Standing on the balcony somewhere in the middle of a small city, a guy about 24 years old was holding his head with both hands, almost pulling his hair out in exasperation. Ignoring the infernal noise outside made from people screaming their lungs out and car horns blaring, or even the noise coming from his neighbors, some of which were crying and praying at the same time, this one single guy fell on his ass while almost popping a vein on his temple from intense anger.

It took him a couple of good minutes to calm down, plus some breathing exercises to gather his bearings. He didn’t bother getting up either.

On the contrary, he lazily leaned his body against the wall and looked at the sky with a bitter smile.

“From the looks of it, it’s real... F*ck my life, man! What the heck did I do to deserve this, huh!?”

This continuous rant where he kept on swearing at the top of his voice held on for about twenty minutes until he got it all out of his system. Depressed, yet still hopeful, he pressed a finger on his glabella, making a blue transparent interface appeared in front of him. He sighed loudly once more and with that sigh, it seemed as if life itself completely left him. He began recollecting what happened in the past, with a wry and defeated smile on his face.

It all started with today, following which people went nuts. The world's economy crashed for a good few years as result, but people managed to comprehend the ‘basic knowledge’ given by the cultivators and participated in the trials held each half a year. Some absurd talents even managed to pass after the first six months, while in his sorry-ass case, it was only three years after the collapse of the mortal world that he managed to ascend. Every six months, a trial would be held. So in total, he failed five times before barely managing to pass during the sixth.

He then joined the others in the Immortal World and toiled for countless years in a row, fought bloodied battles where was beaten and robbed blind countless of times more, only that in the end to finally cross the Ascension realm and break into the Half-Immortal, the same realm that caused his world to be led down this freakingly treacherous path. With his ascension to the Heavenly Realm, yet another bout of fighting and vying for resources began, almost getting him killed numerous times. In the process, he almost reached the same realm as the undying old fart Clear Lake, the Profound Immortal, but who knew that he would meet his end at a celebration held by the latter.

During the celebration held for the young miss Soaring River reaching a cultivation age of 5000 years, she surprisingly complimented his persistence and achievements, while coming from such a lacking background. Words from such a beautiful and peerless genius as herself, that should’ve been a great compliment and anyone being addressed to would've been kept awake for months without sleeping a wink in glee. However, to his ears, it sounded too much like scorn and jealousy. Unsurprisingly, a suitor of this lass that already reached the later stages of the Profound Immortal realm heard that ‘compliment’, got angry and jealous himself, resulting in the killing of poor little him once out of the celebration grounds.

Honestly speaking, he didn’t even know how he died. All he remembered was the voice of that nimrod still cursing at him, followed by a movement of his right hand in his general direction, like asking the idiot to stop and think of what he was doing, then... darkness.

“And now... I am back at the beginning!? Are you for real!? F*ck! No thank you! I am done! Done, I said! F*ck! I will just freaking jump from the balcony and smash my idiotic head on the concrete below!”

Angry and unable to think straight, he was already climbing over the guardrails preparing to jump, when he remembered.

“Seven days! DAMN! I cannot die for one entire week!?”

And that wasn’t the correct explanation, since humans didn't become immortals all of a sudden. While it was true that you wouldn’t die, you would still suffer wounds and feel pain. Therefore, while jumping wouldn’t kill him, it would probably maim him for about 3-4 days until he fully recovers thanks to the immortal Qi that other old fart Jing infused into the world.

Remembering such detail made him unable to resign himself and was feeling quite indignant about this whole situation.

“I bust my ass for thousands of years tirelessly, every single day sweating blood for my world and the people from it, only to die in such an absurd and undeserved manner!? All the indignities and humiliation I had to put up with while increasing my cultivation level, all the hard work and effort made while establishing my sect... and once I finally managed to secure a foothold for myself, I died an ant's death!? And now you want me to re-do it!? Which motherf*cker got his head kicked in by a donkey and sent me back, huh!? Come down here and let your grandpa shove his foot so far up your ass, that you will taste the dog-shit I stepped on this morning!”

Feeling dizzy from the continuous shouting and venting he sat back down, only this time on the chair. He wasn’t sure about how he got back, but it might have something to do with that stupid lass for sure. Maybe she felt pity that she unknowingly caused him to die in such an ignoble way and sent him back to reincarnate...

“But why would it send me back here...”

And what now? Does he have to re-do everything, grow strong, and kill that bastard that took his life before? Are you retarded!? That f*cker belongs to a clan that has elders with cultivation levels at least three realms above Profound Immortal. He knew of only two of them that came after the Golden Immortal and the Immortal Venerable. What came after that? Don’t know and don’t care! Who knew how many tens of thousands of years it would take to get there? And you think it would be smooth sailing getting to that point? Stop freaking day-dreaming, will you!? If you don’t get killed by your internal demons, the external ones would. If not, there are still at least a million other races from different planes of existence willing to take up that task, not to mention your own f*cking human race plotting to steal your shit and cut your life short.

