A Lavish List of Choices

[The Heavenly Flame was right before your eyes, but you didn't know whether to laugh or cry. You were already in desperate straits, and with only the cultivation of a Da Dou Shi and no preparation whatsoever, touching a Heavenly Flame would mean certain death.]

[Fortunately, this was only a simulation. Learning where the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame was had already been an unexpected windfall, so you weren't too disappointed. Just then, you heard a voice brimming with delight.]

[Without a doubt, that rat from the Hall of Souls had caught up and spotted the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame on Skeleton Mountain too.]

[There was no hope of escape now. But even if death was certain, you would decide your own fate!]

[Even if all you could decide was... how you died!]

[With that thought, you took a Fifth-Rank High-Grade Pill called the Blood-Burning Pill from the Flame Ji Ring. While the Hall of Souls' Soul Master was distracted by the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame, you shoved it into your mouth without hesitation.]

[The Blood-Burning Pill was one of the countless pills Cao Ying had left in the Flame Ji Ring, supposedly for Chu Chen to trade with others. It temporarily raised a Dou Emperor's strength by three stars, though it worked only on those up to five-star Dou Emperor. Afterward, the user's cultivation dropped by one star.]

[Anyone below the Dou Emperor level, however, couldn't withstand the backlash. After a brief burst of power, even a Dou Wang would lose all their cultivation. Anyone below Dou Wang would simply die.]

[Fortunately, that brief burst was exactly what you wanted!]

[As the pill reached your stomach, your dantian throbbed and every meridian in your body seemed to scream. Then everything went quiet. The pain hadn't stopped; your body had gone completely numb.]

[Violent dou qi erupted from your body, leaving the Hall of Souls rat nearby aghast. You paid him no mind. Activating your movement technique, you charged straight at Skeleton Mountain.]

[With the dou qi from the Blood-Burning Pill and your sense of pain gone, you barely endured the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame's searing heat. You strained to extend your charred arm and grasped the Core Flame at its center.]

[You died.]

[Simulation ended]

[The ten most important items from the simulation have been selected]

[Please choose three of the following ten rewards...]

Chu Chen looked at the simulator's results screen, his expression complicated.

Come to think of it, dying to the Heavenly Flame I've always dreamed of... isn't that a romance only an Alchemist of the Dou Qi Continent could understand?

He let out a long sigh inwardly, then turned to the reward options.

[Fourth-Rank High-Grade Alchemist's Soul Origin]

[Fourth-Rank High-Grade Alchemist's alchemy experience]

[Xuan Tier High-Grade cultivation method — Blazing Sun Crimson Flame Technique]

[Xuan Tier Low-Grade soul combat technique — Soul Devouring Thorn (incomplete)]

[Third-Rank High-Grade Pill — Foundation Building Spirit Liquid (improved version)]

[Fire Thunder Seed]

[High-Rank Storage Ring — Flame Ji Ring]

[Xuan Tier High-Grade flying combat technique — Azure Bee Wings]

[Fifth-Rank High-Grade Pill — Blood-Burning Pill]

[Heavenly Flame — Myriad Beast Spirit Flame (unrefined)]

Uh...

After reading the list, Chu Chen sucked in a sharp breath.

These rewards were way too good!

Compared with this, the rewards from his first simulation after activating the system were trash!

This was why it paid to be connected to a major power. His life had gone ridiculously smoothly, hadn't it?

Jokes aside, Chu Chen knew the Soul Origin of a Second-Rank Alchemist he'd received from his first simulation deserved much of the credit for this lavish list.

Without that soul realm as a foundation from birth, even drawing an identity that placed him in Saint Pill City would have been useless.

Just joining the Pill Tower would have been nearly impossible, let alone crossing paths with big shots like Xuan Kongzi and Xuan Yi.

So... my soul realm is basically my ticket to high-level rewards?

At that thought, Chu Chen instinctively looked at the first option.

If he fused with this Fourth-Rank High-Grade Alchemist's Soul Origin, adding it to the Soul Force he possessed as a Second-Rank Alchemist in reality, his soul realm might rival that of a Fifth-Rank Alchemist on the Dou Qi Continent.

When he simulated again next year, he would have a Fifth-Rank Alchemist's Soul Force from birth. Things would probably go much more smoothly.

Add the alchemy experience from the second option, and raising his Alchemist rank would be easy. He might even become an alchemy prodigy who surpassed Cao Ying in the simulation.

Well, provided the identity card I draw isn't too absurd. If I end up in some godforsaken backwater, all that talent won't do me any good...

Thinking this, Chu Chen held back his urge to choose those two rewards for now.

The reason was simple: compared with an uncertain future, Chu Chen cared more about what he needed right now.

For example... the Fire Thunder Seed!

That was one option Chu Chen absolutely couldn't pass up!

The Tang father and son lived nearby, and he had already offended them. Chu Chen wasn't afraid of Little Scumbag, but Tang Hao's strength was unquestionably a huge threat to him.

Chu Chen didn't think Tang Hao would attack him over a fight between children, but he couldn't gamble on it.

The Fire Thunder Seed would be his last resort for staying alive.

At his current strength, Chu Chen might not even escape its blast radius after setting it off. Still, he couldn't accept having no way at all to deal with a threat.

Even if that way meant taking his enemy down with him!

That settles it. The Fire Thunder Seed is a must. What next?

The improved Foundation Building Spirit Liquid and the Xuan Tier High-Grade cultivation method?

Chu Chen hesitated.

Those two suited his immediate needs best, but in terms of value, neither would even make the top five on the list!

The Myriad Beast Spirit Flame was undoubtedly the most precious. Chu Chen knew it was beyond his reach right now, yet his eyes kept drifting back to it.

What intrigued him even more was the "unrefined" label beside the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame.

If there was an "unrefined" version, did that mean there could be a "refined" one?

Could he use a refined Heavenly Flame as soon as he claimed it, skipping the dangerous process of refining it himself?

After all, to get a Heavenly Flame labeled "refined," he would surely have had to refine it personally in the simulation.

If the simulated me does the hard work of refining a Heavenly Flame, surely I won't have to risk my life doing it a second time?

Forget it. I'll try next simulation if I get the chance. I have a lead now, anyway: beneath a great rift in the Sunset Mountains, on the Black-Corner Great Plains. If I search thoroughly, it shouldn't be too hard to find...

As Chu Chen worked it out in his head, his gaze unconsciously settled on another option.

[High-Rank Storage Ring — Flame Ji Ring]

His life in the simulation had been nothing but text, yet some of those experiences had still touched him.

Just as Chu Chen was agonizing over which rewards to choose, a familiar voice suddenly reached his ears.

"Little Chen, I heard you got into a fight with Xiao San?"