Chapter 44 Settling In

  "This is a residential area where some ordinary disciples of our Tianbao Fortress live. Generally, those who reach the Refining Qi stage can leave from here and enter the inner fortress to become true disciples of the castle..." Old Man Guo led Zhang Heng to a dilapidated house and explained to him.

  "Is this where you live?" Zhang Heng looked around the wooden house that could be blown down by a gust of wind, his eyes filled with some doubt.

  Guo Lao Tou sighed: "We, the lower-class people of Dugu's Fortress, cannot freely enter or leave the fortress. Even if we manage to get out of the fortress, it is impossible for us to leave this treacherous cliff mountain. Moreover, the supplies within the fortress are not something that ordinary people like us can enjoy, unless one of us reaches the Qi Refining stage."

  The solitary sky fortress is located on a cliff that is six or seven thousand meters high, and the surrounding peaks are all deep abysses. As for the cultivators in the Qi Refining stage, they cannot yet control flying artifacts, so they can only stay honestly inside the castle.

  Zhang Heng didn't say much either and followed Old Man Guo into this dilapidated wooden hut.

  After wandering around the house, Zhang Heng finally spoke to the old man: "I've already taken your grandson in, but I don't have time to teach him right now. So for now, he'll just stay here, and when I have time later, I'll come back to take him away."

  Old Guo's body shook, his expression changed several times, and he suddenly pulled his grandson to kneel down in front of Zhang Heng: "This Taoist friend, you can't go back on your word! Our Guo family has been rooted in this castle for dozens of generations before meeting someone as kind as you. Please, I beg of you, keep your promise and bring my only grandson into the immortal path. If you agree, even if it means I have to be a cow or a horse, it's all right."

  The little boy next to him, Guo Feng's bright eyes also had a few points of expectation and begging, the two Guos looked pitifully at Zhang Heng, afraid that this cultivator would leave.

  Zhang Heng took a slight breath and said sincerely, "You can rest assured, Tang has already made the Heart Demon's Oath, how could he go back on his word? I have some elixirs here, leave them for this Sunzi to take."

  Having said that, Zhang Heng took out a dozen or so bottles of elixirs from his storage bag. Most of these elixirs were used by Qi Refining stage cultivators and were enough for several ordinary Qi Refining stage cultivators to cultivate to the Foundation Building stage.

  But Guo Feng is a waste of spiritual roots, and even if he takes all these elixirs, it's still far from reaching the Qi Refining stage.

  The Guo family's grandfather and grandson saw these medicinal pills, their eyes lit up at the same time, and they hurriedly took over the medicinal pills, thanking Zhang Heng repeatedly.

  Zhang Heng didn't bother with pleasantries either, he understood that these elixirs weren't particularly precious to an inner sect disciple like himself, especially when he had a Nascent Soul stage ancestor backing him up.

  But for ordinary cultivators or mortals, these elixirs are simply unattainable in a lifetime.

  Zhao Rui, who was standing beside them, felt sympathetic towards the grandfather and grandson, and took out a pile of spiritual medicine and several pieces of equipment from his storage bag, giving them to the pair in one go, being even more generous than Zhang Heng, their actual master.

  Zhang Heng said to them: "These things must never be exposed in front of others, otherwise they will definitely bring you deadly disaster."

  "Rest assured, fellow Taoist," said Old Guo, nodding repeatedly. "I understand this principle."

  Zhang Heng also felt that he had underestimated the intelligence of these people, this old man was already in his seventies or eighties, and his dealings with others were definitely more cunning and experienced than his own.

  After giving the elixir, Zhang Heng took out a jade tube from his storage bag and said to Old Man Guo: "There is a complete set of basic exercises in here that can be cultivated until the foundation period, so I'll give it to this disciple."

  This basic skill is for internal disciples of Feng Xing Men to practice. The sect rules that this skill cannot be passed on externally, otherwise it will be dealt with by the sect's rules.

  However, Zhang Heng completely ignored the existence of this rule and had no intention of staying in Feng Xing Gate for a long time. Moreover, the basic skills of those small sects were basically the same, and it was possible to shamelessly name a new skill by simply changing its name.

  Guo Lao Tou's hands trembled slightly as he took the jade cylinder, his heart racing with excitement, never expecting to obtain a complete set of skills so easily.

