Chapter 17: Unexpected Wealth

"Did you kill him?"

Before Luo Chen could answer, Wang Yuan nodded to himself.

"It seems so."

Noticing Luo Chen's nervous retreat, Wang Yuan walked over to the charred corpse and swung his large sword.

The head, burned beyond recognition, was casually severed.

Wang Yuan glanced at the nervous Luo Chen and the storage bag in his hand, his gaze complicated.

The night breeze was cool, and the blood-soaked body was even colder.

Luo Chen forced a grim smile, "Brother Wang, I haven't finished reading that book yet."

As if recalling something, Wang Yuan's complex gaze gradually softened, and his eyelids drooped again.

"Go home early, the Dahan Market is dangerous at night."

"Okay, okay."

Luo Chen turned to leave but hesitated, then walked over and struggled to put the snake skin bag full of herbs on his back.

That was his entire fortune.

Watching Luo Chen's back as he was about to leave the alley, Wang Yuan sighed.

"Here, take this as a reward for the head."

A black nail, as long as a chopstick, fell to Luo Chen's feet. The black nail was stained with fresh blood and even had bits of flesh.

"Brother Wang, you're too kind."

"Get lost, take the small forest path, not the main road."

"Okay."

With a heavy nod, Luo Chen didn't look back as he entered the small forest.

In the alley, Wang Yuan stood with three heads for a while before gradually disappearing into the darkness.

"Whoo-whoo"

Ding!

"Phew!"

Luo Chen leaned against the bedpost like a dead fish, drenched in sweat, even his underwear was soaked.

On the ground in front of his bed was another Soul-Breaking Nail that had been driven into his waist.

Enduring the intense pain, Luo Chen grabbed the bottles and jars beside him and poured the medicine into the wound.

This was his homemade healing medicine, specifically for dealing with the dangers of the alchemy process, which had helped him many times before.

Today, it had an even greater use!

As the medicine entered his body, a cool sensation arose, followed by a burning pain.

"Damn! Damn, damn, damn!"

Low growls of curses echoed from time to time.

Luo Chen had never felt as angry as he did at that moment.

Not angry at the enemy for the injuries, but angry at his own weakness.

If he were as strong as Wang Yuan, he wouldn't have ended up in this situation today.

Only after bandaging the wound did Luo Chen finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Enduring the pain, he went to the living room, opened the snake skin bag, and sorted the various herbs onto the shelves.

These low-grade herbs and spiritual materials couldn't be mixed for long, or their effects would be greatly reduced.

His staggering steps, under the dim oil lamp, looked pitiful.

Luo Chen even felt that this scene was very similar to when he went to work sick after surgery in his previous life.

"Wherever I go, I can't escape a life of hard work. No wonder my lifespan in my previous life was only seventy-five years."

After finishing everything, he finally had the chance to lie down on the bed.

The pain in his waist made him so exhausted that he couldn't sleep.

Helplessly, he had to find something else to distract himself.

"Let's see what good things this short-lived guy had."

Storage bags for Qi Condensation stage cultivators are not protected, as they lack spiritual awareness and cannot set restrictions.

After the owner dies, the magical imprint naturally dissipates.

Luo Chen mobilized the remaining bit of spiritual energy and opened the storage bag.

A pile of items instantly filled his wooden bed.

"Today is the market day, this guy bought a lot of things."

A low-grade magic robe, a box of Tranquility Incense, five bottles of Grain-Abstaining Pills, a bottle of Qi-Nourishing Pills, a bottle of Golden Treasury Powder, and a stack of talismans.

There was also a bunch of dried spiritual herbs, which took up most of his bed.

Besides these, the most important thing was the spirit stones.

"Ninety-two low-grade spirit stones, damn, he's a pauper!"

Luo Chen cursed, then happily put the items back one by one.

The spirit stones were indeed few, not matching the Qi Condensation Fifth Layer stage.

But the value of the other items far exceeded these ninety-two low-grade spirit stones.

The low-grade magic robe, though somewhat worn, was worth at least a hundred spirit stones if sold.

This item's activation speed was even faster than talismans.

That's why Luo Chen could quickly activate it, and when the short-lived guy was hit by the Fireball Spell, he immediately activated the defensive light shield of the magic robe.

