Chapter 769: Chapter 508: Heaven’s Jealousy

Dingyuan City connects with the Great Universe, and its splendid scenery is considered unparalleled in the entire Falling Leaves Heavenly City.

Yet beneath this splendor lies a strict hierarchy and a high cost of survival.

Chu Zheng led his siblings through the long streets, arriving at the mansion rental area located in the branch region of the North Spiritual Vein in Dingyuan City.

The buildings here were majestic, with Immortal Light flowing everywhere. The clan insignia of the Zhang Family was visible everywhere, clearly indicating it was entirely controlled by them.

The manager in charge was not weak in cultivation, being at the Eighth Order First Layer, appearing to be in his fifties, dressed in blue-gray brocade, with a pleasant demeanor, showing no disdain for Chu Zheng’s recently achieved Seventh Order cultivation, and promptly quoted the price.

“Please take a look, dear guest.”

The manager channeled a trace of Spiritual Energy at his fingertips, transforming a miniature representation of the entire Spirit Vein: “Mansions are divided into upper, middle, and lower tiers, each with different costs.”

Information floated successively, marking the location and price of each mansion.

Lower Mansion: Located at the end of the Spirit Vein, it is small, only allowing room for a single person’s quiet cultivation, equipped with a triple Spirit Gathering Array, with Spiritual Energy three times that within the city, requiring one piece of Immortal Jade per month.

Middle Mansion: Located at the tributary of the Spirit Vein, slightly more spacious, with Quiet Room and Alchemy Room fully equipped, fitted with a High-level Gathering Spirit Array, having ten times the Spiritual Energy concentration of the city, requiring ten pieces of Immortal Jade per month.

Upper Mansion: Located at the node of the Spirit Vein, with a private courtyard, Spiritual Energy like mist, independently equipped with a Spiritual Spring, and a Locking Spirit Array, possessing a hundredfold of the city’s Spiritual Energy, and priced much higher, requiring a hundred pieces of Immortal Jade per month.

Moreover, leasing a mansion exempts the daily cultivation tax.

The Lower Mansion exempts one person, the Middle Mansion exempts five people, and the Upper Mansion exempts a hundred people.

Comparatively speaking, this pricing is not that outrageous.

The Middle Mansion is undoubtedly the most sought after, as it exempts the cultivation tax for five people, making it much more economical for many cultivators to rent together.

Chu Zheng’s gaze passed over the Spirit Vein; the Lower Mansion was too cramped, not conducive to his cultivation and the siblings’ placement.

Although the Upper Mansion was nice, a hundred pieces of Immortal Jade per month, even with some reserves, wouldn’t last long.

After looking twice, Chu Zheng did not hesitate much, pointing to a tranquil Middle Mansion halfway up the mountain: “This place.”

“Wise choice, friend.” The manager smiled more broadly, quickly processing the paperwork, accepting three years’ rent of seven hundred twenty million Top Quality Spiritual Stones, equivalent to three hundred sixty pieces of Immortal Jade.

Even at Chu Zheng’s current wealth, this price was somewhat burdensome.

Taking the jade talisman to unlock the mansion’s restrictions, Chu Zheng felt a slight heaviness in his heart, with a sense of urgency.

Living off reserves was unrealistic; new income sources must be found.

The Lower Realm method of relying on auction houses, getting wealthy overnight with a volume of Immortal Scripture, wouldn’t work here.

The Upper Realm has an ancient legacy, with even giants of Ancient Myths caliber; while cultivation techniques might be precious, they’re not rare here. Moreover, possessing higher-grade techniques might attract formidable figures whom he currently cannot afford to provoke.

In the Upper Realm, truly scarce are tangible cultivation resources like high-grade Spiritual Medicine, rare mineral deposits, Divine Weapon and Treasure, and the special opportunities necessary for breaking bottlenecks.

Currently, these resources are tightly controlled by various clans through regulations and taxes, like a huge funnel channeling wealth continuously to the top.

He must quickly find a new path to increase income.

Chu Zheng, with his siblings, proceeded directly to the mansion. Inside, it wasn’t luxurious but was clean and tidy, with the Dust Removal Array operating continuously, keeping it spotless.

The High-level Gathering Spirit Array was functioning, indeed rendering the Spiritual Energy concentration nearly ten times richer than the outside world, which was definitely sufficient for Chu Zheng now.

After surveying the mansion, Chu Zheng’s gaze fell on the anxious siblings, his eyes calm:

“I have calculated your kinship.” Chu Zheng’s voice was deep, without any euphemism, he straightforwardly said:

“In this world, apart from each other, you have no other direct blood relatives.”

Though he couldn’t deduce celestial secrets yet, having studied the Heavenly Divination Technique for a long time, such calculations weren’t difficult.

Undoubtedly, their parents were dead.

The siblings both trembled sharply at the news. They had long suspected it in their hearts but held onto a sliver of hope.

They thought that perhaps they might have the chance to wait for their parents to return one day, and then maybe return to their previous lives.

Now, this last sliver of hope was completely shattered by Chu Zheng.

“Telling you this is to prevent unrealistic thoughts, to ease your minds on cultivation from now on.”

It was better to endure short-term pain than long-term torment, to completely sever the past to cultivate without distractions.

The young man took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the surging emotions, pulling his sister while struggling to kneel properly, his forehead knocked heavily on the cold stone floor, his voice choked yet exceptionally firm:

“May I ask for the esteemed name of the master? From today onwards, we siblings are willing to abandon our names, forsake our surnames, and serve you eternally.”

The young man’s decisiveness surprised Chu Zheng slightly.

In this era, giving up one’s name and surname was not an easy task; it was equivalent to renouncing family ties, severing ties with the sect, forsaking the ancestors.

To the clan, these two were already dead.

Chu Zheng was silent for a moment, making calculations in his heart:

“My name is Zheng Chu.”

Initially, he hadn’t planned to keep these two by his side, but he was somewhat intrigued by their fate and acted on impulse.

However, now his thinking had changed slightly; having two more people by his side would at least not feel so lonely.