Living steadily in the world of gods and mystery

"It seems it really has become an Evil Wraith!"

The claw marks clearly did not belong to a human and were still exuding a spine-chilling breath that made people’s hair stand on end.

Thinking about the Evil Wraith that roamed near his house last night, Chen Li couldn’t help but feel his heartbeat quicken in secret, "Fortunately, I was cautious enough."

He pushed open the gate to the Bai Family’s courtyard and entered the house to check the Evil-Breaking Talismans he left inside, finding that the spiritual power contained in them had diminished to varying degrees. Thankfully, the loss was minor, with the most depleted one only having lost about one-fifth of its power.

It could still hold up for quite a few more times.

Walking into the main bedroom, he saw the bundle that Bai Jinwang had not taken with him.

"This should count as ownerless property now, right?"

Chen Li didn’t mind the ominous aura and put the bundle into his storage bag. Then, he searched the entire house. Unfortunately, aside from some Spirit Rice in the kitchen rice container that was worth a bit of money, there were no other valuable items.

He quickly made his way back home.

Closing the courtyard gate behind him.

Zhou Hong had not yet awakened, so he went to fetch water from the kitchen to wash and rinse himself.

Then he entered the talisman-making room.

Taking out the bundle from the storage bag, he untied it.

Inside were five bottles of Fasting Pills, five bottles of Qi Replenishing Pills, two water skins, over twenty talismans, one compass, and a scroll on astrology and divination.

There were also seven Mid-grade Spirit Stones and more than two hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones.

Chen Li first picked up the compass and scrutinized it, finding that it was just a Low-grade Magical Instrument, likely used for locating auspicious geomantic sites.

From these belongings, it was evident that Bai Jinwang had indeed prepared for a long journey to spend the rest of his days, but circumstances had outpaced changes, and he had become something monstrous before he could leave.

But...

A cultivator at the Ninth Layer of Qi Cultivation

Was actually so poor!

Although Chen Li knew that most of a cultivator’s wealth was in protective items like Magic Artifacts and robes, each costing a hefty sum, and he was aware that Bai Jinwang had been visiting relatives and friends in the past few days, arranging his affairs and distributing his wealth—having even given away his maids and concubines—

Still, this was too little.

Not even ten Mid-grade Spirit Stones.

Chen Li picked up a bottle of Fasting Pills, somethin he had never tried.

It was said that one pill could stave off hunger for three days.

Of course, they were not cheap—in a pharmacy in Luoluo City, a bottle would cost five Low-grade Spirit Stones, a purchase seldom made by Loose Cultivators; They were generally used for sustenance during inconvenient travel.

He uncorked the bottle and poured out a pill, immediately a rich and fragrant scent pervaded the air. After hesitating for a while, he put the pill back.

It’s better not to consume someone else’s medicine.

Especially when the original owner is an evil being.

...

Once Zhou Hong was up, Chen Li recounted what he discovered that morning, and Zhou Hong exclaimed in disbelief, "How could it have happened so quickly!"

"There were signs of it before, but we’ve been a bit careless," Chen Li sighed, "Now, with the Evil Wraith blocked by the Evil-Breaking Talisman and its whereabouts unknown, we’re not sure if it will return. I’m going to check outside to see the situation. I expect there may be more deaths."

"Then be careful," Zhou Hong cautioned.

"Don’t worry!" Chen Li nodded in affirmation.

He altered his appearance and stepped outside, only to come across a crowd gathered around a nearby household not far from his departure.

"Four people turned into dried corpses, how tragic!"

"Such occurrences are not uncommon in the secular world, but to happen here?"

The crowd was abuzz with speculation and anxiety.

Chen Li moved closer.

The household’s gate was wide open, so he entered, finding an even larger crowd inside, buzzing with activity.

Coming and going, entering and exiting.

It was as noisy as a marketplace.

In one of the bedrooms, he saw a man and a woman, both reduced to mummified corpses on the bed. They were labeled as mummies because their bodies had virtually lost all moisture, their skin was withered, and their muscles extremely atrophied, looking like two skeletons.

What was even stranger was that each corpse had its mouth wide open, eyes bulging in rage, yet there appeared to be no signs of struggle.

It was as if they couldn’t resist at all.

"Hey, why does that dress look so familiar?" Chen Li noticed a dress in the bedroom, "Wait a minute, one of Bai Jinwang’s concubines also had one like this!"

"Could it be..."

"Fellow Daoist, do you know the name of the homeowner here?" Chen Li asked a nearby cultivator who was watching the excitement.

Seeing Chen Li dressed in a high-grade robe exuding an imposing aura, the nearby cultivator bowed respectfully and replied without hesitation, "I have seen Fellow Daoist. I reside nearby and am quite familiar with this family. The head of this household is named Qi Feng, a cultivator in the later stage of Qi Cultivation, quite well-known in this region. Who would have thought he would meet such a fate?"

Qi Feng!

It matched.

This person was indeed one of Bai Jinwang’s close friends while he was alive.

Chen Li had even drunk at a celebration with him once when Bai Jinwang had taken a concubine.

With this realization, a chill went down Chen Li’s spine.

The deceased were a close friend and a former concubine.

Previously, he thought Bai Jinwang was open-minded and able to let go.

But now, it didn’t seem like openness at all.

He was holding a grudge in his heart.

Otherwise, why would he have visited this place first after becoming monstrous?

Probably the family that died the day before yesterday was in a similar situation.

After watching for a while, Chen Li quietly left the place and then wandered around, inquiring here and there, eventually confirming his suspicions that all who had died these past two days were friends of Bai Jinwang’s and had taken in his concubines.

