The Medicine Gang men cursed angrily, then rose to their feet in fury.
One by one, they clenched their fists, intending to teach Su Yang a proper lesson.
And force him to reveal where he had hidden the spirit stones.
They had wasted half the night because of this.
If Su Yang had not hidden the spirit stones so well, they would already be sleeping with their young wives in their arms.
As for what would happen to Su Yang after they found the spirit stones?
Did that even need asking? Naturally, they would kill him and dump the body.
After all, according to Qingye Market's records, Su Yang was already dead.
"Kid Su, we'll give you a chance. Tell us properly where you hid the spirit stones, and we'll be a little gentler when we deal with you later."
"That's right. You're already a dead man in Qingye Market. Hand over all the spirit stones, and we might even spare your life. Otherwise, even if we kill you, no one will know."
"Kid Su, you wouldn't want to finally escape death by the skin of your teeth, only to die again so soon, would you?"
The Medicine Gang men all pressed him aggressively.
But Su Yang merely shook his head slightly.
"I don't understand. You're afraid of ghosts, so why aren't you afraid of me?"
"What do you mean?" Everyone was stunned.
Then they saw Su Yang's gaze sweep across them.
Immediately afterward, they felt their bodies begin to swell and expand from within. No matter how they tried to stop it, they could not.
Until—
Bang!
The first firework of flesh and blood was born.
Then came the second, the third...
After a single breath, more than a dozen fireworks of flesh and blood had all bloomed.
Of the Medicine Gang's dozen-plus men, only two remained standing.
One was Old Wang, whom Su Yang had deliberately spared.
The other was that young man.
He was a martial artist, his body several times tougher than an ordinary person's.
For Su Yang to detonate his body using only the power of divine sense stirred by his gaze would take a little effort.
There was no need for that.
Su Yang lightly flicked a finger, sending out a faint thread of spiritual power that merged into the man's body.
Then he became an even larger firework of flesh and blood as he bloomed.
Su Yang turned his gaze toward Old Wang.
With a thud, Old Wang dropped to his knees and began kowtowing without stop.
"Kid Su—no, Young Master Su, Grandpa Su, please don't kill me! Don't kill me! I've always taken such good care of you!
"If I hadn't guided you into becoming an outer member of the Medicine Gang back then,
"How would you have...?"
Old Wang stopped. Even he did not know what to say.
Could he say, How would you have nearly been kicked to death by an immortal cultivator?
He absolutely could not say that!
Stupid brain, think! Old Wang cursed inwardly.
But he soon realized that during the two years he had known Su Yang, he truly had not done anything that could count as a favor or brotherly loyalty toward him.
On the contrary, he had done quite a few things to exploit and cheat him.
For instance, the house Su Yang lived in had been rented through a broker Old Wang found for him. The landlord had asked for two spirit stones a year, and the broker took one, making three spirit stones in total. Yet Old Wang had quoted Su Yang five spirit stones a year and pocketed the extra two himself.
And for another, the Medicine Gang's cut from herb gatherers was forty percent, but Old Wang had always taken forty-five percent from Su Yang. Naturally, that extra five percent had gone into his own pocket.
I'm screwed. I'm dead for sure.
The more Old Wang thought about what he had done to Su Yang, the more his will crumbled, until he was nearly swallowed by despair.
"Don't worry. I won't kill you for now, but you need to do something for me."
Su Yang's words instantly pulled him from hell into heaven.
"Alright, alright! As long as I can live, I'll agree to anything!" Old Wang nodded repeatedly.
Under the threat of death, Old Wang felt that there was nothing he could not do.
"It's simple. Deliver a message to the Medicine Gang's higher-ups. Tell them to wait properly in the gang leader's courtyard. In one hour, I'll go there and take their lives. Understand?"
"Understood, understood, understood!"
Old Wang nodded frantically, scarcely believing that Su Yang would spare him over something as simple as delivering a message.
"Then get lost!"
Old Wang scrambled and crawled out of Su Yang's house.
Then he broke into a desperate run.
He was terrified Su Yang would change his mind.
As for delivering the message?
Of course he would do it.
But not to follow Su Yang's orders.
Rather, he would let the gang prepare, so Su Yang would die without even a place to bury his bones.
