n his previous life, Shen Zhenhai worked himself to death chasing success.
Reborn into a cultivation world, he swore: never again.
Why sweat when you can sleep? Why fight when you can nap?
Yet the heavens had other plans...
Shen Zhenhai slowly opened his eyes and stared at the broken wooden roof above him. Sunlight leaked through the holes, making dusty lines in the air.
A small, rundown hut. Straw mat under his back. The smell of old rice and earth.
He blinked once. Twice.
"...I'm alive again?"
Memories that didn't belong to him poured in. A sixteen-year-old boy, same name, same face. Parents dead from sickness two weeks ago. Left alone in this tiny mountain village called Green Willow.
Shen Zhenhai closed his eyes again and let out a long, happy breath.
Finally.
No more overtime. No more bosses. No more alarms at 6 a.m. No more pretending to care about sales targets.
"This time," he thought, pulling the thin blanket higher, "I'm going to do absolutely nothing. If possible, I'll sleep until I die of old age. Perfect plan."
He rolled over, ready to go back to sleep forever.
[Ding]
A cold voice rang directly in his mind.
[Idle Ascension System binding... 1%... 57%... Binding complete.]
Shen Zhenhai opened one eye, annoyed.
[Host: Shen Zhenhai]
[Core Rule: The less you do, the stronger you become.]
[Idle Cultivation activated. Current realm: Mortal Body (Peak). Qi gathering automatically.]
He stared at the blue screen only he could see.
"What the hell is this? Can't a guy even nap in peace?"
The system answered in the same flat tone.
[Host seems unhappy. Would you prefer to work hard and suffer like your last life?]
Shen Zhenhai paused.
"...Touché."
He closed his eye again.
"Shut up and let me sleep."
[Understood. Continuing idle cultivation. Qi +5.]
[Qi +5.]
A faint warm current flowed through his body, gentle like sunlight on skin. He felt it moving through his arms, legs, chest... but he ignored it completely and let sleep take him.
Best. Rebirth. Ever.
---
When he woke up again, the sun was already high. His stomach growled loudly, complaining about being empty.
Shen Zhenhai lay there without moving.
"There's almost no food left," he remembered. Half a bowl of cold rice and a few sad-looking vegetables that were more brown than green.
He sighed.
"Too much effort to cook. Too much effort to go out. Maybe I'll just starve slowly... dying takes time anyway."
[Idle Cultivation complete for 4 hours. Qi +120. Mortal Body slightly strengthened. Hunger resistance +1.]
The warm feeling came again, stronger this time. The sharp pain in his stomach became dull, bearable.
Shen Zhenhai raised an eyebrow.
"...Huh. Not bad."
He slowly sat up, the least movement possible, and looked around the tiny hut. One broken table, one stool missing a leg, a cracked clay pot.
"Water would be nice though."
Getting water meant walking to the village well.
Walking was effort.
But... water was important.
He stood up slowly, like an old man with bad knees, and shuffled outside.
The mountain air was cool. Green Willow Village was small — maybe thirty families living between rice fields and forest. Everyone knew everyone.
A few villagers saw him and started whispering.
"Look, it's Zhenhai. Poor boy hasn't come out since his parents passed."
"His eyes look different today... clearer. Maybe he's finally accepting it?"
An old auntie carrying firewood stopped in front of him.
"Zhenhai, you look pale. Here, take this." She pushed a hot steamed bun into his hand.
Shen Zhenhai accepted it without a word and nodded once.
Free food. Perfect.
He walked back home eating it slowly, one small bite every ten steps.
[Idle Reputation Escalation +3.]
[Villagers think host is enduring grief silently like a strong man. Mysterious aura +1.]
Shen Zhenhai almost laughed.
"They think I'm being strong? I'm just lazy."
He finished the bun, went back inside, and lay down again.
Life was good.
---
BAM!
The wooden door was kicked open so hard it almost flew off.
A fat young man with small eyes walked in like he owned the place. Wang Ergou, son of the village head, the local bully who loved making trouble.
"Shen Zhenhai!" he shouted. "Your dead parents owed my family three silver coins! Pay up today or I'll take this broken hut!"
Shen Zhenhai didn't even sit up. He just looked at the ceiling and kept chewing the last piece of bun.
"I have no money. I'm tired. Leave."
Wang Ergou's face turned red.
"You think you can talk to me like that, orphan?" He marched over and grabbed Shen Zhenhai by the collar, pulling him up. Or tried to.
His hand stopped an inch away from the cloth.
An invisible wall pushed back.
Wang Ergou stumbled, eyes wide.
[Idle Defense Triggered. Minor Qi Barrier activated automatically.]
Shen Zhenhai yawned.
"Told you. I'm tired. Don't touch me."
Wang Ergou let go like he touched fire.
"Y-y-you... when did you learn martial arts?!"
He backed away, tripped over the broken stool, and fell on his butt.
"You wait! I'll tell my father! Just you wait!"
He ran out screaming.
Shen Zhenhai lay back down.
[Idle Enemy Provocation +1.]
[Wang Ergou fear level: High.]
[Reputation +10. Village rumors starting: "Shen Zhenhai might be a hidden expert."]
Shen Zhenhai closed his eyes.
"Annoying."
---
Evening came quietly.
The warm current in his body never stopped. It flowed gently, like a small river cleaning everything inside him.
He could feel his muscles getting firmer, his breathing deeper, his skin tougher — all while doing absolutely nothing.
"This system," he thought, "is actually perfect. As long as it doesn't make me move, we're good."
[Qi accumulation sufficient.]
[Preparing advancement: Mortal Body → Body Tempering Stage 1.]
[Estimated time: 3 days of continued idling.]
Shen Zhenhai smiled for the first time since coming to this world.
"Three whole days of doing nothing? Excellent."
He pulled the blanket over his head and fell asleep, completely relaxed.
---
Night fell. The mountain village became silent.
Moonlight slipped through the holes in the roof, falling on the sleeping boy.
A very faint blue glow appeared around his body, soft like mist, rising and falling with his breathing.
It was subtle. Normal people wouldn't notice.
But a middle-aged hunter walking back from the forest late at night passed by the hut.
He stopped.
His eyes went wide.
The bow in his hand almost dropped.
"This... this aura... pure qi flowing naturally? Could it be... the Shen family's orphan boy has awakened a heaven-defying talent?!"
The hunter's heart raced. He turned and ran toward the village head's house.
Inside the hut, Shen Zhenhai slept like a dead man, smiling in his dreams.
The system spoke one last time, voice dry as ever.
[Idle Reputation Escalation +15.]
[Rumors spreading rapidly.]
[Trouble incoming?]