Translator: AnubisTL
"Gu Feng, I'm telling you very seriously now, this world holds many secrets. Even if you attain the Dao and become an emperor, you may not be invincible. There are plenty of emperors who have been killed..."
"In the outer sect of the Sunset Glow Sect, with Elder Liu protecting you, as long as you don't make any fundamental mistakes, he won't do anything to you! I won't either, even though you've caused me so much trouble, I'll still be sincere and never betray you."
"My current strength is so weak, you must be extremely cautious when acting outside. To reach the pinnacle of martial arts, besides having exceptional talent, the most important thing is to live long enough..."
"Take that little girl just now, for example. She gave me the impression that she might even surpass your ex, Qu Yanran. You swindled her Spirit Stones, and she must have noticed, but she was in a good mood and didn't do anything to you because you're just a Postnatal Realm weakling!"
"If she had acted, given my current state, even if I used some heaven-defying secret technique, I wouldn't have been able to escape."
"This time it was luck, but if you keep acting recklessly and swindling people, you'll eventually taste the bitter consequences..."
"..."
Ever since parting ways with the little loli, Zhu Qingyan had been incessantly chattering in Gu Feng's mind.
"Is she really that strong?"
"Believe it or not, just don't pull these swindling tricks anymore. Can't we just earn money honestly?" Zhu Qingyan said with a grave tone.
"Fine, we'll earn money honestly!" Gu Feng dug his ear with his pinky, sounding impatient.
"How much for these Thunder Light Stones?"
"Twenty thousand Spirit Stones? Fine, I'll take them!"
"Is this piece of Thunder Wilt Wood authentic? Give me a discount, and I'll buy it!"
"..."
With three million Spirit Stones of unexpected wealth, Gu Feng swept through the stalls. For the first time in his life, he spent money buying items for others.
"Senior Zhu, how does it feel after devouring these Thunder-attributed treasures worth two million Spirit Stones?"
Ha~~~
Hearing Zhu Qingyan's contented voice in his ear, Gu Feng's lips curled slightly. Finally, he had managed to shut her up.
"Gu Feng?"
"Yeah?"
"Some of the things I said earlier, upon reflection, seem a bit off."
"Which things?"
"Cultivators defy the heavens in their cultivation, fighting against people and the heavens. We can't hesitate and waste opportunities just to preserve our lives!"
"So what?" Gu Feng asked, puzzled.
"From now on, let's cooperate. I'll handle the counterfeiting, and you'll handle the sales. There are too many rich fools in this world, and someone has to do the swindling—why not us?
The fakes I handle can absolutely pass as real. Even cultivators two major realms above won't be able to tell the difference until they actually use them...
I'm particularly skilled at forging fake Dao patterns. Any weapon can have dozens of fake Dao patterns added, increasing its price several times or even dozens of times. I'm also good at..." Zhu Qingyan spoke rapidly, her words firing like a machine gun. As she spoke, a few drops of crystalline liquid formed at the base of the Thunder Spirit Grass's three leaves.
This was the equivalent of spitting while talking.
Gu Feng's lips twitched, his mind in chaos.
It hadn't even been the time it takes to burn an incense stick, yet here she was, spouting completely opposite advice. It felt surreal to Gu Feng.
"You handle the fakes, I handle the sales—my risk is pretty high!" Gu Feng said, somewhat tempted.
"Counterfeiting is a technical skill, and you don't have the expertise. You'll have to take the risk as an investor. We'll split the profits fifty-fifty. The margins are huge!" Zhu Qingyan tempted him. "But let's be clear, when I say fifty-fifty, I mean an equal split, not the way you swindled that fool A Fei. Otherwise, I'll lose it."
"Senior Zhu, aren't you afraid of running into someone like that little loli again?"
"Worst case, I'll just perish!"
"You say that so casually. I'm the one who'll definitely perish, but they might not kill a Spirit Grass. Sixty-forty, I take sixty, you take forty. Otherwise, no deal."
"Fine, it's settled. Hand me an ordinary weapon first, I'll practice!" The two leaves of the Thunder Spirit Grass rubbed together as Zhu Qingyan eagerly prepared.
...
In the evening, after returning from the Northwatch City's government office, Chu Youhuan gathered everyone in a quiet, open area in the northern part of the city.
