Shen Leyan is a college student who transmigrated into the body of a sickly outer disciple of the Yunxi Sect in a cultivation world. He knows he is a minor character in the novel "Demons Are Rampant, Who is the Master of Destiny?" and is determined to avoid the impending war between immortals and demons, where cultivators serve as cannon fodder. His only advantage is a broken system named Xiaodu, which has a 1% chance of repairing itself. Lacking spiritual roots, Shen Leyan plans to save money, leave the sect, and live a peaceful life in a secluded village. During a mission to help rebuild a village destroyed by fire, he senses a chilling presence and suspects demonic activity, but his senior brother dismisses his concerns as imagination due to the lack of demonic energy fluctuations detected by sect instruments.
As night falls, a violent thunderstorm traps the disciples in the village. Shen Leyan discovers that the fire was not accidental but part of a recurring cycle caused by vengeful souls. The village chief and his people are secretly worshipping these souls to prevent them from dissipating, using incense to sustain the spirits of those who died in previous fires. When the outer disciples interrupt the ritual, the village chief reveals he has buried gunpowder in the ancestral hall and threatens to kill everyone if they do not comply. He specifically targets Shen Leyan, believing his soul from another world possesses strong spiritual energy that could sustain his son's soul for a hundred years.
Cornered and facing imminent death, Shen Leyan uses his wits to stall for time, engaging the village chief in absurd conversation about his son's sexual orientation to confuse and delay him. Meanwhile, the broken system Xiaodu partially repairs, granting Shen Leyan a sound transmission talisman. He uses it to broadcast a distress message to the entire Yunxi Sect, accidentally revealing the location of the demon threat. The sect master, Lu Yuanyi, responds by sending his top disciple, Zheng Ziheng, who wields the powerful Jiang Xue Sword. Zheng Ziheng dispels the demonic illusion and rescues the disciples, but Shen Leyan's reckless use of the talisman makes him famous throughout the sect.
After the incident, Zheng Ziheng discovers that Shen Leyan possesses a top-grade single spiritual root, a rarity that usually guarantees a brilliant cultivation career. However, Shen Leyan desperately tries to avoid the spiritual root test, fearing that becoming a cultivator will drag him into the coming war. Zheng Ziheng, intrigued by Shen Leyan's reluctance and his ability to hear inner thoughts due to the system's side effects, offers to keep his talent a secret if Shen Leyan agrees to remain in the sect. The story ends with Shen Leyan caught between his desire for a quiet life and the growing attention of the sect's most talented disciple, while the broken system continues to cause unpredictable complications.
