Entry: I Secretly Cultivate Immortality in the Martial Arts World

26: Chapter 26 Ten Years Have Passed, and We’ve Encountered a Bottleneck!Half a year had passed since the conclusion of the True Martial Assembly.

On this afternoon, footsteps could be heard outside Gu Yan’s small courtyard.

”Brother Gu, Xu Gang has come to visit!”

The voice was full of vitality, yet it carried a trace of imperceptible awkwardness.

Xu Gang stood outside the bamboo fence, cupping his hands in a salute, with Ye Chen standing beside him.

He had not wanted to visit Gu Yan, as their acquaintance was superficial, limited to only a few meetings.

However, Ye Chen had pestered him relentlessly, insisting that he lead the way.

”Senior Brother Xu, there is no need to be troubled,” Ye Chen said with a bright laugh. ”Senior Brother Gu is a generous person; he certainly will not blame us for our presumptuous visit.”

After a few breaths, the courtyard gate swung open leisurely.

”Senior Brother Xu, Junior Brother Ye, please come in.”

The two stepped into the elegant courtyard and took their seats on stone stools.

Gu Yan poured clear tea for the two and asked, ”Two fellow disciples, may I ask what important matter brings you here?”

Ye Chen sipped his tea and got straight to the point: ”Senior Brother Gu, to be honest, we have come to invite you to join us in an undertaking.”

”Recently, friction between the Extreme Yin Demonic Cult and our Taiyi Dao Sect has been increasing daily. Several of our Sect’s properties outside have been frequently attacked, and a major battle seems unavoidable.”

”Senior Brother Xu and I have discovered the exact location of one of their branch strongholds, and we intend to join forces to eradicate it.”

”If we succeed, not only will we perform a meritorious service for the Sect, but the resources we obtain will also be of great benefit to our Cultivation.”

His words were sincere, but in his heart, he had other considerations.

On the surface, Gu Yan was at the Early Stage of the Third Transformation Stage in Martial Cultivation, but Ye Chen always felt this person was unfathomable and wanted to seize the Opportunity to probe his true depth.

After listening, Gu Yan slowly shook his head: ”Thank you both for your good intentions. However, I have had some insights recently and am planning to go into seclusion to Cultivate and attempt to break through to the next level, so I fear I cannot spare the time.”

”Seclusion?” Xu Gang was startled.

”Indeed,” Gu Yan nodded. ”I feel my Bottleneck loosening and need peace of mind to achieve a Breakthrough.”

Ye Chen blurted out: ”Senior Brother Gu, are you about to break through to the Middle Stage of the Third Transformation Stage?”

The Third Transformation Stage of Martial Cultivation requires opening eighty-one acupoints within the body and filling them with Internal Energy.

The Middle Stage requires completing nearly half of this number, which is by no means an easy task, even with the assistance of Medicinal Pills.

Gu Yan nodded slightly.

Ye Chen was slightly anxious and advised: ”Senior Brother, while Medicinal Pills are certainly important for helping you open acupoints, practical combat tempering is equally indispensable!”

”Closing the door to build a carriage is ultimately not the best strategy.”

”If this mission succeeds, it will not only be a great merit for the Sect and elevate our status, but it will also allow us to make a name for ourselves in the Great Qian Dynasty!”

”A real man born in this world, how can he be without a name?”

Xu Gang also chimed in: ”Junior Brother Ye speaks the truth. One lives a lifetime of Cultivation, and one must fight for Opportunities.”

”Junior Brother Gu is exceptionally talented and should not be buried here.”

Gu Yan’s expression remained unchanged as he said indifferently: ”What you both say makes sense. However, my aspirations do not lie there; I only wish to devote myself to the Dao of Martial Arts.”

Ye Chen tried to persuade him several more times, and Xu Gang chimed in from the side, but Gu Yan remained unmoved.

After half a cup of tea, the two had no choice but to rise and take their leave.

After walking quite a distance, Ye Chen couldn’t help but shake his head and say: ”This Senior Brother Gu’s heart for bitter cultivation is truly as firm as a rock.”

”It’s just that... blindly engaging in bitter cultivation without experiencing the wind and rain, it is ultimately difficult to become a great talent.”

Xu Gang patted his shoulder: ”Everyone has their own aspirations. Since Junior Brother Gu has chosen this path, why must we force it?”

”The path of Cultivation is long; one must fight for Opportunities, and one must choose their own path of the Dao.”

”We should just focus on doing our own thing.”

Ye Chen nodded, and a light reignited in his eyes.

He clenched his fist secretly, thinking that if this mission succeeded and he obtained the resources, he would definitely be able to break through the Third Transformation Stage.

When the time came, he would spar with Gu Yan again and show those Senior Sisters and Junior Sisters in the Sect that he, Ye Chen, was no mediocrity!

...

Time flew by, and six years passed in the blink of an eye.

Gu Yan sat cross-legged in the room, his spiritual energy flowing around his body like a surging river.

Now thirty-five years old, he was at the Ninth Level of Foundation Establishment, and the liquid spiritual energy in his Dantian had become dense to the extreme.

Yet, he was unable to condense and solidify it to form a Golden Core.

Gu Yan had tried several times, but every time the spiritual energy was about to solidify and form a Golden Core, an invisible barrier would always block it, causing the spiritual energy to collapse and return to a liquid state.

”As expected, is it still lacking an orthodox Cultivation Technique for immortality?” Gu Yan sighed inwardly.

