Living steadily in the world of gods and mystery

...

The next step was naturally moving.

With the Five Directions Storage Bag, everything was much more convenient; it only took two trips back and forth to pack up and carry away all of his belongings.

"You’re moving down to the foot of the mountain!" Chen Li closed the door and saw his neighbor, Sun Yu.

"Yes," Chen Li said with a smile.

He hadn’t interacted much with this neighbor, even though he had lived there for a year and a half, they were still just nodding acquaintances. After exchanging greetings, he said goodbye and left.

Sun Yu watched Chen Li’s retreating figure, wanting to say something but hesitated, and in the end, he just sighed without saying anything.

...

Half a month later.

In the auction house.

Chen Li held an auction catalogue and was checking it item by item.

"Why isn’t there a Foundation Establishment Elixir this time?" Chen Li didn’t get a chance to ask when a Loose Cultivator beside him already grabbed a staff member to question them.

"Aren’t you aware of the current situation? If you want a Foundation Establishment Elixir, join the recruitment by the Longevity Sect. I’m not afraid to tell you openly that before the situation improves, no one should even think about getting a Foundation Establishment Elixir," the staff member replied with irritation and shrugged off the hand.

The high-level Loose Cultivator, who was clearly at the Ninth Layer of Qi Cultivation, dared not get angry and could only repeatedly offer apologetic smiles.

Without the Foundation Establishment Elixirs or the Golden Light Body Protection Skill, Chen Li looked disappointed upon hearing this, put down the auction catalogue, and turned to leave.

The situation had worsened rapidly. Within just half a month, the prospect of war hung heavily in the air.

A few days ago, the Longevity Sect started recruiting Loose Cultivators in large numbers, and suddenly, Luoluo City was filled with an air of trepidation and the pervasive aura of war. Affected by this, the prices of magic artifacts and talismans in the city had skyrocketed by more than double.

Although he had anticipated this and had been slowly buying up stock, he hadn’t expected the situation to escalate so quickly. By the time the prices had skyrocketed, he had only managed to purchase about fifty magic artifacts.

After being busy for seven or eight days, he had only made a profit of over a hundred Mid-grade Spirit Stones.

Just a small sum of money.

It was a pity to miss such a good opportunity!

...

The wars on both sides had little to do with most Loose Cultivators.

Instead, due to the stimulated demand and the movement of people because of the war, the shantytown at the foot of the mountain had become even livelier. Every day countless cultivators would come here, and countless would leave.

"Told you to behave, told you to behave!"

In the evening, a female cultivator dragged a young boy towards her, flipped back his robe, and her palm smacked down on his bottom with a series of loud slaps.

The boy was covered in mud, but he had a bearish temperament. Faced with his mother’s slaps, he stubbornly didn’t make a sound.

"Beating the child again!" Chen Li came out and said with a smile.

This was a young mother and son, orphans who lived next door. This scene had played out every other day.

"Fellow Daoist Chen, don’t try to persuade me. This child is so naughty, if I don’t discipline him, he’ll be out of control. He’s so young, and he’s already learned to steal," the female cultivator said through gritted teeth.

"I didn’t steal it, I found it, I didn’t steal!" the boy shouted back, neck stiff, loudly proclaiming, "Someone died on the road just now, and I found it on the body when no one was there. I didn’t steal."

This child.

Was showing promise from such a young age.

Chen Li didn’t know what to say upon hearing this.

"You... you’re asking for trouble... In this kind of situation, others would avoid it like the plague, and you dare... you dare to touch a corpse!" The more the female cultivator spoke, the more enraged and scared she became, looking left and right as if searching for something.

She quickly found a broom and harshly swept it across his bottom.

The bearish child cried out in pain, desperately wriggling and tears sprouting from the corners of his eyes.

Chen Li offered a perfunctory word of advice but didn’t try to intervene further.

This bearish child indeed deserved a lesson.

He was too bold.

If this kept up, he could very well end up dead one day.

"Dinner’s ready!" The voice of Zhou Hong came from inside the house.

Chen Li reluctantly turned away and headed back into the courtyard.

...

The night.

An especially prepared quiet room that also served as a talisman-making room.

"Huff..."

Chen Li exhaled slowly and brought his hands down to finish his Qi Cultivation session.

He checked his game panel.

"It’s much slower!" Chen Li thought to himself.

The concentration of Spiritual Energy here couldn’t compare at all to Luoluo City, which he found slightly regrettable, but he quickly came to terms with it. It was just a delay, and compared to safety risks, it was completely trivial.

