Chapter 135 A Radiant Light Soars to the Sky, Changning Formulates a Plan Immortality: Grinding Experience Starting as a Paper Craftsman

Immortality: Grinding Experience Starting as a Paper Craftsman

Chapter 135 A Radiant Light Soars to the Sky, Changning Formulates a Plan

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Gu Yan remained silent for a long time, standing in the corridor, his aura restrained and unfathomable, as if he had merged with the boundless night.

Beneath the earth of Changning County, ancient magical artifacts and broken array plates, buried in the long river of time, are being squeezed out of the ground one by one by the chaotic spiritual energy of the earth's veins.

Before Gu Yan's brows could relax.

In the distance, footsteps came from the end of the corridor, some light, some heavy, hurried and flustered.

"Junior brother!"

A fiery red figure was the first to pass through the moon gate and stop behind Gu Yan.

Song Hong was dressed in a smart red outfit, with a specially made throwing knife wrapped around her waist.

Her eyes were bruised from staying up all night checking accounts, but they were bright, and there was a faint, burning fire elemental energy flowing around her.

Following closely behind was a man with a tall and straight figure, like a pine tree.

Xiao Chen was dressed in black, holding the scabbardless Duan Ye Sword in his arms.

He walked with extreme steadiness, each step landing without making a sound. He was like an ancient sword with its blade hidden in its sheath, calm yet exuding a chilling sharpness.

"Senior brother, senior sister."

Gu Yan turned around, the corners of her mouth turned up, shedding the timid and submissive facade she wore in front of outsiders, revealing a gentle and sincere smile.

He looked the two of them up and down.

In just a few days, the auras of the two became even more solid.

Xiao Chen's sword intent was imposing and unstoppable; Song Hong's Fiery Technique was becoming increasingly refined and masterful.

It seems that drinking the Three Lives Tea to sever inner demons was the right move.

"Things are in chaos outside."

Song Hong frowned, walked to the edge of the corridor, pointed to the ghastly green pillar of light shooting into the sky in the east of the city, and said in a very fast voice:

"Half an incense stick later, a large crack appeared in the mass grave in the east of the city, and a bronze coffin flew out, attracting the surrounding wandering ghosts like madmen; a broken sword flew out of the dry riverbed in the west of the city, splitting half of the abandoned manor of the Li family. The stone tablet under the City God Temple in the south of the city even overturned all the paving stones."

Song Hong took a breath and continued reporting the intelligence: "I've already sent out all the hundred or so rogue cultivators we recruited. For now, they're only being used to block the streets and maintain order; they're not allowed near those glowing places. The rogue cultivators are all red-eyed; if it weren't for the rules of our Demon Suppression Division, they would have rushed in and robbed them long ago."

Gu Yan nodded approvingly.

Song Hong is indeed a rare talent in overall planning, possessing both a rough exterior and meticulous attention to detail.

"How is things going on with Senior Brother?" Gu Yan asked Xiao Chen.

Xiao Chen gripped the broken sword in his arms, his voice cold and hard as iron: "The city gates are already sealed. Three ignorant wandering cultivators tried to take advantage of the chaos to steal treasures from the mass grave, and even injured two of our brothers who were guarding the city. I drew my sword."

"Dead?" Gu Yan asked.

"He's dead."

Xiao Chen answered calmly.

"The corpses were hung on the city gate tower as a warning to others."

"well done."

Gu Yan withdrew his gaze and looked again at the precious lights that were lighting up one after another outside the city.

"This land in Changning County has been dormant for too long. The incident at the Burial Dragon Mountains, coupled with the collapse of the Sunset Valley Underground Palace, caused an imbalance in the surrounding earth's energy. The spiritual pressure deep within the earth's veins forced all these unclaimed objects out. This is called an earth vein eruption, a once-in-a-century event."

Song Hong licked her dry lips, her eyes gleaming with excitement: "Junior brother, this is like a windfall! There are magical treasures and opportunities everywhere. Our Demon Suppression Division has the advantage of proximity. Should we take some people to encircle all those good things right now? If we put them all in our warehouse, we won't have to worry about cultivation resources for the next ten years."

"No."

