Pursuit, Perfected Sword Art!

[After your grandfather drove back Wang Family Ancestor Wang Qiu, he immediately took the three of you and urgently asked, "Where did you enter the secret realm from? Take me there, quickly! There may still be a chance to escape with our lives!"]

[Understanding his meaning, you immediately led your grandfather onward.]

[Very soon, you arrived at the crack in the secret realm. But just as you were about to escape the secret realm—]

[A figure appeared above your group.]

[Flying through the air—a Golden Core True Person!]

[And the newcomer was precisely the "Fire Cloud Evil God" you least wanted to see!]

[Your grandfather threw the three of you through the rift and shouted, "Run!"]

[You knew that your grandfather clearly intended to stay behind alone and face the Fire Cloud Evil God!]

["Grandfather!" you shouted, but even now, there was nothing you could do.]

[You, Second Brother, and Fifth Sister were thrown out of the secret realm together, arriving at the stone wall outside.]

[Your eyes brimmed with tears, and you felt deeply powerless.]

[You could only watch your grandfather march to his death!]

[Just then, a voice shattered your self-reproach.]

["Hahaha! You little brats, do you really think you can get away?" You abruptly raised your head and met Wang Qiu's smiling eyes.]

[You felt as though your heart had missed half a beat. At this moment, you had nowhere left to go.]

[With just the three of you facing a Foundation Establishment Realm expert, no matter how you fought, it was a dead end.]

[But Second Brother did not give up. With resolute eyes, he charged at Wang Qiu. He knew that after Wang Qiu's battle with the ancestor, he must have suffered some injuries. This was the best opportunity—and the only one!]

[Second Brother had still underestimated the might of the Foundation Establishment Realm. Wang Qiu sent him flying with a single palm strike, and a large section of his chest instantly caved in. Yet he still forced himself to hold on, looking at you weakly as he said, "Quick... take my sister... and go!"]

[You were deeply shaken by Second Brother. You immediately rose to your feet, grabbed Fifth Sister, and fled.]

[You and Fifth Sister both had tears in your eyes, but you could only run for your lives, because this was an opportunity your grandfather and Second Brother had bought with their lives!]

[However, you were not the protagonist after all. In the end, you lacked a little luck. Even if Second Brother gave his life, he could not hold Wang Qiu back for long.]

[Seeing Wang Qiu drawing ever closer to the two of you, you knew that if this continued, both of you would die at his hands.]

[You chose to stop Wang Qiu alone!]

[In that moment, you seemed to understand your grandfather's and Second Brother's choices.]

[You stood alone, glanced at Fifth Sister, and your heart became still as water. In that moment, every fragment of your past sword training scattered through your consciousness like broken shards.]

[In that moment, you seemed to understand what the Sword Heart was. A sword should press forward with a Brave Advance!]

[Your Nan Sword Art successfully broke through to the Perfected realm!]

[You raised the Rusty Sword. A faint emerald glow flickered along its blade. Though it was not particularly dazzling in the daytime, the power contained within was as scorching as the blazing sun.]

[Wang Family Ancestor Wang Qiu still dismissed your attempt to fight back with utter disdain. Who was he? The Wang Family Ancestor, a dignified Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator. Would he fear a mere Qi Cultivation cultivator like you?]

[If Zhang Family Ancestor's self-destruction had not injured his internal organs earlier, and if his fierce battle with Mu Changde had not left both his spiritual power and condition in a terrible state—]

[He could have slapped all three little Qi Cultivation brats to death with a single hand!]

[You raised your sword, poured all the spiritual power in your body into it, and unleashed this strongest strike.]

[Perfected Nan Sword Art!]

[This sword strike landed solidly on Wang Qiu's shoulder. Even after exhausting all your strength, you could not sever his arm.]

[But you directly shattered the bones in his shoulder!]

["Aah!" Wang Family Ancestor cried out in pain, his face flushing red in an instant. He raised his other hand, gathered the last remnants of his spiritual power, and with one palm strike, pierced straight through your chest.]

