Chapter 53: Worldly Affairs Are as Brief as a Spring Dream

The Jellyfish Protector. As a Protector, he must keep his identity hidden under normal circumstances.

The best way to hide is to conceal one's true identity within the common folk.

He is hiding in the Flower, Bird, Fish, and Pet Market.

However, the market is crowded with merchants and pedestrians; which one is him? It will take time to find.

Furthermore, due to the ongoing great war, the market is currently closed and will only reopen once the conflict ends.

Nevertheless, the Jellyfish Protector has already revealed his traces; sooner or later, he will be found and pinned down!

Luo Zhou was extremely pleased as he returned home.

On the eighth day, there was basically no more fighting.

On the ninth day, the sea beasts departed, the water vapor trapping the city dissipated automatically, and the tide receded.

The official road to Fengtian was clear for travel.

The city's protective formation did not need to be activated and slowly faded away.

As the formation dissipated, cheers erupted throughout the entire city!

In this catastrophe, the sea beasts had not breached the city walls, nor had they engaged in urban street fighting, unlike five years ago when many people died.

The Cuiling City authorities announced the lifting of martial law and the commencement of reward exchanges.

Three days later, hero funerals would be held, followed by a grand celebration to mark Cuiling City's survival of the sea beast catastrophe.

Feasts would be laid out on the long streets for three days, with free food and drink available to all.

The reason for the three-day delay before the burials was to allow for necessary preparations.

With the catastrophe deemed over, Luo Zhou went to exchange his rewards.

In front of the Armory, there was a massive crowd of cultivators coming to make exchanges.

A small market had even spontaneously formed in front of the gates, where people traded goods and exchanged their spoils from the catastrophe.

Luo Zhou arrived at the Armory to exchange his military merit scrolls.

Unfortunately, Deacon Li was too busy to be seen.

The merit scrolls were successfully exchanged for Fragmented Spirit Stones, down to the last decimal.

This was the foundation of the city; otherwise, who would risk their life for the city next time?

However, they were all given in Fragmented Spirit Stones rather than Spirit Stones to avoid losing small change in the conversion.

Luo Zhou left the Armory and took a stroll through the spontaneous market.

Everywhere he went, countless cultivators greeted him.

"Little Brother Luo, you're here?"

"Young Master Zhou, I've got some good goods here!"

"Have a cup of honey water to cool down!"

"Young Master Zhou, are you engaged? My niece is very beautiful, would you like to meet her?"

The reputation of the "Skull Crusher" was not unearned.

Below the Qi Refining stage, no one in Cuiling City disputed that he was the premier body cultivator.

Moreover, since Luo Zhou was only a youth and would inevitably advance to Qi Refining or even Foundation Establishment, everyone around him was eager to build a good relationship.

If he were to be killed by the Head-Exploding Demon in the future...

The people of Cuiling City never cared about the future; they only cared about today!

Luo Zhou smiled and answered them one by one as he wandered.

Everything was being sold, and there were various buyers as well.

In this battle, many people were selling the various spoils obtained from killing sea beasts.

Few were like Luo Zhou—young people who only focused on the killing and didn't bother to scavenge the catches themselves.

Luo Zhou slapped his thigh; he had lost at least a dozen Spirit Stones!

Next time, he must be smarter!

After circling around, Luo Zhou's eyes suddenly lit up. There was a merchant specializing in selling second-hand Universe Bags.

It turned out that once a Universe Bag is used, it becomes inconvenient to keep, so it can only be destroyed.

Everyone said Universe Bags were great once used; they were a must-have. Luo Zhou decided to buy another one.

After much selection, he chose a Universe Bag with four-way spatial compartments.

The price was not cheap, costing 27,000 Fragmented Spirit Stones.

But Luo Zhou gritted his teeth and bought it!

It was eighty percent new and could be used for many years.

Once the transaction was complete, it had to be notarized by a government official.

This was to ensure the second-hand Universe Bag wasn't stolen property, which would invite unnecessary enmity.

With official notarization and a record on file, and since the other party was a legitimate merchant, there would be no fear of future issues.

The notary fee was included in the 27,000 Fragmented Spirit Stones.

Having spent a large sum, Luo Zhou thought that he had to recoup his losses.

He went home and sold his two sets of armor and many weapons—everything except his Tungsten Mace.

These armors and weapons held little significance for the current Luo Zhou, so he disposed of them.

He did not sell his pills, keeping them for himself.

After all his maneuvering, Luo Zhou ended up with 73,521 Fragmented Spirit Stones.

While wandering through more than half the market, Luo Zhou suddenly saw a merchant selling a Golden Talisman!

It was exactly the golden talisman belonging to Zhang Youzhi, shimmering with gold and containing infinite power.

Dozens of cultivators surrounded it, filled with envy.

Some offered prices to buy it, but the merchant set an extremely high price and didn't actually seem interested in selling; he was just displaying it for show.

Speechless, Luo Zhou lost all desire to browse the market and turned to leave.

The Dao Academy also resumed classes.

Upon returning to the academy, news of the deaths of various students arrived one after another.

From Class One: Li Zexi, Huang Ying, Shi Zhixia; Class Two: Ye Zhiwen, Gu Hui, Zhang Lei; Class Three: Di Dong, Zhao Fei, Liu Mingyu.

A total of nine people had died. Zhao Fei and Liu Mingyu were not killed by Zhang Youzhi, but had simply met with misfortune.

