The white-clad boy looked at his newborn younger brother with slight surprise.
The curve of his lips lifted again. He reached out, ignoring the flames, and brutally tore away the strange bone brimming with sun-like fire.
[You died]
Damn your immortal ancestors! I'm done playing!
Jiang Yuan clutched his head. He felt dizzy and weak, as though the life simulations had affected him.
Jiang Yuan had already grinded through nearly a hundred attempts. He had even accidentally figured out the trick to activating the strange bone at the brink of life and death, but there was simply no solution.
Make it to one hundred!
Jiang Yuan, a pseudo-obsessive-compulsive patient, silently encouraged himself and continued grinding.
[You died] [You have simulated the same life one hundred times consecutively for the first time. Congratulations on achieving: Perseverance] [Congratulations. Achievement reward obtained: Freely solidify one talent from a simulated life onto yourself]
To be honest, Jiang Yuan had only continued simulating later on because he wanted to grind his way to one hundred. He had basically given up hope.
But now that he had suddenly achieved an accomplishment, the listless Jiang Yuan instantly perked up with excitement.
A talent?!
Jiang Yuan thought of something, and delight surged through his heart.
He looked over, and sure enough—
[Strange Bone: Great Sun Blazing Fire Bone] [Intelligent] [Perseverance] [Unusual Constitution] [Martial Arts Prodigy]
Five talents appeared before Jiang Yuan.
But the most dazzling one was undoubtedly that strange bone.
This was the very thing that had brought about the calamity of his death in the First Life.
Worthy of an Emperor Template in childhood. The other talents looked quite good too, but compared to the strange bone, Jiang Yuan chose it as his reward without the slightest hesitation.
The instant he chose to accept the reward, Jiang Yuan could feel his breastbone turning into powder inch by inch.
A piercing pain struck him. Before Jiang Yuan could react, it vanished in an instant, replaced by a warmth like soaking in a hot spring that spread from his chest through his entire body.
His breastbone was regenerating.
A scorching, dazzling radiance emerged from Jiang Yuan's chest.
Vast, righteous divine light like the great sun bloomed through the room, nearly blinding Jiang Yuan's titanium-alloy dog eyes.
I! Am the light!
Yet this light also pierced things in the room that Jiang Yuan could not see...
A shrill wail rang out. From the corner of his eye, Jiang Yuan saw something suddenly appear around his neck.
Jiang Yuan's heart skipped a beat. Before he could feel out his strange bone, he found something slimy, red, and seemingly tongue-like wrapped around his neck.
Part of the thing had even stretched into his mouth!
Yet he had felt nothing and seen nothing the entire time.
What was this?!
Jiang Yuan's heart and liver trembled. He fiercely reached out and tore at the thing around his neck.
He flung away a mass of flesh that felt horribly real.
Looking closer, it was a "baby" with a head the size of a soccer ball but a body only as large as its head. It was called a baby because the lower half of this ghostly thing was no different from an ordinary infant's, but its enormous head had no features at all—only a huge lipless mouth, from which seven or eight thick tongues protruded.
To be honest, Jiang Yuan felt like vomiting the moment he saw the ghostly thing.
This thing had been wrapped around him all along.
If his strange bone had not shown its might, he might not have discovered it for a long time.
Had the original owner been killed by this thing?
The light from Jiang Yuan's breastbone still shone. Bathed in that light, the ghostly thing could not move at all, while its body was continuously roasted as if by fire.
Sensing the light in his chest gradually weakening, Jiang Yuan's heart lurched. Looking at the ghostly thing still wriggling on the ground, he gritted his teeth and pounced forward, unleashing the Ten Directions Fist without hesitation.
His qi and blood surged. Scarlet currents wrapped around his arm, and the color of flames flashed through them. He threw a punch of tremendous force. The ghostly thing let out a soundless wail and was smashed to pieces by Jiang Yuan's fist.
[Points +30]
Three seconds after the ghostly thing was pulverized, the light in his chest completely dimmed.
Divine objects concealed themselves. Strange bones were heaven-bestowed divine endowments, and within a martial artist's body, they normally emitted not the slightest unusual glow.
Only when activated, or under special circumstances like Jiang Yuan's just now, would a strange bone release its own divine radiance.
The heat on Jiang Yuan's body had yet to fade, and faint steam rose from him.
At that moment, the notification about gaining Points did not draw much of Jiang Yuan's attention.
Uncertainty clouded Jiang Yuan's face. This world did not seem to be a purely martial world.
What exactly were these ghostly creatures? Why had the original owner's memories never mentioned them in the slightest?
