Elixir of Immortality

"What?"

You lifted the mask and saw Li Siyuan's face, his eyes still wide in death. Outwardly, you stood there dumbfounded, but inwardly, you sneered.

Noticing something off in Yuan Tiangang's gaze, you hurriedly put on an appearance of utter grief and wailed loudly.

Seeing him clutch Li Siyuan's corpse, whose eyes had not closed, everyone present found it incredibly strange.

He had been so cold and ruthless when he killed his own adoptive father, yet now he was so heartbroken after killing his adoptive brother.

You felt that you had overdone it a little, so you could only force yourself to remain calm and speak of Li Siyuan's kindness toward you.

Simulation Yun Ming said with reddened eyes, "When I first entered Jin Kingdom, among all my brothers, only Eldest Brother treated me sincerely. Over the years, whenever I encountered difficulties, Eldest Brother was always there to lend a hand and help me. I never expected that I would mistakenly kill him today! Eldest Brother, why did you disguise yourself and conceal your identity, causing such a tragedy?"

The words plunged everyone into silence.

So that was how it was.

Wait, did Li Keyong not treat you well?

But then they thought of You Province's power.

Fine! Li Keyong had probably long regarded the protagonist as a thorn in his side.

Yuan Tiangang felt that you had done it deliberately, but silencing someone after killing him did not seem wrong either.

After a long silence, Yuan Tiangang said grimly to Simulation Yun Ming, "Now that Li Keyong has been executed, Li Siyuan is dead, and Li Cunxu has fallen, with the strength of You Province, Jin Kingdom will be yours to command from now on."

"Great Marshal, you know I have no interest in this. The many brothers of Jin Kingdom are quite hostile toward me. I have neither talent nor virtue; if I were to force the issue, internal strife would surely arise in Jin Kingdom. Besides, You Province stands on the front line against Mobei. Mobei's wolves harbor wild ambitions and eye us like tigers. In order to resist the raids of the Mobei Iron Cavalry, You Province is already exhausted. How could we dare involve ourselves in Jin Kingdom's struggle? If Eldest Brother were still alive, with his ability and virtue, he would surely stabilize everything and earn the trust of our brothers. It is only a pity that I mistakenly killed him." Simulation Yun Ming was deeply saddened.

You felt that Yuan Tiangang was testing you. Using the excuse that You Province, though strong, had the tiger of Mobei lying beside it, you refused Jin Kingdom's supreme authority. Yuan Tiangang had no answer to your reasoning.

The audience in reality also fell into brief silence.

On careful consideration, that did seem to be the case.

Although the protagonist's faction was immensely powerful, it also had a powerful neighbor lying in wait, watching it like a tiger.

"Is that really so?" Qiang Wei frowned deeply, a mocking curve at the corner of her lips. "Then he really is unlucky. Such a powerful enemy at his side has kept his ambitions from being put into action, no matter how much they swelled."

"Maybe he's deliberately keeping the bandits around to strengthen his own position." Ge Xiaolun analyzed thoughtfully. "Did you notice how wary he seemed of that man called the Great Marshal? Usually, he's such an overbearing tiger, but in front of the Great Marshal, he acts like a docile little cat."

As a humanities student, Ge Xiaolun might not have been good at science and technology, but he had unique insights when it came to historical analysis.

Qiang Wei fell into thought. After a moment, she nodded and said solemnly, "You have a point. On the surface, he only controls You Province, but in reality, he possesses the entire northeast. Everyone is a soldier there; it's practically a war machine. Taking Mobei would not be difficult for him, yet he has remained still all this time. This guy is extremely calculating. He is clearly wary of that Great Marshal."

"Just how terrifying must the strength of someone even he fears be?" Zhao Xin could not help feeling curious. "If the Great Marshal never dies, does that mean he'll have to keep swallowing his anger forever? That would be way too stifling."

"How could that be?" Lei Na said as she ate chips and drank soda. "He's the protagonist. If he spent the whole show with his tail tucked between his legs, what would there be to watch?"

