Chapter 4

The fire burned brighter and brighter; after the porridge in the iron pot was cooked, oil was added to stew the vegetables.

Before long, the pot glistened with oil, and the aroma of the salted meat, dried sausage, sweet potatoes, and potatoes simmering inside wafted everywhere.

Then, the dry rations were toasted until golden brown; eating a bowl of this stewed dish with one's own iron bowl was truly satisfying.

Everyone ate until they were sweating profusely, and not a trace of cold remained in their bodies.

This was the experience of a veteran sailor.

When a person has been tossed about on the boundless sea for three days and then travels through wind and snow, their body may seem fine, but it is actually already exhausted.

If one were to sleep in the wild at such a time, the cold from the ground would seep into the bones, and one would immediately fall gravely ill.

But now, having eaten and drunk their fill, the cold had been driven from their bodies, leaving no obstacles.

After eating, they washed the pots and bowls, wrapped themselves in blankets, lay down on the ground by the campfire, and went to sleep.

The flames burning not far away seemed to hold an inexplicable attraction for Zhang Gui, making him want to swallow them into his belly.

It is said that the Pingyang Zhang Family City possesses the bloodline legacy of the ancient ancestors, the "Kuafu Clan."

Decades ago, there were still figures in the clan who awakened the relevant "Divine Cong," achieved the rank of Martial Champion in the imperial examinations, and ultimately led troops to guard a region.

In the fate configuration where the Heavenly Stems, Earthly Branches, and Human Harmony were all in alignment, he gathered eleven white, nine red, two green, and one purple, obtaining the fate plate "Black Tiger Pouncing on Sheep."

He killed countless people in his life and was notorious.

So much so that the Pingyang Zhang Family, which prided itself on being a family of scholars and possessing the five virtues of "Benevolence, Righteousness, Propriety, Wisdom, and Faith," would not even acknowledge such a descendant and even wanted to kick him out of the genealogy.

As it turned out, this god of slaughter grew old, and after begging the imperial court for retirement, he actually went to the "Great Earth Cave" in the center of the Dongsheng Continent, claiming it was to atone for his sins...

In Zhang Gui's view, fate configurations were equivalent to the "tags" in the fantasy novels of his previous life.

According to their grade, from low to high, they are divided into five levels: white, red, green, purple, and yellow.

The designations are: Gentry, Wen County, Cheng Commandery or Dang Prefecture, Prefecture Magnate, all of which are lower class.

And in the concept of fate configuration, the Divine Cong derived from a person's ancestral bloodline or cultivation achievements belongs to "Human Harmony."

The remaining "Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches" are external force bonuses, such as the support of influential people, success in imperial examinations, or having the courage to act and the luck to succeed.

Therefore, theoretically, fate configuration includes Divine Cong, but it does not refer solely to Divine Cong.

But in reality, in many mythological stories that have actually occurred in the supernatural world where great power belongs to the self, Human Harmony overrides everything.

If one truly inherits the God-Demon bloodline capable of suppressing the current age and carries it forward, all other Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches are simply worthless.

And the Great Earth Cave exists in all four continents of Diyuan.

It is a massive cave, thousands of miles in circumference, plunging straight into the ground for who knows how many hundreds of miles.

For millions of years, it has been connected to the Earth Dragon World, where the hundred races of Earth Demons—the common natural enemies of all humanity—reside.

In the last few hundred years, although there have still been some disturbances in the Great Earth Caves of the four continents of Diyuan, the most terrifying "Demon Disaster" has not appeared.

The influence of the powerhouses guarding the Great Earth Caves on each continent has also diminished significantly.

But regardless, since there were powerhouses in the clan doing their utmost to protect the safety of all humanity, the Pingyang Zhang Family could by no means kick him out of the genealogy, and in the end, they could only settle the matter...

In Zhang Gui's view, this kind of thing was similar to how ancient nobles in his previous world would latch onto a super-powerful ancestor after achieving success.

Legend is greater than reality.

But now it seems it was true.

Thinking of this, his hand unconsciously wandered over his upper body, feeling the vitality brought by the Divine Cong.

As a commoner in a noble family, Zhang Gui did not know much about supernatural knowledge.

But the three great Divine Cong—Swallow Crow, Drink River, and Water-Fire Harmony—were the ancestral abilities of the Zhang family, regardless of whether they were true or false.

Just listening to the legends, one wouldn't know how many baskets full of stories there were.

Legend has it that the patriarch of the Giant Race, the "Kuafu Clan," was a great Ancient God.

