MJWCATFPITWOC Chapter 1

Chapter 1 Puppet Dao

Shen Yucheng slowly opened his eyes, his eyelids feeling as if they were glued together, requiring great effort to see the dark sky.

He was currently sprawled on the ground, covered in dirt and dust. He tried to get up, but the slightest movement sent waves of excruciating pain through his body. Each breath was accompanied by intense agony.

Damn it…

Shen Yucheng didn’t have a habit of sleeping on the ground. Just a few hours ago, he was peacefully sweeping the floor in the Lingfeng Sect when a group of disciples, from who knows where, forcibly held him down and beat him up.

In the chaos, he saw that the leader of the group was Cheng Mufei, the eldest son of the wealthy Cheng Family, one of the richest cultivation families. His family’s status and his position as the eldest son made him arrogant, domineering, and contemptuous of others.

At the time, the man was cursing and yelling, saying that Shen Yucheng had stolen his woman.

Shen Yucheng only felt that the other party was insane. As someone who started as a menial worker, he used all his energy just to complete his daily tasks. Where would he find the time to pursue romance?

Despite the pain all over his body, he dragged his injured body step by step back to the Small Wooden Hut. Each step tugged at his wounds, and after only a few steps, his forehead was already covered in cold sweat and his breathing was rapid and labored.

Back at the Small Wooden Hut, he collapsed on the wooden bed. Ignoring his injuries, he passed out as soon as he touched the bed. During this time, he vaguely woke up two or three times, feeling a heat all over his body. The injured areas faintly ached, but the burning sensation in his *dantian* was the most intense, spreading to every part of his body.

Shen Yucheng felt like he hadn’t been so close to the underworld since he was chased by five big wolves when he was a child. He felt like he could see the Black and White Impermanence coming to greet him.

.

In the spacious Medical Clinic, the Immortal Doctor with white hair and a long beard put down the hand he was using to take Shen Yucheng’s pulse. His gray-white eyebrows were furrowed together, as if he couldn’t believe Shen Yucheng’s physical condition. “Are you really human?”

The young man in front of him still had some purplish-red bruises on his face, but this couldn’t hide his exquisite features. His deep features were as sharp as if they were carved, his thick black hair fell casually, and a trace of unfathomable mystery was hidden in his dark eyes.

With that opening remark, Shen Yucheng pulled back his arm and touched his face. “…Do I look that much like an animal?”

The Immortal Doctor realized he had been misunderstood and changed his approach. “Your Five Spiritual Roots have been opened up and merged into one. It’s simply unheard of. Were you born like this?”

However, Shen Yucheng was just a mortal. Forget about the fusion of Spiritual Roots, he didn’t even have Five Spiritual Roots before.

Thinking of those talented people with Heavenly Spiritual Roots, a hint of secret joy flashed in his heart. Everyone had fantasized about being a favored child of heaven. “Is the fusion of Spiritual Roots the same as having a Single Spiritual Root?”

The Immortal Doctor looked troubled. “Since ancient times, Heavenly Spiritual Roots have produced geniuses, Dual Spiritual Roots are considered prodigies, and everything below that is ordinary. Five Spiritual Roots are the most ordinary of the ordinary. But the gathering of Five Spiritual Roots into one can only produce a freak.”

He continued, “No one cultivates Five Spiritual Roots because it’s difficult to focus on improving them. And those with Five Spiritual Roots are generally ordinary, so they can’t become talented. Over time, no one tries anymore. But with your Five Spiritual Roots merged into one, your spiritual power is excessively abundant. One day, your spiritual power might break through your meridians and you will explode and die.”

Shen Yucheng stared at the Immortal Doctor’s beard, wondering if he had committed some great crime that could destroy a nation in his previous life. Why was his fate filled with nothing but hardships and exploding to death?

But he didn’t sink into despair for long. After a moment of thought, he suddenly understood. “The spiritual power breaking through the meridians is because the capacity of the *dantian* is insufficient. What if I increase my cultivation to expand my *dantian*?”

