"Living Long Is the Real Skill."

"Actually, it's pretty good."

Chen Qiu saw through Fat Dragon's thoughts. Looking down at Huang Shikai, whose entire body was embedded in the ground, he said softly, "Everyone's initial traits are random. From a certain angle, that means the path upward has been opened quite a bit."

"Ordinary people have a chance to cultivate immortality too."

"Otherwise, if all paths upward were sealed shut, the class divide in this world would be far too rigid. Ordinary people like us would be squeezed dry and suffer miserably."

He realized that this young master might not be very bright. He could not understand why the young master had exposed his own trait. If Huang Shikai had kept his mouth shut, they would never have known what trait he possessed.

They might have needed to study it for quite a while.

Perhaps before the half-hour Small World ended, they still would not have figured it out, and this young master might truly have been allowed to leave alive.

But since the young master had blown his own cover, there was no need for them to study it anymore.

While gesturing for the Wolf King to start digging a pit, he walked over to the nearby corpses and removed every storage pouch from their waists.

Digging a pit was not much trouble anyway.

Why did this guy think he was invincible?

Very soon—

Chen Qiu sorted through all the spoils from this trip.

Three Yellow Grade, Lower Class cultivation manuals, and one Yellow Grade, Middle Class cultivation manual.

Three Yellow Grade, Lower Class techniques.

Seven spirit treasures that gave off a faint glow.

As well as nine storage pouches and over a dozen taels of loose silver.

"We're rich, we're rich! This time, we're really rich!"

Fat Dragon stared at the pile of treasures before him. He was so excited that his lips began to tremble, and he said in an extremely exhilarated voice, "Five months. All the wealth I've accumulated over these five months isn't even one percent of what's here!"

"How did we suddenly get rich? Let me sort this out."

"Start with the prices."

Chen Qiu glanced at the Wolf King beside them, still tirelessly digging the pit, then looked at the pile of treasures. He seemingly casually placed the woodcutter's axe in his arms, inwardly remaining alert. He had no intention of killing Fat Dragon and taking everything for himself, but he still had to guard against him.

He was grateful to Fat Dragon, and he had a good impression of him as well. But when the stakes were too great, people could easily lose their minds.

"Whew!"

Fat Dragon took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed the excitement in his heart. "Once an ordinary technique is recorded, as long as its owner is willing, countless people can read it. But Brother Chen Qiu, do you know why the techniques inside the Heavenly Dao Secret Realm make so many people risk their lives to seize them?"

"They're only Yellow Grade, Lower Class techniques. In the cultivation world's marketplaces, one such technique only costs ten taels of silver. That isn't very expensive."

"They may all be common goods found everywhere, but ten taels of silver can indeed buy a Yellow Grade, Lower Class technique."

"Practicing techniques requires time and comprehension."

"The deeper one's mastery of a technique, the greater the power it can unleash. There are five levels: Initiation, Minor Accomplishment, Major Accomplishment, Hall Entry, and Great Perfection."

"For an ordinary person to cultivate a Yellow Grade, Lower Class technique to Major Accomplishment, unleashing nearly all of its power, it would take at least a year of arduous cultivation!"

"But the techniques produced within the Heavenly Dao Secret Realm carry the Heavenly Dao's blessing. Each technique can only be learned by one cultivator. The techniques are embedded in jade slips, and once read, they burn away. As long as you learn one, you begin at Major Accomplishment!"

"And the speed at which you cultivate it to Great Perfection will be four or five times faster than with ordinary techniques!"

Fat Dragon paused, his eyes brimming with excitement as he stared unblinkingly at the jade slips on the ground. "That's precisely why techniques produced in the Heavenly Dao Secret Realm are exceedingly rare, and their prices remain sky-high!"

"One Yellow Grade, Lower Class technique from the Heavenly Dao Secret Realm is worth three Spirit Stones!"

"A Yellow Grade, Lower Class cultivation manual is worth three Spirit Stones!"

"A Yellow Grade, Middle Class cultivation manual is worth ten Spirit Stones!"

"These spirit treasures are all Yellow Grade, Lower Class. Each one is worth five Spirit Stones!"

"Storage pouches aren't worth much. Excluding them, everything here is worth sixty-three Spirit Stones in total!!!"

Chen Qiu nodded and asked softly, "How many copper coins does one Spirit Stone equal?"

"One Spirit Stone can be exchanged for one hundred taels of silver. One tael of silver equals one thousand copper coins. One Spirit Stone can be exchanged for one hundred thousand copper coins."

"..."

Chen Qiu fell silent and said nothing more. He did not know much about the prices in this world. He only knew that three hundred copper coins could rent him a fairly decent little room in a courtyard, while less than a hundred copper coins could buy a fine meal of pig head meat and fiery liquor.

He worked his ass off chopping wood for an entire day and only earned a dozen or so copper coins.

Even after learning to chop people yesterday, he had only gained a little over two thousand copper coins.

Yet the things before him added up to a full 6.3 million copper coins.

At twenty copper coins a day from chopping wood, he would need to chop wood without rest for eight hundred and sixty-three whole years to save up that much money.

And now—

He had merely entered a Heavenly Dao Secret Realm, killed a few people, and picked up a few treasures.

And he had skipped eight hundred and sixty-three years of detours.

After a long while, Chen Qiu suddenly said, "Chopping wood really isn't a very promising profession."

"Chopping people has a much better cost-performance ratio."

"Hehe."

Fat Dragon, who had been excited just moments ago, suddenly gave a dry laugh. "Um, Brother Chen Qiu, you mustn't think like that. Those who chop others will one day die beneath the blade. We can't only see the gains in front of us—we must also see the people who died for this wealth."

"A full hundred people. Only the two of us are left alive."

"Think about how terrifying that death rate is. This path makes it easy to get rich overnight, but compared to getting rich overnight, it's even easier to die overnight!"

Just then—

"Bullshit, I'm not dead yet!"

Huang Shikai, who was already struggling to hold on, shouted in terror, "Two big brothers, I was wrong! Can you spare my life? Once we get out, I'll definitely repay you handsomely! We're all people wandering the martial world—give me some face!"

At the digging speed of the Wolf King beside him, he would be dead before the Small World closed.

"Don't rush. You'll be there soon too."

Fat Dragon casually rolled his eyes at Huang Shikai, then looked away. With a serious expression, he continued to Chen Qiu, "Brother Chen Qiu, the two of us truly encountered such an opportunity today. There are some things I still want to tell you. You absolutely must not let today's sudden fortune go to your head."

"To be honest, over a dozen people entered this world with me."

"The strongest among them even successfully reached Foundation Establishment in the third month."

"But five months have passed, and I'm the only one still alive."

"On the path of cultivation, no matter how fast you cultivate, it isn't real skill. Only living long enough is the real skill."

"..."

Chen Qiu remained silent. After a brief pause, he looked up at the earnestness in Fat Dragon's eyes and could not help shaking his head with a smile. "You really are afraid of death."

"Nonsense. Who isn't?"

"There."

Chen Qiu casually glanced at the corpses scattered in the distance. "They weren't afraid."

"So they died, while I'm alive!"

"Enough. Let's not talk about that."

He did not continue pursuing the topic. Instead, he looked at the mountain-like pile of treasures before them.

"Let's divide it up. Tell me, how should the two of us split it?"

PS: Thanks to boss "niaraeth" for the 1 Coin donation, and to bosses like "Awakened" and "Little Bear Is Sleepy" for their Coin donations and monthly ticket support. The new book is setting sail—thank you for the support.

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