When they appeared again, they had returned to the rather familiar wasteland, only through another rift. The depths of the canyon were likewise packed with Human-Faced Spiders.
"Get to work."
Deep within the canyon.
Chen Qiu took a deep breath and summoned all the Human-Faced Spider Wraiths he had accumulated, repeating his previous work without pause. With this group of Human-Faced Spider Wraiths fighting for him, even though there were far more Human-Faced Spiders here than at the previous location—
He did not feel much pressure.
Of course, before that, he had used two Heavenly Dao Retrospection Talismans to reselect the two traits he had discarded at the Eighth Level of the Qi Refining Realm: one was "Start Over," and the other was "Never Lose Heart."
Fat Dragon sighed softly. After moving his slightly sore body and muttering under his breath, he too swung his long blade and joined the battlefield. He was responsible for luring the monsters, while Chen Qiu was responsible for killing them.
He clearly understood one thing: Chen Qiu possessed an opportunity to choose one out of three at every stage of the Qi Refining Realm. He did not know exactly what kind of opportunity it was, but he could be certain that not a single person with such an opportunity was a nobody.
Traveling with Chen Qiu was far safer than wandering alone. At the very least, they could look after one another.
At the edge of the cliff above the canyon.
The bearded burly man spoke in a hoarse voice. "Brother, do you believe Young Master Chen is the young master of some great lineage beyond the Great Xia Kingdom?"
"Of course not."
The Scholar, seated cross-legged on the ground, could not help laughing. "Even you have become suspicious—how could I believe it? Young Master Chen never expected us to believe those words. He merely made up an excuse on the spot."
"If I am not mistaken, he must have encountered some opportunity that is inconvenient to show others."
"But what does that have to do with us?"
"As long as he is willing to pay and can afford the price, we will work for him. Even if we really get deceived, then so be it. In this world, no choice comes entirely without a price."
This world was too vast, far too vast.
So vast that countless people obtained opportunities every moment. Obtaining an opportunity was simply too normal. Or rather, among those who could cultivate to the Golden Core Realm or beyond, who had not encountered an opportunity before?
Opportunities were nothing unusual. Living long enough—that was what was unusual.
Human-Faced Spiders died in dense swaths. Countless infant cries drifted through the depths of the canyon, piercing to the ear. The number of Human-Faced Spiders here vastly exceeded those they had encountered in the previous canyon.
And Chen Qiu's cultivation continued to rise.
"Your cultivation has soared. You have officially entered the Ninth Level of the Qi Refining Realm." "Please choose from the three random traits below within ten breaths."
There were no particularly good traits this time.
He merely swept his gaze over them before quickly choosing a White Trait.
"Trait Name": Woodcutter's Sacred Physique. "Trait Level": White Trait. "Trait Effect": When you chop firewood, you will exert less effort and never grow tired.
All three randomly generated traits from this breakthrough were useless White Traits, but he did not care. He casually chose one, and it could just be used for trait self-destruction as a trump card.
The effect of trait self-destruction was that by detonating a trait, he could unleash a full-power strike with cultivation spanning an entire major realm.
If he detonated a trait at the First Level of the Foundation Establishment Realm, the power unleashed would be a full-force strike from the First Level of the Golden Core Realm.
Simple, crude, and useful.
The only drawback was that it wasted traits, and he happened to be in no shortage of them.
Before long, the sky gradually darkened. As stars shifted and the Moon slowly emerged above the black clouds, night winds continuously swept through the canyon.
"This weather doesn't seem right."
Fat Dragon panted heavily, his face full of exhaustion. With one hand on his waist, he raised his head and looked above. At some point, dark clouds had filled the sky, creating an oppressively heavy atmosphere. "Looks like it's about to pour."
He was already at the Seventh Level of the Qi Refining Realm. Though he spent most of his time luring monsters for Chen Qiu to handle, the scattered monsters he had killed over such a long period had still allowed him to break through to the Seventh Level of the Qi Refining Realm.
