Dao Equaling the Heavens
Chapter 89 - 77: Entering the Luo River, Witnessing the Great World Conflict

Chapter 89: Chapter 77: Entering the Luo River, Witnessing the Great World Conflict

In the month of August in Luodu, the market opened at midday, drawing people from all over the world and gathering commodities from every corner to trade and then disperse, each obtaining what they sought.

The market was divided into thirteen categories, including mountains of herbal ingredients and treasures, tea market, horse market, vegetable market, rice market, and the like, which were common marketplaces. Additionally, there were markets that opened seasonally.

In March, the silk market; in April, the brocade market; in May, the fan market; in June, the fragrance market; in July, the seven treasures market; in August, the cassia market; in September, the herbal market.

The prosperity of Luodu lay in the fact that, year-round, eight of the thirteen markets were open. If there was no merchandise delivered from one place, naturally, merchants from other areas would bring their goods to sell, and there were always substitutes available if needed.

Gu Wen and his companions walked through the herbal market, their eyes dazzled by all kinds of exotic treasures. Gu Wen purchased anything that possessed spiritual qualities. By the end of their trip, he had spent over a hundred silver taels, although he had only stolen three hundred from the official ship.

Silver was indeed valuable, but Gu Wen had stayed at Dragon Bridge for so long that his threshold was quite high.

However, the herbs he bought were not very good, as consuming all of them would not even yield a year’s worth of Heavenly Marrow. According to Ao Tang, they were all auxiliary herbs, unable to serve as the main ingredients in alchemy, but still better than none as they saved them the trouble of searching themselves.

Suddenly, a surge of mana fluctuated, making Gu Wen’s ears twitch as if he knew beforehand, and he looked toward the eaves to the southeast. There stood a three-story tavern, which stood out like a crane among chickens in the whole capital.

Immediately following, two figures soared into the sky, stepping on the silk tassels hanging from the eaves, standing on opposite ends of the roof just like characters from a martial arts novel—one wielding a sword, the other a spear.

This instantly caused countless people below to exclaim in surprise and gather around to watch.

"The twenty-second on the Ren list, Luo Bing, please enlighten me, Brother."

"The eleventh on the Ren list, Hee Huan."

The two combatants fought within a space less than ten steps across on the eaves. Sword and spear clashed, the swordsman moving with great swings, the spearman like a roaming dragon, each displaying their own style yet clearly beyond the capabilities of ordinary people.

Watching the spearman in flowing white robes, Gu Wen expressed his surprise, "What is he doing here?"

Ao Tang transmitted a message asking, "You know him?"

"Hee Huan, he’s sort of a friend of mine. He was previously in Bianjing, but now he has come to Luo River."

Gu Wen felt somewhat dazed, not expecting that a month had already passed since he escaped from Bianjing and made his intermittent journey to Luo River.

And it had also been a month since he transitioned from a household servant to a man of freedom.

Ao Tang stared intently at Hee Huan, soon recognizing him, "It turns out he’s that youngster from the Yin Yang Two Qi Sect. I remember his talents being quite remarkable, possessing an extremely Yang body, which allows him to rapidly increase his cultivation just by mating with a woman."

"Is there such a divine physique?" Gu Wen inhaled sharply in astonishment, then transmitted, "Doesn’t that mean that as long as there’s enough Yin and Yang integration, he could become an Immortal?"

His interest in carnal activities only extended to physiological responses, which he could completely restrain after cultivating; thus, he wasn’t much interested. However, the prospect of increasing his cultivation was a different matter, especially since this extremely Yang body matched the memory of an old ancestor in his mind.

The Yellow Emperor took three thousand women, ascending to heaven in broad daylight.

There were also tales of the Yellow Emperor taking twelve hundred women and becoming Immortal, but all essentially revolved around the topic of Yin and Yang integration. The cultivators of this world similarly did not resist Yin and Yang integration, their philosophies just differed, with only the Pure Cultivation Sect advocating for purity and minimal desires.

Both Buddhist Sects have the Joyful Buddha, and the Daoist Sects even more so embrace the Yin Yang Sect.