Gu Yan shook his head, his tone unusually resolute.

Song Hong was taken aback, somewhat puzzled.

Xiao Chen looked at Gu Yan thoughtfully, without interrupting.

Gu Yan turned around, his gaze sweeping over the two faces, and explained earnestly, "Senior Sister, treasures are tempting, but they can also be deadly. Look at this sky full of precious light, illuminating more than just Changning County. The Flowing Cloud Sect, the Emerald Bamboo Sect, and even those powerful forces far away in the Eastern Continent have probably already noticed the strange phenomenon."

Gu Yan walked to the stone steps and pointed to the mass grave in the east of the city:

"Believe it or not, by noon tomorrow at the latest, those disciples from those usually high and mighty sects will swarm here like sharks smelling blood. Our Changning County Demon Suppression Division only has three Foundation Establishment cultivators and a hundred Qi Refining cultivators. If we eat all the meat, what do you think those sect disciples will do when they arrive tomorrow and see this empty wasteland?"

Song Hong gasped, a cold sweat breaking out on her back.

"They will skin us alive."

Xiao Chen coldly replied, "Killing someone to steal their treasure, destroying the evidence, and blaming it on demons and evil spirits. This is the most practiced trick in the cultivation world."

"Senior brother's explanation is very insightful."

Gu Yan smiled, his eyes becoming deep and unfathomable.

"A common man is innocent, but possessing a treasure is a crime. The game in Changning County has now turned from a local skirmish into a battleground where big fish eat small fish. We can't be like that hamster that stuffs all the food into its mouth; that will only make us stuff ourselves to death."

Song Hong gritted her teeth, clearly in great pain.

She manages the accounts of the Demon Suppression Division and can't stand seeing spirit stones and magical treasures slip away.

"Who said we were supposed to be watching?"

Gu Yan's lips curled into a sly smile as he said, "One must eat one bite at a time, and make money honestly. This Changning County belongs to me, and also to the people of Changning. No one can break my rules."

Gu Yan held up three fingers, his voice ringing out in the night wind: "First, close the city gates tightly and tighten the defenses. Withdraw all rogue cultivators back into the city and have them patrol the streets. Nothing outside the city, whether it's a celestial artifact or a demonic treasure, even if it falls to the foot of the city walls, is to be touched by our people!"

"Second, open the county government's granary and the Demon Suppression Division's armory, and take out the property that we previously confiscated from Master Li and Master Zhao to appease the people. Tell the entire city that they should stay indoors, and that with the Demon Suppression Division here, we'll hold up the sky if it falls."

"third……"

Gu Yan lowered his finger, his eyes gleaming with the shrewdness of a businessman.

"We'll set up a market and erect pavilions outside the city gates. Whether they're inner disciples of the Flowing Cloud Sect or ruthless demonic cultivators, once they enter the market in Changning County, they're our guests. We'll only do one thing: use spirit stones, herbs, or equivalent supplies to buy the fragments of magical artifacts they've stolen from the wild."

Song Hong's eyes lit up, and she immediately understood Gu Yan's intention: "Junior brother, are you planning to open a money exchange and do business? Let them go out into the wilderness to fight to the death, shedding blood and risking their lives, while we sit here comfortably and reap the benefits?"

"Not only that."

A hint of admiration appeared in Xiao Chen's eyes.

"We don't rob valuable treasures, we only trade. Those prestigious sects pride themselves on being high and mighty, but even if they manage to steal something, they still need a place to rest and recuperate. Rogue cultivators who obtain treasures are afraid of being intercepted and killed, so they need a safe place to sell their stolen goods and exchange them for cash. We provide this venue, which avoids the danger of being in the eye of the storm, and allows us to legitimately extract profits."

"clever."

Gu Yan snapped his fingers.

"Changning County is a giant powder keg right now. What we need to do is not to put out the fire, but to stand by the furnace and warm ourselves. As long as we don't make a move within the city, those major sects won't openly massacre the city for the sake of their reputation. As for those rogue cultivators and unruly raiders..."

Gu Yan paused for a moment, his tone revealing a chilling killing intent: "Anyone who dares to cause trouble in the city, anyone who dares to lay a finger on a hair on the head of the people of Changning County, will be killed without mercy."

