Chapter 313 Mountains and Seas Meet (Part Six)
Three days later.
Pingze Continent, Abandoned Barrier City.
Abandoned Barrier City is located on the edge of the Pingze Continent. The city has a well-developed water system with crisscrossing rivers. Because it is located at the closest landing point formation between the Ten Directions Islands and the Pingze Continent, it has become very prosperous over the decades and has attracted many cultivators from all over the world.
"Wangyue has fallen apart, and Chenyao has sunk to the bottom of the sea. After the catastrophe, the surviving races have gathered in Pingze." Jiang Xiangyun acted very discreetly, forging an identity for Jiang Gu, making him an ordinary disciple of the Jiang family. Lu Liyu couldn't stay idle and went out to inquire about the news of Yanyu Pavilion, so he took Jiang Gu to a nearby inn to rest.
Currently, various races such as humans, demons, monsters, ghosts, spirits, Rakshasa, and half-immortals live together on the Pingze Continent. The Merfolk in the sea have also established their own clan. It is impossible for so many races to live in harmony. Fortunately, Pingze is a vast region. After the Chaos Core disappeared, spiritual energy has recovered, and each race occupies a place to recuperate. However, no one knows how many years this peace can last.
"The Floating Spring Temple sank to the bottom of the sea and traveled south, probably stopping around here. However, the temple has disappeared now, and finding the ruins will probably not be easy." Jiang Xiangyun looked at Jiang Gu, "Tell me the truth, how much longer can Lu Liyu live?"
"Heavenly secrets cannot be revealed," Jiang Gu said coldly.
Actually, he just felt that the two had a very deep relationship, and if he told the truth, it would probably cause a lot of trouble.
“There’s a spirit beast market nearby, with all sorts of spirit beasts, like snow beasts, golden-tailed cats, and enchanting beasts—” Jiang Xiangyun added when he saw his eyebrows twitch slightly, “or kites, colorful glass fish, and those just for decoration. I’ve also heard they have fish with wings.”
Jiang Gu paused slightly.
Jiang Xiangyun said with a smile, "Since we're on the way, why don't we go take a look?"
The vast marketplace was bustling with activity. Various spirit beasts were either kept in cages or placed in magic arrays. Most of them were unintelligent, and the cultivators selling them assured them that as long as they were fed more spirit stones, they would soon become intelligent. A small number of truly intelligent spirit beasts were placed in magic arrays. These spirit beasts were all quite valuable, but even if you could afford the price, it depended on whether the spirit beasts were willing to accept the offer. If the spirit beasts did not like the offer, the transaction would not be completed, and even the sellers could not force them to recognize a master.
"That's quite unusual," some of the visiting cultivators remarked in amazement.
"You don't know this, do you? This Qizhang City is the territory of the Ning family. The head of the Ning family, Ning Shun, has a strange temper, and he set up these formations..." someone explained.
"The name Ning Shun sounds familiar. I vaguely remember that he seems to be related to the Linglong Sect?" someone asked.
“That’s right. Ning Shun was once the second disciple of Jing Cang, the former sect leader of the Spirit Dragon Sect. Speaking of which, this is related to Jiang Gu.” A cultivator who sells spirit beasts said.
"Is it related to Jiang Gu?" The other party immediately became interested upon hearing this.
Jiang Gu's name is now known to everyone in the cultivation world. Whether it's his poor aptitude, his ruthless cultivation of the ruthless path, his two great battles with Wang Yue and Chen Yao, or even the rumor that he killed his wife to prove his Dao and became the first cultivator to ascend in tens of thousands of years... no matter which part is brought up, it is a topic of great interest.
"This is a long story. Back when Jiang Gu was still in Pingze, he went to Yanghua Sect as an elder—you know Yanghua Sect, right? It's one of the top sects now. At that time, he wasn't very famous and his cultivation was mediocre, but Lu Zhenyi, the chief disciple of Linglong Sect, died at his hands. It was from then on that Ning Shun began to show his face in Linglong Sect. Unfortunately, his good fortune didn't last long. Pingze suffered heavy losses in the Battle of Wangyue. Jing Cang, the sect leader of Linglong Sect, and several patriarchs from the Jiang and Zhou families all perished in this battle. In the end, it was Jiang Gu who killed Xiao Dan's divided spirit with a single sword strike."
With Jing Cang's demise, Ning Shun's life became much harder. He was relegated to a small island to guard the seal. The Jiang family tampered with the seal, and even though Ning Shun discovered the truth, he continued to be suppressed; no one believed him.
"Hey, what happened next?"
