22: Is this the end of my luck?

Early this morning, Gu Changsheng routinely arrived at the foot of Hundred Herbs Peak, where the Mission Hall was located, preparing to collect the Materials needed to refine Talisman Paper for the Sweet Dew Spell.

Just as he stepped through the hall entrance, a voice filled with surprise and warmth rang out.

“Senior Brother Gu!”

Gu Changsheng looked in the direction of the voice and saw a youth wearing Outer Sect Disciple robes, his face still holding a hint of childishness, gazing at him with an expression of pure admiration.

Gu Changsheng searched his mind for a moment before recalling the person's information.

Li Rui, a Disciple who had joined the sect a year ago, possessed a Spiritual Root affinity for Wood Virtue, just like him.

Because their talents were similar, he had been assigned to do some tasks on Hundred Herbs Peak and often came to Gu Changsheng to ask questions about Wood-type Breathing Techniques.

Gu Changsheng had always kept his distance from such harmless “admirers,” only offering a few perfunctory pointers when he was in a particularly good mood.

“Is something the matter?” Gu Changsheng asked flatly.

“Senior Brother Gu, I heard the news! You only took two years to raise your Cultivation from the fifth layer of the Fetal Breathing Realm to the sixth layer of Perfection! This... this is simply incredible!”

Stars twinkled in Li Rui's eyes, and his face was flushed with excitement. “Most Disciples who joined with me are still lingering around the first or second layer of the Fetal Breathing Realm! Senior Brother, you are our role model!”

Gu Changsheng frowned almost imperceptibly.

What he hated most was this kind of attention-grabbing praise.

The tallest tree in the forest is the first to be felled by the wind.

His Cultivation progress over the past two years had indeed been fast, but this was due to the unique Cultivation environment atop Hundred Herbs Peak. Once this matter spread, it would inevitably attract countless jealous gazes.

“It was just good luck,” Gu Changsheng replied coolly, then ignored him and walked straight toward the Deacon responsible for distributing Materials.

Li Rui, having been snubbed, felt his smile freeze, but the fervor in his eyes did not diminish in the slightest. He looked at Gu Changsheng's unremarkable back and involuntarily clenched his fists.

Senior Brother Gu was indeed just as the rumors described: low-key and steady, disliking ostentation. This was the mark of a truly great person!

I must take Senior Brother Gu as my goal, work hard to Cultivate, and become a person like him in the future!

Gu Changsheng had no idea that he had been made a life idol by an enthusiastic youth. He collected his Materials and hurried back to the peak.

However, starting from that day, he found that an inescapable shadow had been added to his life.

When he went to the medicinal garden to cast the Sweet Dew Spell, Li Rui would follow him from afar under the guise of “observation and study,” busily writing in a small notebook.

When he went to the Scripture Pavilion to look up information, Li Rui would sit not far from him, holding a pile of Jade Slips, pretending to read diligently, but actually secretly observing him out of the corner of his eye.

There was even one occasion when Gu Changsheng went to a withered “Condensing Dew Flower” in the corner of the medicinal garden late at night, preparing to harvest the Wither and Flourish Vitality, only to discover that fellow Li Rui was sneaking around, peeking out from behind a large rock dozens of meters away.

If it weren't for the intelligence warning him in advance today, he would have almost been exposed.

[Intelligence: Outer Sect Disciple Li Rui is extremely curious about the secret behind your rapid Cultivation progress over the past two years, suspecting you possess a Secret Method that can accelerate Cultivation. Tonight, he will secretly follow you, intending to find out the truth.]

For the first time, killing intent arose in Gu Changsheng's heart toward a “harmless” person.

Curiosity kills the cat, and it can also kill people.

This Li Rui was like an annoying fly, constantly buzzing around him.

Although he posed no immediate threat, no one could guarantee that his excessive curiosity wouldn't lead him to discover Gu Changsheng's greatest secret one day.

A potential threat, no matter how small, must be completely extinguished in the nascent stage.