  Like a spiritual medicine, a complete set of gongfa is also something that ordinary loose cultivators dream of.

  This old man Guo himself relied on a set of incomplete skills to cultivate until now, the Qi-inducing period, which took dozens of years, and the efficiency is imaginable. Now that he can get a complete basic skill, it's naturally cherished.

  Zhang Heng once again instructed the two on how to take the spiritual medicine and what to pay attention to when practicing this set of skills, before bidding farewell to the pair.

  "It will be a year or two at the earliest, and ten years at the latest. I will come back to this place to fulfill my promise." Finally, Zhang Heng also took out a token representing Fang Yunshan's inner disciple identity and gave it to the old man: "With this token, those scattered cultivators will definitely not dare to bully you."

  After finishing all this, Zhang Heng took Zhao Rui, who was following behind him, and left.

  "Master, Feng'er will wait for you here..."

  As he walked out of the alley, Zhang Heng could still faintly hear Guo Feng's childish voice.

  He couldn't help but let out a silent sigh, thinking that there probably wasn't anyone more irresponsible than his own master in the world. Zhang Heng sneered at himself.

  If it weren't for this array disc, in order to increase the capital to contend with Ouyang Old Ancestor, Zhang Heng wouldn't necessarily go and take in such a useless Ling Gen as his disciple.

  After leaving this old and dilapidated residential area, Zhang Heng suddenly remembered the original intention of coming to Dutiang Fortress.

  Before long, the two of them arrived at the bustling street where they had met Luo Ningxue not long ago.

  "Tang Shixiong, do you want to buy something?" Zhao Rui blinked his eyes and seemed to have become Zhang Heng's younger brother, following him closely.

  Zhang Heng furrowed his brow and said to Zhao Rui, "I came here naturally to buy some props, could it be that you, my junior brother, are here to watch the excitement?"

  Zhao Rui said innocently: "I was just here to watch the excitement... Last time with my senior fellow apprentice, I didn't get enough of it."

  Zhang Heng was completely speechless towards this guy, and had only followed him here just to join in on the excitement.

  "Zhao Shidi, I still have some private matters to attend to here, so I won't be able to accompany you to watch the excitement. Why don't we just part ways for now? After all, there will be plenty of time in the future when we're on the mountain."

  Zhang Heng smiled and said to his younger brother, as if coaxing a child who wouldn't stop talking.

  Zhao Rui felt that Zhang Heng's smile was a bit strange, and curiously asked: "Tang Shixiong, you're not thinking of driving me away to go on a date with some junior sister, are you?"

  Zhang Heng's smile froze, and he let out a light sigh, with a helpless expression saying: "Big Brother, I really have some things to take care of, can't accompany you, bye."

  Zhang Heng waved his hand and said "bye bye" before quickly walking away.

  Zhao Rui was taken aback for a moment, then suddenly shouted: "Hey! Tang Shixiong, what does 'bye-bye' mean?"

  Zhang Heng almost fell as he walked into the crowd, quickly circulating the Lianyuan spiritual energy inside his body, turning himself into a virtual shadow and disappearing in the vast sea of people.

  Zhao Rui saw Zhang Heng suddenly disappear into the crowd, so he could only walk on the street with great depression. At this time, he suddenly saw a senior fellow apprentice and immediately rushed forward excitedly: "Luo Shixiong, I met you here, why don't we walk together?"

  Nalo Shixiong's face changed greatly as soon as he saw the newcomer, Zhao Rui. He looked like he had seen a plague god and immediately ran away with oily feet, disappearing in an instant.

  "Alas, why does everyone have to avoid me?" Zhao Rui walked alone on the road, yawning and leaving Dutiang Fortress in boredom.

  In a corner of the solitary castle, Zhang Heng's figure suddenly appeared on the street, watching Zhao Rui leave the castle alone, and let out a long sigh: "Finally got rid of this guy."

  At this time, Zhao Rui, who had just left Dutiange, suddenly spoke to himself: "I seem to have forgotten something?"

  After a moment of contemplation, he suddenly remembered something and exclaimed: "Right! This Tang brother still owes me four crystal stones!"

  (Chapter 1 is done, um, today is Sunday, there are events to do in the game, Chapter 2 will be available before 9 pm tonight.)