The Daily Life of Cowardly Cultivation

By the time Wang Chen returned home, only a scant few Spirit Stones remained in his Storage Bag.

But he had gained One Thousand Jin White Corn, eight bottles of Vajra Butter, two hundred jin of Demonic Beast Meat...

As well as a copy of the Illustrated Guide to Basic Talismans and a set of talisman-making tools!

Although he had spent every last Spirit Stone he received from selling the Magic Sword, these cultivation supplies undoubtedly bolstered Wang Chen's confidence and eased the unease buried deep in his heart.

As for the talisman guide and talisman-making tools, they were a path to wealth Wang Chen had chosen after careful consideration.

Among the hundred arts of cultivation, the most profitable were alchemy, artifact refinement, formations, and talismans.

Wang Chen had not even considered alchemy or artifact refinement.

As the saying went, alchemy could ruin a life, while artifact refinement could impoverish three generations. Without ample wealth and resources, one should not even touch them.

Pill furnaces, earthfire, spiritual materials, rare ores...

In truth, most alchemists and Artifact Refiners only achieved success through the support of sects and great clans.

Correspondingly, they also became mere tools of those sects and clans.

Formation crafting was much the same. Though it consumed less than alchemy and artifact refinement, the barrier to entry was exceedingly high.

In comparison, talisman-making was far more accessible.

A Demonic Wolf Hair Talisman Brush, a stack of one hundred sheets of Yellow Talisman Paper, and a bottle of Refined Talisman Ink.

They had cost Wang Chen only twenty Spirit Stones in total.

The woodblock-printed Illustrated Guide to Basic Talismans had even been thrown in for free by the talisman shop owner.

Yet precisely because the threshold was so low, among Yunyang Sect's hundred thousand cultivators, those capable of making talismans were everywhere.

In other words, the competition was cutthroat.

So if he wanted to earn Spirit Stones through talisman-making, he had to possess a unique skill of his own.

Otherwise, he would struggle even to earn back his capital.

And truly skilled Talisman Masters were not much worse at making money than alchemists and Artifact Refiners.

They also held high status within the sect.

Wang Chen was not thinking that far ahead.

The first thing he considered in learning the art of talismans was that, once he mastered the craft, he would save a great deal of Spirit Stones otherwise spent buying magical talismans.

Protection Talismans, Evil-Dispelling Talismans, Explosion Talismans, Jia Ma Talismans, Invisibility Talismans, Wind Blade Talismans, Binding Talismans...

The many varieties of talismans could play an enormous role in battle. Whether used to defeat enemies, defend oneself, or flee, they all produced excellent results.

At critical moments, they could save one's life!

Wang Chen still did not know whether making talismans counted as a skill, or whether it could appear on the Cultivation Panel.

If he could use Heavenly Merit or Human Virtue to raise his talisman-making realm, then he would undoubtedly have found a shortcut to prosperity!

And if not, then losing a few dozen Lower Spirit was entirely bearable.

Aside from these things, Wang Chen had also brought back a brood of five chicks.

Over the past while, he had accumulated quite a bit of Rice Bran.

The chicken-raising plan he had long considered could finally be put into action.

He released the five chicks into the courtyard to roam freely, then set the Chicken Coop he had bought in a corner and arranged a feed trough and water trough beside it.

He scooped a large handful of Rice Bran into the feed trough, then filled the water trough with Mountain Spring Water.

At first, having arrived in an unfamiliar environment, the chicks were frightened and huddled together.

But they soon found their courage. When one chick cautiously approached the feed trough and pecked at the Rice Bran, the other chicks immediately swarmed over.

Their chirping shattered the courtyard's silence and brought a smile to Wang Chen's face.

He had bought four hens and one rooster in all.

The chicks would mature in roughly two months. By then, the eggs they laid would be enough to enrich Wang Chen's table.

They could also hatch new chicks, while the grown chickens could be slaughtered for meat.

As for the cost of feeding them, it could not have been lower.

