I am just a mortal, why do you all worship me as a saint?

Chapter 42: Gift of a Calligraphy

"Keep this calligraphy."

Gu Heng knew that he couldn't persuade this old man; he should just let him think it over slowly and figure it out himself.

After all, you're an adult. You can't be like that old man Zhuge Qian, who got stuck on a rut just because his skill was inferior to Zhuge Qian's.

But the old man was suddenly startled: "Young Master Gu is going to give me this calligraphy?!"

"Yes, I've given it to you."

Gu Heng shrugged indifferently.

Anyway, it's just something I wrote down casually. It was originally meant for this old man to carve a signboard for, so why keep it? "Besides, you still need this. Don't forget to carve my signboard. My clinic can't be without a signboard, or people will think I'm doing some kind of thieving or fraudulent business."

Gu Heng left after saying those words.

He has other things to do.

After Gu Heng left, it took Old Gu a long time to recover from his shock. He picked up the scroll with the four characters "Gu's Medical Clinic" written on it, his withered hands trembling, and he was so excited that his breathing became rapid.

He murmured, "Young Master Gu, thank you..."

Old Gu knew how incalculable the value of this calligraphy was.

The Daoist principles contained within it will allow him to break through once again!

Then, he noticed Lu Yan, who was still looking quite nervous with his eyes closed. He sighed and said irritably, "Alright, kid, open your eyes. The intent in this scroll can't kill you."

Hearing this, Lu Yan slowly opened his eyes. He was genuinely afraid.

The moment the old man unfurled the scroll, he only caught a glimpse of the shortest stroke of the character, yet he already felt death approaching.

Even if he had only read one word, he might already be bleeding from all seven orifices and dead.

"Senior Gu, who was that person just now—"

"Don't be so presumptuous!"

Old Gu slammed his hand on the table, startling Lu Yan, whose face paled even more.

"Do you know who that young master Gu was?"

He shook his head.

"That's a powerful figure who could wipe out the Sunfire Dynasty in an instant with just a flick of his finger! Don't let his youth fool you, he's actually way older than me!"

Lu Yan's eyes widened in disbelief. He never imagined that such a terrifyingly powerful being would be in Yunling City.

The old man glared sternly at Lu Yan and warned, "You have already offended him greatly. Fortunately, he has a good temper. He lives in seclusion in the mortal world and has an excellent character. Otherwise, not to mention you, your Lu family would never have been able to withstand his wrath!"

"What just happened must not be told to anyone, or they will surely die!"

As the old man spoke the last word, his voice suddenly turned cold, filled with murderous intent, and Lu Yan felt his body suddenly turn icy cold.

The old man knew very well that the thing these powerful figures who lived in seclusion in the city hated most was having cultivators discover their existence and come to their door to bother them. He himself had been living in seclusion for decades, so of course he knew this.

If you're going to descend to the mortal realm, you have to do it thoroughly.

Even when visiting someone's home, you must never act like a cultivator; you must act like an ordinary person. Otherwise, you might disturb their peace of mind in the mundane world!

He was terrified that Lu Yan might act impulsively and blurt out about that powerful figure...

Do you even want to live?

Lu Yan nodded hurriedly and assured him, "I absolutely will not reveal the secret!"

Despite saying this, Lu Yan felt incredibly bitter inside. His mind was filled with the image of him accidentally offending such a terrifying being, and he was going to tell others about it? If he did, he would only scare them half to death as well.

"Fine, since we've both encountered this situation, I won't treat you unfairly."

"Moreover, the senior's evaluation of you was quite good. It seems that although your talent is nothing special in his eyes, it also shows that he thinks you are a promising talent."

Old Gu remembered what Gu Heng had said to Lu Yan earlier: "His talent is slightly inferior." Such words might be just a casual remark from the mouth of a master, but Old Gu knew very well that he had entered the Dao through calligraphy and was almost obsessed to the point of demonic madness. However, he dared not say that he deserved the evaluation of "slightly inferior talent."

Therefore, the senior's meaning is quite clear.

Old Gu will definitely not lose out by taking Lu Yan as his disciple!

He stared at the somewhat reserved Lu Yan for a long time before finally slapping his thigh.

"I, Gu Yin, have never taken on any disciples before, but from this day forward, if you, Lu Yan, wish to be my disciple, then I shall accept you! However, how far you can go depends on your own understanding!"

Upon hearing this, Lu Yan's face lit up with joy. Without regard for anything else, he knelt down and performed the apprenticeship ceremony.

"Greetings, Master!"

……

It only took a few hours to travel from the Black Forest Gang's stronghold to Yunling City. Chong Jiu led four or five Foundation Establishment stage cultivators into the city, and soon, guided by someone from the previous night, they arrived at the alleyway.

"This is it."

The man spoke tremblingly, while Chong Jiu merely glanced into the depths of the alley before turning his gaze to the somewhat dilapidated shop across the alley.

