What did that mean?
It meant Jiang Mi had been destined from birth to be capable of cultivating! Only after obtaining the simulator had she welcomed a true "new life"!
If she could change traits during a simulation, Jiang Mi would have been able to cultivate right now.
But that was the simulator's limitation. From the very beginning, this simulation had been doomed to leave her unable to cultivate.
Yet even if she could not cultivate, Jiang Mi could not bear to waste the time she had left.
Cultivation required more than just spiritual roots.
An internal art drew in spiritual energy, and then an external art circulated it, using spiritual power to temper the body.
To cultivate, both an internal art and an external art were indispensable.
[You recalled Gathered Worthies Manor, which Liu Daye had mentioned back when you were still at Changfeng Martial Arts School! Supposedly, it was the only place in all of Great Xia where Houtian martial artists gathered. People sold cultivation arts there, traded medicinal herbs, and formed teams to hunt demonic beasts in the mountains.]
[Most importantly of all, the currency used there was silver!]
[Although these people were Houtian martial artists, their aptitude was poor and their cultivation low. They were still far from Bigu, so naturally, they had plenty of daily expenses.]
[Finding a good job was not difficult for a Houtian martial artist. Those willing to sell cultivation arts were mostly people who considered themselves extraordinary. They were unwilling to work for mortals, yet needed silver to support themselves, so selling cultivation arts was naturally the easiest option.]
[Although these internal and external arts were all low-grade, having them was certainly better than having