The Great Xia Dynasty.
Some time ago, Wu Yun had gone to the royal capital. Before his breakthrough, he had already been at the threshold of Heavenly Immortal strength. After breaking through, he had risen another level, and he was still very young.
With both talent and strength, Emperor Xia naturally wanted to win him over.
If he built a good relationship with Wu Yun while he was still relatively weak, then when Wu Yun eventually became a Pure Yang True Immortal, the benefits would be ten or even a hundred times greater.
"Great Xia at the end of the God-Demon Era is completely different from what I remember." Now that Wu Yun had enough strength, he had begun to learn about more secret matters.
Immortal Juhua had lived at the end of the God-Demon Era.
It was no wonder that Wu Yun had encountered a Void-Returning God-Demon during the simulation, and even fought it for a long time before it finally left.
Emperor Xia had bestowed several Immortal-Grade Top-Tier Dharma Treasures on him and personally promised that the Wu Shan Clan would be moved to a more prosperous commandery, where they would enjoy abundant resources.
There were quite a few Heavenly Immortals in Great Xia, and not every one of them earned Emperor Xia's favor.
After returning from the royal capital, Wu Yun used Void Evasion to return to his palace. There, he saw his former master, Venerable Wuchen, sitting and waiting for him.
Seeing Wu Yun return, Venerable Wuchen hurried over. "I came by a few days ago, but heard that His Majesty had summoned you, so I waited here for a while."
"Master, what did you need me for?" Wu Yun didn't dare show the slightest disrespect. Even though he was only a Heavenly Immortal now, he still had to observe proper etiquette, let alone if he became a Dao Lord or Emperor Lord in the future.
On the path of cultivation, one's master was the person one ought to respect most.
To show disrespect to one's master was unacceptable—not only to others, but to Wu Yun's own sense of cause and effect. It would sever every path of cultivation before him.
"You know how long I've lived." Venerable Wuchen sighed. "I came to ask you to help me obtain a Reincarnation Decree."
Venerable Wuchen had been a Loose Immortal for four hundred thousand years. The endless Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations had worn him down, and he could no longer see a way forward. There was no hope.
Rather than endure this torment, he would rather be reincarnated and start anew.
"A Reincarnation Decree?" Wu Yun considered it for a moment, then said, "His Majesty believes that nothing should be given without merit. I'll travel the world and capture some Gods and Demons, then exchange them with His Majesty for one."
In the God-Demon Era, Emperor Xia had posted fixed bounties for Gods and Demons. As long as one captured enough wild Gods and Demons, one could exchange them with him for just about anything.
A Reincarnation Decree was precious only to Loose Immortals. Wu Yun could probably go straight to Emperor Xia and ask for one; there was a good chance he would simply grant it.
But Wu Yun felt that asking for one outright would leave him indebted.
"Wouldn't that be too much trouble for you?" Before coming to Wu Yun, Venerable Wuchen had already prepared himself for the possibility of refusal. Yet when he heard that Wu Yun had agreed to ask for a Reincarnation Decree, he felt a pang of guilt.
"It's a small matter. Master, just go back and wait a few years."
Venerable Wuchen was overjoyed. A few years were nothing to him; even a thousand years would hardly matter.
After leaving the tribe, Wu Yun headed to various parts of Great Xia to search for slumbering Gods and Demons. His comprehension of the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth was profound, allowing him to travel directly to any commandery.
By now, the only Heavenly God among the native Gods and Demons had been imprisoned by Emperor Xia. The strongest ones scattered across the different regions were merely at the Void-Returning level.
Void-Returning Gods and Demons were no threat. They relied on their powerful Divine Bodies, but their comprehension was abysmal, and their strength was inferior even to Immortal Beixing's.
Against Wu Yun, they were simply slaughtered.
Only a massive formation of Gods and Demons could rival a Heavenly Immortal. But how could there still be so many wild Gods and Demons in Great Xia?
Wu Yun put in a little effort and found several Gods and Demons at the Primordial Spirit level. He even encountered the same Void-Returning God-Demon that had fought him before.
He suppressed them all with ease and captured them, ready to present them to Emperor Xia.
Wu Yun's travels and his hunt for Gods and Demons caused quite a stir. He reaped a great many Reputation Points, enough to start his second simulation.
[The host has accumulated enough Reputation Points. Would you like to begin the simulation?]
Wu Yun was cultivating in the Swallowed Star World when a prompt suddenly sounded. He immediately replied, "Begin now."
As soon as he answered, time in the present world came to a complete halt. Wu Yun returned to that utterly empty space, and the Simulation Panel appeared before him.
[Selecting simulation world...] [Simulation world loaded: Swallowed Star World.] [This is an advanced simulation. The host can see all available talents and choose any one of them.]
Unlike in an ordinary simulation, Wu Yun could see every talent option in an advanced simulation. The highest tier he could currently choose was purple.
The talents were divided into gray, blue, purple, orange, and red.
There were quite a few options. He first ruled out all the gray and blue ones; some of those talents made even him shudder.
There were three purple talents.
They were Distinguished Background, which he had chosen before, along with Child of Luck and Cultivation Genius.
The purple-tier Distinguished Background talent would give Wu Yun parents between Universe-Level and World Lord strength, or an elder in his family who was an Immortal or above.
(I'm not sure about this part. Immortals supposedly can't have children, but I looked through the original text recently and it doesn't seem to have actually said that Immortals can't reproduce.)
Child of Luck was rather mysterious. At the purple tier, it would give Wu Yun extremely good luck within the beginner's map. In his understanding, Hong and Thor could probably also be considered Children of Luck on Earth.
What came later depended too much on fate. What did a Child of Luck from Earth amount to in the vast universe?
Cultivation Genius would make Wu Yun more talented than everyone else on the map where he was born. If he was lucky enough to be born into an Immortal family, this talent would be incredibly useful.
But if he was born on some remote, native planet, it would be pointless. The highest levels there were Planetary and Star Level, so being more talented than them wouldn't mean much.
"I'll still go with Distinguished Background." Wu Yun pursed his lips. He was extremely cautious by nature and liked to keep his true abilities hidden. He never did anything unless he was sure of success.
Cultivation Genius and Child of Luck were far too random. Distinguished Background was more reliable.
[Please choose an achievement goal.] [1. Become a World Lord.] [2. Become an Immortal God.] [3. Become a Universe Venerable.]
Wu Yun was stunned. He had originally planned to cultivate to Universe-Level, then participate in the next Peak Powerhouse Battle hosted by the Giant Axe Arena.
But achieving any one of these simulation goals would make his strength skyrocket. The lowest was World Lord. Why bother participating in the Peak Powerhouse Battle?
Plans often changed, and Wu Yun quickly adjusted his mindset. In his first simulation, he had to play it safe. Failure was not an option.
This time, he could choose a more ambitious goal, but Wu Yun still chose to become a World Lord. The simulated version of him had only the memories from before he crossed over.
His true self, however, possessed the thinking ability of a Heavenly Immortal. The World Lord stage was also an excellent time to comprehend the Origin Law, and Wu Yun didn't want to waste the opportunity.
What was more, at the World Lord stage, he could even consider possessing a Special Lifeform.
If he had his simulated self become an Immortal, he would most likely become an Army Lord.
Before you continue