Chapter 1 – Hunger and Ashes (Patreon)

Lynn Naya woke up to the gnawing ache of hunger. It had been her reality for the past four months, but the feeling was still something she couldn’t get used to.

She lay in bed for a while longer, waiting until the sun was fully up before pushing open the door of her small wooden hut.

Above her cramped courtyard, a faint golden light formed a transparent dome, like an inverted bowl. And above that dome, the sky was a blanket of thick, bruised clouds.

Another overcast day.

Lynn Naya’s eyes fell in slight disappointment as she began her morning routine.

This was her fifth month in this cultivation world.

This world was different from the typical xianxia stories she knew. In those, good always triumphed, and whenever the righteous sects were on the verge of ruin, a great hero would appear to save the world. This one, however, felt like the “what if” line where no great hero ever showed up.

When she transmigrated, the demonic creatures had already slaughtered the righteous sects, wiping out nine out of ten mortals. The entire human race was barely clinging to survival.

The body she inhabited was one of the lucky ones. Its original owner had been shielded by her parents and survived the initial calamity.

Later, when the Dao Palace governing their region was breached, its powerful treasure awoke. The artifact cast a spiritual light over the main peak of Mount Yu, protecting it and a small area around it from all demonic incursions. With a brief respite, the Dao Palace began taking in the surviving mortals.

The original Lynn Naya and her parents were among those who were taken in.

Unfortunately, just a few years after entering the mountain gate, her parents’ old injuries flared up, and they passed away one after the other. Without their protection, the original Lynn Naya’s life became incredibly difficult, and she eventually died quietly in her wooden hut.

In the memories Lynn Naya inherited, the original owner’s death was attributed to extreme weakness, which led to her succumbing to a severe illness. By the time Lynn Naya took over, the body was nothing more than a skeleton wrapped in skin.

She couldn’t really blame the original owner for not taking better care of herself—it was just too hard to survive.

There were hundreds of thousands of people in the Dao Palace, but the safe zone, protected by the artifact, was only limited to the main peak of Mount Yu.

The mountain itself had limited space. The upper parts were restricted zones for the sect, and mortals were not allowed to enter. At the foot of the mountain, where the spiritual energy was thin, there were dwellings for mortals and other sect buildings.

After essential spaces like spiritual and medicinal fields were sectioned off, there wasn’t nearly enough land left to feed everyone. And on top of that, the land belonged to the Dao Palace, which collected a thirty percent tax on every harvest.

As for the areas outside the safe zone, without the protection of the artifact, things were manageable on clear days. But during overcast or rainy days and at night, a thick, gray-black soul mist would seep out from the edges of the spiritual dome, enveloping the Dao Palace.

That mist was the physical manifestation of countless vengeful spirits from the Southern Spirit State. Even the Dao Palace disciples would be torn to shreds if they entered the fog. Demonic beasts avoided it, and mortals didn’t even stand a chance.

If mortals wanted to go out and scavenge for supplies, they could only do so during a clear, sunny day and had to make sure they were back before sunset. If the soul mist caught up to them, they would be torn to pieces.

Planting outside was possible, but if the plots were too far from the safe zone, they would be wasted effort. The small circle around the safe zone, while useful, was far too little to meet the overwhelming demand.

With too many people, too little land, and sparse resources, the mortals at the foot of the mountain had to struggle just to stay alive.

To live well, you had to be lucky enough to have a descendant with a spiritual root who could join the Dao Palace.

A loud rumble from her stomach broke Lynn Naya’s thoughts. After washing up, she returned to her hut and took out the last piece of coarse bran cake, about the size of her palm.

This was the staple food for the lowest-class mortals at the foot of the mountain. It was made by mixing bran with a small amount of rice or flour. It was absolutely terrible, but it was filling and preserved well, often lasting three to five days. This meant people didn’t have to cook every day, saving a lot of precious firewood.

Yes, even firewood was a scarce resource.

Every tree at the foot of the Dao Palace mountain had been chopped down long ago. The common people had to find a way to get firewood from outside.

