Immortal Cultivation Is Hard

Name: Zhou Changwang

Lifespan: 17/75

Cultivation: Qi Refining Second Layer (21/100)

Cultivation Method: Five Elements Art (Beginner 85/100)

Skills: Spirit Rain Art (Proficient 135/200), Cleansing Art (Beginner 59/100), Growth Art (Beginner 63/100), Geng Metal Finger (Beginner 13/100)

...

The moment Zhou Changwang opened his eyes, he saw this attribute panel before him.

I... didn't die?

At the thought, a surge of agitation rose in Zhou Changwang's heart.

He had always cherished his life. He rarely went out, and even when he had no choice but to leave home, he kept his eyes in every direction and his ears tuned to every sound. After all, there were more and more cars in the streets and alleys these days. He had no desire to see news about himself appear across every media platform, only to be condemned and picked apart in the comments afterward.

Especially his ever-superstitious mother, who had specifically sought out an old fortune-teller to read his fate. The man had said he should avoid long journeys and, more importantly, yield to vehicles...

Though he had not quite believed it, he had always been a little more cautious when walking outside, doing his best to stay on the sidewalk by the roadside.

Yet this time, after being forced to go out, he had obediently walked along the sidewalk—only to see an out-of-control car ignore a stone step nearly thirty centimeters high and slam straight toward him...

"It seemed that, whether one believed in such things or not, one really ought to hold a certain degree of reverence for them."

Zhou Changwang muttered inwardly. Just as he was considering whether he should go fulfill a vow of thanks, his heart suddenly jolted.

Fragmented memories abruptly surfaced in his mind.

A long while later.

He finally returned to himself in silence.

An expression that was neither joy nor sorrow appeared on his face.

At that moment, he finally confirmed that he had indeed died before.

And now, he had transmigrated.

He had transmigrated into a completely unfamiliar world.

A world of immortal cultivation!

His name in this life was the same as before: Zhou Changwang. He was a Rogue Cultivator living in Phoenix-Cry Cove Market.

What was a Rogue Cultivator?

Someone with neither roots nor support, a cultivator who could rely only on himself for everything in his cultivation.

He was at the Qi Refining Second Layer.

He currently managed three mu of spirit fields on the outskirts of Phoenix-Cry Cove Market.

His usual work was to cultivate and guard those three mu of spirit fields, hoping to harvest enough spirit rice in autumn to exchange for spirit stones and support his cultivation.

His father, meanwhile, was a mortal who practiced martial arts. Among mortals, he had reached the Martial Dao Innate realm. He had once been the martial alliance leader of a mortal kingdom, but in pursuit of immortality, he had abandoned everything and come to Phoenix-Cry Cove Market, where he had put down roots for twenty years.

Unfortunately, he possessed no spirit root and was ultimately fated to have no hope of cultivating immortality. With no other choice, he placed his hopes upon his descendants.

Thus, after going to every possible length, he had found a female cultivator with spirit roots. Only after joining with her had Zhou Changwang been born.

"If I were in a mortal kingdom, with my father's status as a Martial Dao Innate expert, he would surely enjoy inexhaustible glory and wealth.

"But this is a world of immortal cultivation."

Zhou Changwang sighed with feeling.

Yet an indescribable light shone in his eyes.

A world of immortal cultivation.

"In other words...

"I can become an immortal?

"Live forever, gaze upon the ages, with an endless lifespan..."

In his previous life, he had merely been an ordinary person. His dreams had long been worn smooth by the trivialities of life. Even his wildest fantasy had been no more than financial freedom and returning home in splendor...

But in this world, one could become an immortal.

Though he knew very well that this hope was incomparably slim.

What was more, he possessed all five spirit roots of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. His aptitude could not be called utterly poor, but it only barely gave him the possibility of cultivation.

Without some special opportunity, the Qi Refining stage would be his limit.

And the lifespan of a Qi Refining cultivator was, in truth, not much different from that of mortals.

