Chapter 81 Gu Yue Village

“I am Gu Yue Qing Shu of the Gu Yue Clan. Greetings, esteemed guests.”

Gu Yue Qing Shu?

Lin Feng, who had already withdrawn his Bone Wing Gu and was lying lazily atop a Black-Skinned Fat Beetle, seemingly asleep, opened his eyes and glanced toward the young man speaking with Jia Fu in the distance.

He remembered Gu Yue Qing Shu well enough. The man was talented and possessed an admirable temperament, but in Lin Feng’s eyes, his greatest virtue was also the very thing that restricted his future. He placed the interests of his clan above himself in everything, remaining loyal to the Gu Yue Clan even at the cost of his own life.

Just as The Legends of Ren Zu spoke of loyalty and betrayal, loyalty toward others could become a betrayal of oneself, while betraying others could sometimes mean remaining loyal to oneself.

A person who cared only about the greater good while completely abandoning his own interests would eventually imprison himself within the very principles he upheld. No matter how talented such a person was, there would always be a limit to how far he could go.

After observing Gu Yue Qing Shu for a few moments, Lin Feng lost interest and closed his eyes again.

____

Gu Yue Village Academy.

“Damn it, I lost again! Why can’t I even last ten rounds against Brother?”

On the training ground, Fang Zheng punched the tree beside him in frustration. His fist immediately became red and swollen, yet the thick trunk did not move in the slightest.

Just an hour earlier, Fang Yuan had robbed him again.

Of course, Fang Zheng had not received any special treatment. Every student in their class had been robbed as well. Even his own younger brother was not spared. Such impartial treatment truly embodied great love toward all equally.

Ever since his rebirth, Fang Yuan had been desperately short of primeval stones, so he eventually turned his attention toward his fellow academy students.

The academy distributed three primeval stones to every student each week. For young Gu Masters who had only recently begun cultivating, this allowance helped them feed and refine Gu while supporting their daily cultivation. Fang Yuan naturally saw an opportunity.

Thus, without spending a single primeval stone of his own, he started his first business in the academy: openly blocking his classmates and demanding that each of them hand over a primeval stone.

Naturally, the students refused. Fang Yuan possessed only C-grade aptitude, so why should they allow someone they considered mediocre to arrogantly take their cultivation resources?

Fang Yuan’s response was equally simple.”Still unwilling to accept it?”

Several minutes later, punches and kicks had left students sprawled across the ground. Fang Yuan showed no restraint simply because they were classmates, and several particularly stubborn students even received vicious kicks between the legs. Faced with overwhelming violence, the remaining students could only swallow their anger and hand over their primeval stones.

If Lin Feng were here, he would probably have called this primitive accumulation of capital: a business requiring no starting investment, where the capital came entirely from other people’s pockets.

Fang Yuan himself naturally had a more reasonable explanation. His classmates were still young and did not properly understand the value of primeval stones, so as their senior in two lifetimes, he was merely helping them manage their wealth.

The academy elder also tacitly allowed Fang Yuan’s behavior. The Gu Master world had always followed the law of the strong. Rather than protecting the students from every hardship, it was better to let them experience cruelty while they were still safely inside the clan.

“Fang Zheng? Why are you still training here at this hour?”

Hearing someone call his name, Fang Zheng turned around and saw a short-haired girl approaching. He stared at her for a moment before finally remembering that she was one of his classmates, Gu Yue Jin Zhu.

Jin Zhu laughed when she saw his confused expression. “Everyone calls you an A-grade genius and the future hope of the Gu Yue Clan, yet your memory is this bad? Did you forget what the academy elder told us? The annual merchant caravan has arrived.”

“Ah?” Fang Zheng scratched his head awkwardly. He had indeed forgotten about it completely.

“Want to come with us?” Jin Zhu asked, extending her hand toward him.

Compared with Gu Yue Fang Yuan, whose cold and distant personality made him difficult to approach, Fang Zheng was much simpler and easier to understand. Jin Zhu found this side of him rather interesting.

“O-Okay!” Fang Zheng’s face immediately turned red. In the past, girls his age had always gathered around Fang Yuan, attracted by his reputation as a genius, while Fang Yuan himself ignored them and seemed unwilling to waste even a moment of his time on such things. Fang Zheng had once privately wondered whether there was something strange about his brother for being so completely uninterested in girls.

Now their positions had finally reversed. For once, a girl had taken the initiative to invite Fang Zheng instead.

By this time, Jia Fu had already finished discussing the necessary arrangements with the Gu Yue clan leader. The Toad Caravan entered the designated area of Gu Yue Village and began setting up camp in an orderly manner.

Many Gu Masters in the caravan had no intention of spending their nights inside tents. Those with money had already sent servants ahead to the village’s inns and bamboo houses to arrange accommodation, while others headed straight toward the entertainment establishments to enjoy themselves after the long journey.

The arrival of the caravan also brought the usually quiet Gu Yue Village to life. Shopkeepers eagerly brought out the goods they had accumulated throughout the year, including Green Bamboo Wine, Crescent Moon Wine, mooncakes, moonflower cakes, and various other local specialties. Many of these goods were difficult to find outside Qing Mao Mountain, making them especially popular among traveling merchants.

Even the normally quiet inns and taverns were packed with customers. Gu Yue Dong Tu’s tavern and bamboo house were good examples. Although his ability as a merchant was nothing remarkable and his businesses usually saw only modest traffic, the arrival of the annual caravan filled both establishments almost overnight. During this short period alone, he could earn several times what he normally made.

“Jia Family’s caravan has finally arrived.”

Among the bustling crowd, a slender young man quietly watched the merchants setting up their stalls, a faint light flashing through his dark eyes.

“If I remember correctly, there’s an opportunity waiting in the stone gambling market. This should be enough to solve my shortage of primeval stones for now.”