Living steadily in the world of gods and mystery

As evening fell, Chen Li was having his dinner.

Lin Gui came over with a swollen nose and bruises on his face. Without feeling out of place, he sat down huffily next to Chen and said, "Today, I really owe Chen a big one. Ah, what a bunch of shrews, all they want is to extort money. Why is it so hard for me to make a little money?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Li was speechless and continued eating without paying him any mind.

Lin Gui kept grumbling, "At the age of twenty, I stumbled upon a secret Alchemy method by chance and started trying to practice Alchemy. I've been at it for over thirty years without a single day of slack, yet here I am, still living in poverty. I've come to realize, the world is full of malice, simply can't stand to see others do well!"

Chen Li could see that Lin Gui's mind might have been affected from consuming too many Ascension Elixirs, his emotions were sensitive, erratic, his thoughts significantly different from ordinary people.

"How much money did you lose?" Chen Li couldn't help but ask.

Lin Gui was better off not being asked, for upon the question, he suddenly became overwhelmed with sorrow and tears began to spill from his eyes in self-pity.

"Not only did I refund them, but I also... also compensated a hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones each. If I didn't give money, they were going to hit me, those damn women, wuuu..."

He really must be wealthy!

To hand out four Mid-grade Spirit Stones just like that.

And that's not even including the refunds.

Chen Li felt a bit jealous.

This darn alchemist.

He himself only had 56 Low-grade Spirit Stones on hand.

"I think you shouldn't sell Ascension Elixirs anymore in the future. It tends... to get you beaten up," Chen Li said, seeing Lin weep so bitterly, he couldn't help but kindly remind him again.

"Sigh, I know that, but those sell the best, with the most returning customers," Lin Gui said, wiping his tears and sighing with self-pity, "Compared to that, the Elixir of Many Wonders is far behind!"

Chen Li: "..."

Indeed, you can't consume Elixir of Many Wonders several times a day after all.

Your body wouldn't take it.

Or even if your body could, other areas wouldn't be able to handle it.

As for those Ascension Elixirs, do we even need to talk about the return customer rate?

"Moreover, it's too late now. If I stopped selling them, those addicts would come after me too," Lin Gui said, avoiding Chen Li's gaze.

You knew that, didn't you?

If only you knew what would happen, why did you start in the first place?

Chen Li just stared at Lin Gui blankly for a while, at a loss for words to describe his feelings at the moment.

You're living a miracle for having survived until now!

...

Late at night.

The Talisman Crafting Room.

The small flame of the oil lamp flickered gently, shifting into endless forms.

Chen Li was holding a scroll titled "Five Common Spells for Qi Cultivation Practitioners," carefully flipping through it.

This scroll recorded five common spells for the Qi Cultivation Stage, besides the 'Spiritual Power Finger Snap' which he had already mastered, the remaining four included: the Scolding Skill, the Traction Skill, the Hemostasis Healing Skill, and the Body Protection Skill.

For Chen Li, who was at the third level of Qi Cultivation.

The only spell he could learn was the Scolding Skill.

This was a kind of mind-affecting spell, using rebuke to induce fear and intimidation in the enemy's heart, especially effective against the evil and the vile.

Compared to the Spiritual Power Finger Snap, the difficulty of this spell lay in the fact that it required not only coordination with Spiritual Power but also the recitation of an incantation.

The coordination of Spiritual Power was the easy part.

But the incantation, he couldn't recite at all.

Incantations are entirely different from the blessings chanted before drawing a Talisman; the latter has meaning, it's a normal language spoken through the mouth, whereas the former consists of meaningless, strange syllables that resonate in the belly, producing a sound akin to thunder.

The difficulty of the two, utterly incomparable.

"Chi!"

"Chi!"

...

Ten minutes later.

"Zhi!"

Chen Li's heart ignited with anger, and he almost threw the book away, "This spell really isn't meant for humans to learn."

"How exactly is the abdominal cavity supposed to resonate?"

"I still have to ask Lin Gui for advice!"

He immediately got up and left the house, not caring that it was already deep into the night, because he knew Lin Gui was definitely not asleep. Since moving here, he had not seen Lin Gui sleep.

"Tap tap tap!"

Chen Li approached and knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" Lin Gui's cautious voice came from inside.

"Fellow Daoist Lin, it's me!"

With a "creak," the door opened, and Lin Gui yawned.

"Fellow Daoist Chen, are you here for medicine?" Lin Gui smiled and invited Chen Li in, "The house is a bit messy, please take a seat anywhere!"

Inside, it was more than messy. The living room was piled with various herbs, and the rich medicinal scent nearly choked him. Following Lin Gui to the kitchen, he found that even the stove had been dismantled, transformed into a place for alchemy.

This was really...

"Ah, alchemy is such a hassle." He added some charcoal to the alchemy furnace. "The heat control is very important, too much and it burns, too little and it melts, one cannot leave it for a moment, it's all hard-earned money!"

Chen Li couldn't be bothered to listen to the other's complaints, which were no more than the same few lines repeated, and went straight to asking for guidance.

"You're still learning spells? This thing takes too long to activate, in a fight it's not as efficient as a magic artifact or talisman... I learned a few moves when I was young, let me see, oh, the Scolding Skill, this thing is simple!"

While carefully tending to the furnace fire, he offered sporadic advice.

A true transmission with a single phrase, a false transmission with thousands of books.

He'd been racking his brain for ages without a clue, but it was completely different with someone providing guidance. In just half an hour, Chen Li had already learned the basics of how to pronounce the incantations.

"Scold!"

With a "hum," the air around him seemed to vibrate slightly.

"Still a bit wrong, don't use your throat to make the sound; the thunderous noise should come from the abdomen."

...

After mastering the incantation, Chen Li started to combine it with the circulation of spiritual power, continuing to practice.

An hour later.

"Scold!"

Suddenly, his brain was flooded with blood, his spirit highly concentrated, his eyes bright with bloodshot veins, looking ferocious and terrifying.

The next moment, he uttered a divine sound.

"Away!"

Although Chen Li's Scolding Skill was not directed at Lin Gui, Lin still felt a chill running down his spine and was struck with great fear, his body instinctively arching back and leading to a fall, dragging the chair down with him.

Chen Li snapped back to reality, feeling somewhat apologetic, and quickly stepped forward to help up Lin Gui, apologizing profusely.

After being helped up, Lin Gui's face was red, and he waved his hand:

"It's my own carelessness, I wasn't paying attention and got caught off guard. Otherwise, you definitely couldn't have scared me."

He, who was at the middle stage of Qi Cultivation, was actually frightened by the residual power of a Low-Level Scolding Skill; it was quite shameful.

"Yes, yes, it's my fault for not reminding you..."

Seeing how things were, Chen Li immediately said a few kind words, which made Lin Gui's mood brighten up again.

...

In the middle of the night.

Chen Li returned home and opened the game panel.

Behind 'Spiritual Power Snap' a new spell had astonishingly been added.

'Scolding Skill Entrance: 1/100'

Recalling the image of Lin Gui falling backwards in fright, Chen Li contemplated:

"This spell seems quite useful! Not to mention its effect on evil spirits, if used suddenly during a fight, I reckon it would be surprisingly effective."

"It's just a bit slow to activate... I hope that as the proficiency increases, this drawback will be mitigated."

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