Surviving the Chaos: Ascending to Sainthood by Looting Corpses

In the apocalyptic era of Tianqi, the imperial dynasty teeters on the brink of collapse. Within the city walls, grandmasters and warlords scheme with cannibalistic intent, while demons and monsters roam freely outside. Shen Ze transmigrates into this brutal world as a corpse looter, scavenging for survival among piles of the dead. Born into a family sold into servitude and reduced to the lowest caste, he witnesses his sister traded for a single fish and sees his sister-in-law forced to kowtow until she bleeds just to beg for a bowl of rice porridge. Trapped at the bottom of a society where humans are treated as livestock, Shen Ze’s only advantage is a symbiotic snake vine residing within his body. This ability allows him to absorb the blood and qi from the deceased, condensing them into vital fruit that fuels his cultivation. He progresses through the rigorous stages of breaking apertures, refining flesh, tempering skin, exchanging blood, stretching tendons, and forging bones. Like a cold, venomous snake, he thrives in the cracks between rival gangs and terrifying demons, voraciously consuming resources to grow stronger. Though the world condemns him as ruthless and labels him a demon, Shen Ze remains indifferent to their judgment. He rejects petty morality and unbound by conventional righteousness, recognizing that the condescending charity of the high-born cannot save the suffering masses. Those whose paths he blocks call him a monster simply because they are too weak to stop him, destined to become the stepping stones for his ascent. His motivation is simple and primal: he refuses to remain prey in a world that seeks to consume him.