I Don't Want to Be a Generous Child (Seeking Recommendations and Collections)

Thirteenth day since the transmigration.

Lin Wen had long since calmed down from his initial excitement; not only was he calm, he even felt a sense of profound despair.

This world was still one ruled by boring laws of physics, still a world without miracles, without magic, and without immortal cultivation.

This world still lacked everything he had dreamed of, leaving behind only a life of struggling in the dust and days that repeated themselves, endless and monotonous.

To Lin Wen, every life here was uninteresting, meaningless, and governed by instinct.

He had had enough.

"Then there is only one option left."

Lin Wen finally made up his mind.

He looked around; everything in his surroundings was yellowish-brown. This small town was built upon the dirt, and everything took the shape of dirt, even the wind and the air.

Against this yellowish-brown backdrop, a cyan wood-chopping knife rested quietly against a half-collapsed earthen wall.

It was so unusual that Lin Wen spotted it at a single glance.

"Good, I'll use that."

Lin Wen walked over.

But a bony, withered hand reached out and grasped it first.

Lin Wen looked up and saw the old man sitting on the other side of the earthen wall.

"Old Xu."

He knew this man; he was a lonely widower whose eldest son had gone off to seek his fortune decades ago and had never been heard from since, while his second son and youngest daughter had both passed away.

After his wife died a few years ago, he had lived alone, his days filled with extreme hardship.

Every few days, Lin Wen had chores to do for his household, so they were well-acquainted.

"Sell me the wood-chopping knife; I have an urgent need for it."

Old Xu looked up at him, a smile appearing amidst his cloudy eyes and knife-carved wrinkles.

"No need for that, you take it, Little Lin; you can return it whenever."

Lin Wen pulled out all the money he had on him and shoved it into the hands of the wrinkled old man.

"Old Xu, the knife was requisitioned by the town; you take this."

"It doesn't cost this much." Whenever he saw Lin Wen, Old Xu's gaze was always gentle.

Lin Wen casually fabricated an excuse: "A portion of this is a subsidy for impoverished families issued from above."

"Does everyone get it?"

"Everyone does."

"Sigh, the county finally grew a conscience."

"Indeed, who doesn't have a conscience?"

Lin Wen bid Old Xu farewell and strode away.

He had already spotted a quiet, secluded place where no one would be around.

In a moment, he would end himself there.

This god-forsaken transmigration journey would finally be over.

Perhaps, After ending it, he could transmigrate once more.

Perhaps, This time he would arrive in a world of immortal cultivation.

Even if he truly ceased to exist, it would still be better than this desperate life.

But just then, white mist suddenly rose before his eyes, and two pale golden characters streaked across the white background.

[Good Karma +1]

The golden characters vanished in an instant, and immediately, his left eye shimmered with golden light, forming a line of text against a gold-framed, gold-patterned background:

[Good Karma: 1].

His right eye roiled with black mist, forming a line of text that seemed to have condensed from pure black energy:

[Evil Karma: 0].

These two lines of text appeared side-by-side against the white, misty background, one gold and one black, in stark contrast.

At the very top was his name, surrounded by an ethereal aura: Lin Wen.

The long section in the middle listed various attributes such as spiritual energy, cultivation realm, divine abilities, and spells, though each was followed by a seal-like icon.

At the very bottom were four characters that made Lin Wen's heart stop—

Reincarnation Cultivation.

--Reincarnate via self-termination.

--Reincarnate with 50 Good Karma.

This was the information that naturally surfaced in Lin Wen's mind as he stared at these four characters.

An explosive, ecstatic joy instantly flooded his brain.

Without a doubt, this was his lifelong dream, the aspiration he had held onto from the very beginning, the wish he had craved and would have sacrificed everything to achieve.

Lin Wen nearly died of shock right then and there, but in that split second of extremity, his remaining sanity allowed another question to bubble up in his mind.

