Main Storyline One: Setting Fire to the Mountain

At midnight, not a star was in sight.

Fireburn Kingdom, Azure Mist Sect.

Stubborn Stone Peak, inside a secluded, cramped cave dwelling.

Jiang Chen sat cross-legged on a straw mat, staring thoughtfully at the translucent text that had suddenly appeared before him.

\n[Name]: Jiang Chen.

[Cultivation]: Body Tempering Level Nine.

[Money]: Low-grade spirit stones ×3.

[Items]:

Multipurpose machete ×1 (ordinary grade);

[Skills]:

Eight-Step Mad Blade: Minor Accomplishment;

[Main Storyline]: The first main storyline simulation has not begun.

[Butterfly Effect]: None for now.\n

Only after seeing the system descend with his own eyes did Jiang Chen finally remember that he was a transmigrator.

Three years ago, after dying from staying up all night grinding games, he had transmigrated into this cultivation world overrun by demons and monsters:

Ascending Dragon Continent.

He had become a wandering martial artist with no background, average talent, and only an exceptionally handsome face and physique.

As a transmigrator, Jiang Chen had no system at his side, no fortuitous encounters, and no old master to guide him.

With parents who neither loved nor cared for him, he could only rely on his own hands. He manufactured and sold glass in the mortal world, earned enough silver to exchange for spirit stones, bribed an outer sect deacon of the Azure Mist Sect, and ultimately became a servant disciple of Stubborn Stone Peak.

Without any cheat abilities, Jiang Chen knew full well how dangerous the cultivation world was. For two years after joining the sect, he had cultivated quietly, formed no cliques, and made no enemies. He was such an inconspicuous nobody that many Stubborn Stone Peak disciples still could not remember his name.

Fortunately, his talent was passable. In two years, he had reached Body Tempering Level Nine, and his Eight-Step Mad Blade had also attained Minor Accomplishment.

However, for Jiang Chen, whose talent was merely average and who had no additional assistance, Qi Refining was a major problem.

At that moment, the system arrived just when he needed it most.

Without experiencing the bitterness of a mortal's cultivation journey, one could never understand the wild joy in Jiang Chen's heart at that moment!

Still, accustomed to acting cautiously, Jiang Chen forcibly suppressed his excitement.

His first priority was to study the details of the system!

[Main Storyline]: The first main storyline simulation has not begun.

From those words, this seemed to be a simulation system.

As for [Butterfly Effect], it probably referred to the consequences created after simulating a storyline.

Other than that, there were no further prompts.

After thinking for a moment, Jiang Chen took action.

He immediately held his breath and focused his divine sense on the [Main Storyline] section.

Just then, a prompt popped up on the system panel:

[Main Storyline One "Setting Fire to the Mountain" is now available. Would you like to immediately view the original storyline and participate in three storyline simulations?]

[Hint One: After viewing the original storyline, you will have three chances to actively participate in simulations of this storyline. The entire process is controllable. Only the storyline changes within twelve hours will be simulated. Once the simulations are complete, you must choose one ending to overwrite reality's course and accept the butterfly effect brought by that ending!]

[Hint Two: The so-called original storyline is the system's deduction of future events. Like the three simulated storylines, it has not truly happened. Only after you choose one ending will reality strictly proceed according to that path for twelve hours.]

[Hint Three: Viewing the original storyline and conducting three storyline simulations will not consume time in this plane. From your perspective, the outside world is frozen; from the outside world's perspective, only an instant has passed.]

There was a lot to take in. Jiang Chen only half understood it, so he would have to try it to find out.

"Yes!"

A high-definition holographic image immediately began playing before Jiang Chen.

The footage seemed to depict something that happened on neighboring Sunset Glow Peak.

It began at the present midnight and lasted for twelve hours.

At his will, he could fast-forward, rewind, zoom in for close-ups, zoom out for an overview, and replay it on a loop.

As the system had stated, the surrounding environment truly seemed frozen.

That gave him enough time and patience to watch the storyline, make plans, and then simulate it.

At that moment, in the center of the scene—

A young female cultivator with pure, delicate features and a charming demeanor stood there, her peach-blossom eyes soft and alluring. Her slender figure was draped in a thin, translucent smoky pink robe that made it impossible to look away.

Jiang Chen recognized her at once!

"Isn't that Senior Sister Liu Ruyan from the inner sect's Tranquil Heart Peak? Why is she on Sunset Glow Peak so late at night?"

Liu Ruyan was skilled in illusion arts and was well known because she often visited the outer sect peaks to recruit new disciples for Tranquil Heart Peak.

While he was still puzzled, the next scene nearly made Jiang Chen's jaw drop—

Liu Ruyan used an illusion technique to turn invisible, then ignited Sunset Glow Peak's Flame Vein... She was actually Setting Fire to the Mountain!

Jiang Chen instinctively wanted to leave his cave dwelling and see whether Sunset Glow Peak was truly on fire.

Only then did he realize that once the simulated storyline began, all of his actions in reality happened in an instant.

To his current divine sense, the real world was motionless, as though space and time had frozen.

He could not move to do anything else.

What Liu Ruyan was doing in the footage—Setting Fire to the Mountain—was most likely about to happen, but had not yet happened.

"Why would Senior Sister Liu resort to Setting Fire to the Mountain? Isn't she afraid of ending up in prison for life?"

Jiang Chen was extremely curious and continued watching the footage to uncover the reason behind it.

Soon, flames spread across the mountainside, like crimson clouds falling upon the ridgeline.

The Sunset Glow Peak disciples awoke in alarm and hurriedly carried pond water to put out the fire.

