Chapter 1: Seed of Longevity

Late October, the 23rd year of Tianwu.

The Great Liang Imperial Palace.

"No! Boss, don't fire me, I haven't finished paying off my mortgage yet..."

A youth, sleeping face-up with an ancient book covering his face, shuddered violently and jolted awake from his nightmare.

The book slid off, revealing his handsome features.

He was sixteen or seventeen years old, with long, jet-black hair cascading over his shoulders, eyes like stars, and skin as fair as jade. He wore the black uniform of a eunuch; though it lacked any ornamentation and marked him as the lowest of the low in the palace hierarchy, his spine was straight, and he possessed a temperament that could not be easily dismissed.

Su Chen fell silent, staring at the massive library building—a structure that spanned over a thousand square meters on the first floor alone—and remained quiet for a long time.

"What the hell..."

"I worked myself to death in my previous life only to transmigrate, and this damn boss still has the nerve to haunt my dreams. If I could ever go back, I’d knock his teeth out."

Su Chen took a sip of tea, grumbling and cursing to calm his nerves.

He was a transmigrator. Three months ago, the moment he opened his eyes, he had seen an old eunuch grinning hideously as he approached him with a blade.

He had been terrified.

But he was lucky; the imperial city was in turmoil at the time due to an assassin’s infiltration. Amidst the chaos, he managed to evade the castration and preserve his dignity as a man.

To avoid being discovered as a fake eunuch, he had intentionally committed errors to get himself exiled to this "cold palace" of the eunuch world—a library where even rats refused to visit.

This dynasty was called Great Liang. It had stood for over three hundred years and was now in its twilight, teetering on the brink of collapse.

The Emperor was heartless and lived in decadent luxury. Natural disasters and man-made calamities were constant, demons and ghosts ran rampant, and countless rebels had risen up. However, this world had cultivators—individuals whose sheer power could suppress entire groups. The cultivation foundation accumulated by the royal family over three centuries was the only thing keeping the dynasty barely afloat.

Peasant uprisings were repeatedly suppressed, only to rise again. The great noble families still feared the imperial might and dared not act rashly, delaying the final chapter of the world’s descent into chaos.

Yet, in the shadows, many powerful cultivation forces—secret sects or hidden clans—were plotting to overthrow the dynasty. The original owner of this body had been a pawn planted in the palace by one such group.

But none of that mattered to Su Chen.

In this second life, he lived only for himself. Everyone dies eventually, and he only wanted to attain immortality.

The goal of immortality was too grand; for now, he just wanted to lay low in the library and wait for his "Seed of Immortality" to change, to sprout roots and bear fruit.

"When on earth will it finally take root and bear fruit?"

Su Chen closed his eyes. His vision went dark, but within that darkness, there was a seed of light—like the glow of a firefly, yet also like a brilliant sun.

It was a seed.

It had appeared in his consciousness on the very first day of his transmigration, making him clearly aware of its heaven-defying effects.

It was a Seed of Immortality.

As time flowed, it would take root and sprout in his consciousness, growing branches and leaves, blooming and bearing fruit.

Every stage of its growth would feed endless fortune back into Su Chen.

Su Chen didn't need to do anything; he just had to wait quietly for the Seed of Immortality to take root, sprout, and bear fruit.

From the moment the Seed of Immortality descended, he had already become a special existence who had broken the shackles of lifespan and achieved immortality.

Of course, immortality was just immortality; he was not indestructible. If he were killed, he would die.

Therefore, after obtaining the Seed of Immortality, Su Chen decided to keep a low profile, be kind to others, and minimize the risk of being killed.

Immortality was his path, and he would practice the cultivation methods that protected it, but unfortunately, his talent for cultivation was abysmal.

"Sigh, still haven't even entered the threshold."

"Who told me that this 'Wild Bull True Qi' only required meditation, and that even a fool could produce the first wisp of true qi through sheer persistence?"

He had been practicing for three months. Feeling insulted, Su Chen angrily threw the *Wild Bull True Qi* manual aside.

There were two types of cultivation in this world.

One focused on the body, the other on gathering qi—essentially external martial arts and internal cultivation methods. They were generally divided into five grades, followed by the two grandmaster realms: Post-natal and Pre-natal.

The first grade was the highest, the fifth the lowest, and grandmasters existed only in legends.

He couldn't even enter the fifth grade.

"Let me see, which cultivation noob is taking their frustration out on a manual? This is one of the best techniques in the Inner Palace Martial Bureau."

A slender hand picked up the *Wild Bull True Qi*.

Soon after, a tall, handsome young eunuch with deep, dark eyes in a green robe walked in. He looked at Su Chen with a smile, carrying a roasted chicken and aged wine in his other hand.

