Chapter 229: Chapter 229: The Way Home
 

“`

Phew!

Wang Chen spat out a mouthful of clotted blood.

The black and red droplets splattered on the ground, presenting a shocking sight.

But after coughing up the blood, he took a long breath, and his originally pale face completely returned to normal.

This indicated that Wang Chen’s internal injuries had been brought under control, and he could once again mobilize the mana within his dantian.

The battle was won perilously and by a stroke of luck!

Wang Chen stood up once more, looking at Cao Chengping with his eyes that refused to close even in death, and felt a sense of survival after a calamity.

Although he had previously slain an Evil Wraith equivalent to a Purple Mansion Superior, he had mainly relied on the special power of the Heaven-Ensnaring Punisher Net, a situation completely different from this adversity-stricken battle.

Cao Chengping, despite nearing his end, was still terrifying and formidable in terms of cultivation strength.

If he had not made the mistake of underestimating his enemy, giving Wang Chen the opportunity to engage in close combat,

then Wang Chen would not have been able to decapitate him with his sword!

Otherwise, Cao Chengping could have easily trounced Wang Chen by maintaining distance, relying on his cultivation realm far superior to Wang Chen’s, and his wealth of battle experience.

Aside from fleeing in disarray, Wang Chen had no better options.

Additionally, the restrictions placed upon Purple Mansion cultivators in the mortal realm also greatly helped him.

Of course, the most crucial was Wang Chen himself: his ninth tier of Qi Cultivation, along with fully-mastered skills, were the decisive factors in securing victory!

This battle bore extreme significance for Wang Chen.

Not only did he successfully navigate through a massive crisis, but he also gained precious battle experience.

His Heavenly Merit points reached five hundred!

Honestly, Wang Chen had never expected that the reward for taking down a Purple Mansion would be so high.

One must know that the Heavenly Merit he gained from slaying Qi Cultivators was basically in the single digits. Now, to suddenly jump to three digits was somewhat unfamiliar to him.

Wang Chen speculated that the Heavenly Merit for Qi Cultivators should be 1-10 points, corresponding to the Qi Cultivation Stage through Great Perfection.

For the Purple Mansion, it increased tenfold, 100-1000 points!

Cao Chengping, with a fifth-tier Purple Mansion cultivation, earned five hundred Heavenly Merit points.

Whether this inference is correct remains to be verified in the future.

After all, he had only slain one Purple Mansion cultivator.

The sample size is too small.

If such an inference is correct, then the Heavenly Merit corresponding to Golden Core cultivators must be 10,000-100,000.

And starting from a million for Nascent Soul!

Stop!

Wang Chen quickly dispelled such wild thoughts from his mind.

He was still just a minor Qi Cultivation practitioner, far from the breakthrough to establish a mansion, and yet he dared to think of matters concerning Golden Core and Nascent Soul; taking such a huge step in thought could lead to some serious setbacks!

F*ck.

Clearing his mind of distracting thoughts, Wang Chen began to loot the corpse.

Cao Chengping was a Purple Mansion cultivator and had been in power in Great Qian for twenty years; it was impossible for him not to have valuable possessions.

The result came as a great surprise!

Cao Chengping carried two Storage Bags, inside which Wang Chen found merely a few hundred Spirit Stones, some Talismans and Pills, and a variety of materials and supplies.

The Spirit Stones were of Low Spirit grade, and both the Talismans and Pills were first-tier, suitable for those in Qi Cultivation tier!

That’s it?

The poverty of the noble Purple Mansion left Wang Chen speechless.

Previously, the loot Wang Chen acquired from killing a Qi Cultivator of Guiyuan Gate was more substantial than this!

Besides these, Wang Chen found a small tower in Cao Chengping’s hand, as well as a jade hairpin placed in his hair bun, and the belt, Taoist robe, and boots he wore which were all Magic Artifacts.

But even with these five Magic Artifacts, for a Purple Mansion cultivator who had lived nearly two centuries, it still seemed too destitute.

