After confirming that the ground beneath the bed was easy to dig, I began preparing.

  I had to move as quickly as possible.

  The very first thing I did was gather the inheritance the body’s parents had left behind.

  I took the cultivation jade slips and the storage pouch resting atop the bookshelf.

  I couldn’t forget the emergency talismans and the formation plate either.

  I also stuffed in all the spirit herbs and medicinal ingredients that had been stored to one side.

  It took less than ten minutes to pack everything.

  Truly, this was a poor household.

  I left behind the Bigu Pills and the spirit rice I’d been eating.

  I also left the clothes and household items as they were.

  This was to pull off a bit of a trick.

  I steeled myself.

  “Tsseup…. Haaah.”

  With a deep breath, I bit down hard on the middle finger of my left hand.

  Ugh.

  It hurt like hell.

  But there was no blood.

  Damn it. In novels, it always looked ridiculously easy.

  How the hell did they do it?

  Making yourself bleed just by biting your finger was harder than I thought.

  Tears welled up in my eyes.

  But I couldn’t hesitate.

  I hardened my resolve once more.

  Whenever using talismans or cultivation methods, there were times when essence blood was needed, weren’t there.

  If I couldn’t even draw blood because it hurt or scared me, what kind of humiliation would that be? I couldn’t die such a pointless death.

  Staring at my finger, I bit down hard again.

  Damn it, damn it! Still no blood.

  …Just how vicious were these cultivators, anyway?

  In the end, I took decisive action.

  A needle shyly revealed itself and pricked my finger.

  Only after pricking it three times in a row did I finally gather enough blood.

  Whew, living really was hard.

  Someday, I’d be able to draw blood just by biting. …Right?

  Later, I should try biting while gathering spiritual energy in my teeth. It was a shame I hadn’t thought of that earlier.

  Still, I didn’t have the nerve to try again right now. The finger, swollen red, hurt too much. …Just in case, I’d practice again a few hours later.

  You had to prepare for everything, after all.

  Just not right now.

  I scattered the painstakingly gathered blood across the floor.

  I also made sure to rub it around with my foot, leaving traces as if someone had tried to clean it up.

  I spread it out in all directions.

  Crude as it was, an amateur crime scene was complete.

  Then I laid out a cultivation formation and a protective formation on top of the bed.

  I left plenty of spirit stones to maintain them, so even if someone came, concealment would be possible for a while.

  After all, when someone went into cultivation, it was normal not to come out for several days.

  The formations’ effects would end in two days.

  Even if the village chief came with the identity token, all he’d see would be a wrecked house and bloodstains.

  He wouldn’t even imagine that I’d fled without an identity token, so he’d assume someone had killed me for the spirit stones and erased the traces.

  That way, no pursuit would follow.

  So why was I digging the ground so diligently?

  …Because there was always the possibility.

  Yeah, I was a coward.

  [Lv. 3 Earth Escape Technique proficiency increases.]

  [Lv. 3 Earth Escape Technique proficiency increases.]

  [Lv. 3 Earth Escape Technique proficiency increa—]

  The system notifications kept ringing.

  It seemed that repeatedly doing simple work helped raise proficiency.

  When I was young, my dream had been to become an architect like my father.

  I remembered looking at buildings my father had built and thinking that I, too, would someday build something like that. And now here I was, digging tunnels in a cultivation world.

  Damn it, life.

  “Ah, I’m dead tired.”

  After digging downward for a while, I grasped a spirit stone and absorbed its energy.

  Sweat trickled down my forehead.

  My once pristine clothes were now completely caked with dirt.

  While absorbing spiritual energy, I calmly thought things through.

  To escape the village safely, I had to avoid divine sense.

  I knew exactly how to do it, having learned through countless deaths in the game.

  If you moved underground instead of above it, detection difficulty rose sharply.

  With the level of the village cultivators, they wouldn’t be able to sense all the way underground.

  But that didn’t mean I could relax completely.

  Everyone had their own specialties, after all.

