Chapter 207: 206

Time passed in a flash. Months went by without anybody noticing.

As the notice continued to make its rounds over the years, cultivators from every nation and geniuses from every race came rushing toward the city of Fengyang in drips and drabs. They were hoping for their name to rise above thousands, hoping to make it big. More importantly, they hoped to make it right to the top by stepping on the skeletons of countless geniuses.

The peak was a very small space. It only allowed for 100 people or so.

There were ninety-two places on the Human Ranking. Seventy-two on the Earth Ranking and only thirty-six on the Heaven Ranking.

Yet, the number of people pouring into Fengyang never stopped. There were hundreds of thousands of people here now.

The deadline was fast approaching. As the numerous cultivators took up residence in Fengyang, the city started to liven up. Handsome men and beautiful women were at every corner you turned. They carried themselves elegantly and had an extraordinary air about them.

But if you asked Gu Suihan, they were merely dogs in human clothing. And they were doing a pretty good job of pretending to be human too.

Taohua and Lihua clearly did not believe Gu Suihan when he implied that these people were actually like greedy animals. Even Fang Rou gave him a weird stare as though she thought he was merely jealous of these people.

Gu Suihan sighed in exasperation and clapped his hands. “Watch this. I’m going to do something to make them reveal their true colors.”

Despite their looks of utter contempt, Gu Suihan focused his energies, tore a random page of the book in his hand, and held it up. He cleared his throat and began to mumble, seemingly to himself, “This looks like the map for a secret realm left behind from ancient times. It seems there’s even demonic script on it…”

Before he could even finish his sentence, the area within a hundred-meter radius of Gu Suihan fell completely silent. And before the maids realized what was going on, that torn page was gone from Gu Suihan’s hands.

“How dare you steal my map! Stop right there!”

Gu Suihan looked as though he had just noticed that the map was gone from his hands and stood up angrily with a start as he got ready to run after that person. But even faster than him were all the good-looking men and women in the street who looked like they were casually shopping and checking out the scenery just moments ago.

A few seconds passed in no time. More shouts could be heard in the distance, and countless people instantly leaped into the sky and used all sorts of techniques to chase after a black shadow far from Gu Suihan.

In just the blink of an eye, the streets emptied out. The lively scene of people milling around and conversing with one another vanished just like that.

Gu Suihan put down the leg he had raised to look like he was about to run and lay back down on his chair. He said in a leisurely tone, “Did you see that? That’s their true nature. Those are the true colors of cultivators.”

“Young Master, you’re amazing! You sent them running with just one false statement,” said Lihua with a big smile as she clapped.

Fang Rou, on the other hand, nearly rolled her eyes at Gu Suihan. Her lips twitched as she said, “I can’t believe you…”

Gu Suihan paused for a moment, then looked up at the sky. He clicked his tongue, then said matter-of-factly, “Come along now. I heard that some talented gentleman from the last Human Ranking is having some elite gathering and fancy banquet at Fengyuan Bordello. Let’s go take a look.”

“I don’t think you’re going to take a look. You’re just going there for a free meal,” muttered Fang Rou under her breath as she narrowed her eyes at Gu Suihan in contempt.

Over the past few years, she tried to understand Gu Suihan’s intentions but to no avail. However, she had to admit that his day-to-day behavior was really something. Every single person along this street seemed to know this young man who looked like a wastrel but was always gentle and polite. And they were all pretty nice to him too. Every day at mealtime, he just needed to walk around for a while, and someone would call them in for a free meal.

His incredible PR skills were certainly something that Fang Rou couldn’t deny.

Whenever he went out to buy things, it wouldn’t take long for someone to greet him in a rather familiar manner. These people didn’t look like they were pretending or forcing themselves to be nice either.

“I think we’d better cultivate inside the shop. We shan’t get in Young Master’s way.” Taohua pouted with a sour look on her face as she dragged the reluctant Lihua and the expressionless Fang Rou into the shop without even turning back.

“Well, that’s exactly what I would have liked.” Gu Suihan had a mysterious smile on his face after the three of them had left his sight. He began strolling toward Fengyuan Bordello.

“Oh my, I can’t believe Mr. Gu has found the time to patronize my business! Your bookshop is always so busy,” teased the owner of Fengyuan Court, his eyes lighting up when he spotted Gu Suihan walk through his doors.

“It’s true that I’m always busy, but even then, I can sneak a break or two. Boss Zhang, who’s holding a banquet here tonight?” asked Gu Suihan in a low voice with a smile before randomly taking a new vessel of wine from the owner’s desk, opening it, and pouring its contents into his mouth.

Boss Zhang didn’t get angry with Gu Suihan and actually took two wine cups out instead. He dropped his voice to a whisper, “I heard it’s the seventh son of Fengyun Court, Fengyun Yu. He’s ranked ninth on the Human Ranking, and rumor has it that he’s about to make a breakthrough to Origin Core.”

Given that he could run a restaurant and brothel business in the heart of town, Boss Zhang clearly had some powerful connections. He was very familiar with Gu Suihan only because Gu Suihan had helped to throw out a bunch of idiots who had tried to make trouble inside the restaurant.

Boss Zhang had discovered that this young man knew everything from zithers to chess to books to art and even poetry, plus he was modest and never put on any airs. He was able to hold a conversation with those young men from well-to-do families, but he could also chat merrily with the hawkers along the street.

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Moreover, this young man was a cultivator at Origin Core, which piqued Boss Zhang’s interest. After chatting for some time, they became more friendly with one another. And his teasing words to Gu Suihan when Gu Suihan first appeared were also something that everyone around town knew about.