Other than the Rice Bran he no longer wished to eat, Green Rice Worms, Leaf-eating Ants, Long-horned Snails, and other pests that inhabited the fields and ridges were all excellent chicken feed.

He could drive them into the fields and let them peck away—killing two birds with one stone!

Besides, with these chirping little fellows at home, Wang Chen would not feel quite so lonely.

He fetched a hoe and turned over the two fen of wasteland in the backyard.

Then he scattered the Vegetable Seeds he had bought in town.

Wang Chen felt that he was becoming more and more like a true spirit plant farmer.

Early in the morning, when he woke from sleep.

He got up, dressed, and washed up, first setting a pot of meat and rice to simmer before feeding the chirping chicks.

Then he practiced Vajra Fist in the courtyard.

Once he finished his punches, he was just ravenous enough for breakfast. After filling his stomach, he went to the quiet room to cultivate the Five Elements Technique.

He ground proficiency in skills such as Spirit Eye Technique, Object Manipulation Technique, Mighty Strength Art, and more.

The morning passed just like that.

At noon, he read through the "Illustrated Guide to Basic Talismans," studying and mastering the knowledge of talisman crafting.

Only when the sun began to slant westward and the temperature outside was no longer so scorching did he head to the Spirit Field to do farmwork.

He returned at sunset, and Wang Chen went home to wash away the summer heat clinging to his body.

He steamed rice and cooked meat, then cultivated the Heavenly Dragon Vajra Righteous Dharma.

His evening lesson remained the cultivation of the Five Elements Technique.

He continued grinding skill proficiency.

He studied talismans.

Time flowed by like water, and Wang Chen, who had transmigrated here, had grown increasingly accustomed to this world.

And to his present life.

He did not visit neighbors, nor did he enter the city in search of pleasure. He silently cultivated and studied, accumulating his strength bit by bit.

Sometimes, Wang Chen thought that such days were quite nice too.

Plain and unremarkable, he could lie low until the seas ran dry and the rocks crumbled.

Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.

"Grain! Grain!"

One afternoon, while Wang Chen was busy in the Spirit Field, several birds suddenly swooped down from the sky.

They vanished amid the dense rice stalks.

Damn it!

Wang Chen immediately threw down the iron hoe in his hand.

Killing intent flared in his eyes!

There were only a little over half a month left until the Summer Harvest. The rice in the Spirit Field was about to ripen, its heavy ears bending the stalks low—the coming harvest was already plain to see.

Wang Chen had spared no effort or care for his ten mu of Spirit Fields.

This was the foundation upon which he stood in the Yunyang Sect outer sect!

And those uninvited guests that had just appeared were Grain-Eating Birds, creatures that loved stealing Spirit Grain.

They were among the people spirit plant farmers hated most.

Grain-Eating Birds normally lived in the mountains and forests, surviving on insects. But once the seasons of Summer Harvest and winter harvest arrived, they would flock over in groups to steal rice.

Truly hateful!

Watching the rice sway in the distance, Wang Chen truly felt fury rise in his heart and malice spring from his courage.

He rolled up his sleeves and, relying on the experience he had gained from slaughtering Earth Rhinoceroses, swiftly locked onto one Grain-Eating Bird.

The creature was clutching a rice stalk in its claws, happily pecking at the yellowing ear of rice.

But the next instant, a fierce stream of qi tore through the air and instantly pierced its head.

The other Grain-Eating Birds nearby were startled into flight.

A second and third burst of force followed close behind, blasting two more Grain-Eating Birds apart in midair!

In the end, only one Grain-Eating Bird narrowly escaped with its life.

Eat shit, Liang Feifan!

Wang Chen bitterly withdrew his thrusting Sword Finger.

His Gengjin Finger had already reached the Great Accomplishment stage. Dealing with a mere few birds was naturally no challenge.

The problem was that Wang Chen could not guard the Spirit Field all day and night.

He needed a helper.