Wait! Points?
Jiang Yuan instantly recalled that the simulator had said killing the strange could earn Points...
The strange?
Jiang Yuan's expression turned solemn. He looked outside. Night had fallen.
And in the darkness, it seemed as though something was watching him.
Jiang Yuan shook his head, and that sensation vanished again.
Just as Jiang Yuan wanted to continue studying the simulator—
Endless drowsiness surged from every part of his body into his mind.
"Ah~"
Jiang Yuan yawned and collapsed into sleep.
What exactly was this strange thing?
Even as his consciousness blurred, Jiang Yuan was still thinking about it.
A dreamless night passed.
In the morning, Jiang Yuan woke and blankly looked around.
Only then did he remember that he seemed to have transmigrated.
But yesterday... hadn't he become very weak afterward?
Was this... a limitation of the simulator?
Jiang Yuan guessed as he opened the simulator. The glittering gold [Martial Emperor] still hung there, seeming to look down on Jiang Yuan with disdain.
Jiang Yuan did not want to see that First Life, which he both loved and hated, again.
He opened [Past Life Simulation].
[Required to generate a Second Life Simulation: Points *100]
Jiang Yuan's eyelid twitched as he chose yes.
This simulator had calculated the Point cost perfectly, hadn't it...
A new simulated life appeared before him.
[Mundane World]
The white words looked inconspicuous beneath the golden words beside them.
Yet Jiang Yuan was delighted.
But Jiang Yuan did not choose to begin the life simulation now.
Instead, he went to examine the other parts of the simulator.
[Exchange Rewards] [Intelligent]: Points *1000 [Perseverance]: Points *1000 [Unusual Constitution]: Points *1000 [Martial Arts Prodigy]: Points *3000
Several talents innate to the First Life had appeared among the exchange rewards.
[Exchange Rewards] would display things possessed in a certain simulated life, such as talents and martial arts experience, but martial cultivation itself could not be exchanged.
That gave Jiang Yuan something to think about.
[Personal Backpack] [Points *30]
The Personal Backpack contained only the Points he had just obtained.
Jiang Yuan sorted through his thoughts.
He temporarily put the simulator out of his mind. Its simulations seemed to consume his Spiritual Power.
That was not beneficial to martial cultivation.
He needed to strike a balance between cultivation and simulating lives.
Although the simulator was his golden finger, if he wanted to survive in this world, the only thing he could rely on was his own cultivation. This golden finger could only assist his cultivation.
Those demons and monsters would not spare him just because he possessed a golden finger...
Jiang Yuan had already decided to thoroughly question his nominal uncle. As a high-ranking member of a major force, Wenzhao should know what the strange were.
With that thought in mind, Jiang Yuan arrived at the training ground.
Quite a few escort agency disciples had gradually gathered around. Morning practice had begun.
Jiang Yuan found a relatively empty spot and began practicing the Ten Directions Fist.
Perhaps because the original owner had been rather withdrawn and had no friends, Jiang Yuan's cultivation would not be disturbed.
The Ten Directions Fist was a boxing art, but also a qi and blood cultivation method. At the Blood Qi Realm, this was the main technique Jiang Yuan cultivated.
Jiang Yuan did not slack off in the slightest and trained with all his heart.
Though he did not know whether this world possessed special powers that could deal with the strange, martial arts were currently his only means of surviving in this world.
The martial arts of this world were at least at the level of a mid-tier martial world. They should have some ability to fight back against the strange.
At that moment, a warm current flowed from his chest.
Hm? This cultivation effect?
Jiang Yuan frowned slightly. As he slowly circulated his qi and blood, he carefully sensed the changes within his body.
A warm current had been flowing from his chest into his entire body, assisting the circulation of his qi and blood.
This warm current undoubtedly came from the strange bone!
His current cultivation results in one hour were comparable to ten hours of his previous training.
It was as if he had suddenly shed his mortal frame and exchanged his bones, as though his Ren and Du meridians had been opened. In an instant, he had become a martial arts genius!
An unexpected delight. He had not expected the strange bone to be so helpful for cultivation as well.
Jiang Yuan's fists did not stop. He practiced with meticulous precision and tremendous force.
Afterward, he began cultivating like a madman. This world was not an ordinary fantasy martial world, and the unknown spurred Jiang Yuan onward.
At that moment, in the distance, the burly man in black from yesterday saw Jiang Yuan training like mad. A strange glint flashed through his eyes.
"Instructor Tan!" Jiang Yuan saw the burly man in black approach him. He slowly withdrew his stance and respectfully bowed.
