Hope

Clang!

After shutting the door, Wu Tao sprawled on the bed like a dead dog.

The memories of this life and his previous one shuttled back and forth through his sea of consciousness. Rage, grievance, anguish, and unwillingness intertwined like threads into a net, densely shrouding him and leaving him unable to breathe.

The experiences of two lifetimes seemed to be urging him to compromise with life. When facing overwhelming power, he had to endure. Endure for a moment and the wind and waves would calm; take one step back and the sea and sky would stretch boundlessly wide.

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

"Fuck, I'm done enduring. To hell with compromise. I want to settle grudges to my heart's content. I want to fuck!" The emotions he had suppressed for years erupted at that moment. Wu Tao rose and punched the hard wooden bedboard, the motion natural and seamless.

After venting, Wu Tao quickly calmed down.

He needed to accept the reality that he had transmigrated.

He also needed to face the predicament ahead.

Manager Wang's actions had completely cut off his path to survival. But what could he do? Even in the law-based society of his previous life, he had been powerless, much less in this world ruled by immortal sects.

Without compensation for evil possession and without an Evil-Breaking Talisman, he would undoubtedly die three months from now.

Wu Tao pondered, his gaze resting quietly on the flickering candle flame. The flame was tiny, yet it exhausted all its strength to burn. His eyes seemed to be lit by it as well.

"This is a world where one can cultivate immortality. There must be hope. Did I face few setbacks in my previous life? Didn't I still stand firm through them all? Right, cultivation is hope. I can't just fulfill someone else's wishes so easily. Manager Wang, my twenty Spirit Stones can stay with you for now. I'll come back for them."

"I need to leave the mine quickly, in case Manager Wang decides to silence me."

With that thought, Wu Tao immediately began packing the original owner's belongings.

Following the instincts in his memories, he quickly sorted through the original owner's possessions one by one.

Five Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

Twenty-five Fragmented Spirit Stones.

Among 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 scraps left over 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 trade Low-Grade Spirit Stones for them. They were generally only used to buy daily necessities such as clothing and food.

There were three books related to cultivation.

Three Yang Technique: Qi Refining Chapter was the original owner's primary cultivation technique; <The Refining Method for First-Order Low-Grade Dharma Robes and Five Restrictions>, and Five Basic Spells.

There were also two books on social conduct.

<What Attitude Should One Maintain Toward Disciples Within Immortal Cultivation Sects>, and <The Art of Speaking with Cultivators Stronger Than Yourself>.

Those last two books showed just how fiercely low-level cultivators in this world clung to survival.

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

Seven Starfire Stones.

Two jin of First-Rank Elementary Demon Silkworm Silk.

One Iron Sword.

One set of spare clothes.

That was everything the original owner had left Wu Tao.

He packed them into a bundle and left the mine where he had spent ten years. He had mined for ten years, only to end up with nothing, driven out like a beaten dog with little time left to live.

Just as they said in his previous life: work, work, and work for nothing, only to end up in the ICU when old.

After leaving the mine's boundaries, Wu Tao found a place to hide.

An hour passed, yet no one came after him. He could not help mocking himself. "I'm a rogue cultivator as insignificant as an ant, and a dying man besides. Why would Manager Wang even spare a thought for me?"

He had thought Manager Wang would come out to pull up the weeds by the roots, but someone like him was not worth Manager Wang's personal attention. He could simply be left to live or die on his own. Even if he survived by chance, could a mere rogue cultivator truly turn the heavens upside down?

After mocking himself, Wu Tao headed down the mountain.

He had to reach the Cultivation City before dark. Once night fell, the wilderness would be far too dangerous.

At dusk.

Wu Tao raised his head toward a brokerage agency called Anju Immortal Property Agency, pulled up his hood, and walked inside.

The agency steward, dressed in a professional robe, sat behind the counter rattling an abacus and muttering under his breath. Seeing a customer enter, he looked up and said, "Is Fellow Daoist looking to rent a room?"

There was not the slightest trace of service awareness.

Wu Tao nodded and said politely, "Greetings, Steward. I require a single room."

The agency steward picked up a dossier at hand and flipped through it casually. "Let me see. There's a single room in Qingyi Alley, West Outer City. Fully furnished, with a Sound-Isolation Formation, an Anti-Peeping Formation, and an Illumination Formation. Six Low-Grade Spirit Stones per month, three months' deposit and one month's rent in advance."

Wu Tao's mouth twitched. Cupping his hands, he smiled apologetically. "Is there anything cheaper? I can do without the Sound-Isolation Formation and the rest."

Five Spirits Cultivation City had been jointly constructed by Five Spring Mountain and the Azure Spirit Sect, with the two ruling separate halves. He had come to West City, under Five Spring Mountain's jurisdiction.

More precisely, West Outer City. It had been built by Five Spring Mountain Disciples around the walls of the Cultivation City, providing rogue cultivators with safe residences protected from demonic beasts in the wilderness. At some point, the sect disciples had grown too lazy to manage it and outsourced everything to minor cultivation factions.

Those minor cultivation factions installed all kinds of cheap formations, then directly raised the rent severalfold.

The agency steward gave Wu Tao a sidelong glance. "The cheap places are all at the outermost edge. Their safety naturally cannot compare to the inner areas. Fellow Daoist should think it over carefully."

"I've thought it over."

