85: Past events

The gentle medicinal power nourished Gou Longxun's entire body, a sensation he had never experienced before.

The old hidden injuries within him were rapidly healing, and his broken Meridians were gradually recovering.

His declining Qi and blood swiftly increased, subtly showing signs of a Breakthrough to the Innate Realm.

"Poof!"

Gou Longxun spat out a mouthful of dark red clotted blood, and his complexion immediately turned rosy.

From a half-dead old man who was just writing his will, he transformed into a martial arts expert with a rosy complexion and abundant Qi and blood throughout his body.

All of this happened in just three short minutes!

"Ah?" Qi Longhu never imagined that this spirit recovery pill would be so potent; how could injuries that countless Divine Physicians couldn't cure simply heal like that?

"Hah!"

Gou Longxun let out a long roar, and his entire Aura was like a rainbow!

"Good! Good!"

"Hahahahaha! This old man Gou Longxun has returned to the world!"

Gou Longxun burst into laughter, but a clear tear involuntarily streamed down his cheek.

"Hmm?"

Just as Gou Longxun was enjoying his healed body, he felt his martial Dao Realm, which had been stagnant for a long time, begin to loosen.

"No way?" Qi Longhu swallowed, looking at Gou Longxun in front of him with some disbelief.

There were no special effects, nor any exaggerated phenomena.

Gou Longxun simply Broke through from the Acquired Realm to the Innate Realm.

"I didn't expect this..." Gou Longxun reined in his world-conquering Aura and sat down again, looking directly at Chen Heng.

"This old man actually has a chance to return to the Innate Realm, and..."

"What's wrong?" Qi Longhu asked cautiously.

"My martial Dao has advanced further; perhaps in my lifetime, I can reach the Realm of an Innate Great Grandmaster."

Gou Longxun's eyes were like torches, no longer the half-dead look he had before.

"All of this is thanks to Vice Envoy Chen; this old man thanks him here."

Gou Longxun was about to bow in thanks to Chen Heng, but Chen Heng grabbed him.

"Gang Leader, you're over a hundred years old; please don't do this with me."

Chen Heng smiled and shook his head.

"You're not thanking me; you're shortening my lifespan."

"How is it, isn't my spirit recovery pill quite effective?"

"It's more than just good!" Gou Longxun's injuries vanished without a trace, and he became energetic.

"This old man doesn't know how to thank Vice Envoy Chen anymore."

"How about this, from today onwards, my treasury is yours to use as you please."

"Not only that, but I'll also give you twenty percent of the Five Spirits Merchant Guild's shares."

"Gang Leader! That's twenty percent of the shares; you only have fifty-five percent in total!"

Qi Longhu was so shocked that he spluttered.

Although twenty percent of the shares might not seem like much, it actually amounts to about ten percent of the Five Spirits Gang's total annual income.

The Five Spirits Gang is vast, and its other miscellaneous industries account for a quarter of its overall income.

The remaining seventy-five percent are all profits from the Five Spirits Merchant Guild's trade!

One can imagine how enormous this wealth is.

"Shut up, you have no right to speak here!" Gou Longxun glared at Qi Longhu, and the old fellow immediately shut his mouth.

"And the Vermilion Bird Hall, from today onwards, you are the Hall Master of the Vermilion Bird Hall!"

"Hey! Wait a minute!" Chen Heng raised his hand to stop Gou Longxun's next words.

"I can accept the first two things, but please don't give me the Vermilion Bird Hall."

Chen Heng shook his head, refusing to become the Hall Master of the Vermilion Bird Hall.

"I don't have that much free time to manage a hall; right now, I only want to strengthen myself."

"It would be best to give me a high-ranking but idle position where I don't have to do anything."

"You wouldn't know, ever since I joined the White Tiger Hall, I haven't had a single day of peace..."

Seizing this opportunity, Chen Heng began to pour out his grievances.

More than ten minutes passed, and Gou Longxun stared blankly at Chen Heng.

"This... Vice Envoy Chen has truly worked hard."

Gou Longxun himself was at a loss for words, opening his mouth but not knowing how to comfort Chen Heng.

First, he dealt with a cat demon and a malevolent ghost in Tugou Village, then discovered the Wutong Sect's sacrificial array for villagers.

Then he fought a great battle with an Anomaly in Goulan Street, and there was also the Earth God of the Fude Orthodox Sect entrenched in the mining area north of the city.

Aside from spending one night playing in Goulan Street, Chen Heng was either dealing with Anomalies or on his way to deal with Anomalies.

"Alright! From today onwards, you can take on any tasks in the gang that you want, and if you don't want to, you don't have to listen to anyone's orders!"

Gou Longxun waved his hand, directly exempting Chen Heng from all his obligations within the gang.

"Including me, no one can give you orders."

"What do you think?"

"It seems pretty good?" Chen Heng thought about it and found that it was indeed quite comfortable.

"From today onwards, you are the vice gang leader of the Five Spirits Gang, with the same status as me."

This time, Gou Longxun directly elevated Chen Heng's status to be even higher than Qi Longhu's.

To put it this way, if Gou Longxun was the local emperor of Qiyang City,

Then Chen Heng didn't need to bother with anyone except Gou Longxun, making him the legitimate number two figure in Qiyang City.

Of course, the city lord, whose presence was almost zero, wasn't counted.

After all, he was still the nominal city lord of Qiyang City.

"I'm very satisfied with these benefits, however..."

As soon as Chen Heng uttered that 'however,' both Gou Longxun and Qi Longhu's hearts tightened.

Damn it, this kid seems to be unusually greedy.

Is this still not enough?

"Besides bringing you the medicine, I also have another matter today."

Saying that, Chen Heng pulled out the secret letter from his embrace.

"Oh, so it's about this." Qi Longhu breathed a sigh of relief.

He was just afraid that Chen Heng's appetite was too big and would make Gou Longxun angry.

If they started fighting, he wouldn't know who to help.

Gou Longxun took the secret letter and began to read it carefully.

The more he read, the deeper his frown became, until finally, even the joy of his healed injuries was gone.

Only a suffocatingly heavy atmosphere remained.

"Ghost Corpse Temple, huh..."

Gou Longxun frowned and rubbed his fingers.

He, of course, knew about these crazy evil Cultivators, and he also knew that they were not easy to deal with.

With Qiyang City's current fighting strength, they probably wouldn't be a match.

"No need to worry, if we can't deal with them, others can."

Gou Longxun put down the secret letter and took a deep breath.

"Before you two, this old man never spoke of this matter to anyone else."

Chen Heng and Qi Longhu exchanged glances, both igniting with the flames of gossip.

"About a hundred years ago, this old man was just a small external martial artist."

"It was then that I met my benefactor, Qiu Yongling."

"And the reason I could reach the Innate Realm was thanks to her guidance."

"It's just a pity that I didn't have the talent to cultivate the immortal Dao, so I could only practice martial arts."

"This Five Spirits Gang was also established with the help of my benefactor."

"My benefactor, Qiu Yongling, is one of the Elders of the True Immortal Sect."

"The best way to deal with the Ghost Corpse Temple is to seek help from the True Immortal Sect."

"I hope my former benefactor still remembers me and is willing to help me this one time."

Chen Heng and Qi Longhu looked at each other, both surprised that Gou Longxun had such a past.

Qi Longhu was shocked that Gou Longxun had once taken a Cultivator as his teacher.

Chen Heng, on the other hand, was shocked that a Cultivator was so close to him!