I Idle in the World of Immortal Cultivation
Chapter 35: The First Good Deed
The night market in Suihuang City hadn't closed yet.
Seven or eight out of ten stalls on the street had already packed up. The ones left were all food stalls. Wonton stands, noodle stands, barbecue stands. Steam rose from the pots, mixing with the smell of spices, forming a thin layer of fog under the street lamps.
Yue Long's nose twitched. Her rabbit ears turned.
"Master, I smell barbecue."
"Business first."
"Can we eat after we do a good deed?"
"Yes."
Yue Long's steps quickened.
She stood at the entrance of the market for a while, her rabbit ears turning back and forth, her eyes scanning every stall, every corner. She was looking for someone – someone who needed help. Carrying water, moving things, watching kids, finding lost cats – anything. But the market was closing. The water carriers were done. The movers were done. The kids had gone home. The cats had come back on their own.
Yue Long's rabbit ears slowly drooped. "Master, no one needs help."
"Wait a little longer."
After the time it takes to burn an incense stick, Yue Long saw an old woman come out of an alley. Her back was bent very low – almost ninety degrees. She leaned on a bamboo stick, tapping the other end on the ground – she couldn't see.
Yue Long ran over.
"Granny, where are you going?"
The old woman looked up. Her eyes were cloudy white. "The wonton stall… the one on the east side… I want wontons."
Yue Long looked back at Lin Luo. Lin Luo nodded.
Yue Long took the old woman's arm. "I'll walk you there. The wonton stall on the east side – I know where it is."
The old woman's hand rested on Yue Long's arm. Her fingers were thin and dry, her skin wrinkled like tree bark. Yue Long walked slowly, matching the old woman's pace. Her rabbit ears drooped, shielding the side of the old woman's face from the wind.
Lin Luo followed behind. He didn't help, and he didn't rush.
The wonton stall was at the entrance of the third alley to the east. The owner was a middle-aged man. When he saw the old woman, he put a bowl of wontons in the pot without a word. He added a few extra and didn't charge more. Yue Long helped the old woman sit on a stool. When the wontons came, she pushed the bowl to the old woman's hand and put the spoon in her hand.
"Granny, the wontons are ready. Be careful, they're hot."
The old woman scooped one, blew on it, and put it in her mouth. She chewed for a long time, then smiled. "This is the one. This is the taste. I've been eating here for thirty years."
Yue Long crouched beside her, her chin on her hands, watching the old woman eat. Her rabbit ears stood up and twitched.
When the old woman finished, Yue Long walked her back to the alley. Before she left, the old woman took two spirit stones from her sleeve and pressed them into Yue Long's hand.
"Little girl, thank you."
Yue Long pushed the stones back. "No need, no need. I didn't do much."
"Take it. Buy yourself a bowl of wontons."
"Really, I don't need – "
"If you don't take it, I won't leave."
Yue Long looked back at Lin Luo. Lin Luo nodded.
Yue Long took the stones. "Thank you, Granny."
The old woman walked away slowly, her bamboo stick tapping on the ground – tap, tap, tap – the sound growing fainter.
Yue Long crouched at the alley entrance, her rabbit ears drooping, watching the old woman's back disappear into the darkness. She took out her phone. The screen lit up.
[One good deed a day · Completed.]
[Merit +10.]
[Sect contribution +10.]
[Current merit points: base idle accumulation + 10.]
[Current sect contribution: 10.]
Yue Long stared at the "sect contribution +10" for a moment. "Master, what's sect contribution for?"
"Exchanging for things."
"What things?"
Lin Luo took out his own phone and opened the Technique Hall. The interface had changed. Before it was empty. Now there were a few lines of text.
[Technique Hall · Exchangeable items]
[Beast Cultivation · Jade Rabbit Runs to the Moon (Jade Rabbit race exclusive) – Sect contribution: 100.]
[Description: Exclusive to Yue Long. Ancient Jade Rabbit cultivation method, draws the power of moonlight to temper the body. When trained to completion, the user can transform into a Jade Rabbit and run on the moon, greatly increasing speed.]
[Immortal Cultivation · Heavenly Computation Technique (universal for human race) – Sect contribution: 100.]
[Description: A predictive technique. Training it enhances deductive ability, with bonuses to formations, seals, and combat prediction.]
[Compass magical tool (mid-grade) – Sect contribution: 200.]
[Description: Positioning magical tool. Can mark coordinates, track targets, detect direction. Syncs with phone map, expands range to a hundred miles.]
