Chapter 2: My System, and a New Friend

One gold coin was enough for me to buy a plot of land with a house on it. I had 50 of them, all thanks to Elder Ji.

For cultivators like me, gold coins were useless, but for mortals they were a fortune.

I headed back to Riverside, the village where I had bought my land. It was only a five-minute walk. My land was not in the village center, but a little farther out, where it was quieter and more peaceful.

The only coins I had were gold ones, and with only one I got everything I needed: seeds, tools, and some villagers to help me with repairs and construction. They agreed to build me a cabin outside the house for storage, a stable for my horses, and two more buildings: one for cows and one for chickens.

Of course, none of these things were ready yet. The villagers would start working on them the next day.

Big T and I returned to our land with the seeds and the tools. Our first task was to clear the plot of wild grass that had taken over it. It was impossible to start a plantation otherwise.

I put all the tools on the ground and picked up the iron scythe. I swung it back and forth, cutting down the grass with ease. I wasn't very skilled with a scythe, but it didn't matter. Being a cultivator had its benefits.

The energy of a cultivator made all the difference. I spent the entire day clearing the land, with Big T cheering me on.

"Croak. Croak."

He was lovely. Big T looked more human than most humans. Heck, based on the memories I had from the old Tian Li, Big T was better than the cultivators inside the Cloud Sect.

I stepped back and admired the result of my work.

The plot of land looked much cleaner after Big T and I had spent the whole day clearing it of wild grass. It had gone from an abandoned place to a decent farm, a place I could call home.

Well, it would be a farm once I planted some crops, but the sun had already set and I was exhausted. I was only a third layer Qi Condensation cultivator. My energy was higher than normal folks, but it had its limits.

Big T didn't go inside the cabin with me, but returned to the well where I had first found him. That was his home. He was close enough that I could sleep peacefully, knowing he would be there for me the next day.

The repairs and constructions on my land started the next morning. All the villagers working on them looked happy and excited. I bet it wasn't every day that they had such a job and a decent payment.

My stomach roared around 9 am. Big T had plenty of mosquitoes and other insects to feed on, but I hadn't eaten anything yet.

"Big T, stay here and watch the construction, alright?" I said to him, tapping his head.

"Croak. Croak."

With someone to supervise the work and make sure none of the villagers slacked off, I went to the nearby river that gave Riverside its name. Among the many tools my gold coin had bought, a fishing rod was one of them.

I stopped by the river and dug up some worms with my bare hands to use as bait. The water was clear and I could see some fish jumping out of it.

All aspects of nature were better in this world. The only thing I still missed was my mom and a few friends.

The sun was shining brightly, so I looked for a shady spot under a tree to start fishing.

"I forgot a chair, tsk," I muttered, going back to my cabin and returning with one.

I had everything I needed: a chair, a fishing rod, and some bait.

"Oh, and a bucket with water to put the fish in…" I cursed again, making another trip to my cabin.

After going back and forth twice, it was finally time to fish. I loved fishing, even before coming to this world. It was one of the few memories I had of my father before he passed away.

My story up to that point seemed rather normal. A mediocre cultivator in a weak sect. Nothing indicated that I would be anything more than that.

But when an unsuspecting fish bit the bait and I pulled it out of the water with my bamboo fishing rod, a strange text appeared before my eyes.

[Spiritual Farming System Unlocked]

[Fishing Level 1]

[Drop Rate: Chance of fishing a Spiritual Fish: 0.5% (The grade of said fish can vary)]

A system! It was not uncommon to see a protagonist with a system in a cultivation novel, but mine seemed different from the usual ones!

Most of the novels tried to use different names for their systems, but they were all the same at their core: increase attributes or level up. Something along those lines.

But my system had all sorts of skills: fishing, cooking, carpentry, farming, taming, alchemy, and so on.

They were like many different life skills! That was exactly what I wanted!

Why should I follow the same path as everyone else and meditate, study techniques, enter inheritances and all that nonsense?

The things I could do seemed more fun!

"Maybe I can improve my cultivation while doing these things… That would be great!" I murmured to myself.

The only reason I even considered increasing my cultivation was to protect my farm, my home, my animals, Big T from the evil cultivators.

Of course, reaching immortality sounded fun too, but that was not my primary goal. What if the only way for me to find a way back home was by increasing my power?

Anyway, I wanted to test out my system, so I fished for hours, trying to activate the passive skill and get myself a Spiritual Fish.

Honestly, I got annoyed by the percentage. It seemed more like 0% to me, just like when playing a game and hoping for an item drop.

But the fish finally came! I could tell it was different because of its aura. A faint wave of Qi emanated from its body.

I returned home with a few fish for dinner and the Spiritual Fish as my new companion.

"Big T, this is our new friend, Big F!"