Living steadily in the world of gods and mystery

Chen Li, who had just left the door, was unaware that the Second Order magic sword had been overvalued by Yu Wu Feng, costing him a considerable amount of money.

After bidding farewell to Zhao Lin, he carried the long sword and hurried home.

His heart was filled with excitement and joy, yet there was also a twinge of pain.

"After buying this sword, I’m left with less than four Mid-grade Spirit Stones..." Chen Li silently calculated in his heart, "Now that I’ve sold all my Low-grade Magical Instruments, I only have one High-grade and eight Mid-grade ones left."

As for the stockpile of Talismans he had built up over the past winter, those had been gradually sold off during this period.

He had also temporarily stopped making Talismans, using the saved Spiritual Power to practice Spells. Aside from about twenty Amulets and Featherweight Talismans for personal use, he didn’t have a single one left.

"Even if all those magic artifacts were sold, it would be just over twenty Mid-grade Spirit Stones, and restocking on Qi Replenishing Pills and Blood Qi Elixirs would deplete that," Chen Li sighed.

Money, oh, money.

Never enough when you need it!

It seems I’ll have to go hunt another Demon Beast.

A single Demon Beast is worth around ten Mid-grade Spirit Stones. With that extra money, I’d have a bit more breathing room.

Chen Li pondered all the way home, where he quickly entered and closed the courtyard door.

"Did you buy the sword?" Zhou Hong emerged from the kitchen and leaned at the doorway.

"Mm!" Chen Li’s face was full of joy, "I didn’t expect it to be a Second Order magic sword. Although it was expensive, after giving it some thought, I decided to buy it. After all, it’s for self-protection, and you can’t skimp on that."

"A Second Order magic sword!" Zhou Hong exclaimed in shock, "Are you planning to pursue the path of the Sword Cultivator?"

"You know about Sword Cultivators?"

This was the second time Chen Li had heard this today.

"I don’t really understand it, Sword Cultivators are rare, I’ve never seen one. I’ve only heard that Sword Cultivators ’cultivate their life with a single sword’ and are all sword maniacs." Zhou Hong said.

"Let’s take it one step at a time. I’m just fumbling through and self-training," Chen Li said with a chuckle, "What does it matter if they are Sword Cultivators or not? As long as it works, I’m happy. I’m going to test out the sword now."

He walked into the courtyard.

Drawing the sword, he casually discarded the scabbard.

The blade was silvery white, and an aura of sharpness subtly emanated from it, carrying a terrifying sense of lethality.

Chen Li cautiously channeled a thread of Spiritual Power into it, and the feeling was as smooth as manipulating a Magic Artifact. No, it was even smoother than wielding his High-grade Flying Sword. The Spiritual Power flowed as if it were running through his own body, without feeling the slightest obstruction.

As Spiritual Power was poured in, the sharpness of the sword surged, with air warping and blurring around the tip, as if a sword light was breathing in and out.

Chen Li gradually increased the output of Spiritual Power, and the invisible sword light grew increasingly more intense, extending nearly a foot in length.

When the sword light peaked,

Chen Li aimed at a rock about the size of a washbasin at his feet and casually swung the sword.

The tip passed silently over the rock from an inch away.

Accompanied by a faintly discernible "sizzling" sound.

The next moment,

The rock slightly trembled and split into two.

Chen Li stepped forward to take a look, seeing the cut surface was as smooth as a mirror, clearly reflecting his own image.

"This power!"

"Probably even the Amulets commonly used during the Qi Cultivation Stage wouldn’t stand a chance against a strike from my Second Order magic sword!" Chen Li thought to himself.

Then he held the sword and began practicing swordsmanship.

Hastily getting acquainted with this new weapon he’d carry around.

The thirty-five-pound heavy sword was much heavier than any sword he had handled before, but for his current strength, it was still quite manageable and perfectly balanced, not at all burdensome.

...

"Stop training, it’s time to eat!" Zhou Hong called out from the house.

Chen Li responded and continued to complete the full routine of sword techniques, not caring whether his proficiency had increased or not. He sheathed the sword, picked up the scabbard, and walked towards the kitchen.

"Why do we have an extra fish today?"

"Bought it from the neighbors, cost six Gold!" Zhou Hong said with a pursed smile.

"Haven’t the river fish been caught yet?" Chen Li asked.

In the entire Green River District, there’s one large river and three small streams.

The large river runs right by their house, but since word spread of Demon Beasts roaming nearby, people hardly went near it anymore. Regarding the three smaller streams, numerous Loose Cultivators gathered there daily to catch fish and shrimps to make ends meet.

