Living steadily in the world of gods and mystery

Chen Li sat in a tub filled with medicinal herbs, his eyes slightly closed, his body red hot, and wisps of green smoke rising from the top of his head.

In his inner vision.

As spiritual power continually refined him according to the Immortal Muscles Jade Bones Skill, it seemed as though countless intricate patterns appeared on his crystalline bones, flickering in and out of sight, shimmering as if they were breathing.

Since he began cultivating the Immortal Muscles Jade Bones Skill now a year and a half ago, he had spent over ten top-grade Spirit Stones on it.

Meanwhile, the Immortal Muscles Jade Bones Skill had also slowly advanced to the expert level.

Compared with the initial stage, the route of the Immortal Muscles Jade Bones Skill had become more complex, and these dense patterns on the bones only appeared after the Cultivation Technique advanced to the expert level.

The result was... a significantly increased consumption of spiritual power.

Bones that were nearly tempered had to be tempered all over again.

An hour later, as he felt his spiritual power gradually depleting and a sense that something was going awry, Chen Li slowly ceased his cultivation, grabbed a Body Tempering Elixir from beside the tub, swallowed one to nourish his body, and with a gentle push of his hand, he effortlessly leaped out of the tub:

"This body is getting heavier and heavier."

This was not his imagination.

Not only did he feel it, for instance, his flight speed had decreased quite a bit, even Zhou Hong and Shu had complained about this several times.

"It must be the bone density increasing. It’s a trade-off!"

He threw a punch out of thin air.

With a "boom,"

it created a sonic boom.

Winds howled in the room.

The windows around him rattled.

In the past, such a punch would have caused all his muscles to feel a tearing pain, but now there was no sensation at all.

"Young Master..." A maid’s voice came from outside the door.

"It’s nothing!" Chen Li replied off-handedly, casting a Cleaning Skill on himself, then he donned his robe and tidied up his appearance before stepping outside. After instructing the maid to clean up the room, he went to a rock in the courtyard to test the strength of his bones once more.

He first cast a Hemostasis Healing Skill on himself.

Using one-third of his strength, he punched the rock.

"Boom!"

The mountain rock trembled, and debris flew everywhere.

Chen Li’s fist plunged straight into the rock.

"Broke the skin a bit!" he said as he withdrew his hand and examined the back of it.

This was normal; the Immortal Muscles Jade Bones Skill comprised three relatively independent parts: the Immortal Muscles, Tough Organs, and Jade Bones. Currently, he was still in the Bone Tempering stage, and he had yet to start tempering the flesh and internal organs.

He used half his strength for another punch.

Instantly, the back of his hand was dripping with blood, but his bones remained unscathed. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"Not bad, much stronger than the last time I tested it."

"Continue..."

Chen Li clenched his bleeding fist, took a deep breath, stepped back slightly, circulated his spiritual power, and with the beating of his blood, he suddenly lunged forward and threw a punch with all his might.

"Boom!"

In an instant.

It was like a thunderclap.

The rock was shattered into pieces by his punch, blasting a half-meter deep hole.

"Hiss! It actually held up!" Chen Li withdrew his hand, feeling both shocked and delighted.

As for the torn muscles and the bloody mess on the back of his hand, as well as the fractured bones and arms in several places, they were just minor injuries... While he was still feeling pleased about it, he suddenly felt a stifling sensation in his chest and couldn’t help but cough a few times, resulting in him spitting out some blood.

"It seems the tempering of the muscles and internal organs must be moved up the schedule!" Chen Li wiped the fresh blood from the corner of his mouth, thinking to himself.

Luckily, it was nothing serious. The blood spit was just a backlash, with slight internal injuries.

Under the effects of the max-level Hemostasis Healing Skill, he was almost fully recovered in half an hour.

...

"The Shen Jian Sect’s esteemed elder Guan Qi has arrived!"

"The Artefact Sect’s elder Yang Jiguang is here!"

With the warm breeze of early summer, during the transition between spring and summer.

The marriage event co-hosted by the Returning True Sect and the Hongshan Sect was extremely lively and grand. Except for the Heavenly Star Sect, representatives from several neighboring sects came to witness the ceremony.

"Tsk tsk, just the congratulatory gifts received this time would make one’s gut bulge with wealth," Chen Li said enviously.

All the representatives from the sects were generous handouts, with gifts of at least Second Order.

The Foundation Establishment cultivators within the sect also brought gifts.

Chen Li was no exception, having dug deep into his pockets.

One of the three Demon Cores in his storage bag was now gone.

He even considered whether to throw his own grand fiftieth birthday banquet, collecting wedding gifts to fill the increasingly empty storage bag.

However, the thought that not many people would probably come, and he might end up losing more than he’d gain, led him to drop the idea.

After the wedding ceremony concluded, Chen Li and Guo Xingquan returned home together, as they were heading in the same direction.

Guo Xingquan, with a mysterious gossiping tone, said:

"Guess why the Hongshan Sect’s female cultivator chose Fellow Daoist Peng?"

"Why?" Chen Li was also curious.

The Foundation Establishment cultivator marrying was named Peng Yan, who, just like Chen Li, was at the second layer of Foundation Establishment. He was big and burly with a rough face, looking about forty, his appearance was only passable—plain and ordinary.

Neither his cultivation level nor looks were impressive.

Yet, the bride was fair and beautiful with a graceful figure, quite attractive.

Was it a case of the toad lusting after a swan’s flesh, or did he have some unknown virtues?

"It is said that the female cultivator firmly believes in destiny, she never planned on this marriage; but because her and Peng Yan’s astrological charts matched perfectly, signifying great fortune if they united, propelling him to a prosperous and supportive husband, she thus entertained the idea and married him," Guo Xingquan said with a laugh.