Over eight hundred people gathered together, holding torches, eating the distributed rations—two Spirit Rice cakes and a palm-sized piece of roasted meat.
"Anyone who wants more, come and get it! There's still some here!" one of Chu Youhuan's assistants called out in a crisp voice.
"Boss Gu, isn't Senior Sister Chu being a bit stingy? Two rice cakes and a piece of meat, and that's it?" Guo Renkai complained in a low voice to Gu Feng.
"Yeah, this isn't even enough to fill the gaps in my teeth. And she says there's more? I don't see much left, and it wouldn't even be enough for me alone!" A Fei chimed in, his voice muffled.
"Boss Gu, this isn't working. You should talk to Senior Sister Chu and ask her to increase the rations. Elder Liu gave her a lot of Spirit Stones before we left. Could she be embezzling them?" Wu Qi whispered as he moved closer.
Gu Feng glanced at them. "If you want to say something, go say it yourselves. I'm not going."
"Come on, you're on good terms with Senior Sister Chu. She won't scold you, but if we bring it up, we'll definitely get yelled at!" Chao Yuan nudged Gu Feng, smiling.
"Do you have any complaints? If you have something to say, don't whisper—say it out loud!" Chu Youhuan's gaze swept over, and Wu Qi and the others immediately scattered.
"Boss Gu said the food isn't enough and suspects you're embezzling!" A Fei added fuel to the fire.
Gu Feng rolled his eyes, feeling the urge to smack the guy. Usually, A Fei seemed slow-witted, but at critical moments, he was sharp as a tack. Clearly, it was A Fei who had the issue, but he was pinning it on Gu Feng.
Seeing everyone's eyes on him, Gu Feng reluctantly stood up.
"Senior Sister Chu, we're all cultivators. Part of our energy comes from food. Two Spirit Rice cakes and a piece of roasted meat probably aren't enough to fill us up."
"You've always wanted to be the captain, right? I'll hand the position over to you. Two Spirit Rice cakes and a piece of roasted meat—that's the standard military ration. Each portion costs fifty Spirit Stones. Three meals a day for over eight hundred people means we're spending one hundred and thirty thousand Spirit Stones daily. I can't afford it anymore!" Chu Youhuan spread her hands, looking helpless.
Hiss—
Gu Feng sucked in a cold breath, his neck shrinking. Spending one hundred and thirty thousand Spirit Stones daily, four million a month, and everyone's still hungry? What kind of situation is this?
If they were to feed and provide cultivation resources for these eight hundred people properly, the expenses would be astronomical.
"We're here to support the border, and the government isn't even covering our food expenses?" Gu Feng asked, stunned.
"What do you think? This is a pilot project, meant to set an example so that the sects of the Great Chu Dynasty will actively assist in defending the border during national wars!
For this, the government has allocated us a specific area to guard independently, mainly targeting smugglers crossing the border between the Great Chu and the Great Li Dynasties...
We're responsible for our own profits and losses!" Chu Youhuan said with a shrug.
"Being customs officers in a fantasy world? That's interesting! There must be some good profits in this!"
Thinking this, Gu Feng's heart stirred. "Senior Sister Chu, are you serious about this?"
"You really want to be the captain?" Chu Youhuan smiled, her emotions somewhat excited. "When we left the sect, Elder Liu gave me a budget, but it's all used up. Along the way, I even had to chip in an extra five hundred thousand Spirit Stones. If you become the captain, you'll have to repay me that five hundred thousand!"
"Deal. The five hundred thousand you owe me is now canceled!" Gu Feng grinned.
"Hand over the captain's token!"
"Here, take it. And here's the official identification I processed today—take it all!" Chu Youhuan handed over a token and a stack of documents, as if they were hot potatoes, eager to pass them to Gu Feng.
"Come on, everyone, greet your new captain!" Afraid that Gu Feng might change his mind, Chu Youhuan quickly pulled everyone together to bow to Gu Feng.
"Captain!"
The four hundred or so passionate cultivators recruited from the Cloud Prefecture's government office were dumbfounded as they followed Chu Youhuan's lead, shouting "Captain!" to Gu Feng.
They hadn't even reached the garrison yet, and the captain had already changed hands. Was this some kind of game? How absurd!
The new captain was only at the first level of the Postnatal Realm, weaker than half the people present. Being led by him, they might as well prepare for total annihilation!
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