His confidence stemmed from the towering tower that reached the heavens within his Qi Sea.

The prayers and offerings of tens of thousands of people in Changning County were the foundation for his survival in this chaotic world.

Anyone who harms the common people is digging up Gu Yan's lifeline.

"Understood!"

Song Hong swept away her previous hesitation and turned around in a flurry.

"I'll arrange for people to set up the market stalls right away and take inventory of the spirit stones in the storeroom for later use!"

"Go ahead. Tell the rogue cultivators to open their eyes wide and be more polite to the disciples of the major sects, but don't let them lose face as members of our Demon Suppression Division."

Gu Yan gave his final instructions.

Song Hong responded and disappeared outside the courtyard gate in a red blur.

Xiao Chen didn't rush to leave. He looked at Gu Yan, the broken sword in his arms trembling incessantly.

"Junior brother, the aura emanating from you..."

As a pure sword cultivator, Xiao Chen possessed incredibly sharp intuition.

He could sense that Gu Yan before him was like a calm, dormant volcano, but the power hidden beneath that body made even the Broken Karma Sword in his hand tremble with fear.

Gu Yan didn't hide anything and frankly said, "I had some fortuitous encounters in Sunset Valley, and my cultivation has improved slightly. Senior Brother, in the next few days, Changning County will become a den of dragons and tigers. The heavy responsibility of defending the city rests entirely on your shoulders."

"As long as the sword is there, the person lives; when the sword breaks, the person dies."

Xiao Chen left behind only these eight words, then turned and walked into the night, heading towards the city wall for defense.

He doesn't need to use fancy words; his sword is only drawn for those who deserve it.

The courtyard returned to quiet.

Gu Yan stood under the eaves, his hands rapidly forming hand seals within his wide sleeves.

"go."

With a whisper, thousands of gray-brown paper figures poured out of his sleeves like a waterfall.

These paper figures, no bigger than a fingernail, changed color instantly upon landing, turning into withered leaves, dust, and flying insects.

They clung to the ground, along the base of walls, and, carried by the night breeze, silently spread to all directions of Changning County.

The divine consciousness of a god and demon who has reached the pinnacle of foundation building, combined with the unparalleled paper-making technique.

At this point, Changning County had become a giant chessboard in Gu Yan's eyes, and every little movement in every corner could not escape his paper-world vision.

"what!"

Suddenly, a piercing scream tore through the night sky in the west of the city.

Gu Yan frowned sharply.

In the eyes of the paper industry, a house near the White Bone Riverbed in the west of the city was violently kicked open.

Five ragged, blood-smelling rogue cultivators rushed into the courtyard.

They had just been in a fierce battle outside the city, fighting for a scattered jade slip, and had suffered serious injuries.

The surge of spiritual energy outside the city had driven them to madness. Their rush into the city was clearly an attempt to use mortals as a catalyst to refine healing pills.

In the courtyard, an elderly couple was kicked to the ground, and the leader of the rogue cultivators raised his blood-stained ghost-head knife and slashed it down hard at the old man's neck.

"Dare to touch my people on my turf."

Gu Yan's eyes turned cold, and with a flicker, he disappeared from the spot like a ghost.

……

Residential houses in the west of the city.

The old man closed his eyes in despair, shielding his wife tightly beneath him.

"Old man, it's your good fortune to become a cornerstone on my path to immortality!"

The leader of the rogue cultivators grinned maliciously, the blade only three inches from the old man's head.

"Clang!"

A crisp metallic clang rang out in the courtyard.

The leader of the rogue cultivators felt a sharp pain in his tiger's mouth. The ghost-headed knife in his hand felt as if it had struck an iron mountain, shattering into more than a dozen pieces of scrap iron.

The immense recoil sent him flying backward, crashing heavily against the courtyard wall and spitting out a mouthful of blood.

"Who?!"

The remaining four rogue cultivators were shocked and drew their weapons.

In the center of the courtyard, a young man dressed in a blue robe stood.

He had one hand behind his back and the other hanging casually at his side, looking at the five desperados with indifferent eyes.