"After all, running water never grows stale, but where can one catch it all? What would you like to eat tomorrow? I’ll go buy it then," Zhou Hong said with a smile.

"I don’t have anything particular in mind, just buy if there’s something available, and don’t worry about it if there’s not."

These days, demon beast meat has become our daily staple, but no matter how tasty, one still grows tired of it after eating it every day; from time to time, we need something else to change the flavor.

Not long after we finished dinner,

someone knocked on the door from outside.

"Who is it?" Chen Li put down his cup of boiled water and stood up to go open the door.

"Chen, it’s me." It was Zhang Yan’s voice. "Fellow Daoist, have you built a new house? I thought I had the wrong door just now!"

Chen Li opened the courtyard door only to see Zhang Yan’s sickly face and the heavy scent of medicinal herbs on him. He quickly asked with concern, "Zhang, are you injured? Come in, please, take a seat quickly!"

Zhang Yan sighed and said with a sorrowful expression, "Alas, it happened half a month ago. I’ve been lying in bed for more than ten days, and I was lucky to survive. Only recently have I been able to get out of bed."

After closing the courtyard door, Chen Li ushered Zhang Yan into the house. Once Zhou Hong brought over some tea, he asked,

"What happened?"

"I was robbed on the road, in these perilous times... I’m always very careful, yet I still ended up targeted. Fortunately, I had some life-saving measures which allowed me to escape the disaster." When Zhang Yan reached this point, his face showed signs of lingering fear.

This time, I really came close to losing my life.

If it wasn’t for the fact that I bit the bullet and dragged my injured body back home, the consequences would have been unthinkable.

"If you’re here, there must be something troubling you. Rest assured, I will not refuse to help if I can!" Chen Li spoke, as the other party had come here with injuries, obviously in need of assistance.

"Ah, I was hoping to buy some food from you, if you have any to spare?" Zhang Yan said hesitantly.

After lying in bed for nearly half a month, the food at home was long gone.

Given the condition of my body now, it’s not safe to go out and buy more, so I had no choice but to turn to Chen Li for help.

"How much do you need? I only have demon beast meat here!" said Chen Li.

"As much as possible, I probably won’t be able to go out for a while, and the young girl at home isn’t much help. Sigh, she really is a costly burden." Zhang Yan let out a sigh of relief and a smile appeared on his face.

Chen Li felt somewhat helpless at these words.

As much as possible!? That puts me in a tough spot.

I still have around seven hundred catties of demon beast meat at home.

How much should I give?

"Would three hundred catties be enough?" Chen Li asked. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

For those who don’t practice body refinement, three hundred catties should be enough for a couple to last three to four months.

"Uh!" Zhang Yan was taken aback upon hearing this, almost thinking he had heard wrong: "Three hundred catties! You have that much?"

Chen Li nodded, "I bought a bit too much last time."

"That’s enough, more than enough!" Zhang Yan hurriedly said, "But what about the price?"

"When I bought it, it was ten catties for one low-grade Spirit Stone, so let’s just go with that price."

"No, no, that’s too cheap. I know the going rate for demon beast meat, at least two low-grade Spirit Stones per ten catties. You’re giving me a friendly price, and I can’t let you suffer a loss. Otherwise, I won’t buy it!" Zhang Yan hastily refused, firmly resolute.

"Alright, the difference of a few Spirit Stones is not a big deal, so I won’t argue over it," Chen Li said after hesitation, decisively.

Talisman Makers are wealthy folks,

especially an established Talisman Maker like Zhang Yan.

He definitely won’t be lacking such a small amount of money.

"That’s more like it!"

...

Chen Li had to deliver the food to his house because the other party was unwell.

"Shuniang, hurry and open the door, your father’s back." Zhang Yan went forward to knock on the door and turned his head to say to Chen, "This girl, I told her to hide in the underground shelter before coming out!"

It took quite a while of knocking before the door finally creaked open.

Zhang Shuniang appeared, covered in mud, her face smeared like a clown, utterly disheveled:

"Dad, did you bring back some food? Oh, Uncle Chen, you’re here too."

With an outsider present, seeing his daughter in such a state, Zhang Yan’s face couldn’t help but show embarrassment, "Look at yourself, can’t you come out with a clean face!"

"Dad, stop it, I was just worried about your injury, I was so anxious, I even fell down just now!" Zhang Shuniang said, her face blushing with embarrassment, as she quickly stepped forward to support Zhang Yan, not daring to look at Chen, "Dad, Uncle Chen, please come in."