The night was silent except for the faint chirping of crickets outside.
A thin mist drifted through the cracks of Wan Long's wooden hut as he sat cross-legged, the faint glow of the system panel illuminating his face.
His muscles ached from three straight days of labor, yet his mind was sharp—brimming with anticipation.
He inhaled deeply and steadied his thoughts.
"System," he said softly, "open status."
[Name: Wan Long]
[Age: 17]
[Lifespan: 63 Years]
[Cultivation Realm: Body Tempering – 1st Layer]
[Cultivation Technique: Moon Breathing Technique (Low Yellow Tier)]
[Spiritual Root: Mixed Element]
[Inventory: 4,600 Days of Spiritual Energy, 10 High-Grade Tier 3 Core Foundation Pills, 50 High-Grade Tier 2 Marrow Cleansing Pills, 70 High-Grade Tier 1 Qi Nourishment Pills, 130 High-Grade Tier 1 Body Tempering Pills, 20 Perfect-Grade Tier 1 Body Tempering Pills]
[Recycle Points: 16,000]
Wan Long's eyes lingered on the words Mixed Element root.
Even though he had a miraculous system, this cursed spiritual root was a heavy shackle.
It clashed internally, leaking energy and wasting every drop of Qi he tried to absorb.
If only he could change that…
He clenched his fists and whispered, "System—enhance spiritual root."
[Enhancement: Spiritual Root – Mixed Element → ???]
[Enhancement cost: 10,000 Recycle Points.]
[Confirm?]
"Confirm."
At once, the room quaked with faint vibrations.
The light from the system flared, bathing him in warm gold. His body tensed as a burning force surged from his dantian, racing through every vein and meridian.
It felt like thousands of tiny threads were being torn apart and rewoven—his very essence being reforged.
He gasped, gritting his teeth as waves of pain rolled through him. His vision blurred, sweat soaking his robe. Then—suddenly—the chaos stilled.
A calm pulse spread through his body.
For the first time, he felt balance.
The system chimed softly.
[Enhancement complete.]
[Spiritual Root evolved: Mixed Element → Chaos Mortal Root.]
[Effect: Partial elemental harmony achieved. Energy absorption rate increased by 120%. Cultivation efficiency doubled.]
[Remaining Recycle Points: 6,000.]
Wan Long's eyes widened.
"Chaos Mortal Root…" he muttered under his breath.
This wasn't a legendary root by any means—it still stood far below heavenly roots—but it was a complete transformation from the useless Mixed Element root.
Now, his body could harmonize multiple energies instead of rejecting them.
A faint warmth spread from his dantian, as if the very air was eager to enter his body.
....
"Chaos Mortal Root…" he murmured. "Let's see just how different you are."
He took a deep breath, centering himself. The Moon Breathing Technique began to circulate on its own, drawing in the faint spiritual qi that drifted through the air.
At once, he noticed it—
The flow of qi was smoother, denser, and more obedient. Where before his meridians had felt clogged and sluggish, now the energy moved like water through a newly cleared stream.
He Immediately sat cross-legged on the creaking floor of his hut, the faint light of dawn seeping through the cracks in the wooden walls. The status panel hovered before him, faintly glowing.
He steadied his breathing and willed,
"System—absorb one thousand days of spiritual energy."
[Confirmed: 1,000 Days of Spiritual Energy will be absorbed into cultivation.]
[Commencing absorption…]
Immediately, his Moon Breathing Technique activated. Spiritual qi poured into his meridians, far smoother than before—clean, even, controlled. The once sluggish flow that had plagued his mixed-element roots was gone.
Wan Long focused, guiding the flood of energy through his limbs and bones. The air around him rippled faintly as wisps of spiritual mist began to gather.
Moments passed. Then—
[Cultivation advancing…]
[Body Tempering – 2nd Layer.]
[Body Tempering – 3rd Layer.]
[Body Tempering – 4th Layer.]
He exhaled slowly, opening his eyes. A faint glimmer of qi danced briefly across his skin before fading.
[Current Realm: Body Tempering – 4th Layer.]
For a long moment, he sat in silence.
Then, his shoulders sagged.
"…That's it?" he muttered softly.
His brow furrowed as disappointment crept in.
He had just absorbed a thousand days worth of spiritual energy—nearly four years of continuous cultivation for a normal disciple. Yet, all it brought him was three minor breakthroughs in the lowest realm.
Wan Long clenched his fist.
The new root was stable, yes. The energy flowed far better than before. But the efficiency… was painfully low.
He sighed deeply.
Mortal roots—despite being a step above the useless mixed ones—were still among the weakest spiritual foundations. Most cultivators born with them would take five full years to reach the Fourth Layer of Body Tempering under normal conditions.
And here he was, with the help of a miraculous system, achieving the same in a few minutes… but knowing full well that without the system, his cultivation speed would be painfully slow.
A bitter chuckle escaped him.
"At this rate, I'd need decades to even step into the Qi Cultivation Realm."
His expression hardened, the disappointment giving way to determination.
"Still… it's progress," he murmured. "If the system can improve my roots once, it can do it again."
He raised his eyes to the panel once more.
[Next root Enhancement Requirement: 100,000 RP]
Wan Long took a deep breath.
It was a steep mountain to climb—but at least now he knew the path.
His gaze turned toward the distant alchemy peaks, faintly outlined against the morning sky.
"If I have to carry every bucket in that hall to reach the heavens," he whispered,
"I will."
....
Wan Long stared at his trembling hands, the afterglow of cultivation fading from his skin.He couldn't help but clench his fists tighter.
The Chaos Mortal Root had improved his ability to absorb spiritual qi, but his growth still felt… limited.
