Chapter 66

Using his mana, Wang Chen activated the Geng Metal Finger.

The sword-formed fingers of his right hand suddenly emitted a faint glow, as if they had been plated with a layer of gold.

Beautiful yet dangerous!

Wang Chen’s Geng Metal Finger had been cultivated to the Great Achievement realm and had once pierced through an enemy’s body protection magic.

It was arguably the most lethal skill he possessed.

However, the Geng Metal Finger’s damage to evil wraiths was noticeably weaker, inferior to the Fire Crow Technique by more than just a notch.

But Wang Chen was now using the Geng Metal Finger, not to practice his proficiency or to attack a target.

He wanted to see if the power of Geng Metal could affect the Ruyi Golden Needle.

As soon as he had accumulated the finger’s energy, the Ruyi Golden Needle suddenly produced a strong suction force, voraciously absorbing the Geng Metal power transformed from the Five Elements Mana!

“Hiss-”

Wang Chen instantly took in a breath of cold air, his two fingers trembling uncontrollably.

The malevolence of this equipment far surpassed his expectations!

Moreover, the golden needles were now tightly adhering to his fingers, impossible to shake off.

It felt as if his very essence and blood were being drained away!

Having no other choice, Wang Chen could only desperately stimulate the power of Geng Metal to satisfy the Ruyi Golden Needle’s demands.

Intuition told him that if he didn’t do this, he would be drained dry!

Luckily, Wang Chen had advanced to the fifth tier in Qi Cultivation, making his mana now one-third more robust than before.

So he endured for quite some time.

However, the Ruyi Golden Needle, like a gluttonous beast starving for a thousand years, showed no signs of being satiated.

Wang Chen had no choice but to take out the Qi Recovery Pills from his Storage Bag, swallowing them one after another.

At the same time, he operated the Five Elements Skill in order to accelerate the absorption of the pill’s force, barely managing to hold on.

Not until he had consumed an entire bottle of ten Qi Recovery Pills did the Ruyi Golden Needle stop devouring the power of Geng Metal, as signs of damage began to appear in his Dantian and meridians.

“Cough cough!”

By then, Wang Chen’s face was pale as paper, his eyes lifeless and cold sweat streaming down.

He appeared completely drained!

In truth, that wasn’t far from reality, as his Dantian was now empty, devoid of any mana.

Meanwhile, the Ruyi Golden Needle, still clamped between his fingers, had completely shed its surface rust, revealing a pure gold texture and radiance, its inner charm exuding flowing lights!

It was as if an ugly duckling had turned into a swan, a stunning beauty lifting her veil.

Bursting forth with an incomparably brilliant light!

Yet Wang Chen had no time to admire the transformed beauty of this equipment; his attention was wholly absorbed by a string of information forcibly imprinted into his Sea of Consciousness.

This message came from the Ruyi Golden Needle.

A set of tricks for controlling the needle—the Divided Spirit Implanting Thought technique!

Nevertheless, the current Wang Chen simply didn’t have the energy or the focus to learn and master this controlling Dharma Technique.

He put the Ruyi Golden Needle, which had nearly taken his life, into his Storage Bag and then began to cultivate his Qi and restore his spirit to harmonize the Dantian.

For fear of damaging his Taoist Foundation.

Despite all this, Wang Chen was still overwhelmed with joy inside.

A Dharma Technique included!

This Ruyi Golden Needle was definitely not an ordinary magic artifact; no common magic artifact could possibly be this powerful.

If, perchance, it were a second-tier Spiritual Artifact, it would truly mean he had stumbled upon an incredible bargain!

The original owner of the Ruyi Golden Needle might have known it was a treasure but, lacking the knack to activate it, could only store it in the Purple Blood Sandalwood Box as a collectible.

Now Wang Chen had incidentally gained the benefit.

It took him an entire night to resolve the side effects from consuming a large number of Qi Recovery Pills and to restore his Essence, Qi, and Spirit to their normal state.

The next morning, Wang Chen went to Cloud Mountain City.

A man’s word is his bond, having promised to bring back an Innate Pill for Brother Wei in the afternoon; he was determined to fulfill that promise.

