Taking Stock

"Come to think of it, perhaps this calamity didn't entirely come out of nowhere?"

As he sorted through everything that had led to this,

Shen Changchuan suddenly thought of the token engraved with the character "Elephant" that he had found alongside the Green Origin Water Grass in the hidden cave beneath Dawan River.

That token

was probably the keepsake once held by that Shen Clan branch member, wasn't it?

Although there was no direct evidence,

Shen Changchuan guessed that was almost certainly the case.

Zhao Hangao was in the back courtyard.

He could simply ask him about it later.

But the moment Zhao Hangao came to mind,

Shen Changchuan also remembered something else.

"No wonder Zhao Hangao knew who I was from the start. He must have been keeping an eye on me from the very beginning, hadn't he?"

Shen Changchuan remembered that when he first went to pay his respects, Zhao Hangao had been extremely deferential.

When Shen Changchuan had asked him about it, Zhao Hangao had replied that it was because he knew Shen Changchuan's true identity.

That was why he had been so respectful.

By contrast, the cultivators from the other six villages whom he met later had known nothing about his identity.

At the time, Shen Changchuan had found it a little strange.

Now that he thought about it,

Zhao Hangao had probably set his sights on Dawan Village long ago.

That was why, right from the start,

he had learned Shen Changchuan's identity.

At the same time, though,

he had known who Shen Changchuan was,

but hadn't known the details about him.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have worried that Shen Changchuan might have a Dao Protector or some other bodyguard behind him, and laid a trap to ambush him.

"I was lucky, too. Those people didn't strike right away, giving me two or three months to catch my breath."

At the thought of it,

Shen Changchuan couldn't help feeling a trace of relief.

If Zhao Hangao and the Four Evils of He Mountain had known about his standing and treatment in the Shen Clan, and understood that there was no way he could have a bodyguard or Dao Protector behind him,

they probably would have come straight to his door!

And with the strength he had back then,

he would have been utterly helpless against such opponents!

It was no exaggeration to say

that Shen Changchuan had narrowly escaped a brush with death!

"The Cultivation World is far too dangerous! This time I was lucky and narrowly avoided death, giving me enough time to grow."

"After that, I was lucky again. I came across one opportunity after another, and my strength rose rapidly in a short time, giving me the ability to protect myself."

"Otherwise, I'd be the one lying on the ground right now!"

"Strength! I need even greater strength!"

A determined light gleamed in Shen Changchuan's eyes.

His desire to grow stronger

had grown all the more urgent.

Back at the Shen Family Estate, he had lived on tenterhooks.

But even after leaving the estate and coming to Dawan Village, thousands of miles away, he had nearly met with disaster without even realizing it.

The root of all this

was his lack of strength!

If he had possessed the strength of the Out-of-Body Realm,

who in the Shen Family Estate would have dared to target him?

And how could a mere Four Evils of He Mountain have dared plot against him?!

Strength—

he needed even greater strength

before he could freely command his own life!

Shen Changchuan's resolve

grew firmer still.

"Grandfather, leave everything concerning Zhao Hangao from here on to me."

"But make sure the secrets involved don't get out."

"The ruins of an Out-of-Body Realm expert's residence—if that news gets out, who knows how many people will come swarming."

"If I'm not mistaken, the Out-of-Body Realm expert from the clan that personally wiped out the Hu Clan of Dawan Village twenty years ago was most likely drawn out by those ruins, too."

"If the news gets out, we'll be in for a world of trouble!"

Shen Changchuan held the thick stack of documents in his hand and spoke in a low voice.

At the same time,

with a thought, he cast his perfected Fireball Technique in an instant. The scorching heat swallowed the documents in his hands in the blink of an eye, burning them to nothing.

Shen Changchuan gave a light wave of his hand,

and the ashes in his palm crumbled into fine dust and vanished into the air.

That thoroughly erased every trace.

"Don't worry, Changchuan. I was alone when I questioned him."

"I understand how serious this is. I won't tell anyone this secret—not even Dayong!"

Han Qinhu nodded gravely.

The fate of Zhao Jingming, Zhao Hangao's son, was a warning right before his eyes.

Han Qinhu naturally wouldn't make such a serious mistake.

He had already decided

to lock every secret concerning this matter deep in his heart and not breathe a word of it to anyone.

"Then I'll leave it to you, Grandfather."

After briefly discussing the future management of Zhao Family Village,

Han Qinhu took his leave.

Shen Changchuan, meanwhile, went into the back room.

Only half an hour later

did he emerge, his expression calm.

He had asked Zhao Hangao for some more detailed information,

and had also confirmed

that the token he had found at the bottom of Dawan River

was indeed the keepsake that the Shen Clan branch member had used to enter the ruins all those years ago.

From Zhao Hangao,

Shen Changchuan had also obtained a map showing how to reach the cliff where the ruins were located.

But Shen Changchuan hadn't let the discovery of an Out-of-Body Realm expert's residence cloud his judgment and rushed off to take a risk.

He had looked at the map.

The place was deep in the Monster Beast Forest.

He was only at the mid-stage of the fourth level of the Qi Induction Realm.

Although he had some means of making up for his lack of combat strength, he was still too weak.

Shen Changchuan had no intention of exploring it now.

He felt that even if he went to investigate,

he should wait until he had reached at least the fifth or sixth level of the Qi Induction Realm.

Better safe than sorry.

For the time being, everything had finally settled down.

Shen Changchuan finally had time to take stock of what he had gained.

The battle in which he had turned the tables on the Four Evils of He Mountain

was the most dangerous fight he had faced since transmigrating.

It was also the battle that had brought him the greatest spoils.

After sorting through all the various supplies in his Storage Bag,

Shen Changchuan's gains came to the following:

He had two hundred and twenty-three Spirit Stones.

His magical artifacts included one Soul-Absorbing Bell, one poisoned dagger that had belonged to Second Brother of He Mountain, one shattered leather armor that had served as a defensive magical artifact and belonged to Fourth Brother, and one quasi-low-tier magical weapon in Third Brother's possession, containing a considerable amount of Gold Essence.

His spirit medicines included one stalk of Green Spirit Grass, three Green Heart Leaves, two Jade Dew Flowers, and so on. They were all low-tier spirit medicines, about the same as the Spirit Ginseng Shen Changchuan had used when he first began cultivating, with nothing particularly noteworthy among them.

He had thirteen Qi-Nurturing Pills and two Essence Pills.

The remaining materials and odds and ends consisted of ninety catties of Spirit Grain, twenty catties of Iron Essence, one piece of Red Origin Iron Ore, several lumps of black, dull-looking ore he couldn't identify, spirit wood, Demon Beast materials, and the like.

Shen Changchuan had also found a handwritten copy of True Explanation of Spells in the Storage Bag. It recorded basic spells such as the Breath-Concealing Technique, Water Blade Technique, Water Dragon Technique, Earth-Stone Collision, Earth-Shaking Technique, Golden Bell Technique, and more.

It seemed to be a collection of the various spells the Four Evils of He Mountain had gathered over the years.

It also contained the Basic Qi-Gathering Art, various cultivation experiences, and so on.

Besides all that,

there was also a formation called the Lost Two-Forms Formation, which Shen Changchuan had pulled out of the ground before leaving.

He hadn't realized just how much he had gained until he took stock of it.

The tally nearly made Shen Changchuan jump.

As things stood,

he could practically be called rich overnight!