Cultivation Is Money-Grabbing C01

Chapter 1: Hellish Beginning, A New Life

Scorching heat. Cracked dryness.

In the endless darkness, flashes of lightning and peals of thunder echoed. Evil spirits roared. Looking up at the sky, all she could see was a vast expanse of desolation. Enormous figures circled around her, as if laughing.

She didn’t know how long it lasted, but the nightmare eventually ended, and her consciousness gradually cleared.

Beneath a decrepit wooden roof, a rickety low cot was covered in patches of dry, green mold. The ceiling had a gaping hole, through which the blazing sunlight streamed in, illuminating the cramped space in stark brightness.

The light hit Lian Mu’s face, making her instinctively raise a hand to block it. Her stomach growled in hunger as she awoke from her dream, her body weak and drained.

It was time to sweep the stairs again.

The Three Thousand Immortal Steps were, as always, covered in fallen leaves. The reason? The Returning Immortal Sect’s grand entrance was flanked by two towering Giant Spirit Trees that shed leaves year-round. As a prestigious sect, it wouldn’t do to have its steps littered with debris, so disciples were assigned to clean them regularly.

Lian Mu was the unfortunate one chosen for the task.

She hadn’t eaten a single grain of rice today. Thinking back, she had once been the last great cultivator to ascend in the twenty-third century. Yet, after transmigrating, she had ended up in this miserable state.

In her previous life, Lian Mu was a sword cultivator—one of the world’s rare true cultivators. Born into a modern society where spiritual energy was nearly depleted, she never had to face constant battles with demons or ghosts.

Even so, she upheld her family’s creed: making money while striving for higher cultivation. She had painstakingly built up a company, reached the pinnacle of the Dao, and was just about to ascend. But fate was cruel—her tribulation failed, her soul was devoured by backlash, and she died tragically.

When she opened her eyes again, she had become the weakest junior disciple of a grand immortal sect.

This girl’s spiritual roots were blocked, her cultivation was pitifully low. Even in her past peaceful world, she would have been easily beaten to a pulp.

Lian Mu clutched her cramping stomach. She wore a worn-out white sect robe, her frail figure as light as paper, her complexion pale, lips painfully dry.

She hadn’t felt the pangs of hunger in decades. In her past world, she had started fasting cultivation as a child. Yet now, despite being in a realm abundant with spiritual energy, her body was so useless that she still needed food.

In the entire sect, only Yasui Peak provided food. Most disciples didn’t require meals, making three daily rations from Yasui Peak incredibly valuable. Outer disciples had to work before they could exchange for food, and supplies were limited—first come, first served.

Thinking of those steaming white buns, Lian Mu suddenly felt a burst of motivation. She lifted her head, her gaze falling on the two massive trees beside the sect’s entrance.

The Giant Spirit Trees were enormous, their azure branches and leaves swaying gracefully, visible even from a great distance. These trees were born from the essence of heaven and earth, nourished by a millennium’s worth of spiritual energy. Their roots extended beneath the entire staircase, making them an iconic landmark of the Returning Immortal Sect.

Lian Mu didn’t particularly like these trees—for a sweeper, a tree that constantly shed leaves was an eternal enemy. However, she was very interested in their fruits.

When she first arrived, she had scouted the area around the Giant Spirit Trees. These trees only bore fruit once every century, and each fruiting season lasted three years. This year happened to be one of those harvest years.

She could clearly sense the spiritual energy within the Giant Spirit Tree Fruits. A single fruit contained more energy than an entire region back in her old world.

Lian Mu marveled at how wonderful this new world was—it was practically designed for cultivators.

However, her current situation was far from safe. Not only was her body weak, but she also had a terrifying dream when she arrived.

In that dream, every powerful disciple of this sect would eventually become a notorious demon. And as the weakest, living right beside the sect’s entrance, she would be the first to be eliminated.

Lian Mu figured that anyone destined to become a demon lord wouldn’t be reasonable, so trying to curry favor with them now was pointless. Her only path to survival was to cultivate diligently and gain enough strength to protect herself.

Step one: eat a proper meal.

Lian Mu wasn’t the only one sweeping the Three Thousand Immortal Steps. A few other outer disciples also cleaned designated sections.

She was the weakest, so her assigned area was closest to the Giant Spirit Trees, where the fallen leaves were most abundant. It was also the farthest from her wooden shack, meaning that just climbing the stairs took more effort than most people’s entire workload.

No sweeping, no food.

Lian Mu was often the last to finish, her thin frame looking like a starved monkey, her large, dark eyes standing out against her sunken face.

Outer disciples were divided into two groups:

1. Those who were former inner disciples that had been eliminated.

2. Those preparing for the entrance trial, who enrolled early to gain experience.

Lian Mu was in the first category.

She had entered the Gui Xian Sect by sheer luck, but during the very first entrance trial, she was immediately disqualified. With no backing and many enemies, she had been relegated to sweeping duty just to survive.

The three others sweeping alongside her were there as punishment for breaking the rules. They were stronger than her, so naturally, she became their favorite target for bullying.

With the Giant Spirit Trees bearing fruit, the number of fallen leaves had doubled. Lian Mu was at a disadvantage—she had to wake up an hour earlier than usual just to finish on time. Today, she got up three hours early.

