Immortal and Martial Dual Cultivation Prologue

Should he eat it or not?

Xiao Chen stared at the dark-green “Immortal Pill” clutched in his palm, his thoughts thrown into chaos. The seller had tossed this in for free when he ordered the Compendium of Cultivation from Taobao.

That Taobao store acted rather foolishly. After paying 250 RMB for the Compendium of Cultivation, they surprisingly included an Immortal Pill claimed to grant ascension to higher realms.

Xiao Chen had long been captivated by tales of immortal cultivation and its myths, so he snapped it up without much deliberation.

Three full years passed as Xiao Chen followed the cultivation techniques from the Compendium of Cultivation. Despite relentless effort over those three years, he saw zero progress. He committed to memory the steps for refining pills, crafting talismans, setting up formations, and forging weapons, yet the rest eluded him completely.

Undeterred, Xiao Chen clung to hope in this utterly bizarre Immortal Pill.

He had once swung a steel hammer to crush it. But as the hammer drew close to the Immortal Pill, an invisible force field repelled it. No matter his brute strength, the hammer couldn't touch it.

Perhaps the fabled immortal fortune of legends hid inside this Immortal Pill. Xiao Chen wavered, for the pill felt profoundly odd. Eating it might yield nothing—that was acceptable—but if it twisted him into a monster, then what?

This fear had kept him from consuming the Immortal Pill up to this point.

Eat? Or not eat?

Eat!

Hardening his resolve, Xiao Chen committed to swallowing the Immortal Pill; it was now or never. In this world, nothing came free—rewards always carried risks.

Xiao Chen pinched his nose shut, squeezed his eyes closed, slipped the Immortal Pill into his mouth, and gulped it down. Clearly, he sensed the Immortal Pill descending until it reached his Dantian region. Warmth radiated from the Dantian, while the Qi and blood throughout his body surged toward his soul.

His mouth parched and head reeling, Xiao Chen felt as if his soul was being ripped away by force. Consciousness grew foggy, and bit by bit… awareness slipped away.

[Notes: Taobao is like ebay but chinese version]