Chapter 165: Chapter 162: Journey’s Harvest
One had to admit, after obtaining the Beast Taming Secret Technique and forming a contract with Xiaofeng, Shen Changchuan held an overwhelming advantage in reconnaissance.
Looking down from high in the sky, combined with Xiaofeng’s vision and his Perfection Level Spiritual Eye Technique, any enemies hiding up ahead were almost completely exposed.
This was why, during the final ambush, the caravan suffered very few casualties, even though the enemy’s strength far surpassed their own. Their preparations had paid off.
Only one or two of the horse-drawn carriages were even destroyed.
Of course,
the most important factor in all of this,
was his own strength—Shen Changchuan’s strength!
In that battle, by clashing with the powerful assailants,
Shen Changchuan was able to get a rough measure of his own strength.
With his regular strength,
he should have no problem dealing with Cultivators at the Qi Introduction Eighth Layer Late Stage.
If he pushed himself to his limit, using his Perfection Level Cyan Wood Sword Light in conjunction with the Blood Evil Gourd, the Soul-Attracting Bell, and his other techniques, he could probably contend with a Ninth Layer expert.
In fact, since the Cyan Wood Sword Light was so powerful, he could pose a genuine threat to a Cultivator at the Ninth Layer Realm!
Of course,
whether that was truly the case, he would need to fight a Ninth Layer Realm expert to be certain.
"Many thanks to Immortal Master Zhang for your assistance. If not for the Immortal Master’s help on this journey, I’m afraid the caravan would have been completely wiped out!"
When the almost completely intact caravan arrived at Dawan Village,
the shopkeepers from the various merchant guilds were, to put it mildly, utterly shocked.
After all, even though the caravan had added an expert at the Seventh Layer Late Stage, they hadn’t been very optimistic about the journey.
Judging by the current situation,
the chances of the caravan being attacked by Tribulation Cultivators en route were over one hundred percent.
They feared they would lose over half their goods, if not suffer a total loss!
But to their utter surprise,
the entire caravan had arrived almost completely unscathed!
Aside from two destroyed carriages and a few people with fairly serious injuries,
there were no other losses.
Not even a single person had died!
And when they briefly learned the details of what had happened on the road,
they gasped in astonishment.
They were actually attacked by a group of Tribulation Cultivators led by two at the Qi Introduction Eighth Layer Realm along the way?!
An attack from a gang of Tribulation Cultivators of that caliber
would have surely meant total annihilation on any previous occasion!
For a moment,
including Si Houqing, all the major guild Shopkeepers stared at Shen Changchuan—currently disguised as the Cyan-robed Swordsman, Zhang Qingyuan—their eyes filled with utter shock.
He had killed two Eighth Layer Realm Cultivators while only at the Seventh Layer Late Stage.
Where did this powerhouse come from?!
Could he be some genius from the Tian Nan Shen Clan?
But his surname isn’t Shen!
Or perhaps a powerful expert from the Zhang family, one of the Shen Clan’s vassal families?
Shaken to the core,
they didn’t forget to step forward and shower him with praise.
When faced with a powerhouse capable of fighting above his own Realm,
even if they couldn’t recruit him,
they at least had to leave a good impression.
Regarding this,
Shen Changchuan had no intention of wasting time with pleasantries. He offered a few simple, polite replies.
Then he took his leave.
"Gentlemen, I’m going to pay a visit to Young Master Shen first. When you’re ready to set out on the return journey, just send word for me at his residence."
After speaking,
Shen Changchuan cupped his fist in a salute, then, holding his longsword, walked towards the Half-Mountain Courtyard.
Since he was posing as the expert Shen Changchuan had hired,
it was only natural that he pay him a "visit" now that he had arrived.
On such details,
Shen Changchuan naturally wouldn’t be sloppy.
"Truly a knight..."
"It seems our Young Master Shen here in Dawan Village is no simple man either. To be able to befriend such a ’friend,’ and even convince him to come help..."
"Exactly. Remember when the Blood Slaughter Three Demons were killed? Wasn’t the story that he hired an expert who set a trap and finished them off? To be able to hire such a master, he must either have high standing within the Tian Nan Shen Clan or have a vast network of connections..."
"If that’s the case, perhaps we can continue doing business here..."
...
Shen Changchuan, of course, was unaware of the discussion happening behind him.
By now,
he had already returned to the Half-Mountain Courtyard and reverted to his true appearance.
More than ten days of travel with his Heart Spirit stretched taut
had left him rather exhausted.
He couldn’t help but take a short rest to recover.
Then,
he began to take stock of his spoils from the trip.
First were the spoils from the Tribulation Cultivators who had attacked the caravan three times.
This portion of the haul, however, wasn’t very large.
Perhaps the Tribulation Cultivators knew their heists could go wrong, so they didn’t carry many valuables in their Storage Bags. They had likely already passed on their legacies to their descendants or hidden them away somewhere.
As a result, even though Shen Changchuan had slain two Eighth Layer Realm Tribulation Cultivators and another seven or eight at the Seventh Layer, the combined value of all the spoils was only five to six thousand Spirit Stones.
Frankly,
this haul was rather disappointing.
After all, the spoils from each Qi Introduction Late Stage enemy averaged out to less than one thousand Spirit Stones per person.
And there wasn’t much of that in actual Spirit Stones, either.
The Tribulation Cultivators’ Storage Bags were mostly filled with various items like Demon Beast Materials, Heavenly and Earthly Treasures, and Ore Spirit Medicine. These would all have to be converted into Spirit Stones to reach that total of five to six thousand.
This was undoubtedly a disappointment to Shen Changchuan.
However, considering the circumstances, it was understandable. These Tribulation Cultivators weren’t like the Blood Slaughter Three Demons, who were hunted by all. It was unlikely they would carry their entire net worth on them.
He was already mentally prepared for this.
So, he quickly, if reluctantly, accepted it.
Fortunately,
while the gains in Spirit Stones were underwhelming,
Shen Changchuan had unexpectedly obtained a number of Magic techniques—twenty to thirty in total.
Although he would only select a few that suited his own cultivation system to actually practice,
the others still greatly expanded his repertoire of Magic.
’Who knows? Maybe once I reach the Soul Emergence Realm, I’ll need to cultivate all of them to accumulate Perfection Traits and Cultivation Experience. That might be necessary to learn even higher-level Magic.’
’It’s always good to have more Magic in reserve.’
Moreover,
among these Magic techniques, Shen Changchuan also discovered two that were quite suitable for him right now.
One was a Wood Element Magic called Endless Life, which could heal oneself.
The other was the Three-Thunder Shadow-Annihilating Sword, a High Level offensive Magic.
Shen Changchuan specifically set them aside, planning to practice them and integrate them into his combat system.
But aside from all that,
the greatest prize Shen Changchuan had obtained on this trip...
...was several Low Tier Pill Formulas!
