The system gave me immortality, and I survived everyone

Chapter 5: Unnamed Coffin Shop, the First Business · "When you live long enough, Host, you realize that nothing in this world remains unchanged." · "The Heavenly Dao is like that, and so are people." · "Hahaha!" · "The System is still the System—you certainly have a way with words." · Chen Changsheng stood up with a smile, glanced at the first light of dawn breaking on the horizon, extinguished his campfire, and continued his journey toward the Southern Region. · When one possesses a boundaryless, eternal lifespan, one becomes not only cautious but also bored. · Facing this pinnacle of boredom, Chen Changsheng set himself a small goal. · That was to go and see how Niansheng was doing. · Yet, while pursuing this small goal, Chen Changsheng discovered another hobby of his. · Learning. Whenever he encountered a trade that piqued his interest, he would stop and spend a few years studying it. · Over the past twenty years, Chen Changsheng had been a beggar, sold tofu, and even mastered the art of brewing spirits. · But out of all these industries, the one Chen Changsheng enjoyed most and excelled at was the funeral business. · The reason was simple: in any other trade, even as a beggar, conflicts were unavoidable—after all, even beggars had to fight for territory. · On the other hand, selling coffins was a much more stable affair. · Thieves wouldn't steal from you, and bandits wouldn't bother robbing you. Whether you were a high-ranking official or a member of the royal family, you would eventually find yourself confined within these wooden planks. · Beyond that, Chen Changsheng’s mastery of Geomantic Divination had also climbed to new heights. · Others practiced Geomantic Divination using only theoretical knowledge from books, and no one ever really knew if it actually worked. · But Chen Changsheng was different. After helping a family with a burial, he could slowly observe how that family fared afterward. · In these twenty years, the longest observation he had conducted took him five years to complete. · It was precisely because of this stop-and-go lifestyle that Chen Changsheng had only covered three thousand miles in two decades. · ...... · Linglong Town. · Watching figures fly through the sky above from time to time, Chen Changsheng clicked his tongue and sighed. · "No wonder that woman looked at me with such disgust when I mentioned I wanted to visit. It took me fifty years just to get here." · "A normal person would be lucky to even live to fifty." · After a brief lament about the heartlessness of time, Chen Changsheng began looking for a suitable storefront in the town. · This was a town beneath the gate of the Linglong Sect, a place frequently visited by low-level Cultivators and sect servants. · Originally, Chen Changsheng had intended to infiltrate the Linglong Sect to check on Niansheng, but once he arrived in Linglong Town, he dismissed the idea. · Because the legend of Li Niansheng was circulating throughout the land for a hundred miles around the Linglong Sect. · A once-in-a-millennium genius had emerged in the Linglong Sect, achieving a Golden Core in just fifty years of practice. Her astonishing talent had even stirred the sect leader, who had been in deep seclusion for ages. · Faced with such a heaven-blessed maiden, countless young talents flocked to her, all desiring to become her cultivation partner. · Yet, in the face of these countless geniuses, Li Niansheng’s response was always the same. · "All of you combined aren't worth a fraction of Brother Changsheng." · Over time, Li Niansheng came to be known in the cultivation world as the most devoted of all, for her obsession with Changsheng was unmatched. · Unlike the much-celebrated Li Niansheng, Chen Changsheng’s presence was practically non-existent. · Not a single soul in Linglong Town noticed that in the most secluded corner of the settlement, a tiny coffin shop—barely large enough to hold two or three coffins—had opened its doors. · ...... · "Is anyone there?" · A little bald head peeked nervously into the coffin shop. · Hearing the commotion, a figure suddenly sat up from within a coffin with a rustle. · Seeing someone bolt upright inside the casket, the Little Monk was startled. · Only after confirming that the person before him was indeed alive did the Little Monk pat his chest to calm himself. · "Patron, how can you sleep in a coffin?" · "Coffins are for the dead." · Watching the Little Monk’s earnest expression, Chen Changsheng chuckled. · He had been running this shop for three years now, and in that time, almost no one had stopped by. If not for the low-level spiritual herbs he grew and sold on the side, this shop would have gone out of business long ago. · "Little Monk, that is where you’re wrong." · "Whether a mortal or a Cultivator, everyone meets the same end." · "Since that is the case, why should the living shun their final destination?" · Upon hearing Chen Changsheng’s words, the Little Monk tilted his head in thought, then pressed his palms together and said, "Amitabha!" · "Thank you for the guidance, Patron. I was blinded by my own perceptions." · "Hahaha!" · "I didn't expect someone so small to have such profound insight." · Saying this, Chen Changsheng hopped out of the coffin and patted the Little Monk’s smooth, round head. · "Tell me, Little Monk, what brings you to my coffin shop?" · The Little Monk lowered his head and replied: "Recently, the Heaven Buddha Temple and the Linglong Sect joined forces to subdue a wicked Demonic Cultivator." · "That Demonic Cultivator refused to surrender and was ultimately slain by an elder of the Linglong Sect." · "Even though that soul committed many evils, I do not wish to see his body left to rot in the wilderness, so I wish to buy a coffin to give him a proper burial." · Hearing this, Chen Changsheng clicked his tongue. "Do you have money?" · "I’m running a business, after all. I can't afford to run a charity." · "I have already prepared." · With that, the Little Monk pulled three medium-grade spirit stones from his storage pouch and handed them to Chen Changsheng. · Looking at the valuable medium-grade spirit stones, Chen Changsheng smiled and took just one of them. · "One medium-grade spirit stone covers my finest, full-service funeral package. When shall we depart?" · "We can go now. If we delay any longer, the body will begin to stink." · Faced with the Little Monk’s request, Chen Changsheng did not hesitate and followed him immediately. · As for the coffin shop... · Chen Changsheng didn't even bother locking the door. There were only two coffins inside, and no one in their right mind would bother stealing a pair of plain, ordinary boxes. · ...... · The Wilderness. · Guided by the Little Monk, Chen Changsheng finally laid eyes on the so-called Demonic Cultivator. · At this moment, he didn't look much different from any other deceased mortal. · If one had to point out a difference, it was that half of his face had been completely crushed. · Seeing this scene, Chen Changsheng couldn't help but sigh: "Little Monk, are all of you Cultivators so devoid of human decency?" · "Regardless of what he did in life, this man was someone you went to great lengths to capture." · "Even if he’s dead, the least you could have done was dig a hole and bury him!" · "Leaving him out here in the wilderness—what kind of behavior is that?" · "In this cultivation world, it seems you’re the only one with a shred of human warmth." · To Chen Changsheng’s words, the Little Monk only replied by silently chanting scriptures. · Seeing this, Chen Changsheng shook his head and began the work of collecting the body. · [END]