But Wang Chen had not sold Brother Wei’s belongings.

Instead, he went to the Outer Sect’s Merit Affairs Hall and exchanged all his Merit Points in one go.

He got one Innate Pill, three Essence Blood Protection Talismans, three Essence Blood Escape Talismans, and six Essence Blood Storage Talismans.

There’s no need to elaborate on the Innate Pill.

And these Talismans, named “Essence Blood,” were all magical talismans that even mortals could use!

The cultivation world also had numerous mortals.

They were born with an imbalance in the Five Elements, lacking the strength to defy fate and change destiny; at best, they could become martial arts masters.

Many of them were of good background and had their own needs for protection.

Thus, Essence Blood Talismans were born.

As long as one smeared fresh blood on an Essence Blood Talisman, it could be activated, although its power was not as strong as a cultivator’s talisman.

But in critical moments, it could still be a life-saving tool.

The Essence Blood Storage Talisman was a one-time storage talisman that couldn’t compare with a Storage Bag, but it still had its convenient uses.

It’s worth mentioning that some Essence Blood Talismans had spread to the mortal realm, where they were often used by people to swindle and deceive.

Wang Chen exchanged Merit Points for Innate Pills and Essence Blood Talismans mainly because the Spirit Stones, Talismans, and that Magic Sword he took from Wei Xiong’s Storage Bag were useful to him.

It was more cost-effective to exchange these items with Merit Points rather than selling them and using Spirit Stones to buy others.

He had gained a huge advantage from the Ruyi Golden Needle and felt obliged to give back to Wei Xiong somehow.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to live with himself.

In the afternoon, as promised, Wei Xiong once again visited Wang Chen’s house.

Wang Chen handed over the Innate Pills and Essence Blood Talismans to him.

Wei Xiong was greatly surprised, “So many?”

He certainly knew about Essence Blood Talismans and how to use them.

Initially, Wei Xiong thought it would be great to get just one Innate Pill. He didn’t expect Wang Chen to also include twelve Essence Blood Talismans as a bonus.

Moreover, all of the Essence Blood Talismans were very practical.

They were exactly what he needed.

This Innate Martial Artist was immediately deeply touched!

“Not at all,”

Wang Chen shook his head and said, “The box you gave me…”

“Immortal Master Wang!”

Without a second thought, Wei Xiong interrupted Wang Chen and said earnestly, “No matter what’s inside the box, that’s your serendipity; you truly don’t need to tell me.”

He bowed with clasped hands, “Immortal Master is kind and righteous, I, Wei Xiong, am deeply grateful.”

Wang Chen was speechless.

Though he had no intention of revealing the truth.

But with the other party putting it that way, what else could he say?

“Brother Wei, if you encounter any difficulties in the future, you can come to me again, and I will try my best to help you,”

Having gained this opportunity, he also gave Wei Xiong a promise of assistance.

Wang Chen now felt completely free of any guilt!

After seeing off Wei Xiong, he couldn’t help but take out the Ruyi Golden Needle again.

This Magic Artifact had transformed into a dark golden hue and was no longer as dazzling as when it was first activated.

It suited Wang Chen’s preference for keeping a low profile perfectly.

He clamped the Ruyi Golden Needle between his fingers again and injected a thread of Geng Metal energy into it.

The Ruyi Golden Needle immediately “came to life”.

The equipment seemed to have a life of its own, nimbly circling around Wang Chen’s index finger.

It transformed into a simple, dark gold ring.

Placed on his finger.

With a thought from Wang Chen, he suddenly thrust his sword finger forward.

A fierce Geng Metal Qi shot out, enveloped around a fine and sharp Golden Needle.

It instantly pierced through the solid wall in front of him!

The next moment, the Ruyi Golden Needle, which had flown out of the house, returned like lightning.

It circled around his right index finger once more and solidified back into a ring!

Wang Chen laughed heartily.

His joy was unspeakable.

——–

The second update is here.

PS: Thanks to friends like “Popo,” “Katsuki Katsuma,” and others for their rewarding support. Thank you, everyone; there are too many to name individually; please forgive me.