[A violent wave of energy surged toward you, nearly knocking you over.]
[Fortunately your grandfather ran fast, otherwise the mere aftershocks of this explosion could have severely wounded anyone.]
[You saw a mass of black clouds ahead, followed immediately by bursts of thunderclaps.]
[A moment later, the thunderclouds dissipated. Just as you were looking forward to the fate of the Fire Cloud Evil God elder, a palm strike made of blood came straight at you the next instant!]
[You were horrified: That still didn't blow him to bits? Is he even human?]
[Your father first pulled you out of the blood palm's range, then immediately raised his sword, wanting to block it.]
["No! Dad!" you screamed, but it was already too late. Your father's sword was shattered directly by the blood palm, and the palm's momentum did not slacken as it pierced straight through your father's body!]
[You crashed heavily to the ground, forced to watch helplessly as your father's physical body was ruthlessly blasted to pieces by the blood palm!]
[Your grandfather glanced back at you and said with resolute determination, "Good grandson! His condition is very bad! The Zhang Family Ancestor and I will go hold him back! Play it by ear!"]
[Your grandfather strode forward, striking out with a Water Dragon Fist directly at the Fire Cloud Evil God elder. The Zhang Family Ancestor raised his palm, attacking with palm techniques as well.]
[Only then did you see clearly that the elder who looked so much like the Fire Cloud Evil God was completely naked at the moment, and his entire body had been charred black by the explosion. Even the two tufts of hair that had originally grown on the sides of his head were now blasted into a bald pate.]
[Gritting his teeth and wearing a ferocious expression, he laughed hideously, "Good, good, good! Very good indeed! To think you even had Thunder Pearls! You've successfully aroused this old man's fury!" His tone was vicious, but his already charred face made it impossible to read his expression, revealing only a flash of bright white teeth that made him look just like the little black man on the Darlie toothpaste from your past life.]
[Your expression sank. Knowing you could not let your father die in vain, you secretly gripped the Thunder Pearl in your hand, preparing to seize the moment and deliver a fatal blow!]
[Even with your grandfather and the Zhang Family Ancestor, two Foundation Establishment Realm powerhouses, joining forces, they still could not gain the upper hand against the heavily wounded Fire Cloud Evil God elder.]
[After several exchanges, the Zhang Family Ancestor was sent flying and collapsed to the ground, unable to get back up.]
[Your grandfather staked his all, forcibly burning his Spirit Root to take a blow from the Fire Cloud Evil God elder.]
[Seizing the opportunity, you hurled the Thunder Pearl out.]
[Yet when your grandfather saw you throw the Thunder Pearl and not immediately retreat, he actually attempted to forcibly hold the Fire Cloud Evil God elder in place!]
[The Fire Cloud Evil God elder had not expected that you would still have a second Thunder Pearl in your possession. Just as he was preparing to fall back, your grandfather forcefully grabbed hold of him!]
["Madman!" the Fire Cloud Evil God elder cursed bitterly, immediately using spiritual power to pierce through your grandfather's heart. Yet your grandfather still did not let go, clinging to him tenaciously like a piece of rubber.]
[The Fire Cloud Evil God elder unleashed another burst of force, finally shattering your grandfather into fragments, but by this time the Thunder Pearl had already arrived right before his eyes.]
[Boom!]
[With a deafening crash, thunderclouds enveloped the area, and a powerful thunder-blast lit up the surroundings like a flash-bang!]
[The thunderclouds scattered, and you discovered that the Fire Cloud Evil God elder was actually still not dead!]
[Yet at this moment he was clearly just propping up his remaining corpse on sheer willpower, for you saw that his arms were already completely empty—the result of using his arms to fend off the blast that had shattered them—and a huge crater had blown open in his abdomen, with the white bone of his thigh exposed hideously to the air!]
[You felt not a shred of pity, however. You raised your sword to hack off his legs, pointed the blade at his face, and roared, "Why did you target our Mu Family?! Our Mu Family has no grievances or enmity with you!"]
