Hide in the world of gods and demons

Chapter 72 Difficulty
Once Chen Li was outside, he had no idea that Yu Wufeng had overvalued the second-tier magic sword, causing him to spend a large sum of money unnecessarily.

After saying goodbye to Zhao Lin, he carried his long sword and hurried home.

I felt a mix of excitement and a pang of heartache.

"After buying this sword, I'll only have less than four mid-grade spirit stones left..." Chen Li thought to himself, "Now that I've sold all my low-grade magic weapons, I only have one high-grade and eight mid-grade magic weapons left."

As for the talismans that had been stockpiled over the previous winter, they had all been sold out during this period.

Recently, he has temporarily stopped drawing talismans to save his spiritual energy for practicing spells. It can be said that apart from the twenty-odd protective talismans and lightness talismans he uses for personal purposes, he has no other talismans.

"Even if we sell all those magical artifacts, we'll only get about twenty mid-grade spirit stones. After replenishing our Qi-boosting pills and blood-qi pills, we'll be done with them," Chen Li sighed.

Money, money.

There's never enough!
It seems I still need to hunt down another monster.

A single demonic beast is worth around ten mid-grade spirit stones. With this extra money, one can have a lot more money on hand.

Chen Li pondered all the way home, then quickly returned and closed the courtyard gate.

"Did you buy the sword?" Zhou Hong came out of the kitchen upon hearing the noise and leaned against the doorway.

"Hmm!" Chen Li's face lit up with joy: "I didn't expect it to be a second-tier magic sword. Although it's very expensive, I decided to buy it after thinking about it. After all, it's a protective item, and I can't skimp on this."

"A second-tier magic sword!" Zhou Hong exclaimed in shock, "Are you planning to pursue the path of sword cultivation?"

"You know about sword cultivators?"

This is the second time Chen Li has heard this today.

“I don’t understand either. There are very few sword cultivators. I’ve never seen one. I’ve only heard that sword cultivators are ‘dedicated to cultivating a sword with their lives’. They’re all sword fanatics,” Zhou Hong said.

"Let's take it one step at a time. I'm just figuring things out and practicing on my own." Chen Li couldn't help but chuckle. "Who cares about sword cultivation or anything like that? As long as it works, that's fine. I'll go try out the sword first."

He walked into the courtyard.

He drew his sword and casually tossed away the scabbard.

The sword was entirely silver-white, with a faint, sharp edge that exuded a terrifying aura.

Chen Li tentatively inputted a wisp of spiritual energy, and it felt as smooth as wielding a magical artifact. No, it was even smoother than his own high-grade flying sword. The spiritual energy seemed to flow through his body without any obstruction.

As spiritual energy was channeled into it, the sword's sharpness intensified, and the air at the tip of the sword distorted and blurred, as if sword light was flickering out.

Chen Li began to gradually increase his spiritual power output, and the invisible sword light suddenly became stronger and stronger, approaching a foot in length.

When the sword's edge reaches its peak.

Chen Li casually swung his hand at a rock the size of a washbasin at his feet.

The sword tip silently grazed the rock, just inches away from it.

Accompanied by a barely perceptible hissing sound.

next moment.

The rock wobbled slightly and split in two.

When Chen Li stepped forward to take a look, the cut was as smooth as a mirror, reflecting his image clearly.

"This power!"

"The protective talismans commonly used in the Qi Refining stage probably can't withstand a single blow from my second-tier magic sword!" Chen Li thought to himself.

Then he took up his sword and began practicing swordsmanship.

I quickly familiarized myself with this new personal weapon.

The heavy sword, weighing thirty-five pounds, was much heavier than any sword he had ever handled before. However, for his current strength, it was still quite easy to use, with a suitable weight and no strain whatsoever.

……

"Stop practicing, it's time to eat!" Zhou Hong walked out of the house.

Chen Li responded and continued to perform the complete sword routine. Regardless of whether his proficiency had increased, he sheathed his sword, picked up the scabbard, inserted it, and walked towards the kitchen.

"Why is there an extra fish today?"

"I bought it from a neighbor; it cost six taels of gold!" Zhou Hong said with a smile.

"Have the fish in the stream not been caught yet?" Chen Li asked.

The entire Green River area consists of one main river and three smaller streams.

The river was right next to his house, but since rumors of monsters appearing there had spread, few people had gone near it. As for the three streams, countless low-level cultivators gathered there every day to catch fish and shrimp to make a living.

