When I Achieved Sainthood, the Immortal Official Actually Called Me to Raise Horses!-Chapter 226: Surprise in the Sea, Strange Fragrance

Gu An didn’t personally oversee Tianqing and Tianbai’s transformation. With Tian Yao’er around, he believed the two cat demons wouldn’t run into any trouble.

Tian Yao’er’s cultivation had already reached the ninth level of the Core Formation Stage, making her capable of handling things independently.

Gu An first returned to Xuan Valley, took a stroll around, and then headed to the Third Medicine Valley.

The number of errand disciples in the Third Medicine Valley had grown to 800. The moment he stepped out of the teleportation platform, he heard a commotion.

Looking around, he saw disciples sweeping the ground, patrolling the garden, and practicing spells. Under a distant tree, some were playing chess and Go.

Gu An’s management was quite lenient. As long as the disciples completed their daily tasks, they were free to arrange their time as they pleased.

Not everyone in the Third Medicine Valley was simply looking for a peaceful life. Most of them were ambitious, hoping to become outer sect disciples. To curry favor with Gu An and obtain pills, they all worked diligently.

Gu An made his way to his pavilion.

The Blood Prison Great Saint was dozing off on the grass in front of the building, slowly absorbing the world’s spiritual energy.

At that moment, the door of a nearby pavilion suddenly swung open, and You Yingying waved him over. Seeing this, Gu An sighed helplessly and walked toward her.

This pavilion belonged to Lu Lingjun. Ever since Li Ya took Divine Anomaly City, Lu Lingjun had returned.

She had been in secluded cultivation, but ever since You Yingying arrived in the valley, things had changed.

Somehow, the two of them had grown close.

Upon hearing that Lu Lingjun was a grandmaster in the Profound Mind Realm, You Yingying had become highly intrigued and proactively approached her. With the backing of the Starsea Sect Alliance, she successfully formed a close friendship with Lu Lingjun.

Gu An didn’t even need to step inside to know what they were going to talk about.

It had to be about founding the Ascension Sect!

They had forcibly dragged him into their plan, promising that as long as he provided herbs, he would be guaranteed a high-ranking position in the sect in the future.

As soon as he entered, You Yingying shut the door behind him.

Gu An walked into the main hall, where Lu Lingjun sat at a table covered with papers. A small white snake coiled on top of them.

He casually took a seat and reached out to play with the White Spirit Demon Emperor—he particularly enjoyed stroking its head.

The White Spirit Demon Emperor had concealed its true cultivation and usually acted docile. Plus, Lu Lingjun had given it instructions in private, so it had no choice but to tolerate Gu An's actions.

You Yingying eagerly sat down beside Gu An and excitedly said, “Recently, my people have found traces of ascenders! And not just one!”

Gu An scoffed. “You dragged me into this just for that? I’m not leaving the Taixuan Sect.”

He didn’t understand what Lu Lingjun had said to make You Yingying so obsessed with founding the Ascension Sect.

And then there was You Yingying herself—despite only being at the Foundation Establishment Stage, she had spies stationed across the sea. Gu An had once eavesdropped on her conversations with Lu Lingjun and learned that her grandfather was one of the Sea Lords of the Starsea Sect Alliance. That meant he was at least at the Roving Immortal Stage.

This revelation left Gu An feeling a bit annoyed.

I met You Yingying first, yet she told Lu Lingjun everything while keeping it from me?

Since you two are so close, why don’t you just go off together?

You Yingying giggled. “Of course, I’m not asking you to recruit them. With your cultivation, meeting them would be impossible. I’m just letting you know that the foundation of the Ascension Sect is almost complete!”

Lu Lingjun nodded. “I plan to establish the Ascension Sect beyond the Three Dynasties. The Taixuan Sect will also support us.”

Gu An wasn’t surprised by this.

The Taicang Empire’s position was quite awkward, located at the southernmost part of the continent. The Taixuan Sect had discovered spiritual mines in the Demon Race’s territory, but other sects kept snatching them away, preventing the Taixuan Sect from expanding northward.

If the Ascension Sect could be established, other sects might not immediately see it as a threat. In the future, the two sects could cooperate from within and outside, making it impossible for other sects to suppress their development.

Gu An had no interest in meddling with the sect wars of the Three Dynasties. Likewise, the Taixuan Sect was no longer gathering disciples and certainly wouldn’t beg the Sword Sovereign of the Righteous Path for help—they wouldn’t lower themselves to that.

Both the Venerable Pavilion and the Elder Hall were holding back their frustrations, determined to make the Taixuan Sect the strongest sect within the Three Dynasties.

Lu Lingjun said, “I plan to head south myself. I’m letting you know so you won’t wonder where I’ve gone.”

Gu An replied, “You don’t need to report your whereabouts to me.”

“Hmm?”

Lu Lingjun shot him a cold glance.

Gu An pursed his lips and said no more.

You Yingying excitedly continued introducing information about the ascenders. There were five of them—three men and two women—hiding on an island controlled by the Starsea Sect Alliance. The weakest among them was at the Integration Stage, and two had even reached the Profound Mind Realm.

There were actually many ascenders overseas. Once they understood the rules of survival in this world, they no longer bothered hiding their origins. After all, the cultivators of this world couldn’t ascend to lower realms, and the ascenders had no interest in returning.

Gu An listened carefully, pondering how the establishment of the Ascension Sect would impact the cultivation world.

