Chapter 47 We've Become Rich

  A middle-aged man who looked around 40 years old said to his companion: "Those two girls were really beautiful, I think Wang Cheng has lived for almost two hundred years and it's still the first time he's seen them. That young man doesn't know what kind of background he has, actually having two such beauties as companions, and they're twins too! If my wife was that beautiful, it would be great!"

  A person who looked about the same age as him also said, "Kid, just forget it, they're probably the children of those big families with a strong background, that's why they dare to bring two girls alone. Besides, what makes you think they would follow you?"

  That person named Wang Cheng also responded with a lack of interest, saying: "Yes, let's just focus on cultivating diligently. Who knows, maybe one day when we reach the stage of merging bodies, we might be able to make something of ourselves." If Gu Yun were here, he would probably be shocked by this person's words. Looking like he was in his 40s, but actually being an old freak who had lived for almost two hundred years. This is just how it is in the cultivation world - you can't tell a person's age from their appearance, and others won't judge you based on your looks either. The only thing that matters is one's strength.

  As soon as he walked out of the Fragrant Pavilion, Gu Yun saw Weng Yuan waiting for him at the door. Seeing him come out, he immediately came forward and said: "Finally waited for you, senior. I thought you had forgotten about this matter long ago."

  Gu Yun smiled and said: "How could that be? I've always needed a lot of herbs, it's just that I've been busy with something lately. How many herbs have you collected now?"

  Weng Yuan saw the two women behind Gu Yun, and at first, he was a bit distracted, but soon recovered. He smiled and nodded at them: "Senior, since hearing that you need to purchase a large quantity of our medicinal herbs, we returned and told some acquaintances about it. They were also delighted. Now, we no longer take our medicinal herbs to those shops, but instead store them up, waiting for your arrival. There's already quite a bit accumulated. I'll take you there now." After finishing speaking, he led Gu Yun forward.

  With Gu Yun limping along, they arrived at the eastern part of Liangping County. Compared to other places, this area looked much worse off, with rows and rows of low-rise buildings that were only a little over ten square meters in size. The only path for people to pass through was a narrow alleyway that was only one meter wide. Compared to the high-rises and broad roads Gu Yun had seen when he first entered the city, this place was like heaven and earth. Seeing Gu Yun's shocked expression, Weng Yuan smiled awkwardly and said, "The people who live here are all like us, making a living by gathering herbs. We don't have the money to live in those big houses. As long as we have a place to rest, that's enough. I'm afraid it's not very impressive for someone of your stature."

  "Come on, come on," Gu Yun laughed and said, "Cultivators shouldn't pursue pleasure to begin with, let alone care about other people's opinions."

  After hearing Gu Yun's words, Weng Yuan, who was walking in front, shook his whole body and turned around to bow to Gu Yun: "Thank you, senior, for pointing out my mistakes. I've been practicing for so many years without making any progress. Today, after listening to your words, I finally understand that I've been living under the gaze of others all these years. No wonder my cultivation has stagnated."

  The old man smiled and said, "Don't be polite, I just expressed my humble opinion. If it can help you make further progress, I'll be very happy."

  Two people were talking, a group of people surrounded them, including several who had been with Wengyuan last time. When they saw Gu Yun, they all ran over to greet him. The two women behind Gu Yun also paused for a moment, but quickly returned to normal. Seeing this, Gu Yun nodded secretly in his heart. Although these people's cultivation was not high, their resistance to the charm of the two women seemed to be quite strong, unlike those people he saw earlier who would make fools of themselves when they saw the two women.

  Taking advantage of the opportunity, others also knew that Gu Yun was the one who asked them to set their own prices and buy their herbs. One by one, they came over to pay their respects and greet him, and Gu Yun returned each greeting. This made these people feel like they were being treated with great courtesy, as people living at the bottom of society rarely received genuine respect from others. Most people looked down on them with disdain in their eyes. But Gu Yun was different; he also came from such a place, so he would never look down on people like this.

  They were surrounded and came to a small square, where they usually exchanged experiences. The square was not large, only about three feet long and wide, with a table in the middle. Gu Yun stood behind the table, and then they each took out their own herbs and placed them on the table in front of Gu Yun, with no more than ten or twenty stalks at most, and as few as three or four. After quoting the prices of these herbs, Gu Yun simply glanced at them and paid according to the prices they had quoted. Because the prices these people had quoted were very reasonable, a hundred-year-old herb for ten lower-grade spirit stones was a great bargain in Gu Yun's eyes. These people also took the spirit stones with joy and walked aside, compared to the prices they used to sell to those shops, Gu Yun's price was exhilarating.

