[The old man furrowed his brow, speaking in a chilling voice, "A fine sword art!" Instantly, he thrust out a hand and yanked out your heart, crushing it to pieces right then and there!]
[An expression of vicious cruelty shone in the old man's eyes, as though he wanted to hack you into ten thousand pieces.]
[Could it be that your previous sword skill had caught the old man off guard and made him feel a twinge of "agonizing pain"?]
[This was the only explanation you could think of.]
[You died!]
[Before your consciousness dissipated, you faintly seemed to hear a young girl calling out to you. You could hear her running toward you anxiously, but right as she was about to touch you, her voice cut off abruptly... Perhaps she too had been killed by the old man in a single blow? Her body slumped over yours, her slender fingers interlocking with yours. You seemed to hear her plea: "Brother Xingqi."]
"Alas..." Mu Xingqi let out a sigh. Sometimes he felt utterly despairing; perhaps this world was not all that welcoming to him?
Mu Xingqi forcefully suppressed the grief and anger deep in his heart. The hatred of today, he would settle in the days to come!
Earlier, after discovering that this simulation's timeline had extended, he had grown suspicious: could that eerie blood palm be the work of the Fire Cloud Evil God in that mystic realm?
After all, this simulation had altered the fate of his grandfather and the Zhang Family Ancestor being tricked by the Wang Family Ancestor into exploring the mystic realm.
According to the original trajectory of fate, his grandfather ultimately returned heavily injured, while the Zhang Family Ancestor remained in the mystic realm forever.
Combining his earlier deduction that the Fire Cloud Evil God required blood food.
It was not difficult to deduce that the Fire Cloud Evil God needed to devour Foundation Establishment cultivators to recover his strength!
This was because the last simulation had left him feeling very strange: how could his grandfather, a mere cultivator at the early Foundation Establishment Realm, possibly hold off the Golden Core Stage Fire Cloud Evil God?
And even according to original fate, his grandfather managing to retreat scot-free was an impossibility. Even if his grandfather fought to the death and sustained heavy injuries, it was impossible for him to escape alive from the hands of a Golden Core True Person.
The best proof was that when the Fire Cloud Evil God attacked Muye Mountain, a single palm had severely injured his grandfather. There was no need for a second strike; his grandfather had been blasted into a mist of blood. Therefore, given the strength of the Golden Core Stage old man Fire Cloud Evil God, killing his grandfather took no effort at all.
Thus, there was only one possibility: the old man Fire Cloud Evil God in the mystic realm was in a severely injured state!
As for why he was heavily injured? Why he hid in the mystic realm? Why he did not leave the mystic realm?
These questions could be left to be answered later. At this stage, anyway, these problems were still secondary to him.
He only needed to know: first, the old man in the mystic realm who closely resembled the Fire Cloud Evil God was the mastermind behind the eerie blood palm that would annihilate their Mu Family three years later. Second, the Fire Cloud Evil God was currently heavily injured and hiding in the mystic realm, and would not come out for a short time—at least not within two years. Third, in October of the second year, the Fire Cloud Evil God would have the Wang Family Ancestor invite his grandfather and the Zhang Family Ancestor to enter the mystic realm to become his blood food. Fourth, without his grandfather and the Zhang Family Ancestor falling as blood food to restore his strength, the old man Fire Cloud Evil God would need at least until August of the fourth year to recover his strength and wipe out their Mu Family.
"Everything still has a chance!" Once again, Mu Xingqi ignited the fire of hope.
"First, choose the rewards!"
[The simulation has ended. You may choose one of the following rewards at your discretion.]
[Ninth Layer of Qi Refining cultivation (all spiritual power throughout your body has been liquefied): relying on the Yellow Grade High Rank Qi Gathering Pills given by your parents and grandfather, you successfully liquefied all the spiritual power in your body. You are only a Spirit Platform Condensation away from breaking through to the true Foundation Establishment Realm, though due to your weak divine sense, this path still has a long way to go. However, relying solely on liquefied spiritual power, you can also briefly unleash an attack potency comparable to a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Yet because you have not yet practiced a spirit grade technique, the gap between you and Foundation Establishment cultivators who have mastered spirit grade techniques may not be small.]
