Courtyard Check-in: Starting with a Small World of Cultivation

Autumn, 1962.

In Luogu Lane, south of Beijing, a noisy courtyard house was bustling with activity.

He Yuzhu and Xu Damao were arguing in the courtyard when Uncle Yan Bugui returned from outside, pushing his bicycle. Jia Zhangshi sat on her doorstep, cracking melon seeds, her eyes darting around.

No one noticed that in the west wing of the central courtyard, a room that had been empty for almost half a year, a young man slowly opened his eyes.

Chen Yu had a splitting headache.

The first thing you see is a mottled wall covered with yellowed old newspapers. There's a hard bed, a wooden cabinet with peeling paint, and the paper covering the window has several holes, letting in the afternoon sunlight of autumn.

"Where is this?"

Memories flooded back—he was an ordinary office worker in the 21st century, working overtime until 3 a.m., when everything suddenly went black and he lost consciousness. When he woke up again, he was lying in this unfamiliar room.

At the same time, another memory flooded into my mind.

The original owner of this body was also named Chen Yu, twenty years old, an orphan of a martyr whose parents had died. He had just come from Northeast China to seek refuge with distant relatives in Beijing, but was turned away because of his family background. Seeing his pitiful state, the neighborhood committee arranged for him to temporarily stay in an empty room in this courtyard house, where he had been for three days.

"A courtyard house... Full of Love in the Courtyard House?" Chen Yu sat up, looked around, and was shocked.

As a modern person who had watched the TV series, he was all too familiar with this scene. He just never expected that he would actually travel back in time to this era, to this courtyard full of scheming.

Just as I was feeling lost, a cold, mechanical voice rang in my mind:

[Suitable host detected, binding in progress with the Multiverse Sign-in System... 10%... 50%... 100%... Binding successful]

Welcome to the new world, host! The system will provide you with daily sign-in rewards to help you embark on the path to immortality.

The new player gift pack has been sent to your system space. Please check it.

Chen Yu was stunned for a few seconds, then a surge of joy welled up inside him.

System! The standard cheat code for transmigrators!

With a thought, a semi-transparent system interface appeared before him, clearly displaying several options: daily sign-in, weekly sign-in, monthly sign-in, and yearly sign-in. In the center of the interface, a flashing golden gift pack icon stood out prominently.

"Open the newbie gift pack," Chen Yu silently recited in his mind.

[New Player Gift Pack Successfully Activated]

[Received: Marrow Cleansing Pill x1, Basic Immortal Cultivation Technique "Tai Xuan True Scripture" x1, Fake Humans x50, Portable Mini-World x1]

A series of notifications made Chen Yu's heart race. He quickly checked the details:

Marrow Cleansing Pill: Cleanses the marrow and tendons, improves genes, comprehensively enhances physical fitness, removes impurities from the body, and lays the foundation for cultivating immortality.

The Tai Xuan Zhen Jing: A basic cultivation method for immortality, which can be cultivated up to the Foundation Establishment stage and includes several basic spells.

Pseudo-human: A special life form, appearing as a black, inky humanoid shadow. It can freely change its form, possesses physical abilities and learning capabilities far exceeding those of ordinary humans, has independent consciousness, and is absolutely loyal. When injured, it returns to its spatial dimension to recuperate; its life is linked to the dimension. The host can reclaim it at any time or grant it spatial access.

Portable Mini-World: A small space independent of the real world, currently at level 1 (10 acres), containing a spiritual spring with a very low concentration of spiritual energy. The host has partial creation and control authority within the mini-world. The mini-world can absorb external energy and convert it into weak spiritual energy; it needs to collect world fragments to upgrade.

Chen Yu took a deep breath, suppressing his excitement.

With these things, he no longer needed to struggle for survival in this courtyard like the original owner had. However, since he was already there, he might as well make the best of it; the various characters in this courtyard were quite interesting.

"Let's try the Marrow Cleansing Pill first." With a thought, Chen Yu produced a bright green pill in his palm, emitting a faint fragrance.

He swallowed the pill without hesitation.

