Living steadily in the world of gods and mystery

"I’ll choose that set!" Zhang Yan said, unfortunately, there were no vacant houses on either side, so he could only pick a house nearby. Luckily, it was only a few houses away, just a few steps’ distance.

Zhao Lin, Gu Mengqing, and a few others didn’t have many Spirit Stones on hand, but in the end, they gritted their teeth and, despite the pain, paid up with Spirit Stones, settling down in the vicinity. They were not yet in their twilight years and still had their sights set on the future path.

This kind of first-order spiritual land was undoubtedly very beneficial to cultivation.

They really didn’t want to live at the foot of the mountain and mix with destitute cultivators.

Next, everyone went back to their own homes.

...

"Are we going to live here from now on?"

The house was covered in a thick layer of dust, and inside was a mess, with all sorts of furniture and chairs lying scattered all over the place, but the two of them were no less excited.

"Yes, from now on, this is our new home!" Chen Li also sighed with emotion.

"Just thinking about it is like a dream. This is Luoluo City, the site of the Longevity Sect. I thought I’d stay in Green River District for life," Zhou Hong murmured.

Chen Li gently hugged Zhou Hong, "Don’t worry, things will definitely get better from now on."

"Okay!" Zhou Hong said, burying herself in Chen Li’s embrace.

Chen Li and Zhou Hong didn’t go anywhere that afternoon.

They were busy cleaning the house.

In the process, they used dozens of Cleaning Talismans, depleting all their stock, and the dust they swept out could fill several baskets. Looking at the freshly cleaned house, which shone like new, Chen Li felt a sincere sense of satisfaction.

In the evening, Chen Li went visiting the neighbors, left and right, with a gift (a Direction Guiding Talisman), settling down here.

He had just returned home.

When Zhang Yan came to the door, holding a thick stack of bedding.

"Fellow Daoist Chen, you haven’t bought bedding and mattress yet, have you? I happen to have bought extra!" he said.

"I was thinking of making do for tonight and going shopping tomorrow. I didn’t expect Fellow Daoist Zhang to bring it personally. I won’t say thanks. How much did it cost? I’ll give you the money," Chen Li quickly said.

"No need, no need, it’s not worth much. Worldly items here are very cheap; a couple of Gold pieces bought three sets, and I even got Silver back as change. You just need to go down to the foot of the mountain to buy them," Zhang Yan said, noting the prices here were indeed cheaper compared to Green River District.

Even talismans were cheaper.

"Don’t they sell them in the city?" Chen Li asked Zhang Yan as he took the bedding and mattress and handed them to Zhou Hong.

"Alas, I’ve inquired about it. To set up a stall here, they charge something like a Low-grade Spirit Stone as a stall fee. I’ve never even heard of such a stall fee. These vendors selling worldly items, who has so much money to pay that?" Zhang Yan sighed.

Luoluo City was not easy to live in.

Everywhere demanded money.

It was just too hard.

Life would have to be very frugal from now on; otherwise, they’d be living beyond their means.

"That is a bit troublesome... Right, I don’t have many talisman bases left. I was just about to buy some. When do you have stock?" Chen Li asked.

Zhang Yan perked up at these words, "How many do you need?"

Chen Li hadn’t bought talisman bases from him for a long time.

This extra income, which used to be negligible, had now become too significant to ignore.

"Let’s round it up, six hundred bases," Chen Li said.

"I can’t provide that many all at once. If you’re not in a hurry, I can give you a hundred and fifty now and deliver the rest of the stock to you after half a month!" Zhang Yan continued to explain, "The beast skins are too heavy, I left them all in Green River District. I don’t have even a single semi-finished beast skin on hand now; I still need to buy and make them, which will take some time."

"No problem," Chen Li said.

"I’ll bring them to you right now."

"There’s no need to rush."

"It’s no trouble; it’s just a few steps away."

No matter how much Chen Li urged, Zhang Yan hurried off and soon brought the talisman bases back.

...

Nighttime.

The flame of the oil lamp flickered like a small bean.

Chen Li picked up a book titled "Commonly Used Spells at the Qi Cultivation Stage of the Longevity Sect" and flipped through it page by page.

