Heaven`s Beloved (RI Fanfic)

On a small island, near the edge of the Eastern Sea, a small town greeted the water. It had many ships docked on its shore while tens of people moved about as others cleaned the ship. Farther from the dock were the gates to the town. It was called Shong Li city. It was divided into three parts. One was at the farthest edge from the dock, here pavilions and pagodas rose freely with a forest intertwining with humanity. The mountain that was behind all these houses was known as the Lotus Dream Mountain. At the very top of this mountain was a small shrine dedicated to a Demon Venerable. When the Li clan took over this small island, they struck a deal with the only people living here at that time; the monks. The Li clan would own the whole island except the mountain which was to be left alone by the clan and the monks weren't to be disturbed. In the city center, which took most of the town was the main activities of the Li clan.

A gigantic market, it sold everything from gu worms, gu refinement materials and even narcotics. When Tian Zheng was working in the market, he had realized that Gu masters were as much human as mortals. They also sought entertainment, ways to pass time, gambled and if you get them drunk enough they would hold hands and dance with a mortal all night long. At first he didn't understand why they always acted arrogant and above mortals but he had come up with a small personal philosophy. Every human whether mortal Gu master or Gu immortal. They all sought to create a hierarchy. At first it is because of survival but when they have gotten all they need, they try to separate themselves. It had a few flaws but every time he had observed the interactions between mortals, Gu masters and Gu immortals the philosophy always shone true.

The last part of this island was the living area. Also called Niuang. This is where those who aren't related to the Li clan live. They had created inns and houses and banks. This parts could be called a village in and of itself but it seemed the Li clan didn't mind. In front of a large statue of a large four winged bird, stood a black haired boy with a slight stubble on his chin as a sigh of the growing beard. He had been on this island for a year and maybe some months. He wasn't sure about the time. Every time he looked at this bird statue he was left with answerless questions. His eyes passed over the title of the statue, carved underneath it in a gold.

The Eternal Lotus.

He struggled to keep the small snort that threatened to escaped. While he knew what it was meant to show, its very existence was a joke. The eternal lotus; according to the monks at the shrine, this is supposed to show compassion and love. However, this town and the Li clan had transformed this symbol, a four winged bird, with a lotus mark on its head, into a mark that meant death or worse. While the Shong Li town was home to one of the most diverse and largest market in the Eastern sea, most of this things weren't gotten through normal transactions. A good example would be at where Tian Zheng worked now. The shop was called the Silken Mistress. Owned and operated by the young master of the Li clan, Li De. He uses his connections to the demonic cultivators around the Eastern Sea to get merchandise delivered to him. The Silken Mistress was a large shop that while based underground, in tunnels created originally for evacuation purposes.

He tore his eyes from the symbols of dread for the owners of the items that found themselves in the Li clan market and started going towards work. When he arrived on this island he had been alone and without a single primeval stone to his name. for the first week he had scavenged the streets of the Nuiang, he robbed, extorted and killed for a few primeval stones. A few months in he was approached by a young man. He held himself with a pride that wasn't seen often. His clothes were pristine and his skin paler than a piece of paper. He looked down on the disheveled Tian Zheng. He asked him to kill the young master of the Li clan, and in exchange he would give a Primeval Elder gu filled with primeval stones.

When the sun rose, there was a dead rank 2 Gu master without anything in his body or his aperture and a former thug had been elevated to a semi-wealthy man. When he reached an alleyway, a few meters from the statue he took out a small gold coin. It had a figure carved on one of its faces, a young man who looked like a woman. On the other side was a lotus, that seemed to be frozen in bloom. A tongue reached for it from the thick metal doors. A few seconds later, the door opened up and he walked in.

Inside was a large corridor, which was lined with shops and inside one could see either the bored workers or for those with customers, they were explaining or trying to sell the materials they had in stock. At the end of the corridor, was a small stall. It was closed since the owner had just arrived but when people saw the tall black haired Tian Zheng walk towards it, a sense of excitement filled the air.

"What are you all excited for?" Shing Fu asked towards his friend. He had recently been introduced to the Silken Mistress by his friend and while the wares here were of high quality they were also expensive. He didn't see why people could be this excited. His friend looked at him like he was a fool before he remembered that this was the first time his friend had come down here. "Don't worry, you still have those primeval stones right? Good don't use them yet wait for a few minutes and when the gambling den opens we shall use them there." His friend explained but this just confused him more.

He knew her to be a great mincer and this behavior of using the few thousand primeval essence stones they had left on a gambling den seemed like a waste. He waited with his friend who seemed to be restress and when the door to the gambling opened he was pulled by his hand towards it. He knew that she followed strength path but the way she pulled him, like he weighed nothing bruised his ego a little. However, the girl wasn't looking at her friend. Her mind was trained on the same shopkeeper who hosted the rock gambling den a few times every month and every time, there was no lack of rank 4 or even rank 5 gu worms. She had experienced it last time, a rock she discarded was picked up and from it a rank 4 Small strength qi gu came out. She had to watch as the excited old man sold the gu worm to the shopkeeper in exchange for ten thousand primeval stones.

This event caused her to be angry for the whole week the gambling den had been closed and the rank 2 gu worm she had won was cooked in her anger and fed to a bird. Today she had been asked by Shing Fu`s father to bring him here and she didn't expect the gabling den to open. It truly felt like her luck was finally turning around for the better. When she got there, she was one of the first ones but there were others who had already picked their stones and were either opening them up or had paid two primeval stones for the shopkeeper to open it for them.

