Hope

Clang!

Closing the door, Wu Tao collapsed onto the bed like a dead dog.

Memories from two lives, past and present, shuttled back and forth in his mind. Resentment, grievance, discomfort, and unwillingness intertwined like threads, forming a dense net that covered him, suffocating him.

The life experiences of both lifetimes seemed to be urging him to compromise with life, to endure when facing powerful forces. "Endure for a while, and the storm will pass; take a step back, and the sea and sky will widen."

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became.

"Damn it, I won't endure anymore! To hell with compromise! I want to repay kindness with kindness and enmity with enmity! I want to f*** b*tches!" The emotions he had suppressed for many years erupted at this moment. Wu Tao stood up and punched the hardwood bed, naturally and smoothly.

After venting, Wu Tao's emotions quickly stabilized.

He needed to accept the reality of transmigration.

He also needed to face the difficulties ahead.

Manager Wang's actions had completely cut off his path to survival. But what could he do? In his previous life, in a law-based society, he had no recourse. How could he possibly have any in this world governed by immortal sects?

Without compensation for the evil possession, and without an Evil-Breaking Talisman, he would surely die in three months.

Wu Tao pondered, his gaze quietly fixed on the flickering candlelight. The flame was small, but it burned with all its might. His gaze seemed to be ignited by this candlelight as well.

"This is a world where one can cultivate immortality. There must be hope. Haven't I encountered enough setbacks in my previous life? Haven't I still persevered? Yes, cultivation is hope. I cannot easily fulfill others' wishes. Manager Wang, I'll temporarily leave my twenty spirit stones with you. I'll come back to collect them."

"Leave the mine quickly, lest Manager Wang try to kill me."

With this thought, Wu Tao immediately took action and began to sort through the original owner's belongings.

Following his instinctive memories, he quickly packed the original owner's possessions one by one.

Five Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

Twenty-five Fragmented Spirit Stones.

In the circle of cultivators, spirit stones were the universal currency.

One hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones could be exchanged for one Mid-Grade Spirit Stone.

One hundred Mid-Grade Spirit Stones could be exchanged for one High-Grade Spirit Stone.

As for Fragmented Spirit Stones, they were made from mining waste or the scraps from cutting spirit stones. One hundred Fragmented Spirit Stones could be exchanged for one Low-Grade Spirit Stone, but no one was foolish enough to exchange Low-Grade Spirit Stones for them. They were usually only used to purchase daily necessities, such as clothes and food.

There were three books related to cultivation.

Sanyang Technique: Qi Refining Chapter, which was the original owner's main cultivation technique; <Method for Refining First-Order Low-Grade Dharma Robe and Five Types of Restrictions>; and Five Basic Spells.

There were also two books on interpersonal skills.

<Attitude Towards Disciples of Immortal Cultivation Sects>, Art of Communication with Higher Cultivators.

These last two books showed that in this world, cultivators with low cultivation had a strong will to survive.

Twenty Formation Practice Boards, which the original owner used to practice artifact refining formations.

Seven Starfire Stones.

Two jin of First-Rank Elementary Demon Silkworm Silk.

One Iron Sword.

A set of spare clothes.

These were all that the original owner had left for Wu Tao.

Wu Tao packed everything into a bundle and left the mine he had stayed in for ten years. Ten years of mining, and in the end, he had nothing. He was even driven out like a defeated dog, with little time left.

It was just as it was said in his previous life: working hard for nothing, only to end up in the ICU when old.

Wu Tao found a place to hide after leaving the mine's vicinity.

An hour later, seeing no one came to pursue him, he couldn't help but mock himself, "A loose cultivator like me, an ant, and a dying person, Manager Wang wouldn't even bother with me."

He had thought Manager Wang would come to cut the grass and remove the roots, but someone like him wasn't worth Manager Wang's effort. He was meant to fend for himself. Even if he miraculously survived, what could a mere loose cultivator achieve?

After mocking himself, Wu Tao strode down the mountain.

He had to reach the cultivation city before dark. Once night fell, the wilderness was very unsafe.