His most famous deed was chasing the Three-legged Divine Crow, which is the sun, all over the world.

He drank dry countless lakes and rivers, bloated himself into a giant, and in the end, drank the water dry and died of thirst.

So why did he chase the sun? Because the Three-legged Divine Crow, which is the sun, is the greatest "Fire Spirit" in this world.

Eating fire has great benefits for Kuafu, so he had to "Swallow Crow."

While swallowing the crow, he had to drink water without limit to suppress the terrifying heat and exchange it for benefits, so Kuafu also had to "Drink River."

Letting immeasurable water and fire meet in the body, they overcome and generate each other, ultimately achieving "Water-Fire Harmony."

"First, to be able to chase the Three-legged Divine Crow, the fists of the ancestor Kuafu must be able to defeat the sun.

Chasing the Divine Crow for hundreds of millions of miles a day, his movement speed must be as fast as lightning, and his body's endurance must be infinite.

Also, to suppress the heat of devouring heavenly fire when approaching the sun, he could drink ten thousand miles of rivers and lakes in one breath, which shows his stomach capacity was terrifyingly extreme.

Finally, the steam generated by the water and fire in his body could allow him to become a giant."

Zhang Gui was pondering this when he suddenly heard Zhang Jiujiang whisper in his ear, "Dagui, with so many people sleeping together, why are you rubbing your own body?

Don't do anything weird."

Zhang Gui was startled and opened his eyes, "What are you thinking? My chest felt stuffy, so I was rubbing it, just rubbing it."

"Oh.

My chest doesn't feel stuffy, I'm just homesick."

Being tossed about on the boat for the first three days after leaving home, he couldn't care about anything else, but once they reached the shore, it was natural for a young man to be homesick.

Zhang Gui looked at his friend's melancholy face, lowered his voice, and persuaded him, "We are already adults after passing fifteen; we have to earn silver for our families to show filial piety to our parents.

Besides, you are now a Steward in the trading firm; in Luan Ya, that's equivalent to being a government official."

"That's only thanks to Qing Gou, you know that.

After his own parents died and he was adopted by my parents, he has always been a sycophant, secretly tormenting me, and has completely overshadowed me.

He got lucky and won the top spot in the preliminary examination, and is now on the verge of becoming a provincial scholar.

To tell the truth, he is better at studying than me; even without those little tricks, he is still better.

But he insists on finding opportunities at every moment to step on me just to feel comfortable.

As a result, he became a handsome scholar, and I became a merchant Steward, and I still owe him for it.

Now everyone says I'm lucky, but in reality, I would rather die than have this kind of luck.

But my parents, my parents insist that I come to Luan Ya to be a Steward, and I don't dare not to.

You saw it too, my father hit me with a rattan stick as thick as a finger, and I was howling in pain.

In reality, if my parents gave me three more years, I would definitely be able to pass the scholar examination too.

Really, I could pass."

Parents in the world love the younger ones, not to mention that the older one is not their own flesh and blood, but the child left behind after their brother and sister-in-law passed away.

Zhang Gui knew that if Zhang Jiujiang had any ability at all, his parents would never have let him stop studying to do business.

After all, all pursuits are of low rank, only studying is high.

In reality, Zhang Jiujiang loved reading miscellaneous books and studied the classics little; relying on the face of the Pingyang Zhang Family, he hadn't even passed the child scholar examination.

That is why his parents borrowed the east wind to push him into the family trading firm.

But at the same time, as a transmigrator who knew how terrifying "Xipiyu" was, Zhang Gui also knew that some natural villains could make people fall into hell with just words.

And make others think they are angels.

So, as a childhood friend who grew up together, he understood his friend's pain very well, but was helpless.

He could only analyze it objectively:

"The current imperial court is no longer as incorruptible as it was at the founding; both great clans and small families emphasize 'official-merchant cooperation.'

Since Zhang Jiuqing has won the top spot in the preliminary examination, there is no point in you continuing to take the imperial examinations; it would be better to leverage the situation and embark on a business path.

When you make a name for yourself in the trading firm in the future, maybe he will even need your help.

Killing two birds with one stone, it's beautiful."

"That makes sense."

Upon hearing that his future cousin Zhang Jiuqing might need his help, Zhang Jiujiang's mood immediately improved, and his expression brightened a little.

"Dagui, although you have read few books, your brain is really sharp, and what you say makes sense.

Since we have come to Luan Ya, let us work together to build a career!"

"Good, it's a deal."

Zhang Gui smiled and nodded in agreement.

(End of chapter)