"Where the hell did I end up?"
Looking at the clusters of green mountains ahead, slender as hairpins, and the huge red birds circling and screeching in the clouds, Chen Yu wore the exact same expression as Liu Haizhu, the professional mage.
All he had done was eat some ribs stewed in Mixue drinks, feel a little sleepy, and lie down on his bed for a while. Yet when he opened his eyes, he was here, with unfamiliar memories surfacing in his mind in fits and starts.
Chen Yu, eighteen years old, a native of Heishui County under Xun Prefecture in the Xia Kingdom.
This was... the Dao Sect.
The Dao Sect was one of the four great sects of the Eastern Continent. It sheltered three neighboring countries, including the Xia Kingdom. As a token of gratitude, the Xia Kingdom sent a group of talented young people to the Dao Sect every three years to become Registered Disciples.
The body's original owner had studied extensively and finally managed to secure a chance to enter the Dao Sect.
He had thought it was an incredible opportunity to pursue immortality, but only after entering the Dao Sect did he realize that the whole thing was a scam!
The moment he entered the Dao Sect, his freedom was restricted.
Moreover, he had to reach the third rank of Qi Refining within three years to become a full member and continue enjoying the Dao Sect's resources and support.
Otherwise, not only would he be barred from remaining in the Dao Sect, but the sect would reclaim everything it had invested in nurturing him over those three years. Three powerful elders would personally refine all the Registered Disciples who failed to meet the standard into "Spirit Essence."
Spirit Essence could be used for cultivation, pill refining, artifact crafting, and even helping medicinal herbs grow. It was also the main currency within the Dao Sect.
"Refining people... into currency?"
Chen Yu was stunned.
He digested those memories.
Perhaps it was because he had stood in place a little too long.
Chen Yu suddenly grew dizzy. Beads of cold sweat appeared on his forehead, and his heart began to race.
"Holy shit!"
After a few steps, his legs went as limp as cotton, and he nearly fell.
Chen Yu hurriedly steadied himself.
"Wh... what's this?"
He searched the memories within his body and soon understood what had happened...
To help Registered Disciples relax and remain cheerful in such a dull, high-pressure environment, the Dao Sect had randomly paired all the male and female Registered Disciples into "Dao companions."
And Chen Yu's Dao companion...
"A succubus?!"
"That shouldn't be possible. I was still a Registered Disciple of the Dao Sect. Even if we did it a teensy hundred million times too often, I shouldn't have ended up like this..."
Supporting his lower back with one hand, Chen Yu shakily crouched down and sat on the ground.
"So my current cultivation realm is..."
"...Mortal?"
"Huh?"
Chen Yu was utterly dumbfounded.
Only seven days remained until the Dao Sect's assessment. If he failed to reach the third layer of Qi Refining by then...
"No! Did I go through all the trouble of transmigrating just to get refined into a Spirit Charm Coin?!!"
Just as Chen Yu sank into utter despair, thinking his run was about to end in record time, a translucent panel suddenly appeared before his eyes.
[Name: Chen Yu.] [Age: 18.] [Level: Mortal (-1/10) (11 experience points needed to reach the next level).] [Spiritual root: false spiritual root.] [Martial skills: None.] [Cultivation art: "Qi Guiding Art"] [Currently available experience points: 0.]
Great, a system!
But before Chen Yu could celebrate, one piece of information caught his attention.
"Experience points... -1??!"
Did that mean he was worse off than an ordinary mortal?
Chen Yu froze.
"Did lust leave me this haggard, or was my Dao companion's... pussy poisoned?"
But now wasn't the time to dwell on that.
"My top priority is to get experience points and level up!"
With that thought, Chen Yu hurriedly asked the system panel before him, "How do I get experience points?"
A notification appeared immediately:
[Simulate the cultivation process of a cultivation art to obtain experience points.]
"Simulate the cultivation process of a cultivation art?"
Chen Yu frowned.
"Isn't that just cultivating?"
He looked around. He was beside the stone hut where he usually lived. His succubus Dao companion wasn't around, and the surroundings were fairly quiet.
Every muscle in his body was weak, and he couldn't be bothered to move.
Chen Yu crossed his legs where he sat.
He recalled the cultivation process of the "Qi Guiding Art."
"Step one: clear away distracting thoughts and enter a meditative state."
"Step two: use your mind to sense the free-floating 'qi' in your surroundings, then guide that 'qi' into your body..."
With the help of the original owner's years of cultivation memories.
Chen Yu soon entered a meditative state.
He sensed his surroundings.
Sure enough, he discovered an extremely faint wisp of qi drifting through the air around him.
Just then, several notifications appeared before his eyes:
[Cultivation in progress...] [Experience points: +0.000001...] [Experience points: +0.000001...]
"?"
Watching the notifications pop up once every second, Chen Yu instantly lost his concentration.
"How much?"
"0.000001?!"
Chen Yu immediately picked up a stick nearby and started doing calculations on the ground.
He needed 10 experience points to reach the first layer of Qi Refining. At 0.000001 experience points per second, earning 11 experience points would take eleven million seconds. Converted into days, that was...
Forget it.
He tossed away the stick in his hand.
Although he wasn't sure how many days ten million seconds amounted to, at this rate, there was definitely no way he could reach the third rank of Qi Refining within seven days.
"Is there a way to get experience points faster?"
No response.
Chen Yu cleared his throat and asked again:
"Ahem... excuse me, is there a way to get experience points faster?"
Still no response.
Chen Yu immediately sucked in a breath of cold air.
"Hiss..."
"Shit, I'm screwed!"
This damn system only gives me experience points when I cultivate an art. What the hell do I need you for?!
If I can already cultivate, why would I need you to give me experience points?
Isn't that just painting legs on a snake?!
At that thought,
Another notification appeared before Chen Yu's eyes.
[Simulate the cultivation process of a cultivation art to obtain experience points.]
The word "simulate" was blackened and bolded.
Chen Yu stared at the notification:
"Simulate?"
"What does that mean? Pretend to cultivate?"
Chen Yu frowned.
So he went through the motions of cultivating.
Nothing happened.
He tried guiding some qi.
[Cultivation in progress...] [Experience points: +0.000001...]
Before he even drew the "qi" inside, the notification appeared before his eyes.
Looking at the notification,
Chen Yu remained silent for a long while.
Suddenly,
He slapped his forehead!
"Could it be?!!"
He quickly rose and, walking with frequent breaks for half an hour, arrived at a secluded, desolate stretch of gloomy mountain woodland.
-the Mass Burial Grounds.
The Registered Disciples who had failed the assessments had all their vital essence extracted and refined into Spirit Essence, while their corpses were dumped here.
"My cultivation speed is probably slow because I have a False Spirit Embryo, but that doesn't matter. Since I'm only pretending to cultivate anyway, can I switch to a different kind of qi? Will you take yin qi?"
Chen Yu found a hollow in the mountains.
He sat down cross-legged.
He felt chills all around his body, with "qi" drifting in every direction.
He once again went through the motions of circulating the "Qi Guiding Art."
[Cultivation in progress...] [Experience points: +0.001.]
"Hiss!!!"
Chen Yu's eyes snapped open!
[Cultivation ended.] [Currently available experience points: 0.001002.]