The sun rose.

Gu Heng stood on the main road, looking at the markings on the map.

He had spent the night at Burial Mountain, and ten miles away from there was Cloud Spirit City.

Now, the city lay at the far end of the horizon before him. With the help of his Divine Movement Boots, he reached the city gate in just a few breaths.

After paying some silver to the city guards, he entered the city.

The scene inside the city was a world apart from the wilderness outside.

The city was bustling and lively, with shops lined up in rows. There were many people, some dressed in luxurious clothes, others were wandering cultivators with weapons and magical artifacts. There were also young masters and ladies from wealthy families strolling with their servants and maids.

"The security here is much better than outside..."

Gu Heng sighed softly as he watched the bustling crowd.

Cloud Spirit City was much larger than Greenwood City, and the streets were wider. The common people seemed to live quite comfortably.

He suddenly felt he had underestimated the situation.

There was no comparison between Greenwood City and Cloud Spirit City, and comparing Cloud Spirit City to White Emperor City was even more pointless. Although he sold his Medicine Hall in Greenwood City for a good price, was it really enough to buy a similar-sized shop in White Emperor City?

Probably not.

He realized he had been too shortsighted, staying in such a small place for too long stunted his vision.

Although he could ask Bai Fei'er for a shop, he really disliked owing people favors, especially those of cultivators, as they were not easily repaid.

"Sigh, looks like I'll have to settle for less..."

Gu Heng murmured to himself, patting Little Xi's head, planning to find an inn to stay in first.

He intended to spend some time figuring out the prices in Cloud Spirit City. If his silver was just enough to buy a decent shop, he would settle down here.

He also needed to investigate the influential families in Cloud Spirit City and the surrounding powers. In a new place, it's crucial to identify the forces not to be trifled with, or it could cost him his life.

After searching for a while, Gu Heng chose the "Cloudtop Inn" and went inside to book a room with a nice view.

This cost him quite a bit of silver.

"The prices here are really not low..."

Gu Heng chatted with the innkeeper for a while and learned that there were three prominent families in Cloud Spirit City: the Yun Family, the Yan Family, and the Lu Family. However, these families were not the strongest.

The strongest was actually outside the city.

The Nianling Sect, a sect affiliated with the Sunflare Empire, had thousands of disciples. Its leader, Zhu Ling, was a powerful cultivator at the eighth level of the Body Fusion stage. The area around Cloud Spirit City was not a good place, with many dangerous beasts, but the Nianling Sect frequently cleared them out, allowing everyone to live comfortably.

Even the common people lived well.

Gu Heng thought this place was quite nice, similar to Greenwood City in the past. As long as there was a dominant force to suppress others, it was enough.

"But this place is still quite good... Now I need to see if there are any shops for sale in the city."

He decided to act immediately.

...

Gu Heng wandered for several hours and finally found a shop in the south of Cloud Spirit City that wasn't too remote.

The shop was not small, larger than the one he had in Greenwood City, with a second floor and a small courtyard in the back, though overgrown with weeds. With some care, it could be turned into a small garden.

The System's mall also sold "seeds," genuine plants, but Gu Heng hadn't been interested in gardening before. Now... he might consider it.

"Hmm, this shop is quite nice, I'll take it."

He called out inside.

A man soon emerged, with refined and elegant features, smiling as he said, "Since you want this place, I'll sell it."

"Alright, see if this deed is suitable."

Gu Heng carefully examined the deed the man handed him, confirmed it was fine, and handed over most of his silver to pay for the shop.

The cost was not as much as he had imagined. Gu Heng had noted that most common people lived in the south of the city, while the north, west, and east were the territories of the three major families. Only the south was a mix of various elements.

In other words, it was a bit chaotic.

Heading south from Cloud Spirit City led to a vast forest known as the Cloud Spirit Forest, home to many beasts and rumored to have devoured people. Surrounding the forest were numerous small hills where many forces had established camps, forming small and diverse factions.

But none of this concerned Gu Heng.

He was just here to open a Medicine Hall.

After buying the shop, he rearranged the front hall for consultations, set up medicine cabinets, made a bed on the second floor, and cleared the weeds in the backyard, planting seeds from the System mall. Overall, it looked quite neat and tidy.

By the time Gu Heng finished, it was already dark.

