Crossing the Cultivation Realm: Two Souls Coexist

Tingfeng Tower is located in the prosperous area of Haitian City. It is five stories high, with flying eaves and pointed corners, and is simple and elegant.

The building is filled with melodious piano music and the fragrance of tea, making it a famous elegant place in Haitian City.

The two men made their way through the bustling crowd and arrived at Tingfeng Tower. Zhao Tiezhu led Gu Yang up to the third floor with ease, where the environment was more tranquil and suitable for confidential conversation.

They were led into an elegant private room. Zhao Tiezhu knocked gently on the door, three long and two short knocks, which was exactly the signal they had agreed on.

Soon, the door was opened and the two entered the room. Gu Yang also saw the candidate.

The candidate was gentle and elegant, with an extraordinary temperament, but there was also a hint of worry between his brows.

"Brother Li, this is Gu Yang. He also missed the registration time because of the bandits' attack." Zhao Tiezhu introduced.

Li Wenyuan's eyes lit up and he nodded to Gu Yang, "Brother Gu, I've heard a lot about you. My name is Li Wenyuan. I also encountered bandits on the way. Although I escaped by luck, I missed the exam. Three of us were killed by bandits. It seems that this matter is not that simple."

The three of them sat together and began to share their experiences.

Gu Yang and Zhao Tiezhu described in detail their encounters with bandits, and Li Wenyuan also shared his experiences.

The three found that although the details were different, the bandits' action patterns and timing choices were extremely precise.

Li Wenyuan sighed, his face bitter, and told the intelligence he had collected over the past two days:

"You two, the story behind this is too complicated. I've been inquiring about the situation at Tingfeng Tower these past two days. This matter may be related to the current Prince Zhu.

The eldest son of the Zhu family is a genius in cultivation. He has reached the early stage of Jindan at the age of 24 and is now stationed in the border army of the East China Sea Kingdom.

The second son of the Zhu family only reached the middle stage of the Body Tempering Stage at the age of 18, having relied on medicinal pills to achieve this level. This incident is likely related to him. It is said that Prince Zhu had almost everything in his power to ensure that his useless son could take the imperial examination.

Li Wenyuan took a sip of tea and ignored the other two's surprised looks and continued:

"Because Prince Zhu had made great military achievements in the past, he was a founding hero of the East Sea Kingdom and the only prince of a different surname in the East Sea Kingdom. Therefore, the emperor turned a blind eye to this matter and let Prince Zhu handle it.

But I didn't expect Prince Zhu to be so cruel that he would privately communicate with bandits to block or even kill candidates from other remote areas.

I looked up the scientific expeditions of the East Sea Nation over the past five years, and candidates from remote areas accounted for one-third of the list. But this time, it seems that only three of us are participating. The others may already be... gone.

Li Wenyuan drank the tea in one gulp, stood up and looked out the window, leaving some time for the two of them to digest it.

Li Wenyuan's voice echoed in the box of Tingfeng Tower. The truth he revealed shocked and angered Gu Yang and Zhao Tiezhu.

In order to ensure that his second son would stand out in the imperial examination, Prince Zhu of Donghai State resorted to all means and bribed bandits to brutally kill candidates in remote areas. This behavior was undoubtedly a great blasphemy to the fairness of the imperial examination.

"This... this is simply insane!" Gu Yang clenched his fists, his eyes flashing with anger.

Zhao Tiezhu was also filled with indignation. "The prince's actions not only undermine the fairness of the imperial examination, but also show disregard for the lives of countless students. We cannot sit idly by and do nothing. We must expose his crimes."

Hu Qing's soul also felt deep indignation within Gu Yang. "Brother Gu, they are right. We cannot let this injustice continue. We must gather evidence and expose Prince Zhu's crimes to the public."

Li Wenyuan smiled bitterly and said, "The key now is to have evidence. We must speak based on the evidence. Otherwise, we are framing the prince, which is a capital crime!"

When Zhao Tiezhu and Gu Yang heard Li Wenyuan's words, their passion was immediately extinguished.

Hu Qing had been listening quietly inside Gu Yang's body. He proposed some modern investigation and analysis methods:

"Brother Gu, don't worry. We can analyze the bandits' movement patterns, weapons used, and their goals. If Prince Zhu is really behind this, then they must have some kind of profit transfer."

Gu Yang's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he quickly told the two of them Hu Qing's idea.

After hearing this, Zhao Tiezhu and Li Wenyuan both felt that Gu Yang's words made sense.

