Bai Yunfei gazed out at the garden in his front yard.
He sat in a creaky wooden rocking chair on the porch. His five-year-old son was playing in the dirt, accompanied by his wife. From time to time, they glanced his way and smiled warmly.
This peaceful, simple life in the countryside was exactly what Bai Yunfei had longed for. Unlike most protagonists who get transported into cultivation worlds and chase after immortality, he didn't crave such things. To him, a quiet mortal life was far more valuable than the endless bloodshed and struggle on the path to immortality.
...Or so he told himself.
No, that was a lie.
Who wouldn't desire immortality?
It wasn't that Bai Yunfei didn't want to walk the path of cultivation. On the contrary, he had already found a way to reach it—one that required almost no effort at all.
He was born with a rare and powerful constitution known as the Chaotic Divine Body. With this physique, simply breathing was enough to raise his cultivation level. He didn't need medicinal pills, secret techniques, or arduous training. Just sleeping, eating, and going about his day-to-day life was sufficient for his power to steadily increase.
But even so, gaining power didn't mean he could act recklessly. The cultivation world was still a brutal and unforgiving place. It was wiser to stay humble and live like an ordinary man. After all, his strength would continue to grow whether he did anything or not.
"Honey, go ahead and start cooking. I'll bathe Xiao Cai.
Xiao Cai, come with Daddy. Let's take a bath together."
Bai Yunfei rose from his chair, called out to them, and walked over.
His wife nodded in response, and Bai Yunfei gently picked up Xiao Cai.
The boy still wanted to keep playing, but with a bit of coaxing, he gave in. Bai Yunfei even promised him that Mommy would cook his favorite dish after the bath.
Their dining table was a simple low table laid out over a woven mat.
They got most of their ingredients straight from the garden out front. The three of them lived in a modest house with two bedrooms and a kitchen that shared space with the dining and main living areas.
Behind the house was a small shed where they stored their harvests.
They made a living selling vegetables at the market and grew rice as their staple food.
This was Bai Yunfei's sixth year living in the village.
Locals knew him as a wandering martial artist who had settled down in search of a peaceful life.
At first, the villagers had been wary of him, suspecting he might be a fugitive or a bandit in hiding.
But as time passed and they got to know him, they saw his kind and gentle nature, and their suspicions faded. In time, they welcomed him as one of their own.
Cultivators weren't unheard of in this world, but most of them lived in the central regions of the continent. In remote villages like this one, martial artists were more common. In fact, even a cultivator at the Qi Gathering stage would be considered a powerhouse worthy of deep respect in small towns.
"Brother Bai! Are you home?"
A voice called out from outside.
"Ah, Brother Meng! Come on in, join us for dinner," Bai Yunfei replied warmly.
The visitor was Meng Fan, a man in his thirties and one of the village hunters.
Because they were of similar age, he and Bai Yunfei had become fast friends.
"No need, I just ate," Meng Fan declined politely, patting his slightly bulging stomach.
"I just came to remind you that it's our shift for patrol tomorrow morning. Lately, the demon beasts have been more active as the Cursed Moon approaches. The village chief wants us to tighten security. That's all, I'll be off now."
"Alright. I'll be there tomorrow. Take care."
The Cursed Moon was a time when demonic beasts appeared in overwhelming numbers.
It was said that during this time, evil spirits awoke from hibernation and spread a thick, poisonous miasma.
On the night of the full moon, the moon itself would turn crimson.
The miasma would cause wild animals to go mad, transforming them into feral demon beasts.
Once the cursed cycle passed, they would usually return to normal.
Every year, the village's adult men would take turns standing guard during this period.
The entire village was already protected with talismans and traps meant to deter demon beasts.
But those defenses only worked against low-grade ones—and they still needed maintenance.
Against stronger demon beasts, traps alone wouldn't suffice.
That's why martial artists like Bai Yunfei were so vital.
They often patrolled the perimeter to check for broken traps or weakened talismans.