A hundred years of human life, how much is it worth?
In the endless path of cultivation, is there truly no reality?
The real is real, the false is false;
The real is not false, the false is not real.
……
G City, Blue Star Dragon Country...
Shi Lei, the corporate wage slave, finally finished a day's work. Riding his little electric scooter, he sped all the way back to his tiny, box-sized rented room.
"Hmm... what should I eat today?" Shi Lei scratched his head...
"Oh, wait, I haven't finished watching that episode of Xiaocui yet. Keep going, keep going..."
Shi Lei took out two packs of pickled cabbage and beef instant noodles from the cardboard box under his bed, quickly tore them open, and brewed a large, full basin of them... Then, out of sheer habit, he took out his phone, opened Tomato Novel, and flopped onto the bed sprawling like a lazy bear to blissfully listen to the continuation of "Xiaocui"...
Oozing with wage-slave vibes...
As one brain-washing tune after another assaulted his ears, and one piece of trash text after another entered his eyes, thoughts of cooking dinner were long thrown to the winds by Shi Lei...
……
"Gurgle, gurgle... gurgle, gurgle..."
He had no idea how much time had passed, until his stomach let out a growl of hunger. Only then did Shi Lei remember his pickled cabbage and beef instant noodles... So he hurriedly sat up, grabbed the rim of the bowl, and got ready to eat...
"——Mm... mm-mm——"
"Sluuurp... sluuurp——"
"Good... so good——"
"Sluuurp... sluuurp——"
While playing the Tomato Novel, Shi Lei slurped down his noodles, mumbling indistinctly. It was impossible to tell whether he was praising the chewy deliciousness of the noodles or commenting on how thrilling and exciting a certain plot point in the novel was...
After finishing the noodles, Shi Lei patted his belly, feeling as though he still wasn't full. So he gnawed on two ham sausages, swallowed two marinated eggs, and then gulped down the entire basin of fresh, sour, and spicy noodle broth in one go. Only then did he lie back down in his original spot, utterly unsatisfied yet motionless, following in the footsteps of "Xiaocui" back into that ethereal, immortal-filled world...
Night fell upon the metropolis...
All sorts of people came and went on the streets, and a stream of various cars flowed endlessly. Adorned and glittering under rows of neon lights, the towering skyscrapers outlined the entire city like a dream...
Gradually, the night grew deep...
Yet most people in this world no longer cared; many had even grown accustomed to the darkness of the night.
As for Shi Lei's life, it remained a nine-to-five routine—"work at sunrise, rest at sunset"—unchanging just like the ancients. Although his job was unsatisfactory and life was tough, he was at least free and easy. Now at the age of thirty, he still loved this kind of life.
Of course, what he loved wasn't the busyness, but...
What was it, actually?
In fact, Shi Lei... couldn't put it into words for a moment...
Or perhaps,
it was unspeakable...
After all, Shi Lei was merely a mortal...
……
Although "Xiaocui" was also a mortal, she was a different story altogether because she possessed Mana, the kind that often flew back and forth across the skies.
A [True Fairy] indeed!
Perhaps this was one of the reasons why Shi Lei was so captivated!
Who knew how much time had passed again? Perhaps lying on the bed for so long had made his body feel quite uncomfortable. Shi Lei stirred, turned slightly onto his side, placed his phone beside the other side of his head, and squinted his eyes to continue listening...
Until finally, as he watched and listened... he forgot the time, forgot his exhaustion, forgot his worries, forgot his sorrows, forgot himself, forgot everything of everything...
In a daze...
He fell asleep...
……
And in a hazy daze...
He woke up...
……
"Hiss... why does it hurt so much?" Shi Lei gasped, waking up in an instant.
Upon waking, Shi Lei felt an incomparable, bone-deep pain all over his body. A glance revealed that he was covered in wounds, with every single cut slowly bleeding...
He looked around, momentarily dumbfounded.
Everything around him was misty and hazy, just like in a dream.
Only within a radius of two and a half zhang around his body was there an absence of mist, offering a relatively clear field of vision.
