[At age 59, your son, Lu Qiuxian, successfully achieved the Foundation Establishment Realm, becoming renowned throughout the Dao Court's outer sect. As a result, you gained widespread recognition. Even the two companions who had traveled with you upon crossing worlds came to congratulate you, leaving you to reflect on the unpredictable nature of life.]
[At age 60, you successfully formed your Golden Core.]
[At age 63, your son, Lu Qiuxian, awakened the Supreme Treasure Body, shocking the Dao Court. He was immediately admitted into the inner sect, and from that moment on, you and your son parted ways.]
Supreme Treasure Body?
Isn't this the physique possessed by the Spectral Wraith King Tian Wuchang?
Gu An's anticipation for this cycle of reincarnation grew even more.
Will this life revolve around the meteoric rise of Lu Qiuxian?
The subsequent experiences in the cycle primarily focused on cultivation, progressing until a century later.
[At age 172, you successfully broke through to the Nascent Soul Realm. Excited, you shared the news with your wife, Yuan Ling'er, only to receive tragic news moments later—your son, Lu Qiuxian, had fallen, his essence blood consumed. Yuan Ling'er fainted on the spot.]
[At age 173, after painstaking investigations, you finally uncovered the truth of Lu Qiuxian's demise. He was slain by the crown prince of the strongest divine dynasty of the age, a personal disciple of the Dao Court with a cultivation far exceeding the Immortal Dao. Your status was insignificant in comparison. Lu Qiuxian's master sighed and urged you to let the matter go.]
[At age 174, Yuan Ling'er succumbed to her sorrow and passed away. You buried her and left the Dao Court's outer sect.]
[At age 176, you encountered a group of mortals in distress and saved them. Before you departed, an elderly man stopped you, claiming you bore an extraordinary destiny and that a turning point awaited in your life. He offered to divine your future. Do you accept his reading?]
Yes!
Not just Lu Han, even Gu An, observing this life, felt the weight of despair. With such poor aptitude and techniques, how could Lu Han ever hope to seek vengeance?
[You accepted the elderly man's divination. During his calculations, his vital energy churned violently, causing him to vomit blood. Collapsing, he uttered that your turning point lay at the Burial Immortal Ridge. After ensuring the elder was unharmed, you embarked on your journey to the ridge.]
[At age 185, you finally reached the Burial Immortal Ridge and learned that it was a deadly land where even beings of the Immortal Dao struggled to survive. Nonetheless, you stepped into the ridge with determination.]
...
The following events were fraught with peril. Gu An, watching, felt his heart tighten, fearful of Lu Han's sudden demise.
[At age 192, after inadvertently triggering a hidden mechanism, you stumbled into an abandoned cave estate. There, you discovered a strange stone tablet inscribed with eerie and intricate characters. While exploring, you accidentally touched the stone tablet, causing your blood to splash upon it. You were then drawn into the tablet by a mysterious force.]
[You found yourself within a micro-world created by the remnants of the Saint Emperor Qian Kun. After a period of negotiation, you ultimately accepted Qian Kun as your master.]
[At age 200, under the guidance of the Saint Emperor Qian Kun, you cultivated the Supreme Treasure Body. Your physical body was reborn, restoring your youthful appearance to that of a twenty-year-old. The scars on your face disappeared, though your hair turned white.]
[At age 210, you achieved the Divine Transformation Realm.]
Things are finally looking up!
Saint Emperor Qian Kun?
He sounds powerful!
Gu An felt elated. After all, the memories of these reincarnation cycles would integrate into his own. Naturally, he hoped the experiences wouldn't be entirely filled with suffering.
The subsequent years were marked by steady breakthroughs and the acquisition of divine techniques.
At age 250, you broke through to the Void Crossing Realm.
At age 317, you entered the Body Fusion Realm.
At age 430, you ascended to the Profound Heart Realm.
[At age 431, Saint Emperor Qian Kun summoned you, explaining that his remnant soul could no longer endure. He offered to help your Supreme Treasure Body ascend to the Supreme Dao Body at the cost of unimaginable pain. Do you accept?]
Accept!
Gu An didn't hesitate.
[You accepted Saint Emperor Qian Kun's aid. After months of grueling refinement, you successfully transformed your body into the Supreme Dao Body, triggering the heavenly rules of the Primordial World. Celestial phenomena erupted, and you gained enlightenment of the divine ability, Supreme Manifestation.]
