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"In that case, I'll take my leave. Whatever I decide, thank you for your kindness, Junior Sister Xun'er."
A little later, Lin Chen stood outside the courtyard and cupped his hands toward Xun'er in farewell.
Xun'er nodded slightly, her expression still composed, as though she already knew what choice Lin Chen would make.
Then, without the slightest hesitation, Lin Chen turned and left.
Watching Lin Chen's retreating back, the black-robed figure beside her lowered his head slightly once he was far enough away and offered a well-meaning reminder. "Miss, isn't granting Young Master Lin Chen third-class guest elder status a little excessive?"
"Clan rules require third-class guest elders to have Dou Zong cultivation. Even an alchemist must be sixth-grade to qualify, yet Young Master Lin Chen only reached fifth-grade today..."
"I said I was merely repaying a favor. What, would the Elder Council really quibble over something so trivial?"
Xun'er's expression abruptly chilled, and her tone carried clear displeasure.
The black-robed figure jolted at her words, then hurriedly dropped to his knees and said fearfully, "I spoke out of turn. Please forgive me, Miss."
Xun'er did not look at the black-robed figure kneeling beside her, as though she had never considered him worth her attention. She merely gazed in the direction Lin Chen had gone and said with some feeling, "A sixteen-year-old Fifth-Rank Alchemist is no worse than those geniuses in the Pill Tower in the Central Plains. If he had been born into the Pill Tower's Five Great Families, he'd probably be Sixth Grade already..."
"With talent like that, he can at least become a High-Grade Seventh-Rank Alchemist in the future. He's worth giving a guest elder token..."
"Don't worry. Even if those old fellows in the Elder Council find out, they won't have any objections..."
A little later, Lin Chen returned to his lodgings.
He sat cross-legged on his bed, sorting through the information about the simulator that had suddenly appeared in his mind.
So that's how it works. The Future Life Simulator can use my current point in time as an anchor and simulate the future once every hundred days, with a limit of twenty years. Once those twenty years end, or I die during the simulation, the simulation will stop.
After each simulation ends, it can extract three talent items from my future self along that timeline. These talent items aren't limited to treasures. They can also be alchemy experience, cultivation method legacies, or Dou Technique proficiency...
In short, anything I know or have mastered can be extracted into an item that I can absorb in reality, saving me huge amounts of cultivation time.
Lin Chen pondered how to use this cheat. As he recalled Xun'er's invitation, excitement flickered in his eyes.
This cheat arrived at just the right time. These days, which powerhouse across the heavens doesn't use cheats?
Being a powerhouse means cheating like there's no tomorrow!
"Simulator, start!"
[Ding! This simulation attempt has been consumed. Simulating the future...] [Simulation begins—] [Year one: You sit cross-legged in your room and ponder for a long time. You conclude that relying on others is no better than relying on yourself, relying on yourself is no better than popping pills, and popping pills is no better than living off a woman...] [You make the wisest decision of your life: join the Gu Clan!] [The following day, you visit Xun'er with unprecedented resolve and decide to become a guest elder of the "great power" she mentioned. Xun'er is not surprised in the slightest. Her lovely smile blooms like a green lotus, leaving you briefly spellbound.] [Month two: Xun'er tells you that the great power will not arrive at Jia Nan Academy until a year from now. She tells you not to worry and suggests that you first spend some time studying in Jia Nan Academy's Inner Academy.] [You readily accept her advice, then enter the Book Collection Pavilion and choose an Earth Tier Middle-grade cultivation method called the Ninefold Phoenix Flame Art. With that, you begin cultivating in the Inner Academy.] [Month three: Faced with your first bout of bullying from the senior students of Jia Nan Academy's Inner Academy, you fly into a rage. Although older students banding together to bully newcomers is a fine tradition of Jia Nan Academy, you cannot endure such humiliation, even if they do not know who you are!] [You strike back ruthlessly, spending a fortune to refine two peak fourth-grade Yangyan Pills and cozying up to Senior Sister Huo Huan of the Alchemy Department and Senior Sister Han Yue, who holds thirtieth place on the Inner Academy's Strong Ranking and is known as the Cold Moon