The incident unfolded too rapidly, from sensing danger to instinctively triggering "Spiritual Power Finger Snap," everything happened in the blink of an eye, without even time to think, his subconscious had already reacted.
Chen Li stood dazed for a while before suddenly snapping back to reality, quickly glancing nervously around him. Seeing that no one was about, he managed to suppress the panic in his heart somewhat.
"How did it end up like this..."
"No, I can't stay here any longer, I need to leave now while no one's around."
Before leaving, he couldn't resist taking a look at his severed arm.
The torn end was a mangled mess of flesh and blood, with bloodied bones and sinews faintly visible. His fingers, shaped like chicken claws, were twitching and jerking involuntarily, and about three feet away from his palm, a black object with pointed ends lay silently on the ground.
"This is..."
His heart stirred, and he hurriedly picked it up without a closer look, clutching it in his wet palm, then taking another nervous glance around before quickly striding away. Within a few steps, he rounded a corner and disappeared.
He hurried home, swiftly locking the door behind him; Chen Li's heart was still pounding ferociously.
"That was close, I almost died. If my reactions hadn't been fast..."
"But the 'Spiritual Power Finger Snap' is really effective, even more so than a magic artifact. Not only is its activation fast, but its power rivals the Willow Leaf Dart, and it consumes less spiritual energy. Once it reaches master level, it's almost like divine skills, needing no deliberate concentration on the flow of spiritual energy when triggered."
His heart was both excited and fearful, ultimately transforming into worry.
"There shouldn't be any trouble, it was just a thief. Trying to attack after failing to steal, they had it coming if they got killed. Moreover, I only broke one of their arms; it was purely self-defense."
Pacing back and forth in his room, his thoughts fluctuated.
He tried to suppress the unease gnawing at his mind.
"Right, my eleven Spirit Stones!?"
He instinctively touched his chest.
Of course, his chest was naturally empty.
"Forget it, as long as I'm alright, that's what matters. I can earn back the money... Wait, I seem to have picked something up, where did I put it?"
It was then he finally remembered the object he had found next to the severed arm.
The object was quickly located; it was right by his hand.
It was a black spindle-shaped magic artifact, about fifteen centimeters long and thin with pointed ends.
He didn't know what metal it was made of, but the artifact was heavy in his hand, its density almost comparable to gold. It was engraved with dense arrays, and after straining his eyes for a long time, Chen Li could only make out a distorted hovering array.
Chen Li tentatively input spiritual energy, initially feeling a slight resistance, but then it began to flow smoothly.
After inputting about one-tenth of his spiritual power,
the previously dark artifact suddenly emitted a sharp ghostly light as if electrified, then a "hum" vibrated, floating up.
Chen Li sensed a faint connection between his mind and the artifact, as if he could manipulate it at will, his face showing surprise.
"What a high-level magic artifact!"
Compared to his Willow Leaf Dart, which could only be mechanically triggered in a straightforward manner, this artifact clearly had advanced to a level of intelligence.
...
Half a minute later.
The artifact darted like a dangerous fish through the room, emitting a soft humming noise.
Sometimes when it accidentally got too close to a wall, its cutting edge would silently and effortlessly slice through the wood like a hot knife through butter, leaving a fine, long scratch.
It gave off a chilling impression to those watching.
Only when his spiritual power was nearly depleted did Chen Li call the artifact back to his hand, happily fiddling with it.
"What an incredible find, I probably couldn't afford such a magic artifact even if I saved up for ten years!"
Thinking this, he was somewhat incredulous.
So wealthy, yet still trying to steal my few pitiful Spirit Stones.
But then again, on second thought, perhaps it was precisely because of theft that they were so rich.
"It really is like acquiring a golden belt for committing arson and murder," he sighed.
But now it's mine.
...
All afternoon, Chen Li didn't go out.
Several times, he had the urge to check if the arm was still there at the scene, but fortunately, he restrained himself each time.
For the next few days, he holed up at home and continued his cultivation practice as usual.
Meanwhile, the entire shack area was calm, as if nothing had happened.
It wasn't until the morning of the fifth day, while on his way to the market, that he casually passed by the scene, pretending to be calm.
The severed arm was actually still there.
It had just been thrown (or kicked) into a shallow ditch by the road, gnawed on by some creature until only a pile of white bones remained.
Loose Cultivators occasionally passed by on the road, some without noticing, and those who did see it mostly turned a blind eye, at best furrowing their brows with a slight look of disgust.
"It seems I've been overly dramatic, inexperienced! Perhaps to these Loose Cultivators, the matter of an arm doesn't stir up any waves in their hearts, it's not like it's a complete body."
As Chen Li took a deep breath of relief, he also felt a chill in his heart.
"Living in this place really doesn't give one a sense of security. I must be more cautious in the future," he thought to himself.
...
Chen Li arrived at the market but didn't set up a stall.
He headed straight for a building in the market.
"Secondhand set of low-grade magical instruments from the first tier isn't worth much," the clerk at the magic artifact shop appraised the Willow Leaf Dart while casually saying:
"Simple function, can be used to attack enemies, its power is decent among first tier low-grade magical instruments, nothing remarkable, it's worth one mid-grade Spirit Stone. If you're selling, we'll waive the appraisal fee this time."
"That's too low. This is a complete set of magical instruments, and any low-grade magical artifact in your shop is worth at least two mid-grade Spirit Stones, to say the least. You should add at least another fifty low-grade Spirit Stones," Chen Li said, as the price didn't meet his expectations at all.
"But yours has been used for quite some time. The market price for secondhand goods has always been like this, it's the same everywhere," the clerk said slowly, sipping his tea.
Chen Li haggled over the price for a good while, and finally settled for one mid-grade Spirit Stone plus twenty low-grade Spirit Stones.
He knew he was at a loss; if he set up a stall, he could definitely sell the Willow Leaf Dart for more.
On one hand, selling magical artifacts is difficult. There were few stalls in the market that dealt with high-value items like magical instruments, and they were hard to sell, too time-consuming, affecting cultivation.
Now with this sizable amount of money, he doesn't have to trade 'Evil-Repelling Talismans' as frequently as before and can spend more time on cultivation.
On the other hand, it was not very safe. He had made over a dozen Spirit Stones a few days earlier and had already attracted attention. If he were to sell for several hundred Spirit Stones, it would attract a pack of starving wolves.
Qian Ning would rather earn less than compromise his own safety.
He had boundless potential and was in the rising phase of his cultivation practice.
Why risk unnecessary dangers for a bit of money?
...
After leaving the magic artifact shop, Chen Li, with a substantial amount of money on him, suspiciously took turns and twists within the market. Only when he felt sure nobody was following him did he head towards the shack area.
He safely returned home and quickly closed the door behind him.
"Whoosh!"
With a tug of his money bag, a heap of Spirit Stones scattered across the table.
Rolling around.
Dazzlingly lustrous.
"I've really struck it rich!"