Simulated Immortal Life

Simulated Immortal Life

Senior Brother had something going on with this stunningly beautiful Senior Sister Youqin too?

Inside Lan Ling'e's thatched cottage, Li Changshou's one and only legitimate junior sister sat cross-legged on a Meditation Cushion behind a low table, cradling a steaming teacup as thoughts churned through her heart.

To her left sat the icy beauty they had just found, Youqin Xuanya. She maintained a kneeling posture with her eyes closed, quietly waiting for Senior Brother to appear;

To her right, Martial Uncle Jiu Jiu lay sprawled across the table, letting out soft snores, looking severely sleep-deprived.

The atmosphere was just a tiny bit awkward.

Why were they both here looking for her Senior Brother...

Senior Brother had merely gone to Northern Continent of Julu to gather herbs once, and two female Qi Refiners who had traveled with him had set their sights on him?

If he went out again for next year's Training Assembly, would there not be no room left to sit here?!

Lan Ling'e let out a faint sigh in her heart. She could not understand what exactly about her Senior Brother attracted people. He was clearly so cautious and timid, so afraid of death—how could any woman besides herself possibly fancy him...

What was more, the woman on her left was the brightest star among the disciples of their generation.

But, thinking about it seriously...

Senior Sister Youqin really is so beautiful. Even the way she sits down is this captivating. If I were Senior Brother, I definitely wouldn't be able to resist her charm.

Uh, no, that isn't right. Senior Brother probably simply likes...

Lan Ling'e turned to glance right again. Since Martial Uncle Jiu was lying sideways on the tabletop—

Then Ling'e looked up and saw the bronze mirror behind the door, unable to stop herself from covering her forehead with one hand.

She would still have a chance to keep developing in the future, right?

Probably.

Setting aside Senior Brother's problem, as the owner of this cottage, Lan Ling'e felt that she could not let the atmosphere remain so awkward...

"Senior Sister Youqin," Lan Ling'e asked softly with a smile, "what brings you to our Lesser Qiong Peak?"

Youqin Xuanya opened her eyes and answered quietly:

"After returning to the mountain last time, I was punished and confined to Sky-Breaking Peak to reflect on my errors. I never found a chance to thank Senior Brother Changshou.

"I only learned today, upon waking from meditation, that my period of punishment had ended. With Master's permission, I came to Lesser Qiong Peak to formally thank Senior Brother Changshou."

Lan Ling'e could not help tilting her head. "What did my Senior Brother do... that deserves your thanks, Senior Sister?"

"He saved my life," Youqin Xuanya said, lightly pressing her lips together and nodding slightly. A faint glimmer flickered in those bright, gem-like eyes. "Twice, at that."

Lan Ling'e blinked...

That expression on Youqin Xuanya's face often appeared on her own whenever she thought of Senior Brother while facing the bronze mirror!

Martial Uncle Jiu alone had already placed immense pressure on her, and now a Youqin Xuanya had suddenly fallen from the sky!

Lan Ling'e could not help covering her forehead with one hand. Her tender heart alternated between furious cries and mournful resentment, and she felt utterly miserable.

Sure enough, she had to use every means possible to win Senior Brother over quickly, lest the night grow long and dreams multiply...

"Hm? Xiaoya, why are you here too?"

Martial Uncle Jiu Jiu suddenly asked groggily, rubbing her eyes as she sat up.

Youqin Xuanya respectfully repeated what she had just said, rose to greet Jiu Jiu, and sat down again after receiving her permission.

Then Jiu Jiu looked at Lan Ling'e, covered her little mouth as she yawned, and asked, "Has the formation at the back been opened?"

Lan Ling'e hurriedly replied, "Not yet, Martial Uncle Jiu. Senior Brother seems to be refining pills or cultivating. I called him with a Message Talisman earlier, but there was no response."

"Fine, then. It was clearly the time we agreed on for pill refinement... Maybe he had some insight."