[What is the difference between self-termination reincarnation and 50 Good Karma reincarnation?]

As if answering its own question, the answer floated directly out of his mind.

[Reincarnation via self-termination: Become one who has no attachment to the mortal world. Comprehension +1, Heart-nature -3, Opportunity -3, Fortune -3.]

[Reincarnation via 50 Good Karma: Become a benevolent person. Root-bone +1, Comprehension +1, Opportunity +1, Fortune +1.]

Lin Wen's face turned pale in an instant.

It was common knowledge that in the world of cultivation, Fortune was the most important, and Opportunity was the second.

Without Fortune, no matter how monstrous your cultivation or how many magical treasures you possessed, and no matter if you were arrogant and domineering or steady and low-key, your ultimate fate would be that of a "wealth-distributing boy," a "True Person" who exists only to deliver treasures to others.

Worse yet, in the real world of cultivation, things could be even more miserable. Beyond having your life's savings claimed by others, your disciples, friends, and family would all perish, and your wife and daughter would be forced into the harems of others.

If your enemy held a grudge against you, they might even perform a dance on your grave—the 18+ kind.

This was absolutely, positively intolerable.

And without Opportunity, it meant you would enter a mountain of treasure only to return empty-handed, fail to recognize a golden thigh when it stood right before you, be unable to find a secret manual even after falling off a cliff, and expend the Strength of Nine Bulls and Two Tigers to break an ancient formation only to have someone else snatch the treasure away. You might even inherit a predecessor's legacy only to find it had already been picked clean.

While not necessarily fatal, such frustration would inevitably become the greatest inner demon, severely hindering one's cultivation.

Most crucially, it would reduce the number of incredibly exhilarating opportunities, turning one's cultivation adventures into a slog devoid of surprises and filled with obstacles at every turn.

This was the most terrifying part; it would directly shake the very foundation of his will to cultivate.

Therefore, self-termination reincarnation was a trap within a trap, an epic-level pitfall. For the sake of a few insignificant attribute points, one would lose the most vital Fortune and Opportunity.

Lin Wen snapped back to reality, drenched in cold sweat. I must find a quiet place to study this, he thought. I must ensure I choose the most optimal path for reincarnation.

This time, he had to have a perfect start!

He would never again come to this godforsaken place to be this pathetic, nameless town mayor.

Lin Wen had vaguely sensed that much of this information had long existed in his mind, buried in the deepest layers of his memory like a subconscious. It only required a trigger, such as an intense question, to recall it.

As for when this information appeared, it didn't matter. Perhaps it had always been there, perhaps it came at the moment of his transmigration, or perhaps it had just arrived.

As he took a step, he tripped over a wood-chopping knife on the ground. Lin Wen jumped back as if he had stepped on a landmine, circling around it with a wide berth before moving on.

There could be absolutely no accidents.

This was the only thought in Lin Wen's mind.

He had almost killed himself with that knife just now.

After painstakingly avoiding every potential danger on the road, Lin Wen returned home.

It was a mud house of about twenty square meters with a thatched roof and bare walls. There was only a bed and a table, and sunlight pierced through the holes in the walls and the gaps in the thatch like sharp arrows.

In the past, Lin Wen would have certainly despised such a dump.

But now, Lin Wen felt this environment was excellent—perfectly suited to his status as the strongest cultivator, the future Lord of Creation, the Child of Destiny who would trample Immortal Kings and strike down Divine Emperors.

"Good! I shall enter seclusion and cultivate right here!"

Lin Wen jumped onto the bed, struck a meditative pose, closed his eyes, and focused his thoughts. Sure enough, the white mist appeared before his eyes again.

Lin Wen quickly scanned the content above. Correct, it was a cultivation system. Although Lin Wen didn't particularly like this method, those were just trivial details. As long as he could cultivate, anything would do.

The middle section of the white mist was a long string of attributes, each followed by a seal-like pattern, which likely meant they were not yet unlocked.

