Game Developer with a Starting Pack

Sitting in a long queue, Michael dazedly looked at the sky above, only moving forward by instinct once everyone else did.

His emotions were complex. If one were to ask him, he wasn't angry, nor was he particularly happy. 

There was nothing to be anxious about, but also nothing to look forward to either.

Returning his gaze toward the ground under his feet as he almost tripped over something, he unavoidably glanced at the small pouch on his waist.

It was a small purse-like object, appearing as if made from a small piece of animal leather, only a bit larger than a child's fist.

[Excuse me, I didn't realize I dropped that. Do you mind?](?)

"Eh?"

[The shoe...](?)

Looking under his feet, he was currently stepping on something. The same object he had almost tripped over previously. Seeing the very out of place shoe, Michael felt the corners of his mouth twitch.

Adjusting his emotions, he bent over while ensuring he wouldn't inconvenience the person behind, grabbed the shoe while praying it wouldn't smell too bad, and handed it over to its owner, who appeared to be practicing some 'Flamingo-style' martial arts.

His sock-covered left foot was leaning on his right knee as the man reached to grab his lost 'sportswear.'

While being thanked, Michael couldn't help but wonder how exactly sport sneakers fit into a cultivation setting. 

Checking with the corner of his eyes, the black pair of sneakers basically screamed 'Black Air Force Energy.' Coupled with the man's somewhat thuggish look, made him want to retreat a couple of steps for good measure, but there wasn't anywhere he could move without leaving the queue.

'*Sigh* A cultivation world into a modern setting... how ridiculous. It feels as if my dog eyes are blinded, no matter where I look...'

There were a total of six different queues, each leading to a stall where a small group of people would 'interview' the participants.

What bothered him the most were the stupidly tall skyscrapers in the distance and the modern clothing everyone was wearing.

And if that wasn't enough, the smartwatch devices, incredibly advanced mobile phones, or levitating cars that could be seen passing by less than a kilometer away further served to destroy whatever 'cultivation' concept he held holy in his heart.

Indeed. He had transmigrated to this cultivation world less than a week ago. Six days, to be precise.

However, this world's technological development was in no way worse than that of Earth's, his homeworld. On the contrary, it seemed more advanced, with at least 50 to 100 years.

Things out of sci-fi movies were prominent in this world, and if a proper xianxia reader would come here, they would definitely be just as heartbroken as he was. 

Cultivators using swords or boats to fly in the sky? How about hoverboards and flying shuttles instead?

Using spirit stones to power such devices!? Why, when alternative 'green' fuel could be used since the technology was so advanced? Not to mention cheaper...

Even the beautiful concept of sects being hidden in the mountains surrounded by steep cliffs and primal woods was utterly shattered, as even the poorest among them had their own floating city.

That's right! Why wreck nature by cutting trees and polluting the ground when the airspace was literally free real estate?

'Well... I can't lie. At least the sect grounds are pretty awesome. *Sigh* Too bad that has nothing to do with me.'

The reason for his despondency was obviously his spiritual roots. Just like in every trash novel out there, his spiritual roots were poor, and even if he could cultivate, he was destined to be stuck at the lowest levels for the rest of his life.

To explain things properly, let's backtrack a little.

Six days ago, he woke up in a smaller bed than the one he went to sleep in, while the room was much bigger.

A bit confused in the beginning and thinking he was still asleep, he went to the nearby open window and had a mini-heart attack when he saw he was at least 100 meters above the ground.

Backing up immediately, he realized that his senses, as well as his mental process, were too clear for this to be one of his borderline psychotic dreams, and instead, he had transmigrated.

The expected excitement ensued, only to be doused with cold water minutes later. Firstly, back on Earth, he was a single dog, and nobody would miss him. His family might be sad for a while, but since he was already 32, the typical relationship estrangement that comes with age would make things more bearable.

As for this new world, he was a teen six days away from reaching 18 years old. Memories of the previous 'user' of the body he was currently inhabiting poured into his mind like a flood, prompting him to sit on his ass in the middle of the room while holding his head.

Fifteen minutes later, he had some basic understanding of the world he 'relocated' to, prompting a bitter expression to appear on his face.

Yes, this was an alternative Earth, but the name of this world was Green Sanctuary. Why not blue? Because the Qi in the air affected the planet's color seen from outside the atmosphere, encasing it in a green barrier of sorts.

Thankfully, the skies were still blue from ground level, allowing Michael to transition more easily into his new life.

But that was only the most basic of basics. Now, let's talk about his family. His father was a Golden Core cultivator, while his mother was at the upper levels of the Foundation Building.

He also had a little brother, who was obviously much more talented than he was. Although the child was only 13, he had already reached the 7th level of Qi Gathering after cultivating for only five years.

As for him, after cultivating for a full ten years, he was still stuck at the 4th level of Qi Gathering due to his poor-quality spiritual roots.

What are these bullshit things, you ask? Cultivation realms.

After recovering from an insidious migraine, he stared dumbly at this smartwatch for about ten minutes before figuring out how to use the internet in this new world.

Then, he realized that Green Sanctuary's history wasn't much different from Earth's, with the exception of some 'insignificant' elements, such as... well... cultivation, and, of course, the recent demon realm invasion, a different cultivation civilization seeking to conquer the planet.

The first invasion-like event was documented to have occurred around 13,000 years before the first agreed-upon worldwide calendar when humanity's ancestors encountered a spatial passage from which a strange dark gas emanated.

This 'gas' not only affected the flora and fauna of the world but also mutated the air itself, prompting a planetary evolution. 