Yue Long's rabbit ears went up. "Jade Rabbit Runs to the Moon! That's for me!"
"Yes."
"Can I exchange for it now?"
"Not enough contribution. You're ninety short."
Yue Long's rabbit ears drooped. "So I need to do nine more good deeds."
"Yes."
"Only one a day?"
"The mission says it refreshes daily. One per day."
Yue Long counted on her fingers. "Nine times – that's nine days. Counting today, eight more days."
"Yes."
Yue Long thought for a moment. Her rabbit ears went up again. "Then I'm not in a hurry. Idling gives me merit anyway, and Fudo Myoo's Resolution is idling too. Nine days to exchange for the technique – no big deal."
She put her phone away, stood up, and brushed her skirt. "Master, I'm hungry. Wontons."
Lin Luo looked at her. "Didn't you just help Granny eat wontons?"
"I watched her eat. I didn't eat."
Lin Luo didn't say anything. He turned and walked toward the wonton stall. Yue Long followed behind, her rabbit ears bobbing.
The wonton stall owner was about to close up. When he saw them come back, he sat down again and put another bowl of wontons in the pot. This time, two bowls.
Yue Long picked up her bowl, blew on it, and ate one. Hot, but good. She ate another. Her rabbit ears twitched with each chew.
"Master."
"Yes."
"What do you think Sister Xiao is doing right now?"
"I don't know."
"Do you think she's hungry too?"
Lin Luo didn't answer.
Yue Long lowered her head and ate her wontons. After a few bites, she pulled out her phone again and sent a message to Su Xiaoxiao: "Sister Xiao, I did a good deed today. I helped a blind granny go eat wontons. Merit +10. Sect contribution +10. Ninety more to go and I can exchange for a technique."
The message went out. It said "Delivered." Not "Read."
Yue Long stared at the screen for a moment, then put her phone away.
"Master, Sister Xiao hasn't read the message."
"Maybe she's busy."
"Yes."
Yue Long finished the soup, too. The bowl was clean. She put it down and placed a spirit stone on the table – the one the old woman had given her. Lin Luo looked at it and said nothing.
The two walked back.
The moon was at its highest, turning the path white. Yue Long walked ahead. Her rabbit ears glowed silver in the moonlight. After a while, she stopped and looked back at Lin Luo.
"Master."
"Yes."
"That plan of yours – the inn. When are you going to start?"
Lin Luo looked at her. He didn't speak.
Yue Long turned forward and kept walking. Her rabbit ears floated in the wind. "The one you wrote in your phone. Buy an inn, put the Spirit Vein Heart in the well, charge spirit stones. I saw it. Last time you were looking at your notes, I walked behind you and peeked."
Lin Luo didn't speak.
"You're going to do it, aren't you? Why haven't you started?"
Lin Luo was silent for a moment. "Waiting for someone."
"Who?"
"Someone who needs to stay."
Yue Long thought for a moment. "What if no one comes?"
"Then keep waiting."
Yue Long pouted. "That's a really relaxed way to run a business."
"Idle Sect business. Just idle."
Yue Long smiled. She ran two steps, turned around, and walked backward, facing Lin Luo.
"Master, I think your plan is good. Buy the inn, put the Spirit Vein Heart in the well, ten times the spiritual energy. Ten stones a day, two hundred a month, two thousand a year. If someone causes trouble, fight them. If you can't win, run. Simple, direct – the Idle Sect style."
Lin Luo looked at her. "You remember it well."
"When I walked behind you, I peeked more than once." Yue Long's rabbit ears twitched. "More than twice."
Lin Luo didn't answer.
Yue Long turned forward and kept walking. "So when are you going to buy the inn?"
"When I have enough contribution."
"Buying an inn takes contribution?"
"No. But exchanging for the compass takes two hundred contribution. After I buy the inn and put the Spirit Vein Heart in the well, I need the compass to locate it."
Yue Long froze. "So you told me to do one good deed a day today to save up contribution for the compass?"
"Yes."
"Not for my technique?"
"You can exchange for that too."
Yue Long opened her mouth, then closed it. She turned and kept walking. Her rabbit ears twitched in the moonlight – from the wind or something else, she didn't know.
After walking a while, she said quietly, "Master, you never say what you're doing."
"If I said it, it wouldn't be idling."
Yue Long couldn't help it. She laughed. She ran two steps, turned around, and walked backward, facing Lin Luo.
"Master, when the inn opens, I'll help you collect the spirit stones."
