Chapter 7: 6. Late-Night Raid

6. Late-Night Raid

A few days later.

On this day, while the sky was still just barely bright, several cultivators came knocking together to purchase medicinal pills.

While standing in front of the window conducting the transaction.

Chen An learned from their conversation that the old gambler cultivator who lived next door had died.

He died while hunting blood demons.

It is said that his flesh and blood were drained, leaving only a shriveled corpse of skin and bone.

The state of his death was extremely tragic.

Moreover, the hunting party he was in had as many as a dozen people, including a female cultivator at the Qi Refining First Layer, yet it was precisely this old cultivator at the Qi Refining Third Layer who died; this was truly a bit unlucky.

Unlucky?

Chen An did not think so.

He felt more that the cultivator who had recruited the old man for the team a few days ago had harbored ill intentions from the start.

It was likely to use the old cultivator as a sacrifice.

Such as walking at the very front to clear the path or something; a pure cannon fodder tool.

Otherwise, there is no way to explain why a hunting party would have taken a fancy to such an elderly cultivator.

In the blink of an eye, another month passed.

It was time to pay rent again.

Manager Zhang, who was responsible for collecting rent, brought bad news this time.

Starting next month, the rent will increase to 3 Low-grade Spirit Stones per month.

As soon as these words were spoken, all the bottom-tier cultivators in the Cheap Area exploded, cursing loudly one after another.

Many people could not afford this high rent and were forced to move out of the Bamboo Leaf Forest to find other ways to survive elsewhere.

Some who could barely hold on were also under doubled pressure, all calculating that they would have to increase the frequency of going out to hunt blood demons in the future, risking their lives to earn money.

Otherwise, they would sooner or later be ruthlessly driven out to fend for themselves because they could not pay the rent.

Right now, outside the Hong Ye Lin, demons are everywhere, and ghosts are as common as dogs.

Once driven out, unless one is a powerful cultivator with a cultivation base as high as the Qi Refining Late Stage, it is absolutely a life of nine deaths and one survival.

"Fellow Daoist Chen, you pay the rent so readily; it seems you haven't earned little recently."

In front of the wooden hut, Manager Zhang accepted the 3 Low-grade Spirit Stones handed over by Chen An and teased him with a smile.

As soon as these words were spoken, many cultivators living nearby cast their gazes toward Chen An.

The gazes were filled with various negative emotions such as envy, jealousy, and hatred; they were very jealous that he had made a fortune.

Chen An keenly sensed these malicious gazes and could not help but feel a tightness in his heart, denying it:

"Manager Zhang, you are overthinking it. I am also living very frugally right now. After paying the rent, there is basically nothing left, and I am currently worrying about whether I can earn 3 Low-grade Spirit Stones to pay the rent next month."

Manager Zhang listened and smiled without saying a word.

The gazes cast by the bottom-tier cultivators nearby were still filled with all kinds of malice.

Clearly, they did not believe this denial from Chen An.

Regarding the current situation where he was being resented by many, Chen An felt somewhat scalp-numbing.

He knew deeply that he had already been targeted by many bottom-tier cultivators nearby who had no other way out.

Once he left his home, he would definitely be waylaid and killed.

Helpless, he simply stopped pretending and shouted to Manager Zhang, who was about to leave:

"Manager Zhang, wait a moment!"

"What is it?"

"I have something to discuss with you. Could you come inside the house to talk in detail?"

"I can."

Manager Zhang replied.

Soon, the two walked into the house.

As soon as they entered, Chen An immediately got straight to the point:

"Manager Zhang, it is like this: I want to buy a Cultivation Method for self-defense. I wonder if you have any self-defense Cultivation Methods for sale?"

"You don't say, as luck would have it, I happen to have one right here."

As if he had anticipated that Chen An would come to him to buy a Cultivation Method, Manager Zhang took a thin secret manual from his bosom and waved it in front of Chen An.

The other party was clearly prepared; I have probably been set up...

Chen An realized this point.

At this point, if he still hadn't realized that he had just been intentionally provoked by Manager Zhang in front of everyone, then he would be a fool.

"Fellow Daoist Chen, if you really want it, I can sell this Cultivation Method to you cheaply. It's not expensive, just 100 Low-grade Spirit Stones."

Manager Zhang said with a face full of smiles.

It was expensive, but not unacceptable.

Chen An glanced at the secret manual in the other person's hand, and his heart suddenly felt strange.

Because the name of the Cultivation Method was "Golden Finger".

Seeing Chen An's strange expression, Manager Zhang introduced the secret manual in his hand to him, saying:

"This 'Golden Finger' is a Dharma Spell. Its upper limit is not high, but it is easy to master and very suitable for cultivators in the early stages of Qi Refining to practice."

