*Chop**Crack*
*Chop**Crack*
On the outskirts of a small and unremarkable village, a young man could be seen chopping firewood in the courtyard of a modest house.
He wore simple linen clothes that were clean and well-kept despite their plain appearance.
His amber-colored eyes carried a calm and soothing warmth, making him seem approachable and easy to get along with. Although his appearance could not be described as extraordinary, he was still quite pleasant to look at.
The rhythmic sounds of wood being split echoed through the quiet morning air.
After some time, the young man finally finished chopping the pile of logs stacked beside him. Looking at his work with satisfaction, he placed the axe aside and sat down on the ground to rest.
Even after hours of labor, there was not a single drop of sweat on his forehead.
A gentle breeze passed through the courtyard as he leaned against a tree.
His eyes gradually became distant, as though he were reminiscing about something far away.
The young man’s name was Gu Changsheng.
That was the name he had been born with in this world.
Sixteen years ago, he had reincarnated into this world from Earth.
At first, he had thought he was merely dreaming.
After all, how could something as absurd as reincarnation actually happen?
Yet as the years passed, reality slowly forced him to accept the truth. He had truly died and had truly been reborn.
Back on Earth, Gu Changsheng had lived a fairly ordinary life.
He was neither rich nor poor.
He worked a stable job, earned a decent income, and managed to save a respectable amount of money over the years.
Understanding how unpredictable life could be, he had even purchased life insurance so that if anything ever happened to him, his family would at least be financially secure.
And he was damn right, while out for a walk when it rained suddenly, and a f*cking lightning strike hit him.
And no, he didn’t die from that, he died because a tree squashed him down, also due to the lightning strike.
His family consisted of his father, mother, and younger sister.
They were not wealthy, but they were happy.
At least...
They had been.
A trace of loneliness flashed across Gu Changsheng’s eyes.
No matter how much time passed, he still occasionally thought about them.
He wondered how they were doing.
Whether his parents had managed to overcome their grief over his death.
Whether his little sister had finally graduated from university.
Unfortunately, those answers were forever beyond his reach.
After arriving in this world, Gu Changsheng initially believed he had simply been reborn in some ancient backwater civilization.
The village he lived in was poor and isolated.
People farmed the land, raised livestock, and spent their entire lives without ever traveling far from home.
There were no modern conveniences, but life was simple and pleasant.
This time, he was an orphan whose mother died while giving birth, but the villagers raised him. For years, he accepted this reality and slowly adapted.
Then everything changed when he turned ten years old.
One day, while wandering through the village, he accidentally stumbled upon a local boy showing off a strange old booklet.
The boy claimed it was a treasure book he had found in the mountains, but no one believed him.
However, Gu Changsheng was curious.
So he traded a stick of candied hawthorn in exchange for the book, which the boy happily took.
He had successfully tricked the boy.
Even now, remembering that incident made him feel slightly embarrassed.
Fortunately, that child never discovered the truth.
The booklet itself appeared old and worn, with many of its pages damaged.
Some sections were completely unreadable.
However, the contents were enough to completely overturn Gu Changsheng’s understanding of the world.
It was a rudimentary cultivation manual.
The booklet described the existence of cultivators who could absorb spiritual energy from heaven and earth.
Powerful experts capable of flying through the skies. Sword immortals who could split mountains with a single strike. Ancient beings who could live for thousands of years.
The booklet also contained basic information about the world’s geography, major sects, cultivation realms, and various common pieces of knowledge.
Only then did Gu Changsheng realize the truth.
This was not an ordinary ancient world; instead, this was a cultivation world.
A world where the strong ruled over the weak.
A world where mortals struggled for survival while cultivators pursued immortality, where a single powerful expert could decide the fate of millions.
For a long time, Gu Changsheng had been excited.
After all, which man of culture wouldn’t dream of becoming an immortal?
But the reality, however, proved far less romantic.
The cultivation manual he obtained was incredibly basic.
The cultivation realms mentioned in it were:
Body Refinement Realm
Qi Refinement Realm
Foundation Establishment Realm
And the cultivation technique itself only taught cultivation for the Body Refinement Realm, which was further divided into 12 stages.
To top it off, his talent was quite meager.
After practicing for 6 years, he only reached the 3rd stage of the Body Refinement Realm.
As years passed, Gu Changsheng gradually calmed down, and his dreams of becoming some peerless immortal slowly faded.
He sighed.
At this moment, he had decided to give up on cultivation and focus on enjoying life.
Isn’t it better to be a salted fish and just enjoy life in this village full of mortals?
This village was peaceful, unlike the villages mentioned in novels, which went through all sorts of trouble.
He’d just marry and settle down, enjoying morning breakfasts and evening sunsets.
Just as he was daydreaming, a robotic voice sounded in his mind.
『Ding! System loading successful!』
『Ding! The salted fish cultivation system is at your service, host!』
『No need to work hard, just let the system assist and become a peerless immortal!!』
Several prompts popped in front of him as the sound subsided.
First came shock, and then tears of happiness.
"Finally, my hard work paid off. The Heavenly Will had not forgotten me!"
Heavenly Will (ᓀ‸ᓂ): Who you ni***??
"System, what are your functions?"
After calming down, Gu Changsheng queried in his mind.
『Ding! The salted fish system is an automatic cultivation system, cultivating on the host’s behalf. The time and point of cultivation can be customized by the host.』