The Failed Cultivator

What a strange place.

Wang Jixuan roughly sifted through this body's memories, feeling somewhat lost.

What kind of bizarre little world had he stumbled into?

There were no legends of immortals here, much less any trace of cultivation. The human race was called humanity and lived on this azure planet, currently struggling to survive in the harsh aftermath of a great catastrophe.

A catastrophe? Blade Beasts?

What was all this? Had the Demon Realm invaded this place?

Wang Jixuan's remnant soul was merging with this body.

More precisely, this young man named Mu Liang had ended his life by hanging himself moments ago. Wang Jixuan's remnant soul had descended here and was gradually taking over his body.

Possession?

No, no, no. That was the sort of thing only demonic cultivators did.

Wang Jixuan preferred to call his current state...

New Life!

Infinite Heavenly Venerable.

Even the heavenly tribulation couldn't do anything to this poor Daoist?

Wang Jixuan wanted to throw back his head and laugh, but unfortunately, he had yet to sense the existence of his body.

While celebrating his narrow escape from the heavenly tribulation, he could not help looking back on his long yet brief life.

Wang Jixuan felt that he was a joke.

He had been called a once-in-ten-thousand-years genius of the Cultivation World, and in his previous life, he had always worked hard to fulfill his cultivation talent.

He had lived for a total of one hundred and twenty-six years, one hundred and twenty of which had been spent in hard cultivation in the mountains.

When his parents passed away in the Mortal World, he had not shown himself, merely asking fellow disciples to deliver some mundane gold and silver to his brothers and sisters;

When his master died in battle while besieging demonic cultivators, he had been striving in Secluded Cultivation. Before he could avenge his master, that old demonic monster had already been slain by Righteous Path Cultivators.

In order to focus wholeheartedly on cultivation, Wang Jixuan had refused Junior Sister Lingdong and Senior Sister Rouni's requests to become cultivation partners;

In order to strengthen his heart toward the Dao, Wang Jixuan had not enjoyed the blessings of a Mahayana Expert reigning tyrannically in the Lower Realm for three thousand years. After reaching Mahayana Perfection, he had resolutely challenged the Heavenly Tribulation of Becoming Immortal, despite having less than a ten percent chance of success.

Then... he had been struck dead by the tribulation lightning.

Wang Jixuan had thought his soul would scatter and vanish, that a hundred years of hard cultivation would end in nothing but ashes. He had never expected such a turn of events. A wisp of his remnant soul had drifted through the darkness and, for some unknown reason, appeared here to occupy this young man's body.

Wang Jixuan was overcome with emotion:

Alas!

If this poor Daoist could do it all over again, I would definitely leave the place where I had spent years in Secluded Cultivation and see more of the colors of heaven and earth.

Though things were not bad now, either.

There was no need for "if." He was about to live again.

In this life, he would strive bravely for immortality and face the heavenly tribulation once more!

He had to see that legendary Immortal Realm for himself!

Suddenly;

The suffocating sensation of a rope constricting his neck surfaced;

Wang Jixuan felt dizzy, seeing stars as he could not muster even a shred of strength. Instinct drove him to struggle desperately, but his struggles were far too weak.

Something was wrong!

Very wrong!

He had possessed—bah, been reborn into the body of a young man who had just hanged himself! If he could not escape his current predicament, he would soon be hanged to death as well!

Moreover, this wisp of his remnant soul had already merged with the body.

If he truly died here, he would not even have a chance for his remnant soul to escape!

What, what was he supposed to do?

The suffocating sensation and intense dizziness surged over him again and again. Wang Jixuan was terrified out of his wits, his face flushing red once more as the blood within him rushed faster and faster. Profound incantations, talismans, and formations flashed through his mind, yet not one of them could be of use at this moment!

Though Wang Jixuan had rarely fought others with spells during his cultivation life, he was proficient in all manner of techniques. At the brink of death, inspiration struck him. Using the last of his strength, he grabbed the rope made from cut and twisted bedsheets with both hands, gritted his teeth, and chanted:

"Heaven round, earth square... nine chapters of edicts... Li Fire gathers light..."

Whoosh!

Two tiny flames sprang from his palms.

Wang Jixuan held his breath, terrified of snuffing out the two flames.

The flame on the right went out on its own after lasting two breaths.

The cloth rope on the left began to burn, and the fingers of this body were already scorched!

The pressure around his neck suddenly loosened. His feet hit the ground first, then he collapsed weakly onto the floor, landing so hard that the world spun around him.

Wang Jixuan squeezed his eyes shut and gulped down the somewhat foul air. His ears rang incessantly, and his heartbeat alternated between fast and slow.

Yet the pain coming from every part of his new body could not spoil his excellent mood.

He was alive.

Though in a terribly miserable state.

After his relief, Wang Jixuan also felt a little suspicious.

