Chapter 005 Unmarried Wife

  Leshui City is located in the far east of Daying Dynasty, and after leaving the city, it is the endless Eastern Wasteland. Often, cultivators enter the Eastern Wasteland to hunt and kill demons, obtain demon pills, or pick rare flowers and fruits.

  Thus, although Leishui City is far from the imperial capital, it is also quite prosperous, a small city with over a million people, where cultivators make up a large proportion of the population, and the Cultivation Street Market is very lively.

  Leshui City has three major Xiu Zhen families: Gu, Yun and Liu.

  The three major Xiu Zhen families control the Xiu Zhen resources of Le Shui City, and the ordinary people in the city rely on the three major Xiu Zhen families for survival. After many years of development, the three families have clearly divided their spheres of influence.

  The ancient family is located in the East City and is in charge of the business of minerals and talismans.

  Yun's family is located in Nancheng and is in charge of the business of herbs and spiritual medicine.

  The Liu family is located in Beicheng and is in charge of various legal instrument businesses.

  Xicheng is the fourth major force in Leshui City, the official government of Daying Dynasty. Although the actual power of the government may not be as strong as that of the three major Xiu Zhen families, it represents the imperial court and is the strongest Xiu Xian group in the entire Daying Dynasty. Not to mention the three major Xiu Zhen families in Leshui City, even those ancient Xiu Xian sects with a history of over a thousand years would risk being annihilated if they were to oppose the imperial court.

  The Imperial Court is the largest Xianmen force in Dayu Dynasty.

  Gu Chen had to buy spiritual medicine, so he naturally went to the Yun family's territory in Nancheng. All loose cultivators who entered the Eastern Wastes to pick spiritual medicine or hunt for demon dan had to sell them in Lesui City and pay a 10% tax to the Yun family.

  This is the rule established by the three major families after countless years of struggle, and it is also a rule recognized by the government. Whoever dares to violate it will be subject to double punishment from both the three major Xiu Zhen families and the government.

  Similarly, if it is to sell various exercise equipment materials, minerals, and talismans, one must go to the market of the ancient Dongcheng family and pay a tax of 10% to the Dong family. If selling various finished magical instruments and weapons, one must go to the territory of the Beicheng Liu family and pay a tax of 10% to the Liu family.

  The three major Xiu Zhen families submit a certain amount of Ling Shi and Huang Quan to the government every year, while the four major forces join hands with each other, but also restrict each other, maintaining the social development of Le Shui City.

  In the south city, there are also old family businesses, but they have to pay a tenth of their taxes to the Yun family. If the Yun family wants to sell ore, they must go to the east city to sell it.

  The three city districts of Le Shui City, namely the East, South and North districts, each specialize in selling different types of spiritual goods. This has made the market of Le Shui City even more prosperous, with many spiritual practitioners from other places willing to bring their goods to Le Shui City for sale, due to its unified market and standardized structure.

  The spiritual grass that Gu Chen needs to buy is still Ice Dream Grass, Imperial Blood Grass, and Snow Lotus. The only requirement is that the year must be over 100 years old. These three spiritual grasses can make a spiritual medicine that allows Gu Chen to enter the Pre-Heavenly Realm at all times. It's just that different levels require spiritual grass of different ages.

  The Hou Tian boundary is divided into nine levels. Levels 1, 2, and 3 belong to the initial stage, which requires spiritual grass of over 50 years. Levels 4, 5, and 6 belong to the middle stage, requiring spiritual grass of over 100 years. Levels 7, 8, and 9 are the later stages, requiring spiritual grass of over 150 years.

  Gu Chen quickly bought the spiritual grass he needed, as the market prices here were uniform and there was no difference in price. Although Gu Chen was only ten years old, he had 500 years of life experience and was a Dan medicine master, so it was impossible for him to be deceived by anyone.

  He then bought all the medicinal herbs needed for the practice, almost depleting Gu Chen's entire savings. Although the prices of the medicinal herbs were relatively cheap, those that were over 100 years old, such as Ice Dream Grass, Imperial Blood Grass, and Snow Lotus, were not inexpensive. As a grandson with a low status in the ancient family, Gu Chen still had a considerable amount of pocket money due to his reputation as the clan leader's grandson. He barely managed to buy all the spiritual grasses he needed, but as for what would happen if he needed more spiritual grasses in the future, that was something to worry about later.

  Standing on the street, watching the flow of people coming and going, Gu Chen couldn't help but sigh. It's not easy for life to come again, so this life must be cherished, never let it pass in vain, until the end of one's days, walking alone towards the Yellow Springs Road.

  Gu Chen was feeling the passion of life, his mind wandering, when suddenly a gentle breeze blew over from behind, followed by someone bumping into his back. Gu Chen felt secretly ashamed - with that gentle breeze blowing over, he should have been able to avoid it, but because his mind was elsewhere, his vigilance had actually dropped to this extent.

  "What are you doing, standing in the middle of the road and blocking other people's way? Haven't you heard that a good dog doesn't block the road?" A young man's angry voice came from behind him, and it seemed that he had bumped into someone just now, which made him very unhappy.

  "You think you're above everyone else, don't you? Daring to offend my young master..."

  "How dare you be disrespectful to our young master...!"

