My Immortal Cultivation Simulator
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Zhou Qing looked at the three choices before him.
He immediately ruled out the third option.
For now, Black Mountain Market was the best place for a cultivator without any backing like him to make his way.
Other factions? They were either sects or cultivation Aristocratic Clans.
They were fiercely hostile to outsiders.
After a moment's thought,
Zhou Qing also abandoned the second option.
Becoming the disciple of a Pill Master, Artifact Master, or Talisman Master would certainly be ideal.
But Zhou Qing had no way to cover the apprenticeship gift and other expenses.
Surely he couldn't actually spend over a decade as a spirit farmer, saving spirit stones without eating or drinking?
The sunk cost would be too great. If something unexpected happened along the way, wouldn't all his efforts go straight down the drain?
By comparison,
Becoming an apprentice was undoubtedly the most suitable choice for Zhou Qing.
Though he would lose his freedom, at least he could begin learning something immediately.
And he would gain the protection of a Pill Master, Artifact Master, or Talisman Master.
"Option one."
Zhou Qing gazed at the illusory text and made his choice.
The illusory text changed again.
[You decided to become an apprentice.] [Currently, three craftsmen in Black Mountain Market were recruiting apprentices.] [They were Pill Master Yun, Artifact Master Lu, and Talisman Master Zhao.] [Of these, Pill Master Yun's apprentices signed the harshest Spirit Contract, binding themselves to his service for thirty years.] [Talisman Master Zhao's Spirit Contract required only ten years of service, while Artifact Master Lu's required fifteen.] [After careful consideration, you decided to become Pill Master Yun's apprentice.] [Among the hundred arts of cultivation, pill refining was undoubtedly the most widespread craft. Throughout every cultivator's cultivation journey, pills were what they could least do without.] [This was also what gave Pill Master Yun the confidence to set his Spirit Contract at thirty years.] [Of course, it also had to do with Pill Master Yun being a High-Grade Pill Master, while the other two were merely a Mid-Grade Artifact Refiner and a Mid-Grade Talisman Master.] [A High-Grade Pill Master ranked among the best in all of Black Mountain Market and was a highly valued craftsman.] [You went to Pill Master Yun's Pill Workshop.] [Not many cultivators were willing to become Pill Master Yun's apprentices. Including you, there were only four.] [After all, a thirty-year bond of service was far too harsh. The lifespan of a Qi Refining Stage cultivator was not much different from that of an ordinary mortal.] [Binding themselves for thirty years in one go? Few cultivators could accept that.] [You looked at the middle-aged cultivator seated in the place of honor in the Pill Workshop.] [This middle-aged cultivator had a lean face. He was none other than Pill Master Yun.] ["All right. Since you've come here, I assume you know my rules."] [Pill Master Yun rose, his gaze falling on you and the other four.] ["These are the Spirit Contracts. Sign them."] [Pill Master Yun waved his right hand, and four Spirit Contracts floated down.] ["The next thirty years will be divided into three stages."] ["Ten years of Spirit Cultivation, ten years of Fire Control, and ten years of Pill Condensation."] [Pill Master Yun spoke.] [You quickly signed the Spirit Contract and listened obediently.] [Spirit Cultivation meant cultivating spirit plants.] [Spirit plants were the main ingredients for pill refining. Any Alchemist who wanted to refine good pills would master the art of cultivating spirit plants.] [Fire Control involved actual pill refining, and Pill Condensation even more so-it was the final step of pill refining.] ["You needn't feel hard done by. As long as you complete these three stages, becoming a Low-Grade Pill Master won't be difficult."] [Having finished speaking, Pill Master Yun rose and left.] [You officially became Pill Master Yun's apprentice and began the first stage: ten years of Spirit Cultivation.]
At this point, Zhou Qing steadied himself.
Luckily, those thirty years are only in the simulation...
Zhou Qing sighed inwardly.
Binding himself to thirty years of service was indeed too steep a price. Otherwise, given Pill Master Yun's reputation, he would hardly have had so few apprentices.
For Zhou Qing, however, those thirty years were merely time within the simulation. In reality, only an instant would pass.
