Chapter 1: Version Update

“Lu Yan! Go bring out the talisman papers from the warehouse. Don’t forget to clean them with a Dust Removal Talisman.”

“Lu Yan! Why is there twenty percent less cinnabar for talisman drawing today? I’m paying you one Spirit Stone a month—am I doing that so you can slack off?”

“This talisman paper is damaged! What the hell are you even doing? I’m docking half a Spirit Stone from your pay to cover the loss!”

Inside the Talisman Shop, the rotund shopkeeper Chu Hao barked one scolding after another, berating the only assistant in the shop.

The assistant looked to be about twenty years old. He had a slender frame and a handsome face with a scholarly air, but the rough hemp robe he wore completely undercut his refined appearance.

He only lowered his head in silence, following Chu Hao’s orders as he organized materials and mixed cinnabar.

It was already late in the evening. The market street was quiet, with few cultivators coming and going to buy spiritual goods. Chu Hao’s loud shouting soon attracted a small crowd of nearby shopkeepers and workers.

One shopkeeper, unable to bear it any longer, finally spoke up to advise him:

“Shopkeeper Chu, ease up a little, will you? That kid Lu Yan’s a diligent and dependable worker. If you scare him off, where are you going to find someone else that reliable?”

Chu Hao, the round-bellied shopkeeper, glared and shouted without hesitation:

“Three-legged frogs are hard to find, but two-legged people are everywhere! If he quits, there are plenty of others who’ll take the job!”

“And besides, these mortals are all ungrateful bastards anyway. Sooner or later, they’ll try to run off.”

“You want me to treat him like those other heartless good-for-nothings—feeding and housing him well, only for him to steal my family’s cultivation techniques and Spirit Stones before vanishing?”

With that statement, the crowd around him fell into an awkward silence.

Bamboo Grove Market wasn’t very large. Everyone had heard a thing or two about what had happened to Shopkeeper Chu.

A few years ago, Chu Hao had taken in a shop assistant with cultivation potential, intending to train him as a successor. He provided the young man with cultivation techniques and even personally taught him how to draw talismans.

But soon after the assistant reached the Qi Refining Stage, he took advantage of Chu Hao’s absence, cleaned out the shop’s techniques and Spirit Stones, and disappeared without a trace, causing immense losses.

Since then, Chu Hao had become completely distrustful of assistants, resorting to constant scolding and beatings.

In just four or five short years, over twenty assistants had come and gone, with the shortest tenure lasting only half a month.

At that thought, the other shopkeepers could only shake their heads and quietly disperse.

Standing at the doorway, Chu Hao glanced at the darkening sky, left a final remark, and then hurried off.

Inside the Talisman Shop, only Lu Yan remained, diligently cleaning and organizing.

Lu Yan had been brought into the shop three months ago by Chu Hao. Despite working earnestly every day, he was constantly nitpicked and punished.

Chu Hao claimed to pay one Spirit Stone per month, but in reality, within three days of work, the entire month’s pay would be docked clean.

Spirit Stone deductions for damaged talisman papers, subpar cinnabar, slow business, or even haggling customers—it seemed everything was Lu Yan’s fault.

Three months later, Lu Yan actually owed the shop twenty-seven Spirit Stones.

That amount was more than what most early-stage Qi Refining cultivators had to their name. Compared to Chu Hao, even the greediest capitalists would seem generous and kind.

“No—twenty-seven and a half,” Lu Yan silently corrected himself while stacking the talisman papers.

To outsiders, Lu Yan was just another assistant Chu Hao had picked from some mortal city. But only Lu Yan knew the truth—he didn’t belong to this world.

Lu Yan came from Earth, a world that only he remembered. His soul had crossed through space and time, landing in the body of someone with the same name.

At first, the world he encountered resembled a bustling modern city, with technological development and cultural norms almost identical to Earth in the 21st century.

That was until three months ago, when Lu Yan experienced what he could only describe as a version update.

At that moment, he realized the truth of the world.

As if driven by some supreme force, the world had transformed into a game. The entire setting had shifted from a modern version into a Xianxia (Immortal Cultivation) version.

In the blink of an eye, the skyscrapers disappeared, replaced by ancient architecture. The prosperous cities became humble mortal towns. The complex and sophisticated technologies vanished without a trace. The original societal order was wiped clean.

And in its place emerged cultivators who could ride swords through the skies and soar into the heavens—becoming the new rulers of this Immortal Cultivation world.

Through all this upheaval, every living being seemed completely unaware. They simply followed along as if nothing had changed.

Even those who once ruled cities or held the power of cultivation were subject to the version change and had to obey its rules.

In this great transformation, Lu Yan, as an outsider, was the only one who remained unaffected by the update.

He witnessed with his own eyes how tall buildings turned into lowly huts, how flourishing metropolises became rustic towns. Familiar faces vanished, and even the few that remained now had completely different identities.

Among all things that had changed, only Lu Yan himself remained constant—able to retain memories from different versions, and even keep items from the previous one.

This should have been a great advantage. But before he could even adapt, Lu Yan was chosen by Chu Hao, who had come to the mortal city in search of an assistant.

Forced to follow him to Bamboo Grove Market, Lu Yan was thrust into endless, grueling labor.

In the beginning, Lu Yan still held hopes about the so-called cultivation arts and the wondrous life of the Immortal Cultivation world.

But after enduring Chu Hao’s harsh exploitation—sleeping on cold, hard planks, eating food barely fit to swallow—his illusions had all but crumbled.

Even if there truly was a life of carefree sword-riding across the skies, it would never belong to a lowly market worker like him.

The harsh living conditions were only part of it. The true horror was that this new Xianxia version lacked any stable order.

In the modern version, there had been power and wealth inequality, yes—but everyone was still human. A gun or a knife could still level the playing field.

But in this Immortal Cultivation world, mortals and cultivators were no longer the same kind of beings. The disparity was so vast it could not even be quantified.

This was a world that ate people alive.

And not just metaphorically—this was literal.

Staying silent wouldn’t protect him. If he didn’t want to be devoured, he would have to fight back.

After placing the last stack of talisman papers on the shelf, Lu Yan walked over to the counter, opened the drawer, and took out the remaining thirteen Spirit Stones and the few completed talismans.

Then, under the puzzled gazes of nearby shopkeepers, he shut the doors of the Talisman Shop and walked toward the rear courtyard.

In front of his eyes, a string of ethereal text appeared.

【Current Version: Xianxia
Version Update Progress: 99.3%】

(End of Chapter)