"Originally, everyone thought Jiang Gu was dead. His disciple, Wei Feng, had been searching for him for many years, and he actually found him. The two of them became Daoist partners in a grand ceremony, which directly broke the seals of Wang Yue and Chen Yao. Ning Shun finally turned his life around. However, he had long been disappointed with the Linglong Sect, so he simply came to Qizhang City to establish his own sect. Back then, Qizhang City was still a desolate place, not much better than the nearby far south. Who would have thought it would become so prosperous? I think that in the future, there might be a Ning family among the aristocratic families..."
"You're exaggerating a bit. Although Ning Shun is highly talented, he's still far from being comparable to the Jiang, Zhou, and Lin families. No, no."
"That's hard to say. Now that the temples have disappeared, in tens of thousands of years, maybe no one will even believe in divine descent anymore. Look at the young cultivators these days, how many of them know about it..."
The group was still talking about Ning Shun's life. Jiang Gu overheard a bit and accurately picked up on a name from the conversation.
Wei Feng.
Is this the little apprentice Jiang Xiangyun mentioned before?
However, in these people's mouths, Wei Feng is a mad, ruthless, and unscrupulous demon, and Jiang Gu even became a Daoist couple with his disciple, and finally killed his wife to prove his Dao and ascend to immortality...
Jiang Gu frowned; for some reason, he felt a sense of aversion.
However, these stories were quite unfamiliar to him. Whether it was becoming Daoist partners or killing one's wife to prove one's Dao, they all seemed rather inappropriate to him. He had lived on Sunset Island for more than ten years and had always respected his teachers. Although his two masters often quarreled, they were still considered to be loving and affectionate. In his opinion, it was much more normal for Daoist partners to share a body than for a master and disciple to become Daoist partners.
He stopped and stood in front of a cage.
"Young master, would you like to buy a snow beast? They are all very well-behaved. As long as you feed them spirit stones, they are guaranteed to gain intelligence within a year." The cultivator strongly recommended.
Seven or eight little snow beasts huddled together sleeping in the narrow cage. Their snow-white fur was dirty. One of them was particularly thin and weak, curled up in a corner, its belly rising and falling very little.
Seeing his gaze linger, the cultivator laughed and said, "This one was born weak and limp, like it has no bones. I'm afraid it won't live past today. Young master, look over here. They're all strong and easy to raise. I have even better ones here."
He opened the cage, probably thinking that its half-dead state was getting in the way of his business, and picked up the dying little snow beast to throw it away.
"Wait a minute," Jiang Gu suddenly said.
The cultivator's eyes darted around, and he released the snow beast back, smiling as he asked, "Young master, would you like to buy it?"
"How many spirit stones?" Jiang Gu asked.
"Not much, ten thousand mid-grade spirit stones will suffice," the other party said with a smile.
Jiang Gu's expression turned slightly cold: "If I hadn't spoken up, you would have already thrown it away. Just now, you sold a healthy snow beast for only two thousand low-grade spirit stones."
"Young master, you must have misheard. My fine snow beasts cost 20,000 mid-grade spirit stones. If you think it's too expensive, that's fine too. Go and take another look. These weak ones won't live more than a day. While they're still alive, you can extract their core and sell it for a few thousand more spirit stones." Seeing that he was young and dressed in fine clothes, the other party decided to take the risk and raise the price.
Jiang Gu frowned: "You—"
"I bought it." A bright silver wristband flashed before his eyes, a red hem swept by, and a bag of spirit stones landed in the cultivator's hand.
The cultivator's eyes gleamed, and with a beaming smile, he handed the nearly dead snow beast to the other party.
Jiang Gu turned to look at him. It was a boy about the same age as him, dressed in a red robe, lean and neat, with a belt made of shark scales around his waist. He was handsome and clean-cut, with bright black eyes that resembled the snow beast in the cage. His ponytail was tied high with a red ribbon, and silver bells hung from the bottom of his two small braids wrapped with colorful ropes.
Like a cluster of small flames dressed up in fancy colors.
Jiang Gu had no reason to think this.
"Hello, fellow Daoist." The boy, holding the dirty little snow beast, grinned when he saw Jiang Gu looking at him, revealing two sharp little tiger teeth.
Jiang Gu's heart suddenly skipped a beat, and he frowned slightly.
The boy was a little strange. Just by looking at the other person, he felt a surge of joy from the bottom of his heart and a strong desire to get closer to him. This was a feeling he had never experienced before.
Jiang Gu instinctively became alert.
"I've seen you standing here for quite a while, so you must really like this little snow beast." The boy in red stroked the snow beast's ear. "If you do me a favor, I'll give it to you, okay?"
Jiang Gu became even more wary. He naturally didn't trust the other party, but the little snow beast struggled to open its eyes in his arms. It looked at Jiang Gu and cried out with all its might, then its erect ears drooped weakly again. The red-clothed boy touched its ears regretfully: "It seems to be really about to die."
