Living steadily in the world of gods and mystery

Chen Li sheathed the Evil-Slaying Sword, only to feel refreshed and clear-headed.

He then used a Cleaning Skill on himself to remove the remaining odor of medicine from his body.

With that, he walked towards the back house with his hands clasped behind his back, leisurely and gracefully.

Over the past two years, as Chen Li intentionally reduced the damage to the courtyard and, with the efforts of his wives and servants who tidied up bit by bit, planting flowers and grasses, the courtyard had become much more elegant. Everywhere one looked, spiritual energy rose, ancient trees formed canopies, and exotic flowers competed in splendor, all amidst a chorus of birdsong and floral fragrance.

"It even has a bit of the atmosphere of a celestial abode now," he mused.

Chen Li walked slowly, in a cheerful mood.

He soon encountered Zhang Shuniang, who stopped in her tracks, surprised, and said, "Eh, my lord, how has your complexion turned back?"

"Hmm, I’ve reached the Perfect state of the skill, and my skin naturally returned to its original color," Chen Li said indifferently, as if it didn’t matter.

Zhang Shuniang clearly focused on the key point in Chen Li’s words, her beautiful eyes scanning him up and down, her gaze flitting about as she muttered softly, "No wonder!"

"No wonder what?" Chen Li asked curiously.

"Hehe, I won’t tell you!" She twisted her delicate body, skirted around Chen Li, and tried to walk away.

However, she had only taken a few steps.

When she was grabbed by the collar of her neck by Chen Li and pulled back like a little sheep caught by a fierce tiger:

"Spit it out now!"

Chen Li said, feigning anger.

"Ow, I’ll tell you tonight, or you could ask Sister Zhou," Zhang Shuniang replied with a mischievous laugh.

"I hate it when people only tell half the story, just tell me."

"Alright, alright, I’ll tell you... geez, you’ve made a mess of my clothes," she complained, moving close to his ear and whispering softly, "I just feel my lord... you’ve become even more handsome."

Is that all!?

As for whether he was tall or short, handsome or ugly, Chen Li never cared.

He was long past the age where one is conscious about their looks.

Ugly or handsome.

He simply didn’t care.

As long as he didn’t look inhuman, all was well.

Zhang Shuniang took the opportunity to break free, glancing back at Chen Li with a white eye, and ran off like a little girl.

Chen Li watched her charming figure, amused in his heart, she really never grows up.

She was almost thirty years old.

And yet, sometimes she was still as naive and carefree as a child.

However,

did he really become more handsome?

Curious, Chen Li found a small pond by the side of the road.

He leaned over for a look.

Indeed, his face was like a fine jade carving, his eyebrows thick and eyes bright, exuding vigor and uprightness. An aura of integrity completed the image.

Paired with the second-order superior cloud-patterned robe he wore, he looked more like a celestial being, aloof and otherworldly, easily recognized at a glance as a genuinely cultivated truth seeker.

"It seems like I’ve become more dignified... it looks like it’s getting harder and harder to stay low-profile," he thought.

...

But it wasn’t without its advantages.

At dinner time, his wives suddenly became much more affectionate—they spoke softly and tenderly, and kept serving him dishes. Their smiles and gazes were full of spring warmth and tender desire. Understanding their signals, Chen Li spent the night in the same bed with his wives, and they stayed awake through the night.

...

The next morning.

The bedroom still carried the scent of last night’s joy.

"I never imagined that the Divine Skill of ’Limb Regeneration’ would have such an effect," marvelled Chen Li.

Despite having been busy all night, his body didn’t feel even the slightest bit drained; he still felt vigorous and lively, just like before.

Only it didn’t seem to be of much use!

He glanced at his wives who were still deep in their beautiful, restful sleep.

The corner of his mouth couldn’t help but twitch.

After lying in bed for a while longer, he gently moved the arms and legs entwined around him and resolutely got up from the inviting warmth of his bed.

After washing up and having breakfast, Chen Li went down to the basement.

He planned to test the defensive capabilities of his Immortal Muscles Jade Bones Skill to get a rough idea of its limits.