Is that all?

Chen Li felt let down upon hearing this, hoping for some sensational news.

"So that’s how it is."

The path of cultivation is unpredictable, without any discernible laws to follow.

In the Returning True realm, there were nearly a hundred thousand Qi Cultivation practitioners with innumerable late-stage Qi Cultivators; however, the ones who could achieve Foundation Establishment were few and far between. Ever since Chen Li’s Foundation Establishment, only Ding Jian had been successfully able to establish his own Foundation.

As for the Golden Core.

One hardly emerges in a hundred years.

Is it due to lack of talent, or is such fate destined?

Nobody can tell for sure.

That’s why many cultivators firmly believe in the art of divination, which is not surprising.

Sometimes, Chen Li couldn’t help but wonder whether his fate was predetermined and if some entity was subtly manipulating it?

But even if it were so, he should consider himself a child favored by fate.

...

As the number of Spirit Stones dwindled one by one, by the time July came around, Chen Li could no longer hold back. He prepared to go out hunting for a big haul.

If Feng Qi could always manage to subsidize his household by hunting Second Order Demon Beasts without coming to harm, so could he.

Besides, after such arduous cultivation, he wanted to test his sword against a worthy target.

Otherwise, he really felt too frustrated to endure.

After finding an excuse to go out and sorting everything at home, Chen Li set off amidst the reluctant farewells of Zhou Hong and Zhang Shu, deploying his Yuan Magnetism Evasion Skill and flying towards the direction he had established his foundation.

...

Not a speck of sunlight could be seen in the dark sky, as layers upon layers of dense clouds gathered without dispersing, morphing into various ghastly shapes like raging claws. Streaks of blue-white lightning intertwined within the clouds.

The rolling sound of thunder resonated continuously.

Chen Li was out of luck; just as he arrived at the forest, he encountered weather that was about to turn into a thunderstorm.

Thankfully, it appeared that it would not rain anytime soon.

He stood atop a mountain peak.

Gazing out at the boundless sea of trees.

He executed one technique after another.

Earth Listening Technique!

Far Sight Skill!

Penetrating Vision Skill!

Fortune Seeking and Disaster Avoiding Skill!

"Eh!"

Chen Li exclaimed in surprise, realizing for the first time that the Far Sight Skill could be used in conjunction with the Penetrating Vision Skill without interference.

Although the range of Penetration remained the same, he could see much clearer within the penetrable range when the Far Sight Skill was stacked upon it.

It was like adding a telescope to the Penetrating Vision.

Actually, for an ordinary Penetrating Vision Skill, such stacking would not be very useful.

The distance of penetration for an ordinary skill was very short, losing effect beyond forty or fifty meters.

But Chen Li’s Max Level Penetrating Vision Skill was different; its effectiveness rivaled that of a Second Order Level Five skill, much more advanced than the ordinary version, enhancing not only the penetration effect by a hundredfold but also the distance to two or three li.

However, with his own visual strength alone, it was impossible to clearly discern objects two or three li away.

But with the addition of the Far Sight Skill, scenes from two or three li away appeared as if pulled right before his eyes, becoming crystal clear in an instant.

Chen Li quickly spotted a target that looked like a Demon Beast.

"Pity, it’s only a low-order Demon Beast..."

Chen Li glanced around and then took flight again, heading to another mountain peak to search carefully.

In these primal forests rarely stepped upon by humans, there were many Demon Beasts. He could find one almost every ten li or so, but they were all First Order; Second Order Demon Beasts were hard to come by.

It was only because his storage bag wasn’t big enough; otherwise, it could have been quite an income.

A First Order Demon Beast, bones and skin included, could be sold for twenty or thirty mid-grade Spirit Stones.

Five would be worth one top-grade Spirit Stone.

Fifty would be worth ten.

Five hundred...

The sky gradually began to darken.

Chen Li hesitated whether to find a place to rest or to continue the search.

Suddenly, he felt a sense of alarm.

"Who’s there!"

Chen Li instinctively shouted with his Scolding Skill, while simultaneously leaping steps in succession to move more than twenty meters away, flicking his hand to release a specially made Golden Light Body Protection Talisman around his form.

A sequence of actions, fluid as clouds and flowing water, clean and efficient, was completed in the blink of an eye as he readied himself for battle.

Only then did he quickly turn towards the vague danger.

What he saw made his hair stand on end.

In the not too distant mist, a disheveled figure stood in the shadows, with long hair covering its face, obscuring any distinct features. There seemed to be a pair of blood-red eyes peering through the darkness of the hair, staring straight over here, sinister and ghostly.

Chen Li felt the Evil-Breaking Talismans in his chest warm up slightly.

"Why do I always attract these things."

The next moment.

He released an Evil-Breaking Skill.

This skill acted much faster than throwing an Evil-Breaking Talisman.

The Evil Wraith had no chance to dodge; it was hit instantly, letting out a shrill scream and exploded into a cloud of ash.

Evil Wraiths usually lacked spiritual intelligence, acting on instinct. Seeing Chen Li, the wraith perceived him as prey, resulting in its own demise.

Chen Li, aiming at where the Evil Wraith had been, released a few more Evil-Breaking Skills.

Only after the ash completely dispersed.

Did he approach.

He probed with his sword.

But only found loneliness amidst the ashes, nothing more.

"Truly a pauper!" Chen Li cursed quietly.

Many Evil Wraiths were transformed from cultivators; previously, Bai Jinwang had even left behind a set of robes and trousers.

This one clearly had been in the wild for too long and had nothing left over.

After this encounter, Chen Li simply found a place nearby to carve out a cave in the mountain to rest for the night, preparing to rejuvenate and continue searching the next day.

ps: Consider this Chapter as yesterday’s.