Hide in the world of gods and demons

Chapter 34 Wise Choices
(The previous chapter contained an error regarding speed, which has been corrected.)

Feelings are naturally inaccurate, as they contain a large subjective element.

An adult's stride is about 75 centimeters. Next, Chen Li measured the ground step by step, and then ran again by silently counting the seconds. Finally, he roughly estimated his speed to be around 60 meters per second.

Of course, this speed is still a rough estimate with a huge margin of error, and the place he was running in was a wilderness with an uneven surface and complex terrain, covered with lush weeds and vines.

If you're not careful, you could be tripped and sent flying into the air.

However, this isn't Earth, so there won't be any plastic running tracks. And reality isn't some heartwarming competition. When he really needs to run, the terrain will probably be even more complex than here.

As a comparative test, Chen Li then took off his robe and tested it again.

This run felt several times more strenuous, and I couldn't even reach 30 meters per second at the end. The wind resistance was too great, and it felt like I was running against a typhoon, with my body feeling uncontrollably swaying.

Chen Li put on the Taoist robe, happily patted off non-existent dust, and liked the drab gray robe more and more.

"These ten mid-grade spirit stones were definitely worth it!"

Chen Li thought that those cultivators who flew on swords probably wore robes with embroidered 'wind-transforming' formations. Otherwise, at such a high speed, and with no guardrails or safety seats installed on the flying sword, no matter how good your sense of balance is, you would be blown off the flying sword if the wind was strong.

In the time that followed, he practiced running again and again, trying his best to adapt to various complex terrains, until it was almost noon before he headed towards the shantytown.

As he approached home, he sensed something was wrong. The air was thick with the smell of blood, and the streets were deserted; everyone's doors were tightly shut.

"What happened this time?"

Chen Li's heart tightened, and he quickly quickened his pace. He had just returned home and hadn't even had a chance to ask Lin Gui about the situation when Lin Gui rushed over.

"Have you heard? Qiao Guanyuan was assassinated?" Lin Gui whispered furtively.

"Dead?" Chen Li asked in surprise.

"Uh, not yet! I sustained some minor injuries. I heard it was another gang. Sigh, you didn't see it, the night patrol was like a madman, searching everywhere. Several people died on the streets." Lin Gui said nervously.

"I'm really unlucky to have come to this poor and remote place. I haven't had a few days of peace and quiet. Instead, I live in fear every day."

“Other places probably aren’t much better. The patriarch of the Longevity Sect has fallen, so the entire Longevity Domain is probably in the same situation now. This place is still better, at least no Foundation Establishment cultivators have personally intervened,” Chen Li retorted.

“That’s true!” Lin Gui agreed.

They both sighed in unison and remained silent.

"Can you find a way to other domains?" Chen Li asked after a while.

“There’s no way to get in here. This place is too remote. It’s just a small market town. Even powerful merchants wouldn’t cross over to do business here.” Lin Gui shook his head.

The two chatted for a long time but came to no conclusion, and all they could do was sigh.

Not long after, they all went home.

……

"Forget it, with my current strength, there's really nothing to worry about. At worst, I can just kill a few more people."

Sitting in the talisman-making room, Chen Li felt a sense of certainty.

They began making talismans.

Cultivate the mind.

Calm down.

Pray for blessings from heaven and earth.

After the ritual, Chen Li rolled up his sleeves, picked up a pen, and began to draw. He successfully drew two 'evil-repelling talismans', and still had a little less than half of his spiritual energy left.

He put down his pen, blew the bloody ink on it to dry, and placed it on a stack of talismans.

"Sigh, I've accumulated more and more. Business is bad in the market these days, and I don't know who to sell them to." He sighed inwardly, picked up the stack of talismans, counted them, and found that there were 38 of them.

Unlike popular amulets such as the Lightness Amulet and the Protective Amulet.

Exorcism talismans have never been easy to sell. When the market is still bustling, you might sell six or seven talismans in a morning if you're lucky, but only two or three if you're unlucky.

Moreover, it is a low-to-mid-level first-order talisman, and there are many independent cultivators who can draw this kind of talisman, so the competition is fierce.

"However, I'm already at the fourth level of Qi Refining, so I can try making arrow-avoiding talismans," Chen Li said thoughtfully.

The Arrow-Avoiding Talisman and the Evil-Repelling Talisman are both mid-level talismans of the first tier. The difference is that the latter corresponds to the fourth level of Qi Refining, while the former corresponds to the fifth level of Qi Refining. However, it is normal to draw a talisman that is one level higher than the previous one.

With his current Qi Refining Level 4 cultivation, he should be able to draw it, albeit with some difficulty.

Arrow-avoiding talismans are also a type of defensive talisman.

Once activated, it can generate a defensive force field, but its defensive capabilities are much weaker than those of the famous first-tier high-grade protective talisman. Its market price is the same as that of the exorcism talisman, which is also a low-grade spirit stone.

However, compared to other products, it sells much better.

With that in mind, Chen Li picked up the scroll of "The Methods of Making Eight Types of Talismans" and began to study it carefully.

……

In the following days, the surrounding area descended into complete chaos. Qiao Guanyuan's night patrol team and the nearby Giant Bear Gang clashed several times, resulting in countless casualties on both sides. This caused the local rogue cultivators to avoid going out on the streets for fear of being caught in the crossfire.

On this day, Chen Li went to the market to buy talisman skin and blood ink. On his way back, he was stopped by a group of three people:
“But Fellow Daoist Chen Li, I am Zhao Ding from the Giant Bear Gang.”

"I wonder what business Fellow Daoist Zhao has with me?" Chen Li stopped and looked at the other party, secretly on guard.

Zhao Ding was tall, a head taller than Chen Li. He was burly and dark-skinned. His wide Taoist robe looked like a tight-fitting suit, and he didn't look like a cultivator at all. He looked more like a bandit.

"I have long admired Fellow Daoist Chen's name. Qiao Guanyuan is merely a rogue cultivator who has only recently entered the late stage of cultivation, yet he is ambitious and attempts to dominate this place where rogue cultivators reside. Unfortunately, his strength cannot support his ambition, and his defeat is only a matter of time. I believe that Fellow Daoist Chen is a wise man who knows when to yield and will make a wise choice," Zhao Ding said with a smile.

They dared not be too negligent towards this legendary expert who could kill three mid-stage Qi Refining cultivators with a flick of his finger.

He had previously sent assassins to kill Qiao Guanyuan, and in turn, he feared that Qiao Guanyuan would retaliate in kind.

"Fellow Daoist Zhao, rest assured, I am by nature indifferent to fighting and have no interest in either side of you, nor will I get involved in your conflict," Chen Li said with a smile in response to Zhao Ding's veiled threat.

"Haha, that's for the best, Fellow Daoist Chen. I think we'll meet again. Let's go!" Zhao Ding laughed heartily at the satisfactory answer, then beckoned to his men and strode away.

……

"After threatening me, shouldn't you have offered me a generous gift to win me over?"

As Chen Li watched the other person's departing figure, his smile gradually faded.

"In the end, I couldn't escape trouble."

He regretted revealing his strength, but then he thought that if he hadn't, he would probably still be at the third level of Qi Refining. Where would he get the money to buy Qi-replenishing pills, or the money to buy a robe?

"Damn this world, why is it so difficult to cultivate immortality in peace?"

He shook his head and hurried home.

P.S.: I won't stay up late tonight.

(End of this chapter)