That was why his father had given up on the idea of sending him into a sect. Instead, he had sent him to the Spirit Plant Hall in Phoenix-Cry Cove Market. He apprenticed there for five years, and only at the beginning of this year, with his father's support, had he rented three mu of spirit fields, barely managing to survive on his own in this immortal cultivation market.

"Immortal cultivation is hard.

"It is nothing like the floating immortal aura and carefree grace I imagined.

"There is only facing the yellow earth by day and sweating toward the sky, and even that is not enough to cover daily cultivation expenses..."

Recalling the memories in his mind, Zhou Changwang could not help but sigh.

The former owner's daily life was indeed completely different from what he had once imagined.

The three mu of spirit fields had already been planted with spirit grain at the beginning of the year, but spirit grain required constant care as it grew.

Loosening the soil, weeding, removing pests, fertilizing, irrigating with spirit rain... A single mishandled step would affect its growth and reduce the yield.

Generally, after spirit fields were tended by spirit plant masters, their yield exceeded five hundred jin per mu. At the current market price, ten jin of spirit rice could be exchanged for one low-grade spirit stone. Thus, one mu of spirit field could produce fifty low-grade spirit stones.

Three mu of spirit fields meant one hundred and fifty low-grade spirit stones.

It looked like a great deal, but the cost of renting spirit fields was not small to begin with.

Back then, the Spirit Plant Hall had offered two options. The first was a fixed fee of thirty low-grade spirit stones per mu, making ninety low-grade spirit stones for three mu. The second was a set fee of ten low-grade spirit stones per mu, plus fifty percent of the spirit grain's proceeds. If the yield per mu was worth less than forty low-grade spirit stones, he would have to make up the remaining twenty low-grade spirit stones and pay them to the Spirit Plant Hall.

In order to save money, he had chosen the second option.

That meant that after a year of hard work, assuming a yield of five hundred jin per mu, he could actually earn only forty-five low-grade spirit stones.

And that was only in a good year. If pests struck or disaster befell the fields, the yield would plummet, perhaps even leaving him without a single grain.

When that happened, he would have to bear the remaining twenty low-grade spirit stones himself.

In short, the Spirit Plant Hall would never lose out.

While hoeing and tending the fields every day, the former owner had also needed to keep up with cultivation. Naturally, life had been exceedingly difficult.

"Fortunately, I brought something with me when I transmigrated this time."

Zhou Changwang could not help but turn his gaze toward his attribute panel once more.

Name: Zhou Changwang

Lifespan: 17/75

Cultivation: Qi Refining Second Layer (21/100)

Cultivation Method: Five Elements Art (Beginner 85/100)

Skills: Spirit Rain Art (Proficient 135/200), Cleansing Art (Beginner 59/100), Growth Art (Beginner 63/100), Geng Metal Finger (Beginner 13/100)

...

Though he had no idea where this panel had come from, he had read three thousand webnovels. Even if he could not write one, he still knew the routine... It was easy for him to understand what it meant.

Clearly, it recorded information related to him.

Seventeen years old, with a total lifespan of seventy-five years.

Qi Refining Second Layer cultivation.

The immortal cultivation method, Five Elements Art, along with the four spells he knew: Spirit Rain Art, Cleansing Art, Growth Art, and Geng Metal Finger...

The meanings of Beginner and Proficient were easy enough to understand.

He knew that every cultivation method and spell had different levels and realms: Beginner, Proficient, Minor Mastery, Major Mastery, and Perfection.

For example, among the four spells he had mastered, Cleansing Art, Growth Art, and Geng Metal Finger were all at the Beginner stage, while the Minor Spirit Rain Art was at the Proficient stage. From the memories he had inherited, its effects were indeed somewhat better than those at the Beginner stage.

The only thing that puzzled him was the numbers corresponding to Beginner and Proficient.

Were they experience points, or proficiency?

And how could they be raised?

At that thought, he immediately could not sit still.