Damn it.
Killing monsters really did raise cultivation quickly.
And Chen Qiu's cultivation had once again reached a breakthrough.
"Your cultivation has soared. You have officially entered the Tenth Level of the Qi Refining Realm." "Please choose from the three random traits below within ten breaths."
Once again, there were three useless traits.
After hurriedly glancing over them, he chose another White Trait.
"Trait Name": Alchemy Aptitude. "Trait Level": White Trait. "Trait Effect": Your success rate when refining pills will increase slightly.
Had this White Trait appeared before? Was the chance of randomly getting this White Trait really so high? He wondered how many types of White Traits there were in total.
Later, when he went to the market district, he would see whether anyone sold intelligence such as a trait compendium.
As Chen Qiu thought about these trivial matters, he sat on the ground somewhat wearily, panting heavily. He pulled out a leather water pouch from his storage pouch, brought it to his mouth, and gulped down the water.
At his side.
A full fifty or sixty Human-Faced Spider Wraiths were fighting for him.
If Wraiths could last longer than one hour, there would have been even more Human-Faced Spider Wraiths fighting for him.
"Keep going!"
After resting and catching his breath for a moment, Chen Qiu rose from the ground again. His body was somewhat sore as he gripped the blade hilt, his gaze resolute as he charged once more toward the countless Human-Faced Spiders surging at him.
This work was far more tiring than chopping firewood.
But the positive feedback it brought was far stronger than chopping firewood as well.
Ordinary mortals could earn over a hundred copper coins a day from chopping firewood. But he had crossed over as an unregistered outsider, so he could only sell the firewood he chopped to others at a low price, earning a meager profit that was not even enough to feed himself.
Finally—
After who knew how long he had been slashing, Chen Qiu felt every muscle in his body aching. The sky above was blanketed in dark clouds, as if a torrential downpour accompanied by violent winds could descend at any moment.
And he had finally broken through to the Eleventh Level of the Qi Refining Realm!
"Your cultivation has soared. You have officially entered the Eleventh Level of the Qi Refining Realm." "Please choose from the three random traits below within ten breaths."
1:
"Trait Name": Flawless Body. "Trait Level": White Trait. "Trait Effect": After reaching the age of 18, for every additional ten years you maintain a Flawless Body, you will gain one random trait.
2:
"Trait Name": Jade-Stealing, Flower-Plucking. "Trait Level": White Trait. "Trait Effect": After reaching the age of 18, for every person with the 'Flawless Body' trait that you defile, you will gain one random trait.
3:
"Trait Name": All-In. "Trait Level": White Trait. "Trait Effect": All traits you possess will be forcibly removed. From then on, you will be unable to obtain or possess any permanent traits, but you may randomly obtain ten temporary traits each day.
"..."
Chen Qiu looked at the panel before him and sighed softly. This was already the third breakthrough in which he had failed to roll a trait suitable for himself. None of these three traits was of much use to him.
Especially the third trait. Not only was it useless, its side effects were enormous.
He made his living off traits. Forcing all his traits to be removed—wasn't that complete nonsense?
Without thinking further, he casually chose the "Flawless Body" trait.
Including this one, he now had three traits that were completely useless and could be detonated at will. That counted as quite a substantial trump card. If the situation became urgent, the "Man with a Missing Heaven" trait that enhanced his five senses could likewise be detonated.
Having lots of traits was good. Even if they were useless, it did not matter. He could just blow them up like fireworks for fun.
Chen Qiu stood in the canyon and looked up at the black clouds overhead. The fierce wind gradually swept through the canyon, constantly whipping his hemp clothing. The chill grew stronger. After a night of struggle, Human-Faced Spider corpses lay scattered all around him.
And his cultivation had reached the Eleventh Level of the Qi Refining Realm.
He only needed to fill the cultivation progress of the Eleventh Level of the Qi Refining Realm and reach Qi Refining Great Perfection before he could begin Foundation Establishment.
The progress was much faster than he had imagined.
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