[You were assigned one mu of spirit farmland, where you planted several kinds of spirit plants commonly used in pill refining.] [A senior apprentice began teaching you how to cultivate these spirit plants.] [In the eleventh year, you were twenty-six. You had largely adapted to life as an apprentice. Apart from cultivating, you spent all your time growing spirit plants.] ["Brother Zhou."] [A young man walked over and greeted you warmly.] [The young man's name was Ye Feng. He was also Pill Master Yun's apprentice, one of the four who had joined alongside Zhou Qing.] [Because Ye Feng learned rather slowly, the senior apprentice who taught Spirit Cultivation often scolded him. Once, unable to bear watching it, you gave Ye Feng a few pointers in your spare time.] [Having lived two lives, your ability to learn went without saying.] [From then on, Ye Feng clung to you as his pillar of support, calling you "Brother Zhou" all day long and following your lead in everything.] ["Here are your fasting pills."] [Ye Feng handed you that month's fasting pills.] [Fasting pills were essential pills for cultivators. Taking one kept hunger at bay for half a month.] [Whenever it was time to collect fasting pills, Ye Feng would volunteer to collect yours for you, giving you the better-quality portion.] [You naturally understood why Ye Feng did this. He merely hoped you would spend more time teaching him, so you did not refuse.] [In the twelfth year, you were twenty-seven. While cultivating spirit plants, you quietly set aside several of the best-quality "Waste Pills."] [Waste Pills were the products of a Pill Master's failed attempts at pill refining. They contained too many impurities and were unsuitable for cultivators to consume.] [Thus, Waste Pills were either buried in spirit farmland to nourish spirit plants or fed to spirit pets and spirit beasts.] [However, nothing was absolute. Some Waste Pills were of better quality, and a cultivator who occasionally took one would not suffer much harm.] [They were like "expired food" on Blue Star in your previous life.] [Naturally, you secretly kept those best-quality Waste Pills for your own consumption.] [In the thirteenth year, you were twenty-eight. As you continued cultivating spirit plants, you gained an increasingly deep understanding of the growth of spirit herbs.] [In the fourteenth year, you were twenty-nine. As Pill Master Yun's apprentice, you could naturally live within the Market Ward and enjoy its spiritual energy resources. Although it only had a first-tier low-grade spirit vein, its spiritual energy was far richer than that outside.] [In the fifteenth year, you were thirty. You reached the second layer of Qi Refining.]
"The second layer of Qi Refining already?"
A smile appeared on Zhou Qing's face.
Going from the first layer of Qi Refining to the second had taken five years-twice as fast as his transition from a mortal to the first layer of Qi Refining.
One reason he had managed this was the rich
spiritual energy within the Market Ward.
Previously, Zhou Qing had cultivated in the mortal Qian Kingdom, where spiritual energy was thin. That was why it had taken him ten years to enter the Qi Refining Stage.
Besides the spiritual energy environment, it also had to do with Zhou Qing's frequent consumption of better-quality Waste Pills.
[In the sixteenth year, you were thirty-one. You continued devoting yourself wholeheartedly to cultivating spirit plants and advancing your cultivation.] [In the seventeenth year, you were thirty-two. Realizing how difficult it was to advance from the second layer of Qi Refining to the Third Layer of Qi Refining, you increased the frequency with which you took Waste Pills.] [Taking Waste Pills could easily cause pill toxin to accumulate within your body. But to reach the third layer of Qi Refining as soon as possible and gain a chance to attempt the Fourth Layer of Qi Refining—the middle Qi Refining period—you were willing to pay a price.] [In the eighteenth year, you were thirty-three. The spirit plants you cultivated earned Pill Master Yun's approval, and you received ten spirit stones as a reward.] [In the nineteenth year, you were thirty-four. You became increasingly adept at cultivating spirit plants.] [In the twentieth year, you were thirty-five. You had already reached the peak of the second layer of Qi Refining and planned to attempt the Third Layer of Qi Refining in a few more years.] [That same year, a major event occurred in Black Mountain Market.] [A secret realm emerged in a canyon not far from Black Mountain Market.] [By the time you learned of it, quite a few cultivators had already obtained many precious resources from that secret realm.] [The secret realm's emergence caused a tremendous stir not only in Black Mountain Market. Other nearby cultivation factions and rogue cultivators also flocked there.] [Although you were quite curious about the secret realm, you had no intention of going there to compete for its treasures.] [As a minor cultivator at the second layer of Qi Refining, you were far too weak.] [However, you recorded a great deal of information about that secret realm. Not participating in this simulation did not mean you would not participate in the next, or the one after that.] [That evening, Ye Feng came to see you.] ["Brother Zhou..."] [Ye Feng sat before you, wanting to speak but hesitating.] ["If there's something on your mind, just say it."] [You spoke.] ["I plan to try my luck in that secret realm..."] [Ye Feng voiced his thoughts.] [It turned out that cultivating spirit plants day after day in the Pill Workshop had left Ye Feng utterly sick of it.] [A life whose ending he could already see terrified Ye Feng.] [So, after learning that a secret realm had emerged, he had begun thinking of going there to compete for its treasures.] ["You've only just entered the third layer of Qi Refining..."] [You frowned at Ye Feng. "And what about your Spirit Contract?"] [When he became an apprentice, Ye Feng had naturally also signed a thirty-year bond of service.] [Leaving the Pill Workshop without Pill Master Yun's permission would trigger the Spirit Contract's backlash.] ["I've already spoken to Pill Master Yun. He's willing to let me leave, provided I can produce a hundred spirit stones..."] [Ye Feng spoke bitterly.] [Hearing this, you finally understood why Ye Feng had come to you.] [He had come to borrow spirit stones.] [You gazed at Ye Feng, sinking into thought.] [You had spirit stones. Over your ten years as an apprentice, you had often received rewards from Pill Master Yun because you cultivated spirit plants well.] [But should you lend them to Ye Feng?] [You recalled how Ye Feng had run around attending to your needs over the past ten years.] [In the end, you decided to lend him fifty spirit stones.]
End of Chapter
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