  There was no guarantee that none of the village cultivators possessed deep divine sense.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  “Getting careless and dying wasn’t something that happened just once or twice…..”

  So I had to dig as deep as possible, deeper still.

  After that, I could move toward the mountains and escape safely.

  Alright, shall I start again?

  I desperately dug into the earth.

  My body steadily advanced forward.

  The path I’d passed through refilled with solid earth, leaving not even a trace.

  How deep had I gone? It had already been a long time since I last felt any presence from the village.

  At this depth, even a Foundation Establishment cultivator wouldn’t be able to sense me.

  This was enough.

  Now I began digging horizontally.

  [Lv. 3 Earth Escape Technique proficiency increases.]

  The notification sound repeated over and over.

  I had no time to pay attention to it.

  Only survival filled my mind.

  The sly face of the village chief surfaced.

  It overlapped with the greedy gazes of the relatives who had seized my parents’ inheritance.

  As expected, people were the scariest of all.

  I cautiously changed direction toward the nearby mountains.

  Until I reached the mountain foothills, I had to be as careful as possible.

  From time to time, I also made sure to use concealment talismans to erase traces.

  It was fortunate that such things had been among the keepsakes left by the body’s parents.

  They must have prepared them in case their son ever faced danger.

  Concealment talismans normally cost at least ten spirit stones apiece.

  Once again, I’m sorry. I’ll definitely become a Great Immortal and repay this kindness.

  I prayed for the repose of Yun Xian, the body’s original owner who had died to qi deviation during cultivation, and for his parents who had perished in the ensuing calamity.

  As I kept digging tunnels, I felt like I’d become a spy.

  …Or maybe a mole.

  By the time I arrived beneath the mountain, it was already night.

  I couldn’t feel the darkness underground, but I could tell through the system window.

  I had no intention of going outside just yet.

  Underground was much safer.

  At least, for now.

  I had to go out only after making thorough preparations.

  Catching my breath, I took out 1,000 spirit stones from the storage pouch.

  Then I opened the status window and focused my mind.

  [You have used 1,000 spirit stones to obtain 10 points.]

  One point per 100 spirit stones.

  A murderous exchange rate, but there was no helping it.

  Tears welled up.

  It was even more vicious than game microtransactions. Damn trash game.

  But nothing was more important than my life.

  Now my total points amounted to 10.

  I began selecting jade slips from my parents’ collection that would help in my current situation.

  Basic Concealment Technique, Soundproofing Technique, and Divine Sense Technique.

  These three techniques were essential for survival.

  Yun Xian, the original owner, had postponed learning such spells, saying it wasn’t worth investing time in them.

  As a basic Qi Condensation cultivator, just raising his realm must have been overwhelming enough, so it wasn’t hard to understand.

  But for me right now, survival was the top priority.

  I needed to master every technique necessary for safety.

  After all, I had to stay alive before I could cultivate or do anything else, right?

  All I had was time.

  What was a mere hundred more years of cultivation?

  [1 point has been deducted. You have learned Basic Concealment Technique. Proficiency 1.]

  [1 point has been deducted. You have learned Soundproofing Technique. Proficiency 1.]

  [1 point has been deducted. You have learned Divine Sense Technique. Proficiency 1.]

  When I placed the jade slips against my head and invested points, the sensation of the techniques naturally seeped into my mind, as if I’d been cultivating them for a long time.

  This was the power of capitalism!

  After learning three techniques, I had 7 points left.

  Thinking of them as replacing my life, they didn’t feel wasted at all.

  Now what I needed to do was find a safe place to make my base.

  The cultivation world was full of dangers.

  For someone like me—immortal and unaging…—it was even more so, especially with accidents, natural disasters, battles, diseases, and poison to beware of.

  …No, seriously, was this really immortality?

  Wasn’t it just longevity?

  […You won’t die of old age, so it does count as immortality in its own way.]

  As my dissatisfaction peaked, the system made excuses.

  Anyway……

  If this bizarre trait ever became known, I might be captured by some old monster and turned into a pill.

