Chapter 50: Li Shu

Zhang Yuanliao had died.

Felled by the blade of Su Chen.

Because Zhang Yuanliao had been poisoned by the Qi Obstructing Powder, killing him had not used too much of Su Chen’s energy. However, Su Chen still felt uncomfortable about murdering another man.

This wasn’t his first time killing someone, but when he killed Lin Xie, all of his attention had been focused on escaping. He had no time to contemplate what he had done.

Although his opponent had been a scoundrel, and although there was no one who would know about his actions, Su Chen’s still felt extremely uncomfortable in his heart.

“You’ll get used to it,” Su Chen muttered to himself as he held onto a tree.

He stared at the corpse for no reason other than to force himself to get used to the scene of a person drenched with blood.

After a long while, the glistening red of the blood was no longer as piercing to Su Chen as it was before. Su Chen then walked over, and pulled a ring off of Zhang Yuanliao’s hand.

Upon retrieving the ring, Su Chen first tried infusing a strand of Origin Energy into it, only to see that there was no response. Upon further inspection, Su Chen noticed a small mechanism on the face of the ring, and pressed it. A separate, independent space appeared before his eyes, confirming his suspicions; this was indeed a spatial ring.

The area the ring connected to was not large, totalling about three cubic meters. Inside were a few changes of clothes, some bottles of wine, a little bit of pure gold and some medicinal vials. One of them Su Chen had seen before; it was the Qi Obstructing Powder that Zhang Yuanliao had given to him. Finally, the last item was a demonic face mask.

Indeed, it was a spatial storage ring. However, it was just a regular spatial ring with no Origin Energy storage capabilities. Su Chen sighed.

The first time he had met Zhang Yuanliao, he discovered that he did not carry a bag with him. Thus, Su Chen suspected that he had a spatial storage ring. When drinking wine, Zhang Yuanliao had taken the Qi Obstructing Powder directly out from his spatial ring to poison Su Chen, which had verified his guesses.

Unfortunately, it was just a ring without Origin Energy storage capabilities.

A ring lacking Origin Energy storage capabilities was generally produced using the lowest-quality ingredients. It could only store regular goods, and could not contain anything with Origin Energy. If anything with Origin Energy was placed inside, such as Origin Tools, Origin Stones, or even other Origin-related ingredients, they would all affect the stability of the vacant space, causing it to fall apart. These rings were known colloquially as storage rings, to differentiate them from the higher quality spatial rings that could store Origin Energy Tools and ingredients. Su Chen’s act of infusing a small quantity of Origin Energy was already a risky tactic, but thankfully the amount that he infused was very low, and he had done it to get rid of the seal, so nothing bad happened.

Because of this, this kind of storage ring could not be sealed. Anybody could open it directly by pressing the mechanism on its face.

However, even this kind of ring, where the space was small, there were many limitations to what could be stored, and there was no protection was still quite valuable. Based on what Su Chen knew, they sold for no less than six hundred Origin Stones.

In the past, Su Chen had wanted to buy one, but after careful consideration he felt that having six hundred Origin Stones was more important to him. Buying a flashy ring was not worth using the money for instead of to increase his strength. Although it was slightly inconvenient to carry a large sack everywhere, it was better than lacking an Origin Skill in a critical moment. When he had saved enough money, then he would consider the matter of buying one once more.

In the end, he hadn’t even saved up much money before a storage ring appeared in his hands.

Su Chen inspected the ring for a moment to confirm that there were no hidden traces of Zhang Yuanliao’s imprint remaining. In reality, this kind of product that would constantly change hands was not great for leaving behind any imprints. Thus, he received it.

It just so happened that he had obtained quite a few beast hides over the past few days. He placed them all inside, and suddenly felt much less encumbered.

Of course, Su Chen didn’t put everything in there. He kept his most commonly used items in the sack he carried, but the formerly large sack had become a small sack. People glancing at him would believe that he was not likely to have a storage ring, and they would not be covetous of him. Su Chen then camouflaged the Black Streak Battle Blade and covered the Amethyst Battle Armor with some clothing, then left. Only the Cloud-Stepping Battle Boots were slightly problematic. The Origin Skill of these boots did not allow anything to cover it up. Otherwise, the circulation of Origin Qi would be disturbed, so Su Chen could only leave the item as it originally was.

Upon finishing these tasks, Su Chen put on the demonic face mask, then headed for the Halcyon Gorge.

On this trip to the Halcyon Gorge, there would be many people and many eyes. Su Chen did not have the confidence that he could pretend to be a blind person the entire time. To prevent others from discovering that Su Chen was not blind, the best method was to hide his identity.

This mask would be quite useful.

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The Halcyon Gorge was located in the eastern forests of the Scarlet Mountain Range. It was about a three-day journey from the Scarlet Grand Canyon.

The Scarlet Grand Canyon was the dividing line between the human race and the beast race. South of the canyon was the territory of the human race, while north of the canyon belonged to the beast race.

