[Your pill formed at the third grade, resulting in a high-grade Golden Core.]
"Only a third-grade Golden Core?"
Su Yang was somewhat disappointed.
Sure enough, raising the grade of a Golden Core was not so easy.
Even Simulated Su Yang's innate source and foundation were still far from sufficient.
"Perhaps if Tianjian Sect still existed, and Simulated Su Yang were still its Sword Son, he might have had a chance at a first-grade Golden Core."
"At the very least, a second-grade Golden Core should have been possible."
"With his current talent, relying on himself alone really was still far too lacking."
Though Su Yang said this, he quickly adjusted his mood.
After all, this was only Simulated Su Yang, not his own True Body.
Besides, a third-grade Golden Core already gave him no small chance of attaining Nascent Soul.
If this simulation could reach Nascent Soul, Su Yang would be grinning so broadly his molars would show.
Su Yang continued watching the simulation.
[After leaving your cave dwelling, many people came to visit you.]
[Foundation Establishment cultivators were not conspicuous in Qingling City, this great Market Town, but Golden Core cultivators already held considerable status.]
[Moreover, you were a genius whose pill had formed at the third grade, with hopes of reaching Nascent Soul.]
[Many factions came to recruit you, promising you enormous benefits.]
[Even Qingling City's sole Nascent Soul True Lord sent someone to relay that if you were willing to take him as your master, he would certainly nurture you well.]
[But you declined them all.]
[On a moonless night with howling winds, you quietly left Qingling City.]
[One month later, you arrived in what had once been the Wang Clan Immortal Clan's sphere of influence, though it had now been occupied by a Nascent Soul faction named Feihuang Palace.]
[The Lan Clan Treasure Vault was located here.]
[You used the ability Locate Position and Acupuncture Point and found the Lan Clan Treasure Vault's exact location.]
[Yet you discovered that a small Qi Refining Market Town had long been established above the treasure vault.]
[It had been built back when the Wang Clan Immortal Clan had not yet been destroyed.]
[The Wang Clan Immortal Clan also knew that the Lan Clan Treasure Vault lay within this region, but they could not find its precise location.]
[Thus, they had established one Golden Core Market Town, ten Foundation Establishment Market Towns, and a hundred Qi Refining Market Towns here in one fell swoop.]
[They gathered a great number of cultivators, hoping someone might one day discover it by a stroke of fate.]
[You remained in this Market Town for three years, but still found no way to quietly retrieve the Lan Clan treasure without alerting the others.]
[Thus, you hardened your heart.]
[You deliberately lured over an evil Foundation Establishment cultivator.]
[Under the evil Foundation Establishment cultivator's attack, many cultivators died.]
[The remaining people moved away one after another, and this Market Town fell into ruin.]
[You quietly retrieved the Lan Clan Treasure Vault.]
[Within the Lan Clan Treasure Vault, you discovered a vast number of treasures, including 120 million spirit stones, five Fourth-Order magical treasures, a large number of third-order magical treasures, the Lan Clan's inherited cultivation technique Taihuang Qing Yi Jue, numerous spell inheritances of varying grades, the divine ability Qinghuang Spirit Body, the fourth-order spirit pill Nascent Soul Pill, three third-order Spirit Vein Cores, one Fourth-Order Spirit Vein Core...]
"As expected of a Nascent Soul-level treasure vault. What a bumper harvest!"
Outside the simulation, Su Yang's eyes lit up.
Though these treasures currently belonged only to Simulated Su Yang, once he exchanged for his identity and formed his core, they would sooner or later fall into his hands.
[You gave yourself a complete upgrade, replacing your equipment with a full set of high-grade third-order magical treasures.]
[You began attempting to cultivate the Taihuang Qing Yi Jue, but found it inferior to the cultivation technique you had learned at Tianjian Sect, the Chiyang Sword Canon, so you abandoned it.]
[You studied the divine ability Qinghuang Spirit Body and discovered that it was a body-refining divine ability requiring Nascent Soul cultivation, so you did not meet the conditions to cultivate it.]
[At the Spirit Vein Core, you found words left behind by your ancestors. They hoped you could find a remote place to rebuild the Lan Clan Immortal Family and avoid being discovered by the Wang Clan Immortal Clan.]
[The Spirit Vein Core was the treasure they had left for you to establish the Lan Clan.]
[You learned of the Spirit Vein Core's function.]
[Using a Spirit Vein Core as the foundation, along with the corresponding spirit stones, one could evolve a spirit vein of the same grade. Increasing the investment of Spirit Vein Cores and spirit stones could raise the spirit vein's quality.]