  Just imagining it was horrifying.

  Yun Xian Pill.

  Still, there was no need to be too afraid.

  Time was more than abundant.

  Efficiency would be lower than in Sansu Village, where formations had been installed, but it wasn’t so bad as to be crippling. Cultivation in the mountains was still possible.

  The real problem was demonic cultivators and demon beasts.

  They treated righteous cultivators like mortal enemies, desperate to seize their lives and wealth.

  Of course, even ordinary cultivators weren’t exactly safe.

  In the end, the truth that people were the scariest didn’t change.

  I had to raise my realm quickly.

  Suddenly, I remembered having raised the Earth Escape Technique’s proficiency using points.

  Could I perhaps raise my realm with points too?

  I soon gave up on the idea.

  There was no such function anywhere in the status window.

  Points could only be used to learn or raise proficiency in basic techniques.

  Realms had to be advanced through direct experience or by using expensive pills or heavenly treasures.

  The same applied to pill refinement and artifact forging.

  I recalled the artifacts and pills that had failed during refinement in the game.

  Why did it reflect reality in places like this? Damn RNG trash game.

  Taking a deep breath, I cleared my mind once more.

  Even in games, levels only rose after experience accumulated—how much more so for cultivation?

  When the mind was empty, everything became easier.

  I put on the smile of a Buddha.

  It was a form of mind control I’d practiced since childhood.

  Even being able to raise basic techniques with points was something to be grateful for.

  They’d been more than enough help during this life-or-death escape.

  I pondered how to use the remaining 7 points.

  Divine sense had to be strong to detect enemies early and avoid them.

  Only then could safety be guaranteed.

  Concealment was obviously important as well.

  Not being discovered was the best option.

  I decided.

  [3 points have been deducted. Basic Concealment Technique Lv. 1 (Proficiency 1) -> Basic Concealment Technique Lv. 4 (Proficiency 1).]

  Next, I needed to strengthen divine sense.

  This was the best way to avoid people.

  [3 points have been deducted. Divine Sense Technique Lv. 1 (Proficiency 1) -> Divine Sense Technique Lv. 4 (Proficiency 1).]

  After investing 3 points into each technique, I had 1 point left.

  With the final point, I decided to learn Spirit Sword Technique.

  It was a decision I made after much deliberation.

  Depending on how it was used, fire techniques could also be offensive, but Spirit Sword Technique would be a more reliable and direct means of attack.

  I couldn’t run forever. I needed at least a minimal means of self-defense.

  [1 point has been deducted. You have learned Spirit Sword Technique. Proficiency 1.]

  Now my remaining points were 0.

  Just in case, I invested 300 spirit stones to create 3 more points.

  I had to prepare for truly desperate moments.

  There was another advantage to learning techniques through points. It didn’t consume the spiritual energy inside my body. My mind also felt clearer, and my soul felt stronger.

  After devouring that many spirit stones, this level of effect was only right.

  I unfolded the newly learned concealment technique.

  The energy around my body grew faint, and my sense of presence diminished.

  Perhaps because I’d raised it to Lv. 4, the effect was fairly convincing.

  I also cast the soundproofing technique so that footsteps and other noises wouldn’t leak out.

  I spread my divine sense to check for any threats nearby.

  And finally, I began digging a narrow hole leading to the surface.

  Carelessness until the very last moment was forbidden.

  I held a spirit stone tightly in my hand.

  I couldn’t feel any presence, but it never hurt to be cautious.

  Carefully, I poked my head above ground.

  I felt like a mole.

  The pile of dirt shifted slightly, and the outside scenery came into view.

  It was a mountain valley faintly illuminated only by moonlight.

  I couldn’t even guess how long I’d been digging.

  Once more, I spread my divine sense and thoroughly scanned the surroundings.

  As expected, I didn’t feel any presence at all.

  But just in case.

  Keeping my body as low as possible, I moved while using trees and rocks for cover.

  Now, I needed to secure a place where I could safely hide myself and devote myself to cultivation.