The Seventh Simulation: Drawing Talents, Three Purple and Two Blue

The next day, Chen Fan still had not returned to the Chen Family. He sat quietly in that secluded mountain cave, bringing himself into peak condition.

Just as the hour of the dragon began, Chen Qingyan arrived as promised.

He did not enter the cave. With a flick of his finger, a [Heaven and Earth Wonder] radiating sharp golden light, with faint signs of a dragon and tiger roaring in unison, landed steadily on a rock at the cave entrance.

He gave a slight nod toward Chen Fan and, without another word, vanished like a gentle breeze.

Chen Fan picked up the metal-element [Heaven and Earth Wonder]. Feeling the pure, immense aura of the Heavenly Dao within it, he hesitated no longer and said silently, System, recharge!

[Ding! Recharge successful!]

[Current energy: Heaven and Earth Wonder (metal) x1]

[Sufficient energy. Begin the Seventh Simulation?]

"Yes!"

[Drawing Talents...]

[Ding! Draw successful!]

With the system notification, the Light Screen in his consciousness burst into an unprecedented blaze of brilliance. In particular, purple Dao Resonance so dense it seemed impossible to dissolve filled almost his entire field of vision.

Chen Fan focused on it, and his heart jolted:

Three purple and two blue!

The quality of this Talent pool was unimaginably high!

He took a deep breath, suppressed his excitement, and carefully examined the five Talents that would determine the course of this simulation:

[Purple Talent: Heaven's Mandate]

Effect: Heaven's Mandate rests upon you; the Great Dao favors you.

All karmic ties align in your favor, and all Myriad Things will develop in the direction most beneficial to you.

You will gather this world's remaining fortune and ascend to a summit no one can reach!

Note: You will attract the gaze of a supreme existence. (Cost: May draw attention from beings far beyond the Nascent Soul level.)

[Purple Talent: Unrestricted]

Restrictions lifted. Now you will see me in my prime!

Effect: [Restrictions lifted! Can be activated against a conceptual restriction. After use, that restriction will collapse completely.]

Note: Single-use Talent, usable only once per simulation. (Feature: Strategic-level ability to break deadlocks, with no direct negative cost.)

[Purple Talent: Observation]

I once looked upon the Myriad Worlds from a unique perspective, yet could not discern even a trace of life.

Effect: [Once every ten years, you may briefly assume the perspective of [Heaven and Earth] and look down upon the myriad heavens.]

[In this state, the schemes, origins, and abilities of all beings whose rank is lower than Heaven and Earth itself will be as clear as the lines on your palm, with nowhere to hide.]

Note: Each use accelerates your assimilation into the will of Heaven and Earth. Use with caution! (Risk: Possible loss of consciousness.)

[Blue Talent: Probability]

I can see the success rate!

Effect: Visualizes the probability of success for all actions related to you. (Highly practical, but lacks the power to defy heaven and change fate.)

[Blue Talent: Gambling]

I'm the king of gambling! Wait, there's something wrong with these cards!

Effect: [When facing a major decision, you may place a "bet." Success grants additional rewards, while failure incurs double the penalty.]

Note: Comes with a message written in blood and tears by a certain "victim": "In the Cultivation World, where people flip the table at the drop of a hat, this talent is one gigantic pitfall!" (Extremely high risk, unstable returns.)

What a lavish lineup... Chen Fan marveled inwardly.

Moreover, the upgraded Simulator allowed him to bring two Talents into a simulation at once, undoubtedly giving him a much greater advantage at the outset.

He ruled out the blue Talents first. Although [Probability] and [Gambling] each had their uses, their strategic value was on an entirely different level from the powerful Purple Talents, so they were the first to go.

Then he turned his attention to the three newly drawn [Purple Talents].

[Unrestricted]: The effect of this Talent could truly defy heaven. "Lifting conceptual restrictions" meant he could break many seemingly insurmountable shackles of rules.

Moreover, it was a single-use talent with no direct negative effects listed. Flexible and powerful, it had to be selected.

The remaining slot came down to [Heaven's Mandate] or [Observation].

[Observation] was immensely tempting.

A God's-eye view that could see through every scheme and trick—it could be called the strongest "insight" Talent.

But the note about "assimilation into Heaven and Earth" was like a thorn.

What worried Chen Fan most was how the Simulator would judge the situation if his Simulated Clone was assimilated and his consciousness merged into Heaven and Earth.

Would it count as death and end the simulation, or would his consciousness remain suspended forever, causing the simulation to get "stuck,"

never able to end or bring back rewards?

He could not afford that mechanical risk, nor did he dare gamble on it.

Even if he escaped trouble this time through sheer luck, he could not remotely control his Simulated Clone's actions. A single loss of control would leave him beyond redemption for all eternity.

[Heaven's Mandate] also carried a tremendous risk—the "gaze of a supreme existence."

The source of that gaze could very well surpass a [Nascent Soul True Lord], reaching the level of a [Spirit Transformation Divine Dao Master] or even higher.

But at least this risk was clearly defined. It would not interrupt the simulation itself or cause some unknown mechanical bug.

Weighing the lesser of two evils, the risk of [Heaven's Mandate] was relatively "controllable."

After an intense internal struggle, Chen Fan made his final decision:

Select [Unrestricted]!

Select [Heaven's Mandate]!

[Ding! Talent selection successful!]

[Loading Talents: [Unrestricted] (purple), [Heaven's Mandate] (purple)...]

[Simulation begins!]