As the fusion success notification flashed before Gu An's eyes, an immense stream of knowledge surged into his mind, causing his consciousness to plunge deep into the process. The spiritual energy of the earth rose like a sea of energy beneath him, and the five-colored spiritual qi swirled around his body like a whirlwind.
The spiritual energy from the entire island began rushing toward him, causing the trees in the forest to shake violently, and the creatures on the island were startled, fleeing in every direction.
Immersed in the vast memories of cultivation, Gu An became oblivious to the outside world.
An hour later.
He slowly opened his eyes. Through the lifespan barrier, he saw the forest violently shaking, the sky above filled with rolling thunderclouds. It was as if time had shifted from morning to dusk in an instant.
He savored the profound mysteries of the Five Elements Dao Law Art, feeling immense joy in his heart.
The power of the five elements was indeed extraordinary!
The five elements could form the foundation of heaven and earth. Although the universe comprised more than just the five elements, they were the most fundamental. The five elements transformed into the heavens and earth, which in turn gave rise to other attributes and laws.
Thanks to the evolution brought by his lifespan, Gu An had already mastered the Five Elements Dao Law Art. The myriad subtleties of the technique were difficult to fully comprehend in a short time.
He pulled up his status panel once again and invested 500,000 years of lifespan to enhance his Five Elemental Treasure Body.
A stream of notifications rapidly popped up before his eyes.
When one particular message appeared, a smile crept across his face.
[You have comprehended the essence of heaven and earth for 350,000 years. Your body has been refined by the true essence of heaven and earth, causing your bones to transform. Your Five Elemental Treasure Body has advanced to the Innate Dao Body.]
The next 150,000 years were used to strengthen the Innate Dao Body, though it did not advance further.
As the spiritual energy of the earth continued to flow into Gu An's body, he decided to invest even more lifespan, aiming for another breakthrough in his physique.
He began pouring in his lifespan, 10,000 years at a time.
After 370,000 years, his Innate Dao Body finally evolved into the Mysterious Sacred Body.
The flow of spiritual energy into his body intensified, plunging him into an indescribably wonderful state.
Just then, a powerful divine sense swept over the island!
A cultivator at the Nirvana Realm!
Gu An's heart clenched in shock. So there really were cultivators of the Immortal Dao Realm hidden overseas!
The continent he was on was merely a small corner of the larger world.
Gu An remained calm. With the protection of his lifespan barrier, it was impossible for the cultivator to detect him.
After the incense stick's time had passed, the divine sense finally withdrew.
However, over the next several hours, divine senses continued to sweep across the region.
The lifespan barrier began drawing spiritual energy from distant parts of the ocean, stirring up towering waves as sea monsters surged from the depths.
By midday, Gu An had completely transformed into the Mysterious Sacred Body. The world appeared anew to his senses—he could now perceive unseen forces, and his physical vitality had strengthened immensely.
He felt that with his sheer physical strength, he could crush a cultivator at the Mahayana Realm with ease!
Opening his eyes, Gu An noticed that the lifespan barrier had consumed nearly 200,000 years of lifespan just during the morning.
Sensing the increasing number of divine senses sweeping over the ocean, Gu An decided to pause.
He had even detected a divine sense that made him feel a sense of foreboding, suggesting that the person might be of an equal or even higher cultivation level than him.
The ocean was indeed vast and unfathomable!
He feared that if he continued, he might attract even more terrifying beings.
Gu An resolved to relocate to a different place before continuing his cultivation.
Maintaining his lifespan barrier, Gu An reviewed his status panel, contemplating what to enhance next.
He could further upgrade his cultivation technique or choose one of his divine abilities or secret arts to enhance. It wasn't necessary to improve too many battle techniques all at once.
He already possessed several high-level divine abilities, techniques, and secret arts, any one of which was rare in the world.
By evening, Gu An left the island and quickly moved eastward.
Using the Infinite Free Step, he crossed over 500 steps before stopping on another, much smaller island. This island had no demons, only simple creatures that hadn't developed intelligence.
Gu An activated the lifespan barrier again and sat down, reviewing his status panel.
He invested 200,000 years of lifespan into the Five Elements Dao Law Art.
However, this attempt didn't lead to a breakthrough. So, he invested another 200,000 years, but again, it failed.
Determined, Gu An poured in 300,000 years of lifespan, and finally, the Five Elements Dao Law Art evolved, transforming into the Heaven and Earth Primordial Technique.
Mastery!
The total cost? 700,000 years of lifespan!
Additionally, the Heaven and Earth Primordial Technique awakened a divine ability called Palm of the Universe, which allowed him to store all things in his palm. The amount he could hold depended on his level of magical power.
Gu An looked at his remaining lifespan—over 7.7 million years left. Plenty to work with.
As heaven and earth's spiritual energy rushed into his body, he allowed the transmission of knowledge to fill his thoughts.
An hour later, Gu An opened his eyes.
It was already dark.
There wasn't time to fully savor the Heaven and Earth Primordial Technique; his gaze returned to the status panel.
The Innate Wishful Technique needed to be upgraded, as it was the foundation of Gu An's abilities, enabling him to hide his aura from even higher-level cultivators.
Without hesitation, he invested 500,000 years of lifespan!
Before he realized it, Gu An had grown much more extravagant with his investments.
Streams of notifications appeared in rapid succession, and at last, the Innate Wishful Technique advanced into the Universal Shape and Form Technique!