At first, I didn't feel anything, but a few seconds later, a warm current rose from my abdomen and quickly spread to my limbs and bones. Then, a sharp pain struck, as if every bone was being shattered and reassembled, and every muscle was being torn and healed.

Chen Yu gritted his teeth, beads of sweat forming on his forehead. He could feel black impurities being expelled from his pores, emitting an unpleasant odor.

The process lasted for about fifteen minutes, and the pain gradually subsided, replaced by an unprecedented lightness and comfort.

Chen Yu opened his eyes and found himself covered in a layer of black grime, emitting a foul stench. He quickly drew water from the water vat in the corner of the room to wash himself.

After washing himself, he stood in front of the only broken mirror in the room and was surprised to find the changes in himself.

His skin became fair and delicate, his muscles were defined but not exaggerated, and his eyes were clear and deep. His entire demeanor underwent a dramatic transformation. Most amazingly, he felt that his five senses had become exceptionally sharp. He could clearly hear He Yuzhu and Xu Damao arguing in the courtyard, and could even distinguish the sound of bicycle bells in the distant alley.

"This Marrow Cleansing Pill is indeed powerful." Chen Yu stretched his body and felt full of energy.

Next, he attempted to summon a fake human.

With a thought, a dark shadow emerged from the void, landed on the ground, and transformed into a blurry humanoid outline. Its entire body was as black as ink, with only a general human shape and no details of facial features.

【Pseudo-human Number One, at your command】A respectful thought entered Chen Yu's mind.

"Can you transform into something else?" Chen Yu asked curiously.

[Yes, please specify the exact form, Master.]

Chen Yu thought for a moment: "Transform into the appearance of an ordinary young man, of medium build, with an average appearance, looking like he's in his twenties."

As soon as he finished speaking, the dark figure in front of him began to wriggle and change. A few seconds later, an ordinary-looking young man stood in front of Chen Yu. He was wearing blue overalls common in that era, and his face was so plain that he would be easily lost in a crowd.

"That's amazing!" Chen Yu exclaimed. "Do you have your own consciousness?"

The dummy nodded: "Yes, Master. I possess the ability to think and learn independently, but I am absolutely loyal to you. I can perform various tasks, and my learning speed is ten times that of an ordinary human."

Chen Yu tested a few more commands and found that the fake human was indeed as the system described, not only absolutely obedient but also quite intelligent.

"Go back and rest first." With a thought, Chen Yu's fake man turned into a black shadow and disappeared.

Next, Chen Yu tried to enter the small world.

With his mind focused, the scenery before him changed, and he found himself standing on unfamiliar land.

Beneath my feet lay soft, black soil, and not far away, a clear spring gushed forth, forming a small pool. The water was crystal clear, and a faint white mist could be seen swirling around its surface—that must be the spiritual energy.

The entire space was about ten acres in size, with a hazy, impenetrable mist at the edges. In the center of the space stood a simple thatched hut, presumably a bonus from the system.

Chen Yu approached the spiritual spring, scooped up a handful of water, and drank it. The spring water was sweet and refreshing, turning into a warm current that nourished his body after entering his stomach. He could sense that although the spiritual energy of this spring water was weak, long-term consumption would definitely be beneficial.

In his miniature world, he tried to imagine creating a chair. Sure enough, with a thought, a wooden chair appeared out of thin air in front of him.

"In this space, I do possess a certain creative ability," Chen Yu confirmed the system's description. "However, this creation seems to be limited to simple objects."

He exited the miniature world and returned to his room in reality.

Over the next few hours, Chen Yu carefully studied the *Tai Xuan Zhen Jing*. The cultivation method was explained in a simple and easy-to-understand way, starting with guiding qi into the body and gradually explaining how to circulate it throughout the body and accumulate spiritual energy. Combined with his improved physique after the marrow cleansing, he successfully sensed the faint spiritual energy in the air and introduced it into his body after only two attempts.

Although this amount of spiritual energy was pitifully small, it did give him a much-needed boost.

"Cultivating immortality in this world with its scarce spiritual energy will probably be very slow," Chen Yu thought to himself. "But with the small world and the system, there's always a chance."

