Simulation Is Not Fixed

"Knife-cut noodles or wonton noodles"—this was the underworld slang used by river bandits, meaning you either take a slash from me and die, or jump into the river and drown.

But this was neither the middle of a river nor a remote region. Li Ke was startled for a moment, but quickly realized he had been worried over nothing.

"Then give me a bowl of wonton noodles; that should be faster."

Starving, Li Ke decided on a quick meal, and the shopkeeper naturally relayed the order to the kitchen.

Li Ke let out a long sigh of relief. Seeing that no one was around, he took out the prescription Meimu had written for him and began to study it carefully.

The pill he had taken earlier felt incredible, so he wanted to gather the ingredients during this time to see if he could craft some himself.

After reading the prescription thoroughly, Li Ke could only say that the Kinkou Order lived up to its reputation as a prestigious sect with a deep heritage.

The ingredients listed were not expensive and were common throughout Ionia, yet this pill was far more potent than most of the healing and restorative medicines on the market. Many pills made with rare, precious ingredients didn't even come close to this level of efficacy.

Anyone with basic knowledge could make decent medicine using precious ingredients, but turning common herbs into something miraculous—that was true skill.

Furthermore, the preparation method was simple: gather the ingredients, mix them in the correct proportions, and let them soak in a special medicinal liquid for a period of time.

It was a pill that even someone like Li Ke, who lacked magic, could easily produce.

Just as he was considering whether to collect these ingredients in this town while he recovered, another person walked into the shop.

This man also carried a sword. As he entered, he glanced at the sword at Li Ke's waist, his eyes flickering slightly before he walked into the shop as if nothing had happened.

"Oh! You've finally arrived, Uncle Long! What would you like to eat today?"

The burly man merely raised a hand, sat down at a table with a heavy thud, and blocked the path to the kitchen. He looked at the menu and waved a hand at the shopkeeper.

"Bring me some venison first, then some wine. I'll tell you if I want anything else."

Despite his words, his eyes were locked firmly onto the longsword at Li Ke's side.

Due to the previous battle, the scabbard of the sword Yone had given him was shattered, allowing the man to easily see the beautiful cloud patterns and the cold, shimmering light of the blade.

He was a swordsman himself, but compared to this blade, his own was absolute trash.

A fine sword!

A top-tier sword!

He felt a surge of excitement and looked Li Ke over once more.

A scrawny body, a sallow complexion, covered in bloodstains and holes—he looked like a down-and-out wanderer. Plus, he only had a flask of wine and some cheap fennel beans; he was clearly a penniless nobody.

"Hmph! A third-rate swordsman!"

Li Ke noticed him sizing him up, but he didn't think this guy would have the guts to cause trouble near Master Souma's dojo. After all, he was wearing Master Souma's emblem on his shoulder!

Li Ke turned his head to look at his shoulder, only to see a jagged hole where the exquisite emblem had once been.

"Hmm..."

Li Ke muttered to himself, deciding to keep a low profile to avoid trouble.

But unfortunately, sometimes trouble finds you on its own.

"Customer! Your noodles are ready!"

Before long, the waiter walked out of the kitchen with a bowl of noodles. The starving Li Ke lifted his body in anticipation, but before he could take the bowl, the burly man who had just arrived grabbed the waiter and snatched the noodles.

The waiter was stunned, then immediately began to plead.

"Uncle Long, these are for that customer. Please, have mercy on me."

The burly man simply kicked him aside and placed the noodles on his own table.

"I want to eat noodles right now! I'll talk to him myself. Get lost!"

The waiter didn't dare say another word and looked at the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper hesitated, offered a forced smile to the burly man, and then walked over to Li Ke with the money Li Ke had paid earlier.

"My apologies, customer. I'll have them make you another bowl right away."

Li Ke didn't really mind. Honestly, rather than being angry, Li Ke was mostly thinking, 'There really are people like this!'

In all his years, whether in Ionia or on Earth, he had never seen such a textbook villain. The kind of villain who would die within three minutes of appearing on screen!

As a result, the way Li Ke looked at this fellow changed; he was looking at him like a rare giant panda.

There was no helping it—these days, there were too many villains who knew how to act tough, often with more style than the protagonists. Even the villains in the "newbie village" were usually sophisticated, sharp-witted, and talented individuals.

Everything they said and did was mature and ruthless, deeply versed in the ways of social survival.

High-end villains were even more fashionable.

Even the stupid ones were usually obsessed with a specific goal, willing to die to achieve it. The even higher-end ones were grand and ambitious, with goals ranging from world peace to overthrowing a corrupt society or making the whole world smile.

A brainless villain like this was rarer than a giant panda.

"It's fine, I can wait."

Li Ke waved his hand. When encountering such an idiot, a realistic person would just accept their bad luck, but he...

"I am a disciple of Master Souma, and this is Yone's sword. I borrowed it to slay demons."

Gently drawing his sword, Li Ke flashed the man a smile.

"You think I'm scared?! So what if you're a disciple of Master Souma? So what if this is Yone's sword? Do you think I, Uncle Long, was scared into submission?!"

The burly man curled his lip in a sneer, slamming his hand against the table as he stood up. With a defiant glare at Li Ke, he grabbed his bowl of noodles, the beef, and his wine, and shoved them onto Li Ke's table.

"Let me tell you something! I'm not afraid of any Wind Technique, and I'm certainly not afraid of Yone! It's just that I have business to attend to today, so I'm heading out. I'd hate to see good food go to waste, so consider this a gift!"

Maintaining his arrogant expression, Uncle Long gave Li Ke a mocking bow, quietly paid the bill, and walked out the door.

But the moment he stepped outside, a dull thud echoed into Li Ke's ears.

"Tch."

Li Ke let out a dismissive click of his tongue. He had actually hoped the guy would charge at him like a mindless brute, but it turned out he was nothing more than a low-level thug.

He shook his head and reached for the beef with his chopsticks, but his pupils suddenly constricted. A surge of intense killing intent erupted from behind him. He immediately kicked his sword, using his energy to launch it into the air, and snatched the hilt.

In an instant, the sound of clashing steel rang out.

Li Ke blocked the incoming blade right in front of his chest, but the force shattered the table, sending all his food crashing to the floor. An arrogant voice drifted into his ears.

"To think that even a disciple of that spineless Elder Souma could use a name to scare people. How pathetic!"