Heaven rewards diligence: Survive until you reach immortality in the newbie village!

Matongli Village.

"Ding!"

[Daily Task: Dawn's Draw (Completed)]

[Task Rewards: Experience +15, "Basic Water Affinity" Proficiency +0.1]

Current cultivation level: Qi Refining Stage 5 (Experience Points 17483/50000)

[Additional Skills: "Swift as the Wind (Water Carrying) Lv.7", "Basic Power Generation Techniques Lv.5", "Aura Concealment (Residual) Lv.9 (MAX)"...]

Chen Mo remained calm, as if it were just the sound of the wind passing by his ear.

He skillfully filled the other bucket with water, hung it on the carrying pole, and stood up steadily by using his waist and legs to lift it.

"Hmm, today's experience package arrived on time." He muttered to himself.

Eighteen years.

Ever since he arrived in this strange village called Toilet with that odd national highway ID card.

The system of "Heaven rewards diligence" was inexplicably activated when he was still unaware of its existence.

He has been living this kind of life for eighteen years.

He has five spiritual roots, yet he's still a useless person with a balanced five elements.

He applied the snippets of information he overheard from villagers' casual conversations to those cultivation sects.

Such qualifications are basically equivalent to declaring that one is not destined for the Great Dao, and one would even find it troublesome to serve as a fire-tending boy.

But the system doesn't care.

The system only recognizes "diligence".

Carrying water, chopping wood, farming, doing manual labor...

Any real effort will earn you some experience points and a variety of skill proficiency.

The progress in cultivation is so slow it's despair-inducing, like a snail climbing a mountain with no end in sight.

However, through this daily labor, he honed his various life skills and physical abilities to a level that many ordinary people who specialize in these fields could never imagine in their entire lives.

More importantly, there was the [Aura Concealment (Fragment)] that I obtained by chance after completing the mission early on.

He had already filled it up.

For eighteen years, this invisible and intangible shell has firmly locked away his pitiful Qi Refining stage spiritual power and all traces of the system within him, without ever leaking a single trace.

In everyone's eyes, Chen Mo was a kind-hearted, hardworking, and somewhat shy good kid who grew up on the charity of many families.

"Little Mo, going to fetch water for Grandma again?"

Aunt Sun from the tofu shop came out carrying a basin of soybean dregs, smiling so broadly that her eyes disappeared, and casually stuffed a hot vegetable pancake into his arms.

"Eat up, you're still growing! Look at you, always so thin."

"Oh, thank you, Auntie."

Chen Mo took it, revealing a perfectly timed, slightly embarrassed smile, and swallowed the pancake in a few bites.

The rough crumbs mixed with the aroma of oil went down into my stomach, and it seemed to melt a faint heat, which was then completely absorbed by the slowly rotating vortex in my dantian, which was formed by the difficult twisting of five kinds of mixed spiritual energy.

Even a mosquito's leg is meat; the system isn't picky, and neither is he.

"This child is truly exceptional."

As Aunt Sun watched him carry water away into the distance, she sighed to Granny Zhao, who was sewing shoe soles beside her.

"He's way better than that nonexistent father of his. Xiao Mo is just one of our own kids from the village."

These words drifted over on the wind.

Chen Mo's smile remained unchanged.

But my heart remained calm and undisturbed.

father?

The shadow was almost gone.

But he has his own path to walk.

The water was delivered to the home of a blind old woman who lived alone at the end of the village and poured into a nearly empty water vat.

"Grandma, the jar is full. I see you don't have much firewood left, shall I go to the back hill to gather some for you?"

Chen Mo put down the carrying pole and looked at the old man with clear eyes.

"No need, no need. There are still two bundles in the corner of the kitchen, enough to burn for several days."

The old woman groped her way over, her face full of a kind smile.

"You must be exhausted. Sit down, Grandma will pour you a bowl of water."

A barely perceptible hint of regret flashed across Chen Mo's eyes.

Sigh, losing the daily task of delivering firewood means losing at least 30 experience points.

But he immediately said:

"Not tired! Something seems to be going on at Uncle Wang's house, I need to go check on him right away."

"etc!"

The old woman called out to him, turned around, took out a small cloth bag from the inner room, and stuffed it into his hand without saying a word.

"Here you go, freshly milled rice."

"Grandma, I have something at home..."

Chen declined.

The old woman's face hardened.

"Just take it! Otherwise, Grandma won't dare ask you for help again."

Upon hearing this, Chen Mo had no choice but to accept the rice bag, his face showing appropriate gratitude.

"Thank you, Grandma."

"Why be so polite with an old lady?"

The old woman smiled so much that her wrinkles smoothed out, then suddenly remembered something.

"By the way, Xiao Mo, the village is quite lively today. I heard that a celestial being has come down from the mountains to take on disciples. Lots of kids have gone to the village entrance to try their luck. Why don't you go and take a look? If you get chosen by the celestial being, you'll rise to the top in one step!"

Chen Mo's heart skipped a beat, but he remained silent for a moment before shaking his head and speaking in a relaxed tone:

"It's not that easy. If just anyone could be chosen, wouldn't there be disciples of immortals everywhere?"

"Too,"

The old woman nodded, "The last few times the immortals came, none of our village was chosen... I wonder if we'll have that blessing this time."

After chatting with the old woman for a few more minutes, Chen Mo took his leave.