She looked at the large table that filled up nearly the full room. On it were stones that glowed like jade while others were darker than obsidian. They were divided into three groups by wooden sheets. The shopkeeper called them common stones that had a majority of rank 1 and rank 2 gu worms, uncommon stones that had a majority of rank 3 and rank 4 gu worms and rare stones that had a chance to get rank 5. Their cost increased by ten on each divide. 1000 primeval stones for the common, 10,000 for the uncommon and 100,000 for the rare. While getting a rank 5 gu worm in the common category wasn't unheard of, no one saw the need to buy them. They were more expensive than buying them legally but for the uncommon and rare those are the only categories that matter. Bai Hei didn't even look at the common stones, she went towards the uncommon ones.

While she cultivated strength path, her friend cultivated wood path and his father had bought the life sense gu for him. "Shing Fu, activate the life sense gu and see if you can find any sign of life in any of these rocks. Remember, the stronger the feedback the stronger the creature." This was an idea she had wanted to try ever since she saw the gu. While it was rank 3 and he couldn't use it to its full potential, he could at least narrow down their options and make sure that they don't leave here empty handed. He saw as his eyes turned a deep shade of green and he started looking through the stones, pointing at the ones with any sort of feedback.

A few minutes passed and the room grew full, he could see people throwing nasty looks towards her and Shing Fu. This was also one of the reasons this den grew popular. The use of gu to deduce which rock contained gu worms wasn't outlawed and also when you win a gu that isn't of your path or one weaker than what you need, the shopkeeper gives you a chance to sell it to him. This allows you to gain at least some of your money back. The rates were half of what you bought the stone at.

Bai Hei watched as ten or so stones were picked by his friend before his eyes turned back to normal. He massaged the sides of his head before turning towards her. "These ones have the strongest life signature." Before she could try and pick them up, to prevent those who heard him do so. He leaned in and whispered. "I also saw a bright light on that side." He pointed towards the common section. As she was listening she reached for the stones he had identified to find only one. Of the three stones he had pointed one was left and that was because she turned to it as a gruff man was reaching for it and with shame he turned from her. "What are you waiting for? Take it before someone picks it up." Her whisper caused Shing Fu to awkwardly reach for the stone he had seen.

As they were standing in the line, one person before them. Bai Hei turned to him and asked. "Do we have enough money to buy these?" Her question was met with a look of pure arrogance. Like the question of whether they had enough money had injured Shing Fu somehow. He didn't speak but she didn't ask the question again.

When Tian Zheng turned towards the two kids before him he let out a welcoming smile he had learnt to make. His pockets had only been growing deeper and in these days, he wasn't slowing his cultivation so that he would have enough to pay for basic needs. He opened his palm and a small gu appeared in the taller boy`s hand. It looked between them with red eyes and he pronounced the exact price. The frog worm hybrid looked at him for a moment before its eyes turned green and it let out a long and thick tongue. On it were what he assumed was the price for the rocks and the price to have their gu revealed.

He reached for the one held by the girl first. During his time in Lotus island, he had started walking the Qi path. while at first he had used a mash of gu. Slowly those he didn't use were forgotten and those he preferred were kept. It turns out he preferred Qi path. A small colorless wind shot from his finger and started carving through the outer rock when it was done, a small fly like insect was found inside sleeping. "Congratulations Miss, you are the new owner of the insect strength transformation gu. From its aura I would say it is a rank 3 gu worm." He reached for a book that he kept under his desk. It was thick and on its black cover was a red beast. He started turning the pages until he found what he was looking for.

"It looks like you are in luck, this particular gu worm has its rank 4 gu recipe available. I can sell it to you for five hundred thousand primeval stones. If you want the other recipes from rank 1 to rank three 3 it will cost, you a few million primeval stones." He looked over the book and then to the girl as he waited for her answer. He watched as she looked towards his friend who was just as shocked as she was. Even those who were close looked at the book in Tian Zheng`s hands with unconcealed greed. The two huddled together and after a few minutes stood before him once more.

"Is there a way in which we could come back in a few hours?" the boy was the one who talked first. He seemed expectant and a smile threatened to form but Tian Zheng refused to show anything to him. He paused for a second before he gave them a small nod. "However you need to make sure it is before I close." This caused a sense of urgency to rise in Shing Fu and Bai Hei. Shing Fu quickly handed the rock he held and they watched without any patience as formless blades chiseled away at the rock and after a few minutes a gu worm appeared. When the two saw it they looked at him like two lost puppies. He looked at it closely before a name appeared in his head. "This is the Qi storm gu. You seem to also be very luck. However, it seems to be only at rank 2 unlike your friend here." The taller boy looked at him with a slight disappointment. "Do you any gu recipe for this gu?" he asked and like a good shopkeeper Tian Zheng reached for another thick book. He searched through the book and when he saw the recipe he turned to the two. "Sorry to tell you but I only have the rank 1 of this gu; the Qi stream gu. If you are interested and you buy the recipe for the insect strength transformation, I will sell the Qi stream gu recipe at a reduced price."

When they heard this, the two looked at each other before they run out of the crowded shop and Tian Zheng scooped up the primeval stones. This was the true hook in his business. While there were many who hosted gambling dens, he was the only one selling complementally gu recipes. This was the idea by the Li Clan Young master. He had compiled a lot of recipes into books and those books were now in Tian Zheng`s possession.