Heaven Rewards Diligence

The Liang Dynasty, Yun Prefecture.

Qinghe County.

Lin Clan School, Library Building.

The autumn wind sighed, sweeping up the courtyard's withered yellow leaves and sending them spinning across the bluestone slabs.

Dawn had barely begun to break. The Morning Star still hung above the western eaves, giving off a bleak, wintry glow.

"Cough, cough..."

Chen Ping tugged his patched gray cotton jacket tighter around himself. Gripping a bamboo broom whose bristles had worn away, he began sweeping the dust from in front of the Library Building.

The bamboo twigs scraped over the stone slabs with a soft rustle, breaking the morning's silence.

As a young attendant whom the Lin Family had bought with money, Chen Ping's life was no easier than that of the young masters who did nothing but spout classical phrases.

Every day, he had to rise at the hour of the Tiger to sweep the courtyard, grind ink, and wash brushes. When the young masters tired of reading, he also had to serve as their punching bag or run errands for them.

"I've been in this godforsaken place for three years, and all I've learned is how to grind ink finer. I've accomplished absolutely nothing."

Chen Ping stopped working and leaned on his broom, gazing at the pale light gradually spreading across the distant sky. He let out a long sigh.

He wasn't from this world.

In his previous life, he'd been a nine-to-five wage slave. He'd been tired, but at least he'd had enough to eat and wear. He could even scroll through short videos after work and watch pretty girls dance.

But in this life, ever since he'd inexplicably transmigrated three years ago into the body of a beggar who'd starved to death, then been bought by a Lin Family steward, he'd become an ant at the very bottom of Liang society.

There were no laws protecting laborers here, only the master's family rules and the magistrate's cudgel.

"If I can just endure a few more years, I'll be twenty. If I still haven't saved enough to buy my freedom by then, I'm afraid I'll rot away in Lin Manor for the rest of my life."

Chen Ping gave a self-mocking smile, then pulled a hard, black-flour bun from his clothes. He didn't even mind the dirt, wiping it on his sleeve before taking a fierce bite.

The flour was coarse, like chewing sawdust, but it could fill his stomach.

After finishing the bun, he felt a little warmth return to his body.

Chen Ping walked over to the large water vat in the corner of the courtyard, intending to draw water and wipe down the Library Building's window lattice.

The water in the vat had settled overnight. Clear to the bottom, it reflected his current appearance.

At seventeen, he should have been in the prime of youth, brimming with spirit. Yet his reflection looked exceptionally gaunt.

His cheekbones protruded slightly, his face was sallow, and only his features were reasonably neat. His eyes held a steadiness and world-weariness beyond his years.

"So this is fate..."

Chen Ping reached to scoop up some water. His fingertips touched the icy surface, sending ripples spreading out in rings.

Just as the ripples widened, the reflection in the water suddenly blurred. It wasn't the waves; it was as if a drop of ink had fallen into clear water and was rapidly spreading.

Then the spreading ink began to glow with a faint blue-gold light, weaving and swirling beneath the water.

Chen Ping's heart gave a jump, and he instinctively started to retreat, thinking he'd been seeing things in the early morning or had encountered something sinister.

But the blue-gold light grew brighter and brighter. At last, it exploded in his mind with a roar, transforming into an ancient bamboo scroll that slowly unfurled.

Four large seal-script characters shone brilliantly on the scroll—

[Heaven Rewards Diligence]

"This is... a Golden Finger?"

Chen Ping froze. The gourd dipper in his hand clattered back into the water vat, splashing water everywhere.

As a transmigrator, he knew what this was.

For the past three years, he'd countless times hoped in his dreams for a system to arrive. Every time he woke, though, he'd found only a cold earthen bed and moldy bedding.

He never expected it to appear on an utterly ordinary autumn morning like this.

As if answering his confusion, the bamboo scroll changed again, displaying several clear lines of small text:

[Destiny: Heaven Rewards Diligence.]

[Attribute: One share of toil, one share of harvest; skills never decline, bottlenecks break on their own.]

"Skills never decline, bottlenecks break on their own..."

Chen Ping murmured to himself, his previously clouded gaze turning keen in an instant.

The eight characters seemed simple, but their implications were terrifying.

Of all the arts in the world, whether studying for the imperial examinations or practicing martial arts and cultivating the Dao, the most fearsome obstacle was a "bottleneck."

