The charcoal fire crackled, warming the room.
Chen Ye leaned against the headboard, letting Zhiwei, with her small, tense face, clean his wounds.
In half a month, both Zhiwei and Qing Jun visibly recovered.
This greatly comforted Chen Ye — after all, he nurtured them himself!
In front of him, his eldest apprentice,
had her black, smooth hair covering her slender waist, her dark eyes peeking through her scattered bangs, focused and calm.
Her pale cheeks had gained some color, appearing slightly healthier.
Yet she still carried a sense of frailty, like a delicate flower bud in the wind.
Nevertheless, one could faintly glimpse her future elegance.
Suddenly, the young girl’s long eyelashes trembled.
Her calm dark eyes tinted with a trace of fear and timidity.
Even her fingertips grasped the towel without daring to move.
Chen Ye closed his eyes, a complex emotion surging in his heart after hearing his apprentice’s faint sigh of relief.
How could he not know his eldest apprentice feared him?
Rather than saying she cared for him emotionally,
it’s better to say it was out of reverence for his predecessor...
For instance, Qing Jun once served his predecessor tirelessly despite her heavy injuries.
Chen Ye suddenly felt a sense of defeat.
He began to doubt his earlier thoughts.
Was the apprentice taking care of him because of his efforts, or because of the shadows left by his predecessor?
"Master, does it hurt?" Zhiwei asked softly.
Chen Ye was speechless, as most of the wound had already healed with the Rejuvenation Pill, now merely feeling like being scratched by a kitten.
But seeing his apprentice so anxious, he deliberately inhaled sharply with exaggeration: "Hiss—"
Zhiwei’s hand trembled, almost overturning the water basin.
Upon glimpsing Chen Ye’s mischievous smile, her earlobes instantly turned red.
She gloomily buried her head and continued wiping.
The big girl looked a bit unhappy,
but fortunately, she was no longer as tense and afraid as before.
Chen Ye smiled with relief,
Understanding that healing the timid ones requires patience; it cannot be rushed.
...
In the storeroom.
Chen Ye slumped in a chair, breaking out in a cold sweat from the lingering fear.
It was only alone at this moment that he released his suppressed negative emotions.
"Damn!" Chen Ye squeezed the word through his teeth.
Just one step away! Just one step!
He was almost ruined in Taoist Zhang’s hands!
Chen Ye reached for his abdomen, feeling the itchy new flesh growing through the gauze.
When facing Kong Hongxuan clad in Frost Scale Armor, the feeling of powerlessness was still fresh in his mind.
The Geng Metal Qi couldn’t even break through the opponent’s defense!
Being ignored and harmed was indeed unpleasant.
But what bothered Chen Ye most was his weakness.
"If Perfection level Geng Metal Qi doesn’t work, then it’s Limit Break level!"
"If Limit Break level doesn’t work, then keep cultivating!"
Chen Ye gazed at the thin thread of golden qi at his fingertips.
Actually, achieving Perfection level Geng Metal Qi was already beyond his expectations.
Relying solely on Geng Metal Qi, he could handle someone like Gao Ming, who battled all year round.
But to deal with late-stage Qi Cultivation Kong Hongxuan, it was far from enough.
"A unique skill can lead everywhere! As long as I continue to accumulate proficiency in Geng Metal Qi, sooner or later, even if Kong Hongxuan wears Treasure Armor, he won’t withstand this Low Tier Magic!"
Chen Ye steadied himself, encouraging himself.
He eagerly took out a bag.
Inside the bag was all that remained of Taoist Zhang’s heritage.
At that time, Chen Ye had no mood to sort through Taoist Zhang’s belongings.
But he remembered there were quite a few Spirit Stones.
Thus, at this moment, Chen Ye felt a kind of tension, like opening a blind box.
"That old man, at his age, certainly can’t be poorer than my predecessor, can he? A while ago, he even joined the Jade Lizard Association..."