Although Su Yang had displayed strength far beyond ordinary people, Old Wang did not believe Su Yang could surpass the Medicine Gang's deputy leader and gang leader.
Those three had become immortal cultivators decades ago, and they even had records of killing other immortal cultivators.
Even if a teenage boy had luckily become an immortal cultivator, what could he use to compare with them?
Once he was sure Old Wang had left, Su Yang revealed a faint smile.
Everything was unfolding exactly as it had in the simulation. Old Wang would make an excellent messenger.
As for now?
Unlike in the simulation, he did not brew a cup of clear tea and wait while drinking it.
Instead, with a sweep of his divine sense, he picked out all the spirit stones carried by the Medicine Gang members who had died here.
There were not many, fewer than fifty.
He hooked a finger again and used spiritual power to dig out the spirit stones his former self had buried beneath the second jujube tree in the backyard: exactly forty.
Altogether, there were more than eighty spirit stones.
"I wonder how many spirit stones I need now if I use Energy Points to exchange for simulation attempts. Let's try it."
"System, convert these spirit stones into Energy Points."
[Converting...] [Conversion complete. Obtained 87 Energy Points.]
"Eighty-seven Energy Points. It looks like one spirit stone can be converted into roughly one Energy Point."
"System, exchange all Energy Points for simulation attempts!"
[Exchanging...] [Exchange failed.]
"Thirty thousand points? That much!"
Su Yang was greatly shocked.
He had expected that, after reaching Foundation Establishment Layer 3, he would need a great deal of simulation energy, but he had never imagined it would be this much!
Thirty thousand points of simulation energy—based on the exchange rate between Energy Points and spirit stones—that was thirty thousand spirit stones!
His former self had toiled for more than two years. Had he not gotten lucky later and dug up a precious spirit herb, he would have earned only sixty spirit stones.
At his former self's earning rate, thirty thousand spirit stones would take five hundred years.
Even great Foundation Establishment cultivators could live only to three hundred at most.
Even if Su Yang gave his current lifespan to his former self, his former self would never earn enough spirit stones for even one simulation before dying.
"If I exchanged for several more simulation attempts in the Qi Refining Realm and saved them for realms after Foundation Establishment, that would be much more worthwhile."
Su Yang had an idea, but unfortunately, it was already too late.
Still, if he found a way to earn more spirit stones in the Foundation Establishment Realm, exchanging them for simulation attempts to use for Golden Core and Nascent Soul later would have the same effect.
With his current identity, obtaining a large number of spirit stones should not be difficult anyway.
[It has been detected that you intend to exploit a bug. You are hereby informed that the loophole you envisioned does not exist. When you break through to a major realm, all simulation attempts exchanged with Energy Points will be converted back into Energy Points.]
"So ruthless. You won't give me even the slightest chance!" Su Yang looked at the words that had suddenly appeared before him, on the verge of tears.
This simulation system was far too cold and heartless.
[However, after a minor realm breakthrough, previously exchanged simulation attempts will not be converted back into Energy Points.]
"Does that mean that breaking through a minor realm will also increase the Energy Points needed to exchange for simulation attempts?"
[Yes.]
"So, if I were at Foundation Establishment Layer 1, the simulation energy required would not be thirty thousand points, but ten thousand points."
[Your wisdom is truly admirable.]
"Then if I were at Qi Refining Realm Layer 1, how much energy would I need for the first exchange for a simulation attempt that month?" Su Yang asked.
[100 points required.]
"What about the second time that month?"
[200 points.]
"And the third?"
[400 points.]
Su Yang understood completely.
This Identity Simulation System would not let him exploit major bugs, but it would actively leave him a few minor loopholes.
Simulation attempts would not be converted back into Energy Points after a minor realm breakthrough because the energy required for exchanges rose exponentially with each monthly attempt. He could not take much advantage of it anyway.
It was like deliberately giving him a few small favors.
But major realms were different. The energy needed for simulation exchanges was one hundred times that of exchanging for simulation attempts in the previous realm.
Want to exploit that bug? Not allowed.
"Damn it, why does this system feel like the capitalists from my previous life? It even understands a little of the art of controlling people?" Su Yang scratched his head.
If you think this book is good, remember to add it to your bookshelf so you do not lose it next time.
Before you continue