Staying Alive Cautiously in the Celestial Realm and Becoming the Strongest

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This is the real golden finger!

The new function of the Immortal Cultivation panel filled Wang Chen with great joy and anticipation.

What's there to fear if one has poor Root Bone, low Comprehension, and finds Breaking Threshold hard?

As long as one has "Human Virtue" points, one can directly break through and advance, which is simply too thrilling.

Furthermore, Wang Chen believed that "Human Virtue" could be used to add points to skills, so "Heavenly Merit" would very likely increase the points of the four basic attributes!

Although he still didn't know how "Heavenly Merit" could be obtained.

But with the panel in hand, the future was promising!

Wang Chen happily picked up the carcass of the Earth Rhinoceros Beetle from the ground.

Only then did he notice that the head of this massive Earth Rhinoceros Beetle had a hole the width of a thumb.

A dark green liquid was flowing out of it, exuding an earthy, fishy smell.

Clearly, Wang Chen's attack had hit a vital spot.

But even the Mastery Level Geng Metal Finger hadn't completely pierced through it.

Compared to the earlier Entry Level Geng Metal Finger, which could cut the Earth Rhinoceros Beetle in half.

Obviously, the defense of this guy was far greater than that of a regular beetle of its kind.

BOSS!

Wang Chen estimated that this Earth Rhinoceros Beetle was at least an elite monster, which was why it brought him 1 point of Human Virtue.

As for ordinary small monsters, no matter how many he killed, he would not gain any points.

If he went out to hunt Monster Beasts...

Stop!

Wang Chen immediately suppressed the dangerous thought that had just surfaced in his mind.

He was currently just a Qi Cultivation third level small cultivator, with only one combat skill—the Geng Metal Finger.

Hunt Monster Beasts?

He wouldn't even know how he died!

Acquiring Human Virtue points through hunting Monster Beasts was definitely feasible.

The premise was that he needed to master more combat and defense spells, and his Cultivation Level had to be raised to at least the fourth or fifth level to be barely adequate.

One must never become complacent.

Wang Chen reminded himself and carried the hoe back home.

He decided to indulge in a luxurious dinner once more.

He scooped out a catty and a half of Spirit Valley from the grain bin, placed it in the washed stone mortar, and then pounded it with a pestle.

The stone mortar and pestle, along with the whole set of rice-pounding tools, were left behind by the previous owner of the cabin.

But the original owner had only used them sparingly a few times.

Wang Chen had already made up his mind.

He didn't plan to eat rice with husks in it anymore.

If life had to be a relentless grind, he must learn to find joy amidst the hardship!

Of course, the Immortal Cultivation panel also gave Wang Chen much more confidence.

While busily pounding the rice, Wang Chen thought about going to Cloud Mountain City tomorrow to buy a couple of chickens to raise back home.

He would keep them in the small courtyard and feed them rice bran.

That way, he would have eggs to eat and not waste any rice bran.

Perfect!

After finishing with the Spirit Valley, Wang Chen went through quite an effort to clean out all the Spirit Rice.

A catty and a half of Spirit Valley yielded about a catty and two taels of White Jade Rice.

The grains of White Jade Rice were full and glossy, with a faint fragrance; it was Low Spirit quality rice.

But for Wang Chen, it was already a rare delicacy.

He lit the fire, placed the Spirit Rice and water into the pot, and then started to process the spoils from the afternoon.

The two ordinary Earth Rhinoceros Beetles were easy to deal with.

Because the body of the BOSS Earth Rhinoceros Beetle was almost entirely intact, and its shell was extremely hard,

Wang Chen had to use the Geng Metal Finger with full force to cut it open and pull out the lean meat strips.

This two-finger wide strip of beetle meat had a mass thrice that of an ordinary Earth Rhinoceros Beetle, and it was full of resilience and toughness.

Wang Chen made cuts on the meat strip and marinated it along with four other pieces of lean meat.

Then he put them in the pot to steam.

"Squeak, squeak!"

Wang Chen turned his head to look.

Amusing!

The white-furred mouse from noon had come again, squatting on the ground and making a gesture of salutation to him with its paws.

