A series of clashing noises echoed from a small courtyard in Ping Tian Town. Servants passing by whispered among themselves, their voices barely above a murmur, as if afraid of being overheard.
"What is that lunatic Li up to this time?"
"Shh! Keep your voice down! If the second young master hears you, who knows what strange experiments he'll use us for?"
"Why does the master keep indulging him? Thankfully, the eldest young master has already reached the Foundation Establishment stage and become an inner disciple of the sect."
After a quick glance around to ensure no one was paying attention to their conversation, the servants hastily left.
Inside the house, Li Wu paid no mind to the gossip outside. His full attention was on the experiment in front of him.
Sparks flashed repeatedly, flickering like fireflies in the dim room, until—
BOOM!
A deafening explosion rocked the house.
"Damn it! After all this time, it still failed!"
Yes, Li Wu was a transmigrator. He had been transported from a world called Wenxing to this realm of cultivation. This was now his second life.
At first, he had awakened in the body of a worthless cultivator named Ye Fan, a man who had been scorned and persecuted for his inability to cultivate. But just like in countless other stories, when he had reached the lowest point of his life—a system appeared before him.
As long as he bound himself to the system, he would easily rise to power, receiving an endless supply of cultivation resources, defeating all his enemies with ease, and ultimately ascending to immortality.
But Li Wu refused.
No matter how many times the system warned him, he remained unmoved. In the end, the system mercilessly erased him.
By some twist of fate—whether lucky or unlucky—his soul, which should have been completely obliterated, instead found itself reborn in this remote town.
Back in Wenxing, he had read plenty of cultivation novels and always had a burning question: Why did everyone in a cultivation world have to become an immortal?
If his friends from Wenxing had heard this, they would have laughed and said, "Are you an idiot? In a cultivation world, isn't becoming immortal everyone's ultimate dream?"
Yet in many stories—whether urban fantasy, apocalypse survival, horror, or sword-and-magic settings—cultivation always made its way in, leading to an overpowered protagonist crushing all opposition. No matter the path—traditional cultivation, system cultivation, laid-back cultivation, villain cultivation, or even farming cultivation—it all inevitably ended in ascension.
But why?
Why did cultivation worlds never explore ninjutsu, curses, or magic? Why did no one try to carve a new path instead of blindly chasing immortality?
In Wenxing, talent came in all forms. Even a grade school dropout could master a field and revolutionize an industry. Li Wu didn't see himself as a hero. If anything, he was more of a villain. Since he had the rare chance to be reborn in a cultivation world, he had no interest in becoming an immortal.
He wanted to create monsters.
That was why he had rejected the system.
Ping Tian Town was nestled within a secluded valley, a place so silent and still that it felt entirely cut off from the world.
The spiritual energy here was so thin that it was barely detectable. No cultivator would willingly stay in such a barren land.
The Li family's ancestors had once been disciples of a great sect. One of them had even managed to reach the Golden Core stage, earning the family some privileges in the sect before meeting an untimely demise.
Out of gratitude for their ancestor's contributions, the sect granted the Li family a permanent outer disciple quota.
Although the Li family was the undisputed ruler of Ping Tian Town, their strongest cultivator—their patriarch—was only at the mid Foundation Establishment stage. Li Wu's older brother, despite his outstanding spiritual roots, had only been able to join the sect as an outer disciple due to limited resources.
Unlike his brother, Li Wu had shown no interest in cultivation since childhood. Instead, he spent his days rambling about bizarre ideas and tinkering with strange devices. Now at sixteen, he was still stuck in the early Qi Condensation stage.
His father, the Li family patriarch, had long given up trying to discipline him.
With the eldest son away in the sect and no clear heir to the family, he simply turned a blind eye to Li Wu's madness.
The "Lunatic Li" stepped out of his house, stretching as he gazed up at the clear blue sky.
"I haven't gone out in a while. I can't just shut myself in forever. It's time to find some 'materials'."
"Master, are you heading out?"
Li Wu turned and saw Su Li standing at the door.
She was tall—around 1.8 meters—with short black hair and deep, obsidian eyes. Her cold expression made her presence feel almost invisible, as if she blended into the background.
Yet the servants passing by had failed to even notice her existence.
That was because Su Li was not normal.
Li Wu had "saved" her a year ago, just outside Ping Tian Town.
Although this town had no spiritual energy to attract even a single low-level demon, Li Wu still enjoyed wandering the outskirts in search of materials.
That night, in the forest, he had stumbled upon her.
She had been lying in a pool of her own blood, missing an arm, covered in wounds, and barely clinging to life.
Given the pitiful resources of Ping Tian Town, there was no way she could have survived.
Her white sect robes marked her as a disciple of a major sect. Li Wu had originally planned to ignore her.
But how could he pass up such a perfect test subject?
"A cultivator appearing here of all places? This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. But... if I save her, what if she turns on me? This is a world where the weak are preyed upon. I have no means to control her..."
In the end, he decided to take the risk.