This new technique not only enhanced his ability to conceal his aura but also allowed him to change his aura to match any being. In other words, if Gu An encountered a demon, he could manifest demonic energy. If he encountered a devil, he could manifest devilish energy, and no one would be able to see through the disguise.
Moreover, the Universal Shape and Form Technique also awakened a divine ability called Heaven and Earth's Nine Transformations.
This was a transformation divine ability with limitless potential!
As the spiritual energy of the earth subsided, it once again began pouring into Gu An's body. The ocean within a ten-thousand-mile radius stirred with massive waves, and the range continued to expand.
This time, it wasn't just divine senses sweeping across the area—cultivators themselves flew over the island.
Gu An's presence had disrupted the ocean's calm!
But he could no longer care about such disturbances.
An hour later, Gu An opened his eyes once more, now with a lifespan of just over 7.2 million years. He couldn't help but feel that even a lifespan of 10 million years was fleeting.
He could no longer afford to enhance any other divine abilities. What if he didn't have enough to break through?
The higher the realm, the more lifespan was required for breakthroughs. Gu An had no direct reference for the Immortal Dao realm, but he could guess that progressing would take far more than decades or centuries of cultivation.
He slapped his face to refocus, silently praying.
He began by investing 1 million years of lifespan into his cultivation!
[Due to your mastery of cultivation techniques, you begin comprehending the Heaven and Earth Primordial Technique from the Qi Refining Realm.]
[You cultivate for one year, restoring your cultivation to the Foundation Establishment Realm.]
[You cultivate for three years, restoring your cultivation to the Core Formation Realm.]
[You cultivate for five years, restoring your cultivation to the Nascent Soul Realm.]
...
[You cultivate for 500 years, restoring your cultivation to the Mahayana Realm.]
...
[You cultivate for 5,000 years and forcefully break through to the Loose Immortal Realm, triggering your tribulation. You fail to pass the Five Profound Heavenly Tribulation and experience a setback.]
[You cultivate for 10,000 years and forcefully break through to the Loose Immortal Realm once more, but you again fail the Five Profound Heavenly Tribulation.]
...
Seeing that he had to rebuild his cultivation, Gu An's face stiffened. Fortunately, it only took him 5,000 years to begin challenging the second stage of the Immortal Dao.
The combination of the Heaven and Earth Primordial Technique and his Mysterious Sacred Body was truly terrifying!
Lifespan evolution consumed more than real cultivation because it compressed time, transforming spiritual energy rapidly into cultivation power. Naturally, this required additional lifespan.
Gu An felt immense confidence in his current potential and foundation.
Five thousand years for a tribulation?
A mere trifle!
Failure, failure, and more failure...
Gu An remained unfazed as failure notifications repeatedly flashed before his eyes. After all, he still had plenty of lifespan.
While cultivation speed had increased, passing the tribulation was a different story. Gu An had prepared himself for many attempts.
With a lifespan of 1 million years, he could afford to fail 200 times!
Surely, he wouldn't be that unlucky?
However, as Gu An continued to observe, his expression gradually darkened.
What on earth was this Five Profound Heavenly Tribulation?
Why was it so absurd?
Gu An recalled the tribulations he had faced before. He hadn't found any mention of similar trials in the Tai Xuan Sect's records. While others had faced minor tribulations, his were always overwhelmingly dangerous.
He suspected it had to do with his unique physique and cultivation techniques.
Cultivating the Immortal Dao was truly an act of defiance against the heavens!
Still, within the evolution process, he faced the tribulation solely on his own power, without any external assistance. Even if he failed multiple times, once he succeeded, it would all be worth it.
A million years of lifespan, gone in an instant.
But it wasn't a complete waste—at least his spiritual power had transformed from the wood-based power of the Innate Celestial Immortal Art to the five-element power of the Heaven and Earth Primordial Technique.
This change alone made him several times stronger than before.
As Gu An comforted himself, the earth's spiritual energy once again flowed into his body. His thoughts undisturbed, he poured even more lifespan into the evolutionary process.
Another million years!
Failure!
Failure!
Failure!
Gu An's expression became serious, imagining the scenes of his tribulation failures. They must have been brutal.
He couldn't help but feel sympathy for his struggling, future self.
[You cultivate for 450,000 years and successfully pass the Five Profound Heavenly Tribulation, breaking through to the first layer of the Loose Immortal Realm.]
[You cultivate for 453,000 years and break through to the second layer of the Loose Immortal Realm.]
...
[You cultivate for 500,000 years and break through to the ninth layer of the Loose Immortal Realm.]
[You cultivate for 560,000 years and forcefully challenge the Yin-Yang Xuanhuang Five Emperor Tribulation, but you fail to pass.]
...
Failure after failure followed, but Gu An couldn't help smiling, satisfied at having reached the ninth layer of the Loose Immortal Realm.
The difficulty of cultivating within the Loose Immortal Realm was undoubtedly far greater than at the Nirvana Realm. Yet, the lifespan required hadn't increased as much as expected. It had taken Gu An 5,000 years to advance from the seventh to the eighth layer of the Nirvana Realm.
However, progressing from the first to the second layer of the Loose Immortal Realm had only required 3,000 years, demonstrating the strength of his Mysterious Sacred Body and the Heaven and Earth Primordial Technique.
Of course, as he approached the higher layers, the required lifespan increased—but this was to be expected, and Gu An accepted it.
After all the notifications had cleared, Gu An still hadn't passed the terrifying Yin-Yang Xuanhuang Five Emperor Tribulation.
Staring at the 5 million years of lifespan he had left, Gu An felt a mix of excitement and apprehension.