It wasn’t just firewood, either—everything a person needed was a scarce resource.

Take wood, for instance. The houses in the mortal zone were almost all wooden shanties, like a sprawling slum. The DaoPalace didn’t help build these houses; whoever wanted a shelter had to go out, chop the wood, and build it themselves. The quality of the house depended entirely on the owner’s skill.

The hut Lynn Naya lived in was built by her parents. It was a solid structure, though barely large enough for three or four beds. For safety, her father and a few decent neighbors built their huts close together, creating a small courtyard surrounded by four homes, like a miniature siheyuan.

Few mortals had the foresight to do something like this. Most houses were hastily put together—some were shaky, some were crooked, and some looked more like temporary shelters, with rain leaking inside whenever it poured outside.

It wasn’t that they didn’t want to build a better house, but they simply couldn’t afford it. They could only get by, mending and patching what they had.

Lynn Naya ate a third of the bran cake with some cold boiled water. The remaining two-thirds would be her lunch and dinner.

Even after eating this stuff for months, it still felt like it was scratching her throat all the way down. In moments like these, she yearned for rice, fried chicken, hotpot, burgers, roast meat, and ice cream. She knew the latter few were a pipe dream, but she just wanted a bowl of fragrant, snow-white rice without a single husk.

Licking her lips, Lynn Naya cleaned the crumbs from her mouth, then slung a medicine basket over her shoulder, grabbed a hoe, and packed her water and food. It was time for her “shift.”

The original owner was a medicinal farmer under the Dao Palace, similar to a state-owned enterprise employee in her old world. Regardless of how tiring the work was, it was a guaranteed job, which was a position many people dreamed of in this environment.

Such a coveted job fell to the original owner mainly thanks to her father.

Her father was an innate martial artist and a sociable man who made good connections after entering the Dao Palace. One of his friends was lucky enough to become a manager of the sect’s medicinal fields, and he offered her father a spot to grow medicinal herbs. After careful consideration, her father gave the position to the original Lynn Naya.

Now that she thought about it, perhaps ever since they were taken in by the Dao Palace, her father had been trying his best to pave a way for her, hoping she could live well even after they were gone. It was just a shame that…

…this damn world was so harsh.

After locking her door and greeting Aunt Wang, who was on watch duty for the day, Lynn Naya headed straight for the medicinal fields.

The medicinal fields were at the foot of Mount Yu’s main peak.

From the base of the mountain upward, dense clouds of mist shrouded the peaks, shielding them from mortal eyes. On a clear day, one could occasionally glimpse the golden roofs of the sect buildings, but most of the time, all that could be seen were the mysterious, cloud-covered peaks.

Beyond the medicinal fields were vast stretches of farmland. As the wind blew, waves of rice rippled outward, startling low-flying swallows into the sky. Lynn Naya walked along the fields with her hoe on her shoulder, a girl and a bird, a picturesque scene in the breeze.

Lynn Naya, however, was no longer impressed by the scenery. Her mind was on something else entirely.

Today was the thirtieth, the day to receive contribution points. With this month’s points, she should have enough to buy the cultivation method for the Evergreen Technique.

Her heart fluttered at the thought, and a jolt of energy shot through her weary body.

Once she had the Evergreen Technique, along with her cheat, she should finally be able to cultivate.

Despite her excitement, Lynn Naya kept her emotions in check and patiently spent the morning tending to the medicinal fields. Only when she was certain that everything was in order did she head toward the administrative hall to collect her points.

It was the end of the month, so there were a lot of people waiting. She waited in line for a while before it was her turn.

Contribution points were given out on a jade token. Each glowing dot on the token represented one contribution point.

As a medicinal farmer, she received ten points a month. It wasn’t a low amount, but it wasn’t high either. When converted to food, it was only enough to barely feed her for a month.

For the past four months, except for the first month when she needed to recover her strength, Lynn Naya had tightened her belt, using only half of her points for food and saving the rest to buy a cultivation method.