Zhang Gui of the Martial Bureau, a peak fifth-grade expert in both body and qi. He was a rising star among the young eunuchs and one of Su Chen’s few—or rather, only—friends.

"You're here?"

Su Chen trotted over to greet him. In this nine-story library, far from the palace, it was peaceful, but eating nothing but white rice buns without a drop of meat would drive even a god crazy.

"This Bairu wine is still the best."

"You're a true friend."

Su Chen drank the wine and ate the chicken, speaking with his mouth full.

That day, during the palace turmoil, an assassin had attempted to kill the Emperor. Near the Imperial Study, he had found Zhang Gui dying from severe wounds and carried him out from a pile of corpses.

Since then, they had become close friends.

Zhang Gui’s talent was far superior to his. He had entered the palace three years ago with excellent aptitude and was immediately taken as a godson by a peak fourth-grade manager of the Martial Bureau.

Three years later, he was already a master at the peak of the fifth grade in both body and qi.

Any higher, and once he reached the fourth grade, he would be a candidate for a manager position in the Martial Bureau—a status and power far exceeding that of an ordinary eunuch manager.

His entry into the library was all thanks to Zhang Gui’s maneuvering. Otherwise, as a low-level black-robed eunuch, how could he have gotten into this library even by intentionally committing errors?

"Three months, and you really don't have a single shred of qi sensation."

"You, it seems you truly have no talent for the martial path. But it doesn't matter. Once I, Zhang Gui, make it big, you’ll be able to walk sideways through this harem. When I become a first-rank purple-robed supervisor, you’ll be the second-rank red-robed grand manager."

Zhang Gui stood with his hands behind his back, his eyes like deep pools, making no effort to hide his ambition to climb the ranks.

Then, Zhang Gui sat beside Su Chen, drinking the Bairu wine bowl by bowl, recounting the major events that had occurred in the harem recently.

The Emperor had recovered.

After three months of being on the verge of death from that assassination, the old Emperor had finally recovered today after a Daoist entered the palace and offered a thousand-year-old medicinal treasure.

The first thing he did was turn the court into a bloodbath; countless civil and military officials were beheaded, and their entire families were executed.

Even a prince had been stripped of his title.

Even the first-rank purple-robed supervisor, who oversaw the security of the inner palace, had been dismissed and replaced by a mysterious old eunuch from the Tianwu Tower—a remnant of the previous emperor's era.

The palace was in a state of panic. If even the purple-robed supervisor could be brought down, the red-robed grand managers and blue-robed managers would likely be affected sooner or later.

"My strength is almost at the double fourth-grade level. By then, I should be able to snag a blue-robed manager position. Once I have my own godson, even if I'm not around, you'll have someone bringing you Bairu wine and roasted chicken every day."

After saying this, Zhang Gui leaned in eagerly and couldn't help but add

"Little Su, the soap you gave me is really useful. It caught the eye of Imperial Concubine Zhang, and I’ve handled two errands for her..."

As he spoke, Zhang Gui’s breathing grew heavy, and he said with a hint of embarrassment

"You mentioned before that there is a secret medicine called 'perfume' that can make the human body emit a subtle fragrance, like blooming flowers, attracting butterflies, as if a fairy from the heavenly palace had descended..."

"Imperial Concubine Zhang is the old Emperor’s favorite, you know what I mean."

Looking at the ambition in Zhang Gui’s eyes, Su Chen felt that he was too desperate to get ahead; he would surely take a hard fall sooner or later.

"You! You act like not getting ahead is worse than death. Can't you be a carefree spirit like me?" Su Chen felt the Bairu wine lose its flavor. He wiped his hands and signaled for the brush and ink.

"You got it!"

Zhang Gui’s smile widened as he offered the paper and brush. There was no trace of the proud rising star of the Martial Bureau; he looked entirely like a sycophant.

"Take a tea bowl, place gauze over it, soak the petals in water for over twelve hours, and then..."

Zhang Gui left, feeling satisfied.

"It's the end of October."

"Tomorrow is November. Autumn is here."

Su Chen walked to the library window, watching Zhang Gui leave. He looked at the withered yellow leaves covering the ground and felt the cold wind. He closed his eyes and visualized the Seed of Immortality.

This day was the end of the third month since he had transmigrated.

At this very moment.

*Crack.*

The Seed of Immortality in his consciousness emitted a crisp sound. Tiny roots extended outward; it had sprouted, forming the prototype of a root system.

As the Seed of Immortality sprouted, its cracked shell nourished Su Chen’s body, deriving wisps of qi.

The Qi of Immortality.

Now.

His path of qi had reached the fifth grade.