"But Taoist Zhang squandered lavishly, with expenses greater than my predecessor..."
He rubbed his hands and opened the bag.
Inside, the most prominent thing was a pile of Spirit Stones.
Chen Ye counted them; there were twelve Spirit Stones!
Taoist Zhang, a lone soul, carried all his valuables, and this was likely all his Spirit Stone savings.
Besides the Spirit Stones, there were various small items.
Chen Ye had searched through Taoist Zhang’s body, missing nothing usable.
It was only short of stripping off his clothes.
"A woman’s undergarment, tobacco, dried cake..."
Among them, only Taoist Zhang’s smoking pipe seemed of interest.
Chen Ye disdainfully picked up the greasy black copper pipe.
The pipe was heavy in hand, with faint Spiritual Patterns hidden beneath the soot, making them hard to discern.
He gathered a wisp of Geng Metal Qi at his fingertip to scrape the soot, revealing dense lines underneath.
Chen Ye examined it closely, roughly identifying it as a Talisman Array.
He tried to infuse spiritual power, but the pipe showed no reaction.
"Strange... Surely it’s not powered by blowing into it."
Feeling nauseous at the greasy pipe, he examined further and found the barrel hollow.
Inside wobbled a piece of Spiritual Sand.
Chen Ye’s heart stirred, and he filled it with twenty pieces of Spiritual Sand.
Once more, he tried infusing spiritual power.
"Buzz!"
The pipe trembled, and a beam of Spiritual Light shot out.
With a "swish," it pierced the wall, revealing a needle-sized pinhole of light.
Chen Ye clicked his tongue; it was only slightly weaker than Perfection level Geng Metal Qi.
But the shot was faster and quieter.
However, its execution was cumbersome, requiring Spiritual Sand with each use.
He poured out the remaining eleven pieces of Spiritual Sand from the barrel.
Each use needed ten pieces of Spiritual Sand.
"Good for sneaking but not as good as Geng Metal Qi... No wonder the old man had no Spiritual Sand left, having used it all on the pipe."
Chen Ye contentedly put away the pipe.
At worst, it was a Tier One Lower Grade Magical Artifact, worth over ten Spirit Stones.
"A horse without night grass is not fat, a man without unexpected fortune is not rich."
Chen Ye sighed; with this, his assets directly doubled!
No wonder, however peaceful a place in the Cultivation Realm, there is no shortage of Tribulation Cultivators.
He clutched the bag, breathing heavily.
Hardly earning a single Spirit Stone diagnosing Spiritual Medicine, while killing a Taoist Zhang, he easily gained twelve Spirit Stones and a Magical Artifact...
After a while, Chen Ye shook his head.
Tribulation Cultivation indeed brought wealth,
but it also came with great risks.
He had a proficiency panel, and with steady efforts, he could infinitely improve.
No need to risk the pangs of conscience or life to become a Tribulation Cultivator.
...
All day, Chen Ye stayed home to heal and recover his spiritual power.
During this time, Hee Qi returned, reeking of alcohol and bringing him two pounds of Demon Beast meat.
Chen Ye understood this as Hee Qi’s apology — watching coldly as Chen Ye was hurt and only helping in the final moment.
To earn Kong Hongxuan’s courteous treatment, Hee Qi was likely a late-stage Qi Cultivator too.
Yet faced with Hee Qi’s friendliness, Chen Ye found no joy as he did a few days ago.
"In everything, one must rely on oneself."
Chen Ye held the Demon Beast meat, watching Hee Qi’s swaying figure blend into the snowy curtain.
Yesterday, Hee Qi coldly watched him offend the Jade Lizard Association and then pushed him into conflict at the last moment, further offending Kong Hongxuan.
It was enough to show...
Hee Qi didn’t care about Chen Ye’s life.
His actions were more to satisfy his own emotional needs.
Chen Ye held no resentment, still feeling grateful.
Without Hee Qi’s help, his body would have been long cold!
"But in everything, still, one must rely on oneself..."