"Yes."
"I'll make Glow Mushroom soup for the guests."
"Yes."
"I'll help you – "
"You help watch the store. I'll go idle."
Yue Long froze for a moment, then smiled even wider. Her rabbit ears swayed in the moonlight like two silver-white leaves.
"Deal!"
She turned and ran. Not a fast run – a light jog, her steps quick, her rabbit ears floating in the wind. Lin Luo followed behind. He didn't walk fast, but each step was steady.
When they got back to the mine, Yue Long's phone buzzed. She took it out – a reply from Su Xiaoxiao. Only two characters.
"Nice."
Yue Long stared at those two characters for several seconds. The corner of her mouth curved up. She pressed the phone to her chest. Her rabbit ears slowly drooped, resting on her shoulders.
"Master, Sister Xiao replied."
"Yes."
"She said 'nice.'"
"Yes."
Yue Long put her phone away, crouched by the spirit field, and watched the Glow Mushrooms glow pale gold under the sect gathering array. Rat One poked his head out of his grass nest, squeaked once, and ducked back in.
In the distance, the lights of Suihuang City went out one by one. The moon rose to its highest point, turning the mine entrance into a glowing door.
Yue Long leaned against the stone wall. Her rabbit ears drooped at her sides. Her phone rested on her knee, the screen still lit – the chibi figure sat on a meditation cushion, hitting the wooden fish again and again.
Merit +1, merit +1, merit +1.
She closed her eyes. The corner of her mouth curved.
Lin Luo sat by the stone table and took out his phone. He opened his notes and read the lines he had written before.
[How to use the Spirit Vein Heart]
[Don't buy the inn yet. Save the budget for now. 500 stones isn't a lot, but don't waste it.]
[Put the Spirit Vein Heart in the inn's well. Ten times the spiritual energy. Permanent. This is a hidden card – can't move it.]
[Price: ten stones per day, two hundred per month, two thousand per year. Start with that. Raise price if too many people come. Lower if not enough.]
[If someone causes trouble, fight them. If you can't win, run. Teleport talisman is still there.]
He added another line.
[Wait for Yue Long to save enough contribution for the compass. Then buy the inn.]
Then he turned his phone over on the table. He was about to get up when his phone buzzed again – not Yue Long's. Bone One's idle alert.
He opened Bone One's interface.
On the screen, the skeleton was lying behind a pile of broken stones. His skeleton had more cracks than in the morning. His left arm was broken at the elbow, the broken bone exposed, dark gray bone fragments stained with dark green blood. He lay in the rubble, not moving. The green flames in his eye sockets were dim, like candles about to go out. In the distance, the Nascent Soul demon beast, dragging its broken tail and lame leg, was slowly sniffing the ruins, searching for him.
[Bone One · Deaths today: +47. Total damage dealt to Nascent Soul demon beast: approx 8%. Demon beast status: wounds worse, right front leg now limping.]
[Win rate updated: 12% → 15%.]
[Recommendation: Continue attrition.]
Lin Luo stared at the "8%" for a few seconds. He had been fighting for almost a full day and night – died dozens of times, only chipped away eight percent of the beast's health. A Nascent Soul demon beast's physical body was far stronger than Foundation Establishment. Bone One's blade stabbing it was like using a toothpick to poke an elephant. But even an elephant's thick hide would bleed after enough toothpick stabs.
He closed the interface. He didn't wake Yue Long.
Bone One could keep fighting. Just idle.
The mine fell quiet. The Glow Mushroom light brightened and dimmed, like breathing. Yue Long leaned against the stone wall, asleep, her phone still lit, merit still going +1+1+1. Bone One died again on the ancient battlefield, then revived, then charged again. Merit +1, death +1, revive +1. All idling. No difference.
Lin Luo dimmed the spirit stone lamp, leaned back against the stone wall, and closed his eyes.
