Living steadily in the world of gods and mystery

On the first night after buying the robe, Chen Li truly felt what it meant to gather spirit.

Streams of spiritual power from the surroundings converged. While practicing the Longevity Skill, he almost didn’t need to actively absorb the energy, as the spiritual power naturally flowed into his body.

Coupled with Qi Replenishing Pills, his cultivation progress improved by two points that night.

Given that his body was gradually building resistance to the effects of the Qi Replenishing Pills, the two-point increase from a single meditation session was particularly remarkable.

Just for this effect alone, Chen Li felt that the robe was worth the purchase.

He had always heard about places rich in spiritual energy and blessed lands but never truly understood the concept until today.

And this was merely the robe’s incidental effect of gathering spirit.

He wondered what a true land of spiritual energy would be like?

...

Days went by.

The chaos in the slum persisted, but a certain order emerged from the disorder.

Fights no longer involved the ordinary Loose Cultivators, and the groups of robbers and murderers had disappeared, replaced by the newly formed gangs fighting for territory.

Battles took place almost daily; people died every day.

The neighborhood watch group founded by Qiao Guanyuan had completely changed; as the first to seize the opportunity, he took control of four surrounding streets, becoming unrivaled in influence.

Some, feeling that the watch group had changed its nature, left voluntarily, like Zhou Hong and some other old members. Meanwhile, more people eagerly joined. In a short period of time, the gang’s numbers had swelled to a hundred members.

A dozen days after trading the talisman, Chen Li caught a glimpse of Qiao Guanyuan from afar, leading a large group in haste, with a sharp gaze harboring a hint of gloom and depth.

Gone was his former openness and generosity.

Since then, Chen Li lived even more reclusively, tirelessly practicing his swordsmanship and Qi Cultivation every day. Apart from going out intermittently to buy food, he rarely left his residence.

During this period, the long-coveted Demon Beast Meat finally appeared in the market, which he bought in one go, spending a hundred catties and ten Low-grade Spirit Stones.

Twenty days later, his ’Scolding Skill’ finally advanced from ’Beginner’ to ’Proficient’, shortening the time it took to activate and although he hadn’t tested it, the power had likely increased.

He distinctly felt his consciousness become more focused when activating the skill compared to when he began. Furthermore, his consciousness had been gradually strengthening, as evidenced by the expanding range of his internal vision.

Forty-five days later, the previously slowly-progressing Evil-Repelling Talisman also advanced from ’Beginner’ to ’Proficient’, significantly increasing the success rate of creating the talismans.

Finally, on the fifty-eighth night, there was a shift.

After circling his spiritual power through several cycles, it smoothed out and felt flawless. As he continued to circulate his spiritual power, the resulting spiritual pressure grew, carrying with it an irresistible sensation...

Suddenly, he shuddered, as if enlightened.

Chen Li was startled, but upon regaining composure, he quickly checked his cultivation and realized that his spiritual power had grown by nearly fifty percent. Unbeknownst to him, he had entered the fourth level of Qi Cultivation and stepped into the threshold of the mid-stage of Qi Cultivation.

He let out a sigh of relief.

"I’ve finally broken through!"

The breakthrough was slower than he had anticipated, not only because his body was becoming less responsive to the Qi Replenishing Pills but also because he had been inexplicably stuck just before the breakthrough, delaying it by several days. Fortunately, the wait wasn’t long, and today he had finally succeeded.

Chen Li opened the game interface.

[Name: Chen Li]

[Lifespan: 41/112 years]

[Realm: Qi Cultivation Fourth Layer: 1/100]

[Cultivation Technique: Longevity Skill Expert: 498/800]

[Skills:]

Talisman Making: Cleaning Talisman Master: 210/400; Silencing Talisman Proficient: 150/200; Path-Guiding Talisman Proficient: 145/200; Evil-Repelling Talisman Proficient: 8/200

Spell: Spiritual Power Snap Grandmaster: 1520/3200; Scolding Skill Proficient: 187/200’

Swordsmanship: Basic Swordsmanship Expert: 350/800;

[Divine Skills: None]

When Chen Li saw the "Qi Cultivation Fourth Layer: 1/100," he couldn’t help but sigh with relief.

"Good thing the experience points are still a hundred. If it doubled with each level like the skills do, just think—if there are nine layers of Qi Cultivation, that would truly be despairing."

He glanced at the three more years of life span he had gained, turned off the game panel, and stood up tall.

He paced back and forth in place, and, unable to contain his excitement, he walked out of the bedroom and opened the main door.

The night was like water, with a layer of white frost congealing on the ground.

Looking into the distance at the darkness, strands of mist clung to the ground like living things, swaying slightly, carrying a sense of chilling meaning.

The slightly reddened moon overhead also seemed to forebode something ominous.

Recalling the frequent slaying and possible resentful spirits and vengeful ghosts during this period,

Chen Li paced back and forth at the doorway, feeling fulfilled, and then went back inside to sleep.

...

The next day, in the wilderness on the outskirts of the shantytown.

A figure flashed by, racing at high speed.

In this time, he hadn’t just been practicing Qi Cultivation; his swordsmanship had also made amazing progress.

His entire body had almost been completely "refined"; every move he made was in natural harmony, with an even more terrifying explosive power, as sudden as a thunderclap.

While running, the ground beneath his feet exploded, creating shallow pits with each step, each covering five or six meters. In the blink of an eye, he had crossed a hundred meters.

He barely felt any wind against him; all the gales turned into gentle breezes and light rain before they reached his robe, giving Chen Li a sense of exhilaration as he ran, no longer feeling the helplessness of being swept away by head-on gales.

When speed reaches a certain level, most of the body’s strength is actually spent combating wind resistance.

If there was no air, and one were running in a vacuum, as long as friction with the ground could be maintained, one would continuously accelerate.

At this moment, Chen Li felt a similar sensation as the Wind Transformation Array in his robe reduced the wind resistance by over ninety percent.

He felt as though his acceleration was endless, the faster he ran, the quicker he went...

Gradually, he started to feel as if he could not stop; his feet began to float, unable to grasp the ground firmly.

The scenery on both sides whooshed past, stretching into a blur, with trees that seemed hundreds of meters away one second flashing past him the next.

Such complex and rapid changes in information began to overwhelm his brain. Instinctively sensing danger, he was about to slow down when his mind wandered, and he tripped over a vine, suddenly soaring into the air.

"Damn it ahhh..."

In midair, Chen Li screamed loudly; he flew more than ten meters before gravity pulled him towards the ground. Fortunately, he had a fine control over his body, and he rolled to dissipate the impact, standing up unharmed.

"That scared the hell out of me. The ’Wind Transformation’ feature is so powerful!" Chen Li thought to himself.