She pulled on a ragged outer robe—something she had scavenged for free from the sect’s stores. It hadn’t been washed for months, and a thick layer of grime had built up.

Her messy hair was unkempt. Since arriving in this world, she had been so focused on survival that she had completely forgotten to take care of herself.

Who would have thought that a self-made corporate CEO, a top-tier cultivator on the brink of ascension, would end up in such a wretched state?

Truly, fate was unpredictable.

Lian Mu grabbed her broom and hurried out.

After climbing two thousand steps, her legs felt like they were about to break. Hunger made her dizzy, and her stomach twisted in pain.

The blood-red sunset painted the sky. The others were already working—not a second could be wasted.

Forcing herself to endure, Lian Mu began sweeping the leaves. The workload was immense. According to sect rules, no more than ten leaves could be left per step—meaning she had to clean everything perfectly to pass inspection and get food.

The Giant Spirit Tree leaves were translucent blue and even glowed at night, making them easy to spot. The fruits were also blue and would fall naturally when ripe—which meant she could collect them freely.

She filled her pockets while sweeping, eating some along the way. The fruits were slightly bitter but juicy and refreshing, perfect after a long, exhausting climb.

She ate just enough to dull her hunger, saving the rest for later.

Two hours later, others had already started rushing to get food.

Throwing aside her broom, Lian Mu sprinted up the steps.

Starving but energized by desperation, she ignored the pain and ran straight to Yasui Peak’s dining hall.

At the least popular food window, only one steamed bun remained.

Without hesitation, she lunged forward.

The senior sister serving food checked with the Reflection Stone before handing her a steamed bun, then left without saying a word.

Inner sect disciples rarely interacted much with outer sect disciples. They were focused on their cultivation, and it was already a kindness for them to take time to guard the food distribution.

Lian Mu took a bowl of slightly salty soup and sat down to eat. The remaining people who hadn’t received food stared at her with green-eyed hunger, practically itching to snatch it from her hands. But bound by the rules, they could only ladle themselves some soup and sit down, watching those with buns in hand, attempting to console themselves with the sight.

Being stared at didn’t bother Lian Mu in the slightest. After a month in this place, her skin had long since thickened to the level of a city wall.

In the face of survival, what did dignity matter? It couldn’t fill an empty stomach.

She devoured the steamed bun in large bites, finally feeling a sense of fullness. Having her stomach filled gave her a deep sense of security.

With her task for the day complete, Lian Mu sat and rested for an hour before getting up to move her limbs.

This body was extremely weak and prone to illness. In this world of the strong preying on the weak, she was as fragile as an ant—easily crushed with a single squeeze.

For the sake of long-term survival, Lian Mu decided to train her body first, at least to avoid the ailments that came with weakness.

In her past life, she had been an immortal cultivator. The spiritual energy in this world was so abundant—it would be a waste not to take advantage of it.

However…

She tried using spiritual power, but there was no response.

This young girl’s body was truly useless. To cultivate anew, she would first need to cleanse her meridians and reconstruct her spiritual roots.

For the current Lian Mu, this was a long and arduous path. First, she had no money—she hadn’t even seen this world’s currency before, let alone afforded the necessary materials. Second, she had no stable food supply. Starving for three days and barely eating on the fourth was her norm. She was forced to sweep floors just to survive, barely scraping by.

Sigh, she needed to stay alive first.

Lian Mu jogged around the small wooden house before hauling a few buckets of water inside to bathe. Thankfully, she still had a clean set of clothes hidden under the bed.

After washing up, she combed her hair into twin buns, one on each side of her head, while the rest of her long hair draped behind her. In the water’s reflection, she saw a frail young girl—moist apricot eyes, a delicate nose, lips pale and dry from long-term malnutrition. Living at the foot of an immortal sect, she was thinner than even a beggar from the mundane world.

When she had first arrived, she had looked even more pitiful—just skin and bones.

“…”

She tidied up her things, took out two cold fruits from a bag woven from bark and twigs, ate them, and then grabbed her simple homemade fishing rod before heading toward the waterfall at the back mountain to fish.

The area around the waterfall was deserted. A few years ago, outer sect disciples used to come here to catch fish, but then rumors spread that a malevolent demon beast was sealed at the bottom of the pool. Since then, no one dared come near. The demon beast wasn’t particularly strong, but most outer sect disciples were weak and didn’t dare provoke it.

As a result, the fish in the pool had nearly overpopulated. They were large and plump. Upon discovering this, Lian Mu had made frequent scouting trips. After confirming that her completely non-spiritual body wouldn’t trigger any disturbances, she finally brought her fishing rod.

Besides, immortal sects didn’t place seals for no reason. It wasn’t so easy to break them. Lian Mu didn’t quite understand why others would simply pass up a free meal.

She chose a spot where the fish were most abundant, set up her fishing rod stand, and used some precious crumbs from her steamed bun as bait, then sat in quiet anticipation.

“Plop—!”

A rock suddenly splashed into the water, scaring away a large fish that had just swum near.

Lian Mu: “…” So annoying.

Suddenly, she felt a pain in her back. Turning around, she saw a pebble about the size of a chestnut that had fallen from above.

“What are you doing here?”

—