Xui Country's Cultivation Realm, Red Leaf Square.
Another deep autumn arrived, the sky was dark and yellow, the large trees beside the road withered, with only a few dried leaves,
hanging on the dew-covered spider webs, spinning with the cold wind.
"Zhou Xun, from this day on, you are dismissed!"
With a rough voice resonating, Zhou Xun was pushed out of the grand gate,
"These 90 pieces of Spirit Essence, are your compensation!"
A bag filled with Spirit Essence was then thrown on the ground.
This Spirit Essence, essentially fragments of Spirit Stones, had a lower Spiritual Qi content than genuine Spirit Stones, serving as a low-tier currency used by cultivators in this world. Generally, a hundred pieces of Spirit Essence could be exchanged for one Spirit Stone.
Zhou Xun said nothing, rubbed his slightly pained shoulder, and silently picked up the bag of Spirit Essence from the ground.
"N+1, not bad!"
Weighing the cloth bag in his hand, Zhou Xun laughed at himself.
Looking at the grand structures before him, pavilions every five steps, towers every ten, corridors winding, intricately designed.
No matter how grand the platform, he was ultimately just a worker among many. What difference did years of contributions make, if dismissal was still ruthless!
With a sneer, Zhou Xun turned his head and left without any reluctance.
Walking on the street.
Suddenly, a gust of cold wind blew by, creeping through Zhou Xun's clothing seams, causing him to shrink his neck involuntarily and sigh:
"It's been two years since I crossed over!"
Recalling his life after crossing over, it truly was indescribable.
In his past life, he was a company slave, living the 996 life of fortunate toil. Though it was tough, the days were still passable.
But misfortune found its way to those already suffering, and finally, amidst continuous overtime, one day he couldn't hold on and collapsed, crossing into this cultivation world.
Upon first crossing over and discovering the existence of cultivators, Zhou Xun was ecstatic.
This meant that scenes from novels like "Whisking the wind, riding the clouds, grasping the moon from the nine heavens, commanding all with a sword, opening the Celestial Gate!" would become reality.
He also had the chance to glimpse the path to longevity, witnessing the seas turn into mulberry fields.
More conveniently, the young man he crossed into, who was also named Zhou Xun, was already a cultivator, fifteen years old, with Second Layer Qi Refining cultivation.
The First Realm of Cultivation was the Qi Refining Realm.
Qi Refining consisted of nine layers.
Layers one to three were Early-Stage Qi Refining, layers four to six were Middle-Stage Qi Refining, and layers seven to nine were Late-Stage Qi Refining.
Zhou Xun had roughly calculated that the cultivators in this world also adhered to the 80/20 rule.
Eighty percent of cultivators, despite a lifetime of effort, could only remain in Early-Stage Qi Refining, with only twenty percent managing to break through to higher stages.
"If Heaven didn't birth me, Elder Zhou, the Dao would remain in endless night!"
Zhou Xun naturally didn't consider himself part of that eighty percent. With the hope of longevity, he swiftly integrated into the cultivation realm's life.
When he crossed over, his previous incarnation was working as a Spirit Contract Servant at Miaofu Pavilion, the largest talisman shop in Red Leaf Square.
A Spirit Contract Servant could be understood as a contract worker from Zhou Xun's past life, but it's much harder here. After all, this world has no concept of human rights. He had to work from morning till night every day without rest.
"996 in my past life, 007 in this life, I'm truly progressing backwards!"
Zhou Xun worked at Miaofu Pavilion for three years in total.
Although it was dull and exhausting, outside, it was an extremely enviable job.
Guaranteed income, collecting 30 pieces of Spirit Essence per month, enough for him to live and do a bit of simple cultivation in Red Leaf Square.
It's worth noting that most Early-Stage Qi Refining cultivators here only earn less than ten pieces of Spirit Essence per month.
That's not even enough to rent the cheapest shacks in Red Leaf Square; they could only live in the market's outskirts where arrays didn't cover.
The cheapest shanty houses cost at least 100 pieces of Spirit Essence a year, which is what Zhou Xun was renting.
Breaking it down, it cost him eight pieces of Spirit Essence per month.