Out of the sixty-one students in the Immortal Sprout three classes, only fifty-two remained.

However, seemingly stimulated by the sea beast catastrophe, five students from the ordinary classes had awakened their spiritual nature and joined Class Three.

Under the guidance of the Immortal Elders, everyone held a period of mourning.

When Dao Academy students died like this, the academy would specially dispatch Immortal Elders to collect the bodies for cremation.

This had been the custom for many years, and everyone was used to it.

Luo Zhou silently observed; those students who had hidden divine abilities had all unsealed them.

Cui Jian's "Errant Light Gold Carving," Zhang Quan's "Bull Demon Transformation," and Yuan Zhen's "Night Sky Whispers."

Luo Zhou lusted after them!

Zhang Youzhi's death was treated with the same indifference as his arrival; no one cared.

Only Tang Moli remained obsessed, searching everywhere in hopes of obtaining a reward from Zhang Youzhi.

Soon, news arrived that the government had confirmed the golden talisman in the market was a Talisman Treasure, which was ultimately purchased by the government at a high price.

Making a fortune from a disaster was something people loved to hear about; news of it spread throughout the city in no time.

Three days later, the funerals were held. The entire city joined the procession to send off the cultivators and mortals who had died in this battle.

Over thirteen hundred people had died!

However, compared to five years ago, this was quite good.

The entire city was solemn and grave, with mourning music playing to honor the dead.

The bodies were mostly cremated to prevent them from turning into zombies or ghosts; instead, memorial graves could be built.

However, some were not cremated; those required large sums of money to construct special array-protected tombs to prevent any issues.

Luo Zhou's Universe Dharma Eye inadvertently discovered a stranger heading toward the Library Pavilion.

That very day, Tang Moli went missing!

Soon, rumors spread that the merchant who bought and sold the Talisman Treasure had also been arrested.

It was said that the Talisman Treasure was problematic!

Those who heard this were delighted; if it meant he lost his money, he deserved it!

Luo Zhou carefully put away the remaining three Dragon-Slaying Thorns and hid them at the Wang family residence.

The city held grand celebrations, inviting opera troupes and dance troupes from Fengtian for wild performances.

Feasts were laid out on the streets, with free food for three days.

The food was nothing special, mostly sea beast meat, but since it was free, who wouldn't be happy?

Whether it was sorrow or clamor, everything eventually passed.

Life had to go on, and gradually, everything returned to normal.

Once the funeral at the Flower, Bird, Fish, and Pet Market ended, business resumed.

Luo Zhou went there every day. During the days of the great war, the hired servant had attended to Luo Zhou's pets without missing a single day.

Even in the face of life and death, work was not neglected.

Luo Zhou was very satisfied, having the servant lead him through the market every day.

While it looked like Luo Zhou was studying small snakes and lizards every day, he was actually searching for the Jellyfish Protector!

Possessing the "Insect Emperor" talent, he had grown strangely fond of the market as he wandered.

Wandering here felt very comfortable, as if he were inspecting his own territory.

One day, just as Luo Zhou arrived at the academy, he was summoned to the Dean's office.

There, he saw Tang Moli and Yuan Qiuyun again.

Only Tang Moli looked like a wilted eggplant, having lost all his spirit.

Dean Zhao was accompanied by a cultivator.

This cultivator looked very ordinary, except his eyes seemed blind—there were no pupils, only pure white sclera.

"This is a White-Eyed cultivator from the Heaven and Earth Dao Sect. He has some questions for you. Remember, answer everything you know, and do not hold anything back!"

Luo Zhou nodded and looked at the man.

The White-Eyed man wore a smile, but those eyes were terrifying.

However, Luo Zhou felt inexplicably that this person was different from Zhang Youzhi; he belonged to the type of true righteous cultivator.

"Everyone, which of you remembers Zhang Youzhi?"

Luo Zhou asked hesitantly

"Zhang Youzhi? I think he was Immortal Zhang. I seem to have some memory of him, but I don't know why I can't remember him clearly?"

With the help of "Omniscience," Luo Zhou's performance was flawless.

Yuan Qiuyun was the same; she truly couldn't remember.

To be honest, aside from being pretty, this girl's abilities were quite mediocre.

He didn't know why Dean Zhao had chosen her as his disciple.

A complete waste, a useless vase.

Tang Moli gave a bitter smile. He was the only one who remembered clearly, and after searching everywhere, he had been taken away for interrogation for several days.

The White-Eyed man was merely following procedure and paid no mind to them.

Zhang Youzhi possessed great divine abilities, Talisman Treasures, and divinity; even Foundation Establishment cultivators would struggle against him. What was the point of questioning these children?

It was just a formality ordered by his superiors.

The interrogation ended quickly, and Tang Moli was released.

However, he was extremely sorrowful and couldn't help but say

"Immortal Zhang promised that I could choose any position in any government office in the Liang Kingdom capital! Where on earth did he go? Does the promise still count?"

The White-Eyed man, who hadn't walked far, couldn't help but laugh loudly

"Kid, stop dreaming. Forget him—even I wouldn't dare make such a promise! That fellow Zhang Youzhi is truly unreliable, promising anything and everything. You've been conned!"

Tang Moli stood there dazed before suddenly bursting into loud wails.

Whether it was because he had been deceived or because his dream had shattered, no one knew.

*Life is as brief as a spring dream, human connections as thin as autumn clouds. Do not fret over your hard labor, for all things are ultimately governed by fate.*