Immortal Through the Ages, Time to Add Points

"Immortality really is lonely as snow."

A young man reclined on a small hillside, a foxtail grass stem between his lips as he gazed into the distance. A breeze swept past, bowing the myriad trees.

Yet judging from his tone, he was not lamenting at all. It was brimming with undisguised delight.

Moo~ Moo~

Beside him sat a black bull with one broken horn. Yes, it was sitting rather than standing, perched upright on its hind legs with its black back held perfectly straight.

The youth was called Chen Xun. He had transmigrated here a year ago. This world was vast and boundless, filled with countless immortal cultivators who could move mountains and overturn seas, sitting high above the clouds and looking down upon the mortal realm.

But when he transmigrated, he had actually come with a system. At the time, Chen Xun had been truly grateful, countless stories of novel protagonists flashing through his mind.

However.

Chen Xun's system was not some overpowered system that granted an invincible physique or peerless cultivation techniques.

He had become immortal... The laws of heaven and earth could no longer restrict his lifespan, but he could only raise one attribute point per year.

Strength, speed, defense, mana, Essence of All Things.

He could understand strength, speed, defense, and mana, but Chen Xun had never been able to grasp the meaning of this Essence of All Things. He eventually put it out of his mind. Staying alive was what mattered most.

Still, the system was quite considerate. The path to immortality was long, so it had even given him an immortal spirit beast to keep him company.

Though it could not speak, it could understand his words. He could also add points to it each year without consuming his own Longevity Points.

"Even though we're immortal, we can still be killed. We'd better keep a low profile from now on."

Chen Xun sighed. Half a year ago, he and the black bull had planted a patch of rice in the small mountain village and raised quite a few chicks. Who knew that, on a dark and windy night, Old Wang from the neighboring village would lead a group of people over and steal everything?

When Chen Xun found out, rage surged through him. Was there no justice in this world?! No law?!

Sharpening his blade, he grabbed an axe and headed to the neighboring village with Black Bull to demand an explanation.

Who knew the other side had greater numbers? Chen Xun was beaten badly, one of the black bull's horns was snapped off, and they fled in disarray, spending several days recovering from their injuries.

Moo!

The black bull snorted heavily, resentment in its eyes. Those people were truly detestable.

This incident also left a deep psychological scar on Chen Xun, one that would haunt him for a long time.

[Ding! The host can now add points.]

Chen Xun grinned crookedly. The year was up. Add points for me!

Without hesitation, he put the point into strength. Back when he had been beaten, it was because he had been too weak to even push away the men holding him down.

"Fuck..."

Chen Xun's face turned the color of pig liver as power suddenly surged through his body. Veins bulged across his arms, and he slammed a fist into the ground, startling the black bull so badly that it sprang up on its hind legs.

"My fate is mine, not Heaven's!"

Bang—

For every action, there was an equal and opposite reaction. Chen Xun broke the bones in his hand and spent several more days recovering with Black Bull.

He also added one point of strength to it. There was no obvious change in appearance, but after seeing Chen Xun's miserable fate, the black bull merely tested its newfound strength casually. It was quite satisfied.

They lived in a thatched cottage in a small mountain village, keeping to themselves. But the rules of this world seemed carved into everyone's bones.

Mortals had to bow respectfully when they encountered immortal cultivators. They must never offend them. Even the people in a remote little mountain village like this knew that.

"Brother Xun."

A boy's voice came from outside the thatched cottage. It was Little Blackie from the village. Since his skin had been dark at birth, he had been given such a lowly name.

"What is it, Little Blackie?" Chen Xun's injuries had already healed, and he slowly opened the door.

"The village chief told me to bring you some rice." Little Blackie held a sack of rice and smiled foolishly, his eyes innocent and pure.

"Thank the village chief for me."

Chen Xun took it, deeply moved. He and Black Bull had been so hungry that they had eaten nothing but wild vegetables for days.

A dignified immortal was actually about to starve to death. What an absurdity!

At that thought, resentment welled up in Chen Xun's heart. A gentleman's revenge was never too late, even after a hundred years. Just wait until we dig up your ancestral graves.

"Brother Xun, I'll be going now. My mother told me to come home for dinner."

"Alright, hurry home."

Chen Xun said with a smile. Looking at the rice in his hands, tears of gratitude flowed from the corners of his mouth. There were still more good people than bad in this world.

Moo!

Black Bull let out an impatient bellow inside the cottage. It did not like eating grass. It liked rice too.

Soon, steam curled through the air as fragrant rice came out of the pot. Man and bull sat on the ground and wolfed it down, their eyes filled with dreams for the future.

"Old Bull, we need to live well. Don't act impulsively again."

Chen Xun chewed his rice and swallowed hard. "This world is huge. Once we make it big, I'll find you a few cows."

Moo! Grunt.

Old Bull looked at him with disdain, as if saying that it had been Chen Xun who had charged into the neighboring village with an axe in the first place.

"They have the numbers. You need strategy to deal with people like them," Chen Xun said mysteriously.

Delight flashed in Black Bull's eyes as it immediately shuffled closer to Chen Xun.

"Once they're old and feeble, we'll knock out their teeth and dig up their ancestral graves! Damn it, how dare they provoke an immortal?"

Chen Xun spoke with utter conviction, his gaze sharp and his bearing incomparably imposing.

Moo! Moo!

A glint shone in Black Bull's bell-sized eyes as it nodded repeatedly. This was good. Very good.

"Why do I smell something burning?"

Chen Xun sniffed, then suddenly looked toward the kitchen, his eyes widening in shock. "Our thatched cottage!!"

Moo~~ The black bull also let out a startled snort.

"Fire!"

"Chen Xun's house is on fire! Hurry and put it out!"

An hour later, the blaze finally began to die down. The entire thatched cottage had nearly burned to nothing. Man and bull knelt outside the ruins, their eyes lifeless, utterly bereft of hope.

Chen Xun had been an orphan in the village to begin with, and now one disaster after another had befallen him. He was simply too pitiful. The villagers each offered a few words of comfort before dispersing.

"It's over. Our home is gone."

Chen Xun said in a daze. He did not know how to build a house. Truly, when it rained, it poured. Life was bleak by nature.

Yet Heaven never sealed off every road. Black Bull had preserved the rice through rumination, enough to last them several days.

"Old Bull, I saw a few caves beneath the eastern slope. Sigh, let's live there."

Chen Xun shook his head dejectedly. He needed to learn a few trades in the village. When he first arrived, he had only known how to farm. Now he knew nothing else.

Moo! Black Bull did not care. Wherever Chen Xun was, that was its home.

Outside the small mountain village, Black Bull had quite a bit of dry grass tied to its back. Chen Xun also gathered some firewood and carried it into a cave, where they would stay for the time being.

Over the next year, Chen Xun became an apprentice to the village carpenter. Black Bull helped carry things as well. The villagers all said it had spirit and told Chen Xun not to slaughter it for meat.

Chen Xun scoffed when he heard that. Even if he starved to death or jumped off the small hillside, he would never betray a friend.

"Delicious."

Chen Xun smiled as he stuffed his face with beef. At year's end, to celebrate the festivities, the villagers slaughtered several cattle and held a grand feast for the whole village.

Naturally, he would not miss out on such a good thing. But Black Bull's pupils contracted at the sight, and it could not bring itself to eat even the few pieces of beef Chen Xun gave it.

After the feast, food could not be wasted. He and Black Bull packed up whatever others did not eat. One had to be frugal in life.

Inside the cave, Black Bull ate with great relish, while Chen Xun finished all the beef it refused to eat.