Living steadily in the world of gods and mystery
Chapter 111 - 97: Mastery of Lightning Skill

Chapter 111: Chapter 97: Mastery of Lightning Skill

The wide mountain path leading to Luoluo City was paved with thick bluestone slabs, soaked with dew and mist from the night, appearing wet and slick.

The dense forest on both sides of the mountain path thrived with lushness even in this deep autumn season, likely due to the rich spiritual energy here, exuding vigorous vitality.

Chen Li carried a large water jar on his shoulder, followed by Zhou Hong, stepping lightly as if carrying nothing.

The diameter of the water jar was one and a half meters.

The water jar was too large.

The storage bag was too small.

He had no choice but to carry it on his shoulder.

In this world, a large water jar for storing water was indispensable, as no one had the leisure to fetch water from the stream every day.

"I didn’t sleep very well last night!" Zhou Hong said with a light laugh.

"Not used to sleeping on the ground?"

"Mm, I was too tired the day before yesterday to notice, but yesterday was different."

"Get used to it after a few days of sleeping there, we can’t always sleep on the ground where it might affect us abnormally. However, I think we should take some time to dig a cellar at home, just in case, better safe than sorry. It’s just that the ground here doesn’t seem easy to dig, with all the stones underneath."

The two chatted casually as they walked.

"Whoosh!"

A gust of wind blew overhead.

Chen Li looked up and saw a cultivator flying past overhead, controlling a magic artifact at a speed barely faster than running.

"Once all these trivial matters are sorted out and we’re properly settled, I should resume practicing Flight with Instrument Control," he thought to himself.

He had practiced it for a while before last winter came.

But he didn’t do well.

He was afraid of heights, and of dying.

As soon as the altitude exceeded ten meters, he would feel dizzy and disoriented.

The reason he wasn’t afraid within ten meters was because he knew his physical fitness meant that if he jumped from that height, he would most likely be unharmed.

After winter set in, the situation in Green River District changed abruptly with rampant demon beasts in the wild, and he stopped practicing.

Although he had already scheduled to learn the Wind Control Skill for flying, considering the disdain Yu Fan Zhen had expressed, this flying speed probably wouldn’t be impressive. Before the Cleaning Skill was optimized for practical use, it would be wise to get proficient with Flight with Instrument Control first.

It’s best to be prepared for all eventualities.

Luoluo City might seem peaceful, but one should never drop their guard or lose vigilance.

...

Arriving at the doorstep of his home.

Chen Li let Zhou Hong go inside first, then he carried the large water jar to the spirit stream mentioned by the old housekeeper yesterday for cleaning.

The spirit stream was just over a hundred meters away.

Though it was called a small stream, when Chen Li actually saw it, he found it was not small at all, seven or eight meters wide. The waters of the stream were crystal clear to the bottom, seemingly around two meters deep.

Schools of little fish and shrimp swam happily among the water grass, while several unknown water birds swooped back and forth, eyeing the water intently, apparently hoping for a fish to make a careless appearance on the surface.

In the early morning, the riverside was bustling with people.

There were those washing vegetables, cleaning pots and dishes, fetching water, and even cleaning toilets, with women’s laughter and chatter never ceasing, creating a lively scene.

Cleaning Skill or Cleaning Talismans, although very convenient and time-saving,

also appeared quite carefree.

But they weren’t suitable for everything.

The dirt cleaned away didn’t just disappear into thin air but would explode outwards, and this force was not weak at all. Even the air would make a muffled sound, the blast strong enough to create a cloud of dust if it hit someone.

After all, it was a level one, tier one spell, at the same level as a Spiritual Power bullet that could kill at close range (standard version).

If you were to clean clothing, remove dust, stains, grease, or even to a certain extent replace bathing, that is all fine.

But if you were to clean a toilet...

The scene of excrement splattering on walls and people would definitely make you question life.

Chen Li put down the large water jar and gathered some dead grass to begin scrubbing by the streamside.

"Fellow Daoist, how come I’ve never seen you before?" A middle-aged female cultivator eyed Chen Li and made small talk.

"I just moved here not long ago!"

"Did you come with the Yu Family from Green River District?"

"How do you know?"

The middle-aged female cultivator laughed, "Your accent is different from ours. I heard there was a demon beast disaster where you’re from and many people died?"

"Yes!" Chen Li chuckled in agreement, "That’s why I moved here."

"Fellow Daoist, tell us about Green River District, will you? It’s the farthest west in the Longevity Domain, thinking about it sounds dangerous!" Chen Li’s words immediately attracted many female cultivators’ interest and curiosity, and soon others joined in the conversation.

While Chen Li satisfied their curiosity, he also took the opportunity to learn about the situation in Luoluo City.

In Luoluo City, apart from the prominent Longevity Sect with four Foundation Establishment members, there were also six major Foundation Establishment families: Wang, Liu, Xu, Zhou, Xu, and Yu.

There were a total of ten Foundation Establishment cultivators.

That was the current situation.

During its heyday.

Longevity Sect alone had one Golden Core and twelve Foundation Establishment cultivators, but the depletion from two wars over a bit more than a year took a heavy toll, with the Golden Core Ancestor falling and Foundation Establishment cultivators suffering severe injuries and deaths, leaving the sect severely weakened.

Its strength was barely a tenth of what it had been.

Fortunately, Longevity Sect still had sufficient control over Luoluo City.

...

After cleaning the jar and fetching water, Chen Li stepped out again to familiarize himself with Luoluo City.

Luoluo City truly lived up to its name as a Cultivation City.

Business was booming, far surpassing that of Green River District.

Not only were there shops and traders everywhere, but there were also plenty of inns, taverns, and entertainment houses.