The members of the Super Soldier Company continued their lively discussion.

Yun Ming was also curious. "Now that the plot has changed so drastically, if Yuan Tiangang doesn't seek his own death, how do you plan to deal with him?"

Thinking about how his simulated self possessed the powerful cheat of Tenfold Cultivation Speed, Yun Ming realized that Yuan Tiangang had three hundred years of cultivation. To match him, he would need at least thirty years of cultivation.

"Thirty years doesn't seem that long." Yun Ming paused, as though he had realized something.

His simulated self could absorb others' cultivation and burn it as fuel to accelerate his own. His actual cultivation speed might be even faster.

If that time could be cut in half, it would only take fifteen years.

Thinking of it that way, Yun Ming suddenly felt that his simulated self might not need much longer to defeat Yuan Tiangang.

After all, nearly ten years had already passed in the simulation.

His cultivation might already be half of Yuan Tiangang's.

The more Yun Ming thought about it, the more he realized that his simulated self had already reached a terrifying level.

"I'm getting more and more excited to see what simulation rewards I'll receive." Yun Ming revealed an excited expression.

In the original story, when Li Xingyun, who possessed one of Yuan Tiangang's hearts, went berserk, he could destroy cities and breach fortresses.

There was also the astonishing destruction Yuan Tiangang had displayed when fighting Zhang WuLang more than a century ago.

Yun Ming no longer dared imagine how strong his simulated self had become.

After Yuan Tiangang left, you began talking with the Empress.

Because of your brutality, the Empress did not care for you and had no desire to speak with you.

You told the Empress that you had once joined the Qi Army, dreaming of earning her favor, learning martial arts, and making a name for yourself.

The Empress was greatly surprised that you had once joined the Qi Army and did not quite believe you.

You smiled calmly and asked what reason you had to lie.

The Empress had no response and began conversing with you.

The two of you had a pleasant conversation. Your manner of speaking made the Empress suspect that the worldly judgments of you were false, but you had just killed your adoptive father and adoptive brother.

Before parting, the Empress told you that she hoped you would treat the people better and not slaughter them without cause.

You began to have thoughts about the Empress.

You were already well over thirty and had many concubines, yet you had never had any children. You suspected many possible reasons, such as transmigration, your heart, and other factors.

You understood that for a faction, having no heirs was a fatal problem. Whenever you thought about having no children, gloom rose in your heart.

You thought of the Elixir of Immortality, of Zhang WuLang, and of his words about becoming the Son of Heaven for all eternity.

You began to set your sights on the Elixir of Immortality.

Yun Ming was stunned.

He had set his sights on the Elixir of Immortality.

"You actually want immortality too?" Yun Ming's eyes widened.

Should he say that his simulated self was incredible, or what?

The system had clearly stated that only death would end the simulation.

If the simulated self became immortal, then with the cheats granted by the simulation talents, living for several centuries would be outrageous.

It might even turn a martial arts story into an immortal cultivation fantasy.

But if he never died, how long would the simulation take?

Yun Ming did not know whether to look forward to it or resist it.

As he was thinking, Yun Ming noticed the simulation's contents and could not help freezing.

Wait.

Had you fallen this far?

All the viewers erupted in uproar. The men were excited, while the women blushed and spat in embarrassment.

"Here we go again!" someone could not help exclaiming.

"This guy really knows how to have fun!" another person remarked.

"No, he can even do it with a face full of scars?" someone asked in confusion.

"What do you know? Didn't you see that her figure is incredible? She may have scars, but she's pretty good-looking too," someone retorted.

"Mommy, what is that big sister doing?" a childish voice suddenly sounded.

"Kids, get back inside!" The adult beside the child quickly pulled the child away.

Watching the scene in the simulation, Yun Ming could not help feeling a wave of envy.

Inside the chamber draped in red curtains, the furnace fire blazed, filling the room with warmth.

Sandalwood smoke curled up from the beast-headed incense burner, intertwining with the candlelight and creating a mysterious, ambiguous atmosphere.