Living steadily in the world of gods and mystery

Evening.

Chen Li opened the bottle stopper, poured out a Qi and Blood Elixir, and swallowed it with water.

Soon, a warm sensation emanated from his abdomen, quickly growing stronger and spreading throughout his entire body, turning his skin a bright red.

"Huff!"

He exhaled a long breath of white vapor.

Although he had only been taking the Qi and Blood Elixir for a few days, he clearly felt his physical strength rapidly increasing, many times more effective than the effects of Demon Beast Meat.

The only downside was probably the cost.

One Blood Qi Elixir was priced the same as a Qi Replenishing Pill.

He would take one every day.

Plus the two Qi Replenishing Pills he took daily.

His daily expenditure on elixirs alone amounted to 4.5 Low-grade Spirit Stones.

That did not even include the share of elixirs he provided for Zhou Hong; if that were included, it would be 7.5 Low-grade Spirit Stones a day.

In fact, Zhou Hong’s mention of a monthly expense of one hundred and fifty Spirit Stones was completely an underestimate of current prices, still thinking that Qi Replenishing Pills were one Spirit Stone each, not knowing they had increased by fifty percent.

However, sustaining for half a year was indeed not a problem.

At home, there were reserves of fifty-four bottles of Qi Replenishing Pills and ten bottles of Qi and Blood Elixirs, enough to last three to four months without buying elixirs, plus the seven Spirit Stones on hand and his regular income from making talismans.

Enduring for half a year was completely within his means.

As for after half a year, by then he would have certainly entered the fifth level of Qi Cultivation, and it was highly likely he would have learned the Featherweight Talisman... By that time, his income would be incomparable to before.

Feeling his Qi and blood boiling, Chen Li stood up, grabbed his sword, and began to temper his body.

Since his foundational swordsmanship had reached an expert level, improving his proficiency in swordsmanship became increasingly difficult. The requirements became stricter, and the failure rate was extremely high. Usually, his morning and evening sword practice, if he was in good form, could increase his proficiency by three or four points, but on a bad day, it would barely increase by two.

However, proficiency in the Cultivation Technique had no impact whatsoever on the enhancement of his body.

"Snap!"

Chen Li’s strength flowed smoothly through his body, and each muscle worked in concert like interlocking gears, activating most of his body’s muscles as he fiercely thrust out his sword with a fierce gaze.

The air let out a crisp crack.

An insect a few inches away from the sword’s tip was hit by the turbulent airflow and blown away without a trace.

"It seems I’m not far from the speed of sound!" he silently exclaimed in his heart.

He then continued to focus on practicing his swordsmanship.

...

The next day, early in the morning, while the sky was still dim and Zhou Hong had not yet woken up, Chen Li headed straight for the wilderness.

He walked until he reached a deserted area and then stopped.

After looking around and seeing no one in sight, he pulled his flying sword from his waist with a casual flick.

While still in mid-air, the flying sword rapidly enlarged, transforming into a two-meter-long giant sword, eventually hovering a foot off the ground.

Chen Li had been busy for days and had endured for several days; today, he finally could no longer hold back.

Chen Li’s heartbeat quickened, and he took a deep breath, stepping forward and tentatively pressing his foot down, not applying much force, when suddenly the flying sword dipped sharply.

"The levitation strength is completely insufficient... I estimate I’ll need to increase the Spiritual Power output!" Chen Li pondered to himself.

Indeed, as more Spiritual Power was fed into it, the flying sword’s ability to bear weight quickly strengthened. He pressed down firmly, and feeling that the strength was about right, he lightly stepped onto it, lifting both feet off the ground.

The flying sword dipped slightly, then gradually stabilized.

"So next, I should fly."

As Chen Li focused, the flying sword finally began to move slowly.

"Accelerate!"

Chen Li’s spiritual power surged crazily into the flying sword, its speed gradually increasing—-from crawling as slow as a snail to... the pace of a person walking leisurely.

But he didn’t care at all.

What was the need for speed?

This was flight, so why would he need a bicycle?

He began to let the flying sword slowly ascend.

One meter, two meters... five meters...

After reaching about ten meters, he stopped ascending.

Higher than that, and he felt a bit dizzy; it was too dangerous.

But at ten meters, he felt that even if he fell, he would likely only suffer minor injuries.

However, this sword flight really consumed a great deal of spiritual power. In less than a minute, his spiritual power was drained to just one third of its original amount.

He quickly descended, jumping off in one step.

His legs gave out under him, and he almost fell to the ground.

"That was quite a thrill." Even though he had landed, Chen Li still felt his heart surge:

"It’s just that my current level of cultivation is still too low; I can’t sustain it for very long!"

...

Since moving to his new home, Chen Li had lived a peaceful life away from conflicts.

He practiced cultivation daily, occasionally taking the flying sword out for a spin in the uninhabited wilderness.

Although he would sometimes meet some of his former neighbors when visiting the market, at most, they would just exchange a few pleasantries; everyone tacitly avoided asking about his new residence.

After the onset of winter, the weather got colder day by day. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

More people were going to the forest to cut firewood. Heeding Zhou Hong’s advice, Chen Li had also prepared a massive amount of firewood, almost filling up the kitchen, and he stocked up on enough food to last two or three months.

But he still didn’t have a clear understanding of the cold here in winter.

Lead-gray clouds had shrouded the sky for more than ten days straight until one day, when he pushed open the door early in the morning, he found the outside world buried in heavy snow, cloaked in a blanket of silver.

As a Southerner, he had never seen such heavy snowfall and was initially excited and intrigued, but by noon, the novelty had worn off. The snow outside was already knee-high, and yet, it showed no signs of stopping.

...

In the kitchen, the stove burned brightly, and the water in the pot gradually began to boil, sending up clouds of steam. Zhou Hong added more firewood, the warm flames turning her face rosy red.

"I don’t know how many people will die this winter!" Zhou Hong said casually during the chat.

Chen Li fell silent upon hearing this.

The shantytowns were full of destitute loose cultivators.

Some of them were so poorly cultivated that they were barely stronger than ordinary people.

Perhaps they were full of hope when they first arrived, harboring dreams of success in their quest for the Tao, but harsh reality crushed their dreams. These people became numb day by day, fell into degradation, yet still stubbornly refused to leave.

And the conditions for survival this year were clearly worse than before.

The snowstorm continued for three days before it finally stopped.

At this moment, the heavy snow had reached Chen Li’s waist, and even the main door was blocked by the accumulated snow. Some unknown birds hopped around in the snow, but when they saw Chen Li struggling to push the door open, they flew away, disappearing without a trace.

A piercing chill hit him straight on, and even he couldn’t help but shiver.

"Damn this heavy snow!" he cursed, rubbing his hands together for warmth.

He turned and went back inside to pick a larger log from the stack of firewood in the kitchen, sliced it into a makeshift wooden shovel with his flying sword, and cleared a path in the yard. Then he removed the snow from the roof, deciding against clearing the street outside.

He left the wooden shovel by the door, looking out at the vast expanse of the white world before him.

"This winter, it looks like a lot of people are really going to freeze to death!"