A month ago, Fang Jinyu was shoveling poop.

A month later, Fang Jinyu was still shoveling poop.

And Fang Jinyu's stated reason for this was that he was grateful to the sect for giving him this chance to enter the Lingdu Secret Realm, so he volunteered to come shovel poop, to contribute his modest effort to the harmonious development of the Tianling Sect.

Because Fang Jinyu's parents had sacrificed themselves for the Tianling Sect, he could be considered one of the sect's most loyal disciples. Thus, this nonsense, which sounded plausible at first hearing but fell apart on closer examination, somehow went unquestioned.

Of course, there was nothing much to question.

And the reason he had shoveled poop for so long was that Fang Jinyu wasn't sure whether the master of the female lead Su Yier had stopped watching him.

But after today, he would no longer need to keep shoveling.

Because according to the book's description, Su Yier's master would have to leave the Tianling Sect in a month due to an urgent matter, which led to the female lead's first crisis.

Of course, as the protagonist, she would ultimately turn disaster into good fortune and reap great benefits.

However, because of this crisis, Su Yier's master... got cuckolded.

Yes, the kind of cuckolding everyone instantly understands.

After all, this female lead would keep a fish pond (many men).

Of course, none of this had anything to do with Fang Jinyu; right now he just wanted to survive.

[Today is still a day of shoveling poop]

[Extraction obtained: Hands-on Ability +1]

Looking up at the starry sky, Fang Jinyu felt a great sense of relief in his heart; this month was finally coming to an end.

Then, he felt a peculiar heat in his hands, as if the strength in both arms had suddenly increased.

And this was indeed no illusion.

His strength really had increased.

Hands-on Ability, as the name implies, is the ability to use one's hands.

In this month, aside from that absurd first day that gave him Charm +1, the following twenty-nine days had been fairly normal.

Such as Physical Fitness +1, Poison Resistance: Stench Resistance +1, Reaction Ability +1, etc.

All of them, in bits and pieces, were related to what Fang Jinyu had done that day.

And over the course of this month, although his cultivation hadn't advanced in the slightest, Fang Jinyu's overall strength had improved considerably. Not just his physical fitness, even the various spells he originally mastered now felt much more effortless when cast.

Because while repeatedly casting spells to bury the spirit beasts' excrement, he had obtained Spellcasting Speed +1 seven separate times.

However, Fang Jinyu also felt a bit regretful, because although it seemed like he had something akin to a system, he had no personal attribute panel, so even after a month of these +1s, he still had no precise concept of these numbers. Therefore, even though Fang Jinyu had this cheat, he still spent his days cautiously and carefully, not daring to be the slightest bit careless.

This was the last night, but Fang Jinyu still had not left the valley where the Black Pig spirit beasts lived.

The place was desolate; aside from that group of mutated black pigs, there were no other living creatures. So the Foundation Establishment cultivator stationed there, out of sheer boredom, simply invited Fang Jinyu to have a drink with him.

Because apart from Fang Jinyu, there was no one else.

This Manager Uncle-Master's surname was Li, and his spiritual root attribute was even better than Fang Jinyu's, being dual-attribute spiritual roots. The fewer the spiritual root attributes, the better the cultivation aptitude, with single-attribute spiritual roots being the best, known as Heavenly Spiritual Roots. As long as such cultivators didn't die prematurely or bring disaster upon themselves, becoming a Golden Core great cultivator was practically inevitable!

However, even though Uncle-Master Li had dual-attribute spiritual roots, because he had no backing within the Tianling Sect, after cultivating for most of his life, he was only at the third layer of Foundation Establishment.

It was said that he was held back in his youth, and his entry into the Lingdu Secret Realm was postponed by thirty years.

Otherwise, even if he hadn't formed a Golden Core yet, he should have been at the ninth layer of Foundation Establishment.

At that moment, a streak of light suddenly flashed across the night sky above their heads, carrying a terrifying pressure that shook heaven and earth. In an instant, it was already far away.

