Chapter 96: A Lucky Encounter With a Woman by the River
Over the course of those 10 days, Jian Chen had hunted many Class 3 Magical Beasts. Although there weren’t as many beasts as when he had hunted in Kargath Forest, the profits he had received were still high. He had about 20 Class 3 Monster Cores, which was only a little bit more than how many Class 2 Monster Cores he had. Considering how fast he had initially cultivated the 3 Class 3 Monster Cores from before, he would probably finish cultivating the rest of the cores in around seven days.
What Jian Chen didn’t know however, was that since he was traveling alone in the Magical Beast Mountain Range, magical beasts would come upon him more frequently than if he was in a large group of mercenaries. This was because many magical beasts on the mountain range had an extremely sensitive sense of smell and high vigilance. Since they had lived their entire lives on the mountain range, their ability to track footprints was remarkable, and so if they had come across a strong group with many footprints, then the magical beasts would carefully run far away from them. So although the magical beasts did not have any intellect, their honed survival had ingrained themselves deep within their minds.
But if they were to come across a weak or single person that they were sure they could kill and eat, then the previously hiding magical beasts would come out and search for that person. They wouldn’t need to use an extraordinary amount of energy to chase after and hunt their prey, so since Jian Chen was by himself in this place, the chance of encountering a magical beast was greatly increased.
If it wasn’t for the fact that Jian Chen’s “Spirit” was strong enough to detect movements around him, he would had been beaten black and blue by the sneak attacks from some magical beasts.
The next day, the crosslegged Jian Chen finally opened his eyes as he awoke from his cultivation on top of a tree branch, and jumped down onto the ground. Dusting himself off, he took a look at the monster cores he had stored within his Space Belt. During this short amount of time, he had collected a decent amount of monster cores, and even though he had used many cores to cultivate, his Space Ring still had plenty of cores in stock.
“There are still 50 Class 2 Monster Cores and 120 Class 3 Monster Cores.” Checking the inventory within the Space Belt, Jian Chen nodded his head in satisfaction. Currently he was using 20 Class 2 Monster Cores to cultivate with per night, and his Space Belt only had enough for two days worth of cultivation at most. All of the other monster cores added together would last for over 10 days.
“Eh, I still have 2 Class 4 Monster Cores; one is from the prize given by Kargath Academy, and another is what father gave to me. Since the Class 4 Monster Core has way more energy inside it than a Class 3 Monster Core has, I don’t know how long a single Class 4 Monster Core will last me.” Jian Chen thought. He didn’t realize that the amount of monster cores within his possession was considered a massive pile of wealth. To Jian Chen, it was just a way to sustain his cultivation for a mere 10 days.
Looking up at the bright sun overhead, he immediately discerned his location and began to walk off towards the outskirts of the Magical Beast Mountain Range without even stopping to eat breakfast.
By this point, the amount of time Jian Chen had spent in the mountain range was quite long. The monster cores in his Space Ring were more than enough for him to cultivate with for a few days, but the supplies he had on hand were about to run out. So for that reason, Jian Chen needed to return to Wake City to replenish his supplies. Not only that, but he also needed to handle the Silver Striped Golden Snake within his Space Ring; otherwise if left alone long enough, who knew what type of situation would occur? For example, the body might rot away. Jian Chen wasn’t too sure about such things, since he hadn’t read about them in the books. So for the sake of achieving his goal, Jian Chen wanted to get the Silver Striped Golden Snake matter over with as soon as possible.
Throughout the mountain range was the scent of bloodshed, something magical beasts were especially sensitive to. It would be incredibly unwise if he were to keep the body of the Silver Striped Golden Snake here, so Jian Chen decided to take it back to Wake City and plan from there.
The Magical Beast Mountain Range had plenty of dense tall grass and just as many swamps. It was hard to detect them just by looking, but as Jian Chen traveled on the road, he kept an eye out everywhere. During the past days he had spent in the mountain range, he had already sunk into the swamps a few times before ultimately escaping from them.