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(End of Chapter 35)
Current Status (End of Chapter 35)
Main Account · Lin Luo
Cultivation: Foundation Establishment Layer 3 (Displayed: Qi Refining Layer 1)
Nine Cycles Mystic Art: Second Cycle (bottleneck update in progress)
Lightning Prison Indestructible Body: Second Layer
Defense: 850
Attack: ~400
HP: ~600
Spiritual Energy: ~20%
Spirit Stones: ~4750
Possessions: Spirit Recovery Pill ×4, Life Extension Pill ×0, Bone Mending Pill (below top-grade) ×3, Antidote Pill ×3, Light Talisman ×4, Mountain Pass Token ×1, Drunken Immortal Residence VIP card, Myriad Treasures Pavilion VIP card, Realm-Breaking Talisman (authentic), half a broken sword, pale green jade slip, beast-hide map, Spirit Vein Heart, Secret Realm Core Spirit Stone, spirit plant purchase contract
Skill: Spirit Eye Technique
Disciple: Yue Long
Sect Members: Yue Long, Su Xiaoxiao (temporarily away)
Plan: Wait for Yue Long to save 200 contribution for compass, then buy inn and place Spirit Vein Heart
Alt Account · Bone One
Cultivation: Body Refining Layer 3
Status: Idle battle · Ancient battlefield, target Nascent Soul Layer 1 demon beast (severely wounded), total damage dealt ~8%, win rate 15%
Deaths today: 47 (increasing)
Alt Account · Blood One
Cultivation: Qi Gathering Layer 8
Status: Hidden – Demon Abyss second layer
Alt Account · Rat One
Cultivation: Spirit Gathering Layer 6
Status: Spirit field at mine land, asleep
Sect · Idle Sect
Sect Leader: Lin Luo
Members: Yue Long, Su Xiaoxiao (temporarily away)
Level: 2
Idle Bonus: +15%
Special facilities: Sect Gathering Array, High-grade shield formation
Sect Contribution: Yue Long 10, Lin Luo 0
Technique Hall exchange items:
· Beast Cultivation · Jade Rabbit Runs to the Moon (Jade Rabbit exclusive) – 100 contribution
· Immortal Cultivation · Heavenly Computation Technique (universal) – 100 contribution
· Compass magical tool (mid-grade) – 200 contribution
Idle Sect Disciple · Yue Long
Cultivation: Foundation Establishment Layer 2 (Human) + Essence Gathering Layer 1 (Buddhist)
Status: Completed first daily good deed, asleep leaning against stone wall
Buddhist idle: Merit accumulating automatically, current merit approx: base idle + 10 (mission reward)
Fudo Myoo's Resolution: Idle cultivation in progress, progress ~0.02%
Spiritual sea vision: Four clusters of light (Buddhist, beast, demon, human), empty space in the center
Sect contribution: 10
Today's good deed: Helped a blind granny eat wontons
Personality: lively, talkative, can't keep secrets, acts cute, goofy, helps grannies eat wontons, peeks at master's phone
Spirit Stone balance: ~1100 (the 2 stones from the granny paid for wontons, so no net gain)
Possessions: disciple-dedicated phone, low-grade storage pouch, Zixiao Sect inheritance token, Greenwind Sword (repaired)
Idle Sect Disciple · Su Xiaoxiao (temporarily away)
Cultivation: Foundation Establishment Layer 1
Status: In spatial passage, ~2.5 days to Divine Phoenix Ruins
Idle Cultivation: ~36h to Foundation Establishment Layer 2
Message received: Yue Long's good deed report, replied "Nice"
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Appendix: Special Cultivation Systems for Lin Luo and His Alt Accounts
Immortal Cultivation (Main Account · Lin Luo):
Qi Refining → Foundation Establishment → Core Opening → Fusion → Heart Movement → Golden Core → Nascent Soul → Soul Departure → Spirit Separation → Body Integration → Cave Void → Great Ascension → Tribulation Transcendence
Demon Cultivation (Alt Accounts · Bone One, Blood One):
Qi Gathering → Body Refining → Core Condensation → Desire Embodiment → Devouring → Demon Infant → Soul Departure → Sense Separation → Body Fusion → Void Break → Great Ascension → Tribulation Transcendence
Beast Cultivation (Alt Account · Rat One):
Spirit Gathering → Intelligence Awakening → Body Tempering → Bone Refining → Beast Core → Transformation → Soul Condensation → Spirit Roaming → Body Purification → Void Training → Great Ascension → Tribulation Transcendence
Buddhist Cultivation (Yue Long):
Essence Gathering → Mortal Liberation → Core Mind → Will Dispersion → Clear Mind → Relic → Soul Movement → Void Transcendence → Pure Spirit → Void Passage → Great Ascension → Tribulation Transcendence
Note: The above are the exclusive cultivation systems for Lin Luo and his alt accounts. Everyone else (side characters, enemies, etc.) uses the traditional system: Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Soul Transformation, Void Training, Body Integration, Great Ascension, Tribulation Transcendence.
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(End of Chapter 35)