Uncle-Master Li saw it, and his originally smiling face immediately stiffened. Then he flicked his sleeve and said, "I'm tired. You may leave now!"

Qi Refining cultivators already didn't rely much on sleep, let alone Foundation Establishment cultivators.

So clearly, this was just an excuse.

But at this time, when Uncle-Master Li saw Fang Jinyu stand up to leave while still looking at the sky, he added, "That's the Sword Qi Rainbow of a sword cultivator, and such a disturbance can only come from a Golden Core great cultivator. If you encounter one in the future, hide as far away as you can. Sometimes even a single extra glance can cost you your life."

Fang Jinyu, hearing this, felt a surge of joy in his heart and immediately clasped his fists in thanks.

In addition to thanking Uncle-Master Li for the warning, it was also because these words revealed a lot of extremely useful information for him.

Because the Tianling Sect was not a sword cultivation sect. Although it had sword cultivation techniques, very few had achieved success with them, and the only one who could rely on sword cultivation techniques to reach the Golden Core stage was the master of the female lead Su Yier!

Still, Fang Jinyu stayed in this valley until dawn before leaving.

Using Wind Riding Art the whole way, Fang Jinyu was as light as a swallow, and in a short while, he had already returned to the mountain peak where he lived.

Then, in a cheerful mood, he walked toward his dwelling cave.

Because with this, he, a cannon fodder who was supposed to survive only one chapter, had preliminarily defied fate.

‘But there are still six months until the Lingdu Secret Realm opens. In these six months, I still can't let my guard down. I must stay away from both the female lead Su Yier and the people around her.’

What did the protagonist represent?

The center of all trouble!

His cultivation at the ninth layer of Qi Refining might seem decent, but there were at least a dozen cultivators like him on every peak of the Tianling Sect.

And the Tianling Sect had a total of seventy-two peaks.

If he got caught up in the whirlpool of trouble surrounding the protagonist, with his level of cultivation, even ten lives wouldn't be enough.

"Senior Brother, you're back? Senior Brother, have you become thoroughly marinated?"

A quirky little girl was just outside Fang Jinyu's cave dwelling. When she saw Fang Jinyu, her brows first curved in a happy expression, but the next second, she quickly pinched her little nose and ran to the side.

Fang Jinyu had the memories of his predecessor, so naturally, he recognized this little girl.

This little girl was named Xin Qianqian, also a disciple of the Tianling Sect, but not from this peak—she was from the neighboring peak. That peak was called the Goddess Peak and only accepted female disciples.

Xin Qianqian was familiar with his predecessor because she had encountered some trouble during a trip outside, and his predecessor happened to be there and helped her out. From then on, the two became acquainted.

"Junior Sister Xin, is there something you need from me?" Fang Jinyu asked, neither overly close nor distant.

"Here, Senior Brother, this is for you." Xin Qianqian took out a small jade bottle.

"Hundred Flowers Dew?" Fang Jinyu recognized the contents of the jade bottle, as it was a specialty of the Goddess Peak and a fairly pricey resource within the Tianling Sect.

A small bottle like this cost twenty spirit stones.

And twenty spirit stones was what Fang Jinyu earned from a month of hard work in the Spirit Beast Valley. Other chores might not even bring in ten a month.

Unlike the novels Fang Jinyu had read before, the Tianling Sect did not give ordinary disciples a monthly allowance of spirit stones unless they held a chore within the sect.

Furthermore, the Tianling Sect wouldn't issue tasks like an NPC.

And within the Tianling Sect, the higher one's cultivation, the more freedom one had.

Newly admitted disciples still had to attend morning and evening lessons, but once they reached the fourth layer of Qi Refining, whether to continue cultivating was up to them. However, every year they needed to work for one month, i.e., take on a chore.

For someone like Fang Jinyu at the ninth layer of Qi Refining, the annual one-month chore was waived; this was the Tianling Sect's way of letting its disciples focus on breaking through to Foundation Establishment.

