Carefully recalling the Landlord's words, Xun Xie identified two requirements to become a qualified - even powerful - land god:

  First, obtain the incense and blessings of many people. Second, cultivate his own yin spirit.

  For other land gods, only the first point mattered. But Xun Xie had become a land god as a mortal, so he needed both.

  He glanced around the barren, dilapidated village. This situation was too desolate. Getting incense and blessings? He didn't even have people, let alone incense.

  As for the second point...

  The Landlord had provided a way - find Hu Piao in Blue Grain Town and learn from him. In such a strange world, martial arts must be better than in his past life, right?

  Thinking this through, Xun Xie flew back to the Temple of Earth, his soul returning to his body.

  "Since the man-eating Bodhisattva is gone, the valley is safe for now. No need to escape."

  Besides, Xun Xie knew nothing of the outside world and had nowhere to go. Wandering outside meant having no one to rely on and taking huge risks. Fear of the unknown was secondary - the dangers they brought came first.

  If his frail little self got kidnapped by human traffickers, he'd have nowhere to cry.

  So after careful consideration, Xun Xie decided to stay. The possibility of the bodhisattva returning was minimal, but encountering poisonous insects, traffickers, beasts, and the like was very real. He had to tread carefully - he'd rather take his chances here instead of rushing, though he'd have to visit the town eventually. Safety came first.

  Although this place had just suffered a great disaster, it wasn't so bad; he'd gone scavenging before and after the massacre, so his mind wasn't too fragile.

  "Although this earth temple is broken, at least it can keep out wind and rain," Xun Xie thought.

  He got to work - pulled the flatbed cart into the temple, unloaded the inventory, then pushed the cart back to the village. He found a good wooden bed in the ruins and, with great difficulty and several stops to catch his breath, dragged it into the temple. After resting a few minutes, he laid out the bedding and hung a mosquito net.

  But he wasn't done yet.

  The temple gate was broken. Xun Xie pushed his cart back to the village and found an intact wooden door, plus a hammer and other tools. It took considerable effort to disassemble and replace it.

  Interestingly, he found a rough stone spear and a whetstone. He carefully made the rough edges thin and neat, and especially sharpened the point. Having a self-defense weapon made him feel a bit more at ease. It was a short spear, and the stone wasn't too dense, so he could manage swinging it a few times.

  Next, Xun Xie brought bricks and mud, propped them up, and made two simple stoves. There were many broken stoves in the village, so he carried pieces back and mixed mud to fix the broken sections together, making two complete units.

  He set up the iron pots - one for cooking, one for frying.

  The village had plenty of firewood ready to use, and vegetables grew fresh in the farmland - pure, natural, and ready to eat.

  So Xun Xie got to work. He washed the rice several times, peeling off some bits, and set it to steam. Then he prepared a vegetable stew with bacon - first frying the bacon to release its oily aroma, then adding picked vegetables to reduce their water content, covering the pot to let it simmer.

  By the time he had enough to eat and drink, darkness had fallen.

  This dinner preparation had been more exhausting than having ingredients waiting in the fridge back home, which was already tiring enough during college and even after getting his first job - finding time after work had been a struggle.

  As a single dog, he'd never had a girlfriend to cook for him either.

  Now he felt like a blue-collar worker coming home to cook.

  Overworked + Overworked.

  Looking out into the darkness...

  Seasonally, this world seemed to be in early summer.

  The night sky stretched vast above, stars and galaxies bright alongside the moon.

  In the fields, frogs croaked and insects chirped while fireflies danced through the air.

  The mosquitoes were terrifying. Regardless of size, their bites left red, swollen, intensely itchy marks. These country mosquitos - or perhaps this world's mosquitos - were enormous and fearsome. Thank goodness for the mosquito net.

  Xun Xie hurriedly hid under the mosquito net, exhaustion quickly overtaking him as he fell asleep.

  He woke several times to fight off fist-sized mosquitos, slapping them away until he finally thought to keep a stick beside him to beat them to mush. Eventually, he had to triple up on mosquito nets before he could finally get uninterrupted sleep... then he had to pee.

  He cursed a few times - no wonder even such a small village had mosquito nets ready with those fist-sized tyrants around. Who could live in peace otherwise? He seemed to remember peppermint oil was a deterrent, but did this world have it? Even if not, there must be some substitutes. He'd have to inquire later.

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  When he woke the next day, the sky was already bright.

  Xun Xie rose, feeling better and more energetic.

  The Bodhisattva's attack had made his seven orifices bleed - those internal and external injuries wouldn't heal quickly. The stone wheel seemed to protect him only passively, not considerate enough to make him completely immune. Likely only special spiritual attacks were blocked, given how those damn mosquitos had already left him swollen.

  He walked out of the Earth Temple, drew half a bucket of water to wash his face, rinse his mouth, cook, and eat.

  Just awake and still sore from yesterday, yet he had to exert himself again. No matter the world, he was ill-fated as a hard worker. Couldn't he have possessed a rich boy?

  After lamenting, he rubbed his sore palms.

  Fed and watered, Xun Xie grabbed a hoe and dug a large hole in the wasteland outside the village. After some thought, he decided that while the spear was cooler, the hoe made a better weapon for his current state, so he kept it sharpened too.

  Tired and sweating, he returned to the village. Covering his mouth and nose with a rag, he collected the villagers' broken bones and buried them in the pit.

  He did this partly out of compassion, partly because he'd had enough of being disgusted since arriving here - seeing maggots would be the last straw! Besides, who knew what creatures dead bodies might attract in this extraordinary world? Better safe than sorry.

  If all went well, he might live here until he grew up. Protecting the livable area was crucial.

