Main Quest

Initial Character selected: Waste Soul Master with Innate Soul Power of Level 0.5.

Initial Talents selected: Direct Descendant of the Upper Three Sects, Veteran Actor, Medical Genius.

Warning: Everything in the Life Simulation is a projection of the real world and will likewise stir the Strings of Fate in this plane. Please treat it seriously.

Simulation Start.

Before he could think deeply about what the Simulator meant by stirring the Strings of Fate, Su Cheng felt his consciousness instantly detach from his Physical Body and enter another world that seemed both real and illusory.

What he did not know was that, at the same time, Qian Renxue in the Heaven Dou Empire's Imperial Palace, Bibi Dong in the Pope's Palace, and others were also resting, falling into their own sweet dreams or nightmares.

You had grown up in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and were the adopted son of Chen Xin, the renowned Seven Kill Sword Inheritor. Chen Xin had never concealed your origins from you. Your father, Su Shan, had once been his close friend. After offending Qian Xunji, the Pope of Spirit Hall, Su Shan had entrusted you to him in advance as a precaution. Unexpectedly, Su Shan still failed to escape Qian Xunji's retaliation and died at the hands of Spirit Hall. In your heart, you silently swore that one day, you would make Spirit Hall pay the price.

Well, that sure was a forced grudge. Fine by me.

Chen Xin had no children. After your father's death, he raised you as his own son and placed great hopes in you, wishing for you to carry forward the prestige of your Family Martial Soul, the Edgeless Sword. Unfortunately, you seemed not to have inherited your father's talent for the sword. Your comprehension of swordplay and sword techniques was exceedingly mediocre.

As a direct descendant of the sect, you had to begin laying the foundations for future cultivation at the age of three. As Chen Xin's adopted son, you naturally received the same treatment.

Main Quest activated.

Main Quest: First Ring—Foundation Building.

Task: Plan your path of development before Martial Soul awakening and put it into action.

Reward: None.

With a jolt of awareness, Su Cheng sensed his current body: a child of merely three years old.

People in this world matured remarkably early. After awakening their Martial Souls at six, their development in every aspect accelerated even more rapidly.

Take the original Qian Renxue, for example. At nine, she had infiltrated the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace, then maintained the disguise for twenty years without exposing a single flaw. That showed just how absurd people in this world were.

He surveyed the scene before him.

They were not within the sect, but in a bamboo grove.

Before him stood a middle-aged man in white robes with a head of silver hair. He was none other than the future-famous Sword Douluo Chen Xin.

"Cheng'er, next I will demonstrate the essence of the Seven Kill Swordplay for you. How much you can comprehend this time will depend on yourself."

Chen Xin's expression was solemn. His entire being resembled a sharp blade drawn from its sheath; merely standing there, he seemed to become the center of heaven and earth.

Once the Seven Kill Sword was in his hand, his Aura changed again. Its sharpness rushed at Su Cheng head-on, making even his skin prickle faintly with pain.

As the swordplay unfolded, every move flowed freely from Chen Xin's hands. It possessed not only peerless power, but also a unique beauty.

Even as he demonstrated the sword technique, his explanations never ceased. He described the techniques and principles behind exerting force with every strike.

Unfortunately, Su Cheng understood none of it.

At that moment, he had no choice but to admit that this body's talent for the sword was truly atrocious.

Even with a master of the sword like Chen Xin teaching him personally without holding anything back, combined with his own adult thought process, he still could not grasp the slightest fragment of true meaning from Chen Xin's demonstration.

Fortunately, Su Cheng had never intended to achieve much through martial strength anyway.

"Cheng'er!" Chen Xin noticed his distraction and sternly rebuked him. "Before practicing the sword, one must cultivate the heart. Never mind your aptitude—this attitude alone is a problem! When your Martial Soul awakens in the future, how much of your ability will you even be able to use?!"

"Father." Su Cheng bowed slightly, gazing earnestly at his adoptive father. "Cheng'er knows that he lacks talent in the sword, so he cannot learn the Seven Kill Swordplay. But I understand that diligence can make up for shortcomings. Please teach me the Basic Sword Technique."

He obviously could not tell Chen Xin that he was destined to be a good-for-nothing with only Level 0.5 Innate Soul Power, and that learning these things would be useless.

But the Basic Sword Technique was integral to his plans. It was one of the key directions of his future cultivation.

In the end, Chen Xin agreed to Su Cheng's request.

From that day on, Su Cheng rose at six every morning and spent the entire morning practicing only three sword moves: thrusting, slashing, and parrying.

He devoted all his remaining time to studying the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's various books and ancient texts, focusing especially on research into the human body and the properties of different medicinal herbs.

Unlike with the sword, he truly possessed exceptional talent in the Medical Dao. He could easily draw inferences from one example to another, and his studies progressed at a tremendous pace.

Your daily cultivation schedule drew no small amount of criticism. As Chen Xin's adopted son, you ordinarily received considerable attention, and many regarded you as the next inheritor of the Seven Kill Sword. Yet while the other sect disciples were laying foundations for their cultivation, you spent vast amounts of time reading books. It was inevitable that people saw this as willingly sinking into depravity. However, because Chen Xin supported you, no one else in the sect could openly express too much dissatisfaction.

Driven by the hatred in your heart, you did not waste a single day over the next three years. Every day, you rose at six to practice the sword, studied classics in the afternoon, and practiced medicine at night. Your days were extremely fulfilling. Although your talent for the sword was poor, swinging the sword tens of thousands of times every day naturally produced results. The Three-Style Sword Art of thrusting, slashing, and parrying had nearly become your instinct.

Compared with sword techniques, you gained more from your studies. You had gone through the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's collection several times, and had committed most of its contents to memory. Relying on your unique talent in the Medical Dao, you had uncovered many mysteries of the human body.

Soon came the day of Martial Soul awakening. Every six-year-old child in the sect had to participate, and you were no exception. Yet tragedy struck. Your awakened Family Martial Soul, the Edgeless Sword, seemed to have undergone a malignant mutation. Not only was its blade covered in rust and cracks, but your Innate Soul Power was also a pitiful Level 0.5.

After your Martial Soul awakening, you were met with the disappointed gazes of the sect elders and the gloating of ordinary disciples. Fortunately, though disappointed, Chen Xin still held hopes for you. He believed that a sword cultivator must be sincere at heart, and Innate Soul Power was not the most crucial thing.

Main Quest: First Ring completed.

Main Quest: Second Ring—Choice.

Task: Choose your future path of development and the faction you will belong to.

Reward: None.

Encouraged by Chen Xin, you cultivated diligently. With the resources of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and your mastery of the Medical Dao improving your cultivation efficiency, you finally spent two and a half years raising your Soul Power to Level 10, allowing you to obtain your first Soul Ring.

During this time, Yu Xiaogang, the discarded son of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, one of the Upper Three Sects, published an article titled "Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul," causing some controversy. The outside world was divided in its opinions, while people within the sect often spoke of him. Though they looked down on Yu Xiaogang in their hearts, that did not stop them from using him to mock you, who likewise had only Level 0.5 Innate Soul Power.

You did not care about this. Instead, you seriously looked into the specific contents of "Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul."

Side Quest acquired: Cross-level Absorption of First Soul Ring.

Reward: Physical Constitution enhancement. (To be settled after all Main Quests are completed.)