Unless Cao Chengping had not brought his entire fortune with him, hiding most of the valuable items elsewhere!

Wang Chen’s supposition was only partially correct.

“`

Cao Chengping indeed had hoarded some treasures that he did not carry with him, but he had spent most of his accumulated wealth over the years on buying his life, otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to live until now.

In fact, as soon as the Purple Mansion Superior sensed a major problem coming for the Cloud Sun sect, he had already started planning his escape.

However, due to indecisive actions, looking forward and backward hesitantly, he only regretted it when the cultivators from Guiyuan Gate came killing.

Having to beg for his life and bow down to others, how could he preserve his own fortune?

Now, forced to chase after Wang Chen, he had lost his life in the process.

Such a huge mess!

After scavenging through the valuable items, Wang Chen used the Fire Crow Technique to cremate the corpse to ashes.

Then he performed a ritual for the departed soul of this Purple Mansion cultivator.

He carried out the ritual extremely meticulously and carefully, otherwise, Cao Chengping’s unreconciled soul might turn into an evil wraith and harm countless innocent mortals.

He used a total of ten Evil-Repelling Talismans!

“Hee-haw! Hee-haw!”

Just as Wang Chen was preparing to leave, a large blue donkey came galloping over, calling out loudly to him.

This fellow actually got out unscathed!

Previously, facing a Purple Mansion Superior, Wang Chen, unable to ensure his own safety, had no time to care for this mount.

Unexpectedly, it had survived, not a hair harmed.

It was practically a wonder!

Wang Chen patted the donkey’s head and took out a Spirit Peach to feed it.

“Git along, little donkey!”

While chewing on the Spirit Peach, the big blue donkey shook its head and trotted north carrying Wang Chen.

Sitting on the donkey’s back, Wang Chen meditated to recuperate from his injuries while tallying his gains from this excursion.

He now had more than a dozen Storage Bags, two or three dozen Magic Artifacts, and countless Qi Cultivation Stage Pills and Talismans, not to mention the Spirit Rice and Beast Meat.

Even if Wang Chen had three heads and six arms, he wouldn’t be able to use this many Storage Bags and Magic Artifacts.

Many of the Pills and Talismans were of no use to him, but the Spirit Rice and Beast Meat could be stored for his own gradual consumption.

For now, these Storage Bags, Magic Artifacts, and Pills and Talismans couldn’t be handled; he would have to return to the world of immortal cultivation to find a place to sell them.

Wang Chen was still unsure of how many resources he would need to consume to reach the Great Perfection and then breakthrough to the Mansion stage.

But it’s better to be safe than sorry, as one can never have too many resources for cultivation.

In the following days, Wang Chen traveled through Guang’an Prefecture.

His injuries had essentially healed.

Then Wang Chen used three hundred Heavenly Merit to add one point each to his three main attributes: Physique, Comprehension, and Divine Soul.

His four main attributes became: [Physique: 13][Root Bone: 6][Comprehension: 6][Divine Soul: 16]

Basic attributes are hard to increase, all four main attributes have been improved three times, and to add more would require a thousand Heavenly Merit.

But the benefit of attribute enhancement was obvious.

The effect on Comprehension is not yet apparent.

The enhancements to Physique and Divine Soul were very tangible, providing a comprehensive boost to Wang Chen.

His body had become even more robust, his perception even keener; although no fundamental evolution had occurred, the effects accumulated little by little were also significant.

This journey to the mortal world had proven to be a considerable gain for Wang Chen.

Only now, without his sect, he could only return as a Loose Cultivator, which seemed to be a mix of gains and losses.

He quickened his pace, bypassed Qian Capital by detour, and eventually left Great Qian smoothly.

But the long journey back to the world of immortal cultivation was merely a fraction completed by Wang Chen.

There were tens of thousands of miles still ahead, waiting for him.

Unknowingly, Wang Chen embarked on a path once traveled by his father, Wang Shaoyuan.

———

The second update is here.