"Although it is only a basic Dharma Spell, as long as you master it proficiently, it is more than enough for you to protect yourself in this Cheap Area."

If I'm going to be scammed, then so be it!

Bought it!

After gritting his teeth and making the decision.

Chen An took out almost all his savings and exchanged money for goods with Manager Zhang.

"Fellow Daoist Chen, you aren't being honest. You were just worrying about next month's rent, and in the blink of an eye, you easily pull out 100 Low-grade Spirit Stones. That's not very kind."

Manager Zhang teased with a smile.

Chen An didn't chat with him much, just replied that he had matters to attend to at home, and politely sent him away.

After Manager Zhang left, Chen An didn't rush to flip through the Dharma Spell "Golden Finger" he had just bought.

Instead, he hurried into the Alchemy Room and took out all the poisons he usually refined.

Then he found a pile of wood, sharpened them, and stuck them upright under the courtyard wall, then mixed the previously retrieved poison with water and applied it to the tips, creating a simple anti-intrusion trap.

To be on the safe side, he also successively set up some small traps to further increase the difficulty of intrusion.

Afterwards, he scattered various dead branches and leaves around the perimeter of the courtyard, so that when someone tried to approach the house, it would emit a crisp sound of hard objects breaking, serving as an alarm for when an intrusion occurred.

This was not making a mountain out of a molehill.

Recalling the ill-intentioned gazes he had felt outside the house just now, Chen An felt very insecure, so he had to take precautions, otherwise he wouldn't be able to sleep soundly at night.

During this time, his little wife came out once, but Chen An called her back immediately, telling her to stay in the house and try not to come out if there was nothing to do.

The little wife was very obedient, didn't ask any curious questions, and immediately returned to the house well-behaved.

By the time all the traps were set, the sky had turned completely dark.

Chen An looked at the courtyard he had fully armed, his heart filled with a sense of security, and he could finally relax his constantly tense nerves a little.

Afterwards, he couldn't wait to find a place to sit down and carefully flip through the Dharma Spell he had just bought.

The first few pages of the book were entirely introduction.

It said that "Golden Finger", as the name suggests, is a Dharma Spell driven by the fingers.

After Entry, when the Dharma Spell is activated, the fingers will emit Gold Light and become as hard as steel, with enough power to pierce through stone.

After becoming Proficient, one can shoot the Gold Light from the fingers, achieving the accuracy of a bow and arrow from a hundred paces.

Further on, it is about being able to shoot further and more accurately.

"This Dharma Spell seems pretty good."

After reading the introduction on the first few pages, Chen An felt quite satisfied and immediately continued to flip through it.

The content of the following pages was all about how to practice Golden Finger.

The method of practice was very simple: just use your fingers to poke things everywhere.

The difficulty lay in how to find the feeling during the practice process, so that all the Spirit Power in the body could be gathered on the fingers, thereby erupting with terrifying power.

In the days that followed.

Apart from enjoying the pleasures of the flesh with his little wife in the room or refining pills in the Alchemy Room, Chen An spent all his remaining time poking things everywhere with his fingers.

Poking rice, poking mud, poking trees, poking stones... he poked whatever he saw.

Just like that, poking around all day long.

After poking until the rice was crushed, the mud collapsed, the trees were pierced, and the stones were shattered—

He finally mastered the Dharma Spell Golden Finger!

【Golden Finger: Entry (1/100)】

"Finally mastered it!"

Chen An couldn't suppress his excitement and immediately activated the Dharma Spell Golden Finger.

The next second, the index and middle fingers of his right hand, held together, immediately emitted a faint layer of Gold Light.

Although the light was weak, it appeared exceptionally bright in the middle of this deep night.

"It really is a Golden Finger."

Chen An looked at his glowing fingers, feeling a bit dumbfounded.

Then he immediately couldn't wait to test the strength of his Golden Finger, and poked fiercely at the ground beneath his feet.

"Pfft... pfft... pfft!"

An incredibly solid piece of yellow mud ground, under the constant ravaging of Chen An's fingers, instantly gained many deep and thick holes.

Good heavens, this Golden Finger is too strong!

Chen An became excited again, clearly feeling that he had transformed from a weakling into a Super Saiyan who could blow up stars at will.

Although this description might be a bit exaggerated, his combat power had indeed increased significantly at this moment.

"Rustle... rustle... rustle!"

In the silent deep night, a cautious but exceptionally distinct sound of footsteps suddenly rang out.

Someone was approaching the house!

And judging by the number of sounds, there was far more than one person!

At least five!

Chen An frowned, his nerves instantly tensed.

PS: Setting out my bowl, begging for monthly tickets and recommendation votes!