In a certain rundown apartment, Li Yan spent his entire weekend playing an RPG game, set in the usual Cultivation world.

Lightning broke the silent night, followed by a blackout.

"Screw your ancestors! It's been so long since the last Save Point. Oh damn it, what am I going to do with this? Ah, this is gonna be a long night...fuck this.."

He turned off the light switches and unplugged the unnecessary electronics; falling asleep earlier than usual.

'Maybe I'm just tired from gaming all day, whatever.'

Li Yan woke up to an unfamiliar ceiling. There were sliding doors and wooden floors. He wore an entirely different set of clothes. Donning a robe from the ancient times.

Rubbing his face and body, he knew his facial structure's the same. Though, he appeared to be a lot younger, judging by the smoother skin.

'The room's quite tidy and it's furniture aren't bad. Judging by the standards of the cultivation world, my family might be well to do one. My clothes had a good quality as well, the current me might have a good position in the family. Maybe even a yo--'

Li Yan's thoughts were cut off by a firm sliding noise. An old man wearing a monocle and silk robes. His demeanor was neither servile nor arrogant.

He brought a tray of meals.

"First Young Master, the breakfast is ready. The Patriarch wishes to meet you in the study as soon as you're done."

'It was a bit too much for me...I'm the first?'

"Uh...yeah."

Putting the tray on the table, he didn't seem to pay any mind and exited after bowing.

'...but first of all, I wonder if there's any [Status] in this world?'

[Status]

Li Yan
Level 0 (Unawakened Mortal)

Progress: Frozen until awakened.

Stored EXP: none

[Skills]

None

Aside from the status, he also noticed the features such as [Inventory] and [Quest], and [Lottery] System.

Everything wasn't accessible.

Li Yan decided to just eat. It was a bowl of rice with pork, steamed vegetables, and sliced fruits. The dishes were teeming with spiritual energy.

'Damn, it's so good.'

As he ate, a notification window popped. The numbers increased further until he finished.

[... EXP has been stored.]

'It was a small amount but it's better than nothing.'

It also increased when he tried to 'cultivate' by crossing his legs and trying to feel the spiritual energy. Still, the amount was insignificant, even compared to eating.

He brushed his teeth; took a bath and donned appropriate robes before heading to the Patriarch's abode.

Along the way, he would see the servants stopping by and clasping their hands.

"We greet the First Young Master!"

Li Yan nodded and waved back at them, with a warm smile.

In his previous life, he's just an ordinary person who lived apart from his relatives.

He'd only come home during the New Years, and everyone on the streets ignored him.

Although...there's a peculiar person who acted all pompous with arms crossed.

"Li Yan! You might be the First Young Master, but it's all your Father's achievement. Just you wait, I will show you at the awakening ceremony, I, Li Yunmu, are the Chosen Son of Heaven. You're just a damned prodigal!"

The entire time, Li Yan didn't have any shift of expression, seeing this fifteen-year-old boy throwing tantrums at him.

"Are you looking down on this Chosen? After I awakened my Heavenly Constitution, I'll slap your face over and over until your parents won't recognize you!"

...the young master stormed away with veins popping outta his forehead.

'Now that I think 'bout it, in the bathroom mirror, we look the same age.'

"First Young Master, please forgive him. He's only the son of a commoner and the Patriarch's youngest brother. So that's only na--"

"Shh! Don't talk bad 'bout our masters! If First Elder caught hold of this, it'd be merciful to only lop your head. Do you still value your family?"

The servants hurriedly bade farewell.

'Still, it doesn't explain why this guy had such enmity to me. Did I screw his sister or something?'

Li Yan brushed off the thought. Whether or not Li Yunmu had a sister weren't important.

Maybe it's just wired to their brain. These young master types solely exist to cause trouble to the main character.

Walking all the way, exchanging greetings with the servants, elders, and other young masters--he finally made it to the Patriarch's quarter.

'Dad?'

His appearance and demeanor were exactly the same as Li Yan's father when Li Yan was fifteen.

"Oi, Son. Today's the awakening ceremony. Go make your parents proud."

"If I get a good result, can I get some pocket money?"

"Hah! You never change, always money this money that. But this is the last time. Yan-er, you're now 15 years old. You're now an adult and able to safely awaken your meridians. The next time you wanted money, you have to work for it."

