Revenge Time

After giving your instructions, you mounted your horse and rode out of the city, arriving at He'an Town.

You ignored the town chief's recruitment and went alone into the mountains, finding that giant tiger.

In this battle, your goal wasn't to boil the big bones into soup to nourish your foundation—since this kind of post-natal foundation reinforcement could only be brought back if you chose Martial Cultivation. Your main purpose was to test the strength of this Fierce Tiger King.

Back then, as a Second-rate Martial Artist, six of you fought it and still nearly got wiped out. Now that you've stepped into the First-rate rank, why should you fear this little tiger?

The Fierce Tiger King's aura was ferocious. In terms of sheer mass, it was absolutely comparable to a First-rate Martial Artist at the "Vital Energy Infused into Bone" stage. But compared to a true First-rate Martial Artist, it was not only clumsy in movement but also completely lacking in technique.

In a head-on clash, even you wouldn't be its match. But as long as you deflected its force properly, even a Second-rate Martial Artist could tangle with it for a while.

You fought with some difficulty. After all, back then there were six of you. Without others to distract the Fierce Tiger King, every one of its strikes was full power. With a single pounce or swipe, it could knock down a large tree.

You seized the moment, blinded its eyes with Vital Energy, split its mouth, and then slid into its belly with a single smooth motion. Raising your long blade, you gutted it open.

"What Fierce Tiger King? I killed it with one slide."

You dragged the giant tiger's corpse back to He'an Town and had the restaurant chef prepare a feast. This time, you enjoyed the tiger meat banquet and tiger bone soup almost entirely by yourself, leaving only the scraps for the restaurant.

You swaggered away and returned safely to East Forest City.

In the year 288 of Da Qing, you heard that a "Supreme Martial Saint" made a move in Qingcheng, slapping out and extinguishing the ten-thousand-strong army of Wu Kingdom before drifting away. For a time, many martial artists flocked to Qingcheng to gaze upon the Martial Saint's palm print.

There were even rumors that several reclusive old monsters from various sects came out of seclusion for this, silently circling the outskirts of Qingcheng a few times.

In the year 289 of Da Qing, the two nations ceased hostilities.

That year, your Extreme Viscera Enhancement finally neared perfection, and you were about to begin the final step for a First-rate Martial Artist: Vital Energy Infused into Bone!

In the year 290 of Da Qing, a chivalrous thief calling himself "Shadowless Guest" appeared in East Forest City, displaying First-rate skill. He specialized in stealing wealth from the city's rich families and distributing it to beggars and the poor.

Several of the city's major families invited you to take action, but you couldn't be bothered. Although you were now part of the "Privileged Class," setting aside the fact that the Shadowless Guest hadn't committed any heinous crimes, the families he targeted were mostly those with bad reputations, and the silver he took was barely a drop in the bucket...

The real point was: you want me, a martial artist, to offend another martial artist for the sake of your families? Do you have any idea which side my ass is sitting on?

In the year 291 of Da Qing, you carefully tempered your bones with Vital Energy every day. Fortunately, you had strengthened your internal organs earlier; otherwise, five minutes of daily tempering might have made you spit blood.

After Extreme Viscera Enhancement, the time extended to three hours!

(Though you ran out of Vital Energy after two and a half hours.)

In the year 293 of Da Qing, you were 38 years old, with a Foundation of 152%.

The progress of Vital Energy Infused into Bone was extremely slow. Fortunately, after reaching Perfection in the Flowing River Technique, its extra bonus to Vital Energy happened to have a miraculous effect on this. In just four years, progress reached twenty percent.

Over these four years, the rate of increase in your total Vital Energy and its quality was eight times that of the previous twenty years! Although Talent Aptitude played a role, it also proved how terrifying the gap was!

If we say that at the start of the simulation, your comprehensive Vital Energy quality was 100 points, then four years ago it was 150 points—a half-fold increase over twenty years.

And now, it's around 230 points! (The increase in Vital Energy intensity isn't high; the main rise is in total quantity, making battles more sustained.)

You had entered a period of rapid strength growth. Although Vital Energy isn't a martial artist's entire strength, it accounts for a very large proportion!

"Only when Vital Energy enters the bones can one be considered a true First-rate Martial Artist!" you couldn't help but sigh. After your strength rose, you adjusted your own standards of contempt accordingly.

From this perspective, the gap in Vital Energy quality alone between the limit of a First-rate Martial Artist and a newcomer could reach several times!

In the year 295 of Da Qing, you were enjoying a meal at a restaurant when you overheard a man and woman talking nearby.

"Brother Yulang, hehe, it's so much freer with you, much more interesting than that stuffy Chu family."

"Hahaha, Sister Xian'er, there's so much beautiful scenery in this world. Big brother will take you to see it all, one by one."

At first, you just listened casually, silently mocking the two lovebirds for being so sappy. But as you kept listening, you felt something was off and began digging through your deep memories.

After a long while, just as the young couple was walking out of the restaurant, you finally remembered where you'd seen them—or rather, where you'd heard of them.

At the end of the second simulation, that Song Yulang had eloped with the Chu Family's Daughter, Chu Xian'er. At the time, your identity was the Chu Family Guard Captain, and the task assigned to you was to bring Chu Xian'er back.

It turned out the two were truly in love. Chu Xian'er secretly held a grudge against you, and after you successfully brought her back to the Chu family, she poisoned you to death!

"This is a life-for-a-life grudge! If it weren't for that venomous woman, by the end of the second simulation, my Martial Cultivation might have reached First-rate. If I'd been luckier and not been killed by that inhuman Demon, Martial Master or even Grandmaster wouldn't have been a dream!"

Yun Shou nodded in agreement. Don't look at him now—after three simulations, his Main Body was still only a beginner First-rate.

But he had a late-game cheat: Foundation Amplification. With his Foundation increasing by 1% every year, his training speed would only get faster.

And from the information revealed in the Simulator's simple words, his Foundation Amplification seemed different from those other martial prodigies.

If other martial prodigies had a Foundation twice that of ordinary people, then their combat power and training speed would also be double. But their lifespan didn't seem particularly outstanding. The Simulator had mentioned: even a Grandmaster only lived for one Jiazi of sixty years—a hundred and fifty years at most.

To become a Grandmaster, one's Foundation must be at least twice that of ordinary people.

Yet in the simulation, at fifty years old, he appeared much younger due to his higher Foundation. This Foundation Amplification also carried a slight life-extending effect!

A martial prodigy's double Foundation might only manifest in martial power. If they never trained in martial arts, they'd still die of old age at a hundred.

But his 200% Foundation, while it wouldn't let him live to 200, could allow him to reach 120, 130, or even higher without training!

So, if the simulated version of himself kept living, reaching 100, 200 years old, relying on the continuous stacking of Foundation, constant life extension, and increasing Talent Aptitude, becoming a Grandmaster in a single simulation wasn't a dream!

"Make your move, other me. Consider it revenge for the other other you."