Living steadily in the world of gods and mystery

The air was thick with the scent of blood.

"Swoosh!"

Accompanied by a sharp whistle!

The flying sword shot through the demon beast’s eye like lightning, its momentum unabated, turning the brain inside into mush.

The demon beast’s huge body stiffened suddenly, its whole body beginning to twitch unnaturally.

Chen Li reached out his hand to call back the flying sword, and only then did he relax.

He stepped forward with his sword, leapt onto the shoulders and neck of the demon beast, channeled his Zhou Tian Gang Jin, raised his sword, and with several continuous chops, completely severed the huge head that was nearly as tall as a man.

At this time, several Foundation Establishment cultivators finally flew over.

Chen Li canceled his spell and jumped down from the demon beast to greet them.

"Chen, you really keep your light under a bushel," laughed the leading Foundation Establishment cultivator.

"Hardly, hardly. I just relied on a bit of reckless courage. I didn’t expect this Second Order demon beast, looking so fierce, to actually be so fragile!" Chen Li modestly replied, "And thank you all for coming to my aid."

"Oh, you’re too modest, Fellow Daoist. That hand-to-hand combat style, so clean and efficient, is truly impressive," someone said.

The group engaged in a friendly exchange for a while.

Among those Foundation Establishment cultivators who came over was one who had teased Chen Li the day before about never having seen a Second Order demon beast, now his smile concealed a hint of embarrassment.

Fortunately, Chen Li did not bring it up, allowing him to save face.

The two sides exchanged pleasantries for a while.

Shortly after, the Foundation Establishment cultivators took their leave.

...

"Ah, it’s over already?"

Having not been gone for long, Feng Qi hurriedly flew over, saw the demon beast corpse and Chen Li beside it, and immediately landed with a frustrated look on his face.

"Chen, why only you here? Where are the other Fellow Daoists?" Halfway through his sentence, shock spread across his face: "Could it be... just you alone!"

Chen Li smiled and said nothing.

"Tsk tsk! I really misjudged you before!" Feng Qi watched Chen Li for a long while, spoke with surprise, and left still somewhat in disbelief.

He came twice in succession and came up empty-handed, which was really unlucky.

In the following time, more familiar and less familiar Foundation Establishment cultivators arrived, and Chen Li received each one with the appropriate greeting. Upon learning that he had taken down the Second Order demon beast on his own, everyone became much warmer, and even the usually subtle invisible barriers seemed to dissolve by a large margin. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

"It’s finally over."

Chen Li took out a porcelain bottle from his storage bag, uncorked it, and took two Gathering Qi Elixirs to recover his spiritual power. Looking at the crowd keeping their distance, he gestured to a few Returning True Sect disciples to command their teams to continue clearing the wilderness.

He himself then emptied the lower-level demon beast meat from his storage bag, tossed it to the ground, and began to disassemble the massive corpse.

This Second Order demon beast was much larger than the Second Order serpent demon from before.

Standing upright it was about six meters tall, with a length of thirteen meters if you didn’t count the tail, and it weighed an estimated twenty tons. Without disassembling it, his two storage bags would hardly fit much.

As for Chen Li skinning and deboning the meat, there’s no need to mention it.

"Another Demon Core!" he fished out a burning hot object from the dragged out and stinking offal.

With this one included, he now had three.

The newly extracted Demon Core was somewhat soft, its surface misty and radiant, emitting strong energy fluctuations. Held in his hand, it pulse subtly as if alive.

Chen Li played with it for a while, then placed the Demon Core into his storage bag and continued disassembling.

The bones of the Second Order demon beast were extremely heavy.

Almost half-crystalized spiritual materials, their texture was very dense, as heavy as metal, almost a quarter of the entire weight of the demon beast, while the blood weighed about a tenth of the total weight.

A twenty-ton demon beast, with just flesh and innards, actually weighed about thirteen tons.

Even so, his two storage bags with a combined capacity of eight cubic meters, could not fit it all.

What’s more, these spiritual materials were equally valuable, almost equal in value to a demon beast’s flesh and blood.

"Sigh, next time, I must buy a larger capacity storage bag! It really holds me back at critical times," Chen Li sighed.

Not to mention this Second Order demon beast, which was beyond expectation.

Just take the low-order demon beasts he had killed in these days, not eight, then seven, except for one from which he took meat, the rest were either left in the wild or divided among the Loose Cultivators in the team.

The Loose Cultivators were happy.

But he couldn’t be happy.

This was all his money!

A low-grade demon beast was worth at least a dozen or two Mid-grade Spirit Stones, and at most over thirty. Seven demon beasts were equivalent to one hundred and forty Mid-grade Spirit Stones. Even for Chen Li, this was not a small amount.

It would take him over a month just to draw Golden Light Body Protection Talismans.

All his savings added up to just six Top-grade Spirit Stones.

Looking at the remaining half of the demon beast meat and the mountainous pile of bones and skins, Chen Li felt helpless, so he had to return to the market district. He stored several of the longer leg bones and some of the meat in a temporary little house, then used his Ice Skill to freeze them, planning to come back in the evening and find a way to deal with them.

As for the emptied First Order demon beast meat, he could only let the Loose Cultivators divide it.

...

In the evening, when they returned from clearing the wilderness, Chen Li, following the established custom, personally delivered over a hundred pounds of Second Order demon beast meat to each Foundation Establishment cultivator. Fortunately, the trip wasn’t in vain, and Chen Li’s troubling dilemma was quickly resolved at Zhou Yuanpeng’s place.

Upon arriving, Zhou Yuanpeng expressed his hope to acquire the monster materials of the Second Order Demon Beasts.

