Taking It Easy

"Qi Refining First Layer."

This result immediately sparked a small discussion.

"Huh, could he be the Xiao Chen Instructor mentioned?"

"He looks pretty spirited, not muddleheaded at all."

The last sentence was lowered to ensure Xiao Chen could not hear it. "Quite a few of this year's new junior brothers have already broken through to the Qi Refining Second Layer, while some people are still standing still."

The senior brother in charge of testing also shot a slightly surprised glance at the lean young man before him.

He then picked up his brush, recorded Xiao Chen's cultivation level, and gestured for him to leave.

Throughout Chore Peak, there were countless low-level cultivators stuck at some bottleneck, their path of cultivation hopeless, who had consequently given up cultivating.

But those were all elderly people whose qi and blood had declined.

Young disciples like Xiao Chen were, for the most part, still enduring bitter hardship.

Even if they had become chores disciples, they still clung to a sliver of hope for the future and diligently practiced the Basic Breathing Technique.

After three years since entering the sect, they had basically all reached the minor bottleneck of the Qi Refining Third Layer, preparing to seek a breakthrough into the Mid-stage Qi Refining Realm.

Even the few who were slow-witted had broken through to the Qi Refining Second Layer last year.

After all, they were Immortal Seedlings who had passed Li Fire Sect's entrance test. So long as they studied and trained diligently, breaking through minor realms should not have been a problem.

Yet Xiao Chen was an exception.

Three years after entering the sect, he still remained at the Qi Refining First Layer.

It was said that after finishing his daily planting in the Spirit Fields, he would always go drink tea, take walks, admire flowers, and enjoy the scenery.

He had never actively cultivated, living like an old man of seventy or eighty.

He was the very model of having no ambition, an exemplar of muddling through life and waiting for death.

If Sect Etiquette had not somehow lacked any applicable rule, the Chore Peak steward would have long since wanted to expel him from the mountain gate.

Perhaps when the patriarch had founded the sect, he had never imagined such a situation could arise.

After all, setting aside everything else, once one cultivated to the Qi Refining Third Layer, casting the Small Cloud and Rain Spell would become much easier.

Even if a normal person wanted to be lazy, they should at least break through to the Qi Refining Third Layer first.

And at the Qi Refining Third Layer, one was only a step away from breaking through into the Mid-stage Qi Refining Realm and joining the sect's Outer Sect.

Naturally, they would try to work a little harder then.

Yet Xiao Chen's behavior was strange. He simply would not cultivate.

Even though he could cast the Small Cloud and Rain Spell only once a day, covering just one mu of Spirit Field, and had to haul extra water to irrigate another mu, he did not mind in the slightest.

If you called him lazy by nature, hauling water was no easy task either.

But if you called him diligent, he did not even practice Body Refining. Each time, he could only carry two half-buckets of water; any more and he would be panting.

The key was that he did not look stupid, yet he insisted on wasting the prime years of his life.

Fortunately, although Xiao Chen was not proactive in cultivation, the two mu of Spirit Fields under his care had always produced decent harvests.

The steward had never caught him making any mistakes or found anything to hold against him.

Eventually, everyone grew accustomed to it and let him muddle through his days as he pleased.

He was merely a chores disciple planting Spirit Fields for the sect. So long as the fields yielded crops, who cared how he planted them?

The only person who often nagged Xiao Chen was the Chore Peak's instructor—Old Man Wu.

He was the Instructor the other disciples spoke of.

He was responsible for teaching the Basic Breathing Technique to the new chores disciples each year.

During lectures, he often used Xiao Chen as a negative example, warning newcomers never to imitate him.

They should strive while they were young, first aiming to join the Outer Sect, then working hard to charge into the Inner Sect.

If they succeeded, they would win a future for themselves. Even if they failed, they could still earn resources for their descendants.

After all, Outer Sect Disciples received a basic monthly stipend of two Spirit Stones.

Inner Sect Disciples received an even higher basic monthly stipend of five Spirit Stones.

Unlike chores disciples, who worked themselves to the bone farming for an entire month only to earn one Spirit Stone.

All year round, they could not even afford to eat the Jade Stem Rice they had grown themselves.

