Chapter 137 - 136: If You Work a Little Harder, I Can Work a Little Less

Chapter 137: Chapter 136: If You Work a Little Harder, I Can Work a Little Less

’The map doesn’t mention that the water from this stream can be exchanged for Contribution Points.’

’It seems its effects must dissipate quickly once it’s taken outside, losing its properties. That’s why it has no exchange value.’

Wu Chen stood on the bank, once again examining the map scroll.

He could tell just by looking at the map; the entry for the stream only mentioned that its stones could be exchanged, with no further description.

He glanced back toward the curtain of light where he had entered the mystic realm.

’Besides, this place is only twenty or thirty miles from the light curtain. If this stream really had anything good, it would’ve been turned upside down and picked clean long ago, during all the previous times the realm has opened.’

’As for the stream’s source, there’s probably no point in exploring it either.’

Having come to this realization, Wu Chen put away his map and decided against heading upstream to investigate the source of the stream’s strange properties or to see if any treasures were hidden there.

’Perhaps this miraculous land simply gave birth to such a stream, and it has nothing to do with any treasure.’

With that thought, he leaped over the ten-foot-wide stream and continued deeper into the mystic realm.

STOMP! STOMP! STOMP!

After crossing the stream and traveling for another ten miles, the surrounding woods grew denser. The ground was covered in soft, decaying leaves, and the faint smell of blood hung in the air.

’It seems the deadly dangers start from here.’

’I wonder if these people were killed fighting each other over herbs and treasures, or if they encountered dangers native to these woods.’

As Wu Chen walked on, pondering the source of the bloody scent wafting through the forest, his left hand, which was holding his saber, suddenly shot up.

CLANG!

A crisp metallic sound rang out from his scabbard, followed by a burst of sparks.

Wu Chen looked up at the red, blade-like appendage his scabbard had blocked and recognized the creature.

A Copper-Arm Mantis!

Hiding among the branches directly over his head was a foot-long Copper-Arm Mantis!

If he hadn’t been paying attention, he would have mistaken it for an ordinary tree branch.

Anyone walking carelessly beneath it would surely have been decapitated.

Seeing its prey block the first strike, the hidden Copper-Arm Mantis quickly retracted its copper-hued twin blades and slashed at Wu Chen’s neck once more.

SMACK!

Wu Chen flicked his scabbard up, swatting it with deceptive lightness.

The mantis, still concealed on the protruding branch, was hit dead-on.

Its inverted triangular head, significantly larger than a grown man’s thumb, was sent flying by the precise strike. It landed in the distant weeds, its mandibles still snapping open and shut.

It was as if it were trying to say, ’No vision, no footsteps... you know you’re hacking!’

SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

Even though its head had been swatted off, the Copper-Arm Mantis’s body didn’t immediately fall still.

It had incredible vitality, and its body remained firmly clamped to the branch.

Its two arms, each nearly a foot long and as deadly as any normal blade, flailed wildly in a final, futile act of resistance.

’Copper-Arm Mantis, five Contribution Points apiece. Not bad.’

Wu Chen swung his scabbard again, striking the mantis’s body. Only then did it go completely still, its limp form sliding off the branch and dropping into the storage bag he had already opened.

’I remember this thing is very popular with those two Alchemy sects from the Hundred Herbs Hall. It’s a key ingredient in pills for treating physical injuries.’

Wu Chen tucked the storage bag into his robes and continued on his way, not pausing for a mere five Contribution Points.

However, in the distance, a group of four or five disciples from the Blood Slaughter Sect watched Wu Chen bag the Copper-Arm Mantis, and their eyes lit up with greed.

"That guy just bagged a Copper-Arm Mantis! That’s worth five Contribution Points—fifty pieces of silver!"

One of them said with a dark expression, "Let’s go. We’ll follow him!"

"Boss, he’s carrying a storage bag, and he effortlessly dealt with a mantis that can slice off a man’s head and arms. I’m afraid he might be the direct disciple of an Elder..."

Another whispered cautiously, "We can’t afford to mess with him!"

"Can’t mess with him?"

The leader snorted. "What’s there to be afraid of inside the mystic realm? No matter how strong he is, he’s still in the Jade Bone Realm. One good slash, and he’ll die just like the rest of us!"

