Living steadily in the world of gods and mystery

In the days that followed, Chen Li’s Immortal Muscles Jade Bones Skill advanced by leaps and bounds.

What started as a medicinal bath every three days gradually became every two days. With the vast consumption of Spirit Stones, the strength of his bones increased visibly by the day, slowly crystallizing.

Even his strength had improved to different degrees; his skin and muscles became tighter and more resilient, significantly boosting his defense.

What delighted Chen Li even more was this.

As the strength of his body increased, the practice of his basic swordsmanship also became smoother, quickening his progress considerably.

Prior to this, Chen Li had estimated it would take another two and a half years to max out his basic swordsmanship, but with the current trend, he felt it would take at most a year and a half.

...

Time flew like an arrow.

Summer gave way to autumn.

The Returning True Sect had added another Foundation Establishment, and Chen Li finally shed the name of being a newly-advanced Foundation Establishment cultivator.

The new Foundation Establishment belonged to a young Inner Sect Disciple of the sect. His Foundation Establishment ceremony was much grander and livelier than when Chen Li, as a Guest Elder, had joined it, with twenty-eight Foundation Establishment attendants alone, not to mention members of Foundation Establishment families from outside the sect gates also coming over.

"Tsk tsk, a twenty-year-old Foundation Establishment, probably the first one so young in our Returning True Sect. Even among those Nascent Soul sects, he’s considered one of the few geniuses!" an old Foundation Establishment with a wrinkled face said, stroking his beard while expressing both amazement and envy on his face.

"That’s not accurate, our Golden Core Ancestor established his Foundation at eighteen," said one Foundation Establishment cultivator, bowing respectfully.

"Our Ancestor is someone extraordinary, of course, we can’t count him in. Twenty years old is already incredible. At twenty, I was just at the late stage of Qi Cultivation."

’What was I doing when I was twenty?’ Chen thought, and then helplessly shook his head.

The original owner of this body was still at the third level of Qi Cultivation at forty.

In his previous life, he had been equally insignificant.

"This is a Golden Core Seed, for sure. As long as he doesn’t die prematurely, at the very least, he’ll reach the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment. You just can’t compare, you can’t!"

A group of middle-aged and old Foundation Establishment cultivators who had given up hope for the Great Dao sat together, their words tinged with sourness, envying such youth and talent for Foundation Establishment, which certainly smoothed the path ahead on the Great Dao.

Soon, the newly-advanced Foundation Establishment, accompanied by Luo Shen, arrived in front of the hall.

The new cultivator was named Ding Jian; of average height, plain-looking, even somewhat dull, only the spark in his eyes hinted at his inner wisdom.

Under the introduction of the administrative Sect Leader Xia Hongyi, Ding Jian met all the Foundation Establishment cultivators with polite and subtly respectful greetings.

"This is our Guest Elder, Chen Li," Xia Hongyi introduced with a smile, "Fellow Daoist Chen is also a newly-advanced Foundation Establishment like you; he killed a Second Order demon beast on his own after only three years of Foundation Establishment. His combat strength is extraordinary. You two can exchange insights in the future."

"I’ve seen Fellow Daoist Chen," Ding bowed in greeting.

"I’ve seen Fellow Daoist Ding," Chen replied with a smile, returning the gesture.

Since Ding Jian was an Inner Sect Disciple, there was no initiation ceremony for him. After meeting the Foundation Establishment cultivators inside the hall, Xia Hongyi took him to pay respects to the Golden Core Ancestor.

Since Chen had joined,

he had only seen the Golden Core Ancestor once, as he usually kept to himself and rarely showed himself.

The affairs of the sect, big and small, were mostly managed by the administrative Sect Leader Xia Hongyi, who acted as a steward for the Returning True Sect.

After Xia Hongyi and Ding Jian left,

the atmosphere relaxed. Everyone gathered together, chatting and laughing, discussing the path of cultivation. Chen had always been able to lower his guard and flatter others, making it easy for him to join the conversation.

