"September 17, the twenty-third year of Tianxing:
"Today is the exact 100th day since I traveled to the Daqi Dynasty, and there are about 4,525 days left before the end of my lifespan.
"I, Gu Xu, am a serious person, so I shouldn't keep a diary.
“But I was pressed for time.
“I hope that through this diary, I can conduct self-reflection at the end of each day to avoid procrastination and delay the progress of my practice.
“In this way, when I look back on the past, I won’t feel regret for wasting my years, nor will I feel ashamed for doing nothing.
“Last night, I used up all the remaining Jingxin Pills.
"I did four missions in a row today, but I only saved 290 merit points, which is not enough to exchange for new elixirs.
“So I didn’t practice all day.
"I'm guilty."
"September 18th, the twenty-third year of Tianxing:
"Today is the 4,524-day countdown to death. I finally accumulated enough merit again and exchanged it for a bottle of Jingxin Pill.
"Shi Xiaohan saw that I was working non-stop every day and it was too hard, so he brought fifteen bottles of Jingxin Pill to me.
"But I refused.
"This gift is too precious.
“Although I, Gu Xu, am poor, I am a dignified person after all, and I must not accept charity from girls easily.
"In addition, because the Painted Skin Ghost's immobilization spell left a deep psychological shadow on me, I am very worried that in future tasks, due to a moment of negligence, I will be controlled by the evil ghost's mind and will be unable to escape.
"So I carved thirty 'Decontamination Talismans' into my sea of consciousness."
"September 19, the twenty-third year of Tianxing:
"Damn it! I was obsessed with practicing this morning and accidentally used up the Jingxin Pill again.
“But my current merit balance is far from enough to exchange for new elixirs.
"So... I could only bend my waist for five buckets of rice and was forced to accept Shi Xiaohan's kindness.
“Alas, in life, there are always too many things that we cannot control ourselves.
"No matter what, I have written down this favor in my notebook. I must find a way to repay it in the future."
"Twenty-seventh month of the twenty-third year of Tianxing:
"Practice."
"September 21st:
"Practice."
"September 22:
"Practice."
"September twenty-three:
"I've worked really hard. Let's reward myself with a day off tomorrow! Mr. Chen said that when things go to extremes, they must be reversed. When doing things, you must pay attention to the balance between work and rest, and don't exhaust yourself."
"September twenty-four:
"Practice."
"September twenty-fifth:
“Practice.
"I accidentally had another epiphany today, which caused the real energy in my body to surge, and I almost broke through.
“Fortunately, I restrained myself in the end.
“I just lingered on the edge of the second realm and didn’t enter.
"Master Chen said that a solid foundation can make people go further on the road of spiritual practice.
"My true energy is not pure enough, there are still cold impurities left, and it still needs to be tempered and polished.
"Because my goal is the seventh realm, I don't want to leave hidden dangers that will cause my future practice to be stuck at a bottleneck and stall."
"September twenty-sixth:
"Today Mr. Chen Jisheng gave us some popular science knowledge about ghosts.
"He said that in our Jiaodong province, there are three 'fierce god' level evil spirits.
"One of them is the 'Nine Infant Snake Demon', which has nine heads, can spit water and fire, and can also make the cry of a baby.
"Eight years ago, it was this basilisk that wreaked havoc in Qingzhou Prefecture, eating the parents of its original owner and destroying the Yishui County School.
“Many powerful practitioners joined forces, but they were unable to subdue it.
“In the end, it was the Imperial Master of Da Qi who took action and sealed it underground with the magic of talismans, thus ending that terrible disaster.
“The National Preceptor is a seventh-level practitioner and a master of Fu Dao—his combat effectiveness ranks second in the Great Qi Dynasty, second only to the emperor.
“He is my lifelong goal.
"The other evil spirit among the three evil spirits is called 'Yishan Snow Girl'. It is said that she is very beautiful and looks like a gentle, weak, elegant and moving girl.
"But ghosts cannot be judged by their appearance. The 'Snow Girl' is no less terrifying than the Nine-Baby Snake Demon.
"Every June, she will cause a large-scale snowstorm in Qingzhou Prefecture, taking this opportunity to hunt humans.
"Master Chen also said that if the 'Snow Girl' meets a man she likes, she will freeze him forever, turn him into a statue, and display him in the ice cave where he lives.
"It sounds really chilling!
"As a 'spiritual body', I'm panicking now. I hope I can survive next June successfully.
"As for the third 'fierce god' level ghost... Mr. Chen said that he forgot its name and could only wait until he went back to check the information and explain it to us next time.
"Well, long-term lack of rest will indeed cause memory loss. It's really hard for Mr. Chen to work from dawn to dusk day after day. Maybe I can consider giving him a box of walnuts when his salary is paid next month."
"September twenty-seven:
"Practice."
