Little South Continent, Profound One Spirit Marsh.
At night, above the Fan Family mansion, the sky was heavy with rain clouds, layered dark clouds stretching across, with faint flashes of red light.
Patriarch Fan's brows were tightly knit,
"Such an anomaly, I don't know if it's good or bad."
He stood at the door, holding a newborn baby in his arms, waiting anxiously.
Soon, a purple light tore through the sky and crashed down. After the purple light dissipated, an elderly Daoist with crane-like hair appeared.
Seeing this, Fan Qi quickly approached with the child in his arms,
"Daoist Yushan, you've arrived. It's a boy, four pounds and two ounces. The name is already chosen, Fan Wubing."
The elderly Daoist frowned slightly,
"Four pounds and two ounces? I'm afraid..."
"Daoist, please take a look at this child's fate."
The elderly Daoist took the child and looked, stunned for a moment,
"So quickly opened his eyes?"
Fan Qi nodded,
"He was just born, didn't cry or fuss, just opened his eyes."
The infant not only opened his eyes but they were darting around nonstop, looking as if he was about to speak.
Of course, he couldn't speak; opening his eyes had already taken all his strength. But in his mind, he kept talking,
"Damn it! I really transmigrated! So… the surgery failed after all. Sigh—Dad, I'm sorry, making you see your child pass before you. If I had known, I wouldn't have worked so hard when I was young, didn't even earn much, and got cancer instead. Sigh—"
Fan Qi then brought up the previous anomaly,
"When this child was born, layered clouds with flashing red light, I don't know if it's good or bad."
The elderly Daoist, with sharp eyes, stared at the baby for a while, then furrowed his brow,
"Layered rain, Ying Huo revealed. Destiny flawed, life star wavering. I'm afraid… he might not survive past the age of five. Fan Wubing, Wubing... just hope for a life free of illness and disaster, defying that heavenly will and following this human path."
"Fi—Five years? You mean, he won't live past five?"
"Alas..." the Daoist sighed.
Not only was Fan Qi stunned, but even the baby Fan Wubing was stunned.
In his heart, he angrily cursed the Daoist, you pestilent immortal, what kind of wild tales are you spouting with just one look, who are you cursing, saying I won't live past five? Even a roadside blind man needs to work a bit harder, look at you, one foot in the grave already, can you even live five years—
But before he could finish cursing, a cold wind suddenly blew in from outside, hitting his face, then a line of text appeared before his eyes—
[You've caught a cold, HP -0.1...
Halfway through reading, he was overjoyed, saying I'm sickly? Look, look! Just caught a cold and only lost 0.1 of HP!
Immediately after, he saw the latter half,
... Current HP, 0.9/1]
His eyes widened, and he was dumbfounded. In the two seconds he was stunned—
[You've caught a cold, HP -0.1, Current HP 0.8/1]
[You've caught a cold, HP -0.1, Current HP 0.7/1]
One second deducts 0.1 point!
Shit, save me! You two bastards, stop talking at the door, the wind is killing me!
Urgently anxious in his heart, but his mouth could only babble incoherently.
Damn! I'm just a newborn baby!
How does a baby ask for help? Right!
A brilliant idea sparked, and he started crying loudly. The cry was so resounding, it startled Fan Qi, who immediately panicked,
"Daoist Yushan, what's going on?"
Daoist Yushan was puzzled too,
"Eh, very strange, very strange, with a flawed destiny, it should be extremely weak, how can the crying be so loud?"
[You've caught a cold, HP -0.1, Current HP 0.5/1]
Fan Wubing cursed internally, you two bastards stop being strange, I'm dying here!
As expected, it was the midwife at the side who had experience, quickly saying,
"There's a draft at the door, he might be catching a chill."
It was then that Fan Qi realized, quickly bringing him inside, back to his mother's embrace.
Warmth, softness.
At that moment, Fan Wubing felt like he had ascended to heaven. Well, he indeed almost did ascend, with HP dropping to just 0.2. Gratefully, he looked at the midwife beside him, a lifesaver indeed!
[You feel warmth, HP recovering]
Fan Wubing estimated that the HP recovery was slow, about 0.1 every ten seconds. After about a minute, it finally recovered fully to 1 point.
He couldn't help but curse internally, blood loss at 0.1 per second, recovery at 0.1 per ten seconds, could this be any more of a scam!
