Living steadily in the world of gods and mystery

Several days later.

Late at night.

Chen Li and Zhou Hong stood about ten meters apart!

Zhou Hong activated an Amulet on herself and, looking at Chen Li in the distance, took a deep breath, "I’m ready, let’s do this!"

"The power is a bit strong, be careful!"

Chen Li began to chant silently.

Soon, heaven and earth resonated, static electricity filled the air, and crackling sounds were heard.

The next moment. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

With a loud "snap!"

A thin yet blinding bolt of lightning instantly bridged the ten-meter gap and struck the large tree near Zhou Hong, instantly lighting it up with a brilliant flash as electricity snaked around it.

"Forget it, I’m not testing anymore, I’m not testing anymore!" Chen Li’s heart pounded furiously.

The pressure was too great.

If something went wrong... it would be too late for regrets.

"Actually, there’s no danger, the Palm Thunder definitely can’t break through the Amulet," Zhou Hong said with a smile, trying to reassure him, "If you don’t try, the Amulet will have been wasted."

"Let it be wasted... Let’s just forget it, even if it’s not dangerous, I shouldn’t use you for an experiment!" Chen Li shook his head.

Feeling as sweet as if she had eaten honey, Zhou Hong dissolved the Protective Shield, moved by emotion, and threw herself into Chen Li’s arms, gently saying, "The night is deep now, let’s go back."

In the deep stillness of the night, there was nobody around.

The woman in his arms was tender and affectionate.

Chen Li suddenly felt in the mood.

"Stop it!"

...

"Not here... someone might come!"

...

"Gentle! Hmm~"

There came a faint sound like whimpering and moaning, which then drifted away with the wind.

This deep night was not peaceful.

...

The next morning, Chen Li, once again disguised, made his way to Zhao Lin’s residence.

"Apart from the Evil-Repelling Talismans, there are three left, everything else is sold, and this is the money from the sales." Zhao Lin handed over a bulging purse, his heart racing with nerves, worried that he had undersold the items and might be suspected of pocketing some of the money.

At the same time, he worried that if he had sold them for too much, his commission would shrink.

Chen Li "hmm’d" in response, took the purse, and expressionlessly tipped the Spirit Stones onto the table.

With a "whoosh,"

countless Spirit Stones scattered about.

"One Mid-grade Spirit Stone plus one hundred twenty-four Low-grade Spirit Stones... Not a bad sale!" Chen Li counted them, finding the price had far exceeded his expectations.

"The main earnings came from Magic Artifacts, which sold for one hundred sixty Low-grade Spirit Stones, while the Talismans were just standard market sales, all sold at market price," said Zhao Lin, relieved by the count and hence more talkative.

Indeed, setting up a stall had proven to be more profitable than selling to a shop.

Of course, the risk was higher too.

Chen Li separated twenty-three Spirit Stones to one side, collecting the rest back into the purse.

"This is your share!"

"Thanks, Xie!" Zhao Lin’s face lit up with joy.

Twenty-three Spirit Stones was by no means a small sum.

In this shantytown, the majority of lower-class Loose Cultivators didn’t make more than five Low-grade Spirit Stones a month.

That was then.

With the current situation, it was even less.

Even with the current high prices,

it was enough for him to live comfortably for two or three months, and this was merely his earnings from the past five days.

Chen Li once again pulled out a low-grade magical instrument and a stack of talismans from his sleeve and said, "It’s the same quantity as last time. Sell them well. You can skim some money off the top as long as I don’t find out!"

"Big brother, I wouldn’t dare to embezzle your money even if you gave me the courage to do it!" Zhao Lin quickly stated with excitement.

Too clean a stream harbors no fish. As long as it wasn’t excessive, it was fine, and besides, there was no way to monitor this, it all relied on self-discipline. Chen Li was just giving a slight warning, then let the matter slide.

He then inquired about the recent happenings.

Zhao Lin immediately began relaying the rumors he’d heard in the market.

Alas, it was either gang fights or demon beasts eating people — none of which interested Chen Li.

"Oh, right, almost forgot. The Yu Family is opening an alchemy shop and at the same time buying up a large amount of herbs. This news has caused quite a stir, it’s almost everywhere. I’m not sure if big brother has heard?" Zhao Lin said.

"This... of course, I’ve heard about it!" Chen Li said with an indifferent expression.

He had recently spent his days without stepping outside, not even crossing his own threshold.

He either meditated for Qi cultivation or practiced his swordsmanship and spells. Where would he have heard the news?

He hadn’t expected the Yu Family would also be involved in alchemy.

Such a Foundation Establishment family had truly deep roots.

Sometimes he couldn’t help but think, if only he could be reborn as a scion of a cultivator family, or a Sect Disciple, sheltered by a powerful force from the storms of life, not worrying about his safety, with countless resources for cultivation at his disposal, learning anything he wished.

Not like himself, who only had himself to rely on.

Only by working tirelessly each day could he survive in this dangerous world.

"Once the Yu Family’s alchemy shop is open, remind me. Also, help me ask around if anyone has a magic sword for sale, price is no issue!" Chen Li stood up and said, then turned and left.

...

He hadn’t been out long before he changed his appearance and took a different route.

On his way, he saw a headless corpse lying by the side of the road.

Completely stripped, the body was covered in bruises and wounds.

Chen Li’s expression didn’t change in the slightest as he passed by the corpse as if it were nothing unusual.

The situation in the shantytown had not improved at all recently. More and more people living in difficulty began to take risks. Every day, as long as one got up early enough, they could see a few scattered corpses lying around.

...

After another calm seven or eight days, his proficiency in the Traction Skill finally reached the level of mastery.

Before reaching mastery, no matter how much his proficiency in the Traction Skill grew, the range of his spell domain remained fixed at about a radius of fifteen meters, until he finally broke through to the master level and the spell domain began to slowly expand.

"Finally, skill optimization has begun," Chen Li felt the insights coming from the game panel and said to himself excitedly.

The previous two levels, ’Beginner’ and ’Proficient’,

As the name implies, represent only the most basic use of a skill.

Most people can reach these levels with hard practice.

’Mastery’, however, is different.

It requires a thorough understanding of a skill and the ability to make some subtle optimizations and improvements.

In fact, after reaching the level of ’Mastery’, that’s when the real increase in a skill’s power begins.

Chen Li waved his long sword casually, invisible Sword Qi crisscrossing within his spell domain, repeatedly plowing the ground.

He pondered in his heart:

"After mastery, there are three more levels: expert, master, and grandmaster. If each level could enhance a spell’s power by one tier..."

"Spiritual Power Snap would be equivalent to a fifth layer Qi Cultivation spell, and this Traction Skill, a fifth layer Qi Cultivation spell, when fully mastered, can have the power of a ninth layer Qi Cultivation spell!"

"Combined with the Scolding Skill that’s equivalent to a seventh layer Qi Cultivation spell, and Palm Thunder that’s equivalent to an eighth layer Qi Cultivation spell, perhaps I could even contend with a Second Order demon beast."

"Alas, I must endure a bit longer. Once I reach that point, I can relax a little, not feeling as much pressure as I do now," Chen Li thought to himself.

With a thought, numerous pebbles began to float.

His body nimbly stepping on the floating stones, he sprinted rapidly, his figures shifting unpredictably, like a series of afterimages.

After nearly three hundred instances of repeated practice and honing during this period, within the domain of his Traction Skill, he no longer needed to consciously think about it; pebbles would fly to his feet on their own accord every moment, positioning themselves where he found it most comfortable and most effective for exerting force.

In the air, Chen Li could move even more agilely and rapidly than he could on the ground.