Chapter 1040: Chapter 104: Secret Cultivation

“This here is our new home!”

Su Ziling was undoubtedly the happiest about moving into the new home. She grabbed Wang Chen’s hand, running around inside and outside.

She was as joyful as a child.

During the past period, Su Ziling had been living with Wang Chen in the Underwater Cave Abode. In the recent year, she had been home alone. In terms of living environment, nowhere could be as comfortable and pleasant as this place!

This Immortal Mansion was divided into front and rear sections, with a front yard, a backyard, and side rooms that could easily accommodate more than a dozen people.

It felt too spacious for just the two of them.

Moreover, the backyard was very large, with a mountain spring feeding pavilions over water and ponds that were home to dozens of koi fish.

Wang Chen was very satisfied after inspecting the place.

The tens of thousands spent on Middle Spirit Stones were not in vain.

The only problem was that the previous owner had moved out all the furniture and household items, leaving every room empty.

Not even a stool to sit on.

It wasn’t that the other party was stingy; rather, it was the suggestion of the real estate agency.

After all, the previous master of the Immortal Mansion had met with an unexpected demise, an abrupt death, and keeping items that he had used was considered inauspicious.

Wang Chen didn’t really care, but felt it would be better to redecorate everything anew.

The only thing that wasn’t moved out was a set of Defensive Arrays that had been installed in the house.

There’s a regulation in Luodu Immortal City that ordinary homes can’t use Spirit Gathering Arrays, but setting up Defensive Arrays is allowed.

Even though the Immortal City is very safe, having Defensive Arrays protect the home made it even safer.

Wang Chen planned to rearrange or upgrade this set of Arrays in a few days.

“Let’s go.”

He said to Su Ziling: “We’re going to buy some things. The task of decorating our new home is up to you!”

The central and southern parts of Luodu Immortal City were considered commercial areas, with high-rise buildings everywhere, and spacious roads lined with shops. Cultivators bustling about were as common as carps crossing the river.

Wang Chen was there to shop but also to familiarize himself with the environment.

All these years he had been drifting from place to place and had never really settled down. Now that he had moved to settle in Luodu Immortal City, spending most of his fortune, he really did not want to run away again any time soon.

It was too tiring and there was no sense of security.

Wang Chen’s plan was to lie low here for a good ten or eight years until he advanced from Golden Core to Nascent Soul, then consider his next steps.

He took Su Ziling from shop to shop, getting to know the local price levels on one hand, and on the other hand, buying and selling some items to recuperate financially.

Interestingly, Wang Chen saw fridges for sale in several shops.

As well as ice cream and popsicles!

These knock-off products have even made their way to Luodu Immortal City.

Sadly, with no patent laws in this world, Wang Chen, as a Golden Core True Person, didn’t have the power to defend his “inventions”.

There was nothing to do but sigh.

Also, predictably, there were branches of the Four Seas Commerce Association and Myriad Treasures Pavilion here.

Wang Chen conveniently managed to dispose of a batch of “illicit goods”, sold off a few Magical Treasures that he did not need, as well as Pills, Talismans, and the like.

The purchasing prices offered by the Four Seas Commerce Association and Myriad Treasures Pavilion were actually quite low, but these two establishments asked no questions about the origins of the goods, making the transactions very reliable.

It wasn’t until the lamps were lit at dusk that he and Su Ziling returned home with satisfaction.

They bought all the necessary tables, chairs, and stools. Wang Chen let Su Ziling arrange and fuss over them, while he himself pondered the future.

The cost of living in this Luodu Immortal City was truly high, even higher than that of Thousand Star Immortal City where he had stayed before.

Although Wang Chen was not lacking Spirit Stones now, idly depleting them without earning more would not sustain them for long.

Especially the Cangqing Ring in his hand, to fully replenish it with Spiritual Energy for another descent to the Lower Realm, it would consume Spirit Stones in an astoundingly vast number.

In fact, the Cangqing Ring was constantly absorbing the surrounding space’s Spiritual Energy, but if it were to rely solely on its own recovery, Wang Chen estimated that it would take no less than a hundred years to fully charge.

Where could he wait a hundred years!

Moreover, the flow of time in the Haotian Realm was ten times faster than that in the Cangqing Domain; a year here was equivalent to ten years there, and a hundred years meant a thousand-year gap. The very thought of it was horrifying.

Forget a hundred years; if he were to descend after just ten or twenty years, he speculated that Wu Zhao and Xi Yun would have already turned to dust.

Only that separate incarnation of his would not perish.

And to change the time flow in the Cangqing Domain, Wang Chen would need to gain complete control over this small world.

That was even more distant.

Now, it wasn’t even worth considering!

So, in these coming years, he couldn’t just focus on emerging without any input; while living in seclusion and diligently cultivating, he also had to consider the inflow of Spirit Stones.

He had to plan carefully and not make decisions on a whim, after all, Luodu was an Earth-Level Immortal City; here, Golden Core cultivators were nothing remarkable, and only Nascent Soul cultivators could barely stir up a bit of clout.

Thinking it over, starting with Artifact Refining was the way to go!

Wang Chen sighed and, after notifying Su Ziling, made his way to the Cultivation Chamber.

Although this Immortal Mansion could not set up a Spirit Gathering Array, the Spiritual Energy inside the Cultivation Chamber was abundant enough to support him, a High-Order Golden Core cultivator, with no significant issues.

For someone like Su Ziling, a “lesser cultivator” of the Purple Mansion level, any room would suffice.

The Cultivation Chamber was also the nerve center of the Immortal Mansion’s Defensive Array; first, Wang Chen reconditioned the entire Array by cleansing it of the original owner’s aura and imprints and then refined two new Array Tokens.

He gave one Array Token to Su Ziling, facilitating her entry and control over the household.

Next to the Cultivation Chamber was a secret treasury, but it was completely empty, all of its items cleared out.

Wang Chen planned to convert it into a Refinement Room.

In Luodu, a city where every inch of land was worth its weight in gold, the prices for Immortal Mansions were staggering, to say nothing of shops.

Wang Chen had inquired with a real estate agency before but had immediately abandoned the idea of purchasing a shop.

It was ridiculously expensive.

Without his own storefront, he could only look for reliable businesses to partner with for sales.

However, to figure out which Spiritual Artifacts and Magical Treasures were best-sellers, he needed to conduct further market research.

Additionally, he ought to enhance his Artifact Refining skills, creating unique signature products to compete with others.

These were secondary, though; at present, Wang Chen’s primary focus was on elevating the level of his main Cultivation Technique to narrow the gap with his Cultivation Realm.

Upon reflection, he truly wished he could split himself in two!

Indeed, the best solution was to refine an external incarnation, not the kind of soul-possession incarnation in the Cangqing Domain, but a real physical body.

The problem was, refining a true external incarnation required Nascent Soul Cultivation Level!

No more thinking!

Wang Chen set aside his distracting thoughts and began today’s cultivation practice in the chamber.

In the days that followed, he spent most of his time at home in seclusion, occasionally going out with Su Ziling to sample some local delicacies and incidentally acquire cultivation resources.

Living in the Immortal City, Wang Chen led a hermit-like existence.

This city-bound hermit life was very different from that of a Loose Cultivator in the wilderness, it was much more fulfilling and relaxed.

Most importantly, it was safe and stable.

His main Cultivation Technique, the Innate Five Elements Skill, progressed swiftly with constant dedicated cultivation and consistent enhancements.

One tier, two tiers, three tiers, advancing towards the fourth and fifth tiers!

——-

The second update is delivered.