First Arrival

Snow and wind raged.

Evening.

A hunched figure appeared at the mouth of the alley, wiped the snow from his face, and pushed open the wooden door of a dilapidated courtyard.

There were several rooms in the courtyard, and he walked familiarly toward one of them.

"Chen Lin, why did you go out in this weather? Aren't you afraid of running into something eerie?"

Seemingly having heard the door open, the window of another room was pushed ajar, revealing the sallow face of a woman.

"Oh, we were out of rice at home, so I went out to buy some. I plan to go into seclusion for a while."

Chen Lin gestured to the large bag in his hand and replied with an "oh."

A glimmer of light appeared in the woman's eyes. She eagerly poked her head out, shielding her forehead with her hand to keep the snowflakes from her eyes, and stared at the bag in Chen Lin's hand. "You managed to buy rice? Could you spare me some?"

"No!"

Chen Lin refused decisively and pulled open his own door.

"I can trade you something for it!"

The woman's voice grew more urgent; she was about to run out of food.

"Do you still have anything valuable to trade?"

Chen Lin paused and looked at her skeptically.

The woman opened her mouth, then suddenly gritted her teeth and puffed out her chest. "How about I spend the night with you?"

"Bang!"

The answer she received was the dull thud of a closing door.

Seeing this, the woman wore a look of disappointment.

Suddenly, her demeanor shifted completely. She slanted her eyes and let out a strange, cold sneer. "Damn old thing, you deserve to be a bachelor. I curse you to be constipated after you eat, and once I break through to the Qi Refining Mid-stage, I'll make you pay!"

"Pah!"

Spitting viciously, the woman slammed her window shut.

Goose-feather-sized snowflakes instantly covered the footprints in the courtyard, and the entire city was shrouded in the blizzard.

Chen Lin stood inside the room, silently watching the woman's face disappear through the window before turning back around.

He took off his hat, shook the snow from his body, and placed the rice into the rice jar.

He found a few pieces of firewood to relight the extinguished stove, and the temperature in the room slowly began to rise.

After staring blankly at the fire for a while, Chen Lin sighed, stood up, and began to cook.

He placed the washed rice on the stove and turned to a worn-out wooden table.

After sitting down, he opened the drawer.

First, he took a stack of palm-sized yellow paper from his pocket, then brought out a silver brush.

Finally, he carefully pulled an ink-colored bottle from his pocket and set them all on the table.

These items were the Talisman Paper, Talisman Brush, and Spirit Ink used for Talisman Crafting.

His risky trip out today was only partly for rice; the main reason was to buy this Spirit Ink.

A tiny bottle cost several Spirit Stones, a price so high it made his heart bleed.

Glancing at the porridge simmering on the stove, Chen Lin took a breath and laid out a sheet of Talisman Paper.

He dipped the silver Talisman Brush into the Spirit Ink, adjusted his posture to the optimal state, and his expression turned solemn.

As the tip of the brush touched the paper, thin, glowing lines of Spirit Ink appeared on the surface, slowly forming one mysterious rune after another.

Although the drawing seemed effortless, sweat began to bead on Chen Lin's nose, and the speed of his brushwork grew slower and slower.

When the entire talisman was halfway finished, the runes on it suddenly flickered rapidly twice, then burst with a bang.

Looking at the scorched patch on the table in front of him, Chen Lin grimaced.

"A First-tier Mid-grade Talisman is indeed much harder than a Great Strength Talisman, and the requirements for mana are higher. My Qi Refining Level 2 cultivation is too much of a stretch."

He shook his head, muttered to himself, and picked up another sheet of Talisman Paper to lay it out.

The repetitive process continued.

This time, he drew more of the rune lines than before, but he still could not escape the fate of failure, as it burst halfway through.

However, Chen Lin did not feel any defeat; he calmly picked up another sheet of Talisman Paper and laid it out.

Failure again.

Laid it out.

Failure.

Laid it out.

Failure.

Chen Lin was like a robot, repeating the motions of drawing runes over and over.

Just like that.

He repeated the process nine times.

Then.

The tenth time.

His movements remained unchanged, yet the talisman began to flicker and crack halfway through.

However.

Just as the runes on the talisman flickered and were about to explode, it happened.

It was as if a giant hand from the void had roughly gathered the exploding energy and forcefully pressed it back into the talisman paper.

Immediately after.

The talisman flashed, the rune lines upon it becoming clear and bright before quickly settling down.

A subtle Fireball Pattern appeared on the talisman.

"It seems the Golden Finger ability is also effective for crafting First-tier Mid-grade Talismans. This adds another source of income, though the ability is a bit weak—it only succeeds once every ten times."

Chen Lin held the talisman in his hand, nodding, then shaking his head.

As a transmigrator, no matter how poor one's starting identity might be, there were always some essential perks.

It was just that this Golden Finger was somewhat lackluster.

It was a Talent Ability he called "Ten Times Certain Hit."

The full name could be: "Theoretically feasible, and using the correct method to craft any item, one is guaranteed to succeed once every ten times."

If not for the "correct method" restriction, this ability would be heaven-defying, but with that limitation, it was quite frustrating.

What was the "correct method"?

Suppose one wanted to refine a pill; first, one had to master the Pill Recipe, be familiar with the refining steps, possess a matching Alchemy Furnace and heat source, and have a cultivation level within a reasonable range.

Only then could one succeed once in ten attempts.

