Chapter 3: The Extraordinary Path

【Name: Li Xiang】

【Age: 3 years old】

【Comprehension: 99970 (???)】

【Root Bone: 7 (barely satisfactory)】

【Family Background: 2 (extremely impoverished)】

【Luck: 10 (utterly mediocre)】

In front of a thatched cottage.

A young boy is sitting on a stone stool, basking in the sun.

What is rather strange, however, is that his eyes seem to reveal a gaze completely different from those of his peers.

That gaze, it seems, is somewhat melancholy?

I mean, can a three-year-old boy really possess such a complex gaze?

"Three years!"

"Three whole years!"

"Do you know how I've spent these past three years!"

Li Xiang sits on the stone stool, looking into the distance with a melancholy expression.

This is his third year since arriving in this world, and he has basically accepted the fact that he has transmigrated.

This world has Immortals, demons, Confucian scholars, and Daoists!

Even in some folklore passed down among the people, one can hear news of Fo Men and the Demon Sect.

This is an incomparably vast world of Immortal Dao!

Immortals and mortals share the world, dynasties vie for supremacy; this is a chaotic era, but also a great era full of opportunities.

Dragons and snakes rise from the land, commoners can also vie for the world, the Immortal path is wide open, and even a martial artist might ask for the Dao of longevity.

In a chaotic world, anything is possible.

Three years ago, when he was just born, strange phenomena frequently appeared in the heavens and earth, with purple clouds coming from the east for thirty thousand miles, shocking the entire world!

He had thought that this life would be a Protagonist-style Cultivation life!

Relying on a system to reach the pinnacle of life, with beauties, cultivation techniques, and lackeys—having everything one could wish for!

But...

"Why, why does family background have such a huge impact on life!"

"Are the poor really not worthy of living!"

Li Xiang sits on the stone stool, looking at his attribute panel with tears in his eyes.

【1 year old: A great drought in the Southern Wilderness, grain production has decreased on a large scale. This year, your whole family lived very hard, Family Background -2!】

【2 years old: Heifeng Mountain is swarming with bandits. Government troops came to suppress them and passed through Shihe Village to forcibly requisition supplies. The bandits were like a fine-toothed comb, the soldiers like a coarse-toothed comb. Your family was forced to scatter their wealth, Family Background -6!】

【3 years old: Warning! Due to long-term malnutrition, Root Bone -3!】

Because his family background attribute is too low, Li Xiang has had a very bitter time these past few years.

Sleeping in the open and eating chaff and vegetables, it has now reached the point of almost running out of food!

"No, I must do something!"

He is very familiar with this village.

When he played the game in his past life, because he was used to only putting 10 points into family background, he often randomly started in this village.

He knows that there are some fixed locations in this village where it is possible to obtain extraordinary power.

If he could obtain extraordinary power, perhaps he could change his current life!

He also knows that this village is not a peaceful place; it borders the Southern Wilderness and belongs to the frontier of the Liang Kingdom. The government troops are too lazy to manage this place, and the mountain behind, Heifeng Mountain, is filled with strongholds; bandits and rogue soldiers are a complete mess!

Every few years, the village might randomly trigger a bandit rebellion, either to collect grain or to plunder able-bodied men and women.

If his luck is bad, he might run into an evil cultivator living in seclusion on Heifeng Mountain, and the entire village would be slaughtered, skinned, and have their bones extracted, their blood burned and souls refined.

How does that saying go?

If you don't work hard when you're young, you'll be brothers in the Ten Thousand Soul Banner.

Therefore, Li Xiang is now full of a sense of crisis.

"Life is truly difficult."

Under the sunlight, Li Xiang earnestly recalls the memories of his past life, searching for ways to obtain extraordinary power.

At the bottom of Qinghe Pool near Shihe Village, there is a hidden treasure chest containing a Breathing Mantra and a few pills; if he can get his hands on them, he might be able to step into the Immortal Dao.