The light here was not dim; refracted by the mist, the surroundings appeared quite tranquil and cozy.
The ground beneath him felt soft; it seemed he was lying on muddy soil rather than his own bed?!
"W-where is this?"
"Am I... am I having a nightmare?"
Shi Lei was utterly bewildered?!
So he tried to recall, but the moment the thought crossed his mind, a tremendous wave of agony struck him instantly...
This pain made Shi Lei completely forget the physical wounds on his body, because the pain from his injuries didn't even amount to one-percent of this...
It felt as though countless golden needles were being driven into his brain. He felt as if his entire head was about to burst open, yet his whole body was unable to move a single fraction of an inch. This kind of pain made a person crazily wish for instant death.
Such pain was completely beyond description with words...
Fortunately, the pain came quickly and went just as fast.
When Shi Lei regained consciousness once more, he was utterly baffled. His mind was now a complete mess, because a memory that did not belong to him was rapidly integrating into his brain—the memory of a cultivator...
This immortal cultivator was also named Shi Lei. Incredibly, the cultivator's physical appearance and features were identical to Shi Lei's!
This face was just as ordinary, plain, and unremarkable as Shi Lei's, the kind that would struggle to attract any attention if tossed into a crowd.
However, one thing had to be said: he had become younger!
Had Shi Lei not pinched himself hard once more, making him wince in pain, he would still have believed this was a nightmare.
In the end, he had to accept a fact.
This was not a dream.
It was a genuinely existing world, possibly a parallel world to Blue Star, with an environment largely similar to it.
The difference was that people on this continent could practice Daoist arts to become immortals and attain eternal youth. Those with great Mana and mighty powers could fly through the skies, tunnel through the earth, and move mountains and fill seas...
Yet humans were not the sole masters of this continent; this world also harbored demons, devils, and Ghost Monsters whose strength was by no means inferior to the human grand masters, occupying vast regions of this world as well.
Besides these, there were some unknowable places of great terror in this world.
As for this cultivator Shi Lei, he hailed from a sect named Qianyuan Sect, renowned as a prominent alchemical sect. He had been recruited into the sect at the age of six. Although he had practiced cultivation for eight years, his cultivation base remained very shallow, stuck at merely the Qi Refinement 3rd Layer.
Since childhood, Shi Lei had yearned for the arts of immortality. Within the sect, he diligently practiced cultivation, striving to elevate his cultivation base. He believed that with perseverance, he would surely break through bottlenecks and reach higher realms (unfortunately, aside from first sensing spiritual chi and absorbing Spiritual Energy to begin cultivation, he had never broken through a single bottleneck, leaving him stuck in the Qi Refinement Early-stage)...
He deeply understood that the path of cultivation was rugged and fraught with trials, requiring constant tempering and self-challenge. Therefore, he frequently participated in various tasks and trials within the sect, sparring with fellow disciples to progress together. In this process, he had also forged friendships with many like-minded peers and gained a lot of help and support (though more often than not, encountering treacherous friends or even betrayal)...
Aside from cultivation, he also possessed a keen interest in the art of alchemy. In his spare time, he often studied alchemical texts and attempted to refine various Alchemical Pills. Though his success rate was low, he believed that through continuous attempts and summarized experience, he would surely brew high-quality Alchemical Pills (though he had never succeeded once, primarily due to lack of funds—the cost of materials required for alchemy was simply too expensive)...
He had originally intended to continue striving in cultivation, enhancing his strength, making more cultivator friends, jointly exploring the mysteries of immortality, and pursuing the Dao of longevity (it was just a pity that all these had now become the original owner's dream).
……
"Sigh..."
After a very long time, Shi Lei finally digested the original owner's memories and slowly cleared his consciousness, sighing deeply for the original owner.
Only then did he steady his mind and silently tell himself, "Although this world of cultivation is fraught with danger, since I'm here, I might as well make the best of it! I will surely live a good life, and your dream is my dream. From now on, I will definitely work even harder!"