The sun was blazing, and the stone-paved road of Shunhe Square at the foot of the Hexu Sect's mountain was scorching hot.
Even so, the streets of Shunhe Square were still bustling with people, shoulder to shoulder.
This was because, in three days, it would be the annual day when the Hexu Sect opened its gates for the Disciple Recruitment Ceremony, and everyone wanted to try their luck.
What if they could embark on the path of immortality?
Every year at this time, Shunhe Square was as lively as the New Year, even more so.
Inside the Jixiang Tavern, Bai Chen, with a sallow face, dressed in short sleeves, scanned the room.
He quickly locked onto a table with three youths dressed similarly to him.
He bought a bowl of wine from the waiter, walked over to the three youths, and threw his arm around the neck of the short, chubby youth on his left, raising his wine bowl high.
"Brothers, meeting in Shunhe Square is fate. This round is on me, let's drink!"
Without caring about the displeased look on the chubby youth's face, Bai Chen clinked his bowl with his and downed the wine in one gulp.
"Hey, who are you?!"
The chubby youth frowned and shrugged, trying to shake Bai Chen off.
But he couldn't.
Just as he was about to stand up angrily, Bai Chen tossed a silver coin to the waiter and called out loudly.
"Waiter, more wine! The good stuff!"
Hearing Bai Chen's boldness, the chubby youth, who was half-standing, paused and slowly sat back down.
A smile spread across his chubby face as he raised his bowl to clink with Bai Chen's.
"You're generous, brother! If we get into the sect, we'll all be brothers!"
With someone treating them, why hold back?
Drink up!
"Come on, drink!"
Bai Chen drank with the chubby youth for a minute, then moved to another youth, placing his arm around his shoulder and asking warmly, "From your accents and clothes, you must be from Ansu Kingdom too, right? I am! I'm from Aikou Town, where are you guys from?"
The chubby youth replied, "We're all from Bluestone City."
"Oh, I thought so."
Bai Chen nodded with a smile.
"Bluestone City isn't far from Aikou Town. I felt a connection when I heard your accents. We're fellow townsmen!"
Bai Chen shouted to the waiter, "Waiter, more wine! And bring two pounds of braised beef!"
"Coming right up!" The waiter responded crisply, jogging over with a wine jug and beef.
Seeing Bai Chen order beef, the youths exchanged glances and became even more enthusiastic.
They drank and chatted, calling each other brothers for quite a while. Bai Chen waved his hand, claiming he couldn't handle any more, settled the bill, and staggered out first.
Once he was gone, the smile faded from the chubby youth's face, and he pursed his lips.
"Who knows if he'll even get into the sect, spending money to treat others, what a fool."
The others laughed, "If it weren't for this fool, we wouldn't be eating so well. Come on, there's still plenty of meat, let's keep eating!"
They laughed heartily and continued to feast.
Meanwhile, Bai Chen, whom they called a fool, cursed under his breath as he left the tavern, "A bunch of useless people."
He scratched his head in frustration and sighed deeply.
"Damn it, spent two silver coins and didn't find a single talent entry above Green Quality!"
For a month, he'd been sifting through dirt for gold, and it was wearing him out.
Bai Chen sighed and opened his personal attribute panel on the system.
Host: Bai Chen
Age: 16
Cultivation Level: None
Spiritual Root: Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth
Talent Entries: Strong Body (White), Immune to All Diseases (Green)
"In this state, even if I get into Hexu Sect, it won't do."
The glaring Five Spiritual Roots reminder made him scratch his head.
A month ago, Bai Chen was just an office worker in the 21st century. Who knew that after a strange sleep, he'd wake up in this world?
This was a world of cultivation, called Xuancang Continent.
The continent was divided into six states, and he was in the southwestern Cangmang State.
The person he transmigrated into had the same name as him, but his life wasn't great.
Though his family had some money, his parents died in an accident two years ago, and his relatives took over his inheritance with various excuses.
When he arrived, all that was left was a large house and a few plots of land in his name; everything else had been taken.
Fortunately, his physical talents were decent, and he had the green talent of being Immune to All Diseases, or else he might not have survived until Bai Chen arrived.
If he hadn't activated the system, Bai Chen would have fought those "relatives" to reclaim what was his!
But he activated the system, a Talent Entry Copy System.
Once a month, he could choose to copy one talent entry from someone else.
Why bother with these mortals then?
Once he embarked on the path of immortality, these people would be ants.
Just in time for the annual Hexu Sect Disciple Recruitment Ceremony.
Copying a useful talent entry to enter the sect was the top priority.
Bai Chen sold his house and land, bringing the silver to Shunhe Square at the foot of Hexu Sect to find a "target."
With only one chance a month, he had to find the most suitable talent entry to copy.
Ideally, it would be a talent in Artifact Refining, Pill Refining, or Talisman Crafting, to earn Spirit Stones for future development.
Besides the monthly cooldown, the system had another drawback.
It couldn't directly see others' talents; it required physical contact to probe their attributes.
And the copying needed uninterrupted contact for a minute.
Who would let him lean on them for a minute without moving?
To approach these people from all over for the recruitment ceremony without arousing suspicion, Bai Chen mingled with them, treating them to meals and drinks to build connections.
After all, those who eat his food can't refuse a friendly shoulder, right?
In a month, he spent almost all his silver, barely finding a few people with Green Quality talents.
Among these, only one had Triple Spiritual Roots.
The others didn't even have a Spiritual Root.
And all these Green Quality talents were physical ones like Strong Body, Great Strength, Thick Skin.
Far from the Artifact Refining, Pill Refining, Talisman Crafting talents he wanted.
In three days, the Hexu Sect's recruitment ceremony would begin, and he was already a lowly Five Spiritual Roots, not favored by the sect.
Without a cultivation talent, even if he entered Hexu Sect, he'd likely end up doing menial tasks, with no chance to meet high-talent individuals.
"If it doesn't work out, I'll just copy any talent for now."
Bai Chen frowned, sighing inwardly.
Physical talents are just for ordinary people.
No matter what cultivation talent he could copy, having one is better than none.
Muttering to himself, Bai Chen's eyes darted around cautiously as he circled the area.
Once he was sure no one was watching, he headed back to the temporary courtyard he rented.
Alone and without cultivation, spending lavishly to copy talents recently, who knows if someone with ill intentions might target him, better safe than sorry.
Having spent his silver on treating others, he could only rent a shabby little wooden house on the outskirts of Shunhe Square as a temporary shelter.
After walking for a while, he suddenly heard a commotion from a deep alley ahead. Bai Chen instinctively glanced in that direction.