Living steadily in the world of gods and mystery

Because the yard belonged to Chen Li, and he had the intention of settling down here for the long term.

This time, the construction of the underground shelter was naturally free of the mindset of making do with what was available.

The underground shelter had a ceiling height of about eight meters and covered an area of over a thousand square meters. Coupled with a concealed and well-designed ventilation system, standing inside felt neither stuffy nor cramped.

The lighting underground wasn’t provided by oil lamps but by a kind of treasure called Bright Light Pearls.

These pearls, the size of a baby’s fist, were said to be the eyeballs of a certain subterranean creature from foreign lands. They could absorb spiritual energy on their own and emit a faint white light. Their price was also quite steep; one pearl cost one mid-grade Spirit Stone.

Chen Li, being wealthy and generous, bought more than three hundred, embedding them in every corner of the underground shelter. No matter where one went, it was bright as day. As long as supplies were abundant, even if the entire family moved underground, their living and Qi Cultivation would not be hindered.

"My lord, if it weren’t for being underground, it feels even better here than above," Zhou Hong and Zhang Shuniang, the two women accompanying Chen Li on the visit to the underground, sighed as Zhou Hong caressed the smooth rock walls.

The precision with which the max level Traction Skill was controlled goes without saying, and after meticulous carving, the floor and rock walls of the entire underground shelter were as smooth as mirrors, without a hint of roughness. If there was any flaw, it would be the slight dampness.

The rock walls were all damp.

However, there was no helping it, given that it was more than fifty meters underground, and it was the peak of summer.

But come winter, it should improve considerably.

"If we really need to live here, it will be the most dangerous of times," Chen Li said with a smile.

His words immediately evoked unpleasant memories. Recalling the destruction of the Returning True Sect, both women felt a lingering fear.

...

The death of a few remnants of the Tianxing Sect in Red Pillar City didn’t cause the slightest ripple.

Everything seemed calm.

Looking at the increasing number of Second Order items in his hands, Chen Li found himself still waiting for the day they would appreciate in value. Throughout the years, he had always been troubled by this, which nearly became an obsession. He estimated that even after a few more years, there would likely be no chance of them appreciating.

So he decided to simply sell them off and be done with it, out of sight, out of mind.

After some more time passed, he took a trip far from home.

This area, being closer to the central regions, was much more prosperous than the borderlands. A few sects adjacent to the Fire Cloud Sect each had several Golden Core cultivators and, although their commerce could not compare to the prosperity of the Fire Cloud Sect, it was far superior to that of places like White Stone City from the Artefact Sect.

Chen Li sold off his ill-gotten wealth in batches, auctioning what could be auctioned, and disposing of what needed to be dealt with.

In just over ten days, he cleared out all the stockpiled items he didn’t need.

In the end, he sold them for a total of 276 top-grade Spirit Stones.

Combined with his existing savings,

his total wealth soared to a massive 663 top-grade Spirit Stones.

Now Chen Li only had one three-tier low-grade Evil-Slaying Sword as his magic sword.

He had two flying swords: a high-quality second-tier Dark Light Sword and a second-tier top-quality Green Shadow Sword.

He had two sets of robes: a second-tier top-quality Cloud Pattern Robe and a second-tier mid-grade Water Element Robe.

He possessed three sets of arrays: a three-tier mid-grade Wu Earth Bright Light Array, a second-tier mid-grade Green Yuan Avoiding Disaster Array, and a second-tier low-grade Yin Yang Five Elements Gathering Spirit Array.

Besides these, in his storage bag, there was a mysterious little cauldron that seemed to be a damaged magic artifact, as well as three sets of Mountain Protection Array tools from the Returning True Sect. Both were clearly valuable items, but Chen Li wasn’t yet willing to sell them, planning to wait until he ran out of money again in the future.

...

Time passed by day by day, and before long, summer turned into autumn.

Chen Li often went out, and while he got to know several Foundation Establishment cultivators living nearby, he had yet to encounter anyone from the Returning True Sect. He could only leave it up to fate, content with the knowledge that as long as he was in Red Pillar City, a day would come when he met them.

The autumn rain was continuous. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Several days of rainy weather fully took away the remnants of summer’s heat, bringing a hint of autumn chill.

Chen Li held a book called "Key Tips for Setting Up Arrays" and flipped through it from time to time, his brows tightly furrowed.