The Azure Mist Sect's outer sect was essentially a servant compound. Sunset Glow Peak's chief deacon, Sunset Glow Adept, was only at the Qi Refining Ninth Layer and could not extinguish the Flame Vein fire, so he had no choice but to seek help from the inner sect.

Meanwhile, Liu Ruyan hid in a secluded cave dwelling she had prepared in advance. Under the cover of her illusion arts, she infused demonic qi into Sunset Glow Peak's spiritual vein, sat cross-legged, and performed a tracking spell with her eyes closed.

Jiang Chen guessed that she was searching for something.

"What does Senior Sister want to find?"

The spell lasted roughly a quarter of an hour before Liu Ruyan seemed to locate the exact spot.

She immediately took out a talisman and wrote:

"The life gate of the Azure Mist Array lies beneath Orchid Mound Peak."

Then she used a wisp of Demonic Flame to burn the talisman, sending that information away.

Although Jiang Chen had not yet reached Qi Refining, he had read extensively and knew a little about formation principles.

The life gate of a mountain-protecting formation was where the formation eye lay. It was an escape route within the formation that connected to the outside world.

When the sect was attacked by demons, monsters, or another sect, the life gate could be used to transfer important people out.

However, once the life gate was exposed, enemies could easily exploit that weakness and attack the formation.

Generally speaking, only the sect master or the supreme elders knew the life gate of a sect-protecting formation.

Seeing this, Jiang Chen finally understood.

Liu Ruyan was a spy from the Demon Sect, planted within the Azure Mist Sect to secretly investigate the location of its formation eye.

If she succeeded tonight, the Demon Sect could attack the Azure Mist Sect at any time...

"This is bad!"

Jiang Chen thought that if the Azure Mist Sect fell to the Demon Sect, the entire sect would surely be massacred. He would not escape death either.

After finding the formation eye, Liu Ruyan withdrew her demonic qi and quietly left Sunset Glow Peak amid the firelight.

Only after quite some time did inner sect elders arrive to extinguish the blaze.

After everyone put out the mountain fire, the elders believed it had merely been an accidental fire and did not investigate carefully.

After all, the Flame Vein was exposed here, and fires had often occurred in the past.

Thus, twelve hours passed...

[You have finished viewing Main Storyline One "Setting Fire to the Mountain." Would you like to immediately begin the first simulation?]

Jiang Chen frowned.

Three simulations, with a freely controllable process... That was excellent, more interesting than an ordinary simulator.

But he had to choose one ending?

That required caution.

At present, Jiang Chen's best option was to flee overnight and stay far away from the trouble that was the Azure Mist Sect.

However, a crisis was not only a disaster; it was also an opportunity, concealing fortuitous chances that were difficult to encounter under normal circumstances.

He had three simulation opportunities.

Logically, during the first simulation, he should do nothing and simply flee the sect to secure a guaranteed outcome.

But while that was safe, it would waste an opportunity to obtain a fortuitous chance and fail to maximize his gains.

He could instead first carefully observe the original storyline.

If the original storyline endangered him, then in the first simulation, he would directly try to escape.

If the original storyline posed no danger to him, like tonight, where only Sunset Glow Peak was affected and the Demon Sect did not attack within twelve hours, then he would definitely be able to leave the Azure Mist Sect.

In that case, he could go all out during the first simulation, striving to turn a bicycle into a motorcycle and maximize the resources he gained.

If he encountered danger the first time, he could flee during the second attempt and go all out again during the third.

If he achieved a decent guaranteed ending on the first attempt, then he could take risks in both the second and third attempts.

That way, he would not waste any simulation opportunity.

Jiang Chen considered it patiently for a long time before finally making up his mind and beginning the first simulation.

"Begin simulation!"

[Please choose the starting location for the character participating in the simulated storyline!]

"Can I airdrop directly to the scene?"

That made sense. If he could not instantly appear where the storyline occurred, then by the time he got there, everyone might already be gone.

Jiang Chen tried operating the panoramic map with his thoughts and discovered that he could airdrop to any location capable of affecting the storyline, rather than being restricted to the immediate area where the events occurred.

The simulation unfolded from a first-person perspective, and all five senses were realistically simulated, so it was subtly different from experiencing it in person.

For the first simulation, his plan was simple: report the matter to the sect and notify the sect master or elders to capture Liu Ruyan at Sunset Glow Mountain.

First, he could receive a reward from the sect.

Second, the sect could avoid a disaster, and he would not need to flee overnight.

Unfortunately, he had no idea where the sect master was, and he had never even seen him...

He could only go to the Discipline Hall first.

The Discipline Hall was like a sect's government office, with someone on duty at all times.

Thinking this, Jiang Chen set the starting location of his first simulation at the foot of Discipline Hall Mountain.

He ran all the way up the mountain and rushed into the hall, panting heavily.

An old deacon was on duty at the Discipline Hall that night.

Jiang Chen happened to know him. It was Han Yan, at the Foundation Establishment Peak, famed for his iron-faced impartiality.

"What grievance do you wish to report? As an outer sect disciple, why did you not first seek out your peak's deacon?"

Jiang Chen looked panicked and gasped for breath.

"This disciple has an urgent matter to report!"

The new title was forced because nobody read the old one. In truth, this novel has multiple female leads, with Thousand-Faced Fox as the principal wife.

Although Thousand-Faced Fox could endlessly possess other women, because she was obsessed with cleanliness, she would only possess women who were still pure.

In the early stages of the novel, powerful figures were everywhere in the protagonist's environment. He could only rely on the simulator to sneak around dangerous places, steal opportunities, and quietly flirt and level up. Only after his strength greatly increased following the release would things become truly satisfying.

Please be patient with it...

After release, I will work hard to update ten thousand words a day!