That demoness was fooling around with someone else. What were you getting so worked up about?
What if this landed you in trouble? Did you think the Yin-Yang Sect was a pushover?
As Xu Changxing watched the text constantly appearing in his sea of consciousness, the corners of his mouth twitched.
He did not want to admit that this would send him into a rage.
Before he could grumble any further, the text in his sea of consciousness began scrolling again.
[Without waiting for the young man to lash out, you deftly search Liu Jiaochan's corpse. You find a Dual Cultivation Illustrated Manual and several bottles of Spring Night Pills on her. You feel this evidence is enough to prove that the woman you killed was a demoness from the Yin-Yang Sect, but the young man flies into a humiliated rage and demands revenge for his beloved. You intend to simply leave, only to discover that someone is watching from the shadows. An idea strikes you. You restrain the young man and shout that you will take him to the Setting Sun Sect to have someone judge who is in the right. You have only taken a few steps when an old man blocks your path. With a grim expression, the old man tells you he had long since discovered that a demoness had recently been bewitching cultivators passing through the area. He had intended to see who else was backing her, only for you to cut her down just like that. You hastily explain that you did not mean to interfere. After staring at you for a moment, the old man suddenly lets out a long sigh. "So it truly was all fated," he says before leaving. You are utterly bewildered.] [Month three: You successfully enter the Setting Sun Sect and become an Outer Sect disciple.] [Month four: You want to offer up the Spring Renewal Art in exchange for cultivation resources, but worry that someone might pocket your reward.] [Month five: You finally become well acquainted with several disciples in charge of supplies at the Setting Sun Sect. After making inquiries through various channels, you discover that the supplies elder is an upright man who is unlikely to pocket a disciple's resources. You therefore find a suitable opportunity to offer up the Spring Renewal Art. As expected, the supplies elder does not pocket your reward. He delivers the rootless wood you requested into your hands. You also understand the proper etiquette very well, voluntarily offering the spirit stones you have recently saved to the supplies elder as a token of respect. He gladly accepts them.] [Month six: With the Wood Attribute spiritual energy continually emanating from the rootless wood, you finally reach the introductory stage of the Spring Renewal Art.] [Month seven: You continue cultivating diligently.] [Month eight: After two consecutive months of arduous cultivation, a Wood Spiritual Root finally forms within your body. By now, however, you have exhausted all the Wood Attribute spiritual energy in the rootless wood. You have no choice but to take on missions to earn the Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures you need to continue cultivating.] [Year two, month seven: After nearly a year of running about, you exchange your earnings for another piece of rootless wood. You continue cultivating with the Wood Attribute spiritual energy within the Rootless Wood.] [Year three, month five: Your cultivation breaks through to the Ninth Layer of Qi Refinement, and your Wood Spiritual Root improves to seventh grade. You decide to raise your Wood Spiritual Root to its limit before considering Foundation Establishment.] [Year four: You continue running about.] [Year five, month three: You exchange your earnings for another length of rootless wood. After a period of arduous cultivation, you finally reach minor mastery in the Spring Renewal Art, raising your Wood Spiritual Root to sixth grade. You can now finally sense the Wood Attribute spiritual energy drifting between heaven and earth. This means you can continue cultivating even without spirit stones. You are overjoyed.] [Year six: With your minor mastery of the Spring Renewal Art, you achieve impressive results in the Outer Sect disciples' tournament. You exchange the points you earned this time for a piece of mid-grade rootless wood and begin cultivating in seclusion.] [Year seven: After more than half a year in seclusion, your Wood Spiritual Root has risen to fifth grade. You decide to temporarily stop gathering Wood Attribute Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures and instead save up spirit stones to buy a Foundation Establishment Pill.] [Year eight: After a year of hard work, you finally buy a Foundation Establishment Pill. Thanks to your considerable talent now, you successfully achieve Foundation Establishment on your first attempt. After stabilizing your cultivation, you leave the sect to travel. While passing a set of ruins, you suddenly sense something, faintly resonating with an unknown presence. You vaguely suspect these might be the ruins where you obtained the Spring Renewal Art. After some hesitation, you decide to investigate the outskirts of the ruins. Yet the moment you enter, an unknown seed strikes you on the head. Terrified, you flee the Secret Realm as fast as you can.] [Year nine: After more than half a year in seclusion, you discover no discomfort in your body. Instead, your Wood Spiritual Root has improved again. You are now a minor genius with a third-grade Wood Spiritual Root. This leaves you both astonished and delighted.] [Year ten: While cultivating in seclusion, you suddenly find the earth shaking and the mountains trembling around you. To your horror, you discover that someone has broken through the Setting Sun Sect's grand formation. You have barely emerged from your seclusion chamber when you discover billowing demonic energy all around. A fiend lunges at you with a savage grin. Before you can resist, you lose consciousness. You died!]
Not bad! I actually lasted ten years this time!
Although this attempt still ended in death, he had lasted ten years.
Setting this new record actually left Xu Changxing in a rather good mood.
Somewhat excited, he waited for his rewards to be calculated.
[Simulation complete] [Evaluation: Though this life was full of hardship, you successfully achieved Foundation Establishment, surpassing most cultivators who spend their lives muddling along.] [Based on the simulation results, you may choose one of the following rewards.] [1. Watch footage of your simulated life from a first-person perspective] [2. Cultivation at the Ninth Layer of Qi Refinement] [3. A third-grade Wood Spiritual Root]
Xu Changxing froze slightly as he looked at the second reward.
He had clearly achieved Foundation Establishment in the simulation, yet this time the reward only offered cultivation at the Ninth Layer of Qi Refinement.
This left him rather disappointed.
He had been wondering whether he could keep suppressing his cultivation, then suddenly surge ahead in a future simulation and reach Core Formation or even Nascent Soul in one leap.
Now it seemed he had been getting ahead of himself.
The system had left him no such exploit.
Still, he was not too disappointed, since he had already considered this possibility.
Even if the system truly offered him a chance to reach Core Formation in a single step, he might not dare choose it.
According to the system's rules, the higher his cultivation realm, the more spirit stones each simulation would cost.
If he jumped straight to Core Formation or higher, the points required for his next simulation would become exorbitant.
With no familiarity with his new realm and no foothold here, earning the corresponding amount of spirit stones would likely be extremely difficult.
He would inevitably spend a considerable stretch of time unable to save enough spirit stones for a simulation.
In that case, if he encountered any danger, he might truly die.
Advancing step by step like this would instead allow him to avoid some dangers through repeated simulations.
After quickly adjusting his frame of mind, Xu Changxing looked at the three options again.
The first option had little value, so he skipped it outright.
Between cultivation and a Wood Spiritual Root, Xu Changxing barely hesitated before choosing the third-grade Wood Spiritual Root.
He had spent a full seven years running about in the simulation, only just managing to raise his Wood Spiritual Root to fifth grade.
Only after an unknown opportunity literally struck him on the head had he obtained a third-grade Wood Spiritual Root.
By comparison, cultivation at the Ninth Layer of Qi Refinement was somewhat insignificant.
After making his choice, Xu Changxing was enveloped in a fresh, natural aura.
Warmth spread throughout his body, leaving him indescribably comfortable.
At the same time, a faint glimmer of green light appeared in his sea of consciousness.
The moment it appeared, the green light pushed the dozen or so other motley lights aside.
Xu Changxing tried sinking his consciousness into his sea of consciousness, using this glimmer of green light to sense his surroundings.
A moment later, to his delighted surprise, he sensed the spiritual energy drifting between heaven and earth for the first time in his life.
Before you continue