All along, his understanding of formations had been superficial at best, limited to following instruction manuals to set up arrays in a paint-by-numbers fashion. This was also the level of most ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators.

There was little technical skill involved.

The difference in proficiency came down to one’s adjusting skills.

The highly proficient could unleash eighty to ninety percent of an array’s power, while the less proficient could manage seventy to eighty percent.

Close enough, basically sufficient.

Arrays are expensive.

A set of Second Order low-grade arrays can almost catch up with the price of a Second Order top-grade magic artifact.

Moreover, compared to magic artifacts and robes, the importance of arrays comes later.

Most ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators can only manage with First Order top-grade or supreme-grade arrays to make do.

These low-level arrays have fewer components, simpler structures, and large redundancies; as long as one follows the manual and makes several adjustments, they can generally be successfully set up.

The only advantage Chen Li had over ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators was that he possessed max level Qi-watching skill, which allowed him to see the flow of spiritual energy more precisely and tune it more harmoniously, bringing out most of the array’s potential.

But such a method might work for low-level arrays; for high-order arrays like Third Order mid-grade, it was insufficient. This involved a complex system with various foundational formations nested within each other, and without a certain mastery of formations, even if one could successfully build it, they wouldn’t be able to unleash much of its power.

The book only had a thin twenty or thirty pages.

Even with careful study, it wouldn’t take half an hour.

Chen Li quickly flipped to the end, "Yet another summary of experiences!"

But he was also used to it.

Not just with formation knowledge, but all the knowledge he could access, whether it was talisman or spell knowledge, was basically fragmented and unsystematic.

Why should a talisman be drawn this way, what principle lies behind it?

What forces are invoked with each gesture and incantation of a spell? Why are they so?

All of these were unknown.

When he was a Qi Cultivation Loose Cultivator, Chen Li thought it was just because he hadn’t received systematic immortal cultivation education. Only after joining the Returning True Sect did he realize that there was no such systematic education. He was thinking too much; just practice according to the instructions.

One was self-taught, while the other could be taught by a teacher.

If you couldn’t learn it, it only meant you lacked insight.

Chen Li put the book back into his storage bag, walked out the door, and under the misty sky where water vapor hung heavy, Third Order spiritual energy rose, several birds braved the rain to fly, streaking through the air leaving watery trails:

"I’ve mostly finished looking through the Returning True Sect’s collection of formation knowledge; from now on, I can only slowly figure it out on my own!"

Chen Li was pondering this.

Suddenly, the array control token in his bosom trembled slightly—it was a visitor.

"Who could it be in this rainy weather?"

He was surprised and quickly went to meet the visitor.

The visitor was none other than Wei Changming, who was in charge of letting the property when he first rented the house.

"A distinguished guest has arrived, pardon my lack of greeting. Please come in, do come in."

"I won’t go in!" Wei Changming waved his hands, without a trace of a smile, his heavy eye bags staring at Chen Li as he bombarded him with questions, "I am here to investigate some matters. Fellow Daoist Lin Qing was suddenly murdered, do you know anything about it?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Li was initially startled by his attitude, but then quickly realized what was happening, that the other party was bluffing him without any evidence.

Anger flared in his heart; it seemed his generosity previously and too humble a posture had invited trouble, making others treat him as an easy target. Two months had passed, and who knew where Wei Changming got the news from, but he came rushing over, probably trying to take advantage of the situation.

A steward in charge of renting properties acting so presumptuous.

Moreover, what did a neighbor’s death have to do with me?

"Ah, where did you get that idea? Isn’t Fellow Daoist Lin out on a long journey? You mustn’t scare me," Chen Li suppressed his rage, fished out three mid-grade Spirit Stones from his storage bag and stuffed them into the other’s hand, forcing a smile as he spoke.

Wei Changming weighed the Spirit Stones in his hand, snorted secretly, but knew that he couldn’t be too greedy and risk offending someone outright; three mid-grade Spirit Stones weren’t a small sum. His face relaxed, he chuckled, and said:

"Fellow Daoist, no need to be nervous, I’m just making some inquiries to see what exactly happened. It’s easier to deal with if someone is dead, but it’s troublesome if they’re half-dead; even closing their accounts is difficult, wouldn’t you agree?

I won’t disturb your cultivation any longer; I have a few other households to visit. Please excuse me!"

Chen Li watched as he leisurely headed to another household.

Indeed, the man was a true dog.

ps: Alas, once I let my guard down, I can’t stop.