Little Xi was lying in the front hall, bored and wagging her tail. Gu Heng gave her a sugar pill to eat, then sat down and took out an ancient lamp from the System Backpack.

"Old Xuan, how is it?"

Gu Heng looked at the faintly glowing white light inside the lamp.

"It's quite nice in here, the environment is good. Thank you, Young Master Gu, for such a good place to nurture myself."

Jian Xuan's voice sounded much more gentle. Although Gu Heng didn't understand why Jian Xuan was so happy inside the lamp, he had planned to let him out to fly around, but seeing how content he was, Gu Heng decided to let him stay inside.

"Hmm, it's time to write the signboard."

Gu Heng stood up, took out rice paper and a brush from the System Backpack, dipped it in ink, and was about to write when he suddenly paused.

There was a commotion outside.

"You brat, you're asking for a beating!"

"How dare you steal from us again! Don't you know the power of the Black Forest Gang!?"

"Hurry up and kneel and kowtow! Or I'll beat you to death!"

Gu Heng frowned and walked to the door with the ancient lamp, where he saw a group of seven or eight burly men surrounding a thin figure in a small alley across the street. The leader had a scar on his face and was glaring fiercely at the frail figure in the center.

In the midst of the burly men, a boy in shabby gray clothes with sallow skin was cowering, clutching a worn-out quilt, his face full of panic. But despite trembling all over, his eyes were red and swollen, and his lips were quivering.

Gu Heng paused as he looked at the frail figure.

Because he could see that the boy didn't seem to be afraid, but rather harbored deep hatred and defiance!

Although the boy had taken quite a beating, with bruises all over, he hadn't uttered a sound, nor shown any sign of weakness.

"Heh, this kid is really something."

"We, the Black Forest Gang, are one of the big gangs in Cloud Spirit City, and you dare to offend us? You're courting death!"

The men taunted and jeered.

Gu Heng stood behind the window, listening silently for a moment, unable to help but twitch his mouth—

The Black Forest Gang wasn't big.

At least from the information he had gathered, the forces camped outside the southern city were actually quite weak—of course, weak to cultivators, but still formidable to common people.

But Gu Heng glanced over and felt that none of these guys were cultivators, at most they were common people with some martial arts training.

Should he help?

Gu Heng was conflicted. Getting involved with the local small-time thugs in a new place wasn't a good idea, but letting the boy be beaten to death was something he couldn't stomach.

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"What, still won't kneel?"

The scar-faced leader saw the boy gritting his teeth and refusing to give in, snorted coldly, and waved his hand, "Brothers, get him! We must beat him to death today!"

"Yes!"

The others responded and rushed forward.

The men were burly, while the boy seemed extremely small and malnourished, yet he remained calm, rolling up the quilt to shield his chest, and assuming a defensive stance, seemingly ready to endure their blows.

His eyes were resolute, without a trace of fear.

Such courage made Gu Heng involuntarily admire him.

He should help.

After all, no matter what the boy had done, if he were beaten to death like this, it would be too cruel and would haunt Gu Heng for the rest of his life.

Gu Heng stepped out of the house and walked straight towards them.

"Excuse me, could you stop for a moment?"

His gentle voice made the men pause and turn to look at him. It was dark, and suddenly a young man in simple robes appeared on the street with an ancient lamp, which surprised them.

But soon, the scar-faced man cursed, "Damn it, where did this brat come from! Get lost!"

"Oh, sorry to interrupt." Gu Heng apologized with a smile, "I just wanted to tell you something."

"What is it?"

"I just moved into this shop, and if you kill someone here, I'm afraid I won't be able to do business peacefully."

"Could you let him go?"

"...Huh?"

The men exchanged glances, puzzled, but soon the scar-faced man realized and looked at him menacingly, "Brat, you want to stand up for him?"

"I advise you not to interfere, or after we deal with this little bastard, it'll be your turn!"

He stepped forward, glaring at Gu Heng.

"Get lost, we're the Black Forest Gang, if you get in the way, I'll kill you too!"

"Is that so?" Gu Heng still smiled. "Then I definitely can't leave, you're threatening me now."

The scar-faced man thought a few words would scare him off, but Gu Heng remained standing there, unfazed.

Not listening? Then let's just take action!

The scar-faced man sneered and swung a punch at him!

The punch came fast and hard, with a gust of wind, clearly using all his strength, intending to disfigure Gu Heng's face!