Living steadily in the world of gods and mystery

"The twelfth demon beast!"

Chen Li gazed at the enormous corpse, its head separated from its body, silent and speechless.

It had been over ten days since he set out.

Chen Li didn’t know exactly where he was, but he figured he had long left the boundaries of the Returning True realm and entered the true uninhabited Barbaric Wilderness.

The place had become more and more dangerous. Even though he frequently activated the Fortune Seeking and Disaster Avoiding Skill, battles were still unavoidable. Not only were demon beasts becoming more numerous, but he also occasionally encountered Evil Wraiths, as well as sneak attacks from all sorts of bizarre creatures—it was danger at every turn.

The most dangerous time, he nearly capsized in a gutter, almost perishing right there.

"Going on like this, I’ll eventually die here," Chen Li took out his water flask, took a sip, and pondered, "I’ll search for a few more days; if I can’t find it, then so be it."

He no longer dared to fly in the sky now, it was too easy to become a target. On the ground, he still had a chance of surviving an encounter with a Second Order demon beast, but in the sky, an encounter with a Second Order avian beast would leave him only dead end.

Taking advantage of the Fortune Seeking and Disaster Avoiding Skill’s effect that hadn’t yet faded, he followed a premonition, uprooting a plant of Spiritual Medicine and placing it in his storage bag.

These days, he had nearly turned this technique into a passive ability, casting it again as soon as the effects of the spell wore off.

A first-level, fifth-grade spell was insignificant for Chen Li who had reached Complete Qi Cultivation.

Add to that the auto-recovery of qi that came with maxed out Longevity Skill.

Often, even before the effects of the spell dissipated, the spiritual power inside his body would have already fully replenished itself.

He hadn’t found a First Order spiritual land, but he had found quite a lot of Spiritual Medicine and materials. Most of them he didn’t recognize, but he felt they were valuable items that should fetch some money.

...

Fortunately, his luck turned for the better subsequently.

Three days later.

Chen Li finally caught a trace of the spiritual land.

Following the trajectory of the flowing Spiritual Energy, he entered a narrow valley. As he delved deeper, the Spiritual Energy became visibly denser to the naked eye.

It was still morning then.

Thin mist pervaded the area, giving it the appearance of a fairyland. Although it was deep autumn, the vegetation was lush and verdant, dripping with freshness. A variety of unknown wildflowers competed in beauty and vibrancy, emitting the fresh scent of grass and trees.

"A First Order spiritual land... no, perhaps even beyond that," Chen Li’s face lit up with joy, "This is just the periphery and already has the concentration of Spiritual Energy of Luoluo City. The interior is evidently of even higher grade."

He activated the Breath-Concealing Skill and moved very cautiously, choosing spots hidden by vegetation to press on deeper.

Such a place was bound to be extremely dangerous.

"Crash!"

A colorful, bowl-thick poisonous snake plummeted from a tree like a bolt of lightning. The force of its descent sent the air buzzing. Chen Li’s body, as if forewarned, shifted slightly, deftly avoiding the attack. In the next moment, his sword flashed.

The snake was severed in two with a single stroke.

The two halves of the body twisted furiously.

The snake’s mouth gaped wide, revealing sharp fangs, hissing ferociously.

Chen Li crushed it with a flick of his spiritual power in the next instant.

Such attacks were all too common in the jungle. After this journey, if not a thousand times, he had encountered them at least a hundred times. His spirit had long been tempered to remain untroubled.

Moving with extreme caution, after walking over ten miles, Chen Li discovered an enormous skeleton half-buried in the ground.

Even though most of it was underground, the section protruding above the ground was still taller than him. Walking beside the skeleton, he felt an intense sense of oppression.

It seemed to belong to a Second Order demon beast; its bones were partially crystallized, emanating a faint Spiritual Light.

It must have been dead for a very long time, as the skeleton was clean, with even the softer cartilage parts gone without a trace, leaving only the hardest parts of the bones.

He found many deep claw marks and bite marks on the skeleton, and the cervical vertebrae also displayed an abnormal fracture; clearly, it had not died a natural death.

Chen Li felt a chill in his heart:

"Who knows what level of demon beasts are behind this... We can’t go any deeper. Such high-level spiritual lands must have their masters!"

With this thought in mind, he quickly halted his steps, "Let’s just stay here!"

The concentration of spiritual energy here far surpassed that of Luoluo City; it was probably at the level of a Second Order spiritual land, which was enough for Foundation Establishment.

He looked around; on both sides were cliffs covered in vines, each vine hanging down from the cliff’s edge like pythons, forming natural ladders.

He saw no caves, but carving out a new one would not be difficult for him.

Chen Li walked to the edge of the cliff, grabbed a vine, and began to climb quickly with his hands and feet.

Soon, he arrived halfway up the mountain, hundreds of meters high, and found footing on a protruding rock face.

He whispered spells silently, cast a Traction Skill, then applied a Body Protection Skill to himself, and stood quietly on high ground, watchfully surveying below and listening intently.

The mist below was thick, with swirling clouds casting an atmosphere of eerie calm.

Only the occasional, distant, lingering beast’s roar came through, but in such a primal forest, these sounds were nothing more than the usual background noise.

After watching for a while and gradually calming down, Chen Li began to officially start digging his cave... he was extremely proficient in this task.

The entrance was only big enough for one person, but inside it extended more than twenty meters deep. At the bottom, the space opened up, sufficient for living and practicing cultivation.

Once the cave was dug, Chen Li took out a set of formation tools from his storage bag. According to calculated positions, he drove about ten Array Plates into the cliffs around, with the central hub of the formation set up inside the cave. As he slotted several Mid-grade Spirit Stones into their positions and activated the control Token,

The mid-grade Second Order Five Elements Illusionary Formation promptly came to life.

Ever since reaching Complete Qi Cultivation, Chen Li had started preparing for Foundation Establishment, and this set of formation tools was part of it.

The Five Elements Illusionary Formation had no defensive capabilities, boasting only a simple illusion and maze effect. Still, this seemingly simple formation had cost Chen Li over three hundred Mid-grade Spirit Stones.

But it was worth the price.

From the outside, this place appeared to be nothing more than vines and smooth rock faces, with no trace of a cave entrance to be found, and any wild beasts that unintentionally approached would just end up walking in circles on the spot.

After busying himself for half a day, Chen Li finally settled in.

...

Day by day, time passed.

Apart from refining his Spiritual Power, practicing swordsmanship and Spells, Chen Li’s daily routine included eating and sleeping.

From the bustling Luoluo City to this uninhabited Barbaric Wilderness, he lived in isolation and faced the elements alone without any human disturbance.

Chen Li’s originally restless thoughts gradually became serene, and he even stopped thinking too much about making his breakthrough.

His hair grew longer and his beard covered his cheeks. At first, he tended to them daily, but over time he couldn’t be bothered to care anymore, looking every bit the wild man.

One month passed.

Two months passed.

Three months passed.

...

In the blink of an eye, half a year had gone by.

Until one morning, as Chen Li watched the rising sun, a strong palpitation suddenly surged in his heart, his Spiritual Power uncontrollably began to stir, seeping out of his pores. He then had a flash of insight—the opportunity for Foundation Establishment had arrived.

The breakthrough was right before his eyes.

ps: Sorry for the few minutes delay.