Fantasy: Starting with a bowl, you can exchange it for endless cultivation.

"Where do you wish to go, sir?" Liang Xiaoyun said, blushing. "I have important business to discuss with you, sir."

"Aww." Gu Chen nodded, realizing what was going on, and asked, "What important matter is it?"

"This silver was given to you by some prominent families, merchant guilds, and gangs in Jiuwan City," Liang Xiaoyun said. "The Yu family gave you two thousand taels, the Qiao family gave you two thousand five hundred taels, and the Zhu family gave you five hundred taels. These three families are all first-class families in Jiuwan City, and the strongest of them has a third-level expert in the Innate Realm in charge."

"Secondly, there's the three thousand taels from the Sihai Chamber of Commerce, the two thousand taels from the Tianwan Gang, and the one thousand five hundred taels from the Liuyun Chamber of Commerce. Adding them all up, it's a total of eleven thousand five hundred taels." Liang Xiaoyun handed the silver notes in her hand to Gu Chen.

Gu Chen took the silver note she handed him, somewhat puzzled: "Why would these forces give me silver for no reason?"

"It seems to be because of the recent pirate disturbances," Liang Xiaoyun said. "Recently, many merchant ships in Jiuwan City have been attacked by pirates, causing them considerable losses. Their strength is limited, and they cannot send top experts to guard every ship. They also don't have that many experts, so they want to seek help."

"These kinds of things are usually handled by the government offices. Our Night Watch only deals with evil spirits, demons, cults, and large-scale cases such as apprehending Japanese pirates and investigating smuggling. Smaller cases are handled by the government offices. Of course, the government offices in Jiuwan City are less powerful than our Night Watch. If the government offices can't handle it, they come to us for help."

"They want to invite you to a banquet at Jiuwanlou tomorrow night. Give them a definite answer on whether you will help or not. If you successfully eliminate all the pirates causing trouble, they will offer double the amount of silver afterwards."

"I see." Gu Chen accepted the silver and said, "Go and tell them that I will be attending the banquet tomorrow. I will take care of this matter."

"Yes." Liang Xiaoyun accepted the order and then left Gu Chen's residence.

After Liang Xiaoyun left.

A smile appeared on Gu Chen's face.

I never expected that I would have been worried about not having a way to make money.

This is where the opportunity comes from.

Suppressing bandits is a good job.

These pirates have plundered the resources of these forces in Jiuwan City; they must be rolling in money.

They usually kept a low profile, always masked at sea. They would rob merchant ships and leave, making it very difficult to find them in the vast ocean, especially in an era without satellite maps.

They returned to land and revealed their true identities, so no one knew they were pirates.

The government and the kidnapped forces had no way of catching them.

He had a copper bowl, which he could exchange for information about the pirates.

Once he accepts the mission and forms a karmic bond with these pirates, he won't need to invest too much silver initially; he can make a steady profit.

The next day.

Inside the Nine Bays Tower.

The leaders of the six major forces that had given money to Gu Chen all sent people to report to Gu Chen on the specific details of their robbery.

"My lord, this is Steward Jiang of the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce," Liang Xiaoyun introduced to Gu Chen, then whispered, "The Four Seas Chamber of Commerce gave us three thousand taels of silver."

"Three thousand taels." Gu Chen looked at Steward Jiang of the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce: "I am already aware of the pirate attack on your chamber of commerce, and I will help you with that."

"Then, I'll have to trouble you, sir." Steward Jiang nodded repeatedly.

"This is Qin, the deputy leader of the Tianwan Gang," Liang Xiaoyun continued.

"You gave me two thousand taels!" Gu Chen remembered that the Tianwan Gang had given him two thousand taels.

"Yes, yes, we'll leave the task of eliminating the pirates to you, sir." The deputy gang leader, Qin, quickly nodded.

"This is Manager Xia from the Liuyun Chamber of Commerce," Liang Xiaoyun introduced.

"Five thousand five hundred taels!" Gu Chen replied.

"Thank you for your trouble this time, sir."

"This is the head steward of the Yu family."

"Two thousand taels!"

"This is the Qiao family's butler!"

"Two thousand five hundred taels!" Gu Chen answered fluently.

Finally, Liang Xiaoyun introduced, "This is the steward of the Zhu family."

"Hmm?" Gu Chen asked, puzzled.

The steward of the Zhu family hurriedly said, "Sir, the Zhu family is offering five hundred taels."