The man before him was an escort chief of the Zhenyuan Escort Agency and also an instructor at the Zhenyuan Martial Academy.
The Zhenyuan Martial Academy supplied fresh blood to the Zhenyuan Escort Agency. It was where the escort agency nurtured its direct-line disciples. All martial artists within the agency who had not reached the Late Qi and Blood Stage cultivated at the academy.
The Zhenyuan Martial Academy was an extremely important subordinate institution of the Zhenyuan Escort Agency.
Jiang Yuan was currently cultivating under Instructor Tan.
"You brat... you feel like a completely different person." Instructor Tan looked Jiang Yuan up and down, surprise in his voice.
Jiang Yuan smiled bitterly inwardly. The previous Jiang Yuan had been the Young Escort Chief of the Zhenyuan Escort Agency, while Instructor Tan had treated him no differently from anyone else. He had even made Jiang Yuan lose face before his peers.
The original owner was withdrawn and full of youthful pride, so he bore quite a bit of resentment toward Instructor Tan.
But Instructor Tan had not taken it to heart. Even when Wenzhao learned of it, he merely laughed it off. Instead, the original owner, with his youthful temperament, began to resent Instructor Tan.
In Jiang Yuan's eyes, Instructor Tan was a qualified teacher. Previously, he himself had disliked cultivation. In the environment of the Zhenyuan Martial Academy, with his talent, only reaching the Mid Qi and Blood Stage at sixteen could be called fairly mediocre—especially considering the advantage of his status.
"Reach the Late Qi and Blood Stage soon, and you'll be able to escort shipments. This world is a vast place." Instructor Tan patted Jiang Yuan's shoulder, offered a few words of encouragement, and left.
Jiang Yuan looked at Instructor Tan's departing back and shook his head, dismissing the thought of asking him about the strange.
It would be better to ask Wenzhao about such matters.
During morning practice, Instructor Tan only came to answer questions. Students could ask the instructors about anything they did not understand.
After that, instruction was tailored to different disciples according to their respective levels of cultivation.
That day, Jiang Yuan spent all his time practicing martial arts.
It was not until dinner that Jiang Yuan saw Chief Escort Wenzhao again.
"Uncle, do you know about the strange..." Jiang Yuan picked up a piece of braised pork belly, its color, aroma, and flavor all excellent, and spoke as if casually.
Wenzhao's expression changed. He set down his bowl and chopsticks, looked at Jiang Yuan, and said, "Xiao Yuan, where did you learn of this strange matter?"
"I... saw it in some books. I was just curious..." Jiang Yuan quietly concealed the fact that he had already encountered a monster suspected of being strange.
Jiang Yuan had only seen the term "strange" in the simulator.
"Ah, come with me." Wenzhao sighed, stood up, told the maid beside him to send the dishes off to be kept warm, then led Jiang Yuan out of the escort agency residence.
Jiang Yuan followed Wenzhao the entire way. It was dinner time, and some street vendors along the road had not yet packed up their stalls. Haiyuan City was a great city; even at night, it remained bustling.
No one recognized the two of them along the way.
Jiang Yuan looked at the road and recognized it as the direction leading to the government office.
Haiyuan City did not belong to any dynasty. Or rather, according to the original Jiang Yuan's memories, there were no dynasties in the region where he lived.
Various factions independently or jointly controlled city after city, and countless cities formed this region of the Human Race.
The region where he was located was also known as the Hundred Cities Domain.
It was said that beyond the Hundred Cities Domain, there was still another world.
The idea felt oddly familiar, and Jiang Yuan could not help thinking of the nesting-doll map changes in the fantasy novels from his previous life.
Within a city, the primary administrative body was naturally the City Lord's Mansion. Beneath it was the City Yamen, responsible for resolving matters of livelihood, much like the county offices of ancient times in Jiang Yuan's previous life.
Of course, the ones truly calling the shots in every city were still the city's top powers.
"Who goes there..."
"Greetings, Lord Wen. This way, please, Lord Wen..."
Just as a yamen runner was about to stop Wenzhao, the runner beside him immediately smacked him on the head, then spoke to Wenzhao respectfully, with a hint of fawning.
Wenzhao merely nodded indifferently. From this, Jiang Yuan came to understand the standing of the Zhenyuan Escort Agency in Haiyuan City.
Not long afterward, Wenzhao led the way with practiced familiarity to a room. Three words hung above its door: Archives Room.
"Starting from the third row from the bottom on the innermost shelf, read through all of them."
Before you continue