At dusk.

Wu Tao looked up at an agency called 'Anju Immortal Property Agency', pulled up his hood, and walked in.

The agency manager, wearing a professional robe, was sitting behind the counter, clacking away at an abacus and muttering to himself. Seeing a customer arrive, he looked up and said, "Fellow Daoist, are you looking to rent a place?"

He had no service awareness at all.

Wu Tao nodded and politely said, "Greetings, Manager. I need a single room."

The agency manager picked up a ledger by his hand and flipped through it casually. "Let me see. There's a single room in Qingyi Alley, West Outer City. It's fully equipped with a Sound-Isolation Formation, an Anti-Peeping Formation, and an Illumination Formation. Six Low-Grade Spirit Stones per month, with a deposit of three months' rent and one month's rent in advance."

Wu Tao's mouth twitched. He cupped his hands and said with a fawning smile, "Is there anything cheaper? I don't need the Sound-Isolation Formation or anything."

This Five Spirits Cultivation City was jointly built by Wuquan Mountain and Azure Spirit Sect, divided and governed by east and west. He had arrived in the West City, which belonged to Wuquan Mountain.

To be precise, it was the West Outer City, built by the disciples of Wuquan Mountain outside the city walls to provide safe residences for loose cultivators, protecting them from the beasts in the wild. At some point, the sect disciples became too lazy to manage it and outsourced it entirely to smaller cultivation forces.

These small cultivator forces installed various cheap formations, and the rent directly increased several times.

The agency steward glanced at Wu Tao and said, "The cheap ones are all on the outermost edge, and safety is naturally incomparable to the inner areas. Fellow Daoist, you should think clearly?"

"I've thought clearly."

"A single room in New Virtue Alley, with no facilities, costs two Low-Grade Spirit Stones per month, with a three-month deposit and one month's rent paid in advance. Ten Fragmented Spirit Stones for night soil collection fee, two Fragmented Spirit Stones for street cleaning fee, and three Fragmented Spirit Stones for identity token management fee, all per month."

So many miscellaneous fees. Wu Tao sighed in his heart and said with a fawning smile, "Can I pay a one-month deposit and one month's rent in advance?"

"You say you..."

An hour later, in New Virtue Alley, Wu Tao looked at his future residence.

A single room of at most ten square meters, including a washroom, but no toilet. Every day, he had to carry the night soil bucket to the designated collection point himself to dump the excrement and urine.

Against the wall was a hard wooden bed, and an old square wooden table, covered with grooves that bore the marks of time. There was nothing else.

"This is too difficult!"

Wu Tao couldn't help but sigh. He took out the last Spirit Stone on him. He had talked until his mouth was dry, and finally persuaded the agency steward to give him a month's grace period, renting it to him with a one-month deposit and one month's rent paid in advance.

"After one month, I'll have to pay six Spirit Stones. It's too hard to be a Loose Cultivator. No wonder the Original Owner went mining. At least the rent isn't so expensive."

After a day of rushing around, Wu Tao was starving. Cultivators at the Qi Refining Stage haven't completely achieved辟谷 (Bigu - abstaining from grain), so they still need to eat, drink, and excrete. However, cultivators eat Spirit Rice specially planted by Spirit Planters, and meat from Spirit Beasts raised with Spiritual Power.

This helps with cultivation.

Wu Tao is now as poor as a church mouse and can't afford Spirit Rice or Spirit Meat. He went to the Market and bought thirty catties of Common Rice and ten catties of ordinary beast jerky for two Fragmented Spirit Stones.

These supplies would last him ten days.

He cooked for himself and ate simply. By then, it was already dark.

Under the dim light of the oil lamp indoors, the surroundings quieted down. When night fell, Wu Tao felt a strange sense of discomfort. It wasn't until he heard the sound of the door locking from the next room that he snapped out of his daze.

"The most important thing now is to survive."

Wu Tao muttered, taking out the book <Method for Refining First-Order Low-Grade Dharma Robe and Five Types of Restrictions> and the Formation Practice Board. He needed Spirit Stones to buy Evil-Breaking Talismans to break the Yin evil on his body. He could only break through this predicament by refining artifacts.