"Bai,"

Wang Chen said earnestly to the little one, "Look, my home isn't wealthy. I have to measure every morsel of food, and have to pound my own rice until my hands are nearly blistering."

He held out his hands, "Bai, you're a grown-up Spirit Mouse now. You should learn to solve your food and shelter problem on your own. I believe you can do it, chin up, let's go!"

Bai was the name Wang Chen had just given to the white-furred mouse.

"Squeak, squeak!"

Maybe the white-furred mouse was embarrassed by his words.

It called out to Wang Chen twice, then darted into the pile of firewood.

Wang Chen let out a long sigh of relief.

The rice was cooked quickly.

Just as Wang Chen was about to put a full bowl of rice and a small bowl of soy-steamed meat on the table,

ready to dig in,

he suddenly felt something odd.

Looking down, he saw Bai again.

And behind the white-furred rat followed a Brocade Fur Rat!

The Brocade Fur Rat was smaller than the white-furred one, its fur a mixture of gold, white, and gray with a tuft of red bristles on its forehead.

Not bad looking.

Wang Chen gaped, "Bai, you're going too far!"

Scrounging food for yourself is one thing,

but then you even bring your husband to scrounge too!

You trying to make me feel all lovey-dovey?

Wang Chen could determine their sexes—Bai had no balls.

"Squeak squeak!"

Bai turned its head and called out to the Brocade Fur Rat twice.

The latter darted forward a few steps to Wang Chen's feet and spat out something.

Huh?

Wang Chen blinked in surprise.

The Brocade Fur Rat had spit out a jade stone about an inch long, about as thick as a thumb, glowing with spiritual energy within.

It was a low-grade Spirit Stone!

Spirit Stones were the universal currency of the immortal realm, mainly divided into Low Spirit, Middle Spirit, Upper Spirit, and Supreme Spirit.

The purchasing power of Spirit Stones was very strong.

The Spirit Valley harvested by Wang Chen was sold to the Immortal Food merchants in Cloud Mountain City.

The merchants' purchase price was fifty catties for one Low Spirit.

In fact, for daily purchases like firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, and tea, he used Fragmented Spirit Stones.

Fragmented Spirit Stones, made from the offcuts produced when cutting up Spirit Stones, were worth one Low Spirit Stone for every hundred pieces.

Wang Chen had cultivated Spirit Fields in the Outer Sect of the Cloud Sun Sect for five years.

He had scrimped and saved through hard work.

The seven Low Spirit Stones and thirty-nine Fragmented Stones in his Storage Bag were all his current savings!

Now Bai and its spouse were using a Low Spirit Stone, equivalent to fifty catties of Spirit Valley, to scrounge for a meal...

Picked the right person, ha!

Wang Chen snatched the Spirit Stone from the ground and stuffed it into his Storage Bag with the speed of lightning stealing bells to cover his ears.

"Come come come!"

He patted the table cheerfully, enthusiastically inviting, "Up to the table, meow!"

The two rats apparently understood.

They climbed up the table leg onto the tabletop, squatting on either side facing Wang Chen.

Waiting to start the meal.

The one who pays is the master!

Wang Chen rubbed his hands together.

He cut a strip of the BOSS Earth Rhinoceros Beetle lean meat into two portions with a small knife.

Each was then stuffed into a ball of hand-squeezed rice.

Placed in two small dishes and drizzled with soy sauce and meat juice.

Finally, set before Bai and its partner.

The fist-sized rice balls were distinct in grain, topped with a piece of pink, cooked insect meat, complemented by the sweet soy sauce.

Hot and fragrant.

Wang Chen's culinary skills, honed in the Great Gourmet Empire, were demonstrated to the fullest!

Drool from the white-furred and Brocade Fur Rats dripped onto the table.

Eat, eat!

Wang Chen watched them feast with glee, not the least bit reluctant to part with the BOSS meat.

As the saying goes, you can't nab a scoundrel without sacrificing your darling.

If they brought a Spirit Stone every time...

No, even if it was just once every few days, Wang Chen would still be rolling in it.

This wasn't a Brocade Fur Rat, it was clearly a fortune-bringing rat!

Seeing them eat with gusto, Wang Chen poured the remaining bits of meat and juice from the small bowl over his rice.

Then he too started eating greedily.

Delicious!

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