[Yellow Grade High Rank Qi Gathering Pill (ten pills): currently in your Mu Family, only your mother can refine Yellow Grade High Rank pills. Moreover, Yellow Grade High Rank Qi Gathering Pills require Yellow Grade High Rank Qi Gathering Grass as the main material. Even with your Mu Family boasting the status of a Foundation Establishment Family, you do not possess many herbs of this grade, and demand often outstrips supply. Even the elders of the clan can only receive one pill a month, and it yields remarkable cultivation effects for the late stage of Qi Refining.]
[Sword dao experience summary: you persisted in practicing the sword every day for three years. Although this brought negligible improvement to your already perfected Nan Sword Art, it did elevate your swordsmanship, allowing you to comprehend and progress much faster when cultivating other sword arts, while also playing a certain role in your comprehension of sword intent.]
This sword dao experience summary can be crossed off first. Although it looks quite bluffing, upon careful thought it's utterly useless—it's simply the experience of my own three years of persistent sword practice.
For someone with the Life Simulator, the thing he lacked least was this kind of experience that could be acquired just by spending time.
If it could directly grant him a sword intent, he would have chosen it without a second word.
Yet this was obviously impossible; at least for now, he had never heard of anyone in Jinzhou County mastering sword intent.
Sword intent, namely the true meaning of the sword dao!
He had only heard of it in an immortal cultivation miscellany within the lineage's Scripture Pavilion: Azure Lotus Venerable comprehended sword intent at sixteen, condensed a sword heart at thirty, comprehended the embryonic form of the sword dao at sixty, and independently created the sword song Azure Lotus Sword Song! Ultimately, at one hundred and twenty years of age, he perfected his own sword dao and attained the realm of a Nascent Soul Venerable!
Every single feat among these, when brought out, left people in awe, yet they had all happened to a single person!
One could only say that a Nascent Soul Venerable was truly worthy of being a Nascent Soul Venerable.
Though the ten Yellow Grade High Rank Qi Gathering Pills were also mouth-watering, he ultimately chose the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining cultivation.
After all, for him, cultivation realm was what truly mattered. Besides, this was no ordinary cultivation—this was the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining with all spiritual power completely liquefied, leaving only a Spirit Platform Condensation away from true Foundation Establishment!
As Mu Xingqi made his choice, the spiritual qi around his body surged like a fierce dragon entering the sea, directly pouring into his body. He only felt that his body was instantly filled with this pure spiritual qi of heaven and earth.
Under the impact of the spiritual power, Mu Xingqi's cultivation realm also rose with the tide, and in just a moment his cultivation directly reached the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining!
Following closely, his spiritual power began to rapidly liquefy: one percent, two percent... ten percent!
All spiritual power liquefied!
After calming down to sense the changes in the spiritual power within his body, Mu Xingqi opened his eyes excitedly.
"This is what it feels like to possess strength!"
It was already early August, and the time he had left was growing increasingly tight.
Although his strength had now gained a massive boost and he was not far from the Foundation Establishment Realm, facing the Golden Core Stage old man Fire Cloud Evil God, he still fell far too short.
Just that single blood palm of old man Fire Cloud Evil God's, which enveloped the greater part of Muye Mountain's range, was not something the Foundation Establishment Realm could contend with. Even the combined efforts of his grandfather and father had only resulted in severe injuries...
Still, was that blood palm technique perhaps a bit too powerful?
A question suddenly arose in the depths of Mu Xingqi's heart, because even for a Golden Core True Person, using a Mysterious Grade Technique should not produce such formidable might.
This doubt lingered deep in his heart, refusing to dissipate...
Before you continue