  The first time touching human bones, Xun Xie's psychological burden was immense. He vomited several times, scalp tingling with horror.

  Then he looked sadly at his spilled stomach contents - all that bacon, gone. He'd eaten it all just to spill it all.

  He'd noticed this world's food tasted better for some reason. The rice wasn't specially flavored, but was delicious, and the vegetables were more nourishing. The difference wasn't huge - maybe 2-3 times better if he had to quantify it. But this was just casual food without detailed preparation!

  He found himself looking forward to trying this world's proper cuisine.

  It was already noon, everything taking longer with his frail body.

  Xun Xie hurriedly fetched water to bathe. After five thorough washings, nearly rubbing off a layer of skin, he finally gave up.

  "Oh, I'm exhausted."

  He sat on the ruined temple's steps, basking in the sun, feeling warm and comfortable. Nothing like a good bath after sweating.

  After resting a while, he looked inside his mind.

  Treasure Seeker had been valid for one day and had passed. Today was new - he could spin the wheel again.

  'Huh?'

  Xun Xie noticed something new. Along with the hourglass, three special coins now occupied another section of the main wheel.

  They hadn't been there before.

  He tried spinning it again, but it remained immovable as a mountain.

  "Could those coins represent yesterday's treasure seeker?"

  The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed.

  But why couldn't he spin the wheel?!!

  Xun Xie rubbed his hair in frustration.

  He relaxed a while longer, enjoying his well-deserved break and looking around idly.

  Seeing the cobwebs, moldy bread, and fruit from before, he resisted the urge to clean but ultimately gave in.

  "Those writings are truly unique, similar to Chinese but not... hm-?!!!"

  While cleaning, Xun Xie glanced at some graffiti, pondering whether to scrub them off, when that voice appeared again!

  "You spun the lottery wheel and won Great Clarity." "Duration: 1 day. (Critical Disabled, Not activated)"

  Xun Xie felt a coolness in his head but nothing else.

  "That's all?" Xun Xie was unresigned and continued testing it, though he didn't know where to start at first and only mentally complained. Spun the lottery? The hell he did!

  After a while, he stared at the scribbles and couplets, feeling something changing but unable to pinpoint what. He just stared at them in a daze before falling asleep, and this pattern repeated throughout the day.

  This day was spent doing nothing.

  The next day.

  Xun Xie woke naturally, performed his solitary morning routine - washing, cooking, eating. The simple meal of rice and vegetables left him unsatisfied; he came from the modern world after all, but he'd already scavenged the village clean.

  After his daily futile attempt to spin the wheel, he noticed a new pattern - something like a crown, likely representing yesterday's useless Great Clarity ability.

  Looking outward, he realized just how vast the valley truly was.

  "Fuck, so stinky!"

  Pushing through thick vines between two large trees, he quickly pinched his nose. The vines were incredibly pungent and slimy.

  Halfway through, regret hit him - he should have detoured. Now he smelled like a latrine pit.

  Emerging on the other side, he found himself among towering trees. While they didn't touch the clouds, these casual valley trees rivaled Earth's tallest redwoods. Though after meeting a land god and bodhisattva, cloud-touching trees wouldn't have surprised him.

  He felt thankful the mosquitos were merely fist-sized. At least they weren't as tall as people.

  What Xun Xie didn't realize was that such giant mosquitos did exist in this world, but no village would be built near such monstrosities. The villagers would have exterminated them. Unfortunately, that time of year was approaching, but the villagers were dead, and Xun Xie had no idea he was supposed to handle this task, let alone how.

  Moving along, Xun Xie carefully marked tree bark as he passed to avoid getting lost.

  He spotted some fruit trees, and though he didn't dare eat from them directly, he tested them by watching ants and insects feed. With a golden finger like his treasure seeker from the lottery wheel, why would he stupidly take risks... if only he could spin the damn thing!

  After deliberating, he finally placed some fruits in his basket. After all, they were the goal of his trip - he couldn't cower now, could he?

  Suddenly, a noise broke the silence.

  A heavy grunt. He quickly ducked behind a tall bush.

  Peeking through the branches, he saw a furry brown figure, and upon closer inspection...

  A grizzly bear! Huge - almost 5 meters tall and burly.

  It seemed to be hunting...

  Shivers ran down his spine at the thought of becoming its dinner.

  Careless! No, unlucky! He'd been cautious while exploring but still met disaster.

  'Please don't find me, please don't find me...!'

  "You spun the lottery wheel and won invisibility for 1 second." "Duration: 1 day (Critical Disabled, Not activated)"

  Xun Xie almost cursed hearing this voice again.

  1 second!

  Might as well have given him 0 seconds - there was no difference!

  Survival instinct kept him still behind the bushes, suppressing his urge to rage.

  After a while, the bear finally disappeared. Fortunately, it hadn't been close enough to sense him - and those stinky, slimy vines had probably helped mask his scent.

  His heart gradually calmed.

  He quickly examined the stone lottery wheel in his mind.

  There were great changes! The stone wheel's eight sections on the main wheel were now all filled: an hourglass, three special coins, a crown, and a cloak-like symbol. The other four sections showed a circular striped shape. The stone wheel looked more refined now.

  Xun Xie had a feeling he could finally spin the wheel, but when he tried, he failed.

  Which made sense after thinking about it - after all, he'd just won a prize, and it seemed he could only spin once per day.

  But looking at the eight prizes on the wheel, he bubbled with excitement!

  Although he was still figuring them out, they couldn't be totally useless, right?

  Even invisibility, it was...

  Thinking of this, combined with meeting the grizzly bear, Xun Xie's mood soured. He returned home to the temple and slept off his depression.