When I Achieved Sainthood, the Immortal Official Actually Called Me to Raise Horses!

“What tree?”

Gu An stared at the Spirit Tree, asking sharply. The tree was nearly 300 years old, and its ability to speak didn’t surprise him.

The Spirit Tree’s voice had a soft, feminine tone reminiscent of Jiang Qiong, likely because it had developed its sentience while frequently listening to her.

“I don’t know… but I can feel it. It will devour me…”

The trembling words made Gu An frown.

His first thought was the Human-Face Tree, another sinister plant from the Thousand Autumn Pavilion. However, the Human-Face Tree was of a lower grade than the Spirit Tree. Why would it inspire such terror?

“Where is it?” Gu An pressed.

“I don’t know…”

“Is it near?”

“Very far away… very far…”

This answer ruled out the Human-Face Tree.

Could it be related to the Nightshade Sect? Could the vanished citizens of entire cities have been consumed by some evil tree from the sect?

The more Gu An thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.

His unease deepened when he remembered Zhong Liang’s enmity toward him. He wasn’t afraid of Zhong Liang but feared his concealed cultivation being exposed.

This won’t do! I can’t sit and wait for disaster to strike.

Gu An’s gaze turned steely. His terrifying divine sense as a Grand Ascension Stage cultivator spread outward, enveloping the entire Taicang Empire.

The empire was vast, but no match for the range of his divine sense!

He began a meticulous search, determined to locate Zhong Liang—even if it meant digging three feet into the ground.

In a dim underground chamber, Su Han sat cross-legged in a freezing pool. The water radiated icy mist, and beside him stood a white jade longsword that looked as though it were made of bone. Blood-red energy coiled around its blade, exuding an eerie menace.

Su Han’s face twisted in pain, but he gritted his teeth and endured.

After a while, a distant wail reached his ears, causing him to open his eyes. He turned to the meditating figure seated against the wall. “Master, what was that sound?”

Zhong Liang, eyes closed, replied coldly, “Don’t concern yourself. Just pitiful worms begging the heavens for mercy. Their fate is none of your business.”

His long white hair draped loosely over his shoulders, and his broad Daoist robes hung casually on his frame. His square face and perpetually furrowed brows lent him a domineering presence, the crease between his brows almost resembling a third eye.

The wails unsettled Su Han, making it hard for him to regain focus.

“Don’t forget why you joined the sect or why you took up my sword,” Zhong Liang snapped, his tone tinged with impatience.

Taking a deep breath, Su Han closed his eyes again.

Zhong Liang, however, opened his, casting a cold glance at Su Han. A chilling gleam flickered in his gaze.

“This boy’s hatred isn’t strong enough. I’ll have to capture his master to provoke him further,” Zhong Liang thought.

Suddenly, Zhong Liang’s heart lurched, a momentary feeling of dread seizing him. His brows knit together.

“What’s going on? Was that an illusion?”

Unease gnawed at him as he released his divine sense, scanning the area. Yet he detected no sign of an intruder.

Meanwhile, in the Eight Views Celestial Realm, Gu An’s eyes gleamed with determination.

Found you!

After scouring the Taicang Empire and finding no trace of the Nightshade Sect’s headquarters, Gu An had turned his search underground. Focusing on areas with unusual spiritual energy, he had discovered Su Han.

Next to Su Han sat an Integration Stage cultivator, and a few miles away in a vast underground chamber stood a colossal spirit tree. The moment Gu An saw the tree, he knew it was the entity that terrified the Spirit Tree.

This had to be a Nightshade Sect base. None of them were innocent. He resolved to kill them all and then track down Zhong Liang!

Until Zhong Liang was dead, Gu An wouldn’t have peace of mind.

Turning back to the Spirit Tree, he said, “If you sense anything unusual nearby or feel scared again, let me know immediately. I won’t mistreat you.”

The Spirit Tree’s trunk swayed nervously as it replied in a trembling voice, “Yes, Master.”

Satisfied, Gu An left. Even in the Spirit Tree’s presence, he didn’t reveal his true strength—there was always merit in keeping one’s cards close.

After leaving the Eight Views Celestial Realm, Gu An entered a forest, stepping onto the Infinite Free Step and vanishing into the distance.

In the underground chamber, Zhong Liang’s frown deepened. His divine sense had swept the area multiple times without detecting anything amiss, but he refused to believe it was an illusion.

At that moment, a hand suddenly pressed down on his shoulder.

His expression changed drastically. Instinctively, he tried to leap away, only to discover in horror that he couldn’t move.

The feeling of being utterly immobilized mirrored what Zong Ying had experienced before his death—unbelievable, terrifying, and utterly despair-inducing.

Zhong Liang was a cultivator at the third level of the Integration Stage, yet a single hand had rendered him powerless.

Shifting his gaze, he saw a figure wreathed in purple-black demonic energy standing beside him.

The intruder was Gu An, who had deployed the Nine Extremes Yin-Yang Body. The oppressive demonic energy obscured his true appearance, leaving Zhong Liang unable to discern his identity.

The Nightshade Sect’s base was fortified with over a hundred formations and restrictions, yet Gu An had bypassed them effortlessly using the Nine Extremes Yin-Yang Body and the Infinite Free Step. It was as if he walked into an empty field, leaving no trace of his intrusion.

Pressing his hand on Zhong Liang, Gu An turned his gaze toward Su Han.

Su Han’s cultivation had reached the ninth level of the Foundation Establishment Stage, but his maximum lifespan remained at 199 years.

A typical ninth-level Foundation Establishment cultivator’s lifespan would surpass 200 years. Clearly, the Hatred Heaven Divine Sword offered extraordinary potential but failed to break the limits of destiny.