[After considering it, you felt that the Wang Clan Immortal Clan had already perished, so rebuilding the Lan Clan would not be a bad idea.]
[After all, your great vengeance had been avenged, and after cultivating for so many years, it was time to enjoy yourself.]
"How muddleheaded!"
Su Yang sighed and shook his head.
How had Simulated Su Yang become so depraved?
Establishing an immortal clan and becoming the founder of a clan might seem imposing.
But in reality, it would waste vast amounts of time and energy, lowering cultivation efficiency.
Moreover, founding a faction would inevitably bring conflict with other factions.
Who knew which time might result in death and the dissipation of the Dao?
Yet Su Yang also knew that Simulated Su Yang's choice was only human nature.
After all, in Simulated Su Yang's memories, he was a descendant of the Lan Clan.
Fulfilling his ancestors' last wishes and restoring the Lan Clan's glory was not unreasonable.
[Though you had this idea, you also knew that directly finding a place to establish a faction would definitely arouse the wariness and hostility of surrounding factions.]
[Thus, you decided to find a backer.]
[More than half a month later, you arrived at Wuliang Sect to seek out your senior brother Gu Changfeng and your elder brother True Monarch Mingyang.]
[They quickly received you.]
[You discovered that both True Monarch Mingyang and Gu Changfeng were brimming with delight.]
[True Monarch Mingyang told you that the top Tianjian Sect divine ability he had long cultivated, Ancient Sword True Body, had reached major completion. With his Nascent Soul body, he could now barely wield the strength of Spirit Transformation.]
[You congratulated him.]
[At the same time, you told him part of your background and your desire to establish an immortal clan, hoping to place your faction under Wuliang Sect's banner.]
[True Monarch Mingyang said it was a small matter. With his current strength, he was already the foremost figure in Wuliang Sect beneath its three Deity Transformation Venerables. All he needed to do was say the word.]
[You expressed your thanks!]
[He was displeased, saying that when you had first met, you had been forthright and generous. Why had you instead become so bashful now?]
[You laughed heartily and stopped standing on ceremony.]
[You remained at Wuliang Sect for two and a half months.]
[During this time, Gu Changfeng devised a spell system for your Golden Core cultivation.]
[He also told you that you could now cultivate some simplified divine abilities.]
[But he did not have many divine abilities suited to your foundation.]
[In the end, he spent a large amount of contribution points himself to exchange for a simplified divine ability called Wind Fire Wings from Wuliang Sect, then gave it to you.]
[It was a speed-type simplified divine ability with three levels. The first level was already considered supremely fast among Golden Core cultivators, while after the third level, its speed surpassed that of ordinary Nascent Soul True Lords.]
[However, its cultivation requirements were also extremely high. Not only did it require a pair of wings each from third-order flying demon beasts of the wind and fire attributes, it also required you to comprehend Wind Intent and Fire Intent yourself.]
[He had already prepared the wings for you. Comprehending the intents could only depend on yourself.]
[You were deeply moved.]
[At 150 years old, you officially established the Lan Clan Immortal Family in a place called Qinghe Valley, under Wuliang Sect's jurisdiction on the Central Plains.]
[That day, you planted all three Spirit Vein Cores at once and supplemented them with 3 million spirit stones, forming a high-grade third-order spirit vein that aroused the greed of several surrounding Golden Core factions.]
[At this time, True Monarch Mingyang and Gu Changfeng personally arrived to support you.]
[All the factions present became exceedingly courteous.]
[That same year, you began taking wives and having children. You took five wives at once, all cultivators with spirit roots.]
[At 180 years old, you broke through to the second layer of Golden Core. By then, you had sixteen children, twelve of whom possessed spirit roots.]
[However, most had inferior-grade spirit roots, and only three possessed low-grade spirit roots.]
[At 183 years old, an event shocked all of Qixia Island.]
[The Eight Great Demon Venerables of the Seven-Cloud Mountain Range launched a war, preparing to exterminate the humans living nearby.]
[Aside from the Black Demon Sect of the Northern Wasteland, the human race's remaining three Spirit Transformation factions—the Wuliang Sect of the Central Plains, the Little Zen Temple of the Western Regions Plateau, and the local Jiang Clan Immortal Family—sent out all nine Deity Transformation Venerables to confront the Eight Great Demon Venerables.]
[At this time, more than twenty Deity Transformation Venerables from Fenghua Island, another island near Qixia Island, quietly infiltrated Qixia Island. At the same time, they wiped out the personnel left behind by Wuliang Sect and Little Zen Temple, while also plundering a large number of Nascent Soul factions.]
[The Divine Elephant Gate, the Nascent Soul faction closest to you, was destroyed.]
[War had descended.]
Before you continue