Blade.] [As the granddaughter of Elder Huo, the head of the Alchemy Department, Senior Sister Huo Huan is clearly willing to do you a favor. She commands considerable respect throughout the department, cracks down harshly on its cliques, wipes out its largest gang of thugs, and has you join the Huo Huan Gang she founded.] [Afterward, the senior students whose cliques have been disbanded receive visits from the senior sisters of Senior Sister Han Yue's Moon Gang, who "check on their well-being." They fork over a large number of Fire Energy points, generously opening their purses and expressing their willingness to fund the cultivation of your poor, helpless self.] [Deeply moved, you tell them there is no need to go so far; it is the thought that counts.] [Month four: With the funding provided by your kindhearted senior brothers, your cultivation advances a thousand miles a day in the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower. You soon break through to the Dou Ling realm, and your alchemy skills improve further as well. You can now refine middle-level fifth-grade pills.] [Month five: To stabilize your cultivation quickly, you pop a fourth-grade Qingling Pill and cultivate diligently...] [Month six: Fire poison enters your body. You pop pills and cultivate diligently...] [Month seven: You sell pills, pop pills, and cultivate diligently...] [Year two: Through tireless, dedicated pill-popping, your cultivation has reached the Five-Star Dou Ling realm. Although your foundation is terribly unstable, you soon solve that by popping more pills. You rise to thirtieth place on the Strong Ranking, chat and laugh merrily with Senior Sister Han Yue and Senior Sister Huo Huan, and become one of the academy's leading figures!] [Upon hearing of your exploits, many senior students in the Inner Academy are profoundly shaken. Their outlook on life suffers an unprecedented blow!] [Ever since childhood, the cultivation philosophy they have been taught has been to take pills in moderation. No one has ever taught them that cultivation could work like this. Thus, a pill-popping craze sweeps through all of Jia Nan Academy.] [Quite a few senior students declare that their five or six years of cultivation at Jia Nan Academy have not been as enjoyable as a single year cultivating alongside you!] [Month two: Feeling that your cultivation has advanced greatly, you are no longer satisfied with selling pills at Jia Nan Academy. You prepare to head to an auction house in the Black-Corner Region to raise your market value and earn enough resources for your cultivation.] [Month three: While selling pills, you catch the eye of a female Dou Huang expert, who thoroughly humiliates you. She also says you can come to her the next time you sell pills, and she will waive your commission fee.] [You are indignant, feeling that life has never been so dark. The women of the Black-Corner Region are truly awful!] [How dare she humiliate you with money! She cannot even bear to buy a few more pills!] [Month four: Because word gets out about the Peak Fifth-Grade Pill you sold, you are hunted by a faction hostile to the female Dou Emperor. You flee Black Seal City, stumble into a valley, and enter the burial ground of a Dou Zong expert!] [To your surprise, this Dou Zong expert was not just a Dou Zong expert, but also a peak seventh-grade alchemist. Among the legacy he left behind, you obtain a large quantity of gold coins and a bottle of Life Devouring Pills!] [Looking at the Life Devouring Pills in your hand, you feel that something is wrong. After a moment's thought, you use the principles of mutual enhancement and suppression underlying the arrangement of medicinal plants around the tomb to pinpoint the legacy's location anew, finally discovering the true alchemist's legacy!] [You obtain the legacy of a peak seventh-grade alchemist, the Earth Tier Middle-grade Dou Technique Azure Flame Asura Blade, the low-grade Earth Tier cultivation method Azurewood Myriad Life Art, the Earth Tier Low-grade Dou Technique Thousand-Leaf Heaven-Burning Palm, and an assortment of precious medicinal ingredients.] [In addition, there is a Naling, ice spirit cold spring, and a Sixth Grade Earth Spirit Pill—the very trio required to refine heavenly flames!] [Clearly, this alchemist yearned deeply for heavenly flames. Although he never obtained any, he never abandoned his search and remembered his goal until his dying breath.] [You automatically collect the alchemist's entire estate, then return to Jia Nan Academy. By coincidence, representatives of the Gu Clan arrive, led by none other than Ling Quan, the deputy commander of the Black Annihilation Army known as the Gu Clan's "second Dou Emperor"!]
Before you continue