Just a little karma had accumulated within my aperture. I could only consider it expected progress after diligently following the instructions I had read in the outer circle library. I wasn't worried about stumbling upon any high-ranking or dangerous advice. The outer circle library only contained knowledge up to peak rank 1, and anything more advanced had long been moved into the inner circle. Most of the books were essentially the same vague explanations the elder had given during the awakening ceremony.
Even if something truly valuable had been hidden among those shelves, there was no way the guards who joined before me would have left it unnoticed — unless, of course, two geniuses from different generations had each discovered a separate book that pointed toward the location of an inheritance left behind by a deceased cultivator.
The previous owner might have died from old age, from irreversible injuries inflicted by a powerful enemy, or even from poisoning by so-called friends. One inheritance could be hidden in the outer layer of the library, while another lay deeper in the inner layer. The inheritor of the inner layer might have used it to soar into a higher realm, while the inheritor of the outer layer could have sold the location for cultivation resources, allowing him to break through to rank 2. Perhaps he simply wasn't optimistic about successfully claiming the inheritance himself.
Inheritance was essentially a way for a higher cultivator to pass on their knowledge, techniques, and remnants of their life's work. It could only be received after the original owner had died. Since the previous cultivator was already gone, receiving the inheritance would not interfere with their destiny.
Looking at it this way, wouldn't almost every cultivator benefit from their predecessors, while the next generation gained benefits in turn? That was precisely why Heaven had imposed strict restrictions. The cultivator who left behind an inheritance had to sacrifice a portion of their own luck, achievements, and eventually even their remaining life force to make the inheritance effective and prevent it from becoming a destiny-breaker. Because of this heavy price, inheritances were treated as precious treasures — sometimes even comparable in value to luck-inducing weapons or rare physiques.
I felt no different from any ordinary cultivator in this regard, except for the sixty years of experience and cunning I had carried over from my previous life.
I had gone to sleep one night and woken up to find myself already in the second week of my enrollment as a guard.
Without wasting any time, I quickly made my way to the mission hall. There was no chance they would assign a difficult quest to a newcomer like me right away. I browsed through many quests offering generous rewards, but those were naturally reserved for higher-ranking cultivators. In the end, I chose one suitable for a cannon fodder like myself: border scouting duty.
I was stationed at the west side wall, near a large reinforced gate — the very same direction opposite the entrance where I had collapsed from exhaustion after escaping the rank 2 peak serpent.
A guard already on duty glanced at me and said casually, "Hey, newbie. We're positioned here to watch for any strange activities and report them immediately."
I looked him up and down. Jack was a man in his mid-twenties with a lean, wiry build honed by years of border duty. His skin was tanned from constant exposure to the sun, and a faint scar ran diagonally across his left cheek, giving him a rugged, no-nonsense appearance. His dark hair was cut short and practical, slightly messy from the wind. He had sharp, observant eyes that seemed to miss nothing, and a easygoing smile that didn't quite reach those eyes. He wore the standard green guard uniform, but his was worn and patched in places, showing clear signs of long use. A simple short sword hung at his waist, and his posture was relaxed yet alert — the mark of someone who had survived many quiet shifts on the wall.
He was the same rank and gender as me. If there had been a pair of guards of different genders, there would always be a risk of them slacking off due to pointless showing off and idle chatter.
I replied respectfully, "Senior, since I'm new to this job and only know textbook practices that don't amount to much compared to your real experience, I insist you share your insights with me."
He laughed lightly. "There's no need for so much flattery. It's boring to speak with such formality. Just call me Jack."
"Then tell me where I need to look out for," I said.
Jack's smile faded slightly as he replied, "Wow, you dropped the formality in an instant."
I thought inwardly, Oops. Because of my previous life's habits, I forgot that I'm just a low-level employee here.
Jack showed me the specific section of the wall I was responsible for. Having both of us stare in the same direction would be wasteful, after all.
After some time passed in silence, I asked, "Is it always just staring at the horizon until something unexpected happens?"
Jack shrugged. "When we were at rank 1 initial stage or acting as scouts, we mostly helped with chores like maids and butlers. Though it was humiliating, at least we got to stretch our legs and see different environments. It was more interesting than staring at the same stretch of wall all day."
"I think we can actually cultivate faster this way," I replied. "Building patience through staring."
Since we were the same rank, we could freely share experiences without any issue. As time went on, with natural intervals in between, I carefully struck up conversations — asking about noticeable characters in the outer circle, sharing harmless stories, and exchanging minor insights. As the newbie, it was an unspoken rule that I should be the one to initiate most conversations, but not dump everything at once, or I would run out of topics far too quickly.
Evening arrived. We left our post after completing the quest and received our contribution points at the mission hall. Afterward, we parted ways. I headed straight to the training ground and asked with a polite smile, "Can I receive some hard pounding teaching from the seniors?"
I was quite pleased to see the seniors' smiling faces as they welcomed me.