Demon Slaying, Gaining 60 Years of Cultivation From the Start

Song Yu said with a smile, "You've come at just the right time. There's a task that we need to undertake right now."

"What task?" Gu Chen's interest was immediately piqued.

"A raid," Song Yu said.

Hearing this, Gu Chen's eyebrows rose slightly. "Which martial sect or power?"

Song Yu shook his head slightly. "It's a Da Xia official."

Gu Chen asked in surprise, "A court official? Isn't that the jurisdiction of the Mingjing Department?"

Song Yu took a sip of tea, moistened his throat, and explained to Gu Chen, "This case is special. It should have been a matter for the Mingjing Department, but the Commandant suddenly died under mysterious circumstances two days ago. According to the intelligence, it might have been the work of a demon or ghost, which brings it under our Jing Tian Department's jurisdiction."

"Brother, you've just arrived, and luck is on your side. This is a good job," Song Yu said to Gu Chen with a smile and a knowing look.

Gu Chen immediately understood; how could he not grasp what Song Yu meant? It was simply a hint that during the raid, they could conveniently take some valuable items for themselves. It was the norm, and everyone tacitly understood without discussing it openly; no one would interfere.

Moreover, they were in charge of this task. As long as they didn't go too far, there would absolutely be no problem.

After all, who would determine how much property there was other than them?

Of course, from what Song Yu had said, this time the Jing Tian Department was joining forces with the Mingjing Department to enforce the law, a situation that had occurred a few times before though not often.

"When?" Gu Chen asked.

"Tomorrow. Meet here," Song Yu replied.

Gu Chen nodded, learned a bit more about the detailed situation at the Jing Tian Department headquarters, and then left.

When there were no tasks, life at the Jing Tian Department was rather leisurely. One could arrange their time freely, as long as they did not leave Tiandu.

"This is the beauty of being a government official," Gu Chen silently mused to himself.

After leaving the Jing Tian Department headquarters, Gu Chen wandered around the inner city for a while, picking out some antiques for his uncle Gu Chengfeng, and buying some jewelry, rouge, and powder for his aunt Xu Qinge and sister Gu Qingyan.

The last time he was in the inner city, he only experienced its prosperity, not daring to look too closely at anything, aware that with his yearly salary of a few hundred silver taels, he definitely couldn't afford anything too fancy.

But times had changed. Gu Chen was now a wealthy man. After the Evil Heart Sect ruins, he had obtained tens of thousands of silver taels in banknotes, and after selling those gold and silver pieces of jewelry, he would have at least tens of thousands more. Plus, he had robbed several thousand silver taels in banknotes from Luo Feng, so he was quite financially secure.

Gu Chen, looking at the wide streets and bustling crowds in the opulent inner city, suddenly felt like buying a property there.

But then he laughed at himself and shook his head, knowing that, even with his newfound wealth, it still wasn't enough to settle down in the inner city.

After all, purchasing a home was not just for him but for his uncle's family and the servants of Gu Mansion as well.

A decent residence in the outer city could be had for a few thousand taels, but in the inner city, it would take at least tens of thousands of taels to buy an average house.

Living in the capital was by no means easy.

"If only Da Xia had installment plans," Gu Chen lamented.

Carrying a pile of gifts, Gu Chen rented a horse-drawn carriage, left the inner city, and returned to Gu Mansion.

"The eldest young master is back!" Upon Gu Chen's return, Uncle Zhang, the gatekeeper, saw him and greeted him with a warm smile on his aged face.

Gu Chen took out some gifts from the package and handed them to Uncle Zhang, saying, "Uncle Zhang, thank you for your hard work all these years."

Seeing this, Uncle Zhang's face bloomed with happiness, and he felt somewhat embarrassed, but at Gu Chen's persistence, he accepted the gifts.

Later, upon entering Gu Mansion, Gu Chen found his uncle Gu Chengfeng stretching his body and practicing his martial arts in the courtyard, evidently almost fully recovered from his injuries.

At the end of the day, Gu Chengfeng was a martial artist who had reached the Meridian Opening stage, and with a strong foundation, combined with good healing medicine and the regulation of his inner breath, his recovery was swift.

"Da Lang is back," Gu Chengfeng said, his eyes lighting up at the sight of Gu Chen.

"Now that my injuries have healed and I haven't practiced martial arts for quite some time, my body feels incredibly stiff. I've been worried that I didn't have a sparring partner. Since you're back, elder nephew, it's the perfect opportunity to test my skills and see how much your martial arts have improved recently."