[At age 440, you departed the micro-world of Qian Kun and returned to the mortal realm. At the Burial Immortal Ridge, you encountered an ancient body cultivator in the Mahayana Realm. Despite the disparity, you crossed realms to slay your foe, devouring their essence blood and further strengthening your physique.]
Over the next fifty years, Lu Han left the Burial Immortal Ridge, searching for other cultivators with ancient physiques. Though he sometimes succeeded and sometimes failed, he always managed to escape unscathed.
Gu An began to see traces of Tian Wuchang's life in Lu Han's journey, as if it were the fate of all Supreme Treasure Body cultivators.
At age 600, Lu Han, besieged by Nirvana Realm grand cultivators, endured a powerful tribulation, annihilating his enemies with heavenly lightning and stepping into the Immortal Dao.
From then on, Lu Han began his path to invincibility.
At age 720, he found the crown prince of the divine dynasty who had killed his son. Slaying the prince and consuming his essence blood, Lu Han's cultivation surged. Enraged, the divine emperor issued a bounty for his capture.
As Lu Han evaded pursuit, Gu An was given fewer opportunities to intervene. Most choices revolved around whether to save or kill certain individuals.
Finally, after countless prompts, Lu Han reached the age of 1,000, entering the Wandering Immortal Realm and becoming the greatest genius of his era. However, an Unrestrained Primordial Immortal ambushed him, leaving him on the brink of death. Fortunately, a great figure from the Dao Court intervened, saving his life and bringing him back.
By then, the companions who had crossed worlds with him were long gone, reduced to dust. Revisiting the places of his youth, Lu Han entered a state of enlightenment, comprehending the power of time itself.
The Dao Court's leader sought to take Lu Han as a personal disciple. After deliberation, Gu An chose to have him accept.
At this pivotal moment in the tale of Gu An's reincarnation cycle, Lu Han had become the Great Disciple of the Dao Court. Within the Dao Court, he outshone all other prodigies, rejecting the affections of numerous celestial daughters with Gu An's guidance. Outside, Lu Han slew demons, eradicated evil, and became a beacon of hope and righteousness, earning an enduring holy reputation.
At the age of 20,000, Lu Han ascended to the Heaven and Earth Flying Immortal Realm, becoming the youngest cultivator in Dao Court history to achieve such a feat. By the age of 50,000, he shattered another record, ascending to the Unrestrained Primordial Immortal Realm as the youngest ever. His rise shook the very annals of the Dao Court.
At the age of 60,000, Lu Han ventured alone into the Divine Dynasty. In full view of the world's strongest cultivators, he boldly struck down the Divine Emperor of the dynasty. Within the emperor's Bone Palace of Treasure Physique, he discovered the long-lost remains of his son, Lu Qiuxian.
Gu An immersed himself in the legendary life of Lu Han, observing the stark contrast between his audacious and righteous demeanor and the domineering cruelty of Long Zhan. Lu Han's life was an unbridled dance of freedom and justice.
At the age of 100,000, Lu Han devoured the essence blood of over a thousand Supreme Treasure Physique cultivators, forging the earth-shattering Supreme Sacred Physique.
By the age of 200,000, Lu Han had swept across the Primordial World, becoming a living legend. At the age of 250,000, he encountered the Tidal Wave of the Great Dao in the vast cosmos. In the torrent of Dao energy, he refined the Tai Chu Causal Body, attaining an unparalleled mastery over karma.
By the age of 300,000, Lu Han ascended to the Wondrous Mystical Spirit Immortal Realm. Traversing the universe, he returned to Earth, only to find it desolate and abandoned. In severing his ties to the past, his Dao heart underwent a profound transformation.
[At the age of 430,000, you transcended the limits of your mortal body, breaking into the Dao Void Profound Immortal Realm. The universe trembled as you restored your destiny. Do you wish to activate the Lifespan Seizing ability?]
Gu An paused, recalling the tragic precedent of Long Zhan. After careful thought, he chose to refuse.
"Do not activate!"
Gu An reasoned that Lu Han no longer needed the ability to seize lifespans. His cultivation, reputation, and purpose were already monumental in scale.
