Hide in the world of gods and demons

Chapter 205 Recruitment
The harshest part of winter has now passed.

Spring is approaching.

Looking down from the sky, the snow on the ground is gradually melting, and the trees are sprouting tender buds.

Chen Li braved the cold wind, wanting to compose a poem, but found his writing skills limited, so he had to give up in frustration.

Soon, Stanley City came into view.

Light streaks danced across the sky, and a giant ship traversed the heavens.

He flew down from the sky early.

The road was a muddy mess, black silt mixed with sludge and animal excrement, which had been trampled and softened by the constant stream of pedestrians. After fermenting over the winter, it emitted a nauseating stench.

Chen Li held his breath and walked to the city gate without his feet touching the ground.

Just as they were about to enter the city, they suddenly heard someone mention the words "Artifact Gate," and they stopped in their tracks.

Chen Li was all too familiar with the artifact system.

When the three families besieged the Longevity Sect, one of them was the Artifact Sect.

As a result, they lost both their wife and their army, gaining nothing and even their sect's Golden Core ancestor being dragged down with the Longevity Sect's ancestor, perishing in the process.

Fortunately, this sect has deep roots.

It has a close relationship with the Fire Cloud Sect. It was originally founded by an elder of the Fire Cloud Sect and is almost like a branch. Not long after, it invited a Golden Core cultivator from the Fire Cloud Sect, which saved it from being wiped out by the surrounding sects.

Chen Li followed the sound and looked around.

A group of people were found gathered around a notice at the city gate, discussing it animatedly.

He walked over and discovered that it was actually a recruitment notice from the Artifacts Sect.

"...Recently, there has been a plague of demonic beasts. In order to eliminate the demonic beasts roaming the territory, we are recruiting a large number of Foundation Establishment cultivators."

As long as it serves in the equipment department for one year.

In the early stages of Foundation Establishment, you will receive three high-grade spirit stones; in the middle stages, eight; and in the later stages, thirty. You can pay in advance.

As for the corpses of the monsters, you may take them as you wish.

"Once the demonic beasts are eliminated, the Artifact Sect will offer further rewards..."

"A demonic beast..." Chen Li's heart sank slightly.

First, the True Sect was wiped out by the White Bird, then the Artifact Sect was plagued by monsters, and then there was the recent across-the-board price increase of medicinal materials.

Chen Li had a bad feeling:
"Something must have happened in the wilderness!"

Both the True Sect and the Artifact Sect are located on the frontier, at the westernmost edge of the desolate west, beyond which lies an endless wilderness and forest.

He couldn't help but feel a little fortunate that he had left that awful place early, otherwise he didn't know what dangers he might have encountered.

……

Back to the mansion.

Chen Li greeted Zhou Hong and Zhang Shuniang, then eagerly went to the quiet room, took out the book on "Longevity Technique," and began to read it.

The scrolls are not made of paper.

It was the hide of some kind of creature, perhaps because it was very old, covered with tiny cracks, looking quite ancient and full of the vicissitudes of time.

The complete cultivation method, from Qi Refining to Golden Elixir, is recorded in tiny characters the size of flies and mosquitoes.

"This should be the original Longevity Technique, but it only goes up to the Golden Core stage..."

Thinking of this, Chen Li couldn't help but chuckle: "They really are a bit too greedy."

Even with the current cultivation progress, if everything proceeds smoothly and without any setbacks, it would be decades before I could miraculously reach the Golden Core stage.

As for the Nascent Soul.

It is something that can only be hoped for but not obtained.

In a vast region like the entire Western Wasteland, there are over a hundred Golden Core sects and millions of cultivators, yet only the Fire Cloud Sect Master is a Nascent Soul cultivator. This demonstrates the immense difficulty of achieving Nascent Soul status, comparable to ascending to heaven. Luck, talent, and perseverance are all indispensable; it is beyond the reach of ordinary people.

He stopped his chaotic thoughts. Then, he began to silently recite the Golden Elixir section of the cultivation method.

Until you can recite it backwards.

This technique is crucial to his future path, so it's safest to keep it in mind.

If, like that unlucky fellow Xiao Yuan, it gets stolen or lost, then it will be too late to regret it.

Chen Li put the scroll back into his storage bag, secretly calculating in his mind:

"Now that we have the cultivation technique and spirit stones, all we need are the spells. Although it will probably take another two years to reach the fifth level of Foundation Establishment, we still need to collect them as soon as possible!"

The Zhenhuan Sect was just a small sect located on the outskirts. Even though he possessed the entire Zhenhuan Sect's library, he still couldn't find a single second-tier, level-five spell or talisman. There was a second-tier, level-seven lightning strike spell, but it was too far away to be of any use.

His strength was greater than that of ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators, making killing Foundation Establishment cultivators as easy as killing chickens.

It depends on two things: physical skills and techniques.

As for the method of controlling artifacts, it is completely rudimentary, probably even inferior to that of an average Qi Refining cultivator.

If magic is lost in the future, it will be like losing a leg.

The key issue is that this kind of magic is not easy to buy.

Firstly, it's too niche. Few people practice spells even in the Qi Refining stage, let alone Foundation Establishment cultivators. Without demand, there's no market.

Secondly, techniques at the Foundation Establishment stage and above are generally collected by major sects and rarely appear on the market; they can only be seen occasionally in auction houses.

Everything depends on luck.

"Sigh, being a rogue cultivator is so tough!"

Chen Li sighed heavily.

He couldn't help but open the attribute panel and look at the long row of spells.

Spiritual energy flick, rebuke, attraction spell, palm lightning...

These skills, which I had painstakingly practiced and which I once relied on, have become completely useless as my strength has grown, and are now only left to gather dust in the trash heap.

"It would be great if it could be further optimized!"

Chen Li shook his head with some regret, closed the attribute panel, and prepared to get up and leave the quiet room.

Suddenly, his heart skipped a beat:
"Wait, optimization..." Chen Li seemed to be deep in thought.
"If optimization doesn't work, then perhaps we could improve these spells?"

He has already learned quite a few magical techniques.

In total, there are thirty-one courses.

Moreover, the vast majority of them were leveled up to the maximum level.

In terms of understanding and mastering techniques, Chen Li was confident that even those Golden Core cultivators would have few who could match him.

These max-level spells were like scattered pearls in his mind, just missing a thread to connect them and form a relatively complete system of spell knowledge.

Nowadays, he can get the basics of most Qi Refining stage spells after a few tries and become proficient after a few repetitions. Even for a high-level second-tier, fourth-level spell like True Fire Technique, he only needs to learn it for a few days before he can successfully cast it.

"For me, creating a new spell out of thin air may not be possible, but adding to or modifying an existing one is not necessarily impossible. Most importantly, I have an illusion body to experiment with, so even if the spell goes out of control, there is no danger."

Thinking of this, Chen Li's heart pounded.

The more I think about it, the more feasible it becomes.

He reopened the properties panel.

Let's examine each spell one by one.

"The Spiritual Power Finger Flicking technique is too low-level and not worth improving. Moreover, the Secret Technique Zhou Tian Gang Jin can achieve a similar effect, but it is easier to use and can be activated faster."

"Similarly, the art of reprimanding also occupies the same niche as the art of mind control."

"Palm Thunder, a first-tier, level-four attack spell. I don't lack attack spells, so it's not a priority."

"All that's left is the Pull spell... Oh right, we should also add Flash."

While Flash Spell is only a Tier 1, Level 3 spell, reaching Tier 1, Level 7 at max level, it has always been quite useful, even against Foundation Establishment cultivators. But who could resist a more powerful and easier-to-use Super Flash Spell?