A few days later.
On this day, just as dawn broke, several Cultivators came to buy medicinal pills.
When he was standing in front of the window doing the transaction.
Chen An learned from them that the elderly Cultivator who lived next door was dead.
He died while hunting Blood Demons.
It was said that his body had been squeezed dry, leaving only a shriveled corpse.
His death was extremely tragic.
Moreover, the hunting team he was in had more than ten people. Among them was a female Cultivator at First Level of Qi Refining. However, he, an elderly Cultivator at the Level 3 of Qi Refining, was the only one who died. This was really a little unlucky.
Was he unlucky?
Chen An didn't think so.
He felt that the Cultivator who had teamed up with this elderly Cultivator a few days ago was up to no good.
He was probably going to sacrifice the elderly Cultivator.
For example, walking at the front to open up a path was purely a cannon fodder tool.
Otherwise, it was impossible to explain why a hunting team would take a fancy to such an elderly Cultivator.
In the blink of an eye, another month had passed.
It was time to pay the rent again.
Steward Zhang, who was in charge of collecting rent, brought bad news this time.
Starting from next month, the rent increased to 3 low-grade spirit stones a month.
As soon as these words were spoken, the low-level Cultivators in the entire cheap district exploded and cursed.
Many people could not afford the high rent and were forced to move out of the forest to find other accommodations.
The pressure on those who could barely hold on doubled. They were all thinking that they had to increase the frequency of hunting Blood Demons in the future and use their lives to earn money.
Otherwise, sooner or later, he would be ruthlessly driven out to fend for himself because he could not pay the rent.
Outside the Bamboo Leaf Forest, there were demons everywhere. There were as many ghosts as dogs.
Once he was chased out, unless he was a powerful Cultivator at the advanced Qi Refining stage, he would definitely die.
"Fellow Cultivator Chen, you paid the rent so readily. It seems like you've earned quite a bit recently."
In front of the wooden house, Steward Zhang took the three low-grade spirit stones from Chen An and teased him with a smile.
As soon as these words were spoken, many Cultivators who lived nearby looked at Chen An.
Their eyes were filled with envy, jealousy, and all kinds of negative emotions. They were very jealous that he had made a lot of money.
Chen An acutely sensed these malicious gazes and could not help but feel his heart tighten. He denied:
"Steward Zhang, you're thinking too much. I'm also very tight on money now. After paying the rent, there's basically nothing left. I was just worried about whether I could earn three low-grade spirit stones to pay the rent next month."
Steward Zhang smiled and didn't say anything.
The gazes of the low-level Cultivators nearby were still filled with ill intentions.
Obviously, none of them believed Chen An's denial.
Chen An felt his scalp tingle at the current situation where he was hated by many people.
He knew very well that he had already been targeted by many low-level Cultivators who had nowhere to go.
Once he left the house, he would definitely be robbed and killed.
Helpless, he stopped pretending and shouted to Steward Zhang, who was about to leave:
"Steward Zhang, wait!"
"What happened?"
"I have something to tell you. Can we talk inside?"
"Sure."
Steward Zhang replied.
Soon, the two of them walked into the house.
As soon as he entered, Chen An immediately went straight to the point.
"Steward Zhang, it's like this. I want to buy a cultivation technique to protect myself. Do you have any self-defense cultivation techniques that can be sold?"
"You don't say. Coincidentally, I happen to have one here."
As if he had expected Chen An to look for him to buy a cultivation method, Steward Zhang took out a thin cultivation method secret manual from his pocket and waved it in front of Chen An.
The other party had obviously come prepared. I had probably been set up…
Chen An realized this.
At this moment, he would be a fool if he still did not realize that Steward Zhang had deliberately drawn hatred in front of everyone.
"Fellow Cultivator Chen, if you really want it, I can sell this cultivation technique to you for a cheap price. It's not expensive. It only costs 100 low-grade spirit stones."
Steward Zhang said with a smile.
It was expensive, but not unacceptable.
Chen An glanced at the cultivation technique manual in the other party's hand and immediately felt strange.
This was because the cultivation technique was called 'Goldfinger'.
Seeing Chen An's strange expression, Steward Zhang introduced the cultivation technique secret manual in his hand and said:
"This 'Goldfinger' is a spell. The upper limit is not high, but it's easy to master. It's very suitable for early-stage Qi Refining Cultivators to cultivate."