So, wanting to go back and grind your bones into dust for nothing!? No, thank you!!!

Feeling even dizzier than before, he stood up and headed inside, aiming towards the fridge.

“What the...”

On the way there, almost tripping over the impressively tall tower-stack of empty pizza boxes, he was also assailed by the smell of Mexican food. If memory still serves, he ordered in today... again!

Opening the fridge to check what’s inside anyway, he blanked out for a moment. Nothing! It was more empty than the words of thanks he spoke when f*cktards came to congratulate him for his ascension to Half-Immortal realm, knowing that they were all jealous and plotting against him behind the kind words being spoken. Speaking of which, those morons believed that he had some major opportunity he should've encountered once he was wandering in the Immortal World, thanks to which he ascended. The truth was that behind his 'success' if it can be called that, stood only steady work that got him to that point and would've pushed him even higher.

“Treasures? Artifacts? Opportunities? I don’t even recall rumors about them, even less something I gained... Moreover, I was sent back to the starting point. Wasn’t I supposed to return with some cheat item or something? Or at least, a huge knowledge base that would help me soar to the Heavens in one step? F*ck! I don’t even remember which sects had companions that I could take with me in the Heaven Realm and have them ascend by my side...”

Unknowingly, his eyes returned to the rails of the balcony, pondering if he should jump anyway. He felt like someone who complained his entire life about not winning the lottery, even if he didn’t play it once and now was sent back in time without even taking note of the winning numbers. He grabbed the half-eaten burrito and took a big bite out of it. He turned on the coffee machine and stared at it during its process. Thinking of how he didn’t have a choice and will be likely forced to play along, really infuriated him further. He took the coffee and made his way back on the balcony. Once he got there and saw the rain assailing the buildings below, he almost threw his mug at the sky in anger, knowing that the Spiritual Qi in its primordial form now, was best to cast one's Spiritual Roots. Such a painful process...

Taking a seat on the chair and chomping on the burrito, while sipping coffee occasionally, he found the bitter taste very appropriate to his current situation.

Finished eating, he placed the mug next to the chair on the floor and pressed with his finger on his glabella again. Sure enough, the interface appeared again.

Personal Information

Attributes

Ultimate

Pill

Name: Pending

Cultivation time: 0 Years

Spiritual realm: Mortal realm

Body realm: Mortal Flesh 0

Ascension number: N/A

Attributes

Life Essence: 2

Attack: 10

Strength: 1

Defense: 5

Vital Energy: 3

Health Points: 45

Dexterity: 2

Evasion: 6

Fortune: 3

Critical Strike: 1

Perception: 0 (Locked until ascension to the Immortal World)

Efficiency: 0 Primordial Qi points / 5 minutes

Absorption: 2

Qi Absorption: 1 Spiritual Qi point / 5 minutes

Character (Locked until ascension to the Heavenly Realm)

Personality (Locked until ascension to the Immortal World)

He could feel the corners of his mouth trembling slightly. Leaving aside the fact that his name was in Pending status, his cultivation level dropped to Mortal, meaning zero and his body is not even at Mortal Flesh I that most people start at but at Mortal Flesh 0. How much of a bum was he in the past!?

He couldn't even access the other pages except for the Attributes one that was relevant. Ultimate skills and Pill consumption pages? He barely used those in his past life, as most of the time he didn't have much in the terms of currency to spend on either pills or immortal skills. Also... regarding ascension to the Heavenly Realm...

“Ascending number, huh? In my past life, I was somewhere in the first ten million that ascended, since it was a realm opened for thousands of years. And these attributes of mine... I feel like smashing my head against the wall because of the shame. Even running around jogging once per day would at least triple them!”

Feeling a sweet taste rising in his throat, he did his best to stop thinking about it before coughing out blood in anger. What if he decreased his Vitality even further!?

The attributes and how they worked were rather simple to comprehend: 1 point in Life Essence or Strength was equal to 5 points in Attack, respectively Defense. 1 point in Vitality was equal to 15 Health Points, while 1 point in Dexterity was equal to 3 points in Evasion. Fortune, Perception, and Absorption had a 2 for 1 ratio with Critical Strike, Efficiency, and Qi Absorption.

For the two other locked submenus, he wasn’t too bothered as it didn’t matter for now.

“Leaving aside the obvious, Perception/Efficiency and Absorption/Qi Absorption are vital to a novice cultivator. The first one decides the amount of Primordial Qi the body can intake at once and circulate for either spiritual or body cultivation. The second is strictly related to one’s Spiritual Roots and the martial skills he/she could master. Urgh... seeing them so low, makes me feel sick to my stomach...”