Moreover, this place was still much stronger than the Green River District.

Chen Li thought it over, pulled out a small black sword from his storage bag, and skillfully twirled it between his fingers.

This flying sword had come from Zhou Xutang and fell within the category of a Second Order Magic Artifact.

Unfortunately, although it had been long since he had refined it, perhaps it was due to his cultivation level, but when he wielded this flying sword, he always felt somewhat inadequate.

Not like his Second Order magic sword, which he could use as soon as he picked it up.

"Go!"

The flying sword "clang" rose into the air.

It circled the room and quickly returned to his hand.

Chen Li played with it for a while before putting the flying sword back into the storage bag, "It seems I’ll have to wait until after Foundation Establishment to use it."

He rose from the meditation cushion and continued to study the Yuan Magnetism Evasion Skill.

He silently recited incantations, his fingers rapidly forming seals.

Before long.

The earth’s magnetism became chaotic, static electricity sparked in the air, the table began to shake, and this phenomenon lasted for a few seconds before abruptly disappearing; he closed his eyes and felt it for a while.

He picked up a pen and began to record.

In nearly four years, the number of spells Chen Li taught himself had reached sixteen.

Among them, four he had mastered to the pinnacle.

There were also a considerable number of master and grandmaster level skills.

These levels weren’t akin to skills in a game; they were concrete perceptions and understandings of his own.

Just like the mastered Palm Thunder.

The original incantation of three syllables, he could blend and overlap into one new incantation and chant it out, making the casting speed comparable even to the Flash Skill—it was an embodiment of complete analysis of the skill.

This kind of technique was something most people couldn’t learn in a lifetime.

If one were to talk about the understanding of spells, a typical cultivator at the Foundation Establishment might not even compare with him.

Especially these Second Order spells.

To Chen Li, learning these was like reaching into a bag for something familiar, effortless and smooth.

"Seventy-second experiment!" Chen Li put down his pen.

He made a slight adjustment to the plan and tried again.

He took a deep breath.

Close your eyes, calm your mind! 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Then he opened his eyes.

Chanting incantations,

forming seals.

All the steps skilled and fluid, like clouds and flowing water.

The anomaly descended once more, and at a certain moment, Chen Li seemed to resonate with a particular Qi.

"Crackle and pop!"

Electromagnetism suddenly burst forth.

"Hum..."

Accompanied by a humming noise, his body suddenly levitated.

"I did it!" Chen Li felt joy in his heart.

It took just fifteen days in total.

This top-tier Qi Cultivation Stage spell was already at the introductory level!

In his excitement, a slight thought caused a "boom" as he crashed straight through the wooden wall.

"Damn!"

Chen Li cursed silently, hastily dispelling the technique.

Zhou Hong was awakened by the loud noise, quickly arriving from the bedroom wearing just a silk nightgown, "What happened?"

"Just a small accident," Chen Li said morosely, brushing wood dust off himself.

"You gave me a fright, be more careful. Are you hurt?" Zhou Hong cast him a coquettish glance.

"Not at all, with this physique of mine, it’s hard even to get hurt," Chen Li saw her picking up a broom to start cleaning and couldn’t help but chuckle, approached her with a hug around her waist, and carried her back to the bedroom: "Why clean up? I’ll handle it tomorrow!"

...

Afterward.

The two lay together exchanging pillow talk:

"You don’t know yet, but a few days ago Zhang Yan got beaten up again!" Zhou Hong, quite spent, snuggled into Chen Li’s embrace without moving, and softly spoke.

"Ah, what happened?" Chen Li asked in surprise.

"It was over a dispute for a stall space, he got into a conflict and ended up getting slapped a few times, Shu told me secretly," Zhou Hong said with a chuckle.

"No wonder I haven’t seen him around recently," Chen Li said.

Zhang Yan had a bad temper and was prideful yet weak; it wasn’t surprising he got hit.

Chen Li used to set up a stall too.

He would often encounter some unreasonable people.

If you didn’t humble yourself, saying some nice words, getting hit was the least of your worries—it could even cost your life.

"Don’t mention it to Zhang Yan, otherwise Shu will be in trouble," Zhou Hong suddenly remembered and warned.

"Don’t worry! I’m not a gossip," Chen Li said with a smile.

"So you’re saying I am?" Zhou Hong playfully smacked Chen Li, pretending to be annoyed.

"No, no!" Chen Li quickly coaxed: "It was just a slip of the tongue, besides your tongue isn’t long at all."

ps: Adjusting the timeline.