Story Trial

The Cultivation Era's new server had been open for three hours, yet players could barely do anything.

The 1-1 story alone had stumped ninety-nine percent of them.

The Chat Box required Qi Cultivation Layer 5 before players could speak, the Leaderboard required Qi Cultivation Layer 10 before they could rank, and both were currently empty.

Things like sects, the Arena, and the Heaven-Piercing Tower were all grayed out. They could not even be clicked.

There were no open beta benefits, no open beta events, and no gift packs in the mail.

Jiang Liu had never played such a stingy game in his life. The only reason people tolerated it was because there were no competitors on the market.

There was nothing else he could do, so after swallowing twenty Qi Refining Pills from the limited-purchase gift pack and raising his realm to Qi Cultivation Layer 3, he plunged straight into [Story Trial].

When he opened [Story Trial], an interface resembling a landscape painting appeared before his eyes. There were ten stages in total, scattered throughout the scenic display.

Chapter One was marked at the top of the Story Trial screen, while icons for double speed and repeated clears sat in the lower right corner, both locked.

Jiang Liu tapped into the 1-1 storyline, and his vision shifted as an image of an ancient mountain village emerged.

[Azure Immortal Calendar Year 36,110, you were born in Tongmu Village of the Crimson Serpent Divine Continent.]

As the story unfolded, the image before him changed into a man and woman holding a small infant.

[When you were three, your father encountered a tiger while hunting in the mountains and died.]

[When you were eight, your mother accidentally ate poisonous grass and died.]

[When you were fourteen, your childhood sweetheart, who had grown up with you, fell ill and died.]

[The villagers deemed fourteen-year-old you a Lone Star of Misfortune and drove you from the village.]

[As you raged against the injustice of fate and lamented life's impermanence, you recalled your childhood.]

"Skip, skip!"

As Jiang Liu watched the scenes unfold one by one, he felt the protagonist was being a little too miserable. Both parents dead from the start, childhood sweetheart dying of illness—was this written by some webnovel author? It would have been better if he had opened his eyes with amnesia.

[The initial storyline cannot be skipped.]

Jiang Liu: "."

[As you raged against the injustice of fate and lamented life's impermanence, you recalled the legends of immortals told by the village elders when you were young. Immortals could overturn rivers and seas, and live forever.]

[You became interested in and fascinated by immortals, embarking on the path of seeking immortality.]

[Ten miles after leaving the village, you encountered three bandits.]

At this point in the story, the scene suddenly shifted into battle mode.

Against the backdrop of a mountain path, Jiang Liu's character model stood on the left side of the interface, while three masked bandits stood on the right.

[Round One]

Holding the mid-grade magical artifact Sunrise Sword, Jiang Liu cut down one bandit with a single slash.

The two bandits held small knives and each stabbed Jiang Liu once.

[Round Two]

Jiang Liu cut down another bandit and took another stab.

[Round Three]

Jiang Liu cut down the final bandit.

[Battle Victory!]

[Obtained 100 Cultivation Points, 1 piece of Outer-world Common Iron, 1 Ten-year Spirit Grass]

Jiang Liu stared blankly at the settlement screen, with ten thousand complaints in his heart that he could not voice.

It was like watching a livestream. He watched helplessly as his character model killed a bandit with one slash, then got stabbed back and forth by the bandits.

Because the scenes were projected directly onto his retinas, every moment struck straight at his brain, giving him an Immersive Experience. Watching himself kill people and get stabbed did not feel good at all.

And damn it, the cultivation world was turn-based!

The monsters in the 1-1 story were three bandits. No wonder none of his classmates could beat it. What could a fourteen-year-old protagonist possibly use to fight them?

A turn-based game that gave nothing at the start, then forcibly cranked up the difficulty in the story—it could not even copy other games properly.

Nothing to say. Absolutely nothing to say.

Jiang Liu directly closed the settlement screen and entered the 1-2 storyline.

[Using your own wisdom, you defeated the three bandits. As you continued through the forest, you encountered the Bandit Second Boss and his two underlings.]

[Battle Start!]

Round One, Round Two, Round Three.

[Battle End!]

Jiang Liu silently cleared the Story Trial. From ordinary bandits to the Bandit Second Boss, then finally wiping out the bandits' hideout—this was all done by a fourteen-year-old boy.

[You defeated the Bandit King and rescued the young woman he had abducted. A hero saving a beauty, and the young woman secretly fell for you.]

[You escorted the young woman back to the city and learned through conversation that she was actually the daughter of the City Lord of Bailu City!]

[Skip?]

[Yes]

Jiang Liu was nearly in tears. This melodramatic plot could finally be skipped. He cleared several storylines in succession, only to finally fail at 1-6.

[The City Lord forcibly married his daughter to a disciple of the Lingyun Sect. On the day of the wedding, you stormed into the City Lord's Manor to steal the bride and faced the groom in battle.]

[Battle Start!]

[Battle Failed!]

[Young hero, please try again.]

Jiang Liu stared blankly at the words "Battle Failed." Scenes from the story flashed repeatedly through his mind, while every smile and shy glance from the City Lord's daughter was deeply etched into his memory, impossible to forget.

He felt a suffocating fury in his chest. The girl he liked was actually going to marry someone else? What kind of NTR plot was this?!

Most importantly, the Immersive Experience had drawn him into the story. He had placed himself in the plot, as though he really were the protagonist.

No, he was the protagonist!

"So 1-6 is about stealing the bride. If I succeed, does that mean I get to enter the bridal chamber?"

Jiang Liu thought to himself, his heart pounding as inappropriate images flashed through his mind.

This was a cultivation game. Even if it had adults-only content, nobody could do anything about it, right?

Jiang Liu took a breath, then unwillingly tried the 1-6 storyline several more times. He still could not win, so he gritted his teeth, turned around, and bought [First Charge Tier 4]!

If he could not beat it, he would spend money. Wasn't that how games were played?

[First Charge Tier 4]: One random mid-tier spell, 40 Qi Refining Pills, title "Making Progress."

It gave him a skill!

Jiang Liu's heart jolted. He opened his inventory, casually equipped the title, then looked at the skill book.

[Fire Blowing Palm]: Mid-tier spell. Condenses fire-element spiritual energy in the palm. Restricted to users with a Fire Spirit Root.

Without hesitation, he learned Fire Blowing Palm, then swallowed all forty pills and raised his realm to Qi Cultivation Level 4 (824/8000).

Only the twenty-three Qi Refining Pills left over from the limited-purchase gift pack remained in his inventory. That little amount was no longer enough for him to continue breaking through.

After learning the skill and leveling up, Jiang Liu hurried back into the 1-6 storyline.

[Battle Victory!]

[Obtained Cultivation Points.]

The story scene continued, but instead of a bridal-chamber night with the City Lord's daughter, she died in his arms.

[You defeated the Lingyun Sect disciple and disgraced the Lingyun Sect. A Lingyun Sect senior brother attending the wedding brazenly attacked you. The young woman blocked the strike for you and died in your arms. In her final moments, she said that knowing you had made her very happy.]

Jiang Liu was completely numb. It took him several minutes to recover.

"What trash plot! I'm never watching it again!"

Cursing under his breath, Jiang Liu exited the Cultivation Era. Damn it, Chapter One was already handing out tragic deaths. Fine, he would not watch it anymore. From now on, he would skip everything, all right?

This trash game—only a dog would keep cultivating in it!