Paying for a suicide

Ling Chen woke up groggily.

His head felt as if it had been split apart , luckily it was nothing serious with his physique after a while the last remnants would slowly fade away.

He slowly trained his breathing technique ; it was nothing special , just the [Foundation Heart Law] that was learnt by one and all in the vast realm of Shenzu .With his capabilities getting a better one was frankly impossible so all he could do was to continuously practice and hope for the best.

But reality was harsh.

He had already long crossed the golden age of laying the foundation which was around three years and without the support of the [Natal Qi] to lay the foundation in one swoop , he had to take a round about way instead.

Though there was still some possibility of success through this means as well , the fact that he lacked resources of any sort and had to train in the most mundane of all techniques which when compounded with his less than satisfactory talent left him where he was exactly eighteen years later since he began to practice.

Marooned in the first [Foundation laying] stage !

In the Realm of Shenzu all beings whether human or otherwise were capable of cultivation with no exceptions !

This had resulted in the creation of an elaborate social order intertwined and entangled with the only possibility of progress relying on just one aspect -Cultivation !

In this multicoloured fabric known as society there was a class that was both despised and revered for their unnatural pursuit of freedom .

The 'Loose Cultivators ' !

Called condescendingly as 'Rogues' these were persons who lived their lives as they wished in pursuit of the Great Way .

Sounds Romantic , Right ?

But the Real World is not so beautiful.

Unwelcome wherever they go unless they possess the formidable strength required to flip the world apart ; most Loose Cultivators live a sorry life for the most part , right at the bottom rungs of the ladder known as society !

But even then with a certain aptitude there was still a glimmer of a possibility for them to climb up ever so slowly.

Not so for Ling Chen , he seemed to have none.

There was an unwritten rule that only those who by their Manhood Ceremony at the age of 18 had reached the stage of [Congealing Qi ] were considered as genuine 'Cultivators' or 'Citizens' .

Others ?

Sorry , there were people still required for doing the menial work , right ?

Although there was no overt slavery as such , the last instance having stopped after the Third Great War many years ago the condition of these unfortunates was in reality no different from being slaves !

Ling Chen , sadly was a member of this 'elite' group.

The difficulty of [Congealing Qi] couldn't be quantified exactly as it depended on a variety of factors .

In this boundless realm where the Qi was abundant , people from a young age begin to slowly absorb wisps of Qi into their bodies strengthening their vitality as a result.

Eventually when the conditions are ripe their latent [Immortal Meridians] germinate and slowly sprout into seedlings . When their [Immortal Meridians] are finally capable of holding Qi they slowly pool the nutrition towards the Root known as the Source Point which is located at a portion of the body which differs for each person

At this stage finally a person has surpassed the 'Foundation Laying ' stage and has reached the [Congealing Qi ] stage.

Apart from the tremendous increase in strength each cultivator also obtains a certain 'talent' due to the location of their [Source Point ] which can be used by slowly consuming the Qi they hold in their [Source Points] .

For those with natural talent completing this process was extremely easy , support or not as for those with low talent support provided through several [Heavenly Treasures] was sufficient to carry out this process.

Ling Chen then just had to hit the jackpot by not having either !

Because of his poor prospects he had been tossed out of the orphanage that he had stayed in since breath long ago and had been thrown into the streets.

Living in the streets was let us just say , an all new Hell !

Can a little baby managed to survive in a world populated by tigers ?

For that was how it was , as a toddler who had barely advanced on his [Foundation Laying] he was no match at all for those terrifying monsters each who had reached the stage of [Congealing Qi] !

Having bounced all across , being forced to survive in the wilderness under the watchful eye of [Fierce Beasts ] ; on the run from illegal slave traders and members of the [Demonic Way] , misery and pain had been hurled at him ever since he could remember.

Not that he had thought that he could end it all.

But in a world where even ghosts can walk , death was not a release but another abyss of suffering !

Only those who were buried with the proper rituals would achieve true salvation , otherwise there was always a possibility of becoming the stooge of a passing [Ghost Cultivator] !

He certainly had no money to pay someone to perform the funerary rites for him and with his rotten luck there was no way a [Ghost Cultivator] would pass on the chance to collect his soul and that was it then.

Therefore he had to do the best to live at least until he could afford to die with some dignity !

He had finally managed to achieve a somewhat stable occupation - Mining in a Spirit Lode.

In this world apart from the [Natural essence of Heaven and Earth] , there were other forms of [Heavenly Treasures ] which were the Qi made flesh !

Spirit Veins belonged to this kind of treasures ; coming in a wide variety of forms stones , springs even in the form of a tree , they contained a high amount of Pure [Spiritual Qi] in them and could be of great benefit to any Cultivator .

Of course , the amount in them was too powerful for [Foundation Laying] stage people to handle which was why they were often chosen as the miners ; there was no fear that they would absorb the Qi and decrease the quality , plus with their weak strength there was no way they would able to successfully steal one anyways !

So it was quite a cost-effective decision !

To cut the long story short , He Ling Chen was but a humble miner spending his days mining for spirit stones , earning some small money in turn which he saved judiciously all in the hope of arranging his funeral !