[Received ... Spirit Stones!]

'Damn, this is so much. If the price is the same as the game, I could even buy several High-Mortal Artifacts. An overkill at this stage.'

In the game, he mainly used Spirit Stones to purchase things. If you spec your skills and pick your fights carefully, you don't need them for cultivation or fights.

Plus, there's no difference if you won with no artifact, or having several Saint Artifacts in store.

...and at the point before his transmigration, he's on the way to acquire his first God artifact. He already had several Immortal artifacts at hand.

"Got it, Dad."

"One more thing, Yan-er."

"Yes?"

"Don't be nervous. Your Mom and I had high aptitudes. You should at least get a high-tier B grade. It's at most just a formality."

The Patriarch went back to his paperwork. He sent his butler to accompany his son towards the awakening area.

It's the same old man who brought breakfast earlier.

"Darling, why do you keep sending Old Lu instead of a pretty young servant? It might make Little Yan more eager to wake up?"

"I trust him the most. I don't want second-rate servants to attend to our son."

==

[Aptitude Grade B]

[Conversion Rate 80%]

'That means, I need 20% more experience to up my cultivation.'

Li Yunmu end up having an A-grade aptitude that's really close to awakening a legendary physique, 99%!

Still, it didn't really matter much to Li Yan.

'The conversion only matter if I want to reinforce my cultivation. I could store my experience and use it to instantly learn skills and level them without loss.'

Along with his awakening message, various pop-ups of skills came out.

[Basic Martial Arts]

[Basic Sword Combat]

[Beginner Cultivation]

[Elementary Breathing Technique]

etc...

...and lots of experience points!

Li Yan thought--it's just like the game.

He would dump all of his EXP to [Beginner Cultivation] because leveling them manually was extremely tedious. You could only let your game run while you can't even do anything. It'd be paused when you tabbed out.

Plus, seeing this game became real life, it'd be even more tedious.

It's even worse, since despite his amount of experience, [Beginner Cultivation] barely reached [Expert] level.

'At least, when it reached the [Expert] level, you could gain experience, albeit slower, even when doing other things.'

While his Inventory in the game was also present, the artifacts present were too high-tiered, his current self was unable to wield it. He already sold all the low-tiered ones since his storage ring often got cluttered and it's so hard to find one in the game.

Even the ones that we're able to aid him despite his weakness--a Saint realm puppet--needed his essence output.

Plus, he barely even spent any on pills and medicines that boost his cultivation and health. The only ones he had were things that buffed his stats. He'd rather dope himself and defeat the enemies in one go, than dragging it out.

There weren't any permanent wounds, after all. Everything would recover over time, with his skill specs.

He still had all the 'Key Items' since it didn't take any Inventory Space. The things, such as Treasure Maps, Journals, and Rare Artifacts.

In the game, since Cultivation Manuals are consumables, he didn't have many of them. Only those that he happens to find but were unsuited for him, and there's no one to trade with yet.

The lowest tier was Saint High-tier battle techniques, far too soon for his current self.

'It's still better than nothing. At least, the technique was decent among Saint realm.'

With that in mind, Li Yan went back with the butler, to see his parents weren't home. They might be busy with various clan matters.

In his previous life, both his father and mother worked together in the countryside as well.

"First Young Master, the feast will be held at night. The Patriarch told me to give this to you in the meantime. Feel free to use your free time as you see fit. I will come to you during the sunset, to help you prepare."

[Received Iron Saber!]

[Received Martial Robe!]

[Received Jade Amulet!]

Li Yan nodded, he's just itching to grind as well.

He went back to his room and changed into his training clothes. In his backyard, he began warming up.

One of the most fun skills to grind were the combat ones. There were so many combination attacks, you could reach a high level just by experimenting.

The other fun stuff were pill making and formations. In his inventory, there were a lot of formations, but they need at least Saint realm cultivation to activate.

As the game's now real life, there are so many ways he could try his punches, kicks, and even combine them with weapons. He picked up wooden swords, spears, saber, and staff.

With each hit, his experience also rose, which he all invested in [Elementary Breathing Technique] so his stamina would recover faster. It became [Journeyman] level in one go.

