Staying Alive Cautiously in the Celestial Realm and Becoming the Strongest

Datian Village Head Residence.

Within the quiet room, silence prevailed as specks of spiritual light emerged on the ground, enveloping the seated Wang Chen.

The nature's spiritual energy in the surrounding space was continuously merging into his body under the drive of the Spirit Gathering Array, ascending to the Dantian, flowing through the meridians, and reaching the five viscera and six bowels, up to the limbs and bones.

At this moment, Wang Chen's Apex Acupoint was wide open, swallowing and disgorging the gathering spiritual energy, ascending the clear and descending the turbid in a Great Circulation.

A thread of extremely pure Innate Five Elements True Qi was gradually condensing in his Qi Sea Dantian.

Time passed unknowingly, and suddenly, Wang Chen opened his eyes.

A divine light flashed through his pitch-black pupils, instantly illuminating the dim quiet room.

[Innate Five Elements Skill·Experience +1]

It wasn't easy!

Involuntarily, Wang Chen let out a long sigh.

After advancing to Purple Mansion, he had spent a fortune to acquire the "Innate Five Elements Skill" as his new primary cultivation technique.

The "Innate Five Elements Skill" is an advanced version of the "Five Elements Skill." Although there are only two additional words, its profundity and mystery are far beyond comparison with the latter.

Even with Wang Chen's present Root Bone and Comprehension, cultivating it was quite difficult.

Reflected on the immortal cultivation panel, it was not easy to add even 1 point of experience to the Innate Five Elements Skill.

He could shut himself away to cultivate for an entire day, complete three cycles of the Great Circulation, and still perhaps not gain 1 point of experience.

Now, only by successfully condensing a thread of Innate Five Elements True Qi could he earn 1 point.

This meant that Wang Chen had to condense a hundred threads of the Innate Five Elements True Qi to fully accumulate the experience needed for the first tier of this technique.

He checked the immortal cultivation panel.

Main: Innate Five Elements Skill (tier one): 27/100

The path of cultivation is long and arduous indeed!

"Superior."

At this moment, He's voice came from outside the door, carrying a hint of hesitation.

Wang Chen remained seated, motionless; with a flick of his sleeve, the door immediately opened on its own.

He asked, "What is it?"

Seeing that she had not disturbed Wang Chen's cultivation, He sighed in relief and quickly reported, "Superior, the three elders are here. They say they have exchanged for the Evil-Repelling Drum and need you to personally oversee the drumming."

The Evil-Repelling Drum has been acquired?

Wang Chen said with a smile, "Good!"

Without pressure, there is no motivation. Without squeezing these old folks hard, one really wouldn't know how much they could yield.

In just three days' time, the Evil-Repelling Drum worth tens of thousands of Spirit Stones had arrived.

Moreover, it was an upper-grade level Evil-Repelling Drum that the three elders had requested.

This second-tier Spiritual Artifact was still being placed in front of the Empire Land Temple.

The cold froze the earth, with the north wind howling and snowflakes fluttering outside. The villagers of Datian Village, who had originally been hiding in their homes to escape the winter chill, were now crowding around in front of the Empire Land Temple.

They were packed tightly, three layers inside and three layers outside, leaving no space unfilled.

All these villagers, having received news, came to join in the excitement, each one of them with an excited and thrilled look on their faces.

Not long ago, the tragedy of the Huang Ze family being wiped out by an evil wraith had put everyone on edge. Even if the culprit had been eliminated by Wang Chen, it wasn't enough to truly put everyone at ease.

Now that the village had brought back the Evil-Repelling Drum, the villagers suddenly felt as if they had taken a reassuring pill.

It would indeed be strange if they weren't happy!

"Heave ho!" "Heave ho!"

With robust and synchronized chants, eight bare-chested strongmen used thick poles to lift the Evil-Repelling Drum, weighing three thousand catties, step by step from the entrance of the village to the front of the Empire Land Temple.

A Guardian Artifact differs from common Spiritual Artifacts; it is often imbued with special significance.

The more remote the area, the more profound the people's belief in their guardian artifact, considering it as the protector of their homes.

Therefore, one could not say "buy" when acquiring a guardian artifact, only "request."

This Evil-Repelling Drum was requested by eight strong villagers from fifty miles away in Wan City.

As a mark of utmost respect!

Under the watchful eyes of hundreds and thousands of villagers, the Evil-Repelling Drum, made from Blue Gang Stone, Lightning-Struck Wood and Spirit Beast hide, was firmly placed on the drum pedestal in front of the Empire Land Temple.

The drum pedestal was already there, the previous Evil-Repelling Drum had been claimed by Huang Deqi, leaving an empty square stone pedestal.

This was one of the reasons why Huang Deqi was unpopular in Datian Village, but previously everyone had been intimidated by his tyranny, daring to be angry but not speaking out. Now, at last, the clouds had parted to reveal clear skies.

"Please, Superior, strike the drum!"

Three elders came forward in unison, bowing deeply to Wang Chen.

The first sound of the Evil-Repelling Drum had to be struck by a cultivator, imparting it with spiritual essence and righteousness, so it could achieve the optimal protective effect.

And to be qualified to strike the Evil-Repelling Drum, one had to have at least the cultivation level of the Purple Mansion.

If Datian Village had no cultivator of the Purple Mansion tier, they would have to request a Superior from Wan City to help.

Being both the head of Datian Village and a cultivator with the cultivation level of the Purple Mansion, it was only right and proper for Wang Chen to perform the drum-striking ceremony.

"Good."

Wang Chen nodded slightly.

With everyone's eyes on him, he stepped up to the Evil-Repelling Drum.

The method for striking the drum was quite simple, just infusing a wisp of mana into the body of the drum to activate the array within, thus producing a resonating boom, and the task would be completed.

Wang Chen raised his right hand, gathering a strand of Innate Five Elements True Qi from his Qi Sea Dantian and concentrating it in the palm of his hand.

He then slapped it down. Read new chapters at empire

Boom～

The sizable Evil-Repelling Drum suddenly trembled, emitting a crimson light from its body as an invisible breath spread in all directions with a deafening roar.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

People around felt as if a gale had struck their faces, buzzing in their heads.

They staggered like drunken people, everyone's face flushed red!

Their Divine Souls were greatly shocked.

And the mighty sound of the drum instantly spread throughout Datian Village, streaks of gray smoke rising from different places, soon dissipating into the snowy wind.

It wasn't just that; underground, where unseen serpents, rodents, insects, and ants were hibernating, they frantically scattered as if judgment day had arrived.

The whole village was thoroughly purified; on the surface, it appeared unchanged, but in reality, it was much cleaner.

After a moment, the villagers who had come to their senses, almost in unison, let out cheers.

Their eyes full of gratitude and reverence as they looked at Wang Chen.

Wang Chen's reputation in the village reached its peak at this moment!

In truth, Wang Chen's striking of the Evil-Repelling Drum was merely symbolic. What truly won people's hearts were his actions over the past two months.

Setting up and arming the Guard Squad, hunting in the mountains so everyone could have meat to eat, caring for the vulnerable groups in the village, establishing an Academy so all children could learn skills...

Even those who harbored ill will towards Wang Chen had to admit that under his rule, Datian Village was getting better day by day.

The position of the village chief was well deserved!

The hearts of the people have always been this way throughout history!

Everyone wished for Wang Chen to remain as the village chief forever, just like the Evil-Repelling Drum, eternally protecting them.

But at this very moment, Wang Chen had a vague feeling.

His days in Datian Village were already counting down!

He would soon have to leave.

---------

The first update is delivered.