"September twenty-eight:
“Eat, practice, and do tasks.
"The life of a practitioner in the Exorcist Department is like this, simple, boring and boring."
"September twenty-nine:
“I discovered that the divination and fortune-telling spells in this world are frighteningly accurate.
"Every time I go out on a mission, I will use the six-yao copper coin divination method to predict good or bad luck. In the past three months, my divination results have never been wrong.
“This can only be described as outrageous!
"Today, I saw some introductions about astrology in a book. Out of curiosity, I planned to try it.
“The basic method of astrology is to determine a person’s life palace based on his or her birth date, and then calculate his status, personality, wealth, and fortune based on the ruler of the life palace.
"I... or the original owner of the body, was born in the year of Xinchou, month of Xinmao, day of Jiayin, and time of Renshen.
“This is a moment when the five elements are lacking fire.
"So when the original owner's parents named the original owner, they deliberately chose a name with a 'fire' attribute.
"After some calculations, I deduced that the main star of my life palace is the 'Tianji Star'.
“People who have the Tianji star in their destiny palace are often smart and diligent, have the ability to plan strategies, are good at observation, quick to respond, versatile, and excellent in eloquence. They like to seek innovation and change, and do not play cards according to common sense...
"This astrology seems to be really accurate!
“It’s just that according to the book, Tianji Star is the star of advisors—people whose destiny is determined by Tianji, and are suitable to be ministers who can provide advice to their lord and assist him in achieving hegemony.
"Oh, how can a dignified time-traveler be subordinate to others and willing to be someone else's vassal? You know, among the group of time-travelers who defy the sky, the earth, and the air, there cannot be a 'great emperor', 'immortal king', or Titles like 'Martial Emperor' are shameless.
“This makes me unhappy.
"So, I took the birth date of my previous life on earth and calculated it again.
"I'm very satisfied with the result this time - Ziweixing is sitting in the Palace of Life, which is the sign of an emperor. He is destined to be able to control the wind and rain, and be either rich or noble.
"But at this time, the book also said that Ziwei's destiny is too noble and ordinary people cannot bear it. People with this kind of destiny are basically prone to illness and disaster and die young...
"Go to hell with the feudal superstition! I want to believe in science!"
"September 30:
"Today, the county school Zhou Jiaoyu invited me to visit his home. He said that I have reached the age to talk about marriage, and he wanted to introduce me to a good marriage.
"I refused. Women will only affect the speed of my cultivation."
"The first day of October:
"When I was out on a mission today, Shi Xiaohan casually talked to me about the situation in the Daqi Dynasty temple.
"She said that the current emperor is obsessed with cultivation and ignores government affairs; the government of Daqi is currently mainly in the hands of the cabinet and Princess Zhaoning, who is deeply loved by the emperor.
"When I asked her for more details, Shi Xiaohan said she didn't know anything - because her father hadn't told her.
"She just repeatedly stressed in front of me that Princess Zhaoning was called 'the most beautiful woman in Luojing', and many young handsome men wanted to marry her. Listening to Shi Xiaohan's strange tone, it seemed that she didn't like that very much. Princess Zhaoning.
"Is this the comparison mentality between beautiful girls?
"In order to make Shi Xiaohan, the financial backer's father, happy, I said to her in a joking tone, 'All good-looking skins are the same, but interesting souls are one in a million.'
"Shi Xiaohan asked me: 'What is an interesting soul?'
"I made it up on the fly: 'kind, gentle, sincere, confident, helpful' - if I remember correctly, the silly and sweet heroines in previous novels basically all have this template.
"Hearing this, Shi Xiaohan smiled very happily.
"I feel like she's got it right...what a fool who feels good about herself!"
"The second day of October:
"The improved version of the 'Tai Shang Arctic Demon-Suppressing and Ghost-Killing Talisman' I drew was officially put on the shelves in the exorcism department's warehouse today. According to Mr. Chen, every time a colleague redeems a 'Ghost-Killing Talisman', I can get ten Rewards for five meritorious deeds.
"This 'Ghost-killing Talisman' is probably the most affordable thing in the entire Exorcism Department. Although no one cares about it now, I believe it will be very popular in the future.
"I seem to see a beautiful life where I can earn merit while staying at home waving to me."
"The third day of October:
"Sir Chen Jisheng told me that the examiner responsible for my promotion assessment has set off from the capital Luojing and is expected to arrive in Yishui County in three days.
"He said that during the practical assessment stage, my competitors and I would enter a wonderful fantasy world and relive a certain ghost case in the history of the Exorcism Department. He wanted me to be fully prepared in advance.
"I started to get a little nervous. Mainly because the competitor named Ma Qin was coming fiercely, and I felt that I might not be his opponent."
"The fourth day of October:
"Practice."
"The fifth day of October:
"Practice."