"First, I’ll test against spell defense..."

He quickly removed the cloud-patterned robe from his body, followed by the inner lining, revealing his upper body with intertwined muscles.

Then, he launched a phantom clone and increased the distance.

Chen Li didn’t dare to use a Second Order spell directly, instead, he prepared to test his body’s limits step by step with lower-level spells.

First was a max-level Spiritual Power flick.

Unless practicing Body Refinement, the flesh of ordinary cultivators actually isn’t that strong.

Even a Second Order Demon Beast, without using its protective Spiritual Energy aura and relying solely on its physical body, would have its defense broken and sustain minor injuries from a max-level Spiritual Power flick comparable in power to a first-class, fifth-level spell.

This was true even for Demon Beasts.

As for the flesh and blood of human Foundation Establishment, it’s even weaker.

A moment of carelessness could lead to a disaster.

Of course, the chance of this happening is so small it’s negligible.

Foundation Establishment cultivators generally have very keen senses and are extremely sensitive to danger; often, before a spell even reaches them, the Spiritual Power within their bodies would instinctively and spontaneously defend, so trying to kill someone at Foundation Establishment stage with a first-class, fifth-level spell is almost impossible.

"With the strength of my body as I’d demonstrated before, resisting an attack of this level shouldn’t be a problem!" Chen Li thought to himself.

He took a deep breath, suppressed the Spiritual Power within his body, to prevent reflexive defense.

At the same time, his body instantly turned porcelain white, glossed with a touch of cold glaze.

No thoughts needed to be exchanged between the clone and the true body.

The true body was him, and the clone was also him.

The next moment.

A "tss" was heard softly.

A sharp finger force powerful enough to penetrate gold and split stone hit Chen Li’s arm in an instant, but as soon as it touched the surface of his skin, the force was dissipated by an invisible power within his body.

Chen Li couldn’t help but touch his arm, finding that apart from a slight itchiness at the spot where he had been hit, he felt no pain at all, as if what had just happened was not an attack but a breeze brushing past his face.

He then continued testing.

A max-level Palm Thunder comparable in power to a first-class, eighth-level spell.

Completely unharmed.

A max-level Ice Skill comparable in power to a Second Order, first-level spell.

Still completely unharmed.

...

Chen Li kept testing, gradually becoming more cautious from Second Order, and the power started to increase bit by bit.

After all,

a moment of carelessness could truly be fatal. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Luckily, he controlled these spells with ease, the power variable at will.

To his delight,

he easily withstood a max-level Giant Voice Skill comparable in power to a Second Order, fifth-level spell.

This was already comparable to the defensive strength of the secret technique "Zhou Ti Gang Jin."

Simply inconceivable.

The surprise in Chen Li’s heart grew, and he continued testing with the True Fire Skill.

...

"Boom!"

A blue-white stream of flames shot out like a dragon that devours everything, surging towards him.

It only clashed for less than 0.5 seconds before the invisible protective force field created by the Perfect Immortal Muscle Jade Bone Skill could no longer withstand it and quickly collapsed.

Fortunately, Chen Li had already prepared for this. Just in time, three clones cloaked in a water elemental shield appeared before Chen Li, boldly intercepting the remaining flames, allowing him to escape smoothly.

"That was really close," Chen Li said, heart still racing.

He looked down at the burns on his body:

"They’re charred!"

Even though he had made preparations,

he still looked extremely disheveled at this moment.

Not only were his clothes gone without a trace, but his hair and eyebrows had been burned to a crisp, and even his skin was scorched to the point of being cooked rare.

Thankfully, the "Regeneration of Limbs" Divine Skill quickly took effect.

His body began to heal rapidly, the wounds quickly scabbing over and falling off to reveal pink, new skin!

Chen Li carefully examined his body and found that aside from the loss of all his hair, which couldn’t be restored for the time being, the rest of him was intact.

He breathed a sigh of relief.

"So it seems I can only defend against spells up to the level of Second Order, seventh-level, huh!"