Because the Lifespan Seizing ability remained dormant, Lu Han's character remained steadfast. He continued to wield overwhelming power against his enemies but extended a hand of compassion to those in need, spreading his holy name across countless realms.
At the age of 500,000, Lu Han encountered the Tai Chu Sacred Ancestor, a pinnacle existence of the ninth stage of the Immortal Dao. Impressed by Lu Han's unparalleled potential, the Sacred Ancestor conferred upon him the Dao title of "Tai Chu Divine Emperor."
By the time Lu Han reached the pinnacle of the Immortal Dao's ninth stage at 830,000 years old, Gu An faced another fateful decision.
[At the age of 830,000, having ascended to the ninth stage of the Immortal Dao, you achieved enlightenment of the Dao and inadvertently sensed the existence of the River of Destiny. You hesitated, unsure if you should step into this fateful current. Do you choose to enter the River of Destiny?]
Gu An wrestled with this decision. The River of Destiny—its name alone spoke of boundless opportunities and unfathomable dangers. It might offer insights into the Dao of Fate itself, a profound truth for Gu An's understanding of the Grand Dao Rules.
Yet with great power came great risk. Even Long Zhan, who had transcended the Immortal Dao's ninth stage, had not encountered the River of Destiny.
After much deliberation, Gu An decided:
"Yes."
[You chose to step into the River of Destiny. Upon entering, you were enveloped in an ethereal state of enlightenment.]
[Within the River of Destiny, you comprehended the Dao of Fate. Using your mastery of creation, you resurrected your son, Lu Qiuxian, aiding him in cultivating the Tai Chu Causal Body.]
[You attempted to resurrect your wife, Yuan Ling'er, but her Dao was too weak; she had already reincarnated.]
[As you traversed the River of Destiny, you were ambushed by the Black Xuan Emperor. In a moment of desperation, you sent your son, Lu Qiuxian, to the river's distant end.]
[You perished at the hands of the Black Xuan Emperor.]
[Cycle complete.]
"Damn it!" Gu An cursed internally. "That Black Xuan Emperor again!"
Gu An's frustration was palpable as he rose and made his way to a remote island overseas. There, he activated a Lifespan Barrier and settled into meditation.
As the memories of the reincarnation cycle surged into his mind, the depth and intensity of Lu Han's experiences overwhelmed him. Experiencing it firsthand was far more visceral than reading the mere textual prompts of the Lifespan Cycle.
Gu An closed his eyes and furrowed his brow as he relived the heartwarming moments of Lu Han's life, especially the time spent with his small family.
Time flew by.
An hour later, Gu An returned to the Gathering Flower Sect. Sitting at the table, he noticed the tea had gone cold. Placing his hand on the table, he closed his eyes again, deeply reflecting on Lu Han's insights into the Dao of Fate.
The confrontation with the Black Xuan Emperor was a gamble that ended in failure. However, stepping into the River of Destiny was the correct choice. Through this act, Gu An gained a profound understanding of the Dao of Fate. He also experienced Lu Han's bittersweet emotions as he ensured his son's survival.
Living for over 800,000 years, Lu Han had experienced everything life could offer. Reviving his son before his death gave him a sense of fulfillment.
In their final battle, Lu Han showcased his unrivaled strength, leaving an indelible scar on the Black Xuan Emperor—a mark etched just above his left brow.
Reflecting on both lives, Gu An found it difficult to determine whether the Annihilation God Emperor faced by Long Zhan was stronger than the Black Xuan Emperor confronted by Lu Han.
Both adversaries were far superior, but Lu Han managed to wound the Black Xuan Emperor due to the unique nature of his divine abilities. However, the effort proved futile as he was swiftly obliterated afterward.
Suppressing his resentment toward the Black Xuan Emperor, Gu An immersed himself in the comprehension of the Dao of Fate.
The sun set, and the moon rose.
Gu An sat motionless in deep meditation for three days.
Finally, the door creaked open, and a fragrant breeze wafted in, bringing with it a delicate figure.
"You're here?" Jiang Qiong entered with a bright smile, stepping quickly to the table. Her joy was palpable and uncontainable as she sat down.
Gu An opened his eyes, their clarity piercing. However, his gaze unsettled Jiang Qiong, causing her heart to tremble inexplicably.
For reasons unknown, Jiang Qiong felt a profound sadness emanating from him. The smile on her face faded.