Jiu Jiu looked at Lan Ling'e, then at Youqin Xuanya, as though suddenly recalling something. She smiled.

"Since Xiaoya is here too, Ling'e, let's play that!"

Lan Ling'e asked softly, "Which one does Martial Uncle mean?"

Jiu Jiu's eyes brightened further. "The one we played with your Senior Brother last month!

"Didn't you say it was a signature pastime of your Lesser Qiong Peak?"

"Well, we certainly can. Please wait a moment, Martial Uncle." With a tap of her finger, Lan Ling'e pushed the low table before her to the doorway, opening up a broad space between the three of them.

She took a clean animal hide from her Storage Magic Tool and spread it before them. A long "cloud road" had been drawn across it, divided into small squares, with many mountains and great marshes painted along the path.

Lan Ling'e asked, "Senior Sister Youqin, would you like to play too?"

Youqin Xuanya hesitated slightly, looking at the "map" with some confusion.

Jiu Jiu added from beside her, "Little Changshou made this. It's really fun!"

Upon hearing that, Youqin Xuanya immediately nodded. "If it is Senior Brother Changshou's creation, then please do let me join."

"Please look here, Senior Sister. The rules are written here."

Following Lan Ling'e's finger, Youqin Xuanya immediately saw familiar handwriting and quietly read aloud:

"The Ascension Path, also known as 'Simulated Immortal Life' and 'Immortal Realm Monopoly'...

"Participants place puppets representing themselves at the starting point of the immortal path. They use dice to roll a number and move their puppets forward; every landing space triggers various events along the Ascension Path.

"At the start, each person receives three hundred Spirit Stones, represented numerically. The first to reach the Longevity Endpoint wins; or, if the participants wish to end the game, victory and defeat are determined by the amount of Spirit Stones held.

"Note: No immortal sense or spiritual sense may be used to inspect the various treasure chests, nor may even the slightest bit of Dharma power be used to control the dice."

Once Youqin Xuanya finished reading, Lan Ling'e had already placed several colorful wooden boxes to the side. The boxes contained many square Tokens, each bearing all manner of labels.

Then Lan Ling'e took out three small wooden puppets of different colors, placed them at the start of the cloud road, and produced a six-sided die.

Everything was ready.

Where had Youqin Xuanya ever seen such a spectacle? She was immediately somewhat at a loss.

Jiu Jiu smiled. "Play one round and you'll understand, Xuanya! Come, come, let's begin! I'll roll first!"

Lan Ling'e hurriedly said, "We have to play rock-paper-scissors to decide the order for rolling dice."

"Fine, fine. You two little ones have no respect for your elders at all. Rock-paper-scissors it is!"

Watching this somewhat lively Martial Uncle Jiu, as well as Lan Ling'e beside her, who was earnestly instructing her Martial Uncle, Youqin Xuanya was slightly unaccustomed to it, but still cooperated and played rock-paper-scissors with them to decide the dice-rolling order...

And she won.

Youqin Xuanya went first and rolled a five. Holding her little puppet, she moved it five spaces along the cloud road and saw the label beneath its feet.

'You performed outstandingly while sweeping the sect gate stairs and received a reward of twenty Spirit Stones from the elders of your sect.'

"Senior Sister, write plus twenty after your amount of Spirit Stones!"

"Oh, all right." Youqin Xuanya did as instructed, already roughly understanding the rules.

Jiu Jiu grabbed the die beside her, blew into her palm, and carefully tossed it down.

When the number facing upward settled on "three," Jiu Jiu broke into a grin. Her puppet advanced three spaces and landed on a square marked with a purple five-pointed star.

"Quick, bring the Purple Treasure Chest! Draw a card, draw a card!"

Lan Ling'e passed over the purple box. Jiu Jiu rummaged around inside, quickly taking out a wooden card.

"Good stuff, good stuff!

"Ling'e, your turn! Roll already! Roll a Great Golden Core back for your Martial Uncle!"

