Living steadily in the world of gods and mystery
Chapter 51: Unexpected Windfall

Chapter 51: Chapter 51: Unexpected Windfall

Chen Li stood on the rooftop, looking out for a long time, yet what he saw was still indistinct.

He glanced at the snow that was quickly piling up to his chest.

Hesitating for a moment, he reached into his sleeve and took out a Featherweight Talisman. With a grit of his teeth and a surge of spiritual power, the talisman in his hand swiftly ignited and burned away.

The next instant, he felt as light as a swallow, nearly floating off his feet.

Though he had never used a Featherweight Talisman before, he was well aware of its specific effects and showed little surprise. Besides, he was in no mood for astonishments at the moment.

With a light tap of his toes on the rooftop, his body drifted down like a falling leaf.

The soft new snow had not yet been compacted underfoot when he fiercely kicked off it, the force erupting like an explosion. Snow burst outward in all directions. Using this limited reactive force, his body ’floated’ several meters away.

At first, he had some trouble controlling his strength, his body wobbling and stumbling. If it were not for his precise control of his body, he would have almost fallen into the snow. But after seven or eight steps, he quickly adapted.

Walking in the snow was like walking on solid ground, his speed increasing, leaving tracks in the snow.

Soon, he arrived at the giant beast’s tracks.

He discovered each footprint was thicker than his waist, and they were still steaming with heat.

"If the footprints are this big... I wonder how massive the body is?"

Chen Li’s face was grave as he looked into the distance. The demon beast’s footsteps were chaotic; the pristine snow had been stomped as hard as ice. Houses nearby collapsed in chunks, and now and then, splashes of blood were visible against the snow, quite conspicuous.

Chen Li saw no severed limbs or flesh, obviously, the victims had been bitten to death and swallowed whole.

"Eh, what’s this?"

He leaped out of the snow pit and hurried over.

Using his flying sword, he dug out a magic artifact from the snow compressed by the beast’s footsteps.

After examining it for a moment through the dense array markings inscribed on it, he could tell it was a mid-tier first-order magic artifact.

With a cautious look, Chen Li quickly and discreetly slipped it into his sleeve.

With a thought, he moved forward once again.

Very quickly, he unearthed a second item from the layers of snow.

...

Following the trail of the giant beast, Chen Li searched carefully and, in a short time, found five lost magic artifacts—a single one was mid-tier, with the rest being low-grade.

Clearly, these Loose Cultivators had launched attacks before disaster struck.

But without a doubt, their efforts had no effect on that fearsome demon beast.

Seeing more and more Loose Cultivators arriving to watch, he stopped searching and quickly returned.

...

Outside, the wind and snow howled, and the sky remained pitch black, but Chen Li and Zhou Hong could not find a trace of sleepiness.

"Are you hungry? Should I start cooking?" Zhou Hong asked.

"Hmm!" Chen Li nodded, and Zhou Hong swiftly departed.

Although he had just picked up a windfall.

Chen Li’s mood did not improve by a thread. Thinking of those Loose Cultivators who had met with disaster and the collapsed houses, he felt as if there was a heavy stone pressing on his chest, making it nearly impossible for him to breathe.

This time it was their turn to face disaster; who knew whose turn it would be next?

When dawn was approaching, the long-quiet slum became slightly noisy for a while, but then settled back into silence. The local gangs made no moves at this time, as if they were all waiting and watching.

To see if the fearsome demon beast would come again.

Or rather, whether it would come near here again.

Chen Li could only suppress the unease in his heart, comfort himself, and then devote all his energy to cultivation practice.

After all, the slum covered such a vast area, with over ten thousand inhabitants.

Even if they were to queue up for the demon beast to eat, and assuming the demon beast had no bad habit of wasting food... it would take three or four years to finish the queue.

The chances of it being their family’s turn next were very low... right?

In the evening, Zhou Hong brought over a large chunk of demon beast meat, frozen solid into a lump, and used a magic artifact to drill a hole. Then she took out a porcelain bottle from her sleeve, pulled the cork, and carefully poured the liquid inside. She then filled the hole back up.

"What is this?" asked Chen Li, curious.

"Snake demon poison, extremely potent. Fatal to anyone in the Qi Refinement Realm. I just don’t know if it will work on a Second Order demon beast?" As Zhou Hong spoke, her face showed a look of distress, clearly valuing the poison highly.

Chen Li stared, dumbfounded.

This woman, she’s actually hiding something so dangerous behind the scenes.

"Where to put it?" Chen Li asked.

"Just above the front gate, I worry if it’s placed too far, someone else might pick it up," Zhou Hong said.

"I’ll do it!" Chen Li stood up and said.

"Be careful not to spill the poison."

...

Since the last demon beast attack, there had been several days of calm without any sightings nearby.

This provided Chen Li with a slight sense of relief.

In the snow-covered yard,

Chen Li’s ’Spiritual Power Finger’ was frequently casting.

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

...

Holes about a meter wide were consecutively blasted into the snow, large amounts of fragmented ice scattered like bullets in every direction, making a "pap pap" sound as they struck the wooden walls, a display of alarming might.

Spiritual power continuously drained from within Chen Li’s body, relentlessly transforming into terrifying forces that were released from his fingertips.

With each flick of his finger, the next Spiritual Power Finger was already gearing up.

Suddenly, Chen Li felt something.

He stopped moving.

In his mind, he called up the game panel.

[Name: Chen Li]

[Lifespan: 41/115 years]

[Realm: Qi Cultivation Fourth Layer: 48/100]

[Cultivation Technique: Longevity Skill Expert: 745/800]

[Skills:]

Spellcrafting: Cleaning Talisman Expert: 2/800; Silencing Talisman Proficient: 34/400; Wayfinding Talisman Proficient: 8/400; Evil-Repelling Talisman Experienced: 65/200; Arrow-Evasion Talisman Beginner: 18/100

Spells: Spiritual Power Finger Grandmaster: 3200/3200; Scolding Skill Proficient: 232/400

Swordsmanship: Basic Swordsmanship Expert: 482/800;

[Divine Skills: None]

As Chen Li’s eyebrows lightly furrowed upon viewing the "Spiritual Power Finger Grandmaster: 3200/3200" on the game panel,

he flicked his finger again.

"Boom!"

A large hole exploded into the snow.

Yet, the numbers on the game panel remained unchanged.

"As expected, it can’t be improved further... Has this skill reached its peak?" Chen Li sighed inwardly with a hint of disappointment.

In truth, he had anticipated this.

After all, the highest skill level in the game he played before his transmigration was Grandmaster level.

Moreover, by this point, Chen Li had fully deciphered the most basic spell, Spiritual Power Finger, understood it thoroughly, and had already modified it within the confines of the original spell framework to the extent possible.

For this merely elementary, first-order spell with limited spiritual power, to exhibit the incredible force of a slightly above-mid-level, first-order spell was already unimaginably energy-efficient. To break through further would mean it was no longer the Spiritual Power Finger.

"Forget it, even if Spiritual Power Finger could break through the Grandmaster level, I wouldn’t count on it to kill a second-order demon beast... And since there’s been no activity for several days, perhaps that demon beast has truly left!" Chen Li consoled himself:

"Next, it’s time to search for a new spell to practice."

He glanced at the leaden sky above him, then Chen Li turned and went back into the house.