Living steadily in the world of gods and mystery

"Sigh, now killing a few people hardly causes any ripples in my mind!"

Walking on the street covered in blood, watching the pedestrians hasten to avoid him, Chen Li couldn’t help but reflect.

As for the guilt and panic that killing should have brought, there was not a trace.

He calculated that since he’d been in this world for nearly a year, from killing insects to killing people, he’d unwittingly slain a total of about twenty souls.

"This damned world!"

"Why is it so hard to lead a peaceful life?"

He stepped into a grove of trees by the roadside, tore off his blood-stained blue robe and tossed it aside, revealing the spell robe beneath. Then he slapped a Cleaning Talisman on himself to remove the blood from his hands.

As he walked, the muscles on his face shifted again, and by the time he emerged on the other side of the grove, he had taken on the identity of a butcher.

During this period, his wealth had grown rapidly.

Just the meat of two demon beasts had netted him 22 mid-grade Spirit Stones.

There was also the income from Zhao Lin selling magic artifacts and talismans, totaling about 7 mid-grade Spirit Stones.

Add to that his previous savings of 11 stones, and all the odds and ends added up to a lofty 40 mid-grade Spirit Stones.

And that didn’t include today’s replenishment of fresh inventory and the more... more magic artifacts he would sell.

Chen Li hurried to Zhao Lin’s house.

The two conducted another transaction.

Then he heard some good news: the Yu Family’s potion shop had finally opened.

His cultivation was now at "Qi Cultivation Level 5: 55/100", with a steady progress of one point every two days, a pace far slower than it had been when popping pills. That aside, there was also the Blood Qi Elixir...

He immediately rushed home, took his money, and headed straight for the market district while it was still not dark.

The Yu Family’s potion shop hadn’t taken over any existing building in the market, but had built a new structure on the vacant land beside it, acting quite unassumingly, reflective of the family’s consistent behavior since moving to the Green River District.

Despite their reputation, you would usually be unaware of their presence.

Perhaps it was as Zhang Yan had said.

The foundation-establishment elder of the family was unwell.

Perhaps because it was evening.

The front of the potion shop was deserted, with no one entering or exiting.

Chen Li walked into the potion shop.

He was immediately approached by a young female attendant, whose attitude was many times better than those snooty merchants from before.

He was reflecting on this when he learned the price of the potions here.

Chen Li could no longer remain calm and exclaimed,

"Thirty low-grade Spirit Stones for a bottle of Qi Replenishing Pills? Why are they so expensive!"

They used to be only fifteen low-grade Spirit Stones, and before that, only ten.

The Yu Family was really ripping people off!

"There’s nothing we can do, you know the situation. The entire Longevity Domain is in chaos, wars are everywhere, trade routes are completely cut off. Particularly one of the main ingredients for the potion is extremely hard to come by here; we only have the family’s stored supply, which diminishes with each use—production is limited, so the price has to be a bit higher," the shopkeeper explained with a wry smile:

"It’s not just here, the whole Longevity Domain is experiencing soaring prices due to the war. The Yu Family is being quite fair with these prices; you won’t find Qi Replenishing Pills this cheap anywhere else."

Although that seemed reasonable,

In essence, they were still profiting from the war.

Chen Li felt a pang in his heart, his liver, his lungs...

Sigh, no matter how much money one had, it was insignificant in the face of skyrocketing prices.

"Can’t you make it any cheaper? I’m buying in bulk!" Chen Li asked, holding on to a sliver of hope.

"Our supply is limited!" the shopkeeper said with a smile, not budging an inch.

"Fine, I’ll take it at that price; give me fifty bottles!" Chen Li said through gritted teeth. "How much for the Blood Qi Elixirs?"

"Thirty-five low-grade Spirit Stones."

"Give me twenty-five bottles!"

It was painful to spend so much, but he had no choice; he still had to make the purchase. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

This was his supply for more than three months.

Chen Li couldn’t determine whether the war in the Longevity Domain would end within three months.

Nor could he predict how much medicinal stock the Yu Family had left. Compared to running out of stock, which would impact cultivation strength, a "slight" loss of Spirit Stones was still acceptable to him.

Then, he purchased some pills for healing injuries, diseases, and plagues as standard medicine for the household, spending a total of twenty-four Mid-grade Spirit Stones.

After leaving the pill shop.

Chen Li felt his money pouch, which had shrunk by a good half.

He sighed.

And hurriedly walked back home.

...

Two days later, the house was finally declared complete.

Larger and more spacious than the original.

The floor was paved with stone slabs instead of dirt, and there was a half-acre courtyard surrounded by a fence made of logs.

From now on, he wouldn’t need to go out to practice Spells or swordsmanship.

Chen Li didn’t pay the six helpers with Spirit Stones.

Each was given ten jin of Demon Beast Meat instead.

Of course, Chen Li could have given more, but wealth shouldn’t be flaunted.

Moreover, it only took six days in total. Giving ten jin of Demon Beast Meat was already quite generous, which could sell for two Low-grade Spirit Stones at the current market price if there wasn’t someone selling in bulk.

The house was bright and clean.

Neither damp nor stuffy, with good air circulation and a fresh, natural feeling.

During the day, Zhou Hong was particularly excited, cleaning here, dragging there, moving this and that, bustling about with excitement. But at night, she began to miss the security of living in the burrow.

Tossing and turning, she couldn’t fall asleep.

"Wake up, there seems to be some noise outside!"

Chen Li immediately woke from his sleep and listened for a while, "It’s still far away, probably coming from the wastelands, usually when hunting, Demon Beasts don’t make noise. Go back to sleep, I’m here!"

Having killed many Demon Beasts.

His courage had also grown.

The distant roars of ordinary beasts could no longer stir his mind.

"That’s not an ordinary beast roar, don’t you find it familiar?" Zhou Hong said.

Familiar?

Upon hearing this, Chen Li’s sleepiness disappeared instantly, and he listened closely, "It does sound like that Second Order Demon Beast?"

Every Demon Beast had a distinct roar.

The difference between them was as stark as the cry of a cat and the crowing of a rooster.

"That sound is a warning, a show of force, and only a being of the same order can make it do that," Zhou Hong said with some nervousness.

Another Second Order Demon Beast?

Chen Li’s face also changed slightly.

Sure enough, the next moment validated Zhou Hong’s guess.

A roar like the ripping of silk faintly arose.

The two seemed to be confronting each other from afar.

Roar after roar.

Even though the sounds were distant and had become very weak by the time they reached here, the terrible ferocity within the roars was distinctly palpable to anyone.

The two of them listened quietly.

Neither spoke.

The roaring continued for more than a minute before gradually quieting down.

"The original one gave in, the newcomer won!" Zhou Hong said gravely, "In the future, there may be two Second Order Demon Beasts here."

"Ah, what’s the difference between one or two? Life has to go on as usual. When the time comes, we can just hide in the burrow if needed. It’s late, let’s sleep early," Chen Li said after a moment of silence.