Chapter 1: A Five Spiritual Roots Start

The Leizhou Peninsula was originally a wild, desolate wasteland. Tens of thousands of years ago, however, it was gradually developed into a bridgehead for expeditions into the Southern Sea cultivation world. Today, it presents a scene of thriving prosperity.

To its north lies the Duan Yuan Mountain Range. This area teems with countless demonic beasts and is fraught with peril. Yet, danger implies opportunity. Whether for the spiritual herbs hidden deep within the mountains or the materials harvested from the demonic beasts themselves, the range attracts countless cultivators. At any given moment, one can find several demon-hunting teams active within the Duan Yuan Mountain Range.

As a primary supply point for these teams, Qingniu Market is naturally bustling with activity.

In the main room of a small courtyard, decorated with red paper on all sides, an eighteen-year-old youth sat before a bronze mirror, frowning deeply.

"I'm finished. Completely finished. What kind of nightmare start is this? Five Spiritual Roots aptitude—that’s even worse than Old Demon Han! The only saving grace is that this face is slightly better than the 'average-looking' Old Demon Han."

The youth’s name was Wang Hao. Indeed, he had just been replaced by a soul from the modern world.

Wang Hao wasn't even sure how it happened. After work, he had grabbed a quick bite and played some online games with his buddies late into the night.

Someone had complained, "This is so boring. I really miss the old days in school, sneaking out to internet cafes to steal vegetables in Farmville!"

Wang Hao had replied casually, "That's so lame. What's so fun about Farmville? Is that even a game for real men?"

After saying that, Wang Hao felt an inexplicable wave of drowsiness wash over him. When he woke up, he had arrived in this godforsaken place.

Before he could fully digest the original host's memories, the courtyard gate was shoved open. A handsome young man with striking features—sharp eyebrows and bright eyes—strode in. He let out a cold snort.

"I don't know how I fathered a scoundrel like you! It’s one thing to have poor aptitude, but you don't even know how to work hard. You just cause trouble all day long!"

Wang Hao was stunned. He pointed at the young man and asked in confusion, "You... are my father?"

"You insolent brat! Do you not even recognize your own father now?" The young man flew into a rage and slapped Wang Hao directly to the ground.

"Ouch!" Wang Hao cried out as he hit the floor.

Along with the pain, memories regarding this young man flooded his mind. This really was his father, Wang Yanzhao. He was a core disciple of the Wang family—a Foundation Establishment clan—and an alchemist. The reason he looked so young was due to his cultivation being at the peak of Qi Refining. In the world of cultivation, the higher one's level, the more impurities were expelled from the body, naturally retaining a youthful appearance.

The fact that Wang Hao, with his abysmal Five Spiritual Roots, had managed to reach the third layer of Qi Refining by age eighteen wasn't due to diligent practice. It was entirely because Wang Yanzhao had force-fed him pills to boost his level.

Realizing this, Wang Hao shot Wang Yanzhao a resentful look, though he thought to himself, That slap was harsh. But a dad who can concoct pills is a good dad. Since I've transmigrated with such trash aptitude, I can't afford to offend this 'sugar daddy'.

Just as he was about to say something to ease the tension, he saw Wang Yanzhao pull a storage pouch from his robe and toss it to him.

Looking at Wang Hao with complex emotions, Wang Yanzhao said, "Back then, I failed your mother. All these years, I’ve tried my best to compensate you. Unfortunately, it backfired and only fostered your stubborn, entitled nature."

Hearing this, and cross-referencing the memories surging through his brain, Wang Hao realized the situation was bad. was this "dad" about to disown him?

"It’s true that I am an alchemist," Wang Yanzhao continued, "but I can't afford to keep supporting a wasteful good-for-nothing like you. I need to save resources for your younger brothers and sisters. This is the last thing I will give you. I hope you conduct yourself well from now on!"

He let out a heavy sigh and added, "I’ve already settled the matter with that rogue cultivator girl for you. Don't pester her anymore. If you bring any more disasters upon yourself, you will bear the consequences alone!"