I hadn't gone far from the old lady's yard when the familiar notification sound and text appeared again:

[Completed daily task: Helping Grandma Sun carry water]

[Quest Rewards: 800 Experience Points, Special Item "Abundant Harvest Charm (Inferior) x1"]

[Aura Concealment (Fragment) Proficiency +1 (Reached the limit, automatically converted into a small amount of cultivation experience)]

Grandma Sun's favorability towards you +5

Current favorability rating: 92 (considered as close family)

Chen Mo glanced at it, his expression calm.

Eight hundred points, not bad, enough for my Qi Refining Level 5 experience bar to creep a little bit.

As for the Five Grains Abundant Harvest Talisman, check back and see whose crops aren't growing well. Use it secretly, and you might trigger a related quest.

He kept thinking to himself, and kept walking, preparing to go to Uncle Wang's blacksmith shop to see if there was any work to do with the bellows.

For the past eighteen years, relying on the system and his lovable, honest, and hardworking persona, he has taken on all kinds of tasks, big and small, in the village.

The rewards started with all sorts of bizarre and mundane skill books—such as "Postpartum Care and Emotional Guidance for Sows" and "A Thousand Questions on Harmonious Marital Relationships."

Later, some rudimentary martial arts techniques and health preservation methods gradually appeared. In recent years, skills or knowledge with obvious low-level cultivation characteristics, such as "turtle breathing technique" and "herbal medicine identification (incomplete)," have begun to appear sporadically.

He was like a patient spider, silently weaving his web around Matongli Village, accumulating little by little.

Cultivation is the foundation; although it is built up slowly, it is stable.

Various skills are like branches and leaves, seemingly messy, but they can provide assistance or trigger new quest chains in unexpected places.

The fifth level of Qi Refining is nothing to mention in the true world of cultivation.

But here, in this spiritually barren and almost forgotten mortal realm, his skills, which are at or near max level, are enough to allow him to live a more stable and secluded life than most people.

He enjoyed this state of quiet, unassuming development. He'd had enough of that in his past life; in this one, he only wanted to steadily, step by step, move towards immortality…

Or at least, we should strive to live longer and more freely.

However, just as he reached the vicinity of the old locust tree in the village, a hurried figure ran towards him; it was the village chief, Chen Laoshuan.

"Xiao Mo! I've finally found you!"

Chen Laoshuan, panting, grabbed him.

"Quick, follow me to the village entrance!"

"Village chief, what's the matter?"

Chen Mo had a vague guess in his heart, but he still showed doubt on his face at the right time.

"The sage from the mountains has arrived! He's at the village entrance assessing the children's destiny for immortality!"

Old Chen's eyes lit up.

"Everyone in the village of eligible age who wants to go, we can't leave anyone out! You should give it a try! What if you succeed? That would be an incredible stroke of luck!"

Chen Mo instinctively wanted to refuse.

Can you predict your destiny with immortals?

What a joke.

His pseudo-spiritual root of the five elements is always accurate in testing. Even if there is [a hidden aura (residual)], what if that immortal has some real skills?

He revealed his cultivation level of the fifth level of Qi Refining. How can he explain this?

The system is an even bigger secret.

He opened his mouth, but before he could utter a word of refusal, he did.

"Ding!"

[Special area event mission triggered!]

[Task Name: The Village Chief's Expectations]

[Mission Description: As the village chief, you are determined not to miss any opportunity for the villagers to attain immortality. Please follow Village Chief Chen Laoshuan to the village entrance to participate in the "Tianxuan Sect's" disciple recruitment test.]

[Task Requirements: Participate in the test, regardless of the outcome.]

[Task Rewards: 2000 Experience Points, 1 Random "Peerless" Quality Cultivation Technique (Distributed based on test performance and subsequent selection)]

[Failure penalty: None (but may cause a decrease in the favorability of the village chief and some villagers)]

[Accept/Reject]

Chen Mo's gaze was fixed on the words "peerless quality martial arts technique".

Two thousand experience points! Peerless martial arts technique!

His heart skipped a beat.

Eighteen years have passed, and the highest reward the system has given is only a "superior" fragment or a special item.

"Unparalleled" quality, never seen before!

The immense temptation, like a tiny hand, tickled his heart with unbearable itch.

The risks are equally clear; they could be exposed and disrupt the current peaceful life.

But... it's just about participating in the test, regardless of the outcome. The requirements are very lenient.

Moreover, with the effect of his [Aura Concealment (Residual) Lv.9 (MAX)]...

Unless a cultivator above the Foundation Establishment stage deliberately and carefully investigates, perhaps... there is a chance to evade a simple introductory spiritual root test?

The essence of the Way of Gou lies in stability, and also in balancing risks and rewards.

In a flash, Chen Mo made a decision.

He raised his head, his face showing just the right amount of curiosity and trepidation typical of a teenager, as well as a hint of eagerness infected by the village chief's enthusiasm.

"Immortal Master? A divination to determine one's destiny with immortality?" He blinked. "Can...can I try it too?"

"Of course! Let's go!" Old Chen smiled broadly when he saw him agree, and pulled him along quickly toward the village entrance.

Chen Mo let the village chief pull him along, keeping up with his pace. His facial expression was perfectly controlled, showing curiosity mixed with a bit of restraint.

Only beneath his lowered eyelashes, a faint, elusive glint flashed deep within his pupils.

Two thousand experience points, unparalleled martial arts technique...

It's worth taking a small risk.

Besides, it's just a visit.

If things don't go well...

The slowly rotating vortex of Five Elements Qi within his dantian seemed to accelerate slightly.

The invisible and intangible shell surrounding his body also quietly operated to its limit under the drive of his will.