Gu An would sometimes grow restless, especially when his path of creating the Dao met setbacks.

Precisely because of this, Gu An enjoyed wandering the lands. He had visited all the major sects and empires across the world.

The myriad lives and beings of the world helped his Dao heart return to calm more quickly than anything else.

The reason he drank with Li Xuandao today was because his path of Dao creation had finally seen progress. Feeling joyful, he wanted to share a drink with a friend.

Li Ya was always off chasing vengeance and justice. Gu An didn’t want to bother him—so he turned to his father instead.

When Gu An first met Li Xuandao, he had still been weak and small. That’s why seeing Li Xuandao reminded him of his past self—something the friends he made after becoming strong could never give him.

Very quickly, Gu An vanished from the sea of clouds.

He arrived at Xiao Lan’s cave heaven and swapped places with his clone.

Xiao Lan was about to emerge from seclusion.

Ever since she returned from the Path of the Great Dao, her cultivation speed had slowed down. Even after one hundred thousand years in seclusion, she saw no sign of a breakthrough, leaving her agitated and frustrated.

“Gu gege!”

Her voice arrived before she did.

Gu An, who had just turned to admire the flowers and grass, was immediately tackled by Xiao Lan.

Without saying a word, Xiao Lan tried to kiss him and even started tugging at his clothes.

Even though they were the only two in the cave heaven, this level of aggression was still a first for Gu An.

Several days later.

Xiao Lan stood up from the grass. She adjusted her clothes, looked off into the distance, and sighed. “Gu gege, I’m starting to feel like I’m not really a genius. I’ve hit a bottleneck.”

Gu An rose with her and looked at her profile. “How about we spar a bit?”

Xiao Lan turned to look at him and shook her head gently.

“Gu gege, I don’t need to beat you to regain confidence. Even if I beat you many times, my Dao cultivation won’t improve because of that,” she said, a hint of longing surfacing on her face.

If she could defeat a strong foe while walking the Path of the Great Dao, the moment the battle ended, she’d be bathed in Dao aura, allowing her to rapidly grow in strength in a short time.

That sensation was just too wonderful. She still missed it to this day.

“Who said I plan on losing to you?”

Gu An’s voice cut into her thoughts, pulling her eyes to his.

Xiao Lan froze. This was the first time she had seen Gu An so serious.

She pouted and asked, “What? You want me to go easy on you?”

Gu An stared at her and replied calmly, “Even if you gave it your all, you still wouldn’t be able to beat me.”