Under the guidance of the blazing sun, Jian Chen managed to leave the Magical Beast Mountain Range without deviating from the path too much. After walking for two days, he finally exited the depths of the mountain range and entered the flat lands of the forest. Within those two days, Jian Chen’s Space Belt had gained even more Class 2 Monster Cores.
Taking in a deep breath of the fresh air within the forest, Jian Chen tilted his head to look at the clothes he had fashioned from animal hides with a grim smile. With his current appearance, he looked like a beggar. It was a shame that there wasn’t much water within the mountain range, making it impossible for Jian Chen to wash the stink off of himself.
Jian Chen hadn’t forgotten about the river at the outskirts of the forest. Throwing off his animal hide clothes, he leapt into the depths of the water and began to cleanse himself of the grime he had collected.
The amount of body odor and dirt he had amassed over the past days had already covered his body like armor, making him feel sick everytime he moved. He wasn’t comfortable at all with the sticky yet greasy feeling on his skin, but he had felt restraint while in the Magical Beast Mountain Range. Yet as soon as the river came into view, he had immediately thrown off that restraint and leapt into the water.
Jian Chen wrapped the Space Belt around his neck as he began to knead at his entire body. His arms continued to rub everywhere as the water nearby him began turn black with contamination.
Even after washing himself in the river, he didn’t leave the waters. Instead, he floated on his back and slowly closed his eyes, allowing the river to wash over him. For the first time in a long time, his mind was at rest as he relaxed under the pleasure of the icy cold waters. The past few days had been taxing on his mind, as he traveled within the mountain range. Now that his mind was at rest, the very depths of his soul felt free, letting Jian Chen finally sleep in peace.
Jian Chen closed his eyes as he laid back in the water and took a gentle bath from the cold water from the river and the warm rays from the sun. His naked body bobbed up and down the river as he floated along with the waves.
As the river flowed, he began to float towards the direction of Wake City, letting Jian Chen have a free ride for a while. So while he was traveling for free, he could take in a bit of enjoyment from the ride.
After a while, Jian Chen completely lost track of time. He didn’t know how long it had been since he was traveling down the river, but at that moment, Jian Chen’s head bumped into something soft. The moment he felt contact, Jian Chen was brought back to awareness and focused on whatever he had hit. Whatever he had hit, it was moving.
“An animal!” Jian Chen thought in his drowsy state of mind. In an instant, he sobered up and reactivated his “Spirit” to an active level. The surrounding environment became known to Jian Chen as he instantly changed from sluggish state to his concentrated state. His previously closed eyes snapped wide open to reveal his bright eyes. Immediately, he flipped his body over from his laid back position to be on his legs. The water rose to his waist, leaving only the top half of his body above the water.
As he completed that action, the face of a person came into view. It was the face of a woman that could cause a city to fight over her and could even be considered to be a snowy white face of perfection. The five facial features on her face were perfectly matched up to the point that even a picky person wouldn’t be able to find a fault within them. She was like a fairy that had descended onto the mortal world.
The woman did not look all that old, roughly around ** years old. Within her sparkling white eyes were beautiful and dark pupils, she sluggishly stared back at Jian Chen’s eyes. Below, her considerably big ** were exposed to the air, and were only separated from Jian Chen by a narrow margin.
“What terrible luck! To think that there was a woman taking a bath here.” Jian Chen thought immediately as his face began to darken. Thanks to his previous experiences, he knew just what was happening here.
He didn’t think that while drifting away on the river to relax after wandering the Magical Beast Mountain Range, he would stumble across a woman bathing in the very same river he was in.
“Ah!”
Just as Jian Chen realized what was happening, the small eyes of the woman in front of him opened wide as she too realized what had just happened, and a scream came out of her mouth.
“You stinking scoundrel!”
Her previously sluggish eyes turned red hot with anger and shame as she screamed and swung her arm rapidly at Jian Chen’s chest.
“Bang!”
Before Jian Chen could even react, the woman’s palm had already hit his chest with a muffled sound. Jian Chen was then sent flying backwards over the waters as a small stream of blood came pouring out of his mouth.