Paying nearly a third of his income on rent each month reminded Zhou Xun of struggling in the big city in his past life.
Returning to his wooden house, Zhou Xun took out a cyan blue wooden plaque.
Muttering incantations, he then cast a spell onto the plaque, which emitted a cyan light, projecting onto the large door in front.
The cyan light embedded into the door, flashed momentarily, and disappeared.
With a gentle push from Zhou Xun, the door opened.
Despite being called a shanty area, all the properties here were owned by Red Leaf Square, and each wooden house was equipped with a simple defense restriction.
If anyone dared to violently open the door, it would immediately alert the market's Law Enforcement Team, thus providing some degree of safety.
Every cultivator in Red Leaf Square with the means opted to rent a house like this.
Entering his home, there was still plenty of time.
At leisure, Zhou Xun suddenly felt a bit out of place.
On regular days, he worked all day in the shop, not having to worry about what to do.
After idling for a while, Zhou Xun began contemplating his next steps.
In two years since crossing over, he had saved up a total of one hundred and twenty pieces of Spirit Essence, plus the ninety pieces he was compensated with today, totaling two hundred and ten, exceeding the value of two Spirit Stones.
Additionally, he had a Tier One Low-Grade Golden Needle Talisman, a reward for his diligent work at Miaofu Pavilion.
"With my current resources, I am considered well-off for an Early-Stage Qi Refining cultivator!"
However, nearly a year had passed since he last paid rent.
Calculating, the steward in charge of rent collection would soon show up, and after paying the rent of one hundred, he would only have one hundred and ten left to use.
"One piece of Spirit Essence gets three pounds of Spirit Rice, and I consume thirty pounds of Spirit Rice a month. Even if I eat sparingly, the remaining Spirit Essence would barely last a year!"
Zhou Xun pondered that he needed to find another job.
Otherwise, he'd end up wandering to the market's outskirts.
There, arrays did not cover the area, nor did the Law Enforcement Team patrol.
Mugging and murdering for treasures happened frequently.
Often, a cultivator chatting with friends one day would be found dead in a stinking ditch the next, their path cut off.
Zhou Xun did not wish to meet such a fate.
After finishing his calculations, night had fallen.
Zhou Xun went into the kitchen and prepared a meal of Spirit Rice,
The reason he avoided consuming mortal food is because mortal food contains too many impurities, unsuitable for long-term consumption by cultivators.
Many in Red Leaf Square couldn't afford Spirit Rice, constantly eating mortal food, leading to stagnation in their cultivation.
Zhou Xun aspired to the Great Dao, so naturally, he wouldn't make this error.
After finishing his Spirit Rice meal, Zhou Xun returned to his room, rested for half an hour, then began meditating to cultivate.
This was a cultivation hack he discovered.
By meditating half an hour after consuming Spirit Rice, his cultivation efficiency could increase by about ten percent.
Zhou Xun speculated this happened because, half an hour after consuming the Spirit Rice meal, its essence would be fully absorbed, his body's Spiritual Qi being at its most abundant state, making cultivation twice as effective.
For two years, Zhou Xun has persevered in arduous cultivation daily using this hack.
Now, he was just one step away from reaching the Peak of Second Layer Qi Refining.
At age seventeen, in the realm of low-tier cultivators, he was considered a genius with potential to break through to Late-Stage Qi Refining.
As his cultivation time deepened, Zhou Xun's mind once again wandered, returning to a magnificent great hall. In the hall's center, a jade scroll emanating purple light was enshrined.
The large characters inscribed were "Spring Condensation Scripture."
"It's this dream again, for the third time in two years!"
"What exactly is this 'Spring Condensation Scripture'? It can condense Spirit Plant Essence, rectifying a cultivator's foundation."
Spirit Root Talent is part of the foundation. Rectifying the foundation means enhancing the spirit root.
"One sword opens the Celestial Gate, ascending with the clouds, watching eternity…"
Zhou Xun was extremely agitated, staring at the three characters akin to the Daoist words of truth, and opened the first page.
"The Dao of Heaven diminishes the full to complement the lacking..."
For a long time, Zhou Xun awoke, his eyes bright.
"I've finally seen the entire script!"