Heart Extraction, Fire Cloud Evil God?

[You felt that the palace before you was strange, possessing an indescribable oddity that left you deeply unsettled.]

[Your Fifth Sister asked whether you wanted to go inside and investigate. After more than a month together, you naturally knew that your Fifth Sister had a daring, venturesome nature.]

[Moreover, a fearless courage inexplicably rose within your heart, as though it were telling you: life only comes once—if you neither fight nor strive, you might as well never have lived!]

[You chose to enter the palace and investigate.]

[Pushing open the heavy oak door, an ancient aura swept in with dust and rushed into your nostrils.]

[You felt that no living creature had existed inside this palace for a very long time...]

[The first floor of the palace was vast and empty. After you and Fifth Sister searched it, you found nothing useful.]

[Most of the items were Yellow Grade Low Rank Spirit Artifacts and spirit treasures. Scoured by time, they had long lost every trace of spirituality and become piles of ordinary objects.]

[Both you and Fifth Sister found it a pity. Though these spiritual items were only Yellow Grade Low Rank, their quantity had been considerable. Unfortunately, they were now nothing but useless mundane objects.]

[Hand in hand, you and Fifth Sister arrived on the palace's second floor. There, you found a Cultivation Technique Jade Slip and an Elegant Sword.]

[Both items still contained spiritual power, which was why you and Fifth Sister were able to discover them.]

[You and Fifth Sister guessed that these two items might be extraordinary.]

[You took a liking to the Elegant Sword. Fifth Sister yielded it to you and took the Cultivation Technique Jade Slip.]

[The two of you planned to head up to the third floor, which was also the palace's top floor.]

[The third floor was sealed by a pitch-black wooden door. Neither you nor Fifth Sister could tell what material it was made of. It was neither oak nor steel.]

[You carefully opened the wooden door...]

[Suddenly, a nauseating stench hit you head-on. Your Fifth Sister could not help dry-heaving for quite a while.]

[You felt that the smell was like a rotting corpse!]

[You were not sure whether it was the corpse of a demon beast, or...]

[Pinching your noses, you and Fifth Sister entered the palace's third floor.]

[Yet that foul stench refused to disperse, as though it could bore straight through your nostrils.]

[To your astonishment, you discovered that the third floor was covered in an eerie crimson!]

[It was as though someone had deliberately painted every inch of the third-floor space with dark-red paint!]

[Everywhere—even the nooks and crannies—was covered in it!]

[You and Fifth Sister were both struck speechless by the unbelievable scene before you.]

[Because it was simply too bizarre!]

[It completely defied common sense.]

[The crimson filling your vision left you ill at ease.]

[Before you and Fifth Sister could recover from the sight, a figure abruptly appeared before you!]

[You looked at the person before you and found an elderly man with white hair and a bald head.]

[Your first thought was Fire Cloud Evil God! But his hair was whiter, with only two wisps hanging airily at either side.]

[Before you could speak, the man who bore an uncanny resemblance to Fire Cloud Evil God raised his hand and reached into your chest, muttering, "Why have two little Qi Cultivation brats appeared? How strange. I clearly set up an array..."]

[You were horrified, but it was already too late!]

[Just as that old bastard's hand was about to touch you, a force from behind suddenly yanked you aside.]

[Borrowing that force, you narrowly escaped disaster. It was your Fifth Sister who had risked herself to save you.]

[But your Fifth Sister was not so fortunate. After helping you, she was exposed before the old man!]

[The old man gave a sinister smile and instead increased his strength. With one reach, he directly pierced through your Fifth Sister's chest.]

["Fifth Sister!" you shouted, then rushed straight toward her.]

[The old man skillfully pulled out your Fifth Sister's heart, so practiced that it seemed as though he had done it countless times.]

[You caught your Fifth Sister as she was about to collapse, but her vitality and blood were draining away at terrifying speed. It was already beyond saving!]