"Oh, I remember now." Gu Chen nodded.

Liang Xiaoyun whispered, "The Zhu family's businesses were less affected by the pirates, so they received less."

The steward of the Zhu family felt somewhat embarrassed upon hearing this.

The other forces that came tonight all gave Gu Chen at least 1,500 taels of silver as a tribute.

The Zhu family only gave them five hundred taels.

Gu Chen noticed his embarrassment and quickly said, "I don't hold grudges. It doesn't matter how much you give. Even if you don't give it, I won't stand idly by after I find out about this."

"These pirates dare to act so brazenly in my territory, they clearly don't respect me. Don't worry, I will definitely wipe them out within ten days," Gu Chen promised the six.

"Thank you very much, sir." The six quickly bowed and expressed their gratitude.

That evening, we enjoyed a delicious meal at Jiuwanlou Restaurant with everyone.

Gu Chen returned to his residence.

He took out a copper bowl and put in silver: "I want to exchange for information about the group of pirates who attacked the ships of the Qiao family, Zhu family, Yu family, Tianwan Gang, Sihai Chamber of Commerce, and Liuyun Chamber of Commerce in Jiuwan City during this period. How many forces do they have? Where is their headquarters located? What level is their strongest fighting force?"

The copper bowl indicated that exchanging this information would cost three thousand taels of silver.

Gu Chen put three thousand taels of silver into it.

This price is reasonable.

Gu Chen remembered that when he exchanged all the information about the Black Heaven Sect, he only spent 1,500 taels of silver.

At that time, the Black Heaven Cult could no longer threaten him, but there was a causal relationship between them, so his life was not in danger.

It now costs three thousand taels of silver to exchange for this intelligence; I wonder how many factions are involved.

Gu Chen put the three thousand taels of silver notes into the copper bowl.

The silver note disappeared, but the copper bowl provided a clue:

The pirates who plundered the Yu family, the Liuyun Merchant Guild, and the Qiao family were the same group of pirates, based on Duya Island, 300 miles off the coast of Beixi Town, Yun'an County, Jiuwan City. The strongest pirate among them was at the peak of the fifth level of the Innate Realm.

The pirates who raided the Four Seas Merchant Guild, Tianwan Gang, and Zhu Family were another group of pirates. They were based on Iron Reef Island, 300 miles south of the coastline of Sikou Town, Dongdao County, Jiuwan City. The strongest pirate among them was at the peak of the fifth level of the Innate Realm.

"The strongest only needs to be at the peak of the fifth level of the Innate Realm?" Gu Chen sneered.

That's settled.

If we wipe out these two pirate groups, who knows how much silver we'll get.

perhaps.

After eliminating these two forces, he can continue to use the copper bowl to exchange for information on other bandit forces within Jiuwan City.

Then go over and take them out, and you'll start getting a steady stream of gold coins.

The next day.

Gu Chen handled several official matters at the Night Watch in the morning.

They left the Nine Bays City Night Watch directly in the afternoon.

"Sir, where are you going?" Liang Xiaoyun asked. "Didn't we promise those forces last night that we'd help them get rid of the pirates? Aren't we going to use the Night Watch personnel to investigate clues about those pirates today?"

"No need," Gu Chen said. "I'll handle the bandit suppression myself. Just wait for news!"

"Ah, sir, are you going alone?" Liang Xiaoyun was stunned.

"Yes, you just wait to report to those forces, no need to ask any more questions." Gu Chen was too lazy to explain to her, nor could he.

Liang Xiaoyun stopped asking questions.

That evening, Gu Chen arrived at Beixi Town, Yun'an County, Jiuwan City.

A group of pirates had their base on Duya Island, 300 miles off the coast of Beixi Town.

The vast sea.

He needs to fly to get there.

This was not a difficult task for him, who had already reached the peak of the True Essence Realm.

Gu Chen immediately used the Flying Serpent Step, employing his true essence to fly through the air.

In half an hour, they arrived outside Duya Island.

The island is surrounded by cliffs on the back and to the left and right.

There is only one port ahead where ships can dock.

Pirates guarded the area at all times.

If I were to land on the island from there, it would immediately attract the attention of these pirates.

Gu Chen detoured around to the back.

Land on the island from behind.

Although the pirates had placed sentries at the shore, they also had pirates standing guard in different directions around the island.

The purpose is to monitor the sea level in different locations to see if any ships are approaching from that direction.