Though ascenders might not have the highest cultivation, their survival skills and mindset were undoubtedly exceptional.

This chapter is updat𝙚d by freeweɓnovel.cøm.

He doubted whether Lu Lingjun could truly win them over.

Half an hour later, Lu Lingjun left with the White Spirit Demon Emperor.

Gu An and You Yingying saw them off. Once Lu Lingjun’s figure disappeared into the sky, You Yingying patted Gu An’s shoulder and grinned. “Once the Ascension Sect is established, you’ll be an elder! Your fate will change—don’t forget to thank me!”

Gu An looked at her curiously. “You’re not an ascender, so why are you so enthusiastic about this?”

Once the Ascension Sect was established, those without ascension backgrounds would likely be sidelined or looked down upon. After all, the sect was meant to be a gathering place for ascenders.

“It’s exciting! In life, how many great things can we truly accomplish? If I can leave a mark on this world, all the better,” You Yingying said matter-of-factly.

Gu An narrowed his eyes. “With your background, why do you sound like…”

He suddenly noticed something peculiar.

Even though You Yingying retained her original form, there was a strange karmic force within her body—one that restricted her spiritual energy growth.

If her cultivation couldn’t advance, she would die at 400 years old, even if her natural lifespan limit was 5,000 years.

You Yingying met his gaze and snorted, “That’s right. I already know my fate—I will never attain immortality.”

With that, she turned away, unwilling to continue the conversation.

Gu An didn’t press further.

He had simply asked out of curiosity—he had no intention of interfering in You Yingying’s fate.

He couldn’t even make his junior sister immortal—how could he help someone else?

Turning back, he returned to his residence to refine pills. In a few days, he would bring them to the Outer Sect City.

By late summer, Gu An was studying the Purple Star Array Manual when he suddenly sensed something and glanced out the window, frowning.

"Why is that guy so restless lately?"

For the past month, Li Ya had been frequently using Divine Anomaly City’s power. And today, he was at it again.

Li Ya was too far away for Gu An’s divine sense to track, and the Starsea Sect Alliance’s restrictions along the way made it risky to probe too deeply. He didn’t want to alert the sect’s grand cultivators.

Even without his divine sense, he could still use his soul bond with the Divine Anomaly Spirit to check on Li Ya’s status.

After a moment’s hesitation, Gu An asked in his mind.

The Divine Anomaly Spirit quickly responded:

Li Ya was exploring a hidden realm—one of the inheritance trials of the Starsea Sect Alliance. If he succeeded, he would receive an ancient legacy.

Using the power of Divine Anomaly City, he had already reached the final challenge—facing the remnant soul of the previous inheritor. The army of spirit wraiths couldn’t take it down quickly.

Upon learning this, Gu An stopped worrying.

Li Ya had been in the Starsea Sect Alliance for over five years. If they had wanted to harm him, they would have done so already. It seemed they truly intended to cultivate him.

Gu An returned his attention to the Purple Star Array Manual.

Time continued to pass.

Half an hour later—

Boom!

A deafening explosion erupted in the distance, once again disrupting Gu An’s thoughts.

"What is going on today? Why so much commotion?" he muttered to himself as he extended his divine sense toward the source of the disturbance.

Moments later, his expression changed drastically.

Reflected in his pupils was an endless stretch of ocean. At this moment, a massive rift had opened in the sea, continuously expanding. Torrents of seawater surged into the rift, forming a breathtaking waterfall. The chasm was bottomless, spanning several miles across.

Gu An sensed multiple divine senses converging on the scene—others had also been drawn by the strange occurrence. Countless cultivators were rushing toward the ocean rift.

This was happening in the western seas beyond the continent. As Gu An’s divine sense followed the fissure’s path, he realized it stretched thousands of miles and was still expanding, as if it sought to cleave the ocean in two.

Strangely, despite the immense volume of water pouring into the rift, the sea level remained unchanged, maintaining the spectacle.

Fortunately, this oceanic fissure was extremely far from the mainland, with another landmass separating it from the continent.

Retracting his divine sense, Gu An returned to his reading, deciding that he would visit Seeker’s Island later to gather information.

On Seeker’s Island, he could always hear about major events in the oceanic world.

Late at night—

Gu An arrived at Nianchu Cave Dwelling.

As he approached a stone table, his footsteps echoed softly.

Before he could react, two gusts of fragrant wind rushed toward him.

The next moment, his arms were embraced by two soft, curvaceous figures.

"Master!"

"Master, you're here!"

Two enchanting women clung to Gu An's arms—one dressed in a blue dress, the other in white. Their slender figures and delicate features exuded a mesmerizing charm, their gazes glistening like rippling water as they looked up at him.

They were none other than Tianqing and Tianbai after their transformation.

Wearing a mask, Gu An asked, "What’s that smell on you two?"

Tianqing tilted her head and replied, "Miss made a special fragrance. She sprinkled it on us to cover our demonic scent so Master wouldn’t dislike us."

Gu An remained silent, but inwardly, he was quite pleased.

Freshly transformed cat demons did carry an unpleasant demonic scent, which was why he had been reluctant to let them cling to him before.

Now, he allowed them to hold onto him as he walked toward the pavilion.

The two cat demons chattered endlessly, just as talkative as Tian Yao’er.

Soon, Tian Yao’er emerged from the house, beaming with excitement as she stood before Gu An, clearly awaiting praise.

However, instead of mentioning the fragrance, Gu An asked about her cultivation progress.