["Hahahaha!" The Fire Cloud Evil God elder laughed wildly for several moments, then retched up a pool of stagnant blood. "I never imagined that I, a dignified Golden Core True Person, would be wounded to this state by such a lowly Foundation Establishment family. Accursed Liucheng! If I hadn't been severely wounded by him and reduced to this state, with all my spiritual treasures completely destroyed, how could this old man possibly have been gravely injured by two Thunder Pearls?!"]
[You raised your sword and said viciously, "Spare me this crap! You still haven't answered my question!"]
["There is no why! This world is simply governed by the law of the jungle where the strong prey upon the weak. The Wang Family merely told this old man that the Jinzhou County Mu Family didn't want to serve as my blood food, so once I recovered, the Mu Family would be the very first clan I made fall into blood food! Hahahaha, what a pity. One careless move and the entire game is lost," the Fire Cloud Evil God elder said maniacally.]
[Your expression grew gradually cold. You never expected that the reason the enemy wanted to annihilate your Mu Family would be so simple—or rather, that this was no reason at all. Merely because of a single thought on the enemy's part, your Mu Family had to die.]
[You raised the rusty sword high, preparing to execute him!]
[Yet right at that moment, the Fire Cloud Evil God elder wore a ferocious expression, his gaze locked directly onto you. "Little fellow, you talk too much!"]
[Instantly, a wave of intense energy enveloped you. You felt as though you had fallen right into the sun, and a burning sensation so fast it left you no time to feel any pain melted you away in a split second!]
[Only then did you realize that the Fire Cloud Evil God elder had simply been stalling for time. He had known all along that you might spare him, so he had been gathering his strength to prepare to detonate his Golden Core!]
[Sure enough, villains die of loquacity.]
[You have died!]
[Courage is the battle hymn of humanity. Your father and grandfather both chose to use their lives to buy a fleeting opportunity for you, and upon learning of the Mu Family's fate you chose to meet them head-on with unyielding force—all of this proves the bravery deep within your hearts. In the end, managing to drag a Golden Core True Person down to self-detonate with you is a feat you can well be proud of.]
"Damn it! So stirring!"
"What a pity it didn't have a good ending, just like snow falling in a desert at the end—that shouldn't have been his outcome," Mu Xingqi said with a bitter expression.
In this simulation, he had laid out his plans early on. Even if it meant using shoddy marketing tactics to fleece all the rogue cultivators in Jinzhou County, and even ending up targeted and hunted by hired assassins to ruin his reputation, he still had to earn spirit stones to fight for a sliver of vitality for his lineage.
Yet despite exhausting all his methods and trading the lives of both his father and grandfather, he still failed to personally slay the Fire Cloud Evil God elder, instead getting blown to death by the elder's self-detonating Golden Core simply because of talking too much.
Still, the thought that this wasn't the true ending—that it was merely a simulation and he still had a chance to wrest control back from fate—cheered him up!
"Let's check the rewards!"
[The simulation has ended. You may choose any one of the following rewards.]
[Level 9 Qi Cultivation Realm cultivation base (spiritual power throughout the entire body liquefied, condensing nine tenths of the Spirit Platform): You earned a vast quantity of spirit stones for the lineage through Healing Powder and rice powder, which also allowed you to enjoy many top-tier Spirit Pills and Medicines. This laid down a decent Spirit Platform foundation for you, but unfortunately, just as you were about to succeed in condensing your Spirit Platform, you were forcibly interrupted by an assassin from the Shadow Kill Pavilion. This caused cracks to appear in the Spirit Platform that was already close to forming, and though it was subsequently repaired with the help of numerous Spirit Pills and Medicines, it still caused your Spirit Platform to regress by four tenths. Even before you were killed by the explosion of the Fire Cloud Evil God elder's self-detonated Golden Core, your Spirit Platform had never fully recovered, reaching only nine tenths. You remained a step away from the true Foundation Establishment Realm.]
[Thunder Pearl (one): Mysterious Tier Lower Grade offensive spiritual treasure. Forged from the bone of a Golden Core stage Thunder Tiger demon beast, it poses a threat to early-stage Golden Core cultivators. Its power can even rival ordinary Mysterious Tier Middle Grade spiritual treasures; the only drawback is that it can only be used once. The method of use is similar to a grenade—activate with spiritual power and hurl it out to generate a violent thunder-blast.]
[...]
Before you continue