Sixth layer of Qi Refining

[At this time, Ye Feng was not yet twenty. With a cultivation at the first layer of Qi Condensation, he stood furtively in a corner outside the Yun Clan Pill Workshop.]

[Ye Feng had a Middle-Grade Spiritual Root. In your first simulation, while you were still at the second layer of Qi Refining, he had already stepped into the third layer.]

[You glanced at Ye Feng without betraying your interest, then entered the Yun Clan Pill Workshop.]

["Pill Master Wang, you're here?"]

[The female cultivator who served as the Pill Workshop's receptionist warmly welcomed you inside.]

[After ten years, who in the Pill Workshop did not know that you and Pill Master Yun were the closest of friends?]

[Moreover, you were a mid-grade alchemist yourself, a highly respected artisan within the Market District. No one dared disrespect you.]

[Although you did not continue watching Ye Feng, you could still sense the envy... and a trace of jealousy in his expression as he hid in the corner and watched everyone in the Pill Workshop welcome you.]

[You sighed.]

[During your first simulation, you had little experience. Moreover, you devoted most of your energy to alchemy and what remained to cultivation, leaving you blind to Ye Feng's true nature as an ungrateful wolf.]

[You continued discussing matters with Pill Master Yun for a while, then returned to your cave abode.]

[When you left the Pill Workshop, you saw no sign of Ye Feng at the entrance.]

[But you were not worried. You knew that Ye Feng would return sooner or later and become Pill Master Yun's apprentice.]

[Even if your presence caused a butterfly effect, you were confident that you could find Ye Feng as long as he remained in Black Mountain Market.]

[A mid-grade alchemist's connections were no joke. As a member of the Pill Alliance, you knew not only the Market District's other alchemists, but also its artifact refiners, talisman masters, and other artisans. You were all well acquainted.]

[No matter whose apprentice Ye Feng became, he would never escape the palm of your hand.]

[After returning to your cave abode, you briefly sank into thought.]

[You paid such close attention to Ye Feng because he was tied to the opportunities awaiting you in this simulation, and perhaps even in several simulations to come.]

[Barring anything unexpected, the secret realm outside Black Mountain Market would emerge ten years later.]

[That secret realm had stirred up countless bloody storms during your first simulation. Who knew how many Qi Refining Stage cultivators had perished inside, including powerful Senior Cultivators in the late stage of Qi Refining.]

[In this simulation, you still had no intention of entering that secret realm.]

[Although your strength had improved tremendously compared with your first simulation.]

[Even Senior Cultivators in the late stage of Qi Refining risked dying in that secret realm, let alone someone like you in the middle stage of Qi Refining.]

[However, not entering the secret realm did not mean you could not obtain the opportunities within it.]

[According to the information you had obtained in your first simulation, Ye Feng must have reaped great rewards in that secret realm.]

[In just over thirty years, he had cultivated from the third layer of Qi Refining to the ninth layer of Qi Refining.]

[Such cultivation speed was already beyond what was normal for a Middle-Grade Spiritual Root.]

[Cultivators with a Middle-Grade Spiritual Root did indeed have a chance of reaching the ninth layer of Qi Refining, but the time required would certainly far exceed thirty-odd years.]

[Ye Feng could only have achieved such cultivation speed by obtaining an extraordinary opportunity.]

[Furthermore, during the previous simulation, Ye Feng had visited Pill Master Yun intending to use his connections to visit Master Zhao and have a Foundation Establishment Pill refined.]

[This meant that Ye Feng had already gathered all the primary ingredients and supplementary herbs for a Foundation Establishment Pill.]

[Foundation Establishment Pills were strategic-grade pills for cultivators. The several primary ingredients they required were essentially monopolized by the major powers.]

[Of course, the primary ingredients and supplementary herbs for the Foundation Establishment Pill in Ye Feng's possession had not necessarily come from that secret realm.]

[But even without those, the opportunities he obtained in the secret realm alone were enough for you to make a move against him.]

[Your spiritual root was only low-grade. Even if you could not become a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator during this simulation, you would at least strive to attempt foundation establishment once and accumulate experience in making the breakthrough.]

[Yet even attempting foundation establishment required reaching the ninth layer of Qi Refining.]

[In theory, a low-grade spiritual root offered no chance of cultivating to the late Qi Refining period.]

[Even with the accumulated foundation of your previous simulation and a starting point at the fifth layer of Qi Refining, you would need to seize every possible opportunity to reach the ninth layer of Qi Refining.]

[In your eyes, Ye Feng was precisely such an opportunity.]

[You only needed to wait for him to escape that secret realm, ambush him from the shadows, and kill him to seize the opportunities he had obtained inside.]

[You had obtained some crucial information from your previous simulation.]

[For instance, Ye Feng had been gravely injured when he escaped that secret realm.]

[Ye Feng himself had told you all this while boasting to you.]

[It was highly credible.]

[In the eleventh year, you were twenty-six. Under your covert observation, Ye Feng had become one of Pill Master Yun's apprentices several months earlier.]

[This put your mind considerably at ease. Your presence had not caused too great a butterfly effect in this simulation.]

[At least, the timing of Ye Feng's path was exactly the same as in the first simulation.]

[In the twelfth year, you were twenty-seven and had already cultivated to the peak of the fifth layer of Qi Refining.]

[You secretly circulated the bloodline secret art and vaguely sensed that several of your closest relatives were still alive.]

[Those relatives were naturally your parents and your two elder brothers.]

[Twelve years earlier, although you had learned the truth behind the Zhou family's extermination, you had also beaten the grass and startled the snake.]

[Zhou Shizhong had directly informed the Qian Emperor of the Fourth Prince's rebellion, forcing the emperor to act ahead of time.]

[The subsequent developments were no different from those in your first simulation.]

[Using the Fourth Prince's name, the Qian Emperor had encircled and attacked the First Prince, who ultimately committed suicide after his defeat.]

[The only laughable thing was that, whether in the first simulation or this one, the Qian Emperor had exhausted every scheme to eliminate the First Prince and preserve his own absolute power, yet had not lived much longer in the end.]

[He had died of old age a few years after the First Prince's defeat and suicide.]

[The Fourth Prince had then smoothly succeeded to the throne.]

[The greatest winner in this series of events was the Fourth Prince.]

[Yet the Fourth Prince had gained this throne entirely by picking up what others had left behind.]

[In essence, the Zhou family's extermination had been collateral damage from the internal struggle within the Qian imperial family.]

[Zhou Shizhong had bound himself far too tightly to the First Prince, and he also controlled the imperial guards. If the Qian Emperor decided to move against the First Prince, the Zhou family would certainly not escape.]

[In the thirteenth year, you were twenty-eight. Sensing that your condition had reached its best, you planned to break through to the sixth layer of Qi Refining.]

[You had prepared for this breakthrough for a long time. Numerous supplementary pills, along with spiritual items that calmed the mind and soothed the spirit, were neatly arranged around you.]

[With these preparations, even if your breakthrough failed, your own vital foundation would not suffer much damage

, and you could attempt another breakthrough after recovering for a few years.]

[Many cultivators were inadequately prepared when they attempted a breakthrough. Success was all well and good, but if they failed, the backlash might take more than ten years to recover from. That essentially meant the end of their path to immortality.]

[Why were Foundation Establishment Pills so precious? Because they not only increased a cultivator's chances of breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Realm, but also protected the heart meridians. Thus, even if the breakthrough failed, the cultivator would not die on the spot.]

[You began your attempt to break through to the sixth layer of Qi Refining.]

[You successfully stepped into the sixth layer of Qi Refining.]