No wonder practitioners of the sword saw rapid progress early on, only to face madness and ruin as they advanced.

Focused on his cultivation, Su Han remained unaware of Gu An’s presence.

Gu An’s gaze returned to Zhong Liang, ready to deploy the Soul Search technique. Out of habit, he checked Zhong Liang’s lifespan stats.

Hmm?

So, it’s you after all!

”Then go to hell!”

Gu An clenched his right hand, and the terrifying spiritual energy of a Grand Ascension Stage cultivator surged into Zhong Liang’s body. In an instant, Zhong Liang was annihilated, his body and soul reduced to nothingness!

A sudden gust of wind swept through the cave, startling Su Han awake. His pupils dilated as he quickly rose to his feet, grabbing the white jade longsword beside him.

“Who are you?” Su Han demanded, pointing his sword at Gu An, his voice tense.

Where’s my master?

Why did he suddenly disappear?

Fear gripped Su Han’s heart. The figure standing before him was truly terrifying, especially in the dim light of the cave.

Before Su Han could act, an overwhelming pressure burst from Gu An, knocking him unconscious and sending him tumbling back into the freezing pool.

Gu An turned and walked toward a nearby tunnel, disappearing into the shadows.

A few miles away, in a vast underground chamber shrouded in dim light, a towering spirit tree stood over a hundred feet tall. Its blood-red leaves glistened eerily, and vines dangled from its branches. Each vine held a person, their necks tightly wrapped by the tendrils.

These captives struggled helplessly as their bodies withered at an alarming rate, their life force being drained. Many had already been reduced to desiccated husks.

The scene was utterly horrifying, a chilling display of despair.

Below the tree stood a group of Nightshade Sect disciples, each guarding batches of captives. These prisoners, both male and female, were covered in talisman seals that suppressed their spiritual energy, leaving them as helpless as common criminals.

There were over a thousand captives, guarded by more than a hundred sect disciples.

The captives stared at the monstrous tree in despair as it consumed their companions.

“This is a demon… a demon…”

“You vile beasts! You tricked me into joining, only to feed me to this cursed tree!”

“What kind of creature is this—demon or monster?”

“Damn you all!”

Some cursed, some wailed, and others begged, their cries adding to the horrifying atmosphere of the cavern.

A seductive female demonic cultivator sneered. “Victory and defeat determine justice. Stop whining. None of you are saints. For all we know, the heavens might see this as purging evil.”

With that, she lifted a man beside her and placed her lips against his forehead, draining his life force. The man’s complexion turned pallid, and his eyes lost their luster.

Whoosh—

A sudden gust of cold wind rustled the grass at her feet. The demonic cultivator instinctively looked down, but before she could react, a blade of grass shot upward, piercing through her forehead. Blood sprayed from the back of her head.

She wasn’t the only one. At the same time, nearly all the other Nightshade Sect disciples were killed, their bodies falling lifelessly as blades of grass pierced them with terrifying precision.

The captives froze, their expressions shifting from despair to astonishment. They collectively turned their gaze toward the shadows.

A figure emerged from the darkness.

“It’s the Demonic Shadow Divine Art! Someone from the Thousand Autumn Pavilion!” a captive exclaimed with joy.

Before the echo of those words faded, Gu An accelerated, leaving behind only a series of afterimages as he moved past the captives, heading straight for the giant tree.

The captives remained frozen in place, as though paralyzed. A moment later, all of them simultaneously turned to ash.

Gu An’s eyes fixed on the enormous tree, and a notification appeared before him:

[Nightshade Tree (Eighth Grade): 340/42,000/230,000]

Eighth grade!

No wonder the Spirit Tree was so scared.

The tree’s trunk split open, revealing a massive human face embedded in its bark. The face was genderless but radiated greed and malice.

Vines detached from the tree, surging toward Gu An like a storm.

Clang—

The sound of a sword leaving its sheath echoed through the underground chamber, sharp and deafening.

In a single, devastating strike, Gu An cleaved the Nightshade Tree in two. Its vines fell like rain, and the grotesque face froze in its final expression of greed. The bisected tree shattered as sword energy erupted from within, creating a spectacular display of destruction.

Gu An sheathed the Tianxiu Sword, placed it into his storage pouch, and burned the remains of the Nightshade Tree with his spiritual fire.

A flurry of lifespan notifications appeared before him as he absorbed the Nightshade Tree’s life force.

An Eighth-Grade Spirit Tree was incredibly powerful, its aura comparable to an Integration Stage cultivator. However, it stood no chance against a Grand Ascension Stage opponent.

By noon, Gu An returned to the Third Medicine Valley, stepping off the teleportation array with a satisfied smile. The previous night’s battle had yielded over 40,000 years of lifespan, with the Nightshade Tree alone contributing 5,000 years.

Only Su Han remained alive from the Nightshade Sect base. Upon learning that the prisoners were demonic cultivators, Gu An showed no mercy, exterminating them all to eliminate future threats.

As soon as Gu An stepped off the platform, he sensed the auras of Lü Baitian, Gu Zong, and Ji Hantian in his loft.

He headed there immediately. As he reached the door, it opened.

Gu An stepped over the threshold and was about to greet them when Gu Zong waved a sleeve, shutting the door behind him and activating a restriction.

Noticing their grim expressions, Gu An guessed it might concern an impending attack by the Nightshade Sect.

He remained calm. If the Nightshade Sect discovered the Nightshade Tree’s destruction, they would likely be too preoccupied to attack the Taixuan Sect.

However, Lü Baitian’s pale and frail appearance startled Gu An. Gritting his teeth, Lü Baitian said, “I have a cruel piece of bad news to tell you.”