"Forget it, it's better than nothing."

Chen Lin stopped complaining.

Having transmigrated into such a dangerous world with such a poor start, having an "ability" to rely on was already quite good.

At least, he could survive.

The fragrance of rice filled the air.

The porridge was ready.

Chen Lin stopped overthinking, took the porridge pot off the stove, ladled a bowl, and began to slurp it down.

Don't let the fact that it was just rice porridge fool you; this was not ordinary rice, but Spirit Rice. It not only tasted infinitely delicious but also provided certain benefits to one's cultivation.

The price was naturally not cheap: one Spirit Stone per catty.

Spirit Stones were ores containing spiritual energy. Because they were used in many aspects, they had become the currency for cultivators.

Their value was naturally related to the abundance of mines.

According to his understanding, there seemed to be quite a few Spirit Stone mines here, so the purchasing power of Spirit Stones was only average. Most things of real value were traded through primitive barter.

Of course, even if the value of Spirit Stones wasn't high, that was only relative; it didn't mean they were easy to earn. If you were poor, you were still poor.

That was why he usually didn't dare to be so extravagant. This time, it was because his cultivation had reached the peak of Qi Refining Level 2, and he wanted to see if he could use the energy of the Spirit Rice to break through, so he had gritted his teeth and bought some.

A bowl of porridge was quickly consumed.

Gentle spiritual energy began to radiate from his stomach to his entire body.

It was warm and very comfortable.

Unfortunately, there was too little spiritual energy, and it soon dissipated.

Still wanting more, Chen Lin was about to ladle another bowl when footsteps suddenly sounded outside.

Immediately after, the door knocker was pulled, but it wouldn't open.

"Fellow Daoist Chen, open up quickly. It's me, Zhao Zhengyuan."

Hearing the familiar voice, Chen Lin quickly covered the porridge pot and set it aside, then took out an Exorcism Talisman and held it in his hand before walking to the door to open it.

"What is the matter so late at night?"

Glancing at the Middle-aged Man outside, who wore an honest and sincere expression, Chen Lin had no intention of inviting him inside.

The man was also a tenant in this courtyard and had a decent relationship with the original owner of this body, but everything here was sinister, and one had to maintain the necessary vigilance.

"Hehe, I smelled the fragrance of your Spirit Rice from my room. I just happened to boil the last of my Black Spotted Tiger Meat, and I have a bottle of wine. I came to find you so we could have a drink together."

The Middle-aged Man raised the items in his hands and said with a chuckle.

After he finished speaking, he suddenly raised his head, squinting his eyes to reveal a strange, cold sneer.

This change was extremely abrupt.

It was as if the other party had suddenly become a different person; his temperament shifted, taking on that legendary, wicked, and arrogant air that made one feel deeply uncomfortable.

But Chen Lin was not surprised.

Ever since he transmigrated here, he had discovered that everyone here would reveal such a cold sneer from time to time.

Inexplicably, at any time and any place, they might just do it.

After revealing such a smile, the person would instantly become incredibly arrogant, refusing to submit to anyone.

Furthermore, the person themselves seemed completely unaware of it.

The people here all had problems.

Big problems!

Unfortunately, his cultivation was too weak to do anything, so he could only suppress his terror deep in his heart and slowly search for a way to break the cycle.

Moreover, to avoid drawing attention to himself, he also performed this action from time to time.

Chen Lin squinted his eyes and sneered, "Fine, then let's have a drink together."

As it happened, he had some things he wanted to ask the other party, so he nodded in agreement.

Just then, the window of another room was pushed open, and the head of the sallow-faced woman poked out.

Seeing the wine and meat, her eyes immediately shone with a piercing light.

"Zhao Zhengyuan, what's the point of drinking with a stingy man? Come over to my place; not only can you drink wine, but you can also have soup!"

Hearing this, Chen Lin looked at the woman, then at Zhao Zhengyuan, with a smile that wasn't quite a smile.

Zhao Zhengyuan grimaced and walked straight through the door.

With a bang, he shut the door behind him.

Outside, the woman's exasperated cursing immediately rang out.

"You're also a spineless coward who'll have children without assholes; men are all trash. Once I make a breakthrough, I'll throw you all out into the wild to feed the demonic beasts!"

The two men looked at each other and shook their heads helplessly.

Since the other party had brought the wine and food over, Chen Lin could only bring out the Spirit Rice Porridge he had hidden away and filled two bowls.

He sliced the boiled Black Spotted Tiger Meat, filled their cups with wine, and began to sip.

"The city has been getting more and more unstable lately. Have you heard? The Patriarch of the Zhang Family has disappeared for no reason—neither hide nor hair of him can be found. And he was a Foundation Establishment Cultivator!"

Zhao Zhengyuan took a sip of wine and said with an exclamation of wonder.

Chen Lin's eyes flickered.

In this wicked place, he thought, it wouldn't be strange if the entire city died overnight, let alone one Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

Although he was complaining in his heart, he wore an expression of deep agreement on the surface.

"Indeed, if even a Foundation Establishment Cultivator can just disappear like that, this city is becoming increasingly chaotic."

After saying this, he downed the wine in his cup in one gulp.

The crisp, sweet liquid slid down his throat and into his stomach.

First came a coolness, followed by waves of heat that spread from his chest to his limbs, causing the mana within his body to become active.

The potency of this spirit wine was far stronger than the Spirit Rice Porridge!