[Your Fifth Sister wanted to reach out and touch your face, but no longer had the strength to lift her hand. She violently spat out a mouthful of blood, even vomiting large chunks of internal organs. Clearly, the old man had reduced the organs inside her body to pulp!]

[Her blood blended with the dark red of the floor.]

[The corners of your Fifth Sister's mouth were stained blood-red. She softly said, "I'm sorry. Fifth Sister got you involved... Hurry... run..."]

[Your Fifth Sister died, dying in your arms.]

[You stood up. Your clothes were already soaked with blood, your eyes turned crimson, and veins bulged across your body.]

[The white-haired old man crushed your Fifth Sister's heart and directly swallowed the essence blood within it. He muttered, "Truly delicious! It has been so long since I last drank such young Heart Blood..."]

[Watching the old man lick his lips with an intoxicated expression, your rage instantly overcame your reason.]

[Raising your hand, you cast a Fire Snake Technique that shot straight toward the old man's face. This time, it was a giant flaming python condensed from every last bit of your spiritual power, sworn to kill the old man!]

[The old man did not even raise his eyes. With a casual wave of his hand, he easily broke apart your all-out fire python.]

[In one step, he teleported before you. At the mere lift of his head, long black fingernails like those of a zombie grew from both hands!]

[With one slash, your head was directly cut off!]

[The old man skillfully pulled out your heart, then raised his foot and stomped your head into a pulp!]

[You died!]

[Before your consciousness faded, you heard the old man speak carelessly: "What I hate most is ants disturbing me while I eat..." To the old man, the two of you were like food placed before his mouth.]

"Ah? No... why did another Fire Cloud Evil God suddenly pop up?"

"Is there no justice? Is there no law?!"

He had no idea how many times this was that he had cried out in shock.

Mu Xingqi stared wordlessly at the panel before him after the simulation ended.

"..."

"Why is this world so dangerous?"

This simulation had undoubtedly taught him another lesson: danger was everywhere.

Many times, it was likely not danger that came looking for you, but you who crashed headlong into danger.

Just like this time.

"Let's look at the rewards." Mu Xingqi said helplessly.

There was nothing he could do.

"I've been getting pretty fired up lately."

This simulation had truly stoked his temper. He needed to drink some loofah soup to cool the fire.

Mu Xingqi was speechless.

[Simulation ended. You may choose one of the following rewards.]

[Eighth Layer of Qi Refining cultivation: After two years of bitter cultivation, along with the Yellow Grade High Rank Qi Gathering Pill given by your mother and the Yellow Grade High Rank Spirit Replenishing Pill later gifted by your grandfather, your accumulated efforts bore fruit, and you successfully broke through to the Eighth Layer of Qi Refining. Later, you explored the Unknown Secret Realm with Fifth Sister. After consuming demon beast meat in the secret realm for a month, you were already not far from the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining.]

[Mysterious Rusty Sword: Obtained by you and Fifth Sister on the second floor of a palace while exploring the Unknown Secret Realm. Its shape could still be recognized as that of a sword. Its surface had long been covered in rust, yet you could sense that its sharpness and spirituality were concealed within. It must possess something extraordinary.]

[Major Accomplishment experience in Fire Snake Technique and Water Flowing Steps: Only after two years of bitter cultivation did you raise these two techniques to Major Accomplishment. Both techniques are Yellow Grade High Rank, allowing you to avoid falling behind when facing cultivators of the same realm, and perhaps even gain the upper hand.]

Cultivation was definitely the first choice, but this Elegant Sword was surely extraordinary as well. After all, it had been obtained in that secret realm, and there had even been a terrifying Bloodthirsty Fiend in that palace. He was simply not human, more like a Western vampire!

Lastly, he was also tempted by the experience in those two cultivation techniques. Both were at Major Accomplishment, which could spare him who knew how many years of bitter cultivation. Besides, he currently had no means of defending himself at all. Even with cultivation, he had nowhere to put it to use.

After considering it for a while, Mu Xingqi decided to choose...