Youqin Xuanya examined the wooden card carefully. On its front were four large words: Me Too. On its back were two lines of explanation:

'Automatically triggers after all participants complete their actions this round. The owner may forcibly duplicate any one other participant's gains this round.'

"My turn! Heh heh!"

Lan Ling'e rolled a two, landing on a blank square with no gains at all.

Jiu Jiu immediately looked disgusted. Pointing the wooden card at Youqin Xuanya, she shouted, "Me Too!

"What is this? I finally drew this card, and it only gets me twenty Spirit Stones."

Youqin Xuanya could not help laughing softly. She naturally picked up the die and rolled again, but this time she triggered a random event and drew a Bamboo Card from a blue wooden box.

A Fortunate Match: You found a Life-long Cultivation Partner and held a banquet. You may collect one hundred Spirit Stones in congratulatory gifts from each of the other participants.

Jiu Jiu and Lan Ling'e immediately began complaining one after another...

Yet Youqin Xuanya softly praised, "May I look at these cards? Senior Brother Changshou is truly full of marvelous ideas."

The two beside her, who were in the height of their excitement, had no choice but to pause the game and show Youqin Xuanya the Bamboo Cards, wooden cards, Bronze Cards, and Jade Cards in the various boxes.

Each of the four types of cards had twelve varieties, corresponding to "skills," "Positive Random Events," "Negative Random Events," and "treasures."

For example...

This Is Too Hard: You look back upon the bumpy road of cultivation and lament how hard-won your cultivation level has been, overcome with grief; to comfort you, everyone else gives you fifty Spirit Stones.

Epiphany: Advance one space.

Obsessed with Side Pursuits: Because you became engrossed in Poetry and Songs, singing, dancing, and soft fighting, you neglected cultivation and lose your Dice Rolling Opportunities for the next two rounds.

Great Deception Card: You activate the Dao technique "Great Deception Technique," successfully deceiving the previous action target and obtaining two hundred Spirit Stones or any one treasure from them.

And so on...

"Senior Brother Changshou made all of these?"

Youqin Xuanya asked in utter amazement, and the two beside her could only nod again and again in confirmation.

"Stop looking, Xiaoya. Hurry and continue!"

"Yes, Martial Uncle. This disciple was somewhat improper. These things are truly exceptionally interesting."

"Tsk, tsk, watch me! Hahaha, another card draw! Appear, Me Too!"

"Martial Uncle Jiu, you mustn't cheat."

"Of course I won't. Why would I need to cheat against two juniors like you?"

Gradually, the cottage filled with laughter and cheerful voices, and the earlier awkwardness had long since vanished.

Toward evening.

Li Changshou, who had just broken through a Minor Realm after glancing at the first volume of the Wu Wei Scripture, strolled back from the forest.

He had remained in the secret chamber all this time, but had now stabilized his aura so that no one could see through him.

From afar, he heard laughter coming from the cottage, and his spiritual sense discovered Youqin Xuanya's presence.

Poisonous... Why had she come?

After thinking for a moment, Li Changshou silently turned around and headed back to the pill-refining room. The laughter behind him chased after him on the wind.

Jiu Jiu's laughter was particularly unrestrained. "Hahaha! Me Too! This Martial Uncle is rich, rich!"

Youqin Xuanya's laughter was quite reserved, and it was rare to hear her complain. "Sigh, I truly am rather unlucky. This disciple got Obsessed with Side Pursuits again."

Lan Ling'e, who had become the winner of a round, smiled smugly and said to the two of them, "This Is Too Hard. Time to collect Spirit Stones."

Li Changshou could not help smiling as he activated the outer formation, thinking of how he would soon be heading to the Eastern Sea.

He should inspect his reserves once more.

With Martial Uncle Jiu Jiu's help these past few years, he had refined many Poison Pills capable of killing True Immortals. Later, he still needed to process these Poison Pills into Poison Powder or Poisonous Liquid for easier use in battle.

Though there would be no chance to use them this time, it was always best to be prepared.