Chapter 2 Taking Kickbacks
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This, this, this...
Wang Chen couldn't be more familiar with it.
The character panel that had just popped up in his field of view was none other than the mobile game "Immortal Cultivation" he had been obsessed with for a month!
Wang Chen's scalp tingled.
Could it be that he had transmigrated into the game?
He immediately shook his head.
That's because the game's background setting and story plot were vastly different from this world.
There wasn't much to compare.
But the existence of the Immortal Cultivation panel was absolutely real.
Wang Chen carefully noted that his Immortal Cultivation panel was a simplified version, lacking a lot of content.
It's just...
Apart from Divine Soul, why were all four fundamental attributes so low!
Physique, Root Bone, Comprehension, and Divine Soul, these four attributes' points had to be determined through dice rolls when creating a new character in "Immortal Cultivation."
Wang Chen had rolled many times, and the total points had never been less than 25.
Now they only added up to 17.
Especially Root Bone and Comprehension, they were frustratingly low.
Wang Chen finally understood.
The original body was a "pseudo-Second-Generation Cultivator," having started body forging and establishing the foundation from a young age.
And then, he had spent a full five years in the Outer Sect of the Cloud Sun Sect.
Yet he was still only a Qi Cultivation third layer junior cultivator.
Root Bone and Comprehension were too low!
Poor Root Bone and low Comprehension had a huge impact on cultivation; not only was it difficult to break through realms, but even the speed of practicing spells was much slower than others.
The four skills that the original owner mastered were all the lowest beginner level.
He was utterly weak!
But Wang Chen felt no despair.
No matter how weak he was now, as a Cultivator who had entered the Immortal Gates, there were infinite possibilities ahead.
Moreover, Wang Chen had a feeling that the Immortal Cultivation panel was not just for displaying his own attributes.
After pondering for a while, Wang Chen tried to close the Immortal Cultivation panel.
This could be researched slowly; the main issue now was that he was starving, with his stomach thundering, urgently requiring nourishment.
Heading to the kitchen next to the main room, Wang Chen scooped out a spoonful of Spirit Valley from the rice bin.
A spoonful of Spirit Valley was about a pound.
It was the original body's usual amount for one meal.
After putting it into the clay pot, he thought about it and added another half a spoonful.
Then he poured in three spoonfuls of sweet and refreshing mountain spring water.
He lit a fire and started the stove.
As the water in the pot began to boil, white steam swirled in the small kitchen.
The aroma of the grain rice filled the air.
Wang Chen, sitting in front of the stove, took a deep breath.
He felt even hungrier!
After waiting what seemed like an eternity for the Spirit Valley to cook, he could hardly wait to lift the lid and scoop the steaming hot rice into a full bowl.
Time to eat!
Although he was famished at this point,
Wang Chen still followed the original body's habit, chewing each mouthful of grain rice twenty-seven times on each side.
He ground the hard husk thoroughly, allowing saliva and rice to fully mix in his mouth.
Before swallowing it.
This chewing method dated back to ancient times and was beneficial for digesting the Spiritual Energy and nutrients contained in the food.
It also avoided getting the husk stuck in one's throat to the greatest extent.
The reason Wang Chen ate rice with husk was not because he was too lazy to mill the rice into white grain.
But because Spirit Food was rare.
Not a bit could be wasted!
The Cloud Sun Sect allotted him ten mu of low-grade Spirit Fields where White Jade Rice was planted.
White Jade Rice could be harvested twice a year, with a total yield of about 600 pounds per mu.
Under normal weather conditions without any mishaps, he could harvest 6,000 pounds of Spirit Valley each year.
But Wang Chen also needed to pay 4,500 pounds of Spirit Valley to the sect.
A fixed quota of 4,500 pounds.
Which meant, no matter how good or poor Wang Chen's farming skills were, he had to give this amount of Spirit Valley to the Cloud Sun Sect every year.
If he failed to meet the quota, he would be out.
Despite the laborious work, many Loose Cultivators outside the sect would want this "favorable position"!
Of course, if Wang Chen's harvest of Spirit Valley exceeded 6,000 pounds, the excess would be his.
But that was almost impossible.