Wang Yanzhao glanced at the familiar furnishings in the room and the courtyard outside, but ultimately, he didn't say the words to sever their relationship completely. However, he had made it crystal clear: he would no longer be cleaning up Wang Hao’s messes.

Watching Wang Yanzhao storm out and slam the door, Wang Hao slapped the floor in frustration. "What kind of mess is this!"

"What do I do now? I don't even have a system... Wait, hold on... it seems like there might be one!"

At the thought of a system, Wang Hao noticed a screen suddenly light up inside his mind. It looked exactly like a computer desktop.

Wang Hao observed it carefully for a moment before standing up abruptly. "Damn! It really is a computer."

Excited, Wang Hao immediately began researching it. But after studying it back and forth, he found that it was just a plain, simple computer.

There were quite a few applications—all sorts of office software were installed. He casually opened a drawing program; it wasn't any different from the ones in his previous life.

"What's the use of this?! Am I going to do CAD drawings in a cultivation world? They use jade slips here! Three-dimensional ones! They're faster than computers!"

Greatly disappointed, Wang Hao still forced himself to study it seriously.

Sure enough, he discovered something different.

The computer was connected to his body. His eyes served as the camera, his mouth as the microphone, and the information in his mind could be read by the computer at any time.

For example, what he was seeing right now—the interior of the room—was easily uploaded into the drawing software as an image file... or even rendered as a 3D model! Various functions could then measure and manipulate it.

"But this is still useless! For what? Am I going to be an architect in the cultivation world?"

Well... perhaps it could be somewhat useful for Qi Refining cultivators.

To put it simply, this computer was equivalent to an oversized jade slip that could perfectly record everything within Wang Hao's field of vision. The reason it was only useful for the Qi Refining stage was that Foundation Establishment cultivators possessed powerful Spiritual Sense. They could scan their surroundings mentally, which was several times more efficient than relying on sight alone. Even dual cameras couldn't compare to Spiritual Sense.

Unwilling to give up, and perhaps a bit stubborn, Wang Hao continued exploring. Everyone despised him now anyway—if he died in this room, nobody would know. He might as well use this time to figure out exactly what this "Gold Finger" could do and thoroughly understand this world before venturing outside.

After exploring the drawing software further (and finding nothing new), he moved on to the Map App.

This thing actually seemed useful!

It directly displayed a map covering the entire Qingniu Market and the surrounding areas. It was extremely detailed, even showing the color patterns on the dogs walking the streets.

Looking towards the Duan Yuan Mountain Range on the map, he saw numerous skull markers of varying sizes. Based on his extensive experience playing online games before crossing over, Wang Hao guessed these skull markers indicated the locations of demonic beasts. Small skulls likely meant low-level beasts, while large skulls represented high-level ones.

Whether this was true or not could be verified later through actual exploration.

However, the maps had limitations. Combining them with the original host's memories revealed that only places personally visited by the host unlocked the corresponding map areas. Everything else remained covered in a blank, white fog.

Of course, he didn't need to visit every single square inch personally. Just like in a video game, once he entered a certain region, the map for that entire area would reveal itself automatically.

Take the Duan Yuan Mountain maps, for example. Searching his memories, he found that the original host had never ventured deep into those regions, yet the maps displayed them clearly.

Clicking open the familiar icons one by one, he realized all these software applications had some connection to this world, albeit with limited usefulness.

Maps could help avoid demonic beasts and check road conditions, but cultivators already possessed similar abilities. Their Spiritual Sense could detect danger, and markets sold various maps. The situation regarding beasts in the Duan Yuan Mountain Range changed periodically, and some shops made money specifically by selling updated maps.

So, the usefulness was limited mainly to saving some money and the advantage of real-time updates. He could know beforehand where beasts lurked, whereas other cultivators without maps would only detect beast traces via Spiritual Sense once they got close enough.