First Order, First Level Cleaning Skill;

First Order, First Level Far Sight Skill;

First Order, First Level Insect Repelling Skill;

First Order, First Level Throwing Skill;

First Order, Second Level Beast Expelling Skill;

First Order, Second Level Earth Listening Technique;

First Order, Third Level Plague Expelling Skill;

First Order, Level Three Flash Skill;

First Order, Level Four Evil-Repelling Skill;

First Order, Level Four Fireball Skill;

First Order, Level Five Fortune Seeking and Disaster Avoiding Skill;

First Order, Level Five Qi-watching Skill;

First Order, Level Six Disease Expelling Skill;

First Order, Level Six Light Body Skill;

First Order, Level Seven Wind Control Skill;

First Order, Level Seven Body Protection Skill;

"There are so many spells in this world!" Chen Li found the variety overwhelming and felt a dull pain in his head.

Fortunately, he didn’t plan to learn them all.

He simply didn’t have the energy or time.

Besides, he believed it was better to master a few than to know many superficially.

After much consideration, Chen Li finally chose to focus on the First Order, Level Three Flash Skill, the First Order, Level Six Disease Expelling Skill, the First Order, Level Seven Wind Control Skill, and the First Order, Level Seven Body Protection Skill as his next targets to conquer.

Regarding the Disease Expelling Skill, similar to the Hemostasis Healing Skill, he just needed to learn it and practice until proficient, without any intention of delving deeper.

He planned to refine his mastery of the Flash Skill, Wind Control Skill, and the Body Protection Skill.

Flash Skill: Creates a burst of intense flash.

When used well, it could determine the outcome of a battle, especially for one who mainly engaged in close combat like himself, it was truly a weapon on the battlefield.

Wind Control Skill: Flying with the wind, could be used for escaping.

There’s no need to elaborate on the Body Protection Skill.

There were talisman versions of the amulet, but the power of the spell was undoubtedly stronger than that of the talisman, and although it couldn’t match the power of a Gold Talisman, as long as one achieved expert-level, the power should indeed exceed that of a Gold Talisman.

"Alas, learn slowly, let’s start with the Flash Skill."

...

On his first night of cultivation in Luoluo City, Chen Li truly felt what it meant to be in a First Order spiritual land.

As he sat in meditation for his Qi Cultivation, copious strands of spiritual energy wildly surged into his body, almost effortlessly being absorbed with each circulation of his meridians, he could feel a slight increase in spiritual power with each cycle.

The next morning, he opened his eyes.

His face was tinged with a hint of joy.

"Perhaps it won’t even take half a year to advance to the eighth level of Qi Cultivation."

...

Early in the morning, Chen Li and Zhou Hong went out for a major shopping trip; although the furniture at home was still all usable, many pots and pans had broken and needed to be replaced. Additionally, they had to buy necessities like oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar.

And then there was food.

Besides Second Order Demon Beast Meat, there was nothing else at home; they couldn’t just keep eating demon beast meat every day.

They needed to change up the flavors.

For the past half month, eating jerky every day,

he was almost sick of it.

After asking passersby for directions, the two headed straight to the Spirit Rice shop owned by the Longevity Sect.

"Low-grade Spirit Rice, ten jin for one Low-grade Spirit Stone; Medium-grade Spirit Rice, three jin for one Low-grade Spirit Stone. How much do you need?" the Spirit Rice shopkeeper quoted the price.

The Longevity Sect was still quite fair.

The price of Low-grade Spirit Rice was the same even in Green River District, and it was probably standard pricing throughout the Longevity Domain.

"Give me a hundred jin of Medium-grade Spirit Rice!"

After Chen Li paid, he moved to a secluded, undisturbed spot to store the rice bag in his spatial bag.

The next items he needed to buy were mundane items that could only be purchased at the foot of the mountain.

Just as how the slums were to Green River District,

the foot of the mountain was home to middle and low-ranking Loose Cultivators. Tens of thousands of cultivators gathered there to build houses and settle down, making it even livelier than Luoluo City, filled with the breath of everyday life. Upon arriving there, Chen Li and Zhou Hong both felt a sense of familiarity.

They arrived at the trading area, where vendors were everywhere.

The trades were mostly mundane items, small as needles and threads, large as various types of furniture. Whatever existed in the mundane world was also available here, even snacks and small eatables were sold.

These stall owners were not ordinary people; they were mostly cultivators with no hope of advancing on the Daoist path. They did not settle here permanently but sourced their goods from nearby mundane worlds to sell here, hustling every day to earn a modest income.

When you think about it, what common person would dare to do business here?

The prices here were indeed much cheaper than in Green River District. Chen Li finished buying everything he needed and only spent five Gold, even getting two Silver in change. These vendors probably couldn’t earn a Low-grade Spirit Stone in a month.

However, although these people seemed down on their luck, that was relative to who and where. Back in the mundane world, they were regarded as Daoist lords, likely with three wives and four concubines, numerous servants, and living a life more prosperous than most Loose Cultivators.