Alongside the monstrous animals, which were now bigger, faster, and fiercer, humans also slowly adapted to this new environment.

After centuries of hunting the fierce beasts and finding ways of nurturing new specimens of plants, the humans figured out how to cultivate through trial and error.

With their first success, they slowly snatched the world back from the beasts' claws while establishing new settlements.

However, the preliminary cultivation method was nothing more than a primitive Body Refinement technique, which wasn't much help for anything other than fighting.

There was still a need for farming, animal husbandry, architecture, metalworking, etc. 

So, instead of using cultivation as the primary method of advancing the civilization, it was instead used as a 'supplementary' one.

Now, more than 15,000 years later, cultivation was everything Michael read about in online novels and more.

First, to clarify, the cultivation realms he knew about were split between Body Refinement and Qi Refinement. Obviously, anyone could cultivate both, but it was incredibly time-consuming. Not to mention the resources needed...

The Body Refinement realms were Mortal Flesh, Soul Forming, Mind Scattering, Sarira, Bone-Refining, Nirvana, and Golden Body.

As for what those are and how they are cultivated... don't ask! His mind was still processing most of the information influx he gained and knew nothing of the finer details.

Furthermore, this body's previous host was a Qi Refinement cultivator, so he was more interested in that.

Why? Because, unlike the refinement of the body, which only improved one's strength and health at the first five realms, each major realm in Qi Refinement could increase one's lifespan.

The situation was as follows: a mortal could live anywhere between 75 and 120 years without cultivating, mainly because the Qi in the air nourished them throughout their lives.

If they do become a cultivator, that changes dramatically. 

At the first realm, Qi Gathering, one's lifespan can increase roughly by 100 years after completing the twelve levels. The actual amount calculated is an average of 106 years. Still, that number can either increase or decrease based on a large number of factors, such as one's potential, constitution, spiritual roots, illness, etc.

Therefore, Michael's lifespan could theoretically increase by 8.83 years with each level of Qi Gathering.

The second realm was the Foundation Building, where the cultivator could gain an increase of 200 to 300 years. The reason for the discrepancy was similar to the previous realm, though one's talents and spiritual roots played an even more important role during the twelve levels of this realm.

Next was the Golden Core. From the point where one completed their foundation establishment and could transform their Qi into a solid core, an evolution would occur. 

By completely shattering the shackles of mortality, the cultivator could gain anywhere between 600 and 2,900 years of extra lifespan. 

The disparity brought by the quality of the formed Golden Core is, to this day, one of the most discussed topics among the cultivators. For example, Michael's father was able to cast an almost middle-grade level core, which resulted in his lifespan increasing by 900 years. His mother's foundation was even stronger, so her core should be stronger after she advanced to the next realm.

The fourth realm is called Soul Wandering, and it would add anywhere from 5,000 to 10,000 years. Obviously, cultivators with a higher-grade core had bigger chances to advance to the next realm.

According to the knowledge he scoured online, combined with the memories he was still digesting, after reaching the peak of the Golden Core realm, one would shatter the core to nourish the soul.

What did that mean, and how did it happen... as a 4th-level Qi Gathering newbie, he held almost zero knowledge about.

The following realms were even more exaggerated, with the Nascent Soul increasing a cultivator's lifespan by a minimum of 100,000 to 200,000 years, Ensoulment by 400,000 to 500,000, Nihility by 600,000 to 700,000, and finally Ascension by a fixed amount of 800,000 years.

It sounded incredibly ridiculous for a civilization that was barely 15,000 years old, but to this day, there are only 19 Nihility experts protecting this world.

As for Ascension and where one would 'ascend' to, that was the result of endless hours of research put in by the brightest minds this planet had to offer. 

According to them, reaching that realm is akin to a second evolution. If reaching the Golden Core is stepping on the true path of cultivation, Ascension could be compared to finally leaving the newbie village.

Back to his family, his mother and father were 'loose' cultivators - as this world referred to the cultivators not affiliated with a sect - and they both had mediocre spirit roots. 

Unfortunately, their first child, Michael, inherited this trait and brought it to an even higher level.

The types of spiritual roots known to this world are separated into Damaged, Poor, Inferior, Primal, Normal, Advanced, Superior, Fantastic, Flawless, Excellent, and Perfect.

Grant Lewis - Michael's father - possessed Primal roots, while Silvia Lewis - his mother - possessed Normal roots. Yet somehow, their firstborn's roots turned out to be Inferior after they properly manifested once he was eight.

Both their disappointment and their child's was immense, but five years later, when Roderick was tested, he showed off a mutated version of spiritual roots measured to be somewhere between Advanced and Superior.

Unwilling to be outdone by his younger sibling, the previous body's inhabitant worked hard day and night, studying and cultivating, hoping to reach the stars through sheer grit.

Unfortunately, the world wasn't that kind, and he only advanced four levels in ten years.

With his dreams shattered, not wanting to waste any more of his parents' saved-up resources, he ironically stuffed his face with six Qi Gathering pills to force a cultivation deviation and died quietly in his bed.

The following days were spent 'meditating' in solitude, with his parents handing him a handful of Fasting Pills, which could be used to supplement the missed meals.

In fact, he spent four days digesting and ruminating through the previous host's memories, trying to understand as much as possible about his options.

In the final two days, something finally changed. His golden finger had arrived!

[ It has been detected that the user had fully integrated with the previous host's memories. ]

Thinking his cheat had finally arrived, he waited with bated breath for almost thirty minutes while a blue interface showed a buffering symbol as if the system was loading.

[ Rewarding a Newbie Giftpack to the user! The system interface has been opened! We wish you good luck and happy gaming! ]