Cultivating Immortality as a Young Man: I Lie Flat, I Become an Immortal

Zhen Xin always thought he’d transmigrated into the world of cultivation to “take a vacation.” A naturally gifted Daoist body who’d come from modern-day corporate drudgery, he etched the philosophy of slacking off into his Dao heart. While others secluded themselves for punishing cultivation, he lounged by a spirit spring and scrolled on his phone. With the sect competition just around the corner, he invented an “automatic sword-swinging talisman” so he could complete his daily sword practice without getting up. He often sighed at his frantic senior brother, “So what if you outwork everyone else? You’ll still have to punch in for court after you ascend!”

Zhang Yi, meanwhile, was a homegrown pioneer in resisting the cultivation rat race. An heir to a family of alchemists, she ignored the advanced recipes passed down through generations and instead came up with “quick-fix medicinal meals.” A soup made from spirit rice and demon beast meat could replace half a day of meditation with just one sip. While others racked their brains to fight over resources in secret realms, she took Zhen Xin to cultivate a little vegetable patch on the outskirts. The spirit vegetables they grew naturally calmed the mind. “Cultivation is supposed to help you live freely, not wind you up like a clock,” she said.

The two seemingly “hopeless slackers” team up and turn the cultivation world upside down, with hilarious results. Zhen Xin uses modern management techniques to overhaul the sect’s storeroom, doubling the efficiency of low-ranking disciples without wearing them out. Zhang Yi borrows the idea of a “sharing economy” and turns her family’s medicinal garden into a “self-service spirit-plant station,” making resources circulate more smoothly.

In their laid-back everyday lives, this pair of partners uses modern thinking to break open new paths in cultivation. It turns out the Great Dao isn’t found in rigid rules, but in the ease of following your true nature. When Zhen Xin breaks through by “having insights while slacking off,” and Zhang Yi concocts the legendary “Pill of Ease” with her “whatever-goes recipes,” the entire cultivation world comes to a startling realization: perhaps they’re the ones on the right path!