After all, a Foundation Establishment cultivator not only had a lifespan of up to two hundred years but also a casual spell from them could match the combined force of over a dozen ninth-layer Qi Refining cultivators.

Therefore, once someone successfully broke through and became a Foundation Establishment cultivator, no one managed what they did anymore.

Love alchemy? Practice alchemy. Want to visit friends? Go visit friends. Complete freedom.

In addition, every month the Tianling Sect would distribute a sum of spirit stones to Foundation Establishment cultivators. If a Foundation Establishment cultivator took on a chore, their monthly salary could even double!

"It's exactly Hundred Flowers Dew. I heard that you, Senior Brother, went to help at the Spirit Beast Valley. If you use this to bathe three times, it can completely remove the odor from your body," Xin Qianqian said, pretending to be casual.

"Then thank you, Junior Sister Xin."

Fang Jinyu accepted the small jade bottle, because he truly needed this thing. Otherwise, for the next half-year or more, he would stink wherever he went.

"Senior Brother, you're really too honest. If you wanted to show gratitude to the sect, you could have done other chores!" Xin Qianqian was very happy when she saw Fang Jinyu accept it, but she couldn't help speaking her mind.

‘I was forced into it…’

Fang Jinyu muttered in his heart, but hearing the little girl say he was too honest, his gaze couldn't help but turn strange.

Because in the book's description, Xin Qianqian was the truly honest one!

Later on, she even took over a lapdog discarded by the female lead Su Yier.

And then, she met a tragic end.

Even though it was something the female lead didn't want anymore, it still counted as stealing a man from the protagonist! And who would fare well stealing from the protagonist?

‘But looking at this little girl now, she clearly has feelings for my predecessor. Why did she fall for someone else later? Oh, according to the original plot, by this point, my predecessor had already been dead and buried for several days... And this little girl didn't marry until more than ten years later, which can be considered doing right by him.’

Thinking of this, Fang Jinyu looked at the Hundred Flowers Dew in his hand and silently made a decision.

If he had the ability in the future, he would help this little girl, at least to prevent her from ending up as miserably as in the book, without even a complete corpse.

But if he didn't... then he would try his best to collect her body for her.

After all, the female lead Su Yier was an absolute cheater. According to the book's description, in just over ten years, relying on a series of... a series of cheats, she was already about to shatter her core and form a nascent soul!

"Senior Brother, the smell is too strong, I'm leaving first. By the way, Chen Baxing and his gang have been looking for you lately. Be careful, Senior Brother; I feel like they're up to no good."

Unable to bear the "soul-shaking" stench that had thoroughly marinated into Fang Jinyu, Xin Qianqian fled down the mountain as if escaping.

Watching her descend the mountain, Fang Jinyu fell into thought.

‘Chen Baxing?’

He knew of this person, a notorious "bad character" among the Qi Refining disciples of the Tianling Sect, who gathered a group to do some reselling business. But his reputation was extremely poor; he often went back on his word and was suspected of multiple instances of murder and robbery.

However, such a person, in the book's description, lived all the way to the end.

Simply because Chen Baxing fell in love with the female lead Su Yier at first sight.

Whatever Su Yier said to go east, he wouldn't dare go west. Whatever Su Yier wanted, even if it cost him half his life, Chen Baxing would obtain it and deliver it to her.

As the saying goes, if you love someone, your values are correct.

And Fang Jinyu was the one with incorrect values, which was why he only lived one chapter.

‘I've never met Chen Baxing, and my predecessor had no dealings with him either, so why is this fellow looking for me?’

Fang Jinyu was perplexed, then thought for a moment and decided to take a bath first.

Hundred Flowers Dew truly lived up to its worth of twenty spirit stones. Just a single drop filled the whole room with fragrance.

After bathing, Fang Jinyu felt much more refreshed, and all the fatigue accumulated over the month was swept away.

‘Next, let me try to see what I can extract from cultivating for a day!’