He had originally thought that it would be easy to reverse-engineer the path of immortality using martial arts Cultivation Techniques, and he had progressed smoothly from Qi Refining to Foundation Establishment, but he had not expected to hit a wall before the Golden Core realm.

The path of Cultivation for immortality was indeed not as simple as he had thought.

Realizing that he could make no further progress, Gu Yan decided to go out and explore higher-level martial arts Cultivation Techniques in this world, hoping that he might find an Opportunity to break through to the Golden Core realm.

His primary target was the Scripture Pavilion of the Great Qian Dynasty’s royal family, which gathered all the martial arts of the world.

He stood up and first went to Danxia Peak to find Lin Wei and bid her farewell.

Six years had passed, and with the assistance of the special Medicinal Pills continuously supplied by Gu Yan, Lin Wei’s cultivation had advanced by leaps and bounds.

She had now reached the Early Stage of the Fourth Transformation Stage of Martial Cultivation, making her the undisputed number one among the younger generation of the Taiyi Dao Sect.

Externally, she only claimed that she had accumulated strength over time and had encountered extraordinary Opportunities, perfectly keeping Gu Yan hidden behind the scenes.

Hearing that Gu Yan was going out, a trace of worry flashed in Lin Wei’s eyes: ”Junior Brother, you must be careful when you go out.”

”I heard from Senior Sister Su Zhi that the Great Qian Dynasty is currently not peaceful. The conflict between the Dynasty and several major demonic Sects has intensified, there is war at the borders, bandits are rising everywhere, and the Extreme Yin Demonic Cult is even more rampant.”

”Senior Sister, rest assured, I have my own discretion.” Gu Yan comforted her gently.

”Then when will you return, Junior Brother?”

”In the short term, a few months; in the long term, a few years.”

Gu Yan paused and added: ”Cultivate well. If you run out of Medicinal Pills, there are more in the secret compartment in my room.”

Leaving the inner Sect, Gu Yan went to the Outer Sect’s Herb Garden C, taking a look at the scene in the garden from afar.

Old Chen was now at the Middle Stage of the Third Transformation Stage of cultivation.

The Sect had invited him many times to join the inner Sect and serve as an Elder, but he had politely declined each time.

He only said that he had stayed in this herb garden in the outer Sect for too long, had gotten used to it, and could not bear to part with these flowers and plants that he had tended to with his own hands.

As for the improvement in his cultivation, Old Chen only brushed it off externally by saying that great talents mature slowly.

He never revealed that it was related to the Medicinal Pills gifted by Gu Yan.

Seeing that he was doing well, Gu Yan did not appear to disturb him and left quietly.

From then on, Gu Yan set off alone, leaving Qingzhou, where the Taiyi Dao Sect was located.

He headed north, toward the center of the Great Qian Dynasty, Zhongzhou.

He traveled at an unhurried pace. At first, the road was relatively peaceful, but the further north he went, the more desolate the scene became.

Along the official road, abandoned villages could be seen from time to time, with fields lying waste and overgrown with weeds.

Refugees traveled in groups of three or five, sallow and emaciated. Seeing a lone traveler, they would hide far away, their eyes as vigilant as frightened beasts.

Bandit scouts appeared from time to time. Seeing Gu Yan alone and plainly dressed, they thought him easy to bully, but the result was naturally that they went and never returned.

After entering the territory of Youzhou, the tragic situation became even worse.

Gu Yan once passed by a small town where over a dozen corpses hung from an old tree at the entrance.

There were old and young, all of whom had been disemboweled, their internal organs missing.

The town was deserted, with only dried blood stains all over the ground and the lingering stench of rot in the air.

In the corner, a surviving old woman was curled up, her eyes empty.

Seeing this, Gu Yan put down some dry rations and turned to leave.

That night, he sat alone on a hill outside the town for a long time.

Above his head, the galaxy was brilliant, but the human world beneath his feet was like a purgatory.

Passing by a market the next day, he bought a set of black clothes and a green-faced, fanged evil ghost mask.

From then on, on the official roads and wild paths from Qingzhou to Zhongzhou, there was an extra figure in black with a ghost mask.

Gu Yan began to actively seek out bandits and demonic cultists to slaughter.

His Divine Sense expanded, and no aura within a thousand miles could escape his detection.

Anyone entangled in blood and surrounded by resentment was on his list.

At first, he kept count.

In the first month, he slaughtered eighteen groups of bandits, totaling three hundred and eighty-three people.

He destroyed two peripheral strongholds of the Extreme Yin Demonic Cult and executed twenty-seven cult members.

In the second month, he wiped out five large and small mountain strongholds along the way, killing over five hundred bandits.

He encountered a demonic cult sacrificial site, saved seventy-two boys and girls, and killed thirty-four demonic cult members, including one Martial Cultivator at the Third Transformation Stage.

The third month...

The fourth month...

The count gradually became blurred.

There were too many evil people; they could not be killed completely.

Today one group is wiped out, and tomorrow new ones emerge.

The Extreme Yin Demonic Cult’s branch stronghold was hidden very deeply, and it took him three months to find one in the deep mountains of northern Youzhou.

Afterwards, he uprooted it, rescued over a thousand imprisoned commoners, and executed over a hundred demonic cultists.

In that battle, he encountered an old demon at the Fourth Transformation Stage whose Lifespan was coming to an end and whose vitality was decaying.

That old demon practiced evil blood-path techniques and had lived for over two hundred years; to extend his life, he did not hesitate to slaughter an entire village to refine their essence blood.

The two fought.

With just one palm, Gu Yan shattered his heart meridians.