"Could it be that what I did when simulating Xun'er earlier affected this simulation?"
After thinking it over, Xiao Chen decided this was the only explanation for what was happening.
The simulation continued steadily, unaffected by Xiao Chen's thoughts.
[After your desperate explanations, this "Miss Xun'er" decided to leave you to your father to deal with. You breathed a sigh of relief and put aside your thoughts of testing whether Dou Power existed, because you had already witnessed the terrifying aura radiating from the old man. It had nearly suffocated you!]
[Your father punished you severely, beating you until your skin was split and your flesh torn. He then dragged you before "Miss Xun'er" and made you apologize. You didn't resent your father or "Miss Xun'er" for it, because you knew perfectly well that you had brought it on yourself!]
[After that, you trained even harder, and your talent gradually began to shine!]
[Year Seven]: By now, you had reached the Third Stage of Dou Qi and earned a modest reputation throughout Wutan City. The clan's younger generation all envied your talent!
[Year Eight]: Your mother passed away that year, leaving you overwhelmed with grief. Clutching the ring she had left behind, you took a long time to calm down before resuming your training!
[Year Nine]: Whenever night grew deep, you would stroke the ring and think of your mother. No one knew what was on your mind!
[Year Ten]: Your Dou Power had reached the ninth stage. You were just one step away from becoming a Dou Zhe, and that drove you to work even harder!
[Year Eleven]: At last, after your relentless efforts, the Dou Power within you compressed into a vortex. You condensed a Battle Qi vortex and successfully entered the Dou Zhe realm!]
[An eleven-year-old One-Star Dou Zhe! This news rocked all of Wutan City. You had become the very definition of a genius, and the entire clan took pride in you. Your father was so thrilled that he held a lavish banquet and made a grand show of boasting about you!]
[Year Twelve]: For some reason, you suddenly became unable to cultivate. The Battle Qi you absorbed vanished into thin air every time, filling you with a growing sense of dread. You told your father about the problem, but he couldn't find anything wrong either!
[You could only grit your teeth and keep cultivating. Yet not only did the Battle Qi in your body stop advancing, it kept dwindling. Even the Battle Qi vortex you had already condensed shattered!]
[Year Thirteen]: The Battle Qi in your body continued to dissipate, eventually settling at the Third Stage of Dou Qi. Still, you refused to give up. You trained even harder, hoping to break this curse!
[Year Fourteen]: The clan's younger generation, who had once flocked around you, gradually drifted away. Their eyes changed, too. You were no longer a genius; you had become the good-for-nothing they called you behind your back!
[You had grown used to their jeers and sarcasm. You remained unmoved by their mockery, simply training in silence. You always believed your hard work wouldn't go to waste!]
[Year Fifteen]: No matter how hard you tried, your Battle Qi didn't grow at all. Nearing a breakdown, you felt you had let your mother down. You took off the keepsake she had left you and threw it over the cliff. But then something you never expected happened—the ring began to float!
[The old man known as Yao Lao appeared and said he wanted to take you as his disciple. After he explained, you also understood why your Battle Qi had disappeared!]
[You cursed him furiously, but in the end you still chose to become his disciple, because he said he could help you return to the Dou Zhe realm within half a year. At this point, you had no choice but to believe him!]
[Yao Lao took out two cultivation methods...]
[It has been detected that Xiao Yan has reached a pivotal moment in his life. Immersive simulation commencing!]
The familiar feeling of weightlessness washed over him. When Xiao Chen opened his eyes again, he saw a red scroll and a black one before him.
"Kid, have you decided which one you want?"
Yao Chen stared seriously at the young man before him, feeling a little nervous. He was more inclined to have Xiao Yan choose the Flame Mantra, because it was his chance to rebuild his physical body.
Of course, if Xiao Yan chose the Earth Tier Cultivation Method, he wouldn't stop him. He would only feel somewhat disappointed.
"I choose the Flame Mantra!"
After thinking it over, Xiao Chen ultimately decided not to alter Xiao Yan's fate here. He dutifully chose the Flame Mantra.
"Good!"
Yao Chen looked a little excited. He handed the Flame Mantra to Xiao Chen, gave "Xiao Yan" a few more instructions, then slipped into the ring.
"Teacher, you said before that you could help me return to the Dou Zhe realm within half a year, right?"
Xiao Chen naturally knew what Yao Chen was trying to do, but since he was simulating Xiao Yan, he still asked.
Yao Chen didn't hide anything from him. He revealed that he was an alchemist and told Xiao Yan to prepare some medicinal ingredients.
That left Xiao Chen in a bit of a bind. In the original story, Xiao Yan had borrowed the money from Xiao Xun'er. But now Xiao Yan's relationship with Xiao Xun'er was terrible. Where was he supposed to get the money?
"Teacher, do you have any... good ways to make money?"
With no other choice, Xiao Chen could only grit his teeth and ask Yao Lao. He simply didn't have any spare money to buy medicinal ingredients.
"Make money? As an alchemist, I've never been short of money. You ask me how to make money? Obviously, by refining pills!"
Yao Chen clearly hadn't realized how serious the problem was. He smiled and continued, "As long as you have enough medicinal ingredients, I can make you the richest man in the Jia Ma Empire in just three days!"
"Teacher, let's set aside becoming the richest man for now. I don't even have enough money to buy medicinal ingredients..."
Xiao Chen's words left Yao Chen speechless. As the renowned Venerable Yao, he had clearly never faced this kind of predicament. For a moment, he had no idea how to get out of it.
After a long while, Yao Chen's voice finally came from the ring again. "All right, I admit I didn't think it through. Tell me, do you know where there's an alchemist nearby?"
"An alchemist? As it happens, I do. There's one in Wutan City—the Mittal Auction House's resident alchemist, a Second-Rank Alchemist named Gu Ni!"
As someone who had read the original story inside out, this question posed no challenge to him. Still, he wondered why Yao Chen wanted to find an alchemist. Did he have some way to make money off one?
"Second-Rank? Fine... It's already no easy feat for a backwater place like this to have an alchemist. Second-Rank will have to do!"
A trace of disdain tinged Yao Chen's words, as if he looked down on this Second-Rank Alchemist. Xiao Chen could understand.
After all, at the height of his powers, Yao Chen had been an Eighth-Tier Alchemist. Pill King Gu He, renowned throughout the Jia Ma Empire, had been less than nothing in front of him, let alone a mere Second-Rank Alchemist.
"Teacher, you're not... thinking of selling a pill formula, are you?"
After thinking it over, Xiao Chen could come up with only one possibility. There were only two ways to make money from an alchemist.
One was to sell them rare treasures of heaven and earth. They didn't have any of those, so the only option left was to sell a pill formula.
Before you continue