"Maybe it's not the root," he muttered quietly. "Maybe it's… the method."
His gaze drifted toward the faint, silver-etched characters on his system panel.
[Cultivation Technique: Moon Breathing Technique (Low Yellow Tier)]
Wan Long exhaled, eyes gleaming with a flicker of resolve.
"If the system can enhance roots and pills…" he murmured, "then maybe… it can enhance this, too."
He focused on the technique line in the glowing panel.
"System—enhance cultivation technique."
[Enhancement: Moon Breathing Technique (Low Yellow Tier)]
[Upgrade costs: Mid Yellow – 1,000 RP | High Yellow – 3,000 RP | Purple Tier – 6,000 RP]
[Available Recycle Points: 6,000]
[Proceed?]
His pulse quickened.
He had exactly enough.
A small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. "Let's gamble."
[Confirmed. Enhancing technique…]
[Upgrading: Moon Breathing Technique → Low Purple Tier.]
[Reconstruction successful.]
The moment the message appeared, a flood of information surged into his mind.
His consciousness trembled as mysterious diagrams and ancient chants unfurled like scrolls of light. He saw the moon phases, the shifting flow of yin and yang, the silent rhythm of cosmic energy that pulsed through the heavens.
Every breath he took now carried a deeper resonance, as if the entire world exhaled with him.
He gasped, sweat breaking across his brow.
The patterns that had once seemed rigid and dull now pulsed with living vitality.
Even the faint qi in the air began to move toward him naturally, like moths drawn to a flame.
When the rush of knowledge finally subsided, he sat still, breathing heavily.
[Cultivation Technique: Moon Breathing Technique (Low Purple Tier)]
Wan Long's lips parted slightly.
He could feel the difference instantly—the very foundation of his breathing had transformed.
Every inhale drew in purer, denser qi.
Every exhale refined impurities faster than ever before.
He looked at his trembling hands again, but this time, a small grin formed.
"So it wasn't just the roots," he whispered. "It was the technique."
His excitement simmered into determination.
With a Chaos Mortal Root and a Purple-Tier technique, his efficiency had already leaped beyond ordinary outer disciples.
A Purple Tier cultivation technique… such a thing was considered a small treasure of any outer sect disciple leave alone a servant.
(In the world of cultivation, techniques were ranked from Yellow, Purple, Earth, Heaven, and Imperial, each divided into Low, Middle, and High Tiers.)
The higher the rank, the purer and faster one could draw spiritual qi, and the stronger the foundation of one's path to immortality.
But what truly made the Moon Breathing Technique legendary was not its rank—
it was its origin.
The Moon Breathing Technique—the very foundation of the Moon Pavilion Holy Sect.
According to the memories of the original Wan Long, the sect's first patriarch had discovered it inside an Imperial Ruin, a mysterious place said to have belonged to an ancient being who once ascended to the heavens themselves.
Back then, it was rumored to be an Imperial Rank method, one that could draw power directly from the moon's essence.
Yet the scrolls the sect retrieved were incomplete— only fragments remained, scattered across generations.
The sect's current collection only went up to the Low earth grade Tier.
The technique had once been imperial-level, but only fragments survived.
Over countless generations, the sect's leader and elders had reconstructed small parts of it—creating several incomplete versions, divided by rank.
The most basic—Low Yellow Tier—was what every servant or menial disciple practiced.
Outer disciples were lucky to get the mid or high yellow versions.
Only the inner sect geniuses and direct disciples were permitted to cultivate the purple tier version.
Over time, the sect's faith in the Moon Breathing Technique had waned.
Very few disciples practiced it anymore; they turned instead to other, more "efficient" arts.
The sect had developed dozens of newer breathing techniques, each boasting Heavenly Rank volumes that promised quicker breakthroughs.
After all—what was the point of mastering a technique that supposedly ended at the earth grade Low Tier?
To most, the Moon Breathing Technique was a dead end.
An outdated relic of the past.
But there was an ancient legend, buried in the sect's oldest records— one that most disciples dismissed as myth.
It was said that if one could cultivate the Moon Breathing Technique to its complete Heavenly Tier, they could condense the Lunar Heavenly Body— a divine form of pure Yin essence that could draw upon the light of the moon itself, nourishing the body and spirit beyond mortal limits.
Such a being would possess limitless spiritual power under the moonlight— a true lunar immortal.
Wan Long's fingers tightened slightly.
He could almost feel it—
a faint, silvery pulse deep within his dantian,
like the first shimmer of moonlight on still water.
He opened his eyes, calm but resolute.
"So they gave up because they couldn't see its end…" he murmured.
"…then I'll be the one to finish what they couldn't."
......
Curiosity burned in Wan Long's chest.
He closed his eyes and began to circulate the newly-upgraded Moon Breathing Technique.
At once, the air around him shifted.
The world seemed to hush.
Threads of moonlight drifted through the cracks in his hut and wrapped softly around his body, like cool silk.
Each breath he drew felt deeper, heavier—as if the night itself was pouring into his lungs.
The spiritual energy he absorbed surged through his meridians in smooth, endless waves, washing away the last traces of fatigue.
His dantian pulsed.
The energy there roared to life, expanding violently— until a sudden crack echoed within him, like thunder in a still lake.
His eyes snapped open.
Faint silver light flickered in their depths.
"I'm… almost at the Fifth Layer already?" he whispered, disbelief and excitement twisting together.
He clenched his fists, feeling the power coursing beneath his skin—stronger, steadier, purer than ever before.
"So this… this is the strength of a Purple-Tier cultivation technique…"
A grin broke across his face.
"The difference is like heaven and earth."
Outside, the moonlight brightened for a brief instant—as though responding to his awakening.