He carried her back to his secret lab—a chamber filled with strange objects he had collected over the years. The floor was carved with intricate symbols that, if seen by an array master, would have caused them to spit blood in rage.
He laid her on the experiment table, his excitement barely contained.
Like a child assembling a model, he worked tirelessly, dismantling and reconfiguring his masterpiece.
He didn't notice the eerie glow that filled the lab, nor how the symbols on the ground began to shift and writhe like living things.
The night sky above Ping Tian Town turned pitch black—yet there was no sign of rain or thunder.
By the time he set down his tools, he was shocked.
His experiment had worked.
She was alive.
(Am I going to die?)
Su Li asked herself in her heart.
(Who would have thought that I wouldn't die at the hands of demons and monsters, but instead be betrayed and ambushed by my own sect members!)
As Su Li's consciousness gradually faded, an endless darkness enveloped her, transforming her into an "egg."
Countless arms from the void reached greedily into her body, but in the end, a tentacle-like presence forcefully repelled the others and plunged deep into her soul.
Finally, she broke out of the shell. Her eyelids trembled slightly, and as her awareness slowly returned, she gradually opened her eyes.
The scene before her shifted from a blur to clarity. Light seeped into her vision, and the world gradually took shape before her.
She rose from the experiment table, staring at her hands in disbelief.
Su Li: "I... wasn't I already dead?"
Li Yu: "That's right. I 'saved' you."
She looked around at the boy before her and the unfamiliar equipment surrounding them. Numerous tubes filled with various liquids lined the space, making it feel nothing like a normal cave.
Fixing her gaze on Li Yu, Su Li calmly asked,
"Are you a demonic cultivator? What do you intend to do to me?"
Li Yu thought to himself,
(Whatever I wanted to do, I've already done. Though you're weak right now, your cultivation is probably far beyond mine. How am I supposed to explain this?)
After a brief moment of contemplation, Li Yu decided to answer truthfully, "I'm only at the early stage of Qi Refinement. I'm not a demonic cultivator."
Seeing his open demeanor, Su Li felt he wasn't lying.
"Thank you."
Li Yu: "Hardly any cultivators pass through Ping Tian Town. How did you end up gravely injured here?"
Su Li lowered her head in silence.
Li Yu: "If you don't want to say, then never mind."
Su Li: "I am an outer disciple of Xuan Ling Sect. I was returning from a mission when I was ambushed by my fellow disciples."
Li Yu asked nervously, "Are they still nearby?"
Su Li shook her head. "Don't worry. I used a Shrinking Earth Talisman to escape. They can't find me, and they probably assume I'm already dead."
Li Yu: "Betraying your own sect members is a serious crime! You should report them!"
Su Li shook her head again. "Outer disciples are as numerous as the stars, and every year, many of them die. I'm just a village girl who was lucky enough to join Xuan Ling Sect. I have no background or connections. Even if I report them, it would be useless. Only inner disciples are truly valued."
(So this kind of thing isn't rare in the cultivation world. It's not just something that happens to protagonists...)
Li Yu: "Do you plan on returning to the sect?"
Su Li sighed bitterly. "And if I do? Just so they can kill me again?"
Li Yu: "Then how about becoming my subordinate?"
Su Li: "Huh?"
Hearing her surprised reaction, something in Li Yu's soul awakened—a surge of chuunibyou energy.
Li Yu: "What we are going to do... is change the entire cultivation world!"
Su Li, startled, asked, "Change the entire cultivation world?"
Li Yu, excited, continued,
"Yes! Everyone knows that cultivation is about defying fate—whether righteous sects, demonic cultivators, or even the demon clans, they all seek to transcend tribulations and ascend to immortality. Yet, throughout history, those who truly achieve immortality are exceedingly rare.
If righteous cultivators truly ascended, why have none returned to wipe out the demonic sects? If demonic cultivators truly ascended, why have they not turned the cultivation world into a living hell?
No one has ever seen an immortal return to this world. Every so-called divine being or secret realm that descends is simply arranged from above. There are countless cultivation techniques and three thousand paths of the Dao, but ultimately, all of them lead to one goal: immortality.
Yet, immortality is the grandest lie of all. This entire cultivation world is nothing more than a farm for those above.
This world originally had no spiritual energy. People may not know it now, but in ancient times, that was the truth.
Long ago, spiritual energy was forcibly poured down from above, transforming this land into the cultivation world. The creatures below, by absorbing this energy, mutated—practicing techniques, consuming spiritual resources, and purifying the impurities that were harmful to those above.
What everyone is desperately trying to become—an immortal—is nothing more than a delicacy for those above!"
(Li Yu had just made all of this up on the spot!)
Su Li: "So... you want to become one of 'them'?"
Li Yu: "No, no, no! Even if I became one of them, the cultivation world would remain unchanged. Everyone would still be trapped in the same system."
Su Li: "Then what exactly do you want to do?"
Li Yu lifted his head. A crazed light flickered in his eyes, yet his voice remained eerily calm.
"I want to— destroy the immortals."