"Although it's only a basic spell, as long as you master it, it's more than enough for you to protect yourself in this cheap district."
So be it!
I'll take it!
He gritted his teeth and made a decision.
Chen An took out almost all of his savings and handed over the goods with Steward Zhang.
"Fellow Cultivator Chen is not honest. Just now, you said that you were worried about the rent for next month. In the blink of an eye, you easily took out 100 low-grade spirit stones. That's too unkind."
Steward Zhang teased with a smile.
Chen An did not chat much with him. He only replied that he had something to do at home later and sent him off tactfully.
After Steward Zhang left, Chen An was not in a hurry to look at the spell he had just bought, 'Goldfinger'.
Instead, he hurried into the alchemy room and took out all the poisons he usually refined.
Then, he found a pile of wood and sharpened it under the courtyard wall. He mixed the poison he had just taken out with water and smeared it on the tip to make a simple anti-invasion trap.
For the sake of conservation, he also set up some small traps one after another to further increase the difficulty of the invasion.
After that, all kinds of dead branches and leaves were scattered around the perimeter of the courtyard. This way, when someone wanted to approach the house, there would be a crisp sound of something hard shattering and it would be used as an alarm when it was invaded.
This was not making a mountain out of a molehill.
When he recalled the malicious gazes he felt outside the house just now, Chen An felt very insecure. Therefore, he had to plan ahead. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to sleep well at night.
During this period, his wife came out, but Chen An called her back immediately and told her to stay in the house and try not to come out if there was nothing.
His wife was very obedient and did not ask anything out of curiosity. She immediately returned to the house obediently.
By the time he finished setting up all the traps, the sky had completely darkened.
Chen An sized up the courtyard that he had fully armed. His heart was filled with a sense of security, and he could finally relax a little.
After that, he couldn't wait to find a place to sit down and carefully read the spell he had just bought.
The first few pages of the book were full of introductions.
As the name suggested, the 'Goldfinger' was a spell that could be activated with one's fingers.
After entering the elementary level, his fingers would emit a golden light when he activated the spell and become as hard as steel. The power was so great that it could pierce through rocks.
After mastering it, he could shoot out the golden light on his finger and pierce through it like a bow.
Further back, he could shoot further and more accurately.
"This spell seems pretty good."
After reading the introduction of the first few pages, Chen An felt satisfied and continued reading.
The contents of the last few pages were all about how to use the cheat.
The way to practice was very simple. He just had to use his fingers to poke things everywhere.
The difficulty was how to find the feeling during the practice and gather all the spiritual qi in his body on his fingers to erupt with terrifying power.
In the days to come.
Other than having fun with his wife in the room or refining pills in the alchemy room, Chen An spent the rest of his time poking things with his fingers.
Poke the rice, poke the mud, poke the tree, poke the stone… Poke whatever he saw.
Just like that, he poked around all day.
He poked until the rice shattered, the mud collapsed, the trees pierced, and the stones shattered—
He had finally mastered the 'Goldfinger' spell!
[Goldfinger: Beginner (1/100)]
"I've finally mastered it!"
Chen An could not hold back his excitement and immediately activated the 'Goldfinger' spell.
In the next second, the index and middle fingers of his right hand immediately emitted a faint golden light.
Although the light was weak, it was exceptionally bright in the middle of the night.
"It really is a cheat."
Chen An looked at his glowing fingers and did not know whether to laugh or cry.
Then, he couldn't wait to test the strength of his 'Goldfinger' and stabbed at the ground under his feet.
"Pfft… Pfft… Pfft!"
Under the continuous destruction of Chen An's fingers, many deep and thick holes instantly appeared in the incomparably firm yellow soil.
Good lord, this cheat is too strong!
Chen An became excited again. He could clearly feel that he had gone from a weakling to a Super Saiyan who could explode stars at will.
Although this description was a little exaggerated, his current combat strength had indeed increased greatly.
"Sha… sha… sha!"
In the quiet night, a series of cautious but obvious footsteps suddenly sounded.
Someone was approaching the house!
Moreover, judging from the number of voices, there was far more than one person!
At least five of them!
Chen An frowned and instantly tensed up.