Stepping into the Immortal Dao, with all sorts of mysteries added to his person, he might not be unable to accomplish something.

"No, that treasure chest is in a grotto at the very bottom of Qinghe Pool. Qinghe Pool is probably over ten meters deep, and there are undercurrents underwater. This body of mine is only three years old, this..."

"PASS! PASS!"

Every year, the village selects a group of youths with excellent Root Bone for the Great Liang Demon Slaying Division to provide young talents for the Demon Slaying Division. The Demon Slaying Division has countless cultivation techniques; if I..."

"No, this recommendation quota is decided by the Village Chief of each village. This damn Village Chief always thinks I'm a disaster; it's a miracle he hasn't knifed me in secret. Relying on him is too unreliable."

The injured reclusive Demon Cultivator deep in Heifeng Mountain...

The passing cultivator of the Qingyun Sect seventeen years later...

Li Xiang sits on the stone stool, recalling bit by bit the memories concerning this village.

One by one, the paths to obtaining the extraordinary are abandoned by him.

As an immortal cultivation game, there are actually many paths to obtain extraordinary power near the starting point.

If one can master the extraordinary, one can grasp power that surpasses ordinary people.

But correspondingly, opportunity also represents crisis.

For Li Xiang's three-year-old body, these paths were all still too dangerous.

"This is too intense, right? Do children have to consider how to cultivate immortality at three years old now?"

Li Xiang spat once and waved his little fists to vent his resentment.

At this moment, he suddenly thought of something, and his eyes lit up again.

"Wait, there seems to be one more route."

"That stone wall behind the village!"

On the wall behind the village, there was a very obscure Martial Dao inheritance diagram.

Those with excellent aptitude could trigger the sword momentum and practice martial arts.

If one practiced diligently, within ten years, one might be able to step into the Martial Dao Ninth Grade!

In this way, one would be considered a formal martial cultivator.

By then, even when facing the chaos of war, one would not necessarily lack the power to protect oneself.

This was the easiest extraordinary power to obtain in Shihe Village, and also the hardest extraordinary power to obtain in Shihe Village.

It is said to be simple because it is carved right on the wall, and you can find it very easily.

It is said to be difficult because the acquisition of this extraordinary power has requirements for comprehension that are truly too high.

People with low comprehension might spend their whole lives without finding the method or entering the door.

In one of his past lives, Li Xiang had learned the Great River Sword Technique, but unfortunately, he wasted his years, failed to learn its essence, and eventually died in the chaos of war.

"Comprehension..."

Looking at his base attribute of 99970, he slowly revealed a smile.

As someone with a protagonist template, how could he bow to life!

Goal determined, time to prepare.

"Hmm! The only problem now is how to convince the woman behind me to let her three-year-old son go to the back mountain alone to play around."

In the room.

A thin, yet still somewhat delicate-looking woman was laboriously weaving a piece of tattered cloth with a shuttle loom.

Because of the family's financial situation, the shuttle loom was very broken, and the woman found it very difficult to use, which added a lot of unnecessary workload.

While busy, one could occasionally see a gentle gaze fall from the room onto Li Xiang.

This was Li Xiang's biological mother, Yun Xiu, a very capable woman; it was said that she was once a young lady from a wealthy family, but later fell on hard times and married his biological father.

He had already tried to sneak out many times, but every time he would be dragged back by his mother by the ear.

After all, he was a three-year-old little guy; who would dare to feel at ease letting him wander around everywhere.

Just as Li Xiang was worrying by himself, an aged voice suddenly came from the road nearby.

It was a middle-aged scholar, wearing a black-green robe and sporting a small mustache.

The person looked quite young, but for some reason, his voice and movements were frighteningly aged, feeling as if he were about to be buried at any moment.

"Is Li Laosan at home?"

"I, Su Yunqin, request an audience!"

Hmm?!

It was the teacher from the schoolhouse.

Why did he come?

(End of this chapter)