This matter was exactly what Chen Li had in mind.

"I hadn’t expected Fellow Daoist Zhou to be not only an Array Master but also an Artifact Refining Master," Chen Li complimented.

"I dare not claim to be a master; claiming so would be laughed at. I have merely learned a bit of the rudiments of Artifact Refining," Zhou Yuanpeng modestly refused with a bitter smile, gesturing repeatedly with his hands:

"I can handle first-order Magic Artifacts, but I am still struggling with the second order. If you have any second-order spirit materials you wish to sell in the future, feel free to look for me. Rest assured, the price will definitely not be lower than the market rate."

Chen Li immediately agreed and complimented him a few more times.

Zhou Yuanpeng, flattered by Chen Li, stroked his long beard lightly, although he humbly declined again and again, his smile never ceased and his gaze toward Chen Li grew much warmer.

Chen Li then took a large pile of bones and fur from the temporary hut.

Zhou Yuanpeng appraised them on the spot and ultimately they concluded the deal at the price of two top-grade Spirit Stones.

The price was indeed fair, much higher than the market rate. In an outside Magic Artifact shop, they would probably only offer about one hundred and fifty mid-grade Spirit Stones.

...

The Foundation Establishment cultivators that came this time, not counting Chen Li, were a total of twenty-five. Each one came to deliver meat and chatted for a while, and eventually, the pleasantries became so routine they rolled off the tongue smoothly. By the time he finished with them all, it was already nightfall, and he found it more tiring than the day’s battle.

But he felt good about it.

Looking at those Foundation Establishment cultivators, some enthusiastic, some surprised, some incredulous.

Chen Li felt that the meat was well worth the offering.

Each Foundation Establishment cultivator received over a hundred pounds of meat, which accounted for about one and a half tons, leaving around eleven or twelve tons of pure meat that barely fit into two storage bags.

But they were packed to the brim.

...

After a simple dinner, Chen Li practiced his swordsmanship as usual, reflecting on the day’s battle.

’I wonder what level that Second Order Demon Beast was? It is said that many Demon Beasts possess natural talents, and the one we encountered today clearly had a talent related to fire...’

’Alas, the battle ended too quickly, that’s the unfortunate part. It’s impossible to get a clear sense of a Demon Beast’s true strength!’ Chen Li lamented inwardly.

"Senior, the room is ready. If there is anything you need, please just command," a young female disciple said respectfully, her face flushed.

Perhaps because Foundation Establishment is difficult and the chances are not high, the Returning True Sect doesn’t really have a master-disciple system. The only difference between Inner Sect Disciples and Outer Sect Disciples is that the former are provided with the best resources and spiritual lands, and are only responsible for cultivation without having to deal with miscellaneous tasks.

The situation for Outer Sect Disciples is rather hard; they are responsible for labor. Some female disciples even have to serve the daily needs of the Foundation Establishment cultivators, almost no different from servants.

"Yes, you’ve worked hard!" Chen Li stopped practicing his swordsmanship, and kindly said, "There’s nothing more needed here, go back and rest early."

"Sen... Senior, let me serve you," stuttered the young disciple with a trembling voice, her face aflame with shyness. "I have never been touched by any other man."

She began to lightly undo her robes, exposing the pale green undergarment beneath.

Her ample bosom seemed ready to burst forth, her whole body shaking with trepidation.

Chen Li glanced at her then averted his gaze: "What are you doing? Get dressed quickly. I do not require your service here, go back and rest."

The girl had mustered her courage to speak and instantly her face turned beet red as large tears fell, hurrying to dress and covering her face, she ran out as if fleeing.

Smelling the lingering fragrance in the air.

Chen Li shook his head with a wry smile. What was all this about?

He put away the stray thoughts in his mind and continued to practice swordsmanship.

...

The next day at noon, the Flying Boat made another trip.

It brought a shipment of supplies and thousands of emaciated mortals of both genders and all ages.

The supplies were mainly building materials, seeds, a variety of farming tools, everyday goods, and such—evidently, these mortals were the first group of settlers from the Green River District, coming here to pioneer this place.

When Chen Li returned in the evening, the tree stumps left from the land clearing had already been excavated and burned.

A large number of mortals shouted rhythmic calls, pulling on ropes tied to enormous wooden stakes, pounding and levelling the ground in preparation to build houses and construct the district.

"In this world, mortals are but ants!"

Surely, the dangers of a newly opened territory need not be mentioned; furthermore, this place is surrounded by forests on all sides.

For these mortals, it’s not just Demon Beasts and Evil Wraiths that pose a threat—even ordinary wild animals, venomous insects, or simply the maladjustment to the new environment could prove fatal. If half of these thousands of people were still alive after ten years, that would be quite remarkable.

...

Time passed day by day, and before long, a month had gone by.

The feeling of autumn grew stronger, and the scope of the land clearing had expanded to what was originally forested territory, with each group leading their teams further apart.

During this period, another team encountered a Second Order Demon Beast. This time it did not go as smoothly as before; a Foundation Establishment cultivator from a clan met with a tragic death in battle. This was the first casualty among the Foundation Establishment rank during this labor service.

The way this Foundation Establishment cultivator died was quite miserable.

His body was bitten in half by the Demon Beast.

The half that contained his upper body was found in the belly of the Demon Beast, and by the time it was cut out and retrieved, it had been decomposed beyond recognition.

The corpse was not buried in the Green River District but was instead frozen, placed in a coffin, to be brought back to Luoluo City when returning.

Because of this, the team took a special day of rest before continuing the next day.

ps: This Chapter is for yesterday, I will try to write a Chapter each day from now on.