Even if his wisp of remnant soul possessed little Primordial Spirit Power, how could the simplest Li Fire Curse produce only two flames the size of candlelight?

When he had first used the Li Fire Curse as a young Daoist acolyte, he had successfully summoned two flames as large as bowls...

Wang Jixuan performed a calming technique to swiftly regain his composure, at the cost of magnifying the body's pain severalfold.

The first thing he needed to do was inspect his surroundings.

This wisp of his remnant soul was too weak to release spiritual awareness. Only after lying on the floor for quite a while did he barely sense the existence of spiritual energy.

There was very little spiritual energy in the air, perhaps only one-tenth of that found in ordinary Mortal World locations in the world where Wang Jixuan had originally lived.

Not only are the clothes and buildings in this little world strange, but heaven and earth themselves are not very suitable for cultivation.

Wang Jixuan sighed inwardly.

Being alive was already good enough;

Besides, while there was little spiritual energy in the air, cultivation was not entirely impossible. He retained cultivation insights from the four Foundation Establishment realms to the Mahayana Stage. As long as he gathered more spirit stones or precious materials rich in spiritual energy, he could naturally advance step by step and face the heavenly tribulation again!

This Failed Tribulation also forced Wang Jixuan to reflect on himself.

Had his Dao foundation in his previous life not been stable enough?

Was his understanding of the Dao not profound enough?

Perhaps only a true immortal could give him the answer.

Now that he had gained New Life and was undergoing re-cultivation after reincarnation, he naturally had to work even harder than before, forge a more perfect Dao foundation, and understand deeper layers of the Dao and its laws.

He had to enter the realm of immortals and see just how the so-called Immortal Realm differed from the Mortal World!

Time to look through this body's memories.

Their spoken language and writing seem not too different from the language and script of the world where this poor Daoist lived in my previous life.

Mu Liang? Since this poor Daoist will live in your place from now on, I will naturally help care for your family... Ah, good. You actually have no family...

Wang Jixuan muttered continuously in his heart as the pain throughout his body gradually eased.

He still lay on the ground without moving recklessly. The furrow between his brows gradually smoothed out as he repeatedly recited the Calming Heart Incantation.

The Calming Heart Incantation was a spell used to quickly enter meditation. It could also clear the mind and improve memory.

Wang Jixuan did not see that as he recited the incantation in his mind, extremely faint motes of light appeared in the surrounding air and gathered toward his head.

Slowly, this body's once-vague childhood memories became clear and coherent.

After some thought, Wang Jixuan chose to begin with the body's childhood. Through the memories of this young man named Mu Liang learning to speak and read as a child, he quickly mastered the language and writing of this world.

The language is rather close to that of my original world, while the writing shares the same origin. Both evolved from simple drawings into characters, so they are not difficult to understand.

Wang Jixuan revealed a faint smile and greedily studied the many novel words of this place, fully grasping their meanings.

This world, which seemed exceedingly strange to him, was about to reveal the tip of the iceberg...

Bang!

The locked iron door was smashed open by a battering ram.

Seven or eight men in orange uniforms looked into the room. The leader shouted, "Save him, quickly!" and three team members immediately rushed inside.

Wang Jixuan immediately made a decision. He lay there and continued to pretend to be unconscious while speeding up his reading of this body's memories.

He could already roughly understand what these people were saying.

"He's alive! He only passed out!"

"There are ligature marks on his neck!"

"Photograph the scene first and preserve the evidence. He has seriously violated the provisions of the Self-Harm Act!"

"Enough. Send him to the Medical Room in the isolation ward first. We can worry later about whether he broke the law! That is for the tribunal and doctors to determine."

"Don't suicide victims who are rescued have to undergo brain tissue removal surgery?"

"Another mentally broken young man. How many has this made today? Mu Liang, huh? That's quite an interesting name. A Level 3 Ordinary Citizen, a mid-level technical worker. He's worth rescuing."

"Use a stretcher! A stretcher! Don't carry him directly! Follow the operations manual! Avoid secondary injuries!"

"This is actually my first time moving a living person. Every previous rescue involved carrying away corpses... Um, what I mean is, how did this guy survive? There isn't a lighter here, is there? His rope seems to have been burned through. The edges are scorched, Captain."

"Thank that damned Human Rights Protection Act. Public recording devices aren't allowed in private spaces. Who the hell knows how he got down! Stop dwelling on these little things and save him first."

The team members carefully lifted Wang Jixuan onto a stretcher.

Wang Jixuan was slightly confused.

What was the Self-Harm Act?

Judging by what these mortal officials were saying, hanging oneself was also some grave crime. Was he about to face imprisonment?

Interesting.

Wang Jixuan felt a touch of anticipation in his heart.

He continued reading this body's memories so that he could properly play the young man named Mu Liang later and avoid arousing these people's suspicions.