On the official road.
Gu Sheng’s figure sped swiftly, constantly keeping an eye on the mountain forests on either side. Although this wasn’t his first time venturing into the city alone, Gu Sheng maintained his usual caution, guarding against being ambushed by mountain bandits.
The Jade Skin Realm wasn’t invincible; being surrounded in an attack still posed certain dangers.
Fortunately, Gu Sheng’s perception skills exceeded those of ordinary martial artists in the Jade Skin Realm.
However, ordinary mountain bandits wouldn’t dare provoke Gu Sheng. At the very least, they’d need a leader in the Jade Skin Realm; otherwise, it would be futile. Gu Sheng actually somewhat hoped for less competent mountain bandits to show up, as it might bring him some extra income.
Thankfully, the journey remained uneventful and free of danger.
In just two hours, Gu Sheng arrived outside Canghe County’s city gates. Calming his aura, he followed protocol to queue up, pay the fee, and obtain a road pass, successfully entering the city.
It was now the second year of the Guangxing era.
Since Liu Yuanhu took over as acting county magistrate, he stirred up quite a commotion. In essence, he ceded some benefits, allowing the common folk at the bottom to live slightly more comfortably. The faces of the people traversing the city streets were visibly better than before.
Gu Sheng navigated with ease.
Not accompanying Gu’s Manor into the city, he had to find accommodations on his own. He casually chose a small inn to settle, then carried tiger skins, tiger bones, and other goods for sale to the households he’d previously established connections with.
Gu Sheng’s skins were always of excellent quality. After setting up stalls in the market a few times, he forged connections with several buyers who expressed willingness to purchase his skins at high prices.
Nonetheless, Gu Sheng was habitually cautious.
This time, the goods held significant value, worth at least sixty taels of silver. To avoid unnecessary trouble, he divided the tiger skins, tiger bones, tiger penis, and other items among several buyers, mostly choosing affluent households to deter greed.
Even so.
Gu Sheng still sensed that the stewards of two households had a somewhat peculiar gaze when looking at him.
Splitting the sales across multiple buyers; even twenty taels or so was no small fortune.
Gu Sheng silently made a mental note and returned to the inn.
He began tallying the silver he’d brought this time.
Apart from some jewelry and accessories buried in the courtyard at home, he’d brought half of his ready cash. Added to the income from this sale, he now had roughly one hundred and twenty taels of silver!
Blood Nourishing Powder wasn’t cheap; each portion cost five taels of silver. While this amount seemed substantial, it was only enough to purchase about twenty portions.
Moreover, Gu Sheng also needed custom-made arrows and weapons.
If he encountered suitable body refining martial arts, those would require funds as well.
Reflecting on this, Gu Sheng immediately felt that he was still quite poor.
"Martial arts truly are bottomless money pits!"
"If measured in silver, even with talent, attaining Refining Skin Realm requires an expenditure of at least a hundred taels of silver. Blood Refining Realm demands at least a thousand taels, perhaps even more."
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