James sat in a damp dark cave. He wasn’t sure how he got here. Yet here he was. All he remembered was closing his eyes as he hurtled down to a soon to be death via velocity or splattered on solid ground.

Or water, from the height he jumped. It would still feel like concrete. He shivered at the thought of going splat. What the hell was he thinking? Jumping off the ledge like that.

James got up. He dusted his robes from all the dirt on them. This cave looked like no one or thing had visited for years. Only a constant dripping further in broke the monotony. He started walking towards the light source not too far away, dodging any stalagmites in front of him even in the darkness.

As he exited the cave, he was greeted with a view from paintings. A thick forest he could barely see through sat before him filled with foliage and bushes. He found his spear just a few steps away sitting there. It was stabbed deep into the ground waiting for him. He must have placed it there. That was the only possible way for a spear to disappear from his side.

As he grabbed it, a notification appeared for the first time in more time than he could remember.

Congratulations on exceeding your limits!

Broke through an Isolated Domain!

Reward 1,988,319 exp

Reward The Vagrant Kings Rice Bag

This should have been a good thing. James Anderson knew he should be grateful he didn’t die and somehow made it out to the other side in an actual world…or at least he hoped so. The thought of getting stuck in a planet sized flying island had him shivering. There had to be people, it didn’t even matter if they were young masters or evil villains.

He just needed to see another human being.

System integration complete! All stats configured and made easily accessible on the system interface! The latest update allows its users to mentally control the amount of po..WeRReerr… Error. Rrroororor…

System Malfunction - Access denied

Access denied…

Access denied…

James just sighed. He couldn’t give two shits anymore. Deciding to off yourself does that to a person. It was that near death experience that changed your perspective on the world. Who cares if he got the system. He was probably stronger than the average human. Maybe even stronger than a peak athlete and that was enough.

He could make a fortune if it was his previous world. All he had to do was somehow make it to a super big sports team and out athlete the best athletes in the world. Sponsors and massive contracts would just follow… right?

James laughed at the thought of a million paparazzi surrounding him to get a glimpse of his figure. He pulled the spear out of the rocky ground without an ounce of effort. It was still as pristine as the day he received it. It never lost its luster during the eons they’ve been together and even the dragons looked fiercer.

The rice bag appeared in the air. It landed with a soft thump. Just as he would have imagined a rice bag to sound like. If it was his rice spacial bag, then he had so much in there it would create a veritable mountain for things. From weapons, coins, and clothes.

No armor. Just fancy robes with scarves and shoes to match the very old traditional eastern vibe. He could guess he was isekai-ed to some sort of cultivation world and not his own planet. There were too many hints.

He picked it up and looked inside. Finally, something went his way. It was his rice bag and all his possessions. With this he could start a new life and hopefully fall in love with a nice cute lady that would pamper him.

No one could say they worked as hard as he did. Nobody lived long enough to even start the sentence, much less come close. He deserved to get treated like a king and be fed grapes by a beauty. And..

He giggled to himself. Eyes turning starry. He gulped, but shook his head. Not now. He needed to find some civilization first. The sheer embarrassment of his very first interaction with people being him buck naked and hand stroking had him in a fit. James coughed and sputtered. He would never live it down.

The fact that he had existed for so long, mentally and spiritually, had created a will so powerful, he could control his indescribable urges. It had driven him mad for decades but he learned how to eventually get over it.

He would not be a simp! James did not live for untold eons to watch foot videos!

Someone gasped.

James spun in his spot. Behind the foliage a lady stood there staring at him with shock. He gulped. A real person. This wasn’t a hallucination right? He was sure he wasn’t sleeping, he pinched himself discreetly.

Nope.

The pain was very real…

A brunette with long hair held in place with two basic pins. Her gray robes fluttered slowly in the slight breeze. A young lady that seemed to have seen better days.

More importantly… a real person.

He took a deep breath, exhaling very slowly. Only when he calmed down could he look her over again. She seemed young. Much too young to be out here alone. If this was a cultivation world, then spiritual beasts and monsters existed.

Not mentioning demons and evil cultivators.

“Little girl.” he said, voice raspy from disuse. He signaled her to approach, using the time to slow down his multitude of different emotions that surged through him. Relief, tears of joy, anger at his suffering and numerous others.

She looked like a deer in headlights. He could see her tremble like a branch in a hurricane.

James couldn’t help but feel terrible for her. The ancient world was not good for poor people, her robes were not in the most pristine conditions, and extraordinary powers only made the situation worse. Maybe forced into child labor. She didn’t look fifteen years old.

He noted the silver mountain embroidered onto her robe. Was she part of a clan or sect? Probably a servant considering the state of her clothes. “Where are your parents? It's dangerous out in the open.”

---

Hu Shui couldn’t breathe. The second she laid eyes on the old man, she felt six different auras as large as Mount Tai press down on her very soul. In mere moments, she could be a memory forgotten.

She couldn’t help but curse her terrible luck. Her friends in the Silver Mountain Gang always warned her that curiosity killed the cat. Hu Shui could not help but ignore them. She followed the noise until she met an area where there were no sounds in the forest.

No birds, no insects. Nothing. Even the wind died down abruptly. That should have been a clear signal to turn around and run back to the protection of the Bandit crew. But it only drove her forward. What could possibly cause such a situation? That curiosity drove her very soul to keep moving ahead.

At some point, led by her intuition, she broke past a great amount of foliage to a small clearing at the base of the mountain range. A dark cave that seemed to block any sunlight from entering and a spear that …

The spear–

“We should eat her!” A voice roared in her head. She trembled at the thought of being consumed by a demon.

“Shut it, fatty! Eating such pathetic meat would only make us weaker. I say we strip her of her skin and let her suffer agony for millenia. How dare she stand before our master as though she has the qualifications to exist in his presence.”

“Magerdon! You cruel bastard! Look how scared she is! I bet she would would taste horrible too, humans aren't known to be appetizing.”

“They’re alright! Just have to drink magma after…”

“The weak deserve to…”

“I agree with Salimonarigon. Killing every insect is such a bother. Just too many of…”

“Enough!” A deep powerful voice shook her very cultivation. “It is not our place to decide for the Master. Stay silent until he chooses.”

Her teeth chattered. It took more effort than she knew she had in her to keep her legs from buckling. The old man stared without a single emotion on his face. Hu Shui lowered her head feeling oddly naked, as though he could see the very depths of her soul. Not even the Bandit leader could match the six aura’s much less their master.

“Little girl…” He spoke. His long pitch black beard and mustache covered his mouth.

He pointed at her, the six auras prepared to destroy her–their killing intent just bubbling for action–then arched back towards him. The old man called her forward.

Hu Shui could feel the six auras retract back into the spear. They dared not make a sound. Who the hell was she in front of?!

His eyes never once left her figure. She had heard of demons taking advantage of innocent girls. The stories were horrible. Hu Shui couldn’t help but imagine every single scenario from him tearing her head off to the most…

Her every step felt like a walk to the gallows. Then she arrived before him. The smell of deep endless woods struck her senses, its purity unquestionable.

“Where are your parents? It's dangerous out in the open.”

Her head rocketed up in shock. His voice was filled with so much kindness it struck her speechless. Was he faking it? People aren't that nice. No one should sound so compassionate.

“Behold! The master’s mercy. In his great wisdom, he has chosen to pardon her heinous crimes!”

“Master is too kind!”

“Master’s mercy knows no bounds…”

“Master…”

“...”