They could only buy Yellow Sand Rice from the markets at the foot of the mountain—the variety with the highest yield, the worst taste, and the lowest price.

The spiritual energy within Yellow Sand Rice was pitifully scarce, better than nothing at most.

Even slightly better-bred Spirit Beasts would not touch the stuff.

Yet no matter what others said of him, Xiao Chen continued to go his own way.

Whenever idle gossip occasionally reached his ears, he treated it as wind passing by his ear and remained unmoved.

Every day, he still farmed, drank tea, and took walks, maintaining his own rhythm of life.

Three years passed like a single day.

Of course, Xiao Chen was not truly unambitious, merely muddling through life and waiting for death.

After all, he was a transmigrator!

Though he did not know why, after transmigrating, he had abruptly returned from twenty-eight years old to his seventeen-year-old youth.

But that was not the important part. Being younger was always a good thing.

What mattered was that in the second year after his transmigration, he successfully tested as having a Low-Grade Wood Spiritual Root and joined Li Fire Sect.

When he cultivated his first strand of mana, he activated the choice of a Hextech Enhancement.

On a glowing screen that only he could see, three cards floated before him, each clearly presenting one option.

Axiomatic Arc I: Restore Ten Percent mana upon killing an enemy.

Golden Rain: Immediately obtain 80 Spirit Stones, then receive 10 Spirit Stones each year thereafter.

Taking It Easy: For the next three years, you cannot cultivate in any way. Afterward, directly advance three minor realms and obtain Two Hundred Spirit Stones.

???

As a seasoned Teamfight Tactics and Teamfight Tactics player, Xiao Chen was all too familiar with Hextech.

After his brief surprise, the first thing he did was look beneath the options for a refresh button.

Why was there only one Hextech?

There was no need to mention the first Axiomatic Arc. He was an immortal cultivator, not a mage.

Mana restoration was useful, but it came with the prerequisite of killing enemies. It was undoubtedly the worst choice.

The second, Golden Rain, was quite a good economy-oriented Hextech.

Taking it at the start would provide steady returns afterward, making it an above-average option.

But the problem was that Taking It Easy was one of the best early-game Hextechs!

Wait three years, and he could directly advance three minor realms.

From the Qi Refining First Layer, he would directly break through to the Qi Refining Fourth Layer and enter the Mid-stage Qi Refining Realm.

According to Instructor, ordinary disciples often needed more than five years of arduous cultivation before they had any hope of breaking through to the Mid-stage Qi Refining Realm.

Furthermore, every Major Realm was divided into three minor realms: early stage, middle stage, and late stage.

There were corresponding Major Bottlenecks and Minor Bottlenecks between these realms as well.

The instant the Hextech appeared, Xiao Chen received an indistinct message from somewhere beyond.

So long as he broke through a bottleneck, he could choose a new Hextech Enhancement.

Moreover, the effects of his previous Enhancements would remain forever.

In that case, after choosing Taking It Easy, he would happen to break through the Minor Bottleneck of early-stage Qi Refining and seamlessly connect to the next Hextech Enhancement.

Not to mention that Taking It Easy also rewarded him with a full Two Hundred Spirit Stones at once.

Xiao Chen's current annual income was only twelve Spirit Stones.

To save Two Hundred Spirit Stones, he would need eighteen and a half consecutive years of going without food or drink.

It was simply stronger than the first two Hextechs combined.

Xiao Chen examined them carefully but found no option to refresh. It seemed he could only choose one from these three Hextechs.

And at the very top of the cards, the number ten suddenly appeared, followed by a countdown.

If he failed to make a choice himself, he would randomly receive one Hextech.

Seeing this, Xiao Chen chose the third Hextech—Taking It Easy—without the slightest hesitation!

As he silently recited his choice, the card before him turned into a streak of light and shot into his Sea of Consciousness.

After that, as expected, he could only absorb Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy, but could not refine it into mana.

Nor could he learn spells through the Instructor's lectures.

Even Spirit Stones could no longer help him advance.

Fine, then I'll take it easy.

Three years slowly passed.

Now, only the final day remained.

New book—please keep reading. This is really important.