Binding, Ah Yin!

Lin Jiang rolled over, causing his chair to creak loudly.

"Need to think this through..."

Lin Jiang leaned back against the chair, fingers tapping on the desk as he mentally cycled through the notable Soul Beasts of the Star Dou Great Forest.

They were all decent. But something still felt missing.

He sat up straight, his eyes lighting up.

"Right! Almost forgot about Tang San's mother!"

"Ah Yin eventually became a Second-Level Deity and the Core of Life for the entire Douluo Continent!"

He slapped his thigh, the more he thought about it, the more he felt this path was the right one.

She should still be a small Blue Silver Grass right now, with low cultivation years and no awakened consciousness.

If he could bind to her in advance and let her simulate her life, the hundredfold returns would come back to him—

Lin Jiang rubbed his hands together, unable to suppress the grin spreading across his face.

"System, bind to Ah Yin."

[Binding successful!]

[Current remaining distribution attempts: 2]

[Current Subversion Points: 256]

[Please draft the content for the life simulation—]

Lin Jiang moved his chair to the window, where the sunlight fell perfectly across the desk.

He spread out a sheet of paper, picked up a pen, and began to conceive how he should write Ah Yin's simulated life.

Meanwhile.

Deep in the mountains and old forests near Holy Soul Village, there was a cave that no one ever stepped foot in.

The entrance was tightly covered by vines, and only at high noon could a few rays of sunlight leak through the gaps, shining onto the palm-sized Blue Silver Grass in the center of the cave.

The Blue Silver Grass was very small, with only three leaves that were a glowing blue, their edges shimmering with a faint light.

Compared to its kin covering the mountains and plains outside, it looked no different, save for a slightly deeper shade of color.

Suddenly, the leaves trembled.

It wasn't the wind; there was no wind in the cave.

[Ding! Congratulations to the host for binding to the Life Simulator! Using the simulator grants life simulation rewards!]

The leaves of the Blue Silver Grass trembled again, this time more violently, with all three leaves standing upright like three antennas.

[Current available simulations: 1]

[Does the host wish to initiate the simulation?]

The cave remained silent for a long time.

The Blue Silver Grass stood with its leaves upright, motionless, as if digesting some incredible information.

Then, the leaves slowly unfurled and curled back up, like a person repeatedly clenching and unclenching their fist.

"I... am awake?"

A consciousness, so faint it was almost non-existent, surfaced from within the Blue Silver Grass.

It was dazed and confused, like someone who had just woken up and couldn't distinguish between a dream and reality.

"No, I only have a dozen years of cultivation; how could I possess consciousness?"

The consciousness became clearer, and she began to examine herself.

Her roots were anchored in a crack in the stone, she had only three leaves, and her soul power was as thin as morning mist; she was indeed just a small Blue Silver Grass with a dozen years of age.

Under normal circumstances, she would have to live for another ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and eighty years to reach the level of a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.

"Simulator?" She chewed over the word that had suddenly appeared in her mind. "Could this be what gave me consciousness ahead of time?"

She tried to move her leaves, and she could.

She tried to sense the surrounding environment, and she could.

She tried to recall who she was in the depths of her mind—

Ah Yin.

The name surfaced from the depths of her memory, like a stone buried at the bottom of a river being flipped over to reveal the characters carved underneath.

She remembered many things.

Hundred-thousand-year cultivation, transforming into a human, Tang Hao, the sacrifice, the Blue Silver Grass seed, this mountain forest, this cave.

She remembered why she was here.

And she also remembered that she was currently just a small Blue Silver Grass with only a dozen years of cultivation.

The leaves drooped, wilting for a moment, before standing upright once more.

"This Simulator... could it be the new opportunity I've obtained?"

She used her newly awakened, still somewhat sluggish consciousness to think about it earnestly for a while.

Then, cautiously and tentatively, she replied with a single word in her mind.

"Simulate?"

[Simulation starting--]

[Age 0: You are born in the depths of the Star Dou Great Forest. Your true form is the Blue Silver Emperor, the sovereign of the Blue Silver Grass clan, born to stand above billions of your own kind.]

[Tens of thousands of years of cultivation, enduring wind, frost, rain, snow, thunder, and natural disasters, you survived them all.]

[Finally, your cultivation reaches one hundred thousand years, and the transformation tribulation arrives. You choose to cultivate as a human and enter the human world.]

Ah Yin's leaves trembled slightly.

Those memories were so distant, so distant that she thought she had long since forgotten them.

But now, as she recalled them, every frame was as clear as if it were yesterday.

[18 years after your transformation, you travel the continent in the form of a human woman.]

[In your blue-gold dress with eyes of azure, you are the center of attention wherever you go.]

[Age 19: While out on a journey, you meet the brothers Tang Hao and Tang Xiao, direct descendants of the Clear Sky Sect.]

[The three of you travel together, and both brothers develop feelings of love for you.]

Ah Yin's leaves stood straight up.

Tang Hao. Tang Xiao.

These two names were like stones cast into a calm pool, sending ripples spreading outward.

She remembered that burly man, remembered his bold words when drunk, remembered his helplessness when holding their newborn child, and remembered the look in his eyes when he watched her sacrifice herself at the end.

[One day, while you go to relieve yourself, the two brothers begin to talk.]

Ah Yin: "...Do they have to write down going to the bathroom too?"

[Tang Xiao speaks first: "Brother Hao, your talent is better than mine. Ah Yin... I will leave her to you."]

[Tang Hao is silent for a moment: "Big Brother..." His voice carries guilt, yet also a trace of joy that cannot be hidden.]

Ah Yin's leaves bent slightly, like a person nodding gently.

As an elder brother, Tang Xiao truly possessed the sense of responsibility of one.

[Tang Xiao pats his brother on the shoulder: "For my ninth spirit ring, any black one will do. You are different, Brother Hao. With this one-hundred-thousand-year spirit ring, you will surely be able to lead our Clear Sky Sect to stand at the pinnacle of the continent once again."]

[Tang Hao clenches his fists, his eyes turning red: "Big Brother, I will not let your expectations down!"]

[Tang Xiao nods, his gaze passing over his brother's shoulder to look into the distance: "Mm. Keep Ah Yin steady for now; once you reach level ninety, we will act directly."]

Ah Yin's leaves froze.

What?

[Tang Hao asks in a low voice: "And before that..."]

[Tang Xiao says expressionlessly: "Treat her well. Make her follow you wholeheartedly. Keep her by your side so it will be more convenient when the time comes."]

[Tang Hao is silent for a moment, then nods.]

Ah Yin's leaves began to tremble.

[Tang Xiao turns to walk toward the camp, stops after two steps, and adds without looking back: "Oh, right. If she offers her sacrifice voluntarily, the boost to your power will be even greater. Put in more effort."]

["Understood." Tang Hao's voice is calm.]

Ah Yin's entire plant was shaking; the blue light on her leaves flickered on and off, like the rapid breathing of a person.

So that was it.

From the very beginning, this was the plan they had in mind.

She recalled Tang Xiao's gentle smile, recalled the figure that always stood in front of her whenever there was danger, and recalled him saying, "Ah Yin, your safety is what matters most."

It was all fake!