Chapter 1 Taking Life
Under the scorching sun, the sky was clear and the mountains were surrounding. The sky and the earth were shaking, the mountains and forests were swaying, and a mountain breeze blew all the way into the valley, making Gu An, who was standing in the garden, feel a little cool.
Gu An wiped the sweat from his forehead and stared intently at the blooming flowers and plants on the ground. Each one was brightly colored and showed no signs of withering even under the scorching sun.
There was a young man standing on each side of him. Today, the three of them entered the Medicine Valley under the Taixuan Sect's Alchemy Hall. Compared with Gu An's excitement, the other two seemed to have little interest and were wiping their sweat absent-mindedly.
In front of them stood a young man in plain clothes. He had a plain appearance but a strong body and bright eyes. He was Zhang Chunqiu, the eldest disciple of Medicine Valley. He was explaining to Gu An and the other two the key points of picking magical flowers and herbs.
"The flowers and plants in this garden are all first-level medicinal herbs. When picking them, you cannot pull them up by the roots. You need to cut them from the stems close to the soil. After cutting them, you have to wrap them with the spirit-protecting paper in your hands to prevent the leakage of spiritual energy..." Zhang Chunqiu's voice was loud and energetic, and he was not affected by the scorching sun at all.
Gu An held a pair of scissors in his right hand and strips of white paper in his left hand, carefully writing down every word of Zhang Chunqiu.
Unlike the two people next to him, he cherishes this position very much. He had to endure a lot of contempt to get this opportunity.
Others thought he was giving up and was going to fall, but little did they know that this was the best way for him to become stronger!
"Okay, let's start. Everyone pick one plant and I'll check it." As soon as Zhang Chunqiu finished speaking, Gu An squatted down.
Gu An put down the spirit-protecting paper in his hand and carefully held the rhizome of the red flower in front of him with his left hand.
"Brother, you are too nervous. It doesn't matter even if they are cut badly. They are just first-level herbs. These are ordinary herbs used to refine basic pills. If they were at home, I would not even look down on them." Meng Lang, who was on Gu An's right, spoke. He was dressed luxuriously and seemed to have an extraordinary family background.
In fact, it was true. Except for Gu An who was a servant, the other two were from wealthy families. However, the children of wealthy families also had to pay attention to their spiritual roots when they joined the world of immortal cultivation. They all had the most mediocre five spiritual roots. If they wanted to stay in Taixuan Sect, they could only be menial disciples.
Gu An ignored Meng Lang's words and concentrated on cutting flowers.
He pinched the rhizome and cut it lightly with scissors, then wrapped the roots of the safflower with protective paper.
After doing all this, he stood up and handed it to Zhang Chunqiu for inspection.
Zhang Chunqiu took it and looked at it, then smiled with satisfaction and said, "Well done, you are very careful."
Gu An did not respond, but stared at the red flower in his hand.
At this moment, he was more nervous than before the cut.
After a few breaths, a line of words that only Gu An could see appeared in front of him.
[You successfully seized the Red Spirit Flower (Level 1) and gained 1 year of lifespan]
Done!
A smile appeared on Gu An's face, and he felt relieved.
Sure enough, only animals and plants that contain spiritual energy can have their lifespan taken away by him.
The first time Gu An took away another person's life was when he was ten years old. He accidentally bumped into a flower pot held by another servant, causing the magical flower to spill on the ground. He thus took away twelve years of life.
At that time, the guard was so angry that he wanted to cut off one of his hands. It was the third lady Ji Xiaoyu who stopped him and saved him.
This time, Gu An was able to join the Taixuan Sect thanks to Ji Xiaoyu. Ji Xiaoyu was a person with dual spiritual roots that is rare in a century. Many major sects of immortal cultivation offered their services to the Ji family. Ji Xiaoyu brought five members of the Ji family to join the Taixuan Sect, and Gu An was the only servant there.
If it weren't for Ji Xiaoyu, with his five spiritual roots, he could only join a third-rate sect.
When Gu An was secretly happy, Meng Lang and another young man named Li Ya had also finished picking.
Zhang Chunqiu put the three red spirit flowers into the storage bag on his waist and said seriously, "Your task today is to pick fifty red spirit flowers together. You can only move in this garden and are not allowed to encroach on other gardens. When you are done, bring the red spirit flowers to find me in the attic."
After saying that, Zhang Chunqiu turned and left.
Meng Lang waved his fist at Zhang Chunqiu's back and muttered, "You've been talking about trivial matters for so long, and you never brought your junior brother along?"
Li Ya sat directly on the dirt, wiping the sweat off his face frantically with his sleeves.
After seeing Zhang Chunqiu going upstairs, Gu An turned around and said to Meng Lang and Li Ya, "Two brothers, you are dressed in rich clothes, so you must be from a wealthy family. You can't do this kind of rough work. I'm different. I'm just a servant. Why don't you let me do it for you? I'll complete the task. You can find a cool place to rest and take care of me in the future."
When Meng Lang heard this, his eyes lit up immediately, and he smiled in surprise, "Sure, brother, that's very reasonable. If one day you can't stay here, I will ensure that you will have no worries about food and clothing for the rest of your life."
Li Ya no longer had the energy to speak, so he nodded in agreement.
Afterwards, the two of them left their own spirit-protecting papers and supported each other as they walked out of the garden.
Gu An picked up the spirit-protecting papers, turned around and looked at the garden, his eyes shining. The scorching sun in the sky was not as hot as his eyes.
In his eyes, the red spirit flowers all over the garden are not flowers, but the stone steps that build the road to immortality!
He began to act cautiously. He not only had to complete the task, but also had to do it well to avoid losing this perfect job.
The scorching sun radiates its own brilliant light, without any consideration for the feelings of human beings.