Upon hearing this, a smile spread across Gu Chen's face. Since Gu Chengfeng was in the mood, Gu Chen was naturally not going to refuse. He handed the things he was holding to a servant by his side and joined Gu Chengfeng to spar for a short while.

Of course, during the entire process, it was mostly Gu Chengfeng who made the moves, with Gu Chen defending. After all, with his current strength, even a casual blow from him was more than Gu Chengfeng could withstand.

"Elder nephew, why are you only defending and not attacking? Have you become too confident and now look down on your second uncle?" Gu Chengfeng feigned displeasure.

Gu Chen's eyes twinkled with mirth as he replied, "Second Uncle, I shall make a move then, do be careful."

"Bring it on," said Gu Chengfeng nonchalantly.

Boom!

The next second, they exchanged a palm strike, and Gu Chengfeng was sent flying through the air by Gu Chen, who used a clever force to push him a great distance away.

After landing, Gu Chengfeng's eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at Gu Chen. He hadn't expected that his full-strength attack would be so effortlessly neutralized by his nephew.

"Second Uncle, you've let me win," Gu Chen said with a light chuckle.

"Good!"

Seeing Gu Chen's strength, Gu Chengfeng laughed heartily, "Worthy of being a scion of the Gu Family. You've not wasted all the years I've painstakingly taught you."

Just then, Xu Qinge arrived with Gu Qingyan. She gave Gu Chengfeng a white look, saying, "My Lord, you really know how to sing your own praises."

Gu Chengfeng didn't mind her words and just laughed heartily, clearly very happy.

"Elder brother, you're back, and yet, why do you bring so many gifts as if you're an outsider?" Xu Qinge glanced at the numerous packages in the servant's hands and cast a reproachful look at Gu Chen.

Gu Chen replied with a slight smile, "I just stopped by the inner city and happened to see some trinkets that seemed to complement aunt and Qinyan very well, so I thought I'd buy them to see how they looked."

"That's thoughtful of you," Xu Qinge said with a pursed smile.

"Thank you, big brother," Gu Qingyan added softly from beside them.

Love for beauty is a woman's nature; in any world, it's the same. Seeing the jewelry, rouge, and other cosmetics that Gu Chen had bought, Xu Qinge and Gu Qingyan could not take their eyes off them. They began trying them on right there in the courtyard.

"You two women, what's so good about these rouge and cosmetics? Elder nephew, you too, why waste money on buying such useless things?" Gu Chengfeng shook his head as he watched, thinking that Gu Chen was not frugal and didn't know how to manage household affairs.

Hearing this, Xu Qinge immediately glared at Gu Chengfeng, scolding, "If you were half as considerate as elder nephew, I wouldn't hold so much frustration against you."

"Father is indeed a blockhead," Gu Qingyan concurred, nodding gently in agreement.

Upon hearing that, Gu Chengfeng felt utterly embarrassed.

At that moment, Gu Chen said, "Second Uncle, I've collected some antiques, but I can't tell if they're genuine or not. I know you're an expert in this area; could you help me identify their authenticity?"

"Oh?" Upon hearing about antiques, Gu Chengfeng's eyes lit up immediately, and he hurriedly squeezed through to get a closer look.

Being a martial artist with a robust frame, he unintentionally pushed aside the frail Xu Qinge and Gu Qingyan.

The mother and daughter exchanged glances, both feeling a bit helpless. Xu Qinge, somewhat annoyed, punched Gu Chengfeng, but at the moment, Gu Chengfeng's eyes were only for the antiques. He was so engrossed in them that he paid no mind to everything else.

At the dining table, Gu Chen informed his second uncle and the family that he had become the Metropolitan Procurator. Gu Chengfeng was overjoyed and began to drink with Gu Chen, even Xu Qinge couldn't stop them.

After several rounds of drinks, Gu Chen was fine, but Gu Chengfeng had drunk too much, his speech was slurred, and he clung to Gu Chen, reminiscing about the past. When he mentioned the parents of Gu Chen, his eyes grew red.

Several more drinks later, Gu Chengfeng's eyes were bleary, and he was thoroughly drunk. He clung to Gu Chen's sleeve, repeatedly saying how proud he was that Gu Chen had grown up and achieved so much.

Gu Chen felt somewhat helpless as it seemed he wouldn't be able to leave tonight; the drinking lasted until late into the night.

The next morning, dressed in dark clothes with the Red Refinement Blade at his waist, Gu Chen headed to the inner city.