Ao Tang explained, "In theory, this type of magic skill aligns most closely with the natural order, but beyond the Fourth Realm, their strength falls into the lower tiers. However, this youngster is extremely astute, not swayed by physical beauty, hence avoiding many karmic entanglements."

"What is this again?"

Gu Wen thought of the other person’s preference, marrying only for love. There is a song lyric that goes "You ask me how deeply I love you", beyond that, status, appearance, and chastity were not considered.

He Huan might have had hundreds of wives, but he did not feel the other person was living in the Crystal Palace, rather he seemed to be running a charity.

Ao Tang countered, "Suppose you were betrothed to a highly favored lady and then sought another due to compatibility of physique and cultivation technique, what would happen?"

Gu Wen glanced unintentionally at Yu Hua next to him, then answered, "I would die."

"At the very least, turn into sworn enemies, that’s karma," Ao Tang said in a lecturing tone, "Although I enjoy watching young people in love, Second Ancestor, you should be careful, and especially prudent regarding affairs between men and women."

"Love is inherently chaotic, best not to delve into it."

"Wise indeed."

While they were talking, the victor was decided above them, He Huan shot his opponent down, who crashed into a brothel on the neighboring street. Instantly, screams of women filled the air, and the surrounding onlookers clogged the road to a standstill.

It was just a match, but it caused chaos across several streets.

He Huan roared with laughter, then, holding his gun, pointed downward, though the building blocked the view and it was unclear at whom he aimed.

"You all together might still not be able to take my eleventh place in the ranking."

"And how did you lose the tenth spot?"

"Hmph, I lost to Brother Red Dust because I was outclassed. Do any of you have a dharma form? Trying to show off here and welcome all heroes, barely a few of you are competent, just a bunch of chickens and dogs."

Perhaps his arrogance had spurred another, as another individual soared into the air, initiating a fierce battle with He Huan, and predictably, also lost.

Gu Wen settled down in a nearby tea house, where singing filled his ears, and where his gaze rested upon Mr. Xiao stepping on the Luo River and despising all geniuses, truly displaying the demeanor worthy of the eleventh place in the ranking.

Old Hee still had his fight in him.

Meanwhile, the audience in the tea house, familiar with these figures, even knew their rankings.

"The twenty-first talisman genius in the ranking, the fifteenth Sword Dao prodigy, and the ninth Vajra on the Land list ..." - such discussions and arguments about who would win against whom continuously echoed around the dining tables.

As for the exact nature of these worldly entrants, the common people knew nothing except that a month ago, more and more strange and extraordinary events began flooding in, with daily fights breaking out. Initially, people hid at the sight of them flying around, but gradually, they became unafraid.

Inside the tea house, the storyteller, with a clear and loud voice, said, "Last time, Master Bujie fought against Fuyun Fairy, Gong Ruoyun by the riverside, Fuyun Fairy, Gong Ruoyun, of the Yunxiao Sword Sect, the fourth armed forces family, was born to make the moon shy and flowers bloom, and her swordsmanship is unmatched except by grandmasters..."

Upstairs, Gu Wen threw down a piece of silver and asked, "Old sir, then who is the fifth from this armed family?"

The storyteller picked up the silver, bowed, and replied, "To this sir, these are all tales from outsiders, we commoners don’t know; only that the first is Broken Sword Mountain, the second Qianlong Manor, the third Mixed Element Sect, and the fourth Yunxiao Sword Sect."

"And this number one is none other than the famed swordsman from Luo River, Xiao Yunyi of Qingfeng Sword. Presently, it must be said that Mr. Xiao single-handedly overcame Lianyun Village, severing the river with one stroke, a deed rumored to be connected to an engagement with Fuyun Fairy."

Chanting the fame of the beautiful lady, single-handedly eliminating bandits, the hero as strong as yanking out mountains.

It was a spectacle that captured everyone’s attention, giving off an air of an epic age of contention.

Such scenes were absolutely unseen in Bianjing, where all the entrants strictly adhered to the rules, thereby making Gu Wen unaware of the existence of cultivators for a long time.

The whole world might belong to the Zhao family in Bianjing alone, but in reality, the sect and the Zhao family shared domination over the world.