The first life simulation

In an underground cave beneath a cultivation market in Kettle Bell Town.

His face bruised and swollen, Xu Changxing stared at the low-grade spirit stone glowing softly before him, his eyes full of indecision.

Nearly ten years had passed since he had transmigrated here, growing from a little brat into a half-grown boy.

Over those ten-odd years, he had sold medicinal herbs at the market and finally saved enough spirit stones to buy a rudimentary qi-refining cultivation method.

But without spirit stones to aid his cultivation, he had barely crossed the threshold after several years of practice, reaching only the qi refining first layer.

Just a few days ago, luck had finally smiled on him, and he had encountered a wealthy upstart.

That young master, who had come from who knew where, had bought all his medicinal herbs for twenty low-grade spirit stones.

Xu Changxing had thought his fortunes had turned, and that those twenty low-grade spirit stones would let his cultivation advance by leaps and bounds.

But he had never imagined that Gao Teng would hear about it.

The bully had come straight to his door and demanded sixteen low-grade spirit stones.

Luckily, Xu Changxing had hidden the spirit stones beforehand, so they had not been stolen.

But Gao Teng had no intention of letting the matter rest. He had threatened to make Xu Changxing disappear from the market for good if he failed to hand over all sixteen spirit stones within three days.

Should he stake his life on a desperate gamble and flee with the spirit stones, or swallow the humiliation and hand them over to Gao Teng? Xu Changxing was torn.

Just as he wavered, a clear voice suddenly rang out in his consciousness.

[Ding. The host has been detected in a dilemma with no clear choice. Activating the Life Simulation System.]

A system! There really was a system!

Xu Changxing nearly wept with joy.

When he had first transmigrated here, he had secretly called out for a system countless times, but had never received a response. He had never expected it to appear now.

While he was still overcome with delight, several more messages appeared in his sea of consciousness.

After reading through them one by one, he understood what the system did.

This Life Simulation System could actually simulate his future life at the cost of points, then grant rewards based on his experiences.

To obtain points, he had to top up with spirit stones.

Every low-grade spirit stone he deposited would give him one point.

At his current cultivation of the qi refining first layer, starting a life simulation cost only one point.

Without hesitation, Xu Changxing grabbed a low-grade spirit stone and commanded silently, Top up!

The spiritual energy inside the spirit stone was rapidly drained away, reducing it to a pile of powder, while the system gained one point.

Struggling to contain his excitement, Xu Changxing continued, "Start the simulation!"

As his words fell, lines of text appeared in his consciousness.

[Day one: Without hesitation, you absorbed a low-grade spirit stone. Feeling your strength grow, you could not stop yourself and absorbed a second.]

[Day two: You absorbed another two low-grade spirit stones.]

[Day three: Just as you were about to cultivate with a low-grade spirit stone, Gao Teng suddenly barged in and snatched the stone from your hand.

Luckily, you had hidden ten low-grade spirit stones beforehand, preserving your remaining stones.

Gao Teng gave you a savage beating and threatened to send you to the Yin Corpse Sect to be refined into a puppet if you dared cultivate with his spirit stones again.]

[Day four: You only dared cultivate secretly at night, planning to leave immediately after breaking through.]

[Day five: You finally broke through and became a cultivator at the qi refining second layer.

That night, you slipped away, intending to roam the world with your remaining spirit stones.

You never expected Gao Teng's underlings to have been waiting outside the market all along, just waiting for you to bring the spirit stones out.

You failed to conceal your tracks and were surrounded by Gao Teng's underlings.

Although you fought back with all your strength, Gao Teng still subdued you effortlessly.

Seeing that you had brought only four spirit stones, Gao Teng flew into a rage and sold you to another outer sect disciple of the Yin Corpse Sect.]

[Day seven: The Yin Corpse Sect refined you into a puppet. You died.]

"..."

As Xu Changxing watched the lines of text pop up in his sea of consciousness, his face alternated between ashen and pale.

Because he really had considered doing exactly that.

But this ending was simply impossible to accept.

While he stood dazed, several more lines appeared in his sea of consciousness.

[Simulation complete.]

[Evaluation: You chose to follow your heart, but lacked the strength to resist, so you died.]

[Based on the simulation results, you may choose one of the following rewards.]

[1. View footage of your simulated life from a first-person perspective.]

[2. Cultivation at the qi refining second layer.]

Xu Changxing had absolutely no desire to watch himself being refined into a puppet. He chose "2" outright.

The next moment, a warm current suddenly surged into his dantian.

Without a sound, he had broken through his current realm and become a cultivator at the qi refining second layer.

Feeling the changes in his body, Xu Changxing's face instantly lit up with wild delight.

The system's description was actually true. He really could bring his cultivation out of the simulation!

Once his initial elation subsided, Xu Changxing grabbed another two low-grade spirit stones and said softly, "Top up!"

Since his cultivation had risen to the qi refining second layer, the cost of this simulation had doubled to two points.

After topping up his points, Xu Changxing started another simulation.

[Day one: Having seen how standing your ground ended, you chose to heed your fear and willingly handed sixteen spirit stones over to Gao Teng.

Gao Teng praised you for knowing your place and took you on as a lackey.]

[Day two: You continued setting up your stall at the market, but word that you had become Gao Teng's lackey had spread, and the other vendors began to boycott you.

Unwilling to explain yourself, you could only earn spirit stones in silence and cultivate in silence.]

[...]

[Day sixteen: Your luck was good, and you made another sale worth six low-grade spirit stones.

Since you had become Gao Teng's lackey, you only had to hand over four low-grade spirit stones.

After paying protection money, you continued cultivating.]

[Day forty-three: Your cultivation finally broke through again, and you became a cultivator at the qi refining third layer.]

[Day fifty-five: Gao Teng accidentally discovered your cultivation and decided to keep you by his side as an enforcer.

Although unwilling, you did not dare resist Gao Teng, who was at the qi refining fifth layer.]

[Day fifty-six: You bullied other vendors for the first time. After a brief pang of conscience, you unexpectedly discovered that it actually felt rather good.]

[Day seventy: You kept squeezing the other vendors dry. Your sense of shame gradually faded, your methods grew increasingly ruthless, and you collected more and more spirit stones.

The only thing that annoyed you was that you could keep just one-tenth of your earnings. Everything else had to go to Gao Teng.]

[Day eighty-six: A vendor unexpectedly obtained a large sum of spirit stones. He offered you half and begged you to help him keep it secret.

Tempted, you demanded sixty percent.]

[Day ninety-three: Your cultivation broke through again, and you became a cultivator at the qi refining fourth layer.]