At the same time, he realized that the ‘basic knowledge’ granted to him by the old fogey was quietly waiting inside his mind, standing out from the rest of his thoughts like a clown at a funeral.

He focused on remembering as many details regarding it as possible.

“By accepting this ‘knowledge’ and integrating it with oneself, not only does one receive basic information about the Immortal World and how the whole cultivation system works, but also receives a boost to his Perception and Absorption as a reward. The amount of intel integrated is directly proportional to the bonus points gained as a reward for understanding a certain percentage of it. As for myself...”

With a slight intention of will, the drop of water melted like a snowball in a pit of lava, while his mind acquiesced to his request, absorbing every bit of informational Qi the old fogey infused in it. Not even half a minute later...

Achievement earned: Sharp Mind

Details: You are the first among your peers to comprehend the intricacies of the cultivation path provided by Examiner Jing.

Awarded: 15 Spirit Jades (Locked in your Inventory Space), 50 Perception points (Locked until ascension to the Immortal World), 30 Absorption points, and one acupoint of your choice being open (accessible only while meditating).

Following the sweet voice of an angel whispering in his ears about the achievement, he blanked out.

“Right! How could I forget about it!? Achievements! There’s that as well! Freebies for being first to do something. The bigger the achievement, the better the rewards.”

Take his first reward as an example, Spirit Jade. After one year passes on Earth, or after the second trial is held, a change will happen to all participants from the 361 worlds. They will be allowed to sell a portion or even all of their worldly possessions, in exchange for Spirit Jade. Spirit Jade is a form of currency on a higher level than regular Spirit Stones, that allows one to purchase unimaginable things in the Immortal World, as well as in the Heavenly Realm.

Some things are available to be bought only with Spirit Jade. As such, it’s very important and sought after resource... The type that people would kill for!

“Back then, I was able to ascend to the Half-Immortal realm and create a foothold in the Heavenly Realm after saving up two thousand years’ worth of Spirit Jade. There were times when decades would pass without even as much as catching a glimpse of such currency. Now, however, I gained 15 in one shot... Maybe, I can make this work still.”

It was of no use to the current him since it was bound to the Inventory and the system's interface, able to be used only after he left Earth. It could be described as a virtual form of currency that could be transferred only in cases of exchanges for goods of the same value. Therefore, nobody could force you to give them your Spirit Jades, otherwise, rivers of blood would’ve flooded the Immortal World back then. The 50 Perception points were locked since nobody could cultivate their bodies without the help of Primordial Qi, which was until their ascension to the Immortal World. Our world was called a primordial world because it was lacking the ingredients needed to cultivate. However, once he would pass the trial and ascend, the extra 50 points would give him a head start compared with the participants from the other 360 worlds, as well as his own.

However...

“The best reward to the current me, are the 30 points worth of Absorption and the free acupoint opening. To think that I would get such a boon! It also”

For one to cultivate, one’s body needed to have its spiritual roots cast first. That wasn’t something one was born with, rather it was something you could build with hard work, lots of pain, and huge amounts of Spiritual Qi. This world of theirs wouldn’t have Primordial Qi for an additional decade or so, but it did have Spiritual Qi thanks to that undying fart Clear Lake.

The process of cultivation first starts by meditating and getting your mind to realize its internal world, also known as the spiritual world. Once that step has been taken, you would find your world sealed by 361 points, also known as main acupoints in Eastern medicine. Once the first one is fully opened, the Qi one intakes become physical and allow the cultivator to clear even more acupoints as result. Once all of them are cleared, the Qi inside one’s internal world is poured into the physical body, casting its spiritual roots. Quite the painful process if one might add.

“There are a total of five Spiritual Roots connected to one's Dantian and spiritual world, through meridians. They are the Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth roots. Not only can one exhibit stronger firepower with spiritual skills matching the type of root, but one’s constitution will also improve considerably, adding more attribute points...”

In the Immortal World, the most important thing was, after all, the attributes. They would decide your strength, as well as your social standing. In such a dog-eat-dog type of world, strength spoke volumes!

“That’s why, if I am forced to do this, my priority should be the opening of all acupoints and the casting of my spiritual roots. The earlier, the better! If I don’t want to be shat upon once more in this lifetime, I’d better put in some work... again! As for that pending name... *Sigh!* ”

Unbothered, or rather, wanting to forget and wash away his past shame, he didn’t use his name or the nickname he chose in his past life. Instead...

A random name has been generated!

'Herman Roy' has been registered in the system.

We wish you a clear and unobstructed path in your cultivation!