These were the best of times: spiritual energy ran abundant and spirits roamed freely. Humans could cultivate immortality and attain the Dao, while countless prodigies sought eternal life, freedom, and carefree living.
These were the worst of times: the ancient gods had corrupted the Heavenly Dao, whispers from the void were everywhere, and cultivators had all become twisted monstrosities. Cultivation was a path where nine out of ten would die.
But none of that had anything to do with Xie Yuan.
Xie Yuan, a wandering beggar who had transmigrated into this world, was adopted by a handsome, down-on-his-luck hunter and became an ordinary country boy.
Well, except for the System in his mind that kept tempting him to cultivate immortality.
Fourteen-year-old Xie Yuan coldly cleaned his adoptive father Yan Qingci's wounds. Yan Qingci feared no fight to the death, yet meekly promised his adopted son, under that icy gaze, that he would take no more risks.
System: [Host, a mortal's hundred years pass in the blink of an eye. Are you really willing to waste your youth in a village?]
Xie Yuan: [Redeem the best medicine for his wounds.]
Sixteen-year-old Xie Yuan got pecked by a chicken while feeding it, leaving a thin line of blood on his finger.
System: [A mortal body is so fragile. If you would only cultivate immortality, you wouldn't get hurt.]
Xie Yuan silently muted the System, frowning in pain. Just as expected, Yan Qingci took pity on him and applied medicine to the cut, which was already about to heal.
Eighteen-year-old Xie Yuan went up the mountain to chop wood and hunt in the forest. Yan Qingci mended clothes and cooked dinner while waiting for him to come home.
The System: Xie Yuan pulled it out of his consciousness and turned it into a tracking ring for Yan Qingci.
But there were always people who came to disturb Xie Yuan's peaceful life.
After a cultivator mutated, sprouting tentacles, and gobbled up a few bites of cabbage from the field, he burst into tears and offered to pass on the cultivation method he had spent his whole life learning.
Xie Yuan: "I don't cultivate immortality."
A group of ugly people with pitch-black skin charged through the fence, clutching the eggless hen. They said that since the true phoenix bloodline had chosen Xie Yuan as its master, they would rally their entire clan to help him ascend.
Xie Yuan: "I don't cultivate immortality."
A grotesque, ugly tree person came to the courtyard and begged Xie Yuan to cut off his wildly growing branches. In return, he offered to teach Xie Yuan a wondrous method that could make him a Golden Immortal in a single step.
Xie Yuan: "I don't cultivate immortality."
Everything in the world was so troublesome, noisy, and boring. Thoroughly fed up, Xie Yuan decided to move away with Yan Qingci.
But Yan Qingci, his usually obedient adoptive father, went against his wishes for the first time. "Evil spirits are running rampant right now. You're so clever and gifted. The only way to keep you from going astray is to join one of the great sects of the Orthodox Dao."
Xie Yuan stared at Yan Qingci for a long while, then went and got some dream-inducing incense.
In the dream, Yan Qingci dropped his usual distant airs and said reluctantly, "I was cast out of the Orthodox Dao and have a terrible reputation. Your future is bright, but you're still entangled with me. It'll damage your reputation. Everyone in the cultivation world is spreading rumors that I adopted you with ulterior motives."
His brows were sharp as blades, his eyes like cold stars. As handsome as the day they first met, he had no idea how the sorrowful, aggrieved look in his eyes was making someone's heart itch.
Yan Qingci saw his adopted son, who had treated him coldly ever since turning sixteen, give him a rare smile.
Xie Yuan's gaze darkened. "What if I really do have ulterior motives?"
?????? The gong x the once-genius, down-and-out sword cultivator shou
Theme: My heart is free, bound by nothing in this world
