(Hello, handsome guys and beautiful ladies. This is my first time writing a book. I hope you can be understanding and merciful with your criticism for any shortcomings. The author kowtows to you all here first! The protagonist has a Hundred-Fold Proficiency Golden Finger. This cheat is very powerful. He'll just lay low in the early stages, then experience super-speed growth later. This book is not a brainless power fantasy. If you prefer that kind of story, please scroll away now. Thank you.)
(Declaration again: Hundred-Fold Proficiency! You cannot view this with the mindset of traditional Xuanhuan cultivation. In traditional Xuanhuan cultivation, it takes time to learn a Spell at the Entry-level, then a long time to Cultivate it to Major Achievement. Without sufficient Comprehension Ability and Opportunity, it's very difficult to reach Perfection, so it's better to spend time improving one's cultivation base. But the protagonist has Hundred-Fold Proficiency! He can raise a Spell's Realm to a very high level in just a few days! The Spells undergo a qualitative change, and combat power increases exponentially. Don't tell me anymore about whether it's reasonable to kill enemies across Realms. If you can understand, then keep reading.)
Cold raindrops struck his face. Lin Zhou's eyes snapped open.
"Wasn't I hit and killed by a Dayun heavy-duty truck? Where is this?"
In his field of vision was the gray-black eave of a house. The air was filled with the smell of mildew and the bitter scent of some kind of medicinal herbs.
He propped himself up to sit, his head throbbing as if struck by a heavy hammer.
Fragments of unfamiliar memories flooded in violently.
A cultivation Family. Started cultivating at six. The Family was annihilated at twelve, with him as the sole survivor.
Five Elements waste Spiritual Root. Eighteen years of arduous cultivation, yet still stuck at the Third Layer of Qi Refining. Desperate for revenge, he went into seclusion to attempt a Breakthrough to the Fourth Layer of Qi Refining, but his Spiritual Qi ran wild, and then he died.
"So, I've... transmigrated to a cultivation world?"
Lin Zhou looked down at his own hands.
The skin was more delicate than he remembered, with calluses on the knuckles from long-term sword practice. They were young, strong, belonging to a twenty-four-year-old body.
Lin Zhou from Blue Star was 35, his life suffocated by mortgage, car loans, children's tutoring fees, parents' medical bills, and his boss's roars.
In his youth, he had been an avid reader of web novels, consuming many Xuanhuan cultivation stories, also fantasizing about Mount Sword flight and roaming the heavens and earth.
Never did he imagine that after working overtime into the night, on his way home from work, he would be directly hit by a Dayun heavy-duty truck and transmigrated...
"How unpredictable life is."
He struggled to get out of bed, staggered to the cracked bronze mirror in the corner.
The face in the mirror was unfamiliar—sharp eyebrows, bright eyes, a straight nose bridge, well-defined features. It was the kind of handsome appearance that would stand out in any era.
Only, his complexion was frighteningly pale, with sunken eye sockets and chapped lips, looking as if he had suffered severe damage to his Origin Qi.
Judging by looks alone, he was the absolute Yan Zu of the cultivation world.
Looking at the overall image, his clothing was very shabby, but his figure was tall and slender.
Very satisfactory!
"Lin Zhou... My name is Lin Zhou too." He muttered to himself, his voice hoarse.
Lin Zhou slowly sorted through the original owner's memories.
In this world, when Lin Zhou was twelve, his Family was annihilated by multiple forces over a dispute for a small Spirit Stone vein.
His parents fought desperately to help him escape. Before dying, they shoved a Storage Pouch into his hand with one sentence: "Live on. Don't seek revenge."
Parents truly understand their children best.
Five Elements waste Spiritual Root. Cultivation speed as slow as a turtle crawl. The barriers of the cultivation Realms were as solid and unbreakable as rock.
Without the support of Family resources, breaking through to the Fourth Layer of Qi Refining was as difficult as ascending to heaven.
This was also why, after six years of Cultivating since escaping, the original owner's cultivation had made zero progress.
He had Cultivated a whole lot of nothing.
Without strength, revenge was out of the question. The enemies had Foundation Establishment Cultivators!
He couldn't even enter the enemy's gate. A few random small fries could easily finish off the original owner.
After escaping, the youth experienced several twists and turns before ending up here.
A Loose Cultivator market under the jurisdiction of the Qingyang Sect: the Greenstone Market.
Here, Spiritual Qi was sparse, resources were scarce. It was the lowest mud pit of the cultivation world.
The Qingyang Sect was one of the Five Great Sects of Donghua Prefecture. The Sect's Old Ancestor was a great Cultivator at the Nascent Soul Stage!
Over a dozen Golden Core Stage peak masters and Elders, and more than a hundred Foundation Establishment Cultivators!
Ordinary small forces or Families simply dared not provoke such a behemoth. They didn't dare cause trouble within its jurisdiction.
The original owner was desperate for revenge.
Three days ago, he risked consuming a "Rage Qi Herb" he found in a desolate mountain, wanting to go into seclusion to attempt a Breakthrough to the Fourth Layer of Qi Refining. The result was his Spiritual Qi going out of control, leading to Qi Deviation...
And then, another Lin Zhou, thirty-five years old and crushed by life, soul-transmigrated over.