This was Gu Changsheng's Law of survival.

A few more days passed, and a new round of Wither and Flourish Vitality arrived as scheduled.

[Intelligence: A century-old 'ironwood pine' on the western edge of the medicinal garden, near the Dragon Severing Cliff, will exhaust its Lifespan tonight at the Hour of Chou (1 AM - 3 AM). The wind is strong by the cliff, and the pine roots are unstable. Its death may trigger a minor rockslide. The newborn seed is located three feet beneath its main root.]

[Intelligence: Outer Sect Disciple Li Rui has tracked you for three consecutive days without success. Tonight, he will take a risk and hide in a rock crevice beneath the Dragon Severing Cliff, preparing to observe your every move up close.]

Looking at these two pieces of intelligence, a cold curve slowly appeared on Gu Changsheng's calm face.

Truly... Heaven helps me.

This Li Rui had crashed headfirst into a death trap, saving Gu Changsheng the trouble of careful planning.

That night, the moon was dark and the wind was high.

Gu Changsheng, as usual, arrived silently at the edge of the Dragon Severing Cliff.

The Dragon Severing Cliff was a perilous location on Hundred Herbs Peak, bottomless, and constantly shrouded in Fierce Gale Winds.

The ironwood pine stubbornly grew right on the edge of the cliff, with half of its roots exposed, looking precarious.

Gu Changsheng didn't even need to use his Divine Sense to know that Li Rui was currently hiding like a gecko in a narrow rock crevice dozens of meters below the cliff, not daring to breathe.

He ignored the “gecko,” simply standing quietly in front of the ironwood pine, waiting for the right moment to arrive.

The Hour of Chou arrived precisely on time.

The weather-beaten ironwood pine, battered by the fierce winds at the cliff edge, let out its final sorrowful creak before its massive trunk crashed down and plunged into the bottomless abyss.

The soil and rocks clinging to its roots also collapsed in large chunks, rolling down toward the base of the cliff.

And in that instant, Gu Changsheng moved!

His form was as swift as a ghost, and the moment the collapsing rocks were about to completely bury the root system, his right hand shot out like lightning!

Harvest, guide, Nine Revolutions Cycle!

He completed the entire process smoothly and effortlessly, using less than two breaths of time.

The eighth wisp of Wither and Flourish Vitality was secured!

He even had the leisure to glance down toward the bottom of the cliff.

“Ah—!”

A shrill scream came from below, but it was quickly drowned out by the roar of tumbling rocks and the howling Fierce Gale Winds, leaving not even an echo behind.

Gu Changsheng withdrew his gaze, his face devoid of expression.

He turned and left calmly, as if he had merely gone out for a stroll.

The next day, news spread throughout the Outer Sect.

The newly promoted Disciple Li Rui suffered Qi Deviation during Cultivation, ran to the Dragon Severing Cliff in the middle of the night to clear his head, and unfortunately encountered a rockslide, falling to his death with no remains recovered.

The Deacon Hall classified the incident as an “accident” and hastily closed the case.

After all, in the Cultivation World, where human life was cheap, the number of Disciples who died from various “accidents” each year was at least eighty, if not a hundred.

No one would care about the life or death of an insignificant minor figure.

When Gu Changsheng heard this news, he was watering a “Purple Cloud Flower.”

His hand movements paused for a moment, then stabilized again.

A potential threat had been perfectly eliminated.

Another stumbling block had been removed from his path to longevity.

Another year passed.

Only the final month remained of Gu Changsheng's three-year tenure.

His Cultivation had long reached the true peak of the Fetal Breathing Realm, needing only a catalyst to break through to Qi Refining.

And he had already collected eight wisps of Wither and Flourish Vitality in his Dantian.

Only the last wisp was missing.

He felt somewhat anxious, yet powerless.

During this final year, the spiritual plants in the medicinal garden seemed to have made an agreement; not a single one had withered and died.

Could it be that his luck had run out?