Because the Spirit Fields allocated to him were located at the outermost edge of the Cloud Sun spiritual land, where the Spiritual Energy was weak and the soil was ordinary.
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In order to maintain an annual yield of six thousand jin, the original owner had put forth herculean efforts.
A little carelessness, and the Spirit Valley left for his own consumption might not be enough to eat.
Even if he got the allotted one thousand five hundred jin of Spirit Valley for personal use, the basic consumption of three jin per day could not be reduced.
Plus, the daily exchange of necessities like firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and tea in Cloud Mountain City.
As well as the resources necessary for cultivation.
There was not much left to save.
Under such tight circumstances, how could he possibly "luxuriate" in eating hulled Spirit Rice?
Spirit Rice was indeed tastier than Spirit Valley.
But one jin of valley only yielded eight liang of rice, and Wang Chen really couldn't afford it!
Although the valley husks were tough to eat, they contained a trace of Spiritual Energy.
And they filled the stomach easily.
A large pot of cooked Spirit Valley was devoured cleanly by Wang Chen, accompanied only by a plate of homemade, foot-stomped pickles.
"Burp~"
After letting out a satisfying burp of fullness, Wang Chen cleaned up the pots, bowls, and chopsticks.
Then he went to the main room.
His house was very small.
The thirty-square-meter main room was divided into a bedroom and a meditation room, with nothing more than a bed, a wardrobe, and a table with chairs, with no furniture of note.
In the middle of the meditation room was only an old meditation cushion on the ground.
Wang Chen sat down cross-legged on the cushion.
And began his thrice-daily practice of the Cultivation Technique.
After a meal was the best time to practice, allowing for the maximum absorption and digestion of the Spiritual Energy and nutrients from the Spirit Valley.
Nourishing his body and strengthening his Dantian.
Wang Chen was currently only at the third level of Qi Cultivation, a far cry from opening up his crown chakra and establishing his Purple Mansion.
If he were to rely on absorbing the free-floating Spiritual Energy from the outside for cultivation, the efficiency would be terribly poor.
He couldn't afford either pills or a Spirit Gathering Array.
So he had to rely on Spirit Food to support his daily practice.
Letting go of the distracting thoughts in his mind, Wang Chen anchored his breath in his Dantian and silently operated his Cultivation Technique, drawing out a thread of pure mana which rose up through his meridians.
Circulating endlessly through his limbs and bones.
The movements in his stomach quietly sped up, as the Spiritual Energy from the Spirit Valley was gradually condensed.
Transforming into mana to be stored in the Dantian.
In this way, the cycle repeated itself.
[Five Elements Skill·Experience +1]
A sudden message that appeared in his field of vision brought Wang Chen out of his deepest state of meditation.
He realized that he had completed this session of cultivation.
Touching his chin, Wang Chen summoned the Immortal Cultivation panel.
His attention was drawn to the [Cultivation Technique] category.
[Five Elements Skill (Level 3): 299/300]
There was no change from before!
Wang Chen's defenses were instantly breached.
If the Immortal Cultivation panel was a person, and Wang Chen had a gun in his hand,
He would definitely grab the person by the neck, put the gun to their head and say, "Don't tell me you rat, you're skimming off the top of the benefits meant for me!"
After consuming one and a half jin of Spirit Valley and practicing the Cultivation Technique for twelve heavenly cycles,
There was no progress whatsoever.
It was bad enough with no progress, but was the message "Five Elements Skill·Experience +1" just teasing him?
+1 where? What about the sea cucumber?
Damn!
Wang Chen forced himself to calm down.
Following his memory, he formed a spell with his hands, his fingertips flickering with glimmers of Spiritual Light.
"Go!"
With a flick of his fingers, the Spiritual Light scattered and silently fell into every corner of the meditation room.
Every speck of dust in the room was instantly cleansed.
Spick and span!
[Cleansing Technique·Experience +1]
Seeing the message, Wang Chen quickly called up the Immortal Cultivation panel again.
[Cleansing Technique (Beginner): 86/100]
It increased by 1 point!
Wang Chen immediately realized.
It wasn't that the system had swallowed the benefits he deserved.
It was that this body was too weak and trashy, stuck at a bottleneck in the Cultivation Technique and unable to break through!
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