"What a... thoroughly terrible script."
Lin Zhou forced a bitter smile, rubbing his temples.
"Since I'm here, at least it's a cultivation world."
He looked around the room.
Two rooms. One was a dilapidated wooden hut less than twenty square meters, with a wooden table, a wooden bed, and a disorderly pile of talisman paper in the corner. The other was a simple kitchen.
And that was it. It was too rudimentary.
Lin Zhou searched the original owner's memories.
Third Layer of Qi Refining cultivation.
A 10-cubic Storage Pouch containing 1 Low-Grade Spirit Stone, 4 Low Grade Fasting Pills, 63 sheets of talisman paper, one Talisman brush, half a bottle of Spiritual Ink, one Cultivation Technique, one sword art, one "Compendium of Basic Talismans," and one Medium Grade magic sword.
The Cultivation Technique was the "Blazing Fire Art," a Family Legacy technique that could be cultivated up to Foundation Establishment Perfection Stage.
The sword art was the "Crimson Sun Sword Art," used in conjunction with the technique, possessing considerable power. It was a gift from the original owner's parents.
They had also selected several Spells for him: "Fireball Technique," "Light Body Technique," "Wind Riding Art," "Object Manipulation Art," "Golden Body Art," and "Spirit Rhinoceros Step."
The heart of parents is truly pitiable.
Over the years, the original owner had almost exhausted all the resources and Spirit Stones his parents gave him, leaving only 2. He used 1 Spirit Stone to buy 5 Low Grade Fasting Pills before returning to go into seclusion.
The purchasing power of 1 Low-Grade Spirit Stone in the Greenstone Market was roughly equivalent to 10 dollars in his previous life.
And now he needed to improve his cultivation and also pay next month's "Immortal Cave" rent—5 Low-Grade Spirit Stones.
If he couldn't pay, he would be kicked out.
With his current low strength, going outside was too dangerous.
He probably wouldn't survive three days.
But, on the other hand.
Transmigrating to a cultivation world, Lin Zhou was still quite excited.
After all, he had read many Xuanhuan cultivation web novels in his previous life.
Towering, cloud-shrouded immortal mountains, resplendent golden immortal palaces, and elegantly arranged pavilions.
And also graceful, beautiful, and captivating Fairies...
Lin Zhou reined in his wandering thoughts and sat down cross-legged.
Following the original owner's memories, he circulated the "Blazing Fire Art," breathing in and refining Spiritual Qi.
Fire-attribute Spiritual Qi floating in the air entered his body.
It poured into his Dantian, swirling and settling.
Shedding its Impurities, it transformed into pure Spiritual Qi.
Then, he drew a thread of Spiritual Qi, fine as gossamer, from his Dantian, guiding it along the technique's pathways through his Meridians.
Wherever the Spiritual Qi passed, the originally sluggish Meridians were widened and tempered bit by bit, becoming increasingly resilient and clear.
It would also cleanse the Impurities within his flesh and blood, transforming his Physical Body from turbid to clean, making his skin warm, smooth, and lustrous.
The body would no longer be troubled by mundane illnesses, with abundant Qi and blood, impervious to heat and cold, and aging delayed.
Simply put.
Spiritual Qi is a kind of high-dimensional energy. Cultivation Techniques allow one to use this energy. Spiritual Root is one's Aptitude.
This energy causes a person's Physical Body to transform from the inside out, achieving a leap in the essence of life.
The entire process of circulating the "Blazing Fire Art" was very slow, like a snail crawling.
It took about 6 hours to complete one major cycle.
Too slow!
And that thread of gossamer-like Spiritual Qi. Cultivating at this rate, when would he ever reach Foundation Establishment?
Suddenly, he froze. Lines of semi-transparent text appeared in his mind:
"Blazing Fire Art" proficiency +10
"Blazing Fire Art" (Entry-level 23/10 → proficient: 23/1000)
Third Layer of Qi Refining (30/300) → Fourth Layer of Qi Refining (1/600)
"Is this... a Golden Finger?"
Lin Zhou's heart skipped a beat.
Before he could think further, a soft sound suddenly came from within his body—
"Pop!"
The surging Spiritual Qi in his Dantian suddenly trembled, as if breaking through some kind of shackle.
The Meridians within his body were forcibly widened by the Spiritual Qi. A warm torrent surged through them, no longer sluggish as before, but swift as the wind.
His Dantian expanded accordingly, from 3 chi to 6 chi.
The thin Spiritual Qi within rapidly tumbled and condensed, transforming into a stably rotating vortex. The Spiritual Qi became increasingly solid.
Simultaneously, a clear, cool stream of Qi rushed straight up along his Meridians to the space between his eyebrows.
His originally chaotic Sea of Consciousness suddenly opened up!
An indescribable perception quietly emerged—not relying on eyes, ears, mouth, or nose, yet clearly reflecting everything within three feet around him:
The grain of the wood on the table, the frequency of a flying insect's wingbeats outside the window, the faint rustling of an ant crawling in the corner, even the trajectory of dust floating in the air—all were revealed in minute detail under this spiritual coverage.
Divine Sense!
A wave of comprehension regarding the proficient Realm of the "Blazing Fire Art" flooded into his mind.
Lin Zhou couldn't help but break into a wide grin.