On the side where Gu Chen landed on the island, there were two pirates at the peak of the first level of the Innate Realm standing guard.

By this time, it was already dark. Gu Chen flew closer and closer, appearing as a small black dot in the air. The two pirates were only focused on the situation on the sea surface and paid little attention to what was happening in the air.

The two pirates failed to spot him for a moment.

Just as they were about to land on the island.

Gu Chen accelerated and landed on the island, standing steadily between the two pirates.

The two pirates were several tens of meters apart, and Gu Chen was about twenty meters away from each of them.

The two pirates were startled when they saw a figure suddenly descend from the sky.

What's going on? They didn't see any approaching ships.

This person flew directly from the sea surface.

Able to fly through the air, a True Essence Realm being!

How is that possible?

Why would a powerhouse of this caliber come to their Lone Cliff Island?

Could it be that they're seeing things?

"Are you a human or a ghost?" The two looked carefully at the spot where Gu Chen landed, and one of the pirates mustered up his courage to ask.

If it is a human, then it must be an existence above the True Essence Realm.

If not handled properly, the other party could easily kill him.

Gu Chen did not answer. He drew his Fire Profound Blade and slashed at him directly.

A fiery blade of energy burst forth from the Ancient Dust Blade, instantly traversing a distance of over twenty meters and cleaving the pirate in two.

Blood splattered.

"True Yuan Realm!" Another pirate on guard's side exclaimed in surprise, immediately shouting, "Someone's trespassing on the island!"

After shouting, he ran off into the distance.

Another pirate, who was also at the first level of the Innate Realm, was easily killed by Gu Chen with a single strike.

He didn't think he was much better than him; if he could withstand one of Gu Chen's blows, he would die if he didn't run.

Gu Chen didn't even bother to look at him. He swung his sword backhand, unleashing a burst of sword energy that cleaved him in two.

With Gu Chen's current strength, if he uses his true essence to power his sword energy, he can kill even a fifth-level Innate Realm cultivator with a single strike.

In the face of powerful individuals who had not yet developed true essence, Gu Chen used his true essence to kill them as easily as killing dogs.

The commotion here instantly alerted the pirates in other parts of Duya Island.

Gu Chen did not dodge.

They swaggered towards the center of the island.

The pirates built many structures on the island, making it almost the size of a small bandit stronghold.

Soon, a pirate captain at the fourth level of the Innate Realm arrived with a dozen elite pirates.

These elite pirates ranged in strength from the first to the third level of the Innate Realm.

Upon seeing Gu Chen land on the island from who-knows-where and kill the two pirates on guard, the pirate leader, a fourth-level Innate Realm expert, revealed a fierce glint in his eyes.

Judging from Gu Chen's attire, he was a member of the Night Watch. He asked coldly, "You're from the Night Watch, how did you know we were hiding on this Lone Cliff Island!"

Since Gu Chen is a member of the Night Watch, he must have come to wipe them out.

He was just wondering how Gu Chen knew their hiding place.

Their stronghold has never been exposed for decades; it is extremely well-hidden.

"Why ask so many questions?" Gu Chen looked at him calmly and said, "Now that you've seen me, just accept your fate."

"Arrogant!" the pirate leader roared. "You think you can fight alone? Our island lord is a peak fifth-stage Innate Realm cultivator!"

He hadn't finished speaking.

Gu Chen's figure appeared before him in an instant, like a ghost.

He stabbed him through with a single blow.

"Why are you talking so much?" Gu Chen said calmly to him, "Aren't I enough for you?!"

"True, True Essence Realm!" The pirate leader slowly uttered a few words before losing his breath.

Gu Chen is a True Essence Realm cultivator.

How did a Night Watch expert of this caliber discover their base?

With the arrival of such a being, his Lone Cliff Island is likely doomed.

Gu Chen pushed him down.

"Go in peace, the others will come to join you soon."

Gu Chen looked at the other pirates who had just surrounded him.

The pirates immediately turned and ran.

Nima!

Their leader just said that Gu Chen is a True Yuan Realm expert.

What's the point of fighting?

This is pure annihilation.

If you don't run, you die!

Of course, they didn't expect to beat Gu Chen.

As long as you outrun your teammates, that's fine.

When Gu Chen goes to hunt down their companions, he won't be able to continue hunting them down.

pity.

They were wrong.

Gu Chen's sword energy, unleashed with his true essence, can cover all directions without any blind spots.

None of them can escape.