  Finally, a young man in his early twenties walked up to Gu Yun, took out all the medicinal herbs he had and placed them on the table. He looked somewhat embarrassed as he said, "Senior, I was wondering if I could exchange these medicinal herbs for a flying sword? It doesn't have to be a good one, just a magical artifact will do. My flying sword was destroyed last time, and now I don't even have one to use. Do you have any magical artifact-level flying swords, senior?"

  Gu Yun shook his head, looking at the man's disappointed face. "I have some flying swords here, you can choose one yourself." After saying that, he waved his hand and a series of clanging sounds rang out. On the table appeared over a dozen flying swords of various shapes and sizes. These were all collected by Gu Yun, but he had no use for them himself, so they were just stored in his sleeve. If it weren't for this person bringing it up, these flying swords would have remained inside forever. Now that they were taken out, the young man who wanted to exchange flying swords was stunned. Over a dozen flying swords, with the worst being mid-grade treasures and the rest being spiritual instrument grade. These were things he could only gaze at from afar in the past, but now they were laid out before him, allowing him to choose, making him feel like he was dreaming. In Gu Yun's eyes, these flying swords were useless items, but for people who could only use technique instruments, they were undoubtedly good treasures. They hadn't even dared to think that one day they could possess a treasure-grade flying sword. It wasn't that they weren't ambitious, it was just that they had no way of owning them.

  A low-grade, treasure-level flying sword would sell for at least a dozen mid-grade spirit stones. To others, a dozen mid-grade spirit stones might be a small sum of money, but to them, who could barely make ends meet with their annual income, it was an astronomical figure. The herbs they had collected in the past and sold to merchants in the city who specialized in buying medicinal materials could only fetch one low-grade spirit stone for a hundred-year-old spiritual medicine. Their annual income was just over a hundred low-grade spirit stones, and after deducting their daily expenses, they were left with only a few spirit stones.

  But now everything he sees makes Zhao Fan feel like he's in a dream, but the dozen or so flying swords of various styles in front of him make him realize that it's all real, and he'll have a treasure-level flying sword from now on. He lifted his hand, which was trembling slightly with excitement, and slowly stroked the dozen or so flying swords in front of him, then looked at Gu Yun with some uncertainty and said: "Senior, can I really choose one from among them?"

  Gǔ Yún smiled and nodded, the people around him looked at Zhào Fán with eyes full of envy. If only they had known earlier, they would have exchanged their own medicinal materials for a flying sword from this senior. Although Gǔ Yún's purchase price for their herbs was very high, so that even the lowest quality ones could get more than 40 low-grade spirit stones, compared to the flying swords Gǔ Yún took out now, it was still far from enough. Even the worst of the mid-grade treasure-level flying swords, if you wanted to buy one, wouldn't be possible without 50 or 60 mid-grade spirit stones. The crowd looked at Zhào Fán with eager eyes, waiting to see what he would choose.

  Against everyone's expectations, Zhao Fan's hand swept over the flying swords of the spiritual level, but he didn't pick one up. Instead, he chose the worst one among them, a mid-grade treasure-level flying sword. Then, he raised his head and said to Gu Yun, "Senior, I'll choose this one, is that okay?"

  Gu Yun nodded and asked with some curiosity: "Why did you choose this worst one?"

  Zhao Fan said somewhat embarrassedly: "Choosing this one, I've already earned too much, and such a high-grade flying sword I also can't keep safe. If someone sees it, it will still be snatched away."

  After hearing this, Gu Yun was somewhat silent. His parents and master had repeatedly warned him that without the ability to protect himself, he couldn't let others see the treasures on his body. If he lost the treasure, it would be a small loss, but if he also lost his life, it would be a great loss. It seemed that this cultivation world was indeed a place where the weak were preyed upon by the strong. Just as Gu Yun was about to say something, a mocking voice sounded in their ears.

  "Kid, your choice is correct, we won't snatch that trash from you, but everything on this table belongs to us now. Tsk tsk tsk, so many Spirit-grade flying swords! We're getting rich today!"

  Upon hearing this voice, the faces of the people around turned unsightly. Gu Yun looked over and saw a group of more than ten young men in their early twenties, dressed in luxurious attire, walking out from that small alleyway. The one speaking was the slender young man wearing white clothes at the front, who was currently pointing at the dozen or so flying swords on the table. Gu Yun's eyes narrowed slightly; the cultivation levels of this group were not low, with the weakest being at the early stages of the Yuan Ying stage, while the speaker had already reached the later stages.