My head was throbbing with pain, as if countless steel needles were churning inside.
Li Xuan suddenly opened his eyes. What came into view was not the familiar ceiling of the rented room, but a gray sky and several unfamiliar faces with expressions of curiosity, disdain or indifference.
"Next!" an impatient voice rang out.
Li Xuan was pushed forward, staggered a few steps, and found himself in the middle of a long queue.
The surrounding area is an ancient bluestone square, with clouds and mist swirling in the distance, and palaces and pavilions appearing and disappearing in the mist. There is an indescribable freshness in the air, and taking a breath makes you feel a little more refreshed.
"Where am I?" Li Xuan looked around in confusion as another memory flooded his mind.
In the Tai Xuan Continent, in the weakest Eastern Region, the Blackwater Kingdom, the Haoyue Sect, one of the three major sects, is recruiting new members... A young man named Li Xuan arrives full of hope, but dies suddenly from nervousness and excitement the night before the test... He has transmigrated!
"What are you daydreaming about! Hurry up and come forward!" The urging voice behind him pulled him back to reality.
Li Xuan took a deep breath, suppressed his shock, and obediently walked to the center of the square.
A middle-aged man dressed in a moon-white robe with a stern face sat behind a table, next to him stood a crystal-clear, half-person-high stone tablet—the Spirit-Testing Stone.
"Place your hand on it and pour all your strength into it."
Elder Zhang Qian of the outer sect spoke indifferently; he had long since become numb to testing hundreds of people every day.
Upon hearing this, Li Xuan placed his hand on the cold spirit-testing stone, desperately trying to recall the feeling of mobilizing his energy from his memory.
He then felt a wave of weakness wash over him, as if something had been pulled away, but the spirit-testing stone showed no reaction whatsoever, not even a glimmer of light.
Elder Zhang Qian frowned and had Li Xuan try again, but the result was the same.
"No spiritual root, mortal body. Unqualified, next." The voice was icy as it pronounced the result, and Li Xuan felt as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over his head.
Then, several snickers and whispers came from the surrounding area.
"Yet another mortal trying their luck..."
"Wasting the elder's time..."
"Another ordinary person trying their luck..."
Li Xuan's heart sank to the bottom. In this fantasy world, not having a spiritual root meant being unable to cultivate and destined to be a mortal for eternity.
A profound sense of loss overwhelmed him, but the instinct for survival immediately took over. He knew that if he couldn't stay in this relatively orderly sect and instead went out into the world as a mortal, his fate would likely be extremely tragic.
He knelt down with a thud, not acting, but his legs were genuinely weak: "Elder! Although this disciple has no spiritual roots, I possess great strength. I implore you to take me in, Elder. Even if it's just sweeping the floor or chopping wood for the sect, this disciple will have no complaints! I only beg the sect to accept me!"
Elder Zhang Qian glanced at Li Xuan, his eyes completely unmoved; he had seen this kind of scene many times before.
He was about to wave them away, but a deacon beside him whispered, "Elder, the errand office is short-staffed lately, especially for guarding those barren spirit fields in the back mountain. Nobody seems willing to go..."
Zhang Qian pondered for a moment. It was just a menial job; one more or one less wouldn't make a difference. So he waved his hand and said, "In that case, I'll give you the status of a menial job. Take him to the menial job office to register, and assign him to the spirit field number seven in the Bing section of the back mountain."
"Thank you, Elder! Thank you, Elder!" Li Xuan kowtowed repeatedly, a huge weight lifted from his heart. At least, he had survived the first step.
Li Xuan was led by an expressionless outer disciple through the magnificent square. The further they walked, the more remote the area became, with the surrounding buildings gradually becoming low and dilapidated, and the spiritual energy noticeably thinner.
Eventually, he was taken to a desolate ravine behind the mountain.
"This is the C-grade No. 7 spirit field. The thatched hut next to it is your residence. You need to hand over 100 catties of jade sprout rice every month. If you fail to complete the task, your monthly allowance will be deducted. If you fail to complete it for three consecutive months, you will be kicked out of the sect."
"These are the basic 'Qi Induction Technique' and 'Introduction to Spiritual Plant Cultivation.' Although you lack spiritual roots and won't achieve any significant mastery, they might be somewhat useful for strengthening your body and tending to the spiritual fields. Someone will come to inspect and collect the spiritual rice on the first day of each month. Take care!"
The outer disciple left behind two thin booklets, a rough wooden tag (identity card), two sets of servant's clothes, and a small bag of dry rations, and then left without looking back.
Li Xuan stood still, looking around. The so-called spirit field was about an acre in size. The land was dry, cracked, and yellowish, with a few sparse, drooping green rice seedlings (jade sprout rice seedlings) growing on it. The spiritual energy was almost non-existent.
Next to it was a dilapidated thatched hut, drafty on all sides, with the sky visible through its roof. Beside the field was a simple well made of stacked stones, its opening covered in moss.
Li Xuan suddenly felt a huge sense of loneliness and confusion. This was his starting point in this fantasy world, the very bottom of the bottom.
Li Xuan entered the thatched hut, which contained only a hard wooden bed, a pile of dry grass as bedding, a crooked wooden table, and some rusty farm tools. Apart from that, it was empty.
As dusk fell, Li Xuan grew increasingly hungry. He gnawed on a few mouthfuls of hard, dry rations, their rough texture making them difficult to swallow. A strong thirst compelled him to walk to the well.
The well was deep, and the water was dark, barely reflecting his blurry and haggard face. Li Xuan spent a long time drawing water up with a worn-out wooden bucket from the well.
The water quality seemed acceptable, with a faint, almost imperceptible coolness, perhaps that insignificant spiritual energy.
Li Xuan didn't care about anything else and scooped up the water, drinking it down in large gulps. The well water was icy cold and had a slightly earthy taste, but it finally relieved his thirst.
However, not long after, a sudden, intense cramping pain shot through my stomach!
"Oh no! This water isn't clean!" Li Xuan's face turned pale as he clutched his stomach and rushed toward the makeshift outhouse dug behind the hut.
After the churning and throbbing, Li Xuan was almost completely exhausted. But strangely, after defecating, although he felt weak, he didn't experience the post-illness weakness. Instead, he felt a little lighter inside, as if a burden had been lifted.
At the same time, some fine, almost invisible gray oily stains seeped from the skin surface, carrying a faint fishy smell.
"This is...impurities?" Li Xuan was stunned, recalling the online novels he had read. "This well water...could it cleanse the marrow and refine the essence?"
An absurd yet heart-pounding thought uncontrollably surfaced. He dragged his limp body to the well again, gazing at the deep, dark water, his eyes now completely different. In his desperate predicament, a tiny crack of light seemed to have appeared.
Late at night, in a thatched hut.
Li Xuan repeatedly flipped through the two booklets by the faint moonlight leaking through the hole in the roof.
The content of the Basic Qi Induction Technique is obscure and difficult to understand. When I tried to sense the Qi in the dantian according to the method, it was completely silent and I could not feel any Qi. Just as the outer disciple said, it was useless.