As evening fell, the aroma of food wafted through the courtyard.

Chen Yu then realized he was hungry. He remembered that the original owner of this body had almost no money left, and his food coupons were nearly depleted. Fortunately, it was only the beginning of the month, and he could still receive his monthly ration.

Just as I was pondering this, there was a knock on the door.

"Is Comrade Chen Yu here? This is Director Wang from the Subdistrict Office."

Chen Yu opened the door, and a smiling woman in her forties stood outside, holding a file folder in her hand.

"Director Wang, please come in." Chen Yu stepped aside.

Director Wang entered the room, glanced around at the simple space, and sighed: "Xiao Chen, we all know your situation. Your parents sacrificed their lives for the country; they are glorious martyrs. Although your distant relatives are heartless, the neighborhood committee will not abandon you."

She took out some receipts and a small booklet from the file folder: "These are your food coupons, oil coupons, and ration book for this month. We're still trying to figure out a job, but there's a shortage of work in the city right now, so you might have to wait a while."

Chen Yu took the receipt and sincerely thanked him, "Thank you, Director Wang. I'm sorry to have troubled you."

Director Wang waved his hand: "Of course. By the way, do you know all the neighbors in this courtyard?"

"Not yet. I've only been here a few days and I haven't been feeling well, so I haven't gone out much."

"Let me introduce you," Director Wang said warmly. "There are more than a dozen families living in this courtyard. The front courtyard is the home of the third uncle, Yan Bugui, who is a primary school teacher; the middle courtyard is home to the first uncle, Yi Zhonghai, the Jia family, and He Yuzhu; the back courtyard is home to the second uncle, Liu Haizhong, and Xu Damao... In short, we are all working class and should help each other."

Chen Yu nodded in agreement, but he knew perfectly well that there was no mutual help in this courtyard; it was all backstabbing and infighting.

"Oh, right," Director Wang said, remembering something, "did you see Jia Zhangshi today? She came to me this morning and said she wanted you to help with some chores, and she could give you some food. If you ask me, you should help if you can. The Jia family isn't having an easy time either; they're an orphan and a widow."

Chen Yu sneered inwardly. That old hag Jia Zhangshi was no saint in the TV series. But on the surface, he said gently, "I understand. I'll help if I have the chance."

After seeing Director Wang off, Chen Yu looked at the grain coupons in his hand and pondered his next steps.

With the system, he naturally wouldn't lack food or clothing. But in this era, being too flamboyant would only bring trouble. He needed a legitimate reason to improve his life while slowly developing his own power.

"The fake manipulators can come in handy now." Chen Yu had a plan in mind.

That night, when all was quiet, Chen Yu summoned the fake man number one again.

"Disguise yourself as an ordinary old man and go to the black market to exchange some things." Chen Yu handed the fake man some money and receipts. "Be careful not to expose your identity."

The fake man number one accepted the order and left, turning into a black shadow and disappearing into the night.

Chen Yu sat cross-legged on the bed, continuing his attempt to cultivate the *Tai Xuan Zhen Jing*. Although the spiritual energy outside was thin, it was better than nothing. He planned to enter the small world to cultivate tomorrow; although the concentration of spiritual energy there was also low, it was much stronger than outside.

The next morning, Pseudo-Man Number One brought back some food, meat, and daily necessities, as well as a small stack of money—he had used the capital given to him by Chen Yu to do a few small transactions on the black market and actually made some money.

"Well done," Chen Yu praised. "Next, I need you to establish an intelligence network in Beijing, gradually infiltrating various industries. But be careful not to attract attention."

"Understood, Master," said False Man Number One respectfully. "I will summon the other False Men in batches and gradually begin the work."

Chen Yu nodded, planning his future in his mind.

The courtyard house is just the beginning. He wants to gain a foothold here and then expand into a wider world. Hong Kong, overseas... In this turbulent era, with his system and his own little world, he is destined for greatness.

"But first, we need to solve the immediate problem." Chen Yu looked at the gradually brightening sky outside the window, knowing that a new day was about to begin in the courtyard.

And this day will be the first day that Chen Yu truly begins his journey in this world.