In a dark cave, a young man sat on a rock slab with his eyes closed. Upon closer look, beads of sweat covered his forehead, and his breathing was uneven and unsteady. In the next instant, he spat out a mouthful of blood.
"Damn, I still failed to break through the realm. If this keeps going, I'm getting expelled from the sect," he muttered, worry flickering in his eyes.
His mind drifted back to the day he arrived in this world.
Originally, he was from a planet called Earth. But due to some mysterious circumstances, he found himself in the body of someone named Stiles. For the first few days, he thought he had been abducted by some secret organization for a strange experiment until he realized he had truly transmigrated into an unknown world that resembled ancient times.
The most bizarre part was discovering that people here cultivated power through strange methods it was almost like something out of the superhero movies from his previous life.
He also inherited the memories of the body's original owner. According to those memories, he was currently in the Celestial Sect of the Darwin Continent, one of the most prestigious sects on the entire continent.
Unlike his past life, what mattered most here were one's bone structure and spirit root. Even a fool with exceptional bones and a powerful spirit root could be hailed as a prodigy but such talent appeared only once in ten thousand people.
Everything in this world was categorized into grades. Both spirit roots and bone structures were divided into Mortal Grade, Earth Grade, Sky Grade, Heavenly Grade, and so on. A person's cultivation path depended entirely on these two factors.
As for Stiles, he possessed a Sky Grade spirit root and bone structure considered quite good. With enough hard work and a bit of luck, he could break through to the Nascent Stage and be promoted to an Outer Hall Elder of the sect.
But last year, the original owner accepted a sect task to break through the 10th level of Qi Refining. Only by experiencing real battle could someone overcome such a hurdle.
However, things didn't go as expected. His task was to kill a Horned Serpent that was at the 10th layer of Qi Refining. Even though it was one level above Stiles, he was confident he could kill it. And as per the task, he did kill the monster.
But when he searched the Horned Serpent's cave, he found a Flame Orchid, a spiritual herb that helps a practitioner break through the physical body to the next level. Just like Qi cultivation, physical cultivation was also popular, but most people avoided it because it required enormous resources. However, once someone cultivated their body and broke the shackles, they could leapfrog and fight opponents three or four minor realms above them.
And the Flame Orchid was one such herb that helped cultivators break the shackles of the physical body. Seeing it right in front of him, he was extremely excited, but the excitement didn't last long.
While returning to the sect, he was ambushed by someone, leading to an intense fight. Although Stiles was only at the 9th stage of Qi Refining, he was confident he could defeat an opponent at the 10th layer. But during the ambush, he could clearly feel that the person fighting him was also at the 9th layer yet much stronger in terms of raw strength.
He initially thought the person was after the Flame Orchid, but he was wrong. The attacker was solely aiming for his spiritual root, as if some deep grudge existed between them. During the fight, the attacker almost destroyed his spirit root. However, before he could finish the job, several sect envoys rushed toward the area. Once someone entered sect territory, fighting was strictly forbidden even in the forests or outskirts. The sect always assigned guards to patrol the borders.
Feeling people approaching, the attacker launched one final blow with all his strength. Stiles barely managed to evade, but the impact still caused his spiritual root to crack slightly.
Seeing Stiles dodge the killing blow, the mysterious figure didn't waste a second and fled.
When the sect envoys arrived at the outskirts, they found Stiles collapsed on the ground. Seeing an injured sect member, they immediately carried him back to the sect infirmary for treatment.
Three days later, he woke up and confirmed that his body was healed. But he quickly sensed that his spirit root had been damaged by about 30%. Even though 30% seemed small, when it came to a spirit root the core of a cultivator it was a devastating loss. Even someone with poor bone structure could become an expert with a strong spirit root. That was how important a spirit root was. And repairing such damage required an astronomical amount of resources.
Knowing that his spirit root had been damaged, his chances of breaking through to the next realm became extremely difficult. But the original owner didn't give up. He stayed consistent and disciplined, diligently practicing for his next breakthrough. But fate had other plans.
By the eighth month after the incident, Stiles completely collapsed. His state of mind had gone blank, like that of a dead man. He felt exhausted and empty, as if life held no meaning.
It was then that the transmigrator took over this body. From the memories he inherited, he could feel how important survival was in this harsh world. Because once he broke through to Foundation Establishment, he would receive far more resources and privileges from the sect. But now, he could do nothing.
He sighed. "What am I even going to do now? If I stay like this, the sect will expel me." Just thinking about his current situation made him even more stressed. For the past three months since transmigrating, he hadn't been able to sleep properly.
Right now, even when he tried to meditate, he couldn't focus. "Let me go out. It's been two months since I collected my sect resources. If I delay again, the law enforcement hall will come knocking at my door. It's better to get it now. Maybe some fresh air will ease my mind."
After saying this, he stood up and walked out of his cave. Unlike his previous world, there were no dormitories for students here. Instead, the sect allocated individual caves to each disciple.
Walking toward the sect's Resource Pavilion, he couldn't help but admire how advanced this ancient-looking world truly was. In the sky, mountains floated high above technology and methods far beyond anything known on Earth. He found it amusing that people here possessed knowledge accumulated over a billion years.
Here, mortals could live up to 120 years. Qi Refiners lived up to 250. Foundation Establishment cultivators lived about 500 years, Golden Core cultivators up to 1500, Nascent Stage up to 3000, and the higher the realm, the longer the lifespan.
After a few minutes, he reached the Resource Pavilion. The hall looked majestic, adorned with magnificent carvings on the walls almost like a blend of Mayan and Indian temple architecture.
As he walked inside, he reached the front hall where disciples collected their resources. Since he was a Qi Refiner, he headed toward the Hall allotted for Qi-Refiners.
Inside, hundreds of booths stood enclosed by crystal-like panels where attendants worked behind the glass. Stiles joined the line of disciples quietly, waiting his turn.
Soon, his turn arrived. He stepped in front of the booth as the attendant looked up and asked for his name.
"My name is Stiles. I'm here for my last two months of resources. Could you please check?"
The attendant stared at him for a moment and asked, "Could you tell me why you didn't collect last month's quota?"
"I was in seclusion, so I wasn't able to get it."
Saying this, the attendant placed two pouches in his hand and added,
"This is your last warning. Next time, make sure to inform the quota management if you're going into seclusion. You might lose your resources if you delay another month. Informing the management will allow them to store it for you so you can collect everything after your seclusion ."
Hearing this, Stiles nodded his head and walked out of the pavilion. He knew the sect was extremely strict when it came to treasures and pills.
As a Qi-Refiner, he was allotted 50 low-grade spirit stones, 10 Qi Gathering Pills, Body Tempering Pills, and Mind Focusing Pills, all meant to assist during cultivation. After checking all the pouches, he counted around twenty pills of each type since he collected two months of supplies.
Before returning to his cave, he wandered around the sect to calm his mind. Ever since transmigrating, he hadn't explored most parts of the sect, so he decided to visit many of the places he had skipped. By nature, he preferred peace, and roaming around helped him ease his thoughts.
After walking for a while, he planned to return to his cave since he was preparing to do something important.
A short time later, he reached his cave and sealed the entrance. He was finally ready to attempt breaking the shackles of his physical body with the help of the Flame Orchid.