Meng Lang and Li Ya walked to a small pavilion to rest. They kept wiping their sweat and didn't even have the strength to speak. Their eyes followed Gu An.
As time passed, Gu An was sweating profusely, but he was very excited and the smile on his face never disappeared.
Looking at Gu An's flushed face, Meng Lang couldn't help but sighed: "It's so hot, this kid is really hardworking. I like him. In the future, we should take better care of him, let him eat and drink well, and don't let others bully him, so that he can continue to help us do things."
Li Ya rolled his eyes and said unhappily, "There are only a few people in this valley, who can bully him? If the eldest brother bullies him, would you dare to talk back?"
Meng Lang coughed, looked at Li Ya, and asked, "Brother, which Li family are you from?"
Li Ya said calmly: "The Li family in Changluo, Cangzhou."
"Changluo? Isn't that the imperial city? Do you have the same surname as the royal family?" Meng Lang asked in surprise. As soon as he finished speaking, he couldn't help but widen his eyes.
Li Ya did not answer, but looked at Gu An quietly.
Meng Lang felt uneasy. He didn't expect to meet a member of the royal family here.
But he changed his mind and felt that it was normal. This was Taixuan Sect, the number one immortal sect in the Taicang Dynasty. The fact that it shared the same word "Tai" with the dynasty was enough to show how transcendent the status of Taixuan Sect was. It was not outrageous to meet a royal family member at the bottom of Taixuan Sect.
for a long time.
Gu An finally picked fifty red spirit flowers. He put all the wrapped red spirit flowers into a bamboo basket. He carried the basket on his back and looked towards other gardens, his face full of anticipation.
There are more than fifteen gardens in the valley, and the garden they are in is just a small corner. He guessed that the herbs in other gardens are more valuable.
There is ample time!
Gu An didn't want to expose his golden finger, so let's stop here today.
He walked along the path towards the attic, waving to Meng Lang and Li Ya, who stood up and walked over.
6◇9◇Book◇Bar
"Brother Gu An, thank you for your hard work. Let me carry you on my back." Meng Lang said with a smile. The three of them had introduced themselves when they met the Valley Master before, so they remembered each other's names.
Gu An saw through Meng Lang's little thoughts, nodded with a smile, and then handed him the bamboo basket.
Li Ya curled his lips, with disdain in his eyes.
Gu An just wanted to keep this job. He didn't want to be transferred out because of his good performance, so he didn't bother to argue with Meng Lang.
The three of them came to the attic and met their eldest brother Zhang Chunqiu.
Zhang Chunqiu was holding a book. When he saw Gu An and the other two come in, he put down the book in his hand and said, "Put down the Red Spirit Flower. These three books are the basic methods left by the master. Practice well during your rest time and strive to jump out of here one day and become a true disciple of Taixuan Sect. Five years ago, a disciple got the master's elixir and successfully built his foundation to become an outer disciple of Taixuan Sect."
As he spoke, he waved his right hand, and three secret books flew out from his sleeves and flew towards Gu An and the other two.
Gu An took one and read the words on it carefully.
Chun Mu Gong! It sounds so low-level! Gu An was not disappointed, after all, he was at the bottom of Tai Xuan Sect.
Zhang Chunqiu gave them a few more instructions and then asked them to find a room in the next yard to stay in, which was reserved for menial disciples. Currently, there were only four disciples in this medicine valley, and the valley master was away and would not be back for two years, so Zhang Chunqiu was in charge of the medicine valley now.
After one stick of incense.
Gu An lay on the wooden bed, breathing heavily, his face flushed. After all, he had just experienced an intense sunburn.
His mind moved, and lines of words appeared before his eyes.
[Name: Gu An]
【Lifespan: 15/151】
[Spiritual roots: Five elements common spiritual roots (can be used to cultivate lifespan evolution)]
[Cultivation: Not good enough (can be used to cultivate lifespan evolution)]
[Kung Fu: Fire Control Technique (Not yet mastered) (Can be used to practice Life Evolution)]
…
Gu An took away eighty-eight years of life in one go! Before this, his life span was sixty-three years, twelve of which were gained when he broke the flower bed when he was ten years old, which means that he could only live to fifty years at the beginning.
First-level medicinal herbs can only provide one to two years of lifespan, but for mortals, one year is so long!
Gu An looked at his attribute panel, and the more he looked at it, the more excited he became. It had only been a short time, and he had already earned 88 years of life. This job was really great! He wanted to be the nail in the Medicine Valley! He looked down on all the outer disciples and inner disciples.
It is said that to become a formal disciple, one needs to go out on missions and slay demons and monsters in the world, which is very dangerous.
From childhood to adulthood, Gu An has never even killed a chicken. In his previous life, he was an ordinary person on Earth. He couldn't fight if he was asked to do so.
How nice it is to stay in the Medicine Valley. There is almost no danger and you can earn lifespan like crazy!
Who says you have to risk your life to become an immortal?
Gu An was immersed in beautiful fantasies and couldn't extricate himself.
A night passed.
Gu An woke up early in the morning. After a quick wash, he went to find Zhang Chunqiu to receive the task.
Zhang Chunqiu was not asleep. He was practicing Qi. He smiled with satisfaction at Gu An's hard work, then stood up and walked to the door. He pointed to a garden and said, "You can pick the Lingxin grass in that garden. Just put it at the door after picking it. No need to knock."
After saying that, he waved his sleeves, and pieces of spirit-protecting paper fell into Gu An's hands.
Zhang Chunqiu looked at Gu An, who was unable to control his excitement, hesitated for a moment, then smiled amiably and said, "Junior brother, work hard. As long as you are diligent and willing to endure hardships, you will definitely make it."
(End of this chapter)