The Cautious Cultivator's Ascent

In a resource-starved cultivation world where one wrong step means death, Lin Yang survives not through genius, but through patience. Armed with only three ordinary spiritual roots and a mysterious jade fragment, this village youth transforms from lowly sect handyman to golden core master through sheer caution and cunning. No system. No lucky breaks. Just a mortal who refuses to die, carefully navigating deadly politics and ancient dangers as he climbs from a forgotten southern kingdom to the treacherous central lands—one calculated risk at a time.