Every family was completely devastated.

Not one survived.

"Right, there’s one more..." Chen Li pondered thoughtfully.

Unfortunately, his acquaintance with Bai Jinwang’s friends was only superficial; he had no idea where they lived.

...

In the following days, mysterious deaths occurred in the city. The entire Luoluo City was filled with panic. Even the law enforcement team of the City of Eternal Life was stirred, patrolling and searching every night, but still, they found no trace of the perpetrator.

As a result, the prices of Evil-Repelling Talismans and Evil-Breaking Talismans surged sharply, more than doubling.

They even sold out completely.

Seeing this hot market, Chen Li thought again and again, restrained himself again and again, but in the end, he couldn’t resist.

At the Loose Cultivator’s market.

In just two hours, Chen Li had sold thirty-eight Evil-Breaking Talismans and one hundred and fifty Evil-Repelling Talismans.

In total, he sold 31 Mid-grade Spirit Stones.

They were really too easy to sell; everyone was buying eagerly. It was almost like they sold out as soon as they were put up for sale.

In the end, Chen Li mustered strong willpower to restrain himself from continuing to sell, and decisively left the market.

"Initially, leaving just five Evil-Breaking Talismans at the Bai Family was enough to keep ’Bai Jinwang’ at bay; now, with thirty-five Evil Breaking Talismans on me and more than two hundred Evil-Repelling Talismans at home, it should be enough!" Chen Li calculated secretly, "If it comes to it, I can draw some more Evil-Repelling Talismans in the next few days!"

With this unexpected income, Chen Li’s savings finally broke through the threshold of three hundred Mid-grade Spirit Stones!

...

The underground training room.

A blurry figure was rapidly changing positions, if an ordinary person were here, they would not even be able to catch sight of it.

"Snap!"

"Snap!"

"Snap!"

Every so often, Chen Li would thrust out with his sword, causing a deafening explosion in the air, accompanied by a fleeting mini sonic cone cloud.

It had been a year since he last broke through subsonic speeds.

It was only recently that he had struggled to break through the speed of sound, but that was limited to thrusts, and each success was extremely difficult.

A few minutes later.

He stopped, gasping for breath, covered in sweat and with spasming muscles, feeling as if he had been completely drained of energy.

"Only breaking through three times became unsustainable; it’s too physically demanding. Breaking the sound barrier felt like stabbing into a steel plate. If it weren’t for my strong body and bones being much harder than normal, my arm could have been broken and my internal organs injured from that act alone."

He took out a piece of jerky from his storage bag, chewing slowly to replenish his energy, while deep in thought:

"I wonder if such pure physical attacks could break through the defenses of the Golden Light Body Shield?"

He then shook his head.

He dared not try!

Just the terrible resistance from stabbing the air already made the bones in his arm ache, nearly breaking.

If he were to stab at the Golden Light Body Shield... unless he didn’t want his hand anymore.

"My body is still not strong enough; while my explosive power is sufficient, my body’s strength can’t withstand it. Sigh, I’ll take it slowly."

He rested for a while and, once his strength was recovered, he started practicing again.

...

Late at night.

Approaching dawn.

Chen Li, who was in deep sleep, suddenly woke up for no apparent reason, with no trace of sleepiness left.

Unable to fall back asleep, he decided not to try further. He gently moved the arm and leg that were wrapped around him, got up, dressed, washed and rinsed in the kitchen, then headed to the talisman-making room. His research on the Invisibility Technique had made significant progress these days.

It had reached a crucial juncture.

Chen Li felt that in at most ten to fifteen days, he would complete it.

The dense annotations on the parchment gifted by the Yu Family’s patriarch had saved him a lot of trouble and prevented many detours.

Just then, he faintly heard a slight noise and immediately stopped in his tracks.

He listened intently for a while.

It seemed he thought of something, and his face changed slightly.

He quickly opened the door, took a few quick steps, and leaped to the top of the wall.

At a single glance, his heart almost skipped a beat.

The night was like water.

A thin mist hovered above the ground.

A gaunt figure with disheveled hair and shrouded in a hazy shadow stood outside the Bai Family’s door. At this moment, a pair of blood-red eyes were staring fixedly at him, exuding a strange and eerie aura.

The two faced each other in silence.

"Bai Jinwang!?" Chen Li called out.

Bai Jinwang continued to stare at him with increasing ferocity in his eyes.

Chen Li’s heart beat violently. Although he had some apprehensions about this kind of thing, he wasn’t too frightened; since it didn’t dare to come forward, it meant it was either afraid of him or the Evil-Breaking Talisman on him.

An Evil-Breaking Talisman appeared in his hand.

He threw it instantly.

The talisman caught fire in mid-air and burned rapidly.

A force of evil-breaking spread out in all directions.

’Bai Jinwang’ let out a growl, a sound unlike any human’s, more like a roar from a prehistoric beast, filled with a terror-inducing viciousness. At the same time, Chen Li’s vision blurred, and the figure turned into a residual image, fleeing at high speed, quickly disappearing without a trace.

"Such astonishing speed..."

Chen Li did not chase; he couldn’t catch up.

"It’s an Evil Wraith, hurry!" The sound of hurried footsteps came from afar.

Clearly, the night patrol was on its way.

Chen Li did not want to encounter these people. He jumped down from the wall and returned inside.

Without Foundation Establishment, it would be impossible to deal with the Evil Wraith.

"After its transformation, has its strength increased so much?" Chen Li wondered to himself.