"Besides, if he has a storage bag, he must have plenty of other good stuff on him. If we pull this off, we’ll be rich!"

The allure of riches is a powerful motivator. At their leader’s words, the group’s fear mostly vanished.

"Besides, we don’t even have to do anything. We just need to quietly follow this ’direct disciple.’"

The leader of the small group sneered. "He’ll clear a path for us, allowing us to venture deeper into the mystic realm. When he eventually runs into a crisis and gets himself killed, we can just take his storage bag!"

At these words, the eyes of the other group members lit up.

That’s right! Not only would they have some free labor to clear a path, which might allow them to travel an extra twenty or thirty miles...

...but inside the mystic realm, even a direct disciple could die.

All they had to do was follow along and do nothing to pick up the spoils. What was not to like?

With that thought, they began following Wu Chen’s tracks, waiting for their chance to scavenge the leftovers.

STOMP! STOMP! STOMP!

Wu Chen, of course, heard the footsteps and knew someone was following him.

He didn’t know their intentions, however. He just assumed they were heading in the same direction and taking advantage of his ability to slay the mantises to make their own journey easier.

He thought with some exasperation, ’Then you’re in for a bad time!’

Sure enough.

No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than a series of screams erupted from the forest behind him, punctuated by the clash of hastily drawn weapons.

Before long, the sounds died down, replaced by the SQUELCHING of flesh being torn apart, a sound that drifted over along with an even stronger stench of blood.

’If I were in the Meridian Passage Realm, I might have cleared out all these mantises one by one. I’d earn some Contribution Points, and it would make things more convenient for you guys.’

Wu Chen shook his head. ’But at my current realm, I truly can’t be bothered with these so-called Iron-Arm and Copper-Arm Mantises.’

He was naturally unwilling to waste storage bag space on such a meager amount of Contribution Points.

He had plenty of storage bags, but he wasn’t a junk collector.

If he hadn’t wanted to see how this mantis differed from those in the outside world, he would have just used his Body Technique to go around the first one he encountered, instead of drawing his saber to strike it down.

Wu Chen glanced behind him, then picked up his pace as he moved through the forest.

Even without fully utilizing his ’Spirit Swallow Plucks a Leaf: Momentum’ Body Technique, his movements caused the hidden spider-mantises lurking among the branches to miss every time they struck.

His figure was often already more than ten feet away before these vicious insects could even react, leaving them to slash wildly at empty air.

Wu Chen estimated that he walked for about fifteen miles through the woods before the trees in the distance began to thin out. The oppressive, foliage-shrouded environment started to brighten.

’Before entering the mystic realm, it looked like there were at least ten thousand people, big and small. But I’ve only been in here a short while, and I can barely see a soul.’

Wu Chen scanned his surroundings with a lazy posture, finding very few people around.

Of course, this also served to show just how vast the mystic realm was, and that everyone else must have rushed toward the deepest regions, where the best treasures were located.

’This is good, too.’

He nodded in satisfaction. ’The harder all of you work, the less I have to!’

He continued at a slow pace, and after another mile or two, he heard the intense sound of clashing weapons up ahead.

’Such a fierce clash of weapons!’

Wu Chen listened intently, rubbing his chin as his eyes lit up. ’That’s the sound of a fight involving cultivators at the Meridian Passage Realm or higher!’

If cultivators at the Meridian Passage Realm and above were fighting, it naturally meant the prize they were fighting over was incredibly valuable.

’I don’t care what you’re fighting over. It—along with both your heads—will be mine!’

This time, Wu Chen activated his Body Technique to its full potential, his physical body and Qi and Blood swelling to their absolute peak.

After just a dozen breaths, he rounded a patch of woodland and saw two figures locked in a deadly struggle.

"Huh? Isn’t that the girl named Xue Hongling?"

Wu Chen followed the sound and recognized one of the two figures locked in combat. It was Xue Hongling, the young woman who had been brought into the sect by her master.

One of the combatants was shouting nonstop while they fought, apparently trying to retrieve something extremely important that they were determined to take back from Xue Hongling.

But the wind from their blades howled around them, and the clash of their weapons was incessant. The fight was so fierce that Wu Chen couldn’t quite make out what was being said.

’Who cares what they’re fighting over. In the end, all the good things in this mystic realm are mine!’ With that thought, Wu Chen strode toward the two of them.