There's a small courtyard outside. The house is new and doesn't have a sign. If what that unlucky guy said is true, there's a young cultivator living here who should be at the Core Formation stage, on par with their Black Forest Gang leader.

Chongjiu stared at that spot for a long time.

I couldn't see anything.

But he couldn't just walk in and knock on their door so openly; that would be tantamount to stepping into a trap.

If the other party is completely unafraid of the Black Forest Gang's retaliation, then there are only two possibilities—either he is stronger than the gang leader Huang Su and is a Nascent Soul stage cultivator, or he is not that strong but has anticipated the Black Forest Gang's retaliation and has taken precautions in advance.

No matter how you look at it, he definitely can't just go in.

Otherwise, the result would definitely be death.

"Huh? Who is that?"

Chongjiu suddenly noticed that a delicate young girl came out of the clinic. She was quite pretty. She practiced a few sets of boxing and palm techniques in the courtyard and then went back inside.

"Hey, that's the brat from last night!"

"A burly man who survived last night stared at her with wide eyes and said..."

"what?"

Chongjiu frowned. "Didn't you say the one you were pursuing was a man? This is a girl."

"I know it's a woman."

The burly man said somewhat embarrassedly, "How did you know? Last night I couldn't tell it was a woman at all. She was so thin and dressed in rags. I thought she was just a kid."

Another person asked in confusion.

"...Because when I looked at him last night, he didn't get an erection, which means he must be a woman."

"..."

Everyone tacitly kept their distance from the guy who had spoken.

"If that's the case, the treasure that girl stole is probably already in that cultivator's hands. Damn it!"

Chong Jiu angrily said that although the few subordinates he brought were also at the Foundation Establishment stage, their abilities were definitely not enough to deal with a Core Formation stage cultivator, or even a more powerful Nascent Soul stage cultivator.

He was thinking about countermeasures.

Finally, a good idea came to him. He was the strongest here, a third-level Core Formation cultivator, the most powerful, and the fastest runner; the others…

"You guys, go inside and check out the situation."

Chongjiu raised his hand and pointed to the clinic across the alley.

"Yes!"

Everyone readily agreed and quickly dispersed.

Chongjiu watched them leave before quietly slipping into the depths of the alley, intending to find a suitable corner to hide in and observe what would happen.

The room was quiet; apart from the delicate girl, there was no one else there.

The five men swaggered in through the front courtyard, looking around and discovering that it was a clinic.

"Is that guy an alchemist/physician?"

One of them said.

"Hmph, so what? He's all alone. He's messed with the Black Forest Gang, how can we let him get away with it so easily?" another person said.

Just as everyone was about to push their way in, someone suddenly spotted a rather beautiful and petite silver cat on top of the medicine cabinet.

"Huh? What an adorable kitten."

The cat was curled up in a ball, fast asleep with its eyes closed, seemingly unaware that someone had come in.

But as soon as he finished speaking, the cat suddenly opened its eyes, as if a sharp red light had flashed through the air. In just an instant, a power so immense that they could not even perceive it clearly pressed down from all directions!

Without even a scream, the five Foundation Establishment cultivators vanished into thin air.

Chongjiu was terrified, feeling the hairs on his body stand on end and his heart pounding wildly!

We've fallen into a trap!

We've definitely fallen into a trap! Sure enough, it was the right thing for him to send those good-for-nothings to scout ahead first. Otherwise, even with his Core Formation stage cultivation, he probably wouldn't have survived if he had gone in himself!

Chongjiu was so frightened that he ran away through the alley in a flash.

"There's still one alive."

In the corner, the ancient lamp cast a faint white light.

"He can't escape... With such little strength, he dares to cause trouble for the master. These guys are incredibly ignorant."

Su Jinxi flicked her tail and said indifferently.

Before Chongjiu had run even a street away, that force suddenly enveloped him. When his legs suddenly became immobile, Chongjiu was filled with horror, but then he understood...

It's not a trap.

Rather, their strength far exceeded their expectations—

My thoughts shattered instantly.

On this road with many pedestrians, Chongjiu's body was suddenly crushed, blood and flesh flying everywhere, causing gasps and commotion among the surrounding people.

We cannot allow the blood of those ants to taint this clinic that they regard as a treasure.

As for outside the clinic?

Su Jinxi simply ignored it.

……

Gu Heng returned to the clinic, tossed a sugar pill to Su Jinxi on the medicine cabinet, and she easily opened her mouth, caught it, swallowed it, and then continued to lie down and play with her cat paws.

Everything is ready; all that's left is for the old man to carve the signboard and deliver it so the clinic can open for business.

At this moment, Qin Yiyao was in the back hall, looking at Gu Heng's rather conspicuous casting table.

Hearing the sound of the curtain being lifted, she turned around and met Gu Heng's gaze. "Hmm, I see you've regained some strength."

Gu Heng nodded in satisfaction.