Hide in the world of gods and demons

Chapter 13 Windfall
Things developed too quickly. From sensing the danger to subconsciously activating the 'spiritual power flick,' everything happened in an instant. There was no time to think before the subconscious had already reacted.

Chen Li stood there in a daze for a while before suddenly coming to his senses. He hurriedly looked around nervously and, seeing that there was no one around, he managed to calm down a little.

"How did it get like this..."

"No, we can't stay here any longer. We need to leave now while no one's around."

Before leaving, he couldn't help but glance at his severed arm.

The blasted area was a bloody mess, with bloody bones and fascia vaguely visible. The fingers, resembling chicken claws, were twitching and spasming unconsciously. Three feet away from the palm, a black object with pointed ends lay quietly on the ground.

"This is……"

A thought struck him, and he quickly picked it up. Without examining it closely, he held it in his wet palm, glanced nervously left and right, and then hurried away. He disappeared around the corner in a few steps.

He hurried home, quickly closed the door, and Chen Li's heart was still pounding.

"That was close, I almost died, if only I had reacted quickly..."

"However, the 'Spiritual Energy Flick' is indeed very useful, even more so than magical artifacts. Not only is it quick to activate, but its power is also comparable to the willow leaf dart, and it consumes less spiritual energy. At the master level, the 'Spiritual Energy Flick' is almost like a supernatural power, and there is no need to consciously pay attention to the spiritual energy operation mode when activating it."

He felt a mix of excitement, lingering fear, and ultimately, worry.

"Nothing should happen. He's just a thief. He tried to steal but failed and then tried to kill someone. He deserved to be killed. Besides, I only broke one of his arms. It was completely self-defense."

I paced back and forth in the room, countless thoughts swirling within me.

He tried to suppress the unease in his heart.

"Oh right, my eleven spirit stones!?"

He subconsciously touched his chest.

Of course, his chest was completely empty.

"Never mind, as long as everyone's alright, money can be earned back... Wait, I think I found something, but where did I put it?"

He finally remembered what he had picked up next to the severed arm.

The item was found quickly, right next to him.

This is a black spindle-shaped magical artifact, about fifteen centimeters long, slender in shape, and pointed at both ends.

It was unclear what metal it was made of, but the artifact was heavy in the hand, with a density almost comparable to gold. It was covered with dense arrays of magic circles. Chen Li stared at it for a long time, trying to decipher them, and could only make out a deformed floating magic circle.

Chen Li tentatively channeled his spiritual energy into the device. Initially, there was some resistance, but it became smoother afterward.

After inputting approximately one-tenth of the spiritual power.

The originally pitch-black magical artifact emitted a sharp, eerie light as if it were electrified, and then trembled with a "hum" before floating up.

Chen Li felt a faint connection between his mind and the magical artifact, as if he could control it at will, and he couldn't help but look surprised.

"What a high-level magical artifact!"

Compared to his own willow-leaf dart, which could only be mechanically activated and went straight, this magical artifact had clearly entered the realm of intelligence.

……

Half a minute later.

The ritual implement was moving around the room like a dangerous fish, emitting a soft buzzing sound.

Sometimes, if you accidentally get too close to the wall, the wooden board will be brushed by the sharp edge of the ritual implement, leaving a thin, long scratch as if a hot knife were cutting through butter.

It sent a chill down one's spine.

Only when his spiritual power was about to be exhausted did Chen Li recall the magical artifact back into his hand and happily play with it.

"This is truly a wonderful thing! I could probably save up for ten years and still not be able to afford such a magical artifact!"

Thinking about this, he still couldn't quite understand it.

They're all so rich, yet they still try to steal my pitiful few spirit stones.

But then I thought again, maybe it's precisely because of theft and robbery that they're so rich.

"It's true what they say, 'Murderers and arsonists live in luxury,'" he sighed. "But now it's mine."

……

Chen Li didn't go out all afternoon.

Several times, he couldn't resist the urge to go to the scene to see if the arm was still there, but he managed to restrain himself each time.

For the next few days, he stayed at home and continued his practice as usual.

Meanwhile, the entire shantytown remained calm, as if nothing had happened.

It wasn't until the morning of the fifth day, on his way to the market, that he pretended to be calm as he passed by the scene.

The severed arm was still there.

It was just thrown (kicked) into a shallow ditch by the roadside, and gnawed by some unknown creature until only a pile of bones remained.

Occasionally, random cultivators would pass by on the road. Leaving aside those who didn't pay attention, most of those who did see them simply ignored them, at most frowning and showing a hint of disgust.

"I seem to be making a big fuss over nothing, I'm so naive!"

Perhaps to the rogue cultivators here, the matter of an arm wouldn't cause them any ripples; after all, it wasn't a corpse.

Chen Li breathed a sigh of relief, but at the same time felt a chill creep down his spine.

"Living in this place is really unsafe; I must be more careful in the future," he thought to himself.

……

Chen Li went to the market, but didn't set up a stall.

Headed straight to a building in the market area.

"A secondhand set of low-grade first-tier magic weapons isn't worth much," the magic weapon shopkeeper casually remarked while appraising the willow-leaf darts.
"It has a simple function and can be used to attack enemies. Its power is acceptable for a low-grade first-tier magic weapon. It's nothing special and is worth a mid-grade spirit stone. If you want to sell it, I'll waive the appraisal fee this time."

"This is too low. This is a complete set of magic artifacts. Any low-grade magic artifact in your shop would cost more than two mid-grade spirit stones. It should cost at least fifty more low-grade spirit stones." This price was completely different from Chen Li's expectations.

“But you’ve used this for a long time. That’s always been the market price for secondhand items, no matter where you are,” Chao Feng said slowly, taking a sip of tea.

After negotiating the price for a while, Chen Li finally settled on a deal of one mid-grade spirit stone plus twenty low-grade spirit stones.

He knew, of course, that he was at a loss; if he had set up a stall, he could have sold far more of those willow-leaf darts.

However, on the one hand, it is difficult to sell magical artifacts. Few vendors in the market sell such high-value items as magical artifacts, and they are also difficult to sell because it takes too much time and affects cultivation.

With this large sum of money in reserve, he no longer needs to trade 'evil-repelling talismans' as frequently as before, and can spend more time on cultivation.

On the other hand, it's not very safe either. I earned a dozen spirit stones a few days ago and I was targeted. If I were to sell it for a few hundred spirit stones, wouldn't it attract a pack of hungry wolves?

I'd rather earn less money than compromise my own safety.

I have boundless potential and am currently in the rising phase of my cultivation journey.

Why take these unnecessary risks for a few dollars?

……

After leaving the magic item shop, Chen Li, carrying a large sum of money, wandered around the market with suspicion. Feeling that no one was following him, he headed towards the shantytown.

He arrived home safely and quickly closed the door.

"Wow!"

He ripped open the money pouch, and a large pile of spirit stones was scattered on the table.

It spins smoothly.

Its luster is dazzling.

"We've really struck it rich!"

(End of this chapter)