'Sure enough, I still died...'
Xu Changxing had actually begun to get used to this outcome.
He even felt that surviving a full four and a half years in this simulation was a considerable breakthrough.
This cultivation world was simply too dangerous.
Only by hunkering down near that small town for the past few years and never venturing far had he managed to live in relative peace.
Yet even then, twenty spirit stones had brought him face-to-face with death.
If the system hadn't arrived, he might already have been dead.
Xu Changxing shook his head, pushed those tangled thoughts aside, and waited for the simulation's results.
[Simulation ended] [Evaluation: despite your injured dantian, you persisted in cultivation. Your perseverance is commendable.] [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 ninth layer of Qi Refinement] [3. "Spring Renewal Art"]
Compared with the previous simulations, this one offered an additional reward option.
As Xu Changxing looked at the third option, his eyes lit up.
During the simulation, this cultivation art had once sent him wild with joy. Its quality was clearly far superior to the crude art he currently practiced.
If he switched to this cultivation art, his prospects would likely become much brighter.
Besides, he had obtained this spell art in a Secret Realm, making it relatively safe and unlikely to carry any hidden dangers.
The only drawback to this option was that it wouldn't improve his cultivation.
There was still a considerable gap between the seventh Qi Refining level and the ninth layer of Qi Refinement.
While Xu Chengfei wrestled with the decision, his gaze suddenly caught on the first option.
'Should I watch what happened before? What if I can see the Spring Renewal Art in there?
Besides, there seemed to be footage of me battling the demon beast in the ruined temple.
If I could discover its weakness...'
The thought circled in his mind for a moment before he finally cast it aside.
The system might not leave such an obvious loophole open for him.
If he watched to the end only to discover that the "Spring Renewal Art" had been censored, that would be awkward.
Apart from that copy of the "Spring Renewal Art," only the ruined-temple sequence was worth watching.
The problem was that he might not discover anything useful in that battle.
The first option's returns were highly uncertain. It was far too much of a gamble.
In the end, Xu Changxing turned his attention back to the last two options.
Should he choose the cultivation directly and join the Setting Sun Sect along the established path, or choose the "Spring Renewal Art" and use his remaining spirit stones for one final simulation?
With his experience from the previous simulation, he had an excellent chance of cultivating back to the ninth layer of Qi Refinement in another run.
The only question now was whether cultivating the "Spring Renewal Art" had any prerequisites.
If he obtained it but couldn't practice it, he would lose out.
After agonizing for a moment, Xu Changxing finally gritted his teeth and said, "I'll choose 3!"
Trading sixty-four low-grade spirit stones for a cultivation art of such respectable quality was a profit however he looked at it.
Even if he couldn't practice it, he could find an opportunity to sell it for a good price later.
Once Xu Changxing made his choice, an illusory book appeared in his consciousness.
As its pages turned, the contents of the "Spring Renewal Art" emerged bit by bit.
A moment later, the illusory book slowly vanished, but Xu Chengfei had firmly committed the cultivation art's contents to memory.
After carefully recalling them for a while, his expression grew rather complicated.
Sure enough, this cultivation art had a prerequisite.
Practicing the "Spring Renewal Art" required a wood spiritual root.
Although a wood spiritual root wasn't considered a top-tier spiritual root, Xu Changxing happened not to have one.
He had mixed spiritual roots.
Having mixed spiritual roots meant possessing more than five kinds of spiritual roots, but having extremely poor aptitude in every one.
Xu Changxing possessed more than a dozen kinds of spiritual roots, including water, wind, ice, metal, lightning, and star.
Although his spiritual roots appeared numerous, each was exceedingly weak. Only his wind spiritual root barely qualified as seventh-grade; the rest were eighth- or ninth-grade.
Besides their poor quality, Xu Changxing's spiritual roots didn't cover all five elements. He couldn't even assemble a complete set of five-element spiritual roots.
Mixed spiritual roots like these were extremely inefficient at refining spiritual energy into any single type of true essence.
Without the aid of spirit stones, his spiritual-root aptitude left him utterly unable to absorb the spiritual energy drifting through heaven and earth.
That was precisely why he had squandered more than a decade in the marketplace.
And the prerequisite for cultivating the "Spring Renewal Art" was possessing a wood spiritual root.
Without one, converting spiritual energy into wood spiritual true essence would be exceptionally difficult.
Fortunately, this wasn't entirely without a solution.
According to the "Spring Renewal Art," a cultivator without a wood spiritual root could practice it by finding heavenly materials and earthly treasures that naturally contained the wood attribute and borrowing their power.
Once the cultivator mastered the basics of this art, wood-attribute true essence would form within the body. As that true essence continually nourished the flesh, it would condense a wood spiritual root inside.
With perseverance, the wood spiritual root would continue to grow stronger, eventually reaching as high as fifth-grade.
This meant that a cultivator's aptitude would gradually change.
Xu Changxing was still quite excited when he read this section.
Cultivation arts capable of altering spiritual-root aptitude were exceedingly rare, and all were of fairly high rank-at least Profound-grade, far surpassing the quality of the "Wind-Control Art" he practiced.
The only question now was where he could find wood-attribute heavenly materials and earthly treasures.
Such treasures with elemental attributes were not only scarce, but each commanded an exceptionally high price.
At his current cultivation level, he might not find any even after years of running about.
Fortunately, he still had the system.
Xu Changxing took out his remaining spirit stones and continued topping up the system.
As the spiritual energy within the stones steadily vanished, the system's points began rising rapidly.
By the time his points reached 64 again, he had only a little over ten low-grade spirit stones left.
With a measure of anticipation, Xu Changxing began another simulation.
[Day one: you left the ruined temple without hesitation and fled south.] [Day three: after casually visiting a few places, you decided to settle in Red Sparrow Town.] [Day eleven: after using up all the Spirit-Gathering Pills you carried, your cultivation once again broke through to the eighth Qi Refining level. You continued wandering the marketplace, hoping for a chance encounter with Xia Shanyang. But even after you strolled around for an entire afternoon, no one approached you. You decided to change tactics, taking out all the medicinal herbs you had previously gathered and setting up a stall in the marketplace.] [Day sixteen: while inspecting the marketplace, Xia Shanyang noticed your distinguished bearing and struck up a conversation with you.] [...] [Month two: you successfully obtained Xia Shanyang's letter of recommendation and arrived at the Setting Sun Sect. Just as you were about to register, you unexpectedly spotted a pitiful-looking figure beside a stream. You recognized Liu Jiaochan at a glance. Behind Liu Jiaochan followed a young man whose cultivation was clearly inferior to yours. Seeing that they were about to engage in an illicit tryst, you flew into a towering rage. You shouted, **"Witch, don't you dare harm anyone!"** and cut down Liu Jiaochan before she could react. The young man beside her was splashed with blood and stared at you in bewilderment and fury.]
Before you continue