Maggots in the Cracks

In this artificially constructed prison of a cultivation world, spiritual energy is merely the scraps left behind after the upper realm has harvested its share. The Spirit-Testing Stele is a carefully staged fraud, and every breakthrough requires devouring someone else's Dao foundation. Seventeen-year-old Lin Chen, a menial worker in the medicine garden, is mistakenly judged to have a “murky spirit root” that makes Foundation Establishment impossible for life. In truth, he has a Hidden Spirit Root, deliberately concealed. He wants neither immortality nor invincibility. He has only two humble wishes: save up a hundred spirit stones to buy a life-extending pill and cure his younger sister's cold poison, then escape with her from this world that devours people. But at the bottom of the rigid hierarchy of the Azure Lotus Sword Sect, every breath of spiritual energy must be fought for with one's life. When Lin Chen accidentally activates a black pebble passed down through his family and obtains the Against the Mortal Scripture, left behind by the ancient ascender “Ni Fanzi,” his life takes a completely different course. The scripture is a “System exploit manual” that teaches people how to deceive the laws of Heaven and Earth.