"What kind of help?" Consultant Jiang asked.
The other person's eyes lit up, and he took out a jet-black ring, saying, "I'm looking for a Divine Kite Shark. I want to use the Divine Kite Shark scale from its heart to forge a longsword for my master. However, I'm naturally afraid of fish, and the Divine Kite Shark is hiding in the Jiang family's territory. Judging from your attire, you should be a disciple of the Jiang family. I just want to ask you to help me find out its exact location. You don't need to lift a finger, is that alright?"
The little snow beast in his arms had its tail drooping.
Jiang Gu glanced at him and said, "Okay."
The red-clad youth smiled and handed the little snow beast to Jiang Gu. The moment Jiang Gu took it, he transferred his spiritual power to it. The little snow beast sobbed silently, and a tear rolled down its cheek.
Jiang Gu lowered his eyes and patted its head.
A dark glint flashed in the eyes of the boy opposite him. Just as he was about to touch it a second time, the boy grabbed his wrist and placed a ring in his palm.
Jiang Gu was stunned. The other party's cultivation level was higher than his, and he didn't react for a moment.
"This is half a life ring of that divine kite shark scale. Thank you for your trouble." The red-clad youth gently squeezed his wrist.
This was a bit too intimate, and Jiang Gu felt a little displeased. However, the other person let go of his hand first, and when he looked up, the boy had already disappeared.
"Jiang Gu." Jiang Xiangyun squeezed through the crowd and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw him. "You really scared me to death. I thought I had lost you. I was about to use my divine sense to find you."
"Sorry, I've gone a bit too far." Jiang Gu looked up at him.
The boy held the dirty little snow beast like a precious treasure, looked up at him, and his indifferent expression was mixed with a bit of awkward apology. Jiang Xiangyun smiled and said, "It's okay, Seventh Brother, feel free to browse. I'll buy you whatever you like."
He raised his hand, revealing several shimmering little fish in a transparent bottle, and said, "I see you've been raising fish on Sunset Island. Once we get to the Jiang family, I'll have someone dig a beautiful pond in your animal park."
"A zoo?" Jiang Gu asked, puzzled.
"This is the place you used to live in. There are many more spirit beasts there than here, all of them plump and white..." Jiang Xiangyun led him outside, vividly describing the various furry spirit beasts in the beast garden to him. Seeing that he was listening intently, he wished he could take him back right now.
In the crowd, Wei Feng stared at Jiang Gu, who looked like a young boy, and slowly narrowed his eyes.
Once he descended to the mortal realm, finding Jiang Gu became much easier, especially since their hearts were connected and Jiang Gu had his ghost mark on his lower back. However, he immediately noticed something was wrong—his master had not yet regained his memories.
Moreover, Jiang Gu probably had a very smooth life in this life. Although he was cold-hearted, he was not very ruthless. Even a peddler who didn't know his place could "bully" him. He also made no attempt to hide his love for that little snow beast. Even Wei Feng could tell that he was short of money...
Wei Feng originally planned to follow Jiang Gu secretly and then find a way to help him regain his memory. However, his master, who looked like a young boy, was just too cute. Jiang Xiangyun, that useless guy, went to buy fish and left him here. He couldn't help but buy the little snow beast and made up a reason on the spot—that the ring was made by him according to his memory and could be sensed by him at any time.
As for the snow beast, Wei Feng has now forcibly descended to the mortal realm, and has seen more than he has seen. This is the Chi Xue that Jiang Gu raised in his previous life, whose core was removed by Zhou Huaiming. Because it died tragically after having its bones removed and core removed, it is also particularly weak after reincarnation.
However, upon closer examination, when he failed to ascend, his remains were hidden at the bottom of the sea by Yao Yan. Later, he was reborn, and the remaining remains absorbed some of Yao Yan's immortal spirit, giving rise to his own soul, which transformed into a snow beast. It traveled thousands of miles to find Jiang Gu and recognize him as its master. Because it was infused with Yao Yan's immortal spirit, its nature was somewhat similar. Since it was transformed from his remains, it's no wonder that Jiang Gu felt their origins were similar.
Unexpectedly, after being reincarnated, this little beast came knocking again.
Jiang Gu was only wary of him, but he couldn't take his eyes off Chi Xue. Unfortunately, he couldn't be jealous in a serious way. Chi Xue was formed from his own bones, so it would be strange if Jiang Gu didn't like her.
Wei Feng stared at Jiang Gu's retreating figure with a hint of resentment, a smirk playing on his lips.
Jiang Gu felt a chill run down his spine. He turned around to look back, but saw nothing.
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