There was even a special area designated for setting up stalls, where one could do so day or night, even in the early hours of the morning.

As long as one could afford the Spirit Stones, a stall could even be rented permanently, becoming a personal fixed spot.

At a high cost of one Low-grade Spirit Stone per day, it was natural that the goods sold here were no ordinary secular items.

Spiritual Medicines, Talismans, mid to low-grade Magical Artifacts, various precious materials, as well as some odd and unnameable items were all on offer; Chen Li even saw someone selling first-grade Demon Beast Meat, and upon asking the price, found it to be much more expensive than in Green River District.

The price was five jin for one Low-grade Spirit Stone.

Clearly, Demon Beasts were rarer in this vicinity.

Unlike Green River District, where one could enter a primeval forest just by stepping out into the wilderness.

But aside from that, everything else was cheaper than in Green River District.

Take mid-grade Magical Artifacts, for example, they were generally priced around two Mid-grade Spirit Stones, many selling for even less than that amount.

"How can these prices be so cheap?" Chen Li faintly felt something was abnormal, knowing that previously, the Yu Family’s shop’s purchase price for second-hand Magical Artifacts was always more than two Mid-grade Spirit Stones.

There are those who would make a kill, but no one does business at a loss.

The Yu Family would certainly not artificially raise their purchase prices.

"Could there be a special circumstance..." His mind raced as he pondered, and suddenly, his eyes lit up: "Post-war discount on Magical Artifacts!"

The more he thought about it, the more he believed it to be true.

He disguised himself as a meat vendor and approached a Magical Artifact shop.

From his storage bag, he took out a mid-grade Magical Artifact and asked for the resale price.

To his surprise, the shopkeeper quoted only 1.5 Mid-grade Spirit Stones.

"Take another look, this is a mid-grade Magical Artifact, surely worth more than that price?" Chen Li pretended to argue loudly, his cheek muscles twitching.

"Fellow Daoist, please calm down, what was in the past is past, and now is now, they can’t be spoken of as the same," seeing his high-grade magic robe and fierce face, the shopkeeper of the Magical Artifact store unusually conceded with a smile:

"There was chaos in the past, and Magical Artifacts were in high demand, naturally driving up prices. Now that the hostilities have ceased, of course, prices have plummeted. We are even selling at a loss."

Chen Li scoffed at the shopkeeper’s claim of selling at a loss.

He then inquired about the price changes over the recent two years.

He quickly gained an understanding.

"Just as I thought!"

After leaving the shop.

He then visited several others to confirm his suspicions.

The normal resale price for second-hand mid-grade Magical Artifacts in Luoluo City’s shops had always been between two to three Mid-grade Spirit Stones, only to witness a dramatic change in the past year, where at its peak, the resale price for second-hand mid-grade Magical Artifacts once exceeded five Mid-grade Spirit Stones.

And now it was at a low point.

"This is definitely a great opportunity for bottom-fishing. These prices are obviously abnormal and can’t last long, half a year at most, or perhaps one year, and the prices of Magical Artifacts should be able to recover, returning to normal," Chen Li thought to himself as he calculated in secret.

"I still have one hundred and forty-four Mid-grade Spirit Stones on hand, and there’s no need for major expenditures at the moment..."

He made a decisive decision and immediately went back to the stall area.

He began to buy up mid to low-grade Magical Artifacts in large quantities.

In just one morning, he had acquired five mid-grade Magical Artifacts at an average purchase cost of 1.8 Mid-grade Spirit Stones, and twelve low-grade Magical Artifacts at an average cost of 0.8 Mid-grade Spirit Stones.

In the following days, he spent an hour each day going to the stall area to buy up mid and low-grade Magical Artifacts.

To prevent being targeted, he changed his appearance every time he went out.

Fortunately, he never encountered any problems.

Five days later, he noticed, whether due to his large-scale purchases or not, that the prices of Magical Artifacts had noticeably increased.

He quickly stopped buying and began to observe.

Meanwhile, Zhao Lin and others came looking for him, expressing their desire to continue selling Magical Artifacts and Talismans. Chen Li reluctantly asked them to be patient and wait for a while, and they had to leave disappointed in the end.

...

Late at night, in a quiet room.

The originally dim room.

Suddenly brightened with a dazzling light that turned the entire quiet room into daylight. This bright light lasted for half a second before gradually fading away.

"Done!"

Chen Li let out a breath of relief.

This Spell had some surprises for him; first, the blinding light was unexpectedly emitted from his own eyes, and second, he himself was completely unaffected by the light.

Of course, the Spell was not without its side effects.

At this moment, he felt his eyeballs were somewhat hot and sore.

Although the book didn’t mention any long-term consequences of continued practice, for the sake of his future eyesight, Chen Li decided to practice intermittently, just as he did with the Scolding Skill.

The Flash Skill, like the Scolding Skill, was a third-grade Spell, also combining just a chant with Spiritual Power.

But its casting was even simpler than the Scolding Skill.

The Scolding Skill eventually required a vocal trigger, while the Flash Skill didn’t require it at all, omitting an entire step.

"I should also pay a visit to the Golden Core Ancestor of the Yu Family tomorrow," Chen Li thought silently.

He had received considerable favor from the Yu Family during this migration.

He didn’t contribute much along the way, and was, on the contrary, saved by them once.

Both in gratitude and in propriety, he should make a visit.

He had delayed until now because he considered that, for a Foundation Establishment Family like the Yu Family to return to Luoluo City, was obviously not as simple as it seemed, with numerous matters to attend to; calling on them rashly would only cause trouble.

Seven or eight days had passed by now.

It was to be assumed that most of the affairs would be settled by this time.