Living steadily in the world of gods and mystery

Under the veil of night, Chen Li trudged through the snow, one step deep, the next shallow.

He felt a twinge of regret in his heart.

This demon beast must have weighed seven or eight tons; if he had shamelessly stayed with the crowd, he undoubtedly would have gotten a few dozen pounds of meat.

It’s not that he was eager to grasp at a bargain worth a few low-grade Spirit Stones.

The key issue was that it had been so long since he had tasted demon beast meat.

The neighbors nearby were all poor, stretching every penny as far as it could go. The food they bought at high prices recently seldom included demon beast meat, and even when it did, it was only a few pounds at a time—he had long since finished what he had.

"Going back now to take advantage... Yet I can’t bring myself to lose that much face, and it doesn’t feel right to pay in front of everyone," he mused.

"Ah, forget it! In any case, now that I know where this Fellow Daoist Guo Ping lives, I can make another trip tomorrow, and there should still be plenty left over."

...

The next evening,

After practicing his swordsmanship, Chen Li used a ’Cleaning Talisman’ to clean his body, then donned his robe, informed Zhou Hong, and walked out of the cave dwellings.

He encountered no one on his way.

It took about ten minutes.

Soon he arrived at the entrance to Guo Ping’s house.

Where the demon beast’s corpse had lain the previous night, now there was only a large, darkened stain of blood, covered with piles of dung and some undigested matter from the beast’s stomach.

Luckily, it was the depths of winter.

Otherwise, the stench would have been unbearable.

Nevertheless, the smell was still far from pleasant.

Chen Li stamped his feet and approached to knock on the door.

"Tap tap tap!"

"Is Fellow Daoist Guo at home?"

...

Chen Li knocked for a long time, but there was no response.

Just as he was about to leave, disappointed and thinking nobody was home, he heard Guo Ping’s voice from inside:

"Who is it?"

"Here to buy demon beast meat!"

"Fellow Daoist, your information is outdated. I finished distributing the meat last night; there’s none left for you here, try someone else," Guo Ping said, quite cautious, for it was late at night, and a stranger appearing at his door warranted an extra measure of caution.

"Don’t be nervous, I came here last night too. Trust me, I genuinely want to buy."

"Don’t get any funny ideas, if I can take down a demon beast, I can easily deal with your kind as well!" Guo Ping warned, "If you want to buy, you pay first, then I provide the meat."

"Alright, what’s the price?"

"What price are you thinking? Ten pounds per low-grade Spirit Stone, take it or leave it!"

The price was neither high nor low, fairly normal.

"Fine! Ten pounds per low-grade Spirit Stone it is. I’ll take a hundred pounds."

Chen Li didn’t haggle and agreed on the spot, reaching into his sleeve to pull out ten Spirit Stones, "How should I give you the money?"

"Place it on the ground and then back up sixty feet!"

Chen Li did as he was bid, step by step retreating until he was about a hundred meters away before he stopped.

After waiting a while,

The large doors of Guo Ping’s house swung open. Guo Ping, still wary, glanced at Chen Li in the distance, threw a large hunk of meat towards him—flinging it over a distance of more than ten meters—then quickly picked up the Spirit Stones from the ground and firmly shut the door.

Chen Li walked a few steps and picked up the demon beast meat.

Without a word,

He turned to leave.

On his way back, he quietly weighed the meat.

It felt like it was at least a hundred and fifty pounds.

Demon beast meat was dense, especially the bones, which accounted for a lot of the weight.

And this piece of meat was boneless, pure flesh!

What an honest person.

Chen Li marveled in his heart.

...

The temperature rose higher with each passing day.

The harsh winter gradually faded away, and spring was on the verge of arrival.

As the accumulated snow slowly began to melt, the environment inside the cave grew increasingly damp. Water droplets fell from above regularly and in the dead of night, their pitter-patter was like listening to a symphony. As for the ground and walls, they were perpetually damp.

There was nothing the two of them could do except keep pressing on, after laying a thick layer of broken stones on the ground.

Compared to safety, a bit of discomfort in their living conditions was hardly worth mentioning.

Demon beasts continued to rampage through the shantytown.

Although many weaker demon beasts were slain by Loose Cultivators, their numbers seemed undiminished, and instead appeared to be increasing.

That winter,

seemed to make all the nearby demon beasts aware of the weakness here, and nowadays, it was almost every few days that he could hear the movements of demon beasts.

...

At night, under a sky where the moon shone bright and the stars were sparse.

Outside the cave, amidst the ruins.

Chen Li held a long sword in his hand, his upper body bare, revealing streamlined muscles.

Despite the night being one of early thaw, his body was drenched in sweat, steaming in the cold air.

Compared to when he had first arrived, his face had lost its confusion and weakness, replaced by a composure and sharpness.

"Sword training seems to be nothing more than a physical exercise to keep oneself alert and quick, and apparently of little use in a Cultivator’s combat, but the last assault and the frontal battle with Qiao Guanyuan have proven this notion wrong," Chen Li thought, as he blew into the cold wind:

"Now that my ’Spiritual Power Finger Snap’ has reached its peak and its power has hit the limit, what should I do if I encounter an enemy who does not fear the ’Spiritual Power Finger Snap’? Like... the Second Order demon beast I met last time.

The ’Scolding Skill’ might not be very effective against demon beasts of such rank, and the Traction Skill I’ve just learned lacks offensive power. Although the First Order high quality flying sword I possess can harm it, it can inflict at most superficial wounds."

"What about close combat?"

"Start with Casting Traction Skill to interfere with movement, and if the Scolding Skill can also take effect, perhaps..."

Chen Li silently simulated the scenario in his mind.

It still wouldn’t work.

The idea was feasible, but the attack power was lacking!

His sword was just an ordinary mortal sword, which probably wouldn’t even break through the Second Order demon beast’s protective Spiritual Glow even if he managed to get close.

"I need a sword like the flying sword, a Magic Artifact longsword!" Chen Li inwardly sighed.

"I should get familiar with this first; once I have a Magic Sword, maybe I can try it on a weaker First Order demon beast!"

He quickly began Casting Traction Skill.

Soon, an invisible force field spread out around him.

Chen Li thrust his sword forward, and for some reason, this thrust felt exceptionally smooth, thrillingly satisfying.

He didn’t even feel the resistance of the air.

The next moment, there was a thunderous boom.

"Boom!"

The air in front exploded like a firecracker, and at the same time, a terrifying Qi Force flew more than a dozen meters before it slowly dissipated. The remaining force blew the accumulated snow on the ground into a flurry.

"What... what is this!?" Chen Li exclaimed in surprise, looking at the sword in his hand. He quickly remembered the Traction Skill he had just applied.

Could it be... the thoughts had influenced the force field.

The Traction Skill could also be used like this?

He looked towards a large boulder three to four meters away, swung his sword casually, the force field activated, and a terrifying blast of Qi Force flashed by. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

With a "snap,"

the boulder shattered into pieces.

"The stacking of power, this one sword strike of mine, inadvertently layered on the power of the Traction Skill!"

At that moment, something dawned on him.

Perhaps...

Multiple tons of snow and broken stones around him began to levitate.

He lightly tapped his toes on the ground, and his body, light as a darting swallow, stepped on the floating stones to quickly move forward, the surrounding force field moving with him like a shadow. Gradually, he became faster and faster...