"Manager Wang, take care on your way out!"
After paying the rent, he saw off Manager Wang.
Chen Li turned around and saw the female cultivator from next door standing at her doorstep, eyeing him oddly.
The female neighbor's surna was Zhou, given na Hong, a mid-stage Qi Cultivation practitioner. It was only recently that Chen Li had learned her na from others.
"Why have you started practicing body refinent? No wonder you've been holed up at ho lately. Is it because you feel unwell? I always said those brothel won will drain you dry. Now you know how severe it is, right?"
Here we go again?
This never seems to end.
I've long since stopped going... No, I've never been at all!!!
Chen Li, with a disdainful expression that didn't bother to defend himself, changed the subject:
"Where's your man?"
"What, you want to do sothing to ? I'm not one of those shaless brothel won." Zhou Hong was fierce by nature and had grown up in a rough shantytown. Being strong, she wasn't afraid of any harassnt. She thrust out her chest and laughed scornfully.
"Fellow Daoist Zhou has misunderstood. I wouldn't dare do anything to you. Just wait for a mont!" Chen Li said with a wry smile.
"What kind of trick are you trying to pull?"
Chen Li turned and went inside, soon coming back out with his hand flipping over to reveal a beautiful hairpin. He handed it over with both hands, a face full of enthusiasm:
"I ca upon this at the market recently. It has a nice design. Although it's not a magic artifact, it can repel insects and mosquitoes. I thought it would be quite suitable for Fellow Daoist Zhou when traveling outdoors. You gave so much demon beast at last ti; I've been thinking about it. Consider this a return gift."
Zhou Hong instinctively reached out to take the exquisite hairpin, and the next mont her face turned red as if burning. The normally sharp-tongued woman suddenly beca shy and whispered:
"Why... why are you giving this to ? Aren't you afraid my man will beat you to death?"
"Ah! Can't I give it? If not, give it back first, and I'll find sothing more suitable for you next ti." Chen Li looked utterly confused and clueless.
Heh, of course, he knew it wasn't appropriate; he was doing it on purpose.
With a woman accustod to speaking harshly, one had to fight sentint with sentint, otherwise, it would never end.
It was clear that she didn't an any harm; she was just used to speaking her mind sharply and without holding back.
Even the most well-intentioned words, when spoken by her, could make soone feel uncomfortable for quite a while, truly affecting one's state of mind.
Yet, he hadn't expected that this gesture of giving a gift would work so surprisingly well.
Such a rough and sharp-tongued woman could actually blush.
Zhou Hong gave him a sidelong glance, her emotions complex. Even her own man had never bought her a hairpin. Reluctant to return it, she said:
"Forget it, I'll just say I bought it myself, but you better not let a word slip."
"Understood, understood!" Chen Li nodded repeatedly.
...
After closing the door and securing the latch, Chen Li chuckled to himself.
Although it pained him to spend two spirit stones, it was worth it.
He guessed he could expect so peace and quiet from now on.
He picked up his sword and continued practicing.
Lately, he had been extrely keen on practicing swordsmanship, spending most of his ti each day on it.
The paunch on his body was long gone; his muscles were well-defined, radiating with formidable strength.
He was now feeling the miraculous power of a cultivator's body, highly resistant to any negative physical state.
Ordinary people would have suffered injuries from such intense practice, or their muscles would have worn out and snapped. But after just a few cycles of ditation and a good night's sleep, he would wake up the next day as vibrant as ever, his body fully recovered.
After several rounds of continuous practice, he stopped to rest, panting heavily.
He took out so salted plain water, sipping it gently while looking over his ga panel:
[Na: Chen Li]
[Lifespan: 40/98 years]
[Realm: Qi Cultivation Third Layer: 31/100]
[Cultivation Technique: Longevity Skill Proficiency: 195/200]
[Skills:]
Talisman Making: Cleaning Talisman Mastery: 5/400; Silencing Talisman Proficiency: 75/200; Guiding Talisman Proficiency: 21/200; Evil-Repelling Talisman Beginner: 12/100
Spell: Spiritual Power Finger Snap Expert: 245/800;
Swordsmanship: Basic Swordsmanship Proficiency: 163/200
[Divine Skills: None]
He glanced at the various skills.
Compared to before his traversal, these skill descriptions... he could already be considered a qualified Loose Cultivator.
"The breakthrough in swordsmanship should co in about three days, I hope there will be new surprises... Everything about this ga interface is good, it's just that it doesn't display attributes, so I have no idea how strong I am now?"
He clenched his fist, and the muscles in his arms twisted like steel wires, he thought to himself, "It must be about double the strength I had when I first crossed over, and it's not just strength, but also instantaneous reaction speed.
This sword practice emphasizes 'mind to eye, eye to sword,' and all the training revolves around this core indicator.
Swordfighting is perilous, focusing on a one-strike kill, and aims to finish a battle within a few moves.
A battle that can't be resolved in one breath is a dangerous fight for life and death, which also applies to battles between Cultivators, after all, so things are universally true."
Thinking of this, Chen Li couldn't help but feel a sense of emotion in his heart:
"A month ago, I was a law-abiding citizen who wouldn't even run a red light, and now I spend my days and nights studying how to kill and how to avoid being killed..."
"Unfortunately, there's still been no progress in my cultivation level... Huh?"
At that mont, he noticed a skill that he had sowhat overlooked all along.
"Longevity Skill Proficiency: 196/200"
"Is this about to advance!?" His heart began to beat wildly.
Sure enough, initially, the proficiency level of Longevity Skill was the highest of all skills, but the progress was the slowest. It wasn't calculated by the number of uses, but by ti.
About one hour of ditation, proficiency 1.
In the beginning, Chen Li had to ditate several tis a day for talisman-making recovery, spending eight to nine hours.
After he learned Evil-Repelling Talisman.
The frequency of talisman making greatly decreased, and besides still practicing 'Spiritual Power Finger Snap,' he devoted most of his energy to sword practice, decreasing his ditation ti by more than half, and only now was the proficiency barely reaching the edge of advancent.
"Perhaps once the proficiency of the Cultivation Technique reaches 'Mastery,' it might shake the current realm."
Chen Li couldn't help but feel a thrill in his heart.
With that thought, he couldn't stay still any longer, used a Cleaning Talisman, cleaned his body quickly, and then hurried back to his bedroom.
He then sat down cross-legged.
Soon, he entered the state of ditation with practiced ease.
Cultivation knows no ti.
From afternoon, to evening, and then quickly to night.
Gradually, the flow of spiritual power inside his body beca smoother, all the nuanced and obscure parts started to resolve, and ultimately even the cultivation circuit underwent subtle adjustnts and optimizations, becoming more suited to his body.
Since his arrival, he never had such a prolonged period of deep ditation.
When he opened his eyes, it felt like awakening from a dream.
It took him a long ti to co back to his senses, and he hurriedly opened the ga interface.
The proficiency of Longevity Skill had changed from 'Proficient: 196/200' to 'Master: 3/400'
As for the realm that had always been stagnant, it finally showed so movent, changing from 'Qi Cultivation Stage Three: 31/100' to 'Qi Cultivation Stage Three: 32/100'
He blinked his eyes, fearing he was seeing things, and carefully checked again.
"It wasn't easy."
"Qi Cultivation Stage Four is in sight... no, Longevity is in sight."
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