Chapter 1  : This World Is Very Dangerous

“Sensational! A red fox the size of a calf spotted in the snowfields of Daxing’anling! It has two wings growing over its back, speaks human language, and breathes flames!”

“A brave old lady in her eighties has captured two car thieves by moving quicker than Bolt! Foreign media is shocked—does Hua Nation Kung Fu really exist?”

“Old Taoist priest takes to the air on a white crane! Magic? Immortal?”

“Yesterday, a third-grader of our city broke the world record of weight-lifting by carrying a tractor with one hand!”

***

Jinyintan Village, Lingzhou City, Xibei.

Jiang He was staring bewilderedly at his phone screen inside a brick and mortar village house.

It was just two hours since he had transmigrated to this world.

He had been very thrilled at the start—the history and culture of this world was very similar to the previous world. In fact, Jiang He was considering how he should build an empire of culture with the novels, visual arts, and music knowledge he had in this mind.

That was when he realized that the Qi in this world had been revalidated, leaving him with the impulse of cursing out.

How was he supposed to become Wen Chao Gong1? He could die without knowing if he’s not careful!

“That’s not right!”

“Those videos and posts that were uploaded online would be promptly 404ed, which means the departments concerned are still intent on keeping those things secret. Could it be that the revival of Qi has just started?”

Pocketing his phone, Jiang He fell into deep thought.

Generally speaking, the revival of Qi was usually brought about by various coincidences. Could he perhaps exploit those, exploiting the opportunity to train himself into a peerless champion, rising to the pinnacle of humankind?

“Forget it!”

“How am I supposed to exploit anything with this body of mine?”

“Winged foxes that breathe flames are already here! Who knows what other monsters there would be? I’ll get myself killed first even before I could exploit anything!”

Lying on his bed, Jiang He began to reject his own idea in his head. “Others would awaken a System the moment they transmigrate, matched with cheat items, and immediately become peerless champions. Compared to them, wouldn’t I be a fake transmigrator?”

And yet, even as he cursed a way, a clear jingle rang in his head.

Ding!

“System activated. Binding…”

“Binding complete. The Great Starter Pack has been awarded to Host, please check at your leisure.”

Jiang He jumped off his bed with a quiver, finding lines of data appearing before his eyes.

[Name: Jiang He]

[Cultivation: None]

[Ability]: None]

[Owned Land: 888㎡]

[Farm Level: 1]

[System Backpack: 3 boxes]

[System Shop: Locked]

[Farm Points: 0]

“Land? Farm? What system is this?”

Even as the thought crossed his mind, Jiang He turned towards the System Backpack which was similar to the item bar in other games, with each box representing one space where an item could be placed.

And in the first box lay a golden embroidered sack: The Great Starter Pack.

[Ding!]

[Congratulations, host! You have obtained one cucumber seed.]

[Congratulations, host! You have obtained +500 farm points.]

“???”

“Is that it?”

Jiang He was at once bewildered, almost vomiting a mouthful of blood.

“Other great starter packs would give a Natural Spirit Gem, Nine Orifice Golden Pellet, Godly Arts or Ancient Sage Form! Even the next best would have a Restoration Pellet that strengthens you with decades of cultivation or a billion dollars for starting investments. And all I get… is one cucumber seed?”

One!

It would at least have been acceptable if it was a bag!

After he had complained for half a beat and the System did not react at all, Jiang He decided he was forced to accept reality and hence consoled himself. “Maybe the cucumber seed produced by the System is just special?”

Jiang He hence drew out the cucumber seed from the System Backpack.

“Woah…”

He almost jumped.

The cucumber seed was at least the size of a thumb and entirely golden, with a faint sweet scent flowing from it.

Then, a series of data appeared before his eyes.

[Cucumber Seed]

[Attributes: Coldproof, heatproof, short maturing cycle, high yield.]

“Is this really a cucumber seed?”

Jiang He was himself a farmer’s apprentice to the core. Had he not seen any crop that could be planted in Xibei?

Even so, he had really never heard of a cucumber seed that was this huge.

Moreover, he had fused ‘memories’ and learned that ‘he’ was an orphan—both his parents had passed away when he was three, and he lived with his grandfather since then.

His grandfather, in turn, died of a serious illness when he was a second-year university student.

After handling his grandfather’s funeral matters, ‘Jiang He’ continued his studies while working part-time, and only returned to this village after he graduated last year, and this time working odd-jobs while looking for a proper job.

He had also inherited a yard his grandfather had left him.

It was two Mu1 and therefore quite large, with three brick-tiled houses in it along with a one-Mu wide orchard.

However, the orchard hadn’t been managed for years, with every fruit tree and peach tree almost dead following several years of continuous drought.

Therefore, when ‘Jiang He’ had returned to the village, he uprooted every last tree, plowing the ground before planting some fruits and vegetables in the coming spring.

What a coincidence.

Let’s try planting the cucumber.

Arriving in the orchard, Jiang He dug a hole with his bare hands and dumped the cucumber seed inside.

He glanced at the System, noticing that the System Shop which was yet to be unlocked was open after he obtained 500 farm points. But perhaps his clearance was still too low, he could only buy one type of item at the moment:

[Nitrogen fertilizer: one pellet for 100 farm points]

???

Jiang He’s mouth was hanging open.

Even if he was a real university student in his own right, only ‘o sh*t’ described his state of mind at the moment.

He had of course heard of nitrogen fertilizers, which was also known as ‘pee essence’ that enriches the soil and promotes the growth of crops. That being said, they were usually sold in bags of 50 kilograms that cost up to eighty or ninety bucks, so why would this System sell it by single pellets?

“Maybe it’s a special fertilizer like the cucumber seed…”

Jiang He therefore redeemed one.

And it was just as he had thought.

That single pellet of nitrogen fertilizer was the size of a fist, crystal-clear, and glowed faintly. Indeed, it looked nicer than a pearl.

Jiang He hence threw it into the small hole, burying it beneath the soil and returned to his room.

He was about to water it.

However.

He was left completely dumbstruck when he returned to the orchard with half a bucket of water.

There, a cucumber sprout had grown out of the soil in the exact spot where he buried the cucumber seed, and it was still growing rapidly at a rate visible to the naked eye.