Under the dim light of the oil lamp, Wu Tao picked up the book and began to read.

The book described the method for refining First-Order Low-Grade Dharma Robes and five types of restrictions. They were: First-Order Level 1 Dust-Repelling Restriction, First-Order Level 1 Rain-Repelling Restriction, First-Order Level 1 Cooling Restriction, First-Order Level 2 Wind-Speed Restriction, and First-Order Level 3 Spirit Light Shield Restriction.

The first three restrictions were all life-related and dispensable for cultivators.

Only the Wind-Speed Restriction and the Spirit Light Shield Restriction had value and selling points.

The Wind-Speed Restriction could greatly increase speed, allowing one to move like the wind, making it the best for escaping. The Spirit Light Shield Restriction could activate a layer of Spiritual Power shield to defend against attacks.

Wu Tao had already integrated and understood the original owner's memories. He also had a basic understanding of artifact refining. The most important part of artifact refining was engraving formations, and then engraving these formations into a preliminarily refined magic robe, which could then be called a magic tool.

For cultivators to refine a magic tool, they had to refine the formations within it before they could wield it freely.

To avoid wasting materials, artifact refining apprentices practiced formations using formation practice boards.

"The original owner had been practicing the First-Order Level 1 Cooling Restriction, but his talent was abysmal. Over all these years, he hadn't even managed to engrave one percent of this formation."

"Let me try."

Wash hands.

May it bring good luck.

Calm the mind.

He silently prayed to all the gods and buddhas he knew.

"Let's begin!"

Wu Tao picked up a formation practice board. With a thought, he circulated the familiar Three Yang Technique, carefully controlling his spiritual power. The spiritual power was like a blade, leaving glowing lines on the board.

The lines were winding, mysterious, and intertwined...

Suddenly, with a hiss, like a short circuit on a circuit board, a spark appeared on the board. The lines previously drawn turned black in an instant, losing their spiritual charm.

Wu Tao frowned.

"I'm still stuck at the original owner's progress. Does this mean my artifact refining talent is as bad as the original owner's? My soul is different, my talent should have changed?!"

"Could it be that heaven wants me dead?"

His heart turned to ash.

Just as Wu Tao was despairing, light suddenly flickered before his eyes, forming lines of text.

[Cultivation Panel Loading]

[Loading Successful, Scanning Personal Information]

[Name: Wu Tao]

[Lifespan: 25/25 (Remaining 3 months)]

[Realm: Second Level of Qi Refining]

[Cultivation Technique: Three Yang Technique: Qi Refining Chapter (Second Layer): 55%]

[Spells: Fireball Technique: Beginner (60%), Cleaning Spell: Beginner (12%)]

[Divine Ability: None]

[Loading complete, randomly generating your Primary Profession...]

[Randomly generating your Secondary Profession...]

Staring blankly at the subtitles before him, Wu Tao's eyes gradually came alive, a flame of hope burning fiercely in his heart.

"Truly, when one door closes, another opens." His face was filled with joy as he watched the professions flicker by, silently praying, "Artifact Refiner, Artifact Refiner."

[Primary Profession generated successfully.]

[Artifact Refiner: When you choose this profession, you will often have unexpected inspiration in artifact refining, and your career will be luckier than others.]

[Professional Talent Bonus: 50% (Active)]

[Professional Lucky Bonus: 50% (Passive)]

"Alright!"

[Secondary Profession generated successfully.]

[Body Cultivator: Hey, I'm a Body Cultivator. Ready to get up close and personal when you Spell Battle with me? Choosing this profession will grant you buffs for understanding Body Cultivation Techniques and Body Cultivation Spells. The harder you work, the luckier you'll be. On the path of cultivation, you will be even luckier.]

[Professional Talent Bonus: 50% (Active)]

[Professional Lucky Bonus: 50% (Passive)]

"Huh..."

First-Rank Level 2 Sprint Restriction changed to Wind-Speed Restriction, please be aware.