Nameless Coffin Shop's First Customer

"Once the host lives long enough, you will discover that nothing in this world remains unchanged forever."

"Such is the Heavenly Dao; so too are people."

"Ha ha ha!"

"A system really is a system. You sure know how to string words together."

Chen Changsheng rose with a smile, glanced at the dawn breaking over the horizon, casually stamped out the campfire, and continued south.

When someone possessed an endlessly long lifespan, aside from becoming cautious, they also became bored.

Faced with such utter boredom, Chen Changsheng set himself a small goal.

He wanted to see whether Nian Sheng was doing well.

Yet while pursuing that small goal, Chen Changsheng discovered another hobby of his.

It was learning. Whenever he encountered a trade that interested him, Chen Changsheng would stop and spend several years studying it.

Over those twenty years, Chen Changsheng had been a beggar, sold tofu, and picked up some brewing skills.

But among all those trades, the one Chen Changsheng liked best and excelled at most was the Funeral Service Package.

The reason was simple. Other than the funeral business, even begging inevitably brought disputes, since beggars had to fight over territory too.

Selling coffins, on the other hand, was much more peaceful.

Thieves would not steal them, bandits would not rob them, and whether you were a high-ranking official or imperial kin, you would ultimately be shut inside these few wooden boards.

Besides that, Chen Changsheng's skill in Dragon Seeking and Acupuncture Point Location had improved by leaps and bounds.

Others relied only on theoretical knowledge from books when seeking dragons and locating acupuncture points. Whether it worked or not, no one knew.

But Chen Changsheng was different. After helping someone with a burial, he could slowly observe how that family developed afterward.

During those twenty years, his longest observation lasted five years.

It was precisely because of this stop-and-go way of traveling that Chen Changsheng had covered only three thousand li in twenty years.

Linglong Town.

Watching figures occasionally fly overhead, Chen Changsheng clicked his tongue and sighed.

"No wonder that old woman looked so disgusted when she heard I was coming to visit. It took me a full fifty years to get here."

"If an ordinary person had bad luck, living to fifty would be a struggle."

After briefly lamenting the ruthlessness of time, Chen Changsheng began searching the town for a suitable storefront.

This was a town at the foot of Linglong Sect's mountain gate, and a favorite haunt of low-level cultivators and Linglong Sect's menial disciples.

Originally, Chen Changsheng had planned to sneak into Linglong Sect to check on Nian Sheng, but when he arrived in Linglong Town, he abandoned that thought.

Because throughout the hundred li surrounding Linglong Sect, stories of Li Niansheng were being told everywhere.

Linglong Sect had produced a genius unseen in a thousand years. She had reached Golden Core Great Completion after merely fifty years in the sect, and her astonishing talent had even alarmed the long-secluded Sect Leader.

Before such a Heaven's Proud Daughter, countless gifted young men flocked like ducks, wishing to become her Dao companion.

Yet in the face of countless geniuses, Li Niansheng had only ever given one response.

"All of you put together are still no match for Chang Sheng."

As time passed, Li Niansheng came to be known throughout the cultivation world as the purest of cultivators, for no one could compare to her obsession with Chang Sheng.

Unlike Li Niansheng, who drew endless attention, Chen Changsheng's presence was almost equivalent to nonexistence.

No one in all of Linglong Town noticed that, in its most secluded corner, a tiny Coffin Shop—barely large enough to hold two or three coffins—had opened for business.

"Excuse me, is anyone here?"

A Little Bald Head poked his head into the Coffin Shop and looked around.

Hearing the sound, a figure abruptly sat up from inside a coffin.

The Little Bald Head jumped in fright when he saw someone suddenly sit up from the coffin.

Only after confirming that the person before him was alive did the Little Bald Head pat his chest to calm himself.

"Benefactor, how can you lie in a coffin?"

"Coffins are for dead people to sleep in."

Chen Changsheng smiled at the Little Bald Head's solemn expression.

He had opened this Coffin Shop three years ago, and hardly anyone had visited during that time. If not for the low-grade spirit herbs he usually grew and sold,

this shop would have shut down long ago.

"Little monk, that's not right."

"Whether mortal or cultivator, everyone ultimately has to die."

"Since that is the case, why should the living despise their final resting place?"

Hearing Chen Changsheng's words, the little monk tilted his head and thought for a moment, then pressed his palms together. "Amitabha."

"Thank you for your guidance, Benefactor. This little monk was fixated on appearances."

"Ha ha ha!"

"Though you're small, you're quite perceptive."

As he spoke, Chen Changsheng jumped out of the coffin and rubbed the little monk's round bald head.

"Tell me, little monk, what brings you to my Coffin Shop?"

At that, the little monk lowered his head. "Recently, Heavenly Buddha Temple and Linglong Sect joined forces to subdue a Demon Cultivator who had committed countless evils."

"That Demon Cultivator refused to submit even unto death, and was ultimately killed by an elder of Linglong Sect."

"Although that benefactor committed countless evils, this little monk did not wish to see him left exposed in the wilderness, so I wanted to buy a coffin and bury him."

Hearing the little monk's words, Chen Changsheng clicked his tongue. "Do you have money?"

"I'm running a business. I can't do business at a loss."

"I've prepared it already."

As he spoke, the little monk took out three Medium Spirit Stones from his Storage Bag and handed them to Chen Changsheng.

Looking at the valuable Medium Spirit Stones, Chen Changsheng smiled and took one of them.

"One Medium Spirit Stone gets you my finest full-service package. When can we set off?"

"Right now. If we delay any longer, that benefactor's corpse will start to stink."

Chen Changsheng did not hesitate at the little monk's request and left with him at once.

As for the Coffin Shop...

Chen Changsheng did not even close the door. There were only two coffins inside, and anyone with a functioning brain would not come here to steal two ordinary coffins.

Wilderness.

Led by the little monk, Chen Changsheng finally met the so-called Demon Cultivator.

At that moment, he was no different from any dead mortal.

If there was any difference, it was that half his face had been completely smashed apart.

Seeing this, Chen Changsheng could not help sighing. "Little monk, are cultivators all this cold-hearted?"

"Never mind what he did while alive. You people went through great trouble to capture him, after all."

"Killing someone only takes a nod of the head. At least dig a hole and bury him!"

"What kind of sense does it make to leave him in this desolate wilderness?"

"In this cultivation world, it seems you're the only little monk with any human warmth."

Faced with Chen Changsheng's words, the little monk merely recited Buddhist Scriptures in silence.

Seeing this, Chen Changsheng shook his head and began collecting the corpse.