I, my name is Zhao Pei.
I was born into a family of cultivators.
My grandparents were powerful cultivators, my maternal grandparents were powerful cultivators, and my parents were also powerful cultivators.
I had been reading the Taoist scriptures since I was 5 years old.
Cultivating, becoming stronger, and battling with Heavenly Demons.
These concepts had been incessantly poured into my mind ever since I gained awareness.
In order to battle with Heavenly Demons, everything could be sacrificed.
Relatives, neighbors, friends, grandmother, maternal grandfather... Whenever I heard news of someone’s sacrifice on the battlefield, I felt a strong sense of pride and honor, for it was a great sentiment to strive for humanity and to overcome the Heavenly Demons.
One day, I too would die on the battlefield, fulfilling the duty of a human cultivator.
...
In Zhao Pei’s home,
Lin Muqing was reading a book in front of her, filled with Zhao Pei’s notes.
This was after several investigations, she finally found a hidden drawer and upon opening it, discovered an old book.
Lin Muqing frowned: "A diary?"
Unfortunately, as she read, she found that many parts had been torn into pieces.
After not discovering anything special, Lin Muqing put the diary back and closed the secret compartment.
Although she sensed something abnormal about Zhao Pei from the clues, she still lacked critical evidence.
Even Lin Muqing herself found it hard to imagine that the soft-spoken, always gently smiling Zhao Pei could be a bad person.
Lin Muqing thought to herself, ’Maybe Zhao Pei just had a momentary lapse in judgment.’
...
Inside the orphanage, Zhao Pei looked at Zhou Bai and said, "Every year, every month, every day, in the war with the Heavenly Demons, there are people sacrificing themselves. Their children become orphans and can only be sent to the orphanage."
Zhou Bai was slightly taken aback, he hadn’t expected Zhao Pei to say these things.
Zhao Pei continued, looking at Zhou Bai: "You haven’t cared about these things, right? Just like the others in school, everyone is thinking about defeating the Heavenly Demons, about defending humanity’s vague ideals, about how to become stronger, how to cultivate diligently, how to gain more powerful strength. But they neglect some of the ordinary people around them, the ordinary things."
Zhao Pei sighed and said, "It was only after I became disabled, having calmed down, that I thought of these things. The war consumes not only lives but also the potential of humanity." She said this with a smile, "But we will always win, won’t we?"
Zhou Bai agreed with a nod, thinking to himself, ’After understanding so much, you chose to side with the Heavenly Demons?’ He sighed ruefully, not expecting Zhao Pei to be so absolute, to have even donated all of her points; he certainly couldn’t ask the orphanage for a loan.
Just then, Qian Wangsun came over with a table and chairs from not far away: "Oh? Zhou Bai, you’re here too. We didn’t prepare your meal; you eat so much. If you really want to eat, you can have my portion."
With that, Qian Wangsun shouted to the children: "Time to eat!"
Watching a group of children chasing after Qian Wangsun, Zhao Pei smiled and said, "Qian Wangsun is a pretty good person. He probably feels sorry for me; he’s often keeping me company lately."
Zhou Bai thought, ’I bet this kid might just be trying to woo you. If he knew he was wooing a Heavenly Demon...’ He squinted and thought, ’Maybe he’d think he’s incredibly awesome.’
Zhao Pei turned her head towards Zhou Bai: "Then we won’t keep you for dinner."
Zhou Bai reluctantly scratched his head, realizing he was being snubbed.
’So a Heavenly Demon would get upset about being borrowed money for a month? Or is it because you haven’t completely turned into a Heavenly Demon?’
Zhou Bai shook his head and turned to leave.
Zhao Pei watched Zhou Bai’s receding figure, sighing in her heart, ’You are now just like I was before. But continuing this way really won’t do.’
Zhao Pei seemed to recall some past events, some of her own thoughts, some heartfelt words written in her diary.
’Compared to the crisis of human survival and extinction, what does my useless sacrifice, my broken legs, really amount to?’
...
One day, I too will die on the battlefield, fulfilling the duty that befalls a human cultivator.
That’s what I used to think.
But when my legs were broken, when I stopped the relentless sprinting, the constant advance,
when I carefully observed the environment that I usually ignored, the society that I overlooked, I discovered some irregularities.
The production of food was decreasing year by year.
The laboring commoners were starting work earlier and retiring later.
More and more minors were entering factories, more and more elderly were dying at their posts.
The proportion of the population in the military was increasing every year.
The people were being manipulated like gears, working day and night like pigs.
The number of orphans kept rising.
The population was declining.
The birth rate of newborns had dropped to a terrifyingly low level.
Then there were scums like the Sky Flipping Sect, destroying the unity of humanity for their own interests.
The gods’ contradictions; perhaps they never really cared about humanity.
The potential of humans was being constantly drained.
Our society was slowly dying, on the brink of collapse.
If things continued this way, even if the Heavenly Demon did not annihilate us, our society would completely fall apart.
And the war had no chance of victory.
We must preserve enough strength for the future, instead of expending the blood of our race in this doomed war.
Human blood cannot be drained dry.
We can no longer indulge in hatred and glory; compared to the true life-and-death struggle, they are insignificant.
Even if we live as the subdued, as long as we stay alive, forever alive, we will have countless opportunities.
Updat𝓮d from frёewebnoѵēl.com.
...
Zhou Bai was very unhappy for not having sheared wool from two fat sheep early in the morning.
But Zhou Bai had no choice, one couldn’t be found, and the other had donated all their points—how could he borrow?
’I wonder how Lin Muqing’s investigation is going? She must have understood the hint I gave her by now, right?’
Thinking of this, Zhou Bai grew worried again. Feeling the heavy pressure of the Heavenly Demon crash down on him, he returned to his sea of consciousness, once again letting Christina control his body as he went offline to sleep.
In the following days, although the income from laziness points decreased, with the newly acquired 4,400 points this month, Zhou Bai’s reserve of laziness points grew significantly, quickly amassing 60,000 points and injecting them into the Star Point.
Wenqu - Inspiration: Greatly enhances the understanding of cultivation knowledge.
Method of Cultivation: (Omitted)
Laziness (0/60,000)
It was like an explosion of sensation in Zhou Bai’s sea of consciousness; he felt as if his understanding of the world’s power had been completely renewed.
As the Star Point was perfected, the knowledge he had already known by heart, firmly etched in his mind, now, as he recalled it, sparked different feelings, as if his understanding of cultivation knowledge kept deepening.
"My aptitude has been enhanced again, I feel that if I go back to practicing Twilight Taoist Skill now, my speed would definitely be much faster than before."
A shade of confidence flashed across Zhou Bai’s face. On his cultivation journey, he felt his greatest obstacle was starting many years later than others, completely unable to keep up with the geniuses in cultivation knowledge, and having very ordinary aptitude.
But now, the Star Point from the ugly picture had finally filled in that gap for him.
Zhou Bai then looked towards the fifth Star Point.
"Let’s see, based on the previous lazy and poor diagrams, the fifth Star Point is always a significant tipping point, I wonder what the ugly diagram will reveal..."