Chapter 229
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Chapter 229: The Journey Home
Pfft!
Wang Chen opened his mouth and spat out a mouthful of congealed blood.
The dark red droplets splattered onto the ground, a sight shocking beyond description.
But after expelling the blood, he took a deep breath, and his previously pale complexion returned to normal.
This indicated that Wang Chen had managed to control his internal injuries and could once again mobilize the magical energy in his dantian.
This battle had been won through sheer peril and a stroke of luck!
Wang Chen stood up once more, feeling a profound sense of having narrowly escaped death as he gazed at the lifeless Cao Chengping, whose eyes remained wide open.
Although he had previously slain an Evil Spirit comparable to a Purple Palace cultivator, that victory had largely depended on the special powers of the Heavenly Net for Exorcising Evil, making it entirely different from this hard-fought battle.
Despite being near the end of his life, Cao Chengping’s cultivation level and strength were still terrifyingly formidable.
If he hadn’t made the fatal mistake of underestimating Wang Chen and allowed him to close the distance for a melee, Wang Chen would never have been able to strike him down!
Otherwise, had Cao Chengping kept his distance, relying on his vastly superior cultivation level and extensive combat experience, he could have easily overwhelmed Wang Chen.
Wang Chen would have had no choice but to flee in defeat.
Additionally, the restrictions the Mortal Realm imposed on Purple Palace cultivators played a significant role in aiding him.
Of course, the most crucial factor was Wang Chen himself; his cultivation at the Qi Training ninth level, combined with his mastery of numerous skills, was the decisive element in his victory!
This battle held immense significance for Wang Chen.
Not only had he successfully navigated a life-threatening crisis, but he had also gained invaluable combat experience.
He earned five hundred Heavenly Merit points!
To be honest, Wang Chen had never anticipated such a substantial reward for defeating a Purple Palace cultivator.
He knew that the Heavenly Merit he received for killing Qi Training cultivators was usually in the single digits, so the sudden leap to three digits felt almost surreal.
Wang Chen speculated that the Heavenly Merit for Qi Training cultivators likely ranged from 1 to 10 points, corresponding to the levels from Qi Training first level to perfect mastery.
For Purple Palace cultivators, it would increase tenfold, ranging from 100 to 1000 points!
Cao Chengping, being at the fifth layer of the Purple Palace, had earned him five hundred points.
Whether this speculation was accurate remained to be seen in the future.
After all, he had only defeated this one Purple Palace cultivator.
The sample size was far too small.
And if this assumption held true, then the Heavenly Merit for Golden Core cultivators would undoubtedly range from 10,000 to 100,000 points.
As for Yuan Ying, it would start at a million!
Enough!
Wang Chen quickly shook off these wild thoughts.
He was still just a young Qi Training cultivator, far from breaking through to open a house. To even entertain thoughts of Golden Core and Yuan Ying was far too ambitious—such leaps of imagination could only lead to trouble!
Soul Egg.
Clearing away the clutter of thoughts from his mind, Wang Chen began to search the body.
Cao Chengping was a Purple Palace cultivator, and having been stationed in Da Qian for twenty years, he surely had some treasures on him.
However, the result surprised him!
Cao Chengping carried two storage bags, and in them, Wang Chen found only a few hundred spirit stones, some talismans and elixirs, along with a jumble of materials and supplies.
The spirit stones were of the spirit fragment grade, and the talismans and elixirs were all of the first level, which meant they were only suitable for the Qi Training stage!
Is this all?
Wang Chen was speechless at how poor a dignified Purple Palace cultivator turned out to be.
The Qi Training cultivator from the Guiyuan Sect he had killed earlier had given him much more than this!
In addition, Wang Chen found a small tower in Cao Chengping’s possession, along with a green jade hairpin in his hair, and the belt, robe, and boots he wore were all magical artifacts.
But even with these five magical artifacts, it seemed too shabby for a Purple Palace cultivator nearing two hundred years of age.
Unless Cao Chengping hadn’t brought all his wealth with him and had hidden away most of his good items!
Wang Chen’s speculation was only partially correct.
Cao Chengping had indeed hidden some items and didn’t carry everything with him, but most of the wealth he had accumulated over the years was spent on buying his life; otherwise, he wouldn’t have survived this long.
In fact, this Purple Palace cultivator had started preparing to flee when he sensed major problems were approaching the Yunyang Sect.
But his hesitation and indecision led him to regret it when the Guiyuan Sect’s cultivators arrived to attack.
To beg for his life, he had to submit to others, making it impossible for him to protect his wealth.
Now, forced to chase after Wang Chen, he ultimately lost his life.
A complete tragedy!
After thoroughly searching for valuable items, Wang Chen used the Fire Crow Technique to turn the body into ashes.
Then he performed a ritual to guide the spirit of this Purple Palace cultivator.
He conducted the ritual with exceptional diligence because if Cao Chengping’s residual spirit remained unprocessed, it would become an Evil Spirit and could harm countless innocent mortals.
He used a full ten Exorcism Talismans!
“Eeyore! Eeyore~”
Just as Wang Chen was about to leave, a large blue donkey rushed over, braying loudly at him.
This fellow had somehow emerged unscathed!
Earlier, when Wang Chen faced the Purple Palace master, he couldn’t even prioritize this mount.
Unexpectedly, it survived without a scratch.
It was as if it had become sentient!
Wang Chen patted the donkey’s head and pulled out a Spirit Peach to offer it.
“Giddy up~”
The large blue donkey chewed on the Spirit Peach, nodding its head as it carried Wang Chen onward to the north.
Sitting on the donkey’s back, Wang Chen focused on recovering from his injuries while counting his gains from this adventure.
Now he had over a dozen storage bags, twenty to thirty magical artifacts, and a countless number of various Qi Training stage elixirs and talismans.
As for spiritual rice and beast meat, that was even more plentiful.
Even with three heads and six arms, he couldn’t possibly use so many storage bags and magical artifacts.
Many elixirs and talismans remained unused, but he could save the spiritual rice and beast meat to digest slowly.
Currently, he couldn’t deal with these storage bags and magical artifacts or the elixirs and talismans, so he could only return to the world of cultivation to find a place to sell them.
Wang Chen was still unsure of how many resources he would need to reach perfect mastery and then break through to open a house.
But it was better to be prepared; having more cultivation resources would never hurt.
In the following days, Wang Chen passed through Guangan County.
His injuries had mostly healed.
Then Wang Chen spent three hundred Heavenly Merit points to raise his attributes by 1 point each for his physique, comprehension, and spirit.
His four main attributes became: 【Physique: 13】【Root Bone: 6】【Comprehension: 6】【Spirit: 16】
Increasing basic attributes was quite difficult; he had already increased each of the four three times, and to raise them further would require a thousand Heavenly Merit points.
But the benefits from leveling up were clear.
The effects of enhanced comprehension were not yet visible.
However, the increases in physique and spirit were very noticeable, providing overall enhancement to Wang Chen.
His body felt stronger, and his senses were sharper; while there wasn’t a fundamental evolution, the cumulative effects were still powerful.
This journey through the Mortal Realm was highly rewarding for Wang Chen.
However, without a sect, he would have to become a loose cultivator upon his return, which could be seen as both a gain and a loss.
He quickened his pace, veering around Qianjing, and successfully left Da Qian.
But the long journey back to the world of cultivation still had a long way to go.
Wang Chen had only covered half the distance thus far.
Ahead lay tens of thousands of miles waiting for him.
Unintentionally, Wang Chen stepped onto the path once traveled by his father, Wang Shaoyuan.