"A single room in New Virtue Alley. No facilities whatsoever. Two Low-Grade Spirit Stones per month, three months' deposit and one month's rent in advance. Ten Fragmented Spirit Stones per month for night soil collection, two Fragmented Spirit Stones for street cleaning, and three Fragmented Spirit Stones for Identity Token management."

So many miscellaneous fees. Wu Tao sighed inwardly and smiled apologetically. "Could I pay one month's deposit and one month's rent instead?"

"You really..."

An hour later, in New Virtue Alley, Wu Tao looked at the place that would serve as his foothold from now on.

The single room was at most ten square meters and included a washroom, but no toilet. Every day, he would have to carry a chamber pot to the designated night soil collection point to dump his waste.

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

"This is too hard!"

Wu Tao could not help sighing. He took out the last Spirit Stone on him. After talking until his mouth was dry, he had finally persuaded the agency steward to grant him a month's grace and rent it to him with one month's deposit and one month's rent.

"In one month, I'll need to pay six Spirit Stones. Rogue cultivators have it too hard. No wonder the original owner went to mine. At least the rent there wasn't so expensive."

After running around all day, Wu Tao was ravenous. Cultivators at the Qi Refining Stage had not yet completely abandoned food and drink; they still needed to eat, drink, piss, and shit. The only difference was that cultivators ate Spirit Rice specially grown by Spirit Planters, while their meat came from specially raised spirit beast meat containing Spiritual Power.

That was beneficial to cultivation.

Wu Tao was now so poor that his pockets jingled. Naturally, he could not afford Spirit Rice or spirit beast meat. At the market, he spent two Fragmented Spirit Stones to buy thirty jin of common rice and ten jin of ordinary dried beast meat.

Those supplies were enough to last him ten days.

He cooked for himself and ate a simple meal. By then, night had fallen.

Under the dim glow of the oil lamp, the room grew quiet. Whenever night came, Wu Tao felt an unfamiliar discomfort. Only when he heard the neighboring door open and lock did he snap out of his daze.

"The most important thing now is to stay alive."

Wu Tao muttered to himself as he took out <The Refining Method for First-Order Low-Grade Dharma Robes and Five Restrictions> and a Formation Practice Board. He needed Spirit Stones to buy an Evil-Breaking Talisman and dispel the evil yin energy in his body. His only way to break the deadlock was through artifact refining.

By the dim light of the oil lamp, Wu Tao picked up the book and began reading.

The book recorded the refining method for First-Order Low-Grade Dharma Robes, as well as five restrictions: First-Order Level 1 Dust-Repelling Restriction, First-Order Level 1 Rain-Repelling Restriction, First-Order Level 1 Cooling Restriction, First-Rank Level 2 Wind-Speed Restriction, and First-Rank Level 3 Spirit Light Shield Restriction.

The first three restrictions were all daily-life restrictions, neither here nor there for cultivators.

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

The Wind-Speed Restriction could dramatically increase one's speed, allowing one to walk like the wind. It was the finest item for fleeing with one's life. The Spirit Light Shield Restriction could trigger a shield of spiritual power for defending against attacks.

Wu Tao had already thoroughly integrated the original owner's memories, so he possessed a basic understanding of artifact refining. The most important part of artifact refining was inscribing restrictions. Once a restriction was inscribed onto a preliminarily refined Dharma Robe, it could be called a Magic Tool.

When cultivators refined Magic Tools, they refined the restrictions within them, allowing them to wield the tools as easily as their own limbs.

To avoid wasting materials, Artifact Refining Apprentices used Formation Practice Boards to practice restrictions.

"The original owner had always practiced the First-Order Level 1 Cooling Restriction, but his talent was abysmal. After all these years, he hadn't even inscribed one percent of the restriction."

"I'll give it a try."

He washed his hands.

It could bring good luck.

He calmed his mind.

In his heart, he prayed once 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 Sanyang Technique and carefully controlled his spiritual power. Like a blade, the spiritual power left glowing lines across the Spirit Board.

The lines twisted and turned, mysterious, intertwining...

Suddenly, with a sizzling sound like a circuit board shorting out, a spark burst from the Spirit Board. In an instant, every line he had drawn turned black and lost its spiritual charm.

Wu Tao frowned.

"It's still stuck at the original owner's progress. Does that mean my artifact refining talent is just as bad as his? My soul is completely different, so my talent should have changed too, shouldn't it?!

Could it be that the heavens want me dead?"

His heart turned to ashes.

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

[Cultivation Panel loading]

[Loading successful. Scanning Personal Status]

[Name: Wu Tao]

[Lifespan: 25/25 (three months remaining)]

[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 blazed fiercely in his heart.

"There truly is no road that leads to utter ruin." His face brightened with joy. Watching the professions flash by one after another, he silently prayed, "Artifact Refiner, Artifact Refiner."

[Primary Profession successfully generated.]

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

[Professional Talent Bonus: 50% (Active)]

[Professional Lucky Bonus: 50% (Passive)]

"Nice!"

[Secondary Profession successfully generated.]

[Body Cultivator: Hey, I'm a body cultivator. If you want a spell battle with me, are you ready to get up close and personal? Choose this profession, and your comprehension of body cultivation techniques and body cultivation spells will become your buff. The harder you work, the luckier you become. On the path of cultivation, you will be even luckier.]

[Professional Talent Bonus: 50% (Active)]

[Professional Lucky Bonus: 50% (Passive)]

"Uh, what..."

The First-Rank Level 2 Sprint Restriction has been changed to the Wind-Speed Restriction. Please take note.