After calming down a bit, he belatedly realized,
Shit, a system!
He hastily opened his own panel,
["The Long Journey of Immortality" Player Attribute Panel]
Seeing the first line, he froze.
This is "The Long Journey of Immortality"? The cultivation game I was playing? Oh right! Before I went into the operating room, I was lying in bed passing the time playing "The Long Journey of Immortality"! Could it be that I've crossed into the game world?
He continued reading,
[Fan Wubing]
[Age: Less than a day]
[Life: 1/1]
[Cultivation: None]
[Physique: Cursed Physique
Fate is incomplete, fate star wavers, powerless and weak
Feature: Every five years, suffers 99.99% damage to the maximum life due to Ying Huo's predator attack]
[Talent: Life Should Not End
Even the heavens grant a slim chance of survival, let alone a cursed body?
Feature: No life limit, but unable to grow naturally]
This panel, this layout, this font, it's definitely the player panel of "The Long Journey of Immortality", but... Cursed Physique! Isn't that the most trashy physique in the game! Because it has no positive effects, it's considered the epitome of the developers' malice, and players would restart upon getting this physique.
Fan Wubing felt numb inside, no wonder that old man said I wouldn't live past five, suffering 99.99% damage to life limits every five years, leaving 0.01% health, what's 0.01% of 1? 0.0001!
With a breeze, 0.1 health drops, and with 0.0001 health, wouldn't he die upon contact with light?
As for the talent [Life Should Not End], it's the last straw that breaks the camel's back!
A baby can only hope for natural growth of life, but this talent blocks that path.
"No life limit", sounds impressive. In "The Long Journey of Immortality", to avoid numeric inflation, all attributes have caps, gradually raised through version updates.
But the immediate problem is, if the lower limit can't hold, what's the use of the upper limit?
Not to mention Ying Huo's predator attacks, surviving to five with this talent would be a miracle!
Oh heavens, you could've just let me die outright, but instead, let me experience this crossing, truly moving.
Daoist Yushan said,
"Patriarch Fan, let this Jade Talisman be a meeting gift from me to Wubing. Someday, if Wubing survives beyond five, it defies fate, and I will take him on as a disciple, to fight for him."
Fan Qi was filled with mixed emotions, sighing deeply,
"Daoist——"
"No need to say more."
With that, Daoist Yushan transformed into a feather and vanished with ease.
Fan Qi took a red string, strung the Jade Talisman and hung it on Fan Wubing's neck,
"Wubing, did you hear what Daoist said? Defy that fate, fight for that breath."
Having said that, he glanced at the mother on the bed, turned and left,
"Madam, rest well, don't develop any ailments."
Then, the previously hopeless Fan Wubing saw a glimmer of hope from this Jade Talisman,
[Old Warm Blood Jade Talisman]
[Fixed Effect: Increases max life by 1 point]
[Limited Effect: When life reaches 0, restores 10% life, effective once only]
What...
Put it on quickly!
[You equipped the Old Warm Blood Jade Talisman, increasing max life by 1 point, current max 2 points]
Fan Wubing suddenly realized, oh right! This is the world of "The Long Journey of Immortality"!
What is "The Long Journey of Immortality"? A large open-world cultivation mobile game, filled with various items, especially those related to life.
Things like increasing max life, life recovery, reducing life deduction rate... everything you could think of! Conversion of life into offensive and defensive measures are also abundant!
Most importantly...
As someone bedridden for over a year, Fan Wubing thoroughly explored this game. He knew exactly where every rare item was on the big map!
Suddenly, a prompt appeared, interrupting his reverie,
[You feel hungry, life -0.2, current life 1.8/2 points]
Damn! Hunger takes that much?!
No matter, just cry it out first!
"Wah—Wah—"
Mother Lan Sisi gently patted his back and asked,
"Wubing, are you hungry?"
Fan Wubing truly hadn't learned how to play the role of a newborn yet, immediately nodding. After nodding, he froze, and so did his mom. But being a mother, having just given birth, she shed her clothes and fed him. While feeding, she spoke softly,
"Wubing... I don't understand fate or cultivation, but as long as I'm alive, I won't let you go before me. Wubing..."
Under the gentle whispers of the woman, Fan Wubing couldn't resist the exhaustion of a newborn's body, and slowly, he fell asleep.