"Fellow Daoist Xiao is profoundly skilled in his magical techniques. May I ask how to counter the Earth Escape Skill?"

"I haven’t learned the Earth Escape Skill, but I do know one or two ways to counter it," Xiao Yuan, who enjoyed playing the role of a teacher, replied with a smile, "For those at the initial stage of Foundation Establishment, a Second Order level one Earth-Shocking Skill can perfectly counter the Earth Escape Skill."

"Fellow Daoist Chen, just the Earth-Shocking Skill alone won’t do; you have to practice the Penetrating Vision Skill too!"

The group of people revealed mysterious smiles, and a few female Foundation Establishment cultivators blushed and couldn’t help but mutter under their breath.

"Point taken!" Chen said with an honest smile, bowing his hands in thanks.

He had previously overlooked this particular skill.

He lacked ways to deal with enemies coming from underground, but the Earth-Shocking Skill would perfectly fill that gap.

Following this lead, everyone started discussing some practical tips for using several common techniques during combat at the Foundation Establishment Stage. Chen listened intently and learned a great deal.

With their long lifespans, the vast majority of Foundation Establishment cultivators, having reached a bottleneck in their cultivation and no hope of advancing on the path to the Great Dao, had plenty of time to research life-saving techniques and magic. Especially the middle-aged and older ones, there were none who weren’t proficient in them.

The conversation shifted from techniques to the strengths and weaknesses of various Cultivation Techniques, then to the surrounding political situation, and even to gossip about a few Golden Core cultivators. They talked until nearly noon, with Xia Hongyi and Ding Jian yet to return.

Just as Chen was wondering about it, a Qi Cultivation disciple hurried over.

"The Sect Leader sent me to inform all the Elders and seniors that Ding has been taken as a Direct Disciple by the Sect Leader and is about to enter closed-door cultivation, so he won’t be coming here," the disciple said.

"Hiss!" The Foundation Establishment cultivators in the hall couldn’t help but gasp at the news, which was followed by a buzz of astonishment.

"Is this true?"

"With my limited courage, I wouldn’t dare to lie about such a significant matter," the younger disciple replied.

Chen, not understanding the implications, inquired about it from a Foundation Establishment cultivator beside him and learned that the Sect Leader rarely took disciples.

So far, there had been only two.

One was the current administrative Sect Leader Xia Hongyi, the only one at the late stage of Foundation Establishment in the Returning True Sect.

The other had attempted to break through to Golden Core a hundred years ago, failed, and passed away.

In other words, being taken as a disciple virtually meant having a great chance of reaching the Golden Core stage.

Chen felt a twinge of envy himself.

Personal guidance from a Golden Core Ancestor... why hadn’t he been chosen?

Alas, different folks, different strokes!

All he could rely on was himself.

With this little episode, the atmosphere in the hall actually became even more lively. The group talked even more enthusiastically, and after enjoying the midday feast, they didn’t disband. Instead, they held a small-scale exchange event.

They took out items they didn’t normally need and traded with each other.

Chen was interested in a middle-grade Second Order Magic Artifact one of the cultivators brought out, but unfortunately, the price of nine Top-grade Spirit Stones was too steep for his modest means.

The gathering lasted until the evening before they finally parted contentedly, saying their goodbyes and returning to their respective homes.

...

Ding Jian’s acceptance as a disciple by the Sect Leader had been a topic of conversation in the Returning True Sect for a long time.

He became someone everyone looked up to. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

This autumn there were no massive conscripted labors like in previous years, but there were still plenty of sect tasks, neither big nor small, such as hunting man-eating Demon Beasts, clearing out rampaging Evil Wraiths, and capturing rogue cultivators who banded together. There wasn’t much danger involved, and the rewards were generous.

However, with so many at the Foundation Establishment Stage, it wasn’t Chen Li’s turn—an inner sect disciple who had not long achieved Foundation Establishment.

Chen Li paid no attention to external affairs, and in his spare time, he began to learn the Rainbow Transformation Skill and the Earth-Shocking Skill, both Second Order level one techniques. He had already obtained the Rainbow Transformation Skill during his previous assassination attempt on Zhou Xutang.

