Mo Wen
Hundred Beasts Mountain Range, Red Leaf Market.
At midnight, a helpless sigh suddenly rang out from a somewhat dilapidated little courtyard.
"Sigh, I spent my whole life as a beast of burden and finally scraped my way to retirement. How did I end up transmigrating?"
"Transmigration would have been bad enough, but I ended up in the body of a four-Spirit-Root Rogue Cultivator whose Qi and Blood were nearing their limit. What the hell is this?! Did I transmigrate to this cultivation world just to experience the cultivation version of retirement?"
Mo Wen complained for quite a while before trying to summon his cheat. Anyone who had read web novels knew that transmigrators were bound to have cheats: "panels," "systems," "innate supreme treasures," and the like, each more awesome than the last!
Mo Wen wasn't greedy. Any one of them would do, as long as it let him defy the heavens and change his fate! Honestly, who would want to die if they had even the slightest chance to pursue "immortality"?
Perhaps it sensed Mo Wen's sincerity, for a crude panel suddenly appeared before his eyes.
Host: Mo Wen Talent: Heavenly Dao Rewards Diligence (you reap what you sow; hard work always pays off!) Age: (57/94) Spirit Roots: four Spirit Roots (wood 36, metal 27, fire 23, water 9) Cultivation: Qi Refinement Sixth Layer (152/500) Cultivation Methods: Azure Wood Instruction (proficient 346/500); Sun Essence and Moon Radiance Life-Praying Technique (not yet initiated 5/1000) Law Techniques: Wood Shield Technique (minor mastery 1329/5000); Fireball Technique (proficient 438/500); Geng Metal Finger (minor mastery 271/5000) Talisman Dao: first-tier low-grade (415/500)
"So it's an attribute panel for grinding proficiency. Those have been pretty popular the past couple of years!"
Mo Wen pursed his lips, knowing that hard days lay ahead. He didn't mind much, though. He was already used to it from his days as a beast of burden. Besides, he was cultivating for himself now. Thinking of it that way, it didn't seem so hard!
He calmed himself and began sorting through the original owner's memories.
The original owner was also named Mo Wen and came from a Foundation Establishment Lineage skilled in talisman crafting. Because his Spirit Roots were so poor, the Lineage had paid him no attention at all. To pursue his own Dao Path, he had simply left the Lineage and come to Red Leaf Market to make his way alone.
The original owner's aptitude for the Talisman Dao was also very ordinary. He had only advanced to a first-tier low-grade talisman master in his thirties. Talisman crafting was his main occupation, though he occasionally went to the Hundred Beasts Mountain Range to hunt Demon Beasts. He spent every Spirit Stone he earned on cultivation.
Thirty years passed in the blink of an eye, and the original owner had barely managed to reach the Qi Cultivation Sixth Layer. It would be difficult for him to break through to Late Qi Refinement before his Blood Qi reached its limit, let alone reach Foundation Establishment!
Unwilling to let his Dao Path end there, the original owner spent most of his fortune on a life-extending secret technique from the black market-the Sun Essence and Moon Radiance Life-Praying Technique.
But after cultivating it for some time, he discovered that the "Sun Essence and Moon Radiance Life-Praying Technique" was unimaginably difficult to cultivate. He couldn't even get started.
Feeling that he had been swindled, the original owner went to confront the seller, only for the man to mock him mercilessly.
As it turned out, although the contents of the "Sun Essence and Moon Radiance Life-Praying Technique" were genuine, only someone with a "time-attribute" physique was qualified to cultivate it. There was one other way: ordinary people could also get started by using Sun and Moon Crystals to assist their cultivation.
But Sun and Moon Crystals were exceedingly rare fourth-tier spiritual materials. Even a Nascent Soul True Lord would be loath to use them to aid cultivation, let alone a mere Qi Refinement cultivator!
Humiliated and furious, the original owner started fighting with the seller. The black market's overseers quickly shouted at the two of them to stop, then drove the original owner out on the charge of disrupting the market.