At his feet, several thin pieces of paper cutting were slowly turning to ashes.

"Gu Changsheng, Commander of the Demon Suppression Division."

Gu Yan's voice wasn't loud, but it clearly reached everyone's ears.

The elderly couple opened their eyes, and upon seeing who it was, tears welled up in their eyes. They struggled to kneel on the ground and kowtowed, crying, "Lord Gu! Justice Gu! You've come to save us!"

Gu Yan flicked his finger, and a gentle spiritual force lifted the elderly couple up: "Grandpa and Grandma, go inside and close the door. It's cold outside, don't catch a cold."

The elderly couple nodded repeatedly, helped each other into the inner room, and then tightly closed the wooden door behind them.

"So it's Lord Gu."

The leader of the rogue cultivators who had crashed into the wall got up, spat out a mouthful of blood, and stared fiercely at Gu Yan.

He could tell that there was no strong spiritual energy fluctuation on Gu Yan's body, and assumed that what had just happened was just the effect of some kind of talisman.

"Lord Gu, we brothers fought tooth and nail outside the city and got a few injuries. We've come to borrow some things. We're all in the same boat, so how about you do us a favor? We'll take the things and leave without causing you any trouble."

The leader of the independent cultivators tried to negotiate using the rules of the martial arts world.

"Borrow something?" Gu Yan smiled, a smile as if he were looking at a dead man.

"My rule is that those who enter the city must remove their armor, those who break into a house must have their hands cut off, and those who injure others... die."

Before he finished speaking, Gu Yan made a move.

His body merged into the wind, instantly covering a distance of three zhang (approximately 10 meters) and appearing in front of the leader.

The leader was terrified and was about to retreat when he discovered that his feet were bound tightly by two invisible ropes.

Those were paper ropes that Gu Yan had laid out on the ground beforehand; they were incredibly strong.

Gu Yan stretched out his right hand and grabbed the leader's throat.

"Click."

A crisp sound of bone cracking rang out.

The leader of the rogue cultivators had his neck snapped in an extremely brutal manner, his head slumped limply to the side, and his eyes still held an incredulous fear.

The remaining four rogue cultivators were terrified at the sight and dared not resist. They turned around and tried to escape by climbing over the wall.

"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Two whooshing sounds came from the roof.

The red flames traced two deadly arcs in the night.

Two flaming throwing knives pierced the backs of the two rogue cultivators with pinpoint accuracy, pinning them to the courtyard wall. The intense heat instantly charred the flesh around the wounds.

Standing atop the rooftop, her red robes fluttering in the wind, Song Hong gripped two more throwing knives in her hands. Looking down at them, she coldly shouted, "How dare you cause trouble in Changning County! You're all blind!"

At the same time, the door was smashed open by a tremendous force.

Xiao Chen, carrying the Severing Karma Sword, walked in like a black Grim Reaper.

He didn't speak, but simply swung his sword casually.

A chilling, frost-like sword aura swept across the ground.

The last two rogue cultivators who tried to escape had their legs severed, and they screamed as they rolled wildly in a pool of blood.

"Junior brother, it's all taken care of. The local security team from the west side of the city is on their way to clean up the area."

Song Hong jumped down from the roof, retrieved her throwing knife, and spoke in a relaxed tone as if she were talking about what she had eaten that day.

Xiao Chen walked to Gu Yan's side, glanced at the corpse on the ground, and hugged the broken sword back to his arms: "I've already increased manpower at the city gate and set up a sword formation. As long as it's not a Golden Core cultivator trying to force their way in, as many as come, they'll die."

Gu Yan watched the two working together seamlessly and dusted off his hands.

He turned his head, his gaze passing over the courtyard wall to the increasingly intense precious light outside the city, and the continuous roar of magic erupting in the wilderness.

"The city is stable now; let's see if the waters outside get a little muddier."

With a thought, Gu Yan traversed a distance of dozens of miles.

On the edge of a ruin, in a secluded mountain valley.

Wearing a bronze mask and a dark red robe, the Blood Swordsman slowly opened his eyes.

He drew the iron sword stained with black blood, and hundreds of Blood River Sect disciples around him, exuding a murderous aura, knelt down in unison.