[Afterward, Wang Family Ancestor did not forget to shatter your physical body, venting the hatred in his heart!]

[You died!]

[However, this time, you died in peace. As your fading consciousness watched Fifth Sister's retreating figure, you murmured, "Fifth Sister, this time, it's finally my turn to protect you..."]

"Just as expected..." Mu Xingqi muttered.

Although he had unexpectedly encountered his grandfather in the secret realm during this simulation, that "Fire Cloud Evil God" was actually a Golden Core True Person.

How was he supposed to play this?

And then there was him, Second Brother, and Fifth Sister being hunted down by the Wang Family Ancestor of the Foundation Establishment Realm. The fact that he had managed to comprehend the Perfected Nan Sword Art at the end and injure one of Wang Qiu's shoulders was already incredibly fortunate, wasn't it?

"Choose the reward!" Mu Xingqi roused his spirits once more.

He had already died many times in the simulations, and that had made his state of mind even more resilient.

As long as there was still hope, he would not give up on changing his own fate and his family's fate!

[Simulation complete. 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, allowing you to successfully break through to the Eighth Layer of Qi Refining. You then sought out Fifth Sister and explored the Unknown Secret Realm with Fifth Sister and Second Brother. After consuming demon beast meat in the secret realm for a month, you were not far from the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining.]

[Yellow Grade High Rank Spirit Replenishing Pill: After taking it, it helps you break through to the Eighth Layer of Qi Refining. Its medicinal power is as violent as a mad bull and requires a long time to refine. You feel that it must possess benefits you do not yet know of; it is not limited merely to the ability to break through bottlenecks.]

[Perfected Nan Sword Art experience: Only after two years of bitter cultivation did you bring this technique to the Major Accomplishment realm, but you were never able to reach perfection. Later, between life and death, you comprehended the Brave Advance of the Nan Sword Art, the unyielding Sword Heart that remained steadfast even in death, and thus stepped into the Perfected realm in a single stride. The Perfected Nan Sword Art was already comparable to an ordinary Spirit Grade Technique that had only just been learned. You even relied on this strike to heavily wound Wang Family Ancestor. Although Wang Family Ancestor's spiritual power and condition had both been extremely poor at the time, it was still enough to prove that its might was far from ordinary.]

The cultivation of the Eighth Layer of Qi Refining was not all that important to him, after all, it was not much of an increase.

As for the Yellow Grade High Rank Spirit Replenishing Pill, its effects were indeed remarkable. One pill had smoothly allowed him to break through to the Eighth Layer of Qi Refining.

But his grandfather still had more, so it was not particularly important to him either.

The Nan Sword Art was merely a Yellow Grade High Rank sword technique. His breakthrough into the Foundation Establishment Realm was only a matter of time, and once he reached the Foundation Establishment Realm, the Nan Sword Art would no longer be able to show such obvious effects.

In short, none of the three reward options from this simulation particularly pleased him.

In the end, Mu Xingqi chose the experience of the Nan Sword Art at the Perfected realm. After all, it was a sword art at the Perfected realm.

Though it would not be of much use once he broke through to the Foundation Establishment Realm, it was still immensely useful to him now, while he remained in the Qi Cultivation Realm.

If nothing else, the Perfected realm Nan Sword Art would at least make him invincible among those of the same realm.

It might even allow him to fight someone a minor realm above him!

As Mu Xingqi made his choice, a flood of unfamiliar memories pierced into his mind like shattered glass.

For a time, the pain made him roll about on the ground, like Sun Wukong suffering beneath the Tightening Fillet Spell.

"Fuck! Dog System, you never said this experience would hurt so much!"

Mu Xingqi cursed aloud.

Only after a quarter of an hour did his headache gradually begin to ease.

By then, Mu Xingqi's clothes had already been soaked through with sweat, as if he had been caught in a rainstorm.

Yet his eyes were incomparably exhilarated at that moment, all because...