Fatal Wife

"Hah!"

Just as Wang Ping came up with those two strategies, Chi Feng let out a loud shout and threw a punch, directly shattering the air with a sharp crack.

This startled Wang Ping.

"A breakthrough?" Wang Ping asked curiously, looking at Chi Feng's beaming face.

"Yeah! I broke through to the Skin Refining Realm late stage!" Chi Feng said joyfully.

"Not bad, not bad." Wang Ping praised.

In the simulator, it had taken him nearly a year to reach the peak of the Flesh Training Realm, and he still didn't know when he'd break through to the Skin Refining Realm.

For an eight-year-old kid like Chi Feng to already be at the Skin Refining Realm late stage was truly impressive.

The next day, Wang Ping started another simulation.

Ding, Life Simulator begins.

Great Xia Calendar 480, March 4th: You train diligently.

March 10th: The Hunting Team successfully finds the Essence Nurturing Grass and returns to inform the Village Chief. You take this opportunity to tell the Village Chief everything about Li Huai. The Village Chief is puzzled by how much you know, even the exact time of the enemy's attack. You can't explain, so you just hope he believes you.

In the end, after much deliberation, the Village Chief chooses to trust you.

August 20th: With the preparations of Chi Village, Li Huai is discovered early, deliberately captured, and lured to the location of the Essence Nurturing Grass. Li Huai is overjoyed and engages in a fierce battle with two Gale Leopards. The Gale Leopards are no match.

The Four Innate Realm Experts of Chi Village, led by the Village Chief, join the battle, surrounding Li Huai. Enraged, Li Huai unleashes astonishing combat power. In the end, at the cost of severe injuries, he slaughters all the Chi villagers and the two Gale Leopards.

Soon after, Li Huai discovers Chi Village, and you die as a result.

Because of your death, this simulation ends.

"This..."

Wang Ping fell silent.

He had successfully lured the enemy, yet they still couldn't win?

Was the gap in combat power between Innate Realm experts really that huge?

"Looks like I need to find another way." Wang Ping sighed inwardly.

"I'll ask the Chi villagers for some spirit stones. Selling the Essence Nurturing Grass to Chi Village should get me a few. Then, I'll use the spirit stones to simulate and get stronger, finding a path to survival."

Wang Ping let out a light breath, pinning his hopes on this one remaining path.

Otherwise, the only option would be for Chi Village to relocate entirely, and he'd have to fend for himself outside.

The next day, Wang Ping started another simulation.

Ding, Life Simulator begins.

Great Xia Calendar 480, March 5th: You train diligently.

March 10th: The Chi villagers successfully find the Essence Nurturing Grass.

March 11th: The Village Chief leads the team to successfully hunt two Gale Leopards, obtaining two Essence Nurturing Grasses. He gives you one. You say you don't want the Essence Nurturing Grass and would rather trade for some spirit stones.

The Village Chief is speechless at your request. Essence Nurturing Grass is a rare find, and trading it for spirit stones is a waste. Besides, only Postnatal Realm cultivators can use spirit stones.

You insist you need the spirit stones. The Village Chief is puzzled but doesn't ask further, simply telling you to swallow the Essence Nurturing Grass—they'll give you the spirit stones.

You're overjoyed and grateful, thanking him repeatedly. With the Village Chief's help, you obtain ten Low-Grade Spirit Stones. You also swallow the Essence Nurturing Grass.

August 1st: Thanks to your increasingly diligent training, you successfully break through to the Flesh Training Realm late stage. After thinking it over, you reveal Li Huai's situation. The Village Chief is shocked but ultimately trusts you and decides to relocate the entire village.

August 3rd: The Chi villagers leave Blackwind Forest. You're forced to leave the group and stay in Blackwind Town.

Learning from past lessons, you're very careful when purchasing resources, trying not to attract attention.

Great Xia Calendar 481, April 20th: You successfully break through to the peak of the Flesh Training Realm and begin to assault the Skin Refining Realm.

Great Xia Calendar 482, December 15th: You successfully break through to the Skin Refining Realm early stage.

Great Xia Calendar 483, July 5th: You successfully break through to the Skin Refining Realm mid stage.

Great Xia Calendar 484, October 7th: You marry a young woman in Blackwind Town and start a family.

Great Xia Calendar 486, April 8th: You successfully break through to the Skin Refining Realm late stage, overjoyed. However, your wife discovers the spirit stones you've hidden, finds them beautiful, and takes one.

Great Xia Calendar 486, April 9th: Your wife's spirit stone is discovered, and she is brutally killed. Others find you and force you to hand over the spirit stones. You comply, but in the end, you still can't escape death.

Because of your death, this simulation ends.

"So this is... killed again for carrying treasure."

Wang Ping looked at the simulation results, feeling helpless.

In this world, wealth truly couldn't be shown—show it, and you die.

Unless you had enough strength to protect it, it was far too dangerous.

Before, just some silver notes had brought a deadly disaster. Now, these spirit stones—if discovered, even Body Tempering Realm martial artists would be tempted, let alone Postnatal Realm ones, who'd kill without hesitation.

Spirit stones were far too precious.

"Still, I've lived a few more years this time—that's progress. And it confirms that the Village Chief can actually give me spirit stones."

Wang Ping shook his head and let out a light sigh.

Of course, to actually get spirit stones, he still had to wait until the Essence Nurturing Grass was harvested.

Otherwise, his current status in Chi Village was just that of a freeloader eating and drinking for free. If he opened his mouth asking for spirit stones, he'd definitely be looked down on.

That said, Wang Ping wasn't in a rush. There was still some time before danger arrived.

In the blink of an eye, a few more days passed, and it was finally March 10th.

Wang Ping watched the backs of Chi Hu and the other Hunting Team members as they headed off, knowing they'd bring back a big haul today.

And he, Wang Ping, would get spirit stones today or tomorrow to run a special simulation and strengthen his slash.

"Spirit stones, spirit stones. Only spirit stones can break this deadlock."

Wang Ping muttered to himself.

Over these past few days, he'd kept up his daily simulations.

But no matter how he simulated, it was always the same—dying in all sorts of ways.

Even if he didn't stay in Blackwind Town, a dangerous place crawling with mercenaries, and chose to head to another town or village, it was still useless.

The roads to other towns were just as dangerous. One wrong step and he'd run into mountain bandits, who'd take both his money and his life.

In short, having the cultivation of the Flesh Tempering Realm or Skin Refining Realm while traveling wasn't even as useful as being an ordinary commoner.

Because bandits couldn't be bothered with the meager possessions of commoners. Robbing a single martial artist yielded far more than a dozen paupers.

Still, from the way people got killed at the drop of a hat and bandits were everywhere, Wang Ping could guess that the current state of Great Xia wasn't looking too good.

If the kingdom were peaceful and prosperous, bandits wouldn't dare kill and rob people on the official roads.