  ……

  A group of family slaves' voices echoed after the young man's voice.

  Gu Chen turned around, and a young man about his age caught his eye. As Gu Chen had expected, among the arrogant young masters in Nancheng, there was no one else but Yun Chao, the youngest son of the Yun family's patriarch.

  However, Gu Chen's gaze did not stay on Yun Chao's face, but fell on a beautiful girl beside Yun Chao, with a look of surprise in his eyes.

  The girl looked extremely similar to Yun Chao, and Gu Chen's memories of her quickly appeared in his mind as he gazed at her.

  Her name is Yunxue, the youngest daughter of Yun Jiaolong's family, and she is a dragon and phoenix twin with Yun Chao. She was born in the same womb as Yun Chao and is one year older than Gu Chen. She is very beautiful and is known as one of the "Leshui Twins" along with Gu Yan from the Gu family.

  Of course, these are not important. What's important is that she has an identity with Gu Chen and a major relationship, which can also be considered one of Gu Chen's youthful shames.

  Yunxue's grandfather Yun Xian and Gu Xian were sworn brothers, and when Gu Chen was born, he had already arranged a marriage between him and Yunxue. However, Yun Xian did not live as long as Gu Xian, and passed away when Gu Chen was only five years old. The head of the Yun family was then succeeded by Yunxue's father, Yun Jinghong.

  The beautiful girl in front of him was Gu Chen's fiancée.

  Gu Chen confirmed in her heart, at the age of ten, Yunxue was indeed still her fiancée.

  Yun Jinghong and Gu Cangyue were of the same age, with a very good relationship. In the year when Gu Chen was 12 years old, Gu Cangyue defeated all competitors at the Patriarch's Succession Conference and became the patriarch of the Gu family. At the celebration banquet for the new patriarch, Yun Jinghong brought Yun Xue to congratulate Gu Cangyue. In front of all the guests, he dissolved the engagement between Gu Chen and Yun Xue, and instead betrothed Yun Xue to Gu Cangyue's youngest son, Gu Song.

  Because of this matter, Gu Chen's father, Gu Cangqiong, was so angry that he spat out blood on the spot and almost died.

  These things, although they had been sealed in Gu Chen's mind for a long time, now that he saw Yunxue again, these memories surged and churned in his mind once more.

  This was the first shame of his life.

  "I was wondering who's stupid enough to stand on the street, turns out it's you, Gu Chen, you piece of trash."

  Yun Chao burst out laughing, his eyes full of disdain. Seeing Gu Chen not even glance at himself, but instead stare at Yun Xue, his tone turned angry: "What are you looking at? Good-for-nothing, be careful or I'll dig your eyeballs out."

  Gu Chen recovered from his memories, feeling a lot of emotions in his heart. He just smiled slightly: "What a coincidence, Yun Chao, Yun Xue."

  In his past life, Gu's family was annihilated when he was 13 years old. Yun Xue naturally did not marry Gu Song. After Gu Chen escaped from Le Shui City, he never saw her again. When he returned to Le Shui City more than a hundred years later after reaching the Mingquan realm, his enemies who had annihilated his family were already dead, and the Yun family had also passed down for several generations.

  Calling off the engagement was Yun Xue's decision, and it couldn't be blamed on Yun Xue. However, Gu Chen didn't have a good impression of her either.

  Although Gu Chen and Yun Xue were engaged by their two old men, the two did not know each other well, and they met only a few times. On the contrary, because Yun Jinghong was very close to Gu Cangyue, he got along more closely with Gu Cangyue's youngest son, Gu Song.

  In his past life, Gu Chen's strength was weak and he only reached the second layer of Houtian at the age of 10. On the other hand, Gu Song was a genius disciple of the Gu family and had already reached the sixth layer of Houtian at the age of 12, making him a key target for cultivation in the Gu family.

  In her heart, she must have also chosen Gusong's.

  Yun Xue nodded slightly at Gu Chen, with a hint of disappointment on her face.

  Yun Chao was still staring at Gu Chen with anger in his eyes.

  After a moment of silence, Gu Chen realized that he had nothing to say to them. The 500-year-old life had long since made the marriage contract from his youth disappear like smoke in the wind. To him, the two people before him were completely unrelated individuals. The only thing that still felt somewhat unsmooth in his heart was the memory of when he was twelve years old, at the Gu family's grand celebration, his father had been so angry about Yun Jinghong's public rejection of their engagement that he had spat up blood.

  In this life, such a thing will never happen again, Gu Chen made up his mind.

  The two nodded at each other, and Gu Chen turned his head and walked towards the east city. Since there was nothing to say, it was not necessary to say more.

  Yun Chao and Yun Xue were somewhat unexpectedly surprised when Gu Chen turned around and left, but they didn't say much either. After all, there was only a written agreement between them, without any emotional connection.

  The elixir made from the purchased spiritual grass, combined with daily intense training of the Golden Fist, is enough to raise his cultivation to the fourth layer of the Post-Heaven. What Gu Chen wants to do most now is to increase his strength and resolve the family's troubles before going to the Lingxu Mountain Tianyuan Peak Xuantian Sect to see his long-missed Master and Senior Sister.

  ................................

  New book seeking support, please collect and vote for recommendation.