If it were a complete mid-grade magic robe, it could withstand six to seven Fireball Spells, but it had already been damaged by Wang Yuan.

It couldn't even withstand the third one.

For the heavily injured Chen Xiao, three breaths of time were not enough to use other means.

The five bottles of Grain-Abstaining Pills were not valuable, and the quality was not as good as Luo Chen's own alchemy, but they were worth one spirit stone each.

As for the others, they were very valuable.

Tranquility Incense, one of the best external aids for low-stage cultivators.

One Tranquility Incense per day allows a cultivator to practice their life-bound cultivation technique five more times, supposedly to restore the fragile soul of low-stage cultivators.

A box contains twelve incense sticks, worth 120 spirit stones.

Qi-Nourishing Pills are even more valuable, with the pattern indicating they are from the Spirit Medicine Pavilion.

Fixed price, one bottle for 100 spirit stones!

Good stuff, swallowing and refining it can increase spiritual energy.

As for the stack of talismans, based on Luo Chen's experience, they should be worth fifty to sixty spirit stones.

The dried spiritual herbs covering his bed, he didn't recognize, but the storage bag contained so many, indicating they must be useful.

All in all, the total value was about 400 spirit stones!

Unexpected wealth!

Indeed, without unexpected wealth, one cannot become rich.

In just that short time tonight, Luo Chen's fortune quadrupled.

And the biggest gain wasn't these items.

It was the storage bag itself!

With a capacity of one cubic foot, it was the smallest and cheapest storage bag.

But in the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion, it was worth 10,000 spirit stones!

The short-lived guy either got it from someone else or stole it, as he definitely couldn't afford it.

Or rather, most low-stage cultivators couldn't afford even the smallest storage bag.

Such items were standard for inner disciples of major sects, not even outer disciples could have them!

"Rich, rich!"

"Killing and looting, no wonder it's a classic plot in web novels. No matter the genre, it always has a place."

"But the risk is too high. One mistake and a lifetime of effort is wasted."

Tonight, there were two instances of killing and looting in front of Luo Chen.

The Li Zexiong of the Dajiang Gang, who gathered three people to kill Wang Yuan, ended up failing!

The Qi Condensation Fifth Layer short-lived guy, who intended to instantly kill Luo Chen, also ended up failing!

"Such dangerous things should be left to professionals. I can't handle the shock."

Luo Chen thought for a moment, then picked up the last bottle of Golden Treasury Powder that he hadn't put back in the storage bag.

Golden Treasury Powder, one of the signature medicines of the Spirit Medicine Pavilion.

It has excellent healing effects for any metal-based magical weapon injuries, priced at just ten spirit stones.

It's high-quality and affordable, always popular among the scattered cultivators of the Dahan Market.

He smelled it, and the scent was fine, not a poison.

And no one would put poison in a healing medicine bottle in their storage bag.

If they were seriously injured and confused, taking the wrong medicine would be disastrous.

He would have to untie the bandage again, which would be a hassle.

Sighing, Luo Chen had to get up and do it.

The next noon, Luo Chen woke up in a daze.

This was a rare time he slept in.

In the early hours of the night, he couldn't resist the weakness and fell asleep.

Opening his eyes, he lay in bed dazed for a while, then gritted his teeth and forced himself to get up.

No matter how hard or difficult, lying in bed was not an excuse.

He went to the living room, picked up a handful of spiritual herbs, and spread them on a sieve, preparing to dry them outside.

Opening the door, the midday sun blinded him for a moment. When he adjusted, he saw Wang Yuan standing outside.

Wang Yuan casually threw something into the sieve full of spiritual herbs.

"Take it, from now on you're a member of the Mountain-Breaking Gang."

"If someone gives you trouble, tell them I, Wang Yuan, am protecting you."

Luo Chen looked at the iron token in the sieve, his gaze somewhat dazed.

"Thanks, Brother Wang."

Wang Yuan waved his hand, "What for? When I was at my lowest, you gave me a few bottles of Grain-Abstaining Pills on credit, and I never thanked you."

"Alright, I've given you the item, I'll go back now. The outer city might not be peaceful in the coming days, so be careful when you go out."

With that, he turned and left without any hesitation.

(End of Chapter)