Immortal Mansion, Year 14994, July, summer.
Unified Basic Cultivation Abodes of the Immortal Mansion, annual lease.
Chen Zhuo stood before the mirror, staring blankly at his own reflection. Cupping a basin of cold water in his hands, he splashed it onto his face, doing everything he could to stay clearheaded.
"Seventeen years of hard work, and today I've finally gotten what I wished for..."
Chen Zhuo murmured under his breath, his expression slightly dazed.
Just moments ago, he had completed his artificial spiritual root implantation surgery. From this moment onward, he possessed the qualifications to cultivate, officially earning the right to call himself a cultivator!
This opportunity had not come easily. Chen Zhuo treasured it beyond measure and felt immense excitement. If he didn't need to pinch pennies to pay off his spiritual root loan, he would have loved nothing more than to head out right now to celebrate and drink himself into a stupor.
Seventeen years ago, a dump truck had sent Chen Zhuo into this world, where he was reborn as an infant in the "Immortal Mansion."
At first, he had assumed that arriving in such an extraordinary world of urban cultivation meant he would soar to greatness and stir up the winds and clouds.
What he had never expected was that he didn't possess a natural spiritual root for cultivation. He was merely an ordinary mortal.
That had dealt Chen Zhuo a crushing blow.
Even so, Chen Zhuo hadn't given up.
The Immortal Mansion possessed formidable cultivation technology, having conquered the science of spiritual root implantation a millennium ago.
Compared to the exorbitant costs from a thousand years back, the price today had dropped substantially. While not everyone could afford it, middle-class households certainly could.
Chen Zhuo, however, came from an ordinary background. His only hope had been to make a stunning showing in the vocational technical examination and place in the top three to earn an implantation quota.
Evidently, he had pulled it off.
In the vocational technical examination that had just concluded, Chen Zhuo placed third in the mortal bracket. He gained admission to Taiqing Vocational and Technical College of Alchemy, secured an implantation quota, and transformed his fate, stepping into the ranks of cultivators.
This truly felt like a fish returning to the vast sea, a bird taking to the open sky!
*Ding-dong.*
Right then, a chime sounded from Chen Zhuo's spiritual communication jade slip.
The spiritual communication jade slip functioned very much like a smartphone, except it was crafted entirely from jade and was rather light and thin. Chen Zhuo tapped it open, immediately accessing the latest notifications.
[Taiqing City Immortal Mansion: Examinee Jiazi 356, congratulations on completing your 'Basic Spiritual Root Implantation.' Your spiritual root is: Inferior Low-Grade Single Spiritual Root, with a Wood Spiritual Qi Sensitivity Rating of 19. Produced by 'Taiqing Pharmaceuticals,' list price: five thousand spirit stones. You have applied for the Immortal Path Spirit Stone Student Loan. The repayment terms for this loan are as follows: a term of one hundred years, interest-free for the first fifty years; after fifty years, interest will accrue at one percent annually.]
[Taiqing Vocational and Technical College of Alchemy: Greetings, Fellow Daoist Chen Zhuo! You have been admitted to Taiqing Vocational and Technical College of Alchemy in the Elixir Appraisal and Grading major. Please report for enrollment on September 10, Immortal Calendar Year 14994.]
[Taiqing City Immortal Mansion - Basic Education and Training Center: Greetings, newly registered Cultivator Chen Zhuo. Your information has been recorded in the 'Taiqing City Cultivator Registry.' In accordance with True Monarch Edict No. 952 of the Immortal Mansion, you are granted one copy of the 'Fifty-First Edition Wood-Attribute Basic Cultivation Art (formerly known as the Changchun Art).' It has been delivered to your spiritual communication inbox. Please perform breathing exercises according to the video tutorials to complete your initial Qi Condensation.]
[Taiqing City Immortal Mansion - Cultivation Platform: College students enjoy a ten percent discount on cultivation! Lacking spiritual qi for your initial Qi Condensation? Hurry over to the Taiqing City Cultivation Platform! Blessed grottos with abundant spiritual qi—absolutely the optimal place for your first breathing exercises, starting at just three spirit stones per hour!]
In an instant, an entire barrage of message windows popped up before Chen Zhuo's eyes, making his head spin.
Before even crossing into the immortal path, he was already five thousand spirit stones in debt.
"Sigh."
Chen Zhuo let out a long breath, though he wasn't particularly disheartened.