The young man had opened a bookshop for several years now but had never sold a single book. Everyone loved teasing him about it whenever they saw him.

“Fengyun Yu? That’s a pretty good name (lit. Wind Cloud Rain). So, we’re going to see some clouds rolling about? Someone’s gonna make it rain? What a punny name,” said Gu Suihan with a snigger.

“Indeed, it is.” Boss Zhang wasn’t a clean guy himself. He knew what Gu Suihan was talking about. Anyone who would walk into a place like this would.

The two men sniggered for a while, then Boss Zhang suddenly seemed to have recalled something. He whispered, “By the way, I heard you’ve got some connection to the Li family?”

“I guess you could say that,” said Gu Suihan as he frowned and purposely did not elaborate further.

“The daughter of the Wang family, the one who was engaged to someone from the Li family named Li Yu – I heard that she’s on suspiciously close terms with Fengyun Yu. Besides coming for the Clan Ranking, Fengyun Yu is going to ask the Wang family for her hand in marriage!” said Boss Zhang in a gossipy voice. “Also, over the last few years, there’s been talk about how apparently that piece of trash, Li Yu, has actually managed to cultivate and isn’t lower in level compared to Wang Chunyang. That gave the Wang family a shock. I suppose their time is coming.”

His words didn’t seem to make any sense to anybody without the relevant context, but Gu Suihan was someone who could piece anything together. He knew exactly what Boss Zhang was talking about.

He quickly realized that Boss Zhang was trying to hint at him to quickly cut ties with the Li family as soon as possible. Before this, the Wang family might have been wary of an Origin Core cultivator like Gu Suihan, but once they had the Fengyun Court cultivators on their side, the Wang family would be emboldened.

And once that happened, a terrible disaster would befall the Li family. Well, it was too bad – that’s what they got for not having a wonderful daughter like the Wang family. The Wang family had a daughter who wasn’t particularly talented, but she was pretty and had technique. She managed to get the heir to the Fengyun Court into bed and made him actually fall for her as well. That was an accomplishment in itself.

Gu Suihan narrowed his eyes at this and had a mocking look on his face before quickly changing the topic.

He pointed upstairs and said quietly, “Don’t worry about that. Tell me how many are here for the Clan Ranking first.”

“Quite a number. Besides all those who’ve died, gotten themselves injured or incapacitated over the past few years, there are at least 60 or 70 of them.” Boss Zhang was a little surprised by the query but did not give it too much thought.

Gu Suihan tried not to roll his eyes as Boss Zhang pulled out two plates of deboned pork trotters, took a big bite, and continued speaking even while chewing, “I know what you’re thinking about, but the bets aren’t open yet. Besides, only nobodies care about the Human Ranking, so nobody else cares about it either, and so there’s very little to earn from it. Nobody knows if the person who makes it to the ranking today might find their corpse somewhere in the wilderness tomorrow. I’d advise you to place your bets on the Earth Ranking filled with Origin Core cultivators.”

Just like how any concept with potential was followed by business opportunities, any bustling civilization was followed by gambling opportunities.

Gambling was something that existed anywhere, just like murder and prostitution. These were probably the three activities that existed for the longest time in human history.

“Hoho, just look at how much fanfare they’ve come with. I think they’ve already secretly decided among themselves who would make it to the top ranks. Otherwise, if a powerful faction like the Fengyun Court gets defeated by some unknown wandering cultivator, they’d be so embarrassed,” said Gu Suihan with a disdainful sneer. Such rankings were nothing more than a list of names, but these were exactly the things that these reputable families and factions went after. Absolutely shameless people.

“You make very good sense,” said Boss Zhang with a sigh after thinking about it. “I’ll sort out the information about the cultivators on the Human Ranking and send it to you later.”

“Thanks,” said Gu Suihan as he clasped one palm over his other fist politely. He then flung a jade slip to Boss Zhang. “We’ve gotten fairly close and I know some of the issues you have with your cultivation technique. You’ll find a way to improve it inside, chew on it.”

Boss Zhang gasped a little in shock and cast the piece of pork trotters in his hands aside. He disregarded how oily his fingers were and grabbed the jade slip before sending his spiritual sense into it.

A moment later, he withdrew his spiritual sense and stared excitedly at Gu Suihan. He said very solemnly, “Mr. Gu, the favor you have done me is going to transform me completely. I don’t care what happens – if you need anything, just let me know.”

Boss Zhang’s cultivation technique was a pretty old one that was found incomplete, and even after someone tried to fill the rest in, it still seemed awkward somehow. This had bothered him for so many years, but it had now been resolved by Gu Suihan.

“Hoho! Get me a table of dishes. I don’t think Fengyun Yu would notice this little bit of money, so put my order on his tab. Besides, given his status, I don’t think he’d even check the final bill,” said Gu Suihan before finding a random table to sit down. He said in a cheeky voice, “Get me the best you’ve got.”

“Brother Gu always has the best taste!” An equally cheeky smile spread across Boss Zhang’s plump face as he skipped all the way to the kitchen. He didn’t carry himself like an Origin Core cultivator at all.

**The Clacker’s Cold Dish Collection**

Today’s snack recommendation: It might sound a bit weird but if you leave pig/chicken skin long enough in the fridge after cooking, the gelatin in the skin will become a jelly. The pork trotter version is really yums because the pork is braised in lovely spices. The recipe in this link adds gelatin but technically you don’t need it? Umami: —**_

Of course, a large variety of pork trotter related snacks are available, including basic braised ones (Korea has jokbal). But I love the chilled ones and so I shall imagine that’s what they’re snacking on. =D

TL/N: OMG I love theeeese 

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