Perhaps because the Dao Palace was internally weakened and feared suppressing the mortals would backfire, or perhaps to motivate them, they had opened a small door for ordinary people.

Some basic cultivation methods, martial arts, and pills were available for mortals to purchase with contribution points. For example, the lowest-level Qi Condensation method, the Evergreen Technique, only cost twenty contribution points.

Contribution points could be earned by working for the Dao Palace or by turning in medicinal herbs, ores, and other cultivation resources.

In this world, there were many who refused to give up. Even if they had no spiritual root, they would still try to cultivate if they had the chance. Lynn Naya would occasionally see ordinary people buying the Evergreen Technique, so she wasn’t all that conspicuous in the crowd.

After collecting her points, Lynn Naya went to the next counter, bought the cultivation method she wanted, and then headed back home with her basket.

The Dao Palace wasn’t too strict with the mortals at the foot of the mountain. Whether they were farmers or medicinal farmers, once their work was done, the supervisors would let them leave to do other things.

After all, everyone knew that you couldn’t survive on the Dao Palace’s contribution points alone.

With this in mind, Lynn Naya had finished all her work in the morning. She planned to spend the afternoon properly studying the Evergreen Technique.

A half hour later, Lynn Naya was home. She greeted Aunt Wang, then went inside to rest and drink some water. When her breathing was steady and her mind was calm, she sat cross-legged on her bed and pressed the jade slip she had bought against her forehead.

The jade slip was cool to the touch. The moment it touched her forehead, something seemed to bore into her brow. Soon, a large passage of incantations appeared in her mind, and at the same time, the jade slip crumbled into dust.

The incantations were cryptic and difficult to understand. Lynn Naya chewed on each word and sentence for a long time before she could even begin to comprehend it.

She then followed the instructions in the incantations, adjusting her breathing and trying to sense qi.

She tried once, then twice, but on the third attempt, hunger woke her up. She opened her eyes to find that night had fallen.

She ate the rest of her bran cake with water, not bothering to rest, and continued trying to sense qi.

This world was too dangerous. For days and nights on end, she had been living in a state of extreme insecurity. Only by gaining the ability to protect herself could she finally sleep soundly.

Unconsciously, a night passed. At the first glimmer of dawn, Lynn Naya’s mind trembled, and she slowly opened her eyes.

She did it.

Just as she sensed qi, she saw a corresponding change on her status panel.

Yes, her cheat was a game-like status panel:

[Name: Lynn Naya]

[Cultivation: None]

[Martial Arts: Finger Flick: Proficient (89/100)]

[Cultivation Methods: Evergreen Technique: Not Started (1/100)]

[Skills: Medicinal Farming: Beginner (76/100), Medicine: Not Started (42/100)]

[Exclusive Trait: Everlasting Life]

Looking at the 1 point of experience in the cultivation method section, Lynn Naya let out a long sigh of relief.

It was just as she had suspected. She could level up cultivation methods with experience points. A while ago, she had accidentally flicked her finger and noticed that the panel now had an entry for “Finger Flick.” She had been practicing it since, and the proficiency of the skill had increased. It was a shame, though, that without the aid of spiritual energy or internal force, the technique was pretty useless.

Now, if she could get the Evergreen Technique’s experience to one hundred, would she be able to enter the QiCondensation stage and become a true cultivator?

A thought flashed through her mind, but she had no intention of revealing that she could cultivate.

Her trait said she had “Everlasting Life.” While she didn’t fully believe it, she trusted it enough.

If she truly had everlasting life, it meant that while others had to fight and scheme for their lives, she didn’t have to. Infinite life gave her more than enough time to gather cultivation resources without putting herself in dangerous situations.

And most importantly, the fact that she could cultivate without a spiritual root—if the Dao Palace found out, they might not cultivate her at all. They’d be more likely to use all kinds of methods to force her to reveal her secret.

So why bother?

Survive until the end, and everything would be within reach.

In this kind of situation, being ordinary was her best camouflage.