As long as he completed his twenty years of vocational college, his monthly salary upon graduation would reach thirty spirit stones. He would only need to work a dozen years or so to clear the balance.
If he saved diligently, it would be plenty of time to pay off the spirit stones before interest kicked in.
Of course, these spirit stones were not quite the real thing.
Because resources were scarce in today's cultivation world, natural spirit stone mines had long since run dry.
As a result, the spirit stones in every cultivator's account were merely digital numbers representing a sum of wealth rather than physical stones—also referred to as spirit coins.
In reality, purchasing an actual spirit stone on the market typically required ten or more of these virtual spirit stones; the two couldn't be compared on equal terms.
Furthermore, the annual quota of physical spirit stones each cultivator could exchange for was strictly limited.
Still, it didn't matter much to Chen Zhuo. He had no immediate need for genuine spirit stones anyway.
It was fine as it was.
"Enrollment is in September, which leaves two months. In theory, that should give me enough time to cultivate and raise my realm to the first layer of Qi Condensation."
Chen Zhuo shook his head, then opened his messages to inspect the Fifty-First Edition Wood-Attribute Basic Cultivation Art.
The cultivation art wasn't provided on paper; instead, it arrived directly as a packaged video collection.
There were thirteen videos in total, each thoughtfully labeled by name.
From Changchun Art Qi Condensation Layer One all the way to Changchun Art Qi Condensation Layer Thirteen.
With an excited heart, Chen Zhuo opened the first video.
"Greetings, fellow Daoists. I'm Zhang Ping, a first-year student at Taiqing University, currently at the early Foundation Establishment stage. Today, I'll be explaining the key cultivation techniques for the first layer of the Changchun Art..."
The Changchun Art was a foundational Qi Condensation method meant for single wood spiritual roots. Overall, it was thoroughly unexceptional, but its virtue lay in its safety.
Over the past seventeen years, Chen Zhuo had naturally studied countless concepts of cultivation theory. Combined with the video, he gradually grasped the essential principles.
"Heaven and earth preserve primeval breath; flora keeps its fragrant grace. Guard the one and hold the center; live as long as heaven's space. Inhale the pure dew, draw in dawn's light. Wash away the dust and grime; make the immortal realm ever bright..."
Gradually, Chen Zhuo quieted the stray thoughts in his mind. He sat upright and focused, resting his tongue against the roof of his mouth, opening his jaw slightly to regulate his breath.
Instantly, a sensation akin to cool mint rushed straight into his mind, prompting a thought: *Such cool and refreshing qi—is this what refining Qi feels like?*
Soon, two wisps of white vapor began to curl around his nose and mouth. Breathing in through his nose and out through his mouth with measured rhythm, Chen Zhuo steadily refined the two wisps of tempered white vapor.
The entire process felt immensely pleasant.
It was like downing a chilled drink in the scorching heat of summer—utterly invigorating!
Though there were only two thin wisps of vapor, as they gradually dissolved, Chen Zhuo felt as if surging rivers were converging within his body, slowly taking up residence inside him!
A continuous, fine stream, dense and unending!
Before he knew it, Chen Zhuo's muscles and bones chimed in unison; he had completed the refinement of his very first wisp of Qi.
Completely absorbed, he immersed himself entirely in the state of cultivation.
After a long time, the first light of dawn broke along the horizon.
Chen Zhuo slowly opened his eyes. Spiritual qi coursed through his body like a gushing spring, filling him with wild exhilaration.
"Qi Condensation! Qi Condensation! So this is Qi Condensation!"
Light sparkled in Chen Zhuo's eyes, full of excitement and confidence. He felt as if he were a supreme prodigy of the immortal path, finally embarking upon the grand journey!
Yet just as Chen Zhuo rose to stretch his limbs in high spirits, his vision suddenly went black.
Immediately after, he felt the two wisps of spiritual qi he had just refined get violently sucked away by something, vanishing in an instant.
"Huh?"
Chen Zhuo stared in dumbfounded shock, wondering if he had bought a counterfeit spiritual root with his student loan.
Wait, how could the two wisps of spiritual qi he had just finished refining get swallowed whole?
Taiqing Pharmaceuticals, give me back my hard-earned stones!
Before he could react any further, a black bead suddenly flickered into view right in front of him.
*What is this?*
That was the only thought in Chen Zhuo's mind.
Immediately afterward, a flash of black light erupted from the bead. Chen Zhuo was instantly enveloped in the dark radiance, vanishing entirely from his rented cave dwelling.