“It’s flowing water after all, how can we possibly catch it all? What do you want to eat tomorrow? I’ll go buy it then.” Zhou Hong said with a smile. “I don’t really have anything in mind. If they have it, I’ll buy it; if not, that’s fine.”

Monster meat is now a staple food, but no matter how delicious it is, you'll get tired of eating it every day, and you need other flavors to change things up occasionally.

Not long after we finished eating.

Then there was a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" Chen Li put down his glass of water, got up and went to open the door.

"Fellow Daoist Chen, it's me." It was Zhang Yan's voice: "Fellow Daoist, have you built a new house? I thought I had the wrong door!"

Chen Li opened the courtyard gate and saw Zhang Yan's sickly appearance and the strong smell of herbs emanating from him. He immediately asked with concern, "Fellow Daoist Zhang, are you injured? Quickly, come in and sit down!"

Zhang Yan sighed, his face full of sorrow, and said, "Alas, it all happened half a month ago. I was bedridden for more than ten days. I'm lucky to have survived. I was only able to get out of bed recently."

Chen Li closed the courtyard gate, welcomed Zhang Yan into the house, and after Zhou Hong brought tea, he asked:
"What happened?"

"I was robbed. In this world... I'm always very careful, but I never expected to be targeted. Luckily, I have some ways to protect myself, so I escaped." Zhang Yan's face showed lingering fear as he said this.

This time I really almost lost my life.

If I hadn't gritted my teeth and dragged my injured body home, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

"You've come here this time because you're having some kind of trouble. I'll do anything to help you!" Chen Li said. The other party was injured, yet he still came all the way here, so he obviously had something to ask for.

"Sigh, I just wanted to buy some food from you, but I don't know if you have any left?" Zhang Yan said, somewhat embarrassed.

After lying in bed for nearly half a month, the family's food supplies were long gone.

Given my current physical condition, it's not safe for me to go outside to buy supplies, so I have no choice but to seek help from Chen Li.

"How much do you want? I only have monster meat left!" Chen Li said.

"The more the better. I probably won't be able to go out anytime soon, and my little girl at home is useless. Sigh, I've raised a money-losing child." Zhang Yan breathed a sigh of relief, and a slight smile appeared on his face.

Chen Li felt somewhat helpless upon hearing this.

The more the better!
This is putting me in a difficult position.

There are about 700 jin of monster meat left in the house.

How much should we give?

"Is 300 jin enough?" Chen Li asked.

Unless someone is a body cultivator, 300 jin (150 kg) of food can feed a family of two for three or four months without any problem.

"Uh!" Zhang Yan was stunned for a moment, almost thinking he had misheard: "Three hundred jin! You have that much?"

Chen Li nodded: "I bought a bit too much last time."

"That's enough, that's enough!" Zhang Yan said hurriedly, "But what about the price?"

"When I bought it, it was ten catties for one low-grade spirit stone, so let's keep the price."

"No, no, this price is too cheap. I know the market price for demon beast meat. It should cost at least two low-grade spirit stones. You're doing me a favor by selling it to me, how can I let you suffer a loss? Otherwise, I won't buy it!" Zhang Yan quickly refused, his attitude firm.

"Alright, it's just a few spirit stones, I won't refuse." Chen Li hesitated for a moment, then said decisively.

Talisman makers are all wealthy people.

Especially veteran talisman makers like Zhang Yan.

At least we won't be short of this small amount of money.

"That's more like it!"

……

Because the other party was unwell, Chen Li could only deliver the goods to their door.

"Shuniang, open the door quickly, it's your father back." Zhang Yan stepped forward and knocked on the door, then turned to Chen Li and said, "This girl, I told her to hide in the hole before she came out!"

After knocking for a long time, the door finally opened with a creak.

Zhang Shuniang was covered in mud, her face smeared with mud, looking utterly disheveled.
"Dad, have you bought the food? Oh, Uncle Chen, you're here too."

With outsiders present, seeing his daughter's disheveled appearance, Zhang Yan's face fell: "Look at the state you've become! You didn't even wash your face before coming out!"

"Father, please stop talking. I was just worried about your injury and I was anxious. You even fell down just now!" Zhang Shuniang blushed with embarrassment and quickly stepped forward to help Zhang Yan up, but she didn't dare to look at Chen Li. "Father, Uncle Chen, please come in."

(End of this chapter)