Chapter 73
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Chapter 73: One Cannot Become Rich Without Windfall
It was the darkest hour before dawn, and large snowflakes drifted gracefully to the earth.
This was not the first snowfall of the winter, but it was by far the heaviest.
Soon, a thin layer of snow blanketed the courtyard.
Wang Chen carried the black-clad man’s body back into the house and began to search it under the dim light of the bedroom.
The black-clad man carried no magical tools, save for a storage bag hanging at his waist.
This storage bag, measuring five feet square, yielded fifteen spirit fragments, some additional spirit fragments, three bottles of elixirs, nine legal symbols, a dagger, and a crane-shaped pot.
Wang Chen was at a loss for words.
He already owned a similar crane-shaped pot, the Misty Immortal Pot, which he had obtained from killing a traveling merchant some time ago.
Such looted items were of no use to Wang Chen and couldn’t be sold, so he had relegated it to the bottom of his storage bag.
He never expected to acquire another one.
Moreover, one of the elixirs was a corpse-dissolving powder he recognized all too well!
Along with the Exorcism Talismans, Armor Horse Talismans, and Rebirth Talismans…
Wang Chen strongly suspected that this man was connected to the traveling merchant he had previously slain.
Both were wretched, impoverished thieves!
Yet, there was always someone poorer.
The muscular man he had killed at the door didn’t even possess a storage bag!
The weapon he wielded was nothing more than a common item.
Not only that, but Wang Chen also failed to extract any Heavenly Merit from him.
This was rather intriguing.
Killing was the only method Wang Chen knew to gain Heavenly Merit.
He had long been puzzled by the varying amounts of Heavenly Merit points he received.
Now, he understood.
Tonight, after killing three individuals, his vision displayed two messages.
7 points and 5 points of Heavenly Merit corresponded to the middle-aged cultivator and the black-clad man, respectively.
Before taking action, Wang Chen had used the Spirit Eye to assess them; one was at the Qi Training seventh level, and the other was a fifth-level Qi Trainer!
If he still didn’t grasp this now, he truly needed a boost in intelligence.
Killing cultivators granted Heavenly Merit, and the specific number of points depended on the level of the slain.
A Qi Training seventh level was worth 7 points, while a fifth level was worth 5 points!
As for the muscular man, he was not a cultivator at all.
Thus, killing him was futile; no Heavenly Merit points were to be gained.
Such rules filled Wang Chen with a chilling malice emanating from the Cultivation Panel.
It was malice directed at cultivators!
Do you desire Heavenly Merit?
Then go and kill cultivators; the more you kill, the more you gain!
It was practically an incitement to crime.
Yet, Wang Chen harbored no guilt.
To date, he had slain six individuals, five of whom were Qi Training cultivators.
All had been acts of self-defense.
Even after comprehending the rules governing Heavenly Merit,
Wang Chen vowed never to intentionally harm the innocent for its sake in the future!
A true man must adhere to principles and know what not to do.
If one lacks even the basic ethics of humanity, what kind of immortal could one hope to become?
Nothing but a demon!
Of course, when it came to enemies, one should be as ruthless as the autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves!
From the black-clad man and the muscular man, he had garnered nothing of value.
Thus, Wang Chen pinned his final hopes on the middle-aged cultivator.
And indeed, he struck a significant reward!
First, there was a long sword.
Since the middle-aged cultivator had been swiftly dispatched by Wang Chen’s powerful moves,
the sword he held had not even been unsheathed before his demise.
When Wang Chen took the sword and drew it, he was nearly dazzled by its radiant light!
The sword measured about three feet in length, boasting a simple yet ancient design.
Its blade gleamed with a cold, razor-sharp brilliance, and the straight sword body resembled a pool of clear water, subtly exuding an aura of magical fluctuations.
Engraved on the sword guard were the characters "Autumn Water" in seal script.
The Autumn Water Sword!
This was the most exquisite legal sword Wang Chen had ever laid eyes upon.
At least a high-grade first level!
Honestly, witnessing the true form of this long sword made Wang Chen break into a cold sweat.
A high-grade first level legal sword was worth at least several hundred, if not over a thousand, spirit stones.
Moreover, the middle-aged cultivator, wielding it with high-level Qi Training, must have possessed considerable prowess in swordsmanship,
for surely, he wouldn’t brandish such a fine sword merely for show, right?
He might even have been a sword cultivator!
Sword cultivators are formidable in combat, often overpowering cultivators of the same level.
Had Wang Chen not caught him off guard, leveraging the opportune moment and location to swiftly execute his killing move, the battle might not have concluded so promptly.
It’s truly uncertain who will emerge victorious!
Of course, such speculation holds little significance; victory is victory, and time cannot be reversed for a second attempt.
In the middle-aged cultivator’s storage bag, Wang Chen discovered over two hundred spirit fragments, five bottles of elixirs, dozens of talismans, hundreds of pounds of spiritual rice and magical beast meat,
and a palm-sized copper bell.
He had struck it rich!
Indeed, a horse won’t grow fat without night grass, and a person won’t prosper without unexpected wealth.
The contents of this bag were so abundant that Wang Chen nearly laughed himself silly like Doggie!
Not to mention, the storage bag itself had a volume of three meters on each side.
Storage bags are valued by their capacity; the first one he used was only three feet in size, and he later upgraded to one measuring one meter.
Now, this one measured an impressive three meters on each side—it was like upgrading from a slingshot to a cannon!
Wang Chen carefully inspected it and found no hidden marks or restrictions on the storage bag.
Its design was standard, and he could use it with complete confidence.
Previously, when Wang Chen excavated the underground fortress, the most troublesome issue was transporting the soil.
The capacity of the storage bag was too small, requiring frequent trips back and forth, or he would have finished the task much sooner.
This storage bag was one he definitely intended to keep for himself!
With a high-grade first-level legal sword, over two hundred spirit stones, elixirs, talismans, spiritual rice, magical beast meat, and a large storage bag,
plus a copper bell that appeared to be a magical tool but whose origin was unknown,
he had earned at least two thousand spirit stones!
Thinking back to when he had just crossed over, and his shabby storage bag contained only seven spirit fragments and thirty-nine spirit fragments as his entire savings,
Wang Chen felt as though he were dreaming.
Though he was overjoyed, he didn’t neglect the important task at hand.
He laid the three bodies together and poured the corpse-dissolving powder over them, dissolving them completely.
He then tossed the clothes and other miscellaneous items found in the two storage bags on top and used the Fire Crow Technique to burn them all to ashes.
“Dust to dust, earth to earth, souls return to Thick Earth…”
Flecks of spiritual light fluttered like fireflies as a Rebirth Talisman silently vanished, guiding the departed souls to rest.
Next, Wang Chen slapped down two Exorcism Talismans, cleansing the room of any lingering residual spirits.
When a sentient being dies with great resentment and doesn’t receive timely guidance,
its soul or residual spirit may linger in the mortal realm.
Over time, it is likely to transform into Evil Spirits!
Thus, these procedures were absolutely necessary.
After everything was cleaned up, Wang Chen immediately returned underground through the tunnel in the spirit fields.
Seeing him return safely, Wei Lian let out a huge sigh of relief.
Wang Chen smiled and said, “It’s all fine now.”
“Mm.”
Wei Lian nodded obediently.
She was wise; seeing that Wang Chen wasn’t inclined to explain, she didn’t ask any further questions,
saving Wang Chen some trouble.
Back in his room, Wang Chen took out the copper bell.