Countless geniuses had been stuck at a single barrier, wasting their lives there until their vitality waned and they could no longer make any progress.

What's more, ordinary people's skills could deteriorate.

Three days without practice and your hands grew clumsy. That was ironclad.

But with this destiny, as long as he was willing to practice, even a pig could become Marshal Tianpeng—as long as it lived long enough and trained hard enough!

"This destiny isn't like those 'login reward systems' that hand out divine weapons, and it can't send me soaring to immortality overnight like a 'stat-point system.' But it's reliable, and it lasts."

Chen Ping took a deep breath, suppressing the wild joy in his heart.

He quickly regained his composure.

This Golden Finger might be wonderful, but he still needed something to practice.

As a book attendant, the only things he could get his hands on were the Four Books and Five Classics.

If he took the imperial examination route, with this destiny, it might not be hard to become the top scholar after fifty or sixty years.

But could passing the exams grant eternal life?

Although the Liang Dynasty was a mundane kingdom, Chen Ping had once come across a few scattered passages in a miscellany called Strange Tales of Yun Prefecture while sweeping the Library Building.

It was said that in the Hundred Thousand Mountains west of Yun Prefecture, there were immortals who breathed in clouds and mists and flew on swords.

Even in the mortal world, there were martial experts who could split stone tablets and fight a hundred men alone.

"No matter how high a man rises in office, at seventy or eighty he's still just a mound of yellow earth. Since fate has given me this heaven-defying chance to change my lot, wouldn't it be a terrible waste not to seek eternal life?"

A trace of ambition flashed in Chen Ping's eyes.

"But immortal encounters are hard to come by. Qinghe County is just a remote border town. Where am I supposed to find an immortal?"

"The immortal path is too distant. I might as well start with martial arts."

Chen Ping's thoughts raced.

Martial arts might not be as transcendent as the immortal path, but they could strengthen the body and prolong one's life.

It was said that a Xiantian Grandmaster could live for a hundred and twenty years and never fall ill.

As long as he lived long enough, he'd have all the time he needed to seek immortals and ask about the Dao. His chances of success would naturally grow.

That was the strategy of "saving the country by taking a roundabout route."

"Though the Lin Family is a household of scholars, it keeps more than a dozen guards and retainers. Wang Meng, the instructor, is said to be a true practitioner with real skills."

"But Wang Meng has a fiery temper and loves money and women. Learning anything from him will be harder than climbing to heaven. Besides, I'm an attendant in the inner courtyard. If I secretly practice martial arts in the outer courtyard and the masters find out, I'll get a beating at best, and be sold off at worst..."

Chen Ping furrowed his brow, unconsciously rubbing his fingers over the rough handle of his broom.

He had to think of a safe plan.

"Right, my distant uncle, Liu Sanjin!"

A flash of inspiration struck Chen Ping.

In the memories of the original owner of this body, he had a distant uncle who worked as a porter for the Weiyuan Escort Agency in the county seat.

He was only a low-ranking escort, but after years in the escort business, he must have picked up a few rudimentary skills or some method of maintaining his health.

People in the escort business traveled far and wide. More than anything, they valued staying alive.

"Tomorrow is the Lin Family's monthly day off for the servants. It's the only day we get. I've saved my pocket money for three years, so it's time to put it to use."

Chen Ping settled on a plan, and his movements grew brisker.

He filled the water vat, then wiped the window lattice until it gleamed.

Though he was in a lowly position, awakening his destiny had changed his outlook completely.

Before, this work had been drudgery. Now it was a way to temper his mind, a form of cultivation.

After finishing the sweeping, Chen Ping returned to the servants' quarters and felt beneath a loose bluestone brick under his bed. He pulled out a small cloth bundle.

Inside lay a heap of scattered copper coins and a piece of broken silver about the size of his fingernail.

This was everything he'd scraped together over three years by pinching every penny. Altogether, it came to about two taels of silver.

In a world where one coin could buy two buns, two taels of silver was a fortune for a servant.

"Money's just a turtle's egg. Once we've spent it, we'll earn more."

Chen Ping's gaze was resolute as he tucked the broken silver close to his chest.

This wasn't just silver. It was the stepping-stone that would lead him to the Path of Eternal Life.