Staying Alive Cautiously in the Celestial Realm and Becoming the Strongest

By the time Wang Chen had finished his killing spree, the street in front of the tavern was already covered with corpses.

Not a single body was intact; some were decapitated, others split in half, with blood converging into streams on the cobblestone surface, the air was diffused with a scent that flies relish.

Wang Chen recalled the Red Nether Sword and descended to the ground.

Centered on him, within a radius of several hundred steps, not the sound of a living person could be heard.

The bustling market had seemingly turned into an endless haunt of ghosts!

Clearly, everyone had been frightened by the brutal slaughter.

The Mysterious Intent Taoist brought along a large group of men to the meeting—considerate and cautious.

But this fifth-tier Purple Mansion cultivator, despite all his calculations, had not foreseen that he would fall here today, thus meeting his fate.

Together with a gang of fierce horse bandits, they were harvested by Wang Chen.

He reached out his hand to take the storage bags hanging on the corpses, drawing them one by one into his palm.

A windfall for the tiger, and though a fly may be small, it is still flesh; Wang Chen didn't carry the status burden of a "Purple Mansion Superior" and didn't mind picking up some minor spoils of war. Your journey continues with empire

After all, who knows what treasures might pop out of these "blind boxes"!

Wang Chen had not forgotten that his Thousand Mechanisms Changing and Heaven-Ensnaring Punisher Net were both obtained from Qi cultivation cultivators.

It's possible for a minor cultivator to possess great treasures!

"Fellow Daoist..."

Just as Wang Chen had finished scouring the battlefield, an old voice suddenly entered his ears, "Could you explain why you had to kill so many people here?"

Explain?

Wang Chen let out a cold laugh, "Since when does Chen have to explain his actions to anyone?"

He summoned the Glowing Light Sword, merged with the sword, and shot straight towards the heavens, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

After a moment, a resigned sigh could be heard throughout the marketplace.

Soaring through the sky on his sword, having left Flowing Horse Gathering far behind, Wang Chen didn't care about the minor interruption at the end.

The evasive figure that dared not show itself was also a Purple Mansion cultivator, likely the enforcer for the Flowing Horse Gathering.

But the other party was very old, their voice laced with the feebleness of late years, and though their cultivation was profound, they had long lost the sharpness for battle, with no desire to contest life and death with Wang Chen, the "butcher."

Actually, that old Purple Mansion Superior was indirectly requesting Wang Chen to leave—having killed the people and taken the goods, it was time to go back.

Wang Chen was planning to leave anyway, so he gave the other party face.

Riding the Glowing Light Sword at breakneck speed, he quickly returned to Beiwang City.

Of course, it was through the underground passage that he stealthily returned to his dwelling.

Wang Chen had been out for several days, and there were no signs of disturbance at the door of the Cultivation Chamber.

It was quite normal for a cultivator to be in seclusion for three to five days, or even longer.

He had specifically instructed beforehand that unless there was a major event, no one was to disturb him rashly.

Removing the Thousand Mechanisms Changing mask and shedding the Solitary Wolf's disguise, Wang Chen reverted to his real identity to begin assessing the gains from this venture.

First off, his Heavenly Merit points had once again surpassed the thousand-point mark.

This meant that Wang Chen could enhance himself once again.

However, because the two most important attributes, Physique and Comprehension, had already been enhanced four times, necessitating 10,000 Heavenly Merit for further enhancement, only Physique and Divine Soul were available options.

Wang Chen hesitated for a moment and chose not to enhance immediately.

He decided to wait until he returned to the West Sea Sect.

Next were the numerous storage bags he had secured, adding up to a considerable total of forty-seven.

In fact, the number of horse bandits and thieves Wang Chen had dispatched far exceeded this figure, but some storage bags had been damaged in the battle, while some paupers did not have any storage bags at all.

Some storage bags were so rotten he didn't even feel like rummaging through them.

Of the forty-seven storage bags Wang Chen got his hands on, two belonged to the Mysterious Intent Taoist, obviously used by the marauder leader to divert attention.

After all, a Sumeru Ring is standard among Golden Core True Persons, a luxury only a few wealthy Purple Mansion Superiors could afford.

It easily attracted covetous eyes.

The process of opening these "blind boxes" was hardly remarkable, and Wang Chen didn't find many surprises. The total value of everything in the storage bags was about two to three hundred thousand spirit left.

It must be said that the contents of the two storage bags belonging to the Mysterious Intent Taoist accounted for at least half of that.

This was actually quite normal; horse bandits lived a seemingly carefree life but faced daily mortal peril, unlucky encounters with tough adversaries or being used by sect disciples to gain combat experience often meant a high likelihood of an unmarked grave at the side of the road.

Under such circumstances, most thieves lived for the day, squandering their loot on drink with no thought for tomorrow.

Those with some ambition and dreams would spend it on cultivation resources or items such as magic artifacts, talismans, pills, etc.

That Wang Chen could scrape together this much was quite good.

He wasn't concerned with that and instead focused on the Mysterious Intent Taoist's Sumeru Ring.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Wang Chen didn't immediately act upon the Sumeru Ring but placed it on the desk and took the corpse of the Mysterious Intent Taoist out of the storage bag.

"Command!"

With a pinch of his fingers, he pointed abruptly at the corpse of the Mysterious Intent Taoist.

The body shuddered and suddenly leapt up!

This wasn't because the Purple Mansion Superior had come back to life, but because Wang Chen had just cast the "Corpse Control Technique."

The Corpse Control Technique was a Qi Cultivation level spell. Once a cultivator mastered it, they could inject their mana into a corpse to control it.

This spell wasn't of a high tier; it was rather effective for playing ghosts and tricks, but not particularly suited for combat.

Wang Chen had learned this technique after looking through an ancient cultivator's notes.

Under Wang Chen's 'remote control,' the Mysterious Intent Taoist's corpse staggered towards the desk, its stiff fingers grasping the ring that was once its own.

Wang Chen's mana, through the medium of the corpse, entered the Sumeru Ring.

At this point, Wang Chen had already fortified himself with the Heavy Light Shield Armor!

Better safe than sorry, Wang Chen coveted the treasures within the Mysterious Intent Taoist's Sumeru Ring but also had to guard against potential traps.

Someone else's belongings, especially the storage equipment of high-tier cultivators, were not so easily tampered with.

But by using a controlled corpse to "open the box," any issues would first be borne by the corpse.

His Heavy Light Shield Armor, moreover, had been cultivated to the Grandmaster tier, capable of withstanding attacks from high-tier Purple Mansion adversaries, guaranteeing absolute safety.

With Wang Chen's mana infusion, the Sumeru Ring flashed with light for a moment,

Then fell from the hands of the Mysterious Intent Taoist's corpse.

However, before the treasure could hit the ground, Wang Chen caught it with a swift motion.

He had already determined that the Sumeru Ring was indeed enchanted with restrictions, but not by Demon Cultivators or Evil Cultivators' means, merely fortified with a "lock."

Although Wang Chen had no key, he could rely on his own mana to gradually erase the enchantment.

It was simply a matter of time.

Now, Wang Chen had plenty of patience.

In just about two hours, he succeeded in unlocking the Mysterious Intent Taoist's Sumeru Ring.

The items stored within brightened Wang Chen's eyes.

He had struck it rich!

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I've been really busy these last few days, so please forgive the sparse updates. Normal updates will resume tomorrow.