The three decided to divide the work and cooperate. Zhao Tiezhu and Li Wenyuan, who were both very capable, went out of the city to collect evidence of Prince Zhu's collusion with the bandits.

Gu Yang went to the vicinity of the county government's Li Gate to look for possible survivors and collect more first-hand information.

"We also need a secure communication method to ensure that our actions will not be discovered by Prince Zhu. The imperial examination will begin in three days, so we have to hurry." Li Wenyuan said in a deep voice.

Gu Yang nodded, "We can set up some secret codes and meeting places to ensure the safe transmission of information."

Zhao Tiezhu also added, "We also need to prepare some means of self-defense in case we are hunted or attacked by Prince Zhu."

The three of them conspired for a long time in the box of Tingfeng Tower and formulated a detailed action plan.

They knew it would be a race against time and every step had to be taken carefully to avoid alerting the enemy.

The three decided to act immediately. They knew it would be a fight full of dangers, but for the sake of justice, they were willing to take all risks.

Zhao Tiezhu and Li Wenyuan quickly left the city, leaving Gu Yang alone at the door of Tingfeng Tower.

"Ah Qing, it looks like we're the only two left. It's great to have you here. But I don't have much money left. It looks like we'll have to eat dirt for the next three days."

Faced with the sudden economic difficulties, Gu Yang couldn't help feeling a little anxious as he stood in the prosperous Haitian City.

He held tightly in his hand his only possession - a low-grade spirit stone, and pondered how to spend the next three days.

Hu Qing sensed Gu Yang's anxiety and offered a suggestion: "Brother Gu, we can use this spirit stone as capital to try to start a small business or find some temporary work. In the meantime, we can also observe around the county government's ceremonial room. Perhaps we'll find some new clues."

Gu Yang thought Hu Qing's suggestion made sense, but his hunting skills seemed to be of little use in the city, so he asked Hu Qing:

"Ah Qing, but I only know how to hunt. I'm not very good at physical work because I need to observe the situation in the county government's etiquette room."

"This is simple, but you have to abandon your moral bottom line. Doing it once can allow us to live for two weeks or even a month." Hu Qing thought of the way some people made money in their previous life.

Gu Yang showed a horrified expression and said, "Ah Qing, you don't want me to sell it, right? I'm not as good as Long Yang!"

Hu Qing looked at Gu Yang helplessly, and whispered his plan into Gu Yang's ear.

Hu Qing's proposal was very practical. Using the low-grade spirit stones in Gu Yang's hands to purchase raw materials, and then using his own craftsmanship to make food and sell it was a way to make money quickly.

Following Hu Qing's advice, Gu Yang went to the local market to purchase ingredients such as dried fruits, nuts, grains and sugar.

At the market, Gu Yang carefully selected fresh dried fruits and nuts, as well as some common local grains.

He used the remaining money to buy some sugar, which is an indispensable ingredient in making food.

(This world has ordinary people. Ordinary people use copper coins, silver coins, and gold coins, and the exchange rate between them is also one to one hundred. One low-grade spirit stone is equivalent to about 50 silver coins, but 50 silver coins cannot buy spirit stones.)

After completing the purchase, Gu Yang looked for families near the market who were willing to rent out their kitchens.

In Haitian City, renting kitchens to small vendors is not a new thing. He soon found a family willing to rent their kitchen and reached an agreement at a reasonable price. He also spent his last dollar.

In the borrowed kitchen, Gu Yang began to get busy.

Under Hu Qing's command, he first chopped the dried fruits and nuts, then cooked the grains and mixed them evenly with white sugar.

Then, he spread the mixed ingredients in the mold layer by layer, compacting each layer to ensure that the food has a firm and elastic texture.

After a busy period, Gu Yang made the first batch of cakes. He placed the cakes on a clean wooden board to cool, and covered them with a white cloth.

Since it takes a certain amount of time to make the cake, Gu Yang plans to sleep in the yard for one night and go to the door of the gift room to sell it tomorrow morning.

The next morning, Gu Yang returned to the county government office with his freshly made cakes. He chose a crowded spot and displayed his cakes.

Hu Qing began to give him business training: "If ordinary people come to buy it later, we will sell it at 5 copper coins per tael. We don't want to make money at a loss.

If a wealthy person comes to buy it, we can make a killing based on his strength, and then if we can't defeat him, we can just charge at the county government office. We just need to be right first."

Gu Yang nodded in approval and started selling while looking towards the gift room of the county government office.