After returning home, the more the original owner thought about it, the angrier he became. Somehow, he fell unconscious. By the time he woke again, the transmigrated Mo Wen had taken over his body.
"The original owner really had rotten luck. Was he so angry he suffered a brain hemorrhage? Or did someone secretly do something to him?"
Mo Wen thought the original owner's death was somewhat suspicious, but he felt nothing wrong with his body now, so he didn't investigate further.
"This 'Sun Essence and Moon Radiance Life-Praying Technique' is interesting, though. It actually shows up on the attribute panel. That means I can get started on this life-extending secret technique without using Sun and Moon Crystals!"
Mo Wen was already fifty-seven this year, just three years away from sixty, when his Qi and Blood would reach their limit. If he didn't solve this problem, his Dao Path would be cut short, and he would have no chance of reaching Foundation Establishment!
The "Sun Essence and Moon Radiance Life-Praying Technique" was probably his best and only choice for now. This secret technique was said to have been passed down from High Antiquity. As long as he could get started, it could extend his life by ten whole years. If he cultivated it to the proficient realm, it could extend his life by thirty years. As for higher realms, those would take a long time, so they would have to wait until Mo Wen reached Foundation Establishment.
"In the days ahead, I'll focus on cultivating the 'Sun Essence and Moon Radiance Life-Praying Technique.' I'll put everything else aside for now. With the attribute panel's help, once I attain a level, it's mine forever; there's no chance of backsliding."
"Oh, right, I also need to set aside time to draw a few talismans to cover my daily expenses."
After laying out his grand cultivation plan, Mo Wen shut himself away at home and cultivated diligently.
Every day, the first thing he did after getting up was cultivate the "Sun Essence and Moon Radiance Life-Praying Technique" while facing the rising sun. Only when he was utterly exhausted would he stop to rest and eat. Once he had recovered his strength, he would continue cultivating, repeating the cycle over and over.
Every five days, he set aside half a day to draw talismans. All the Spirit Stones he earned went toward his most basic living expenses.
Mo Wen's Talisman Dao was at first-tier low-grade. He could draw six kinds of talismans: Wood Shield Talismans, Gold Sword Talismans, Fireball Talismans, Light Body Talismans, Rejuvenation Talismans, and Clear Heart Talismans.
Mo Wen had learned talisman crafting in his Lineage from childhood. Although his aptitude had kept him from ever drawing a first-tier mid-grade talisman, he was very practiced at drawing low-grade talismans, with a success rate of nearly forty percent. Such skill made him one of the best among low-grade talisman masters!
In half a day, Mo Wen could generally produce seven or eight finished talismans. After deducting costs, he could make a profit of roughly ten Spirit Stones. Over a month, he could earn sixty Spirit Stones, enough to buy spiritual rice, Demon Beast meat, and other such necessities.
Time flew, and more than three months passed in the blink of an eye. One day, just after Mo Wen finished cultivating the "Sun Essence and Moon Radiance Life-Praying Technique," he felt his body tremble, and wisps of an exceedingly warm and gentle sensation welled up through his limbs and bones.
With a thought, he opened his attribute panel:
Host: Mo Wen Talent: Heavenly Dao Rewards Diligence (you reap what you sow; hard work always pays off!) Age: (57/104) Spirit Roots: four Spirit Roots (wood 36, metal 27, fire 23, water 9) Cultivation: Qi Refinement Sixth Layer (152/500) Cultivation Methods: Azure Wood Instruction (proficient 346/500); Sun Essence and Moon Radiance Life-Praying Technique (initiated 1/10000) Law Techniques: Wood Shield Technique (minor mastery 1329/5000); Fireball Technique (proficient 438/500); Geng Metal Finger (minor mastery 271/5000) Talisman Dao: first-tier mid-grade (147/5000)
"My lifespan really did increase by ten years! There's hope for immortality! There's hope for immortality!"