Since humans settled here, Origin Qi Scholars only conducted activities in the southern area of the Scarlet Mountain Range. The Vicious Beasts that they hunted were also ones that had gone through the canyon.

No one dared to go to the north. That place was the heaven for the beasts, but hell for humans.

For it to be three days away from the Scarlet Grand Canyon meant that the Halcyon Gorge was in the middle of the eastern side of the Scarlet Mountain Range.

That place had more Vicious Beasts, and their levels would also be higher.

After walking for two days, Su Chen finally arrived at the Halcyon Gorge.

The gorge was covered in a verdant, dark green. The entire mountain was covered in dense, bluish-green birch trees. No wonder it was called the Halcyon Gorge.

A small green river snaked out from a faraway forest, forming a long stream.

The stream and the beauty of the gorge formed a union, creating the beautiful scene of water flowing down a mountain.

However, a certain life-form ruined this natural beauty and harmonious scenery.

Humans.

Inside the gorge, humans traveled back and forth everywhere. As far as the eye could see, there were hundreds of people hustling and bustling in the small gorge.

They slowly fumbled around the river. Some had setup sieves, incessantly digging up large amounts of river silt, searching through it. Some held shovels and would begin digging as soon as they found an exposed piece of earth. Still others climbed into a mountain cave, searching for any starsilver that might be there. In hopes of striking it rich, their entire bodies had become covered with mud and earth.

Of these people, there were Origin Qi Scholars, Martial Artists, common hunters, and even regular people.

Upon seeing this scene, Su Chen was somewhat amazed.

“Motherfucker, how did the news spread to this point already?” cursed a big bearded man who was standing not too far away from Su Chen.

Obviously, he had also just arrived at the Halcyon Gorge with dreams of making it big here. However, what he saw was the disappointing scene of a huge group of people all trying to do the same thing.

Countless people were here farming, doing business, not doing business, etc. They had all come to try their luck in quenching their thirst for riches. Some were sifting river silt, some were mining near the mountain, some were mining in caves, each displaying their ability; it just depended on whose luck was best. Occasionally, some would yell out “found some”, causing a large group to flock to them. The situation was very chaotic. Even more people would remain silent if they found any, pretending as if they hadn’t discovered anything.

“Hey, isn't this starsilver supposed to be a mineable vein? Why are there people sieving silt from the river?” someone asked, confused.

“That’s because it isn’t high-grade starsilver ore; it’s low-grade starsilver ore,” someone else said.

Everyone followed the voice, only to see that the person speaking was a shriveled middle-aged man with a few wispy beard hairs on his chin and a pair of wily eyes. He was not very tall, and paired with his beard and expression, the impression he gave others was like that of a rat.

“High-grade ore? Low-grade ore? Is there any difference?” the big bearded martial artist asked.

That person ignored him, however, instead looking at Su Chen and laughing, “High-grade starsilver ore is usually quite large and are found in the mountain ranges, which requires mining. Low-grade starsilver ore exist in much smaller chunks, some perhaps only the size of a fingernail. This place was originally a depository of low-grade starsilver ore, and a few hundred years ago there was an earthquake, causing a lot of the mountain to fragment. Large amounts of mountain rock landed in the river, so both the mountains and the river have ore. The mountain has low ore but it’s all close to each other, while the water has lots of ore but it’s fragmented. Thus, no matter where you go you can obtain starsilver. It just depends on your personal preferences.”

“Hey, you motherfucker, I’m asking you a question. Why are you talking to him!” The big bearded martial artist flew into a rage upon seeing that he had been ignored. He reached his hand out to grab the male that had just spoken.

The male hid behind Su Chen and pointed at the martial artist, saying, “You dare to make a move in front of an Origin Qi Scholar? Aren’t you a little too brave?”

Origin Qi Scholar.

The big bearded man froze.

In the next instant, he had flown into the air. He flew over a hundred feet before crashing into the ground.

The bystanders only glanced at what had happened before lowering their heads and going about their own business. They paid no attention to it.

In this kind of place, where people were fighting for riches, scenes like what had just happened occurred daily and were not surprising. As long as nobody was killed, people usually wouldn't pay much attention.

That was especially if the one making a move was an Origin Qi Scholar.

Regardless of where one was, Origin Qi Scholars were all high-status existences.

Having shaken off that unaware martial artist, Su Chen asked with some curiosity, “How did you know I was an Origin Qi Scholar?”

The male laughed. “Who else but Origin Qi Scholars can enter the Halcyon Gorge alone? Your boots also gave you away.”

Indeed, it was still his boots that had given away. Su Chen was not surprised. However, this person was quite perceptive. He had been able to notice him, discover the nature of the boots, and confirm that he was an Origin Qi Scholar in such a short period of time.

“Who are you, and what did you come here to do?” Su Chen asked.

“Aren’t you also here to mine some starsilver? This little one’s name is Li Shu. I have been in the Halcyon Gorge for a few days, and I am quite familiar with everything that happens here. For only one Origin Stone, this little one is willing to serve you for five days.