It was just that in previous years, he had mainly focused on a similar skill, the Yuan Magnetism Evasion Skill, and had been too lazy to learn the others.

As for the Earth-Shocking Skill, it was during the last exchange of magic techniques that he was suddenly enlightened.

Chen Li’s days were peaceful and fulfilling, with the only slight regret being that despite his diligent work and not sparing his physical strength, Zhou Hong still hadn’t managed to conceive.

He suspected that the original owner of the body’s long history of debauchery had damaged his fertility.

The seductresses of pleasure quarters were most adept at depleting one’s essence and marrow.

Some were even known to practice arts that absorbed vitality from men to supplement their own yin energy.

In the throes of ecstasy, one’s vital essence could be harvested unconsciously.

To think about it...

It was truly frightening!

Fortunately, Chen Li wasn’t too concerned about the matter of offspring.

If it happened, great; if not, it didn’t matter.

Out of concern for Zhou Hong, Chen Li often comforted her, telling her not to overthink, not to rush, to believe that effort would surely pay off, and that diligence would eventually be rewarded by the heavens.

...

Half a month later, in the wilderness.

Chen Li silently chanted an incantation with his fingers rapidly forming seals.

"Earth-Shocking Skill!"

He lifted his foot and then stomped down heavily, his mana driving the force of the stomp as heavy as ten thousand catties.

"Boom!"

The ground shook violently.

The grass on the ground shattered from the tremor and leaped half a meter high, while the surrounding trees were shaken so badly, they were left leaning in all directions as if a minor earthquake had occurred.

Chen Li looked at the mess within a radius of more than thirty meters and used the Penetrating Vision Skill again.

Looking downward into the earth,

Indeed, within ten meters below,

The geological layers were compressed and deformed, and the rocks shattered.

Insects, snakes, and mice hidden within, were all squashed into mush, dying unexpected deaths.

"Such formidable power!"

He believed that if there were people hiding underground nearby, just this one stomp would be enough to leave them disoriented with shattered bones, or even strangled beneath the earth.

...

Time flowed like water, and the days passed by quietly.

Winter came and went, spring arrived.

On the tenth year since Chen Li arrived in this world and the fourth year of his Foundation Establishment, the New Year’s holiday arrived.

That day, Chen Li asked Bai Wei to send Gu Mengqing away after he came to deliver a gift.

The Yu Family didn’t show up again this year.

It had been two years with no news from them.

Chen Li guessed that the Yu Family had either been annihilated or relocated somewhere else. In recent years, the Returning True Sect had been cracking down on rogue cultivators banding together, either killing them or exiling them to remote markets to boost the population.

He shook his head and returned to his talisman-making room to do the accounts.

"I’m almost out of money!"

He counted his Spirit Stones and realized that, including small change, he had only six top-grade Spirit Stones left.

"This amount of money can last at most half a year," Chen Li thought to himself, and that was counting on the assumption that his cultivation would improve and the number of talismans he could produce would increase in the future.

In truth, it wasn’t yet at the point where he was struggling to get by.

He currently only drew talismans once in the morning until his Spiritual Power was drained, but if he was willing, he could draw them both morning and night, easily doubling his income and just barely covering his expenses to stop the financial bleeding.

But if he did that, his practice of magical techniques would have to be delayed.

"Do I really have to take risks like Feng Qi: hunting Second Order Demon Beasts and living a life on the edge?"

Chen Li left the room with a headache.

Zhou Hong approached him, "This year is your fiftieth birthday. Should we celebrate it with a big party?"

Chen Li paused upon hearing this.

Have I really turned fifty without noticing?

It didn’t feel like it at all.

He still felt young at heart, and his body was as robust as ever...

"I see that not many at the Foundation Establishment Stage within the sect throw a big celebration. Let’s not bother with it. After all, we aren’t like those Foundation Establishment families outside who are building legacies and prospering with numerous descendants," Chen Li said.

A grand birthday celebration would cost a lot of money anyway.