Eternal Life from the Golden Needle Technique

Chapter 142: Chapter 139: Meager Gains

The bearded man lunged, only to find he’d caught nothing but air.

Never mind how he roared and vented his frustration right where he stood.

As for Shen Changchuan, he was already standing on Xiaofeng’s back, soaring high in the heavens,

far away from Qing City,

and heading in the direction of Dawan Village.

Shen Changchuan was in a rather good mood.

He gazed at the Blood-colored Gourd in his hand,

a flicker of triumph in his eyes.

This gourd was, of course, the very same Blood Evil Gourd that had once belonged to the Blood Slaughter Three Demons.

After Shen Changchuan killed the three of them, the Blood Evil Gourd fell into his hands.

At the time, Shen Changchuan had considered selling it, given the Blood Evil Gourd’s significant drawbacks.

But then he had a second thought.

A Magical Artifact with such unique mechanics could prove quite useful in certain special combat situations.

Besides, he hadn’t yet reached the Seventh Layer back then, so considering his limited strength, he decided to hold onto it for the time being.

Now, it seemed,

his initial decision couldn’t have been more correct!

Although the Blood Evil Gourd had the side effect of applying a form of ’Hard Control’ to its wielder,

if used properly,

its utility far surpassed that of an ordinary Magical Artifact!

Just like this time,

it was precisely because he had the Blood Evil Gourd

that Shen Changchuan dared to take a risk and turn the tables on his ambushers.

Shen Changchuan was no reckless fool.

He had, in fact, already prepared for the possibility of failure before taking action.

If his surprise attack failed, and he couldn’t kill his enemies instantly and instead got bogged down in a difficult, drawn-out battle,

he would immediately unleash the Blood Evil Gourd.

With the gourd’s bizarre ability to rapidly corrode Magical Power and suppress the Divine Soul,

he could hold the enemies off for a while.

And during that time,

it would be enough for Xiaofeng to swoop down from the sky and carry him away!

It was precisely because he had such a solid escape plan

that Shen Changchuan had dared to take the risk.

After all, if he couldn’t win, he could still run.

With an escape route as a safety net,

’what was the harm in trying?’

Pushing aside his many thoughts,

Shen Changchuan sat down cross-legged on Xiaofeng’s back.

The rushing winds whipped past him, a gale forceful enough to send an ordinary person tumbling.

But Shen Changchuan was clearly no ordinary person; he sat perfectly steady.

He took out two Storage Bags, both spoils from this recent encounter.

After wiping the original owners’ imprints from them,

he sent his Divine Sense inside to inspect his haul.

But after a thorough search,

Shen Changchuan couldn’t help but frown.

”This is... a rather meager haul...”

He couldn’t be blamed for reacting this way.

The loot in the Storage Bags was just too little!

In a single battle,

he had killed one Cultivator at the Qi Introduction Eighth Layer and two at the Qi Introduction Seventh Layer.

And he’d gotten a total of two Storage Bags.

Yet, between the two Storage Bags, there were only nine hundred Spirit Stones in total!

As for Elixirs, there were only two or three vials of pills for restoring Magical Power.

Only a couple of Talismans remained; the rest seemed to have been used up.

There were a few Magical Artifacts: a longsword that emanated a cold aura, a heavy, earth-yellow, ring-pommeled broadsword, and the long, telescope-like Magical Artifact they had used to spy on him earlier.

Besides these,

there were also some Spirit Medicines, Demon Beast Materials, Heavenly and Earthly Treasures, and the like.

But judging from the Spiritual Qi clinging to them, they were clearly not particularly High Level Heavenly and Earthly Treasures.

At most, they were worth three or four hundred Spirit Stones.

The total haul from both Storage Bags, even if he sold all the Magical Artifacts, materials, and other miscellaneous items, would probably only amount to about fifteen hundred Spirit Stones! Adding in the value of the three Magical Artifacts and the two Storage Bags themselves, the grand total would only be a little over two thousand Spirit Stones.

A haul of this size

would probably be considered excellent by others.

But it fell far short of what Shen Changchuan had been expecting.

’The Blood Slaughter Three Demons were just three Tribulation Cultivators at the Qi Introduction Seventh Layer, and they dropped over three thousand Spirit Stones in cash. If you included the Blood Evil Gourd, Cultivation Elixirs, and everything else, their total value was at least five thousand Spirit Stones!’

’You’re a dignified Qi Introduction Eighth Layer Cultivator, with a Ninth Layer expert in your crew, so how did you end up so pathetically poor?!’

In his heart,

Shen Changchuan couldn’t help but feel a trace of disdain.

Disappointing.

This paltry amount of Spirit Stones

was just too disappointing!

But soon enough,

he thought of something.

’No, wait. This is probably normal.’

’Tribulation Cultivators live for the moment. As soon as they get Spirit Stones or Elixirs, they convert them into personal strength. They don’t save.’

’Under normal circumstances, even a Qi Introduction Ninth Layer Cultivator could probably only manage to save up about ten thousand Spirit Stones over a lifetime of hard work. A Cultivator at the Qi Introduction Seventh Layer would naturally have even less.’

’Which is probably why they decided to ambush me in the first place.’

Shen Changchuan realized.

But then,

a peculiar expression appeared on his face.

’Speaking of which, the reason I got such a huge haul from killing the Blood Slaughter Three Demons... I bet it’s because they had just collected their payment to kill me and headed straight for Dawan Village. Then I killed them, and their payment fell right into my hands, didn’t it?’

They failed to kill their target and ended up funding the enemy with a large pile of Spirit Stones.

If the mastermind behind it all found out,

wouldn’t they be furious enough to die?

At this thought, Shen Changchuan’s mood improved considerably.

’Oh well. What I gain is my fortune, what I lose is my fate.’

’A windfall is a windfall because it’s occasional. You can’t expect one every day.’

Shen Changchuan comforted himself,

letting go of his disappointment.

’Then again,’ he thought, ’I was actually quite reckless this time.’

’In that fight, although I used the Transformation Technique to disguise my appearance, I also used the Blood Evil Gourd. That Magical Artifact is fairly well-known. When the other guy starts investigating, it’s possible he’ll be able to trace it back to me.’

’After all, the corpse of the Blood Evil Gourd’s original owner is hanging at the entrance to Dawan Village right now.’

’If that Qi Introduction Ninth Layer fellow follows the clues to Dawan Village, won’t that be a huge problem?’

As Shen Changchuan conducted his routine post-battle analysis,

he quickly realized the issue.

It made him want to slap himself on the forehead.

’Careless!’

’I can’t believe I left such a massive oversight!’

Shen Changchuan berated himself internally.

He tried to figure out why.

Soon,

he understood the reason for his careless mistake.

It was a consequence of his breakthrough to the Qi Introduction Seventh Layer.

Although Shen Changchuan had shown nothing on the surface after advancing to the Seventh Layer Realm,

deep down, a joy had been bubbling up from the bottom of his heart.

At the same time,

because he had to hide his Cultivation Realm, he didn’t dare show his true Cultivation, nor could he spar with anyone to test his new strength.

The lust for battle had been suppressed deep within him,

so deeply that he hadn’t even noticed it was there.