That made sense; he hadn't started cultivating yet, so naturally, he had no cultivation realm, magical treasures, or spiritual energy.

He turned his gaze to the very bottom of the white mist. Those were the four most exciting characters, the content he needed to "recall" first.

Let's begin!

First question:

[What is all the information regarding cultivation?]

However, even after staring at the words [Reincarnation Cultivation] and trying to recall for a long time, no information emerged from his mind.

Is my posture wrong?

Lin Wen wondered.

Then, he tried another question:

[What is the reincarnation method with the most Fortune?]

Still, nothing happened.

Lin Wen pondered for a moment, concluding that his questions had been too broad and his mental focus insufficiently intense.

"It needs to be like before; I should be emotionally charged and ask highly specific questions, like what I want to know most right now—"

[If I die accidentally, can I be reincarnated into a world of cultivation?]

Almost instantly, Lin Wen "recalled" the answer.

[Accidental death results in becoming a Traveler in a Dream, Perception +3, Root Bone -1]

It was quite lackluster... not particularly harmful, but not very useful either.

Lin Wen felt slightly relieved; if he were to meet an unfortunate end, he wouldn't simply perish, dying before his ambitions were realized.

Still, he couldn't afford to be careless. Although achieving the Dao and becoming an ancestor was only a matter of time, a mediocre start would delay that process and introduce many unnecessary twists and turns.

[Are there any ways to die that result in purely negative effects?]

No, his mental focus wasn't strong enough; he needed to surge, to erupt.

[Will I be reincarnated if I choke to death while eating?]

Just like that, Lin Wen tossed and turned until the next day. After spending the whole night searching for ways to die, he finally summarized the two best known methods of reincarnation.

Dying to save the common people—[Star of Salvation, Traveler in a Dream]

Comprehension +3, Opportunity +3, Fortune +3, gain the trait [Never Do Evil in This Life]—difficulty of practicing evil arts is doubled.

Dying while fulfilling one's duty—[Duty-Bound Person, Regardless of Fortune or Misfortune]

Root Bone +1, Spiritual Sense +1, Opportunity +2, Fortune +2.

Beyond this, Lin Wen unearthed another crucial piece of information in his mind: reincarnation could be triggered by multiple causes simultaneously.

For instance, he could become both a Star of Salvation and a Duty-Bound Person at the same time.

It was easy to imagine someone, like a superhero, whose duty was to save the common people. By fulfilling his duty, he would also be saving the masses; if he were to reincarnate because of this, he would meet both conditions simultaneously, achieving double the joy.

Just looking at these rows of attributes, especially the massive amounts of Opportunity and Fortune, Lin Wen could practically feel his mouth watering.

Without a doubt, this was the goal he would strive for from now on.

Unless, of course, he could find two even better ones.

Although Lin Wen wanted to keep going, he couldn't hold on any longer. After a night of intense mental eruptions, even the strongest person would be drained dry.

Lin Wen collapsed onto his bed, and in the moment before he closed his eyes, he shifted his gaze upward and asked himself one final question.

[How are Good Karma and Evil Karma acquired, and what are they used for?]

With great ease, Lin Wen answered himself directly.

[Benefiting the common people grants Good Karma.]

[Bringing disaster to the common people grants Evil Karma.]

[Good Karma can slightly increase aptitude, Opportunity, and Fortune, resist major catastrophes, and reduce damage from great calamities.]

[Evil Karma can significantly increase aptitude, directly boost cultivation, facilitate rapid breakthroughs, or temporarily enhance combat ability. However, it reduces Opportunity and Fortune.]

Understood. Good Karma was the path to the heavens, the ultimate late-game build.

Evil Karma was the path to quickly becoming a "True Person" who distributes wealth and gifts.

Wasn't the choice obvious?

Lin Wen fell fast asleep.

Newcomer Lao Chuan humbly requests your support.