Li Yan's body was fully drenched in sweat, but he didn't even feel fatigued. The air was so fresh and invigorating, and with the breathing technique, he's like an electronic device that's constantly plugged.

'This is so fun!'

All his combat skills rose to [Journeyman] level.

One of the key points of raising [Beginner Cultivation] was that it also gave a bonus when you train skills manually. Plus, the [Jade Amulet] he wore, also had the property to increase skill learning rate.

If not for the Butler knocking his door, he'd spend the entire day grinding his skills until the max level. Probably forgetting to eat, sleep, bath, and take a dump as well.

Li Yan totally forgot his deeply soaked robe and unkempt appearance. In addition to the wooden staff in his hand, which was filled with blisters.

"Hard at work, I see." the Butler smiled in approval, "I really admire Young Master's dedication in training, but you must not neglect your cultivation."

The Butler gave him a hand-written scroll and placed it on the table, "Here are my insights on elementary cultivation. Don't focus on combat training alone. Sometimes it's good to just lay there and relax.", but as soon Li Yan reached it, the Butler slapped his arms, "Please do it after the feast, Young Master."

==

Li Yan ate to his heart's content and stopped after he got full.

His mother kept spooning meals until he couldn't anymore.

Her appearance's also the same when he's only fifteen.

While his father boasted about how his son got a high talent, despite it only being a high B grade.

The Patriarch weren't slightly displeased 'bout Li Yunmu, after all, not many clan members had higher talent than Li Yan. Plus, he didn't even know, Li Yan also had a System.

Soon, it was the turn for the junior generation to exchange pointers.

Li Yunmu immediately challenged Li Yan to a duel.

"Shameless! First Young Master only had B grade aptitude, winning against him doesn't prove anything!"

"Go and challenge someone older than you! What do you want to prove?"

The Patriarch's veins began to pop out at the clan members disrespectful remark.

"Yan-er, agree to his duel. Try to put up a fight and I'll reward you."

[Received ... Spirit Stones!]

"Dad...you seem to have even less confidence in me."

'But he sure is wealthy as hell in this world. This was even more than before.'

"A wise man always base his decisions on the worst."

Both of them stood on the ring, Li Yunmu started to put on airs and boasted about his Chosen-level talent.

Meanwhile, Li Yan was using [Appraisal] on his opponent, and his frown got deeper as it went on.

'Intermediate Mortal...so fast!'

"Li Yan! I will give you an advantage. You can attack first, and no matter what, I won't retaliate."

"This upstart scoundrel." the Patriarch grumbled behind his table.

Li Yan's brows furrowed.

'Isn't he just giving me a free win? No, it's not right. What kind of tricks is up his sleeve? Forget 'bout it, no one expects me to win anyway.'

Li Yan raised his fist and imagined the opponent as one of his practice dummies. The one in his room were especially durable, even if he reached the Warrior realm, it would endure.

The fist was launched straight into the solar plexus. A fast jab, barely discernible through the mortal eye, creating gusts of wind on the spot. As it made contact, it caused a booming sound; Li Yunmu was thrown several steps.

...and he passed out with foams filling his mouth.

[Critical Hit!]

[You have defeated an opponent with higher cultivation!]

[Received ... EXP]

[Received 1x Lottery Ticket!]

'It was handy, that a kill isn't necessary to gain EXP. With this, I could grind by exchanging pointers with everyone.'

[Gained ... reputation!]

It was marked in green, which means, it's positive.

[With higher reputation (positive)...]

'Yeah, I get it. Let me draw one time to see my luck...'

[Consolation Price]

[Received 1x Tissue!]

Li Yan's face brightened up.

'Perfect!'

'Now I don't have to dirty my ass, every time I took a dump.'

He's in a good mood to deal with all the formalities thereafter.

Not caring whether Li Yunmu would be a laughingstock, he went back to his residence.

'Now, what would I receive from the manual?'

[Butler Lu's Cultivation Insights]

Gain 1% progress to the next level of [Basic Cultivation], will only apply once per day.

'Sweet!'

While it would take 100 days to advance to Master level, Cultivation is a long, long road to Immortality.

Nevertheless, Li Yan believed in living at his own pace. Despite having no video games and modern life conveniences, he will try and find fun ways to spend the time.

Becoming stronger, while enjoying life.