Unexpectedly, his mind worked so fast. The Immortal Doctor nodded. “In theory, it’s feasible. But in reality, we can’t know the speed at which your spiritual power condenses. If you can’t control it, you might break your body from the inside.”

The Immortal Doctor further explained that Shen Yucheng would have more difficulty cultivating than others. “Because you need to consider this problem, you need to be more careful than anyone else when facing the inevitable battles between cultivators, and you need to spare some of your mind to pay attention to your spiritual meridians.”

Shen Yucheng understood. Before he left, the Immortal Doctor said, “There are three thousand great Daos. You can only be considered to have embarked on the path of cultivation when you find your own Dao. But remember, there is one Dao that you must not cultivate—the Puppet Dao. Those who cultivate this Dao must be killed.”

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Shen Yucheng lost his parents at a young age. At the age of twelve, he went through many hardships to enter the Lingfeng Sect, famous throughout the Immortal Realm. Although he was a menial worker, this place had the best treatment among all the immortal sects, including food and lodging, and a monthly salary. The daily chores were divided equally among everyone, and there were countless people who wanted to come here.

Because of his outstanding abilities, Shen Yucheng became a supervisor among the menial workers in his cohort within a few years of joining the sect. He no longer had to do the hard work of carrying water up the mountain. But because of his handsome appearance, there were often female immortal cultivators who took a fancy to his looks and wanted to take him as a male concubine. Over time, the other menial workers became jealous of his preferential treatment and secretly targeted him.

Shen Yucheng thought about being beaten up by Cheng Mufei. Non-aristocratic family members were like ants in front of this young master. This time, he was probably stuck with a bad root, and if he didn’t handle it well, he would rot in the ground.

But now, the more important thing was the problem with his spiritual root. Shen Yucheng felt the flow of spiritual power in his body. The spiritual power was still operating. If he didn’t quickly improve his cultivation, every day would be a countdown to his death.

Back at the Menial Office, Shen Yucheng looked at the pile of documents on his desk and sighed, resigned to his fate as he sat down to process them. He felt that before his spiritual power exploded and killed him, he would be crushed by these documents first.

“Bang!” A sound of someone slamming their hand on the table rang out, accompanied by a provocative voice. “Oh, our Shen supervisor is finally back. We thought you had offended someone outside and were beaten to death!”

Shen Yucheng raised his head and saw a man looking down at him. They were clearly wearing the same work clothes, but the other party wore them with a seductive air.

Shen Yucheng ignored him and continued to process the documents. The man was enraged by this and slapped a hand on the documents. “Do you think you’re still that high-and-mighty supervisor? You’ve been gone for half a month. I’m the new supervisor now! You’re a bitch who doesn’t know the rules!”

The other menial workers snickered and gossiped:

“Who does he think he is? He’s just a bit better looking, but he’s arrogant.”

Shen Yucheng was thankful to this person in his heart. He didn’t know if he was being insulted or praised.

“Don’t you know? I heard he seduced a certain family’s beloved daughter. Who doesn’t know that Young Master Cheng likes that girl? He just had to be a slut, so Young Master Cheng taught him a lesson.”

Shen Yucheng quickly sorted out a pile of documents, listening to their words with divided attention.

Was “Mou” a surname? He rarely heard it.

“That’s right. We thought he was dead after not coming for half a month. We didn’t expect him to swagger back today, still dreaming of being a supervisor.”

Shen Yucheng had no impression of this Miss Mou at all. It must be a rumor spread by others to get Cheng Mufei to deal with him.

Just as he was about to stand up and speak, a voice came. “So you’re not dead. You’re really tough.”

Cheng Mufei had arrived at the Menial Office at some point. Five disciples and a menial worker were standing next to him, diligently accepting the tips Cheng Mufei was giving them.

Shen Yucheng’s eyes were lifeless. What a terrible day.

Cheng Mufei smiled and took two steps forward. “Didn’t I say last time, don’t let me see you again, or I’ll beat you every time I see you?”

As soon as he finished speaking, the several underlings behind him rushed towards Shen Yucheng, wanting to suppress his limbs first.

Shen Yucheng murmured softly, “Is this ever going to end?” He had been beaten so badly last time that he had multiple fractures and serious injuries. He didn’t want to just touch the ground and end up back in bed again.

The five men rushed towards him at the same time. Shen Yucheng desperately dodged their attacks.

The target in front of them suddenly disappeared. The five men didn’t have time to stop and crashed into each other. They were led by Shen Yucheng to collide several times, until one of them fainted.

Shen Yucheng was covered in sweat. This method was useful, but it was extremely inefficient. Continuing like this would only be detrimental to him.

Cheng Mufei was furious on the side and roared, “Are you guys useless! You can’t even handle a menial worker!”

With that, the disciples angrily pressed the other party to the ground. Shen Yucheng felt pain. Seeing that they were about to take the opportunity to attack, he gritted his teeth and struggled. His legs, enduring the pain, swung towards their feet, causing them to lose their balance in an instant.

As the disciples fell to the ground, Shen Yucheng inexplicably felt a burst of relief in his body. Besides the pressure on his body being reduced, there was also something more in his body.

Shen Yucheng touched his abdomen. This feeling was like… being relieved after being constipated for three months.

He looked down at the disciples writhing on the ground like worms, thinking that this was really annoying and he didn’t want to fight anymore.

Cheng Mufei was about to order the menial worker to be beaten to death when he saw that after the disciples stood up, they all retreated half a *zhang* away from Shen Yucheng. His temples throbbed and he cursed, “What are you doing! He’s just a useless person without Spiritual Roots! Do you need to hide from him!”

Shen Yucheng was also stunned by this scene. He cautiously took a small step forward, and the disciples formed a circle, with Shen Yucheng as the center. Their movements were like a touch-me-not plant, neat and uniform. With a “swoosh,” they took another step back.

If a national dance master saw this scene, they would definitely accept them as disciples.

Shen Yucheng raised an eyebrow. What was going on? Was there shit on him?

Cheng Mufei was even more enraged, stamping his feet on the ground, but still no one paid attention.

Shen Yucheng noticed the disciples’ empty eyes, as if they were being controlled, but they were staring intently in his direction.

A possibility sprouted in his mind. He first shook his body lightly a few times. As expected, the disciples retreated as he had imagined, swaying back and forth between retreating and not retreating.

The scene was very shocking, and a little comical.

The national dance master shed tears again.

Shen Yucheng couldn’t believe it. To verify it again, he muttered in a low voice, “Get rid of the ugliest person on the scene.”

Upon hearing this, the disciples suddenly turned around and pounced on Cheng Mufei. Their momentum was so great that it was as if the other party was not only the ugliest person on the scene, but the ugliest person in the world.

“Are you trying to rebel!” Even this shout couldn’t stop their attack. Cheng Mufei couldn’t care so much at the moment, and before he could think carefully about why they would suddenly do this, he dodged and ran away just before the fist hit him.

As he left, he left a sentence: “Shen Yucheng! I’ll remember you!”

Shen Yucheng pursed his lips. This had nothing to do with him.

However, what was going on?

Losing their target, the disciples stood in place again, looking at Shen Yucheng like chess pieces waiting for orders.

Shen Yucheng suddenly remembered that he hadn’t yet known what Dao he had awakened after activating his Spiritual Roots.

Looking at the absent-minded disciples in front of him, he had a bad feeling.

At the same time, the Immortal Doctor’s words floated in his mind: Remember, there is one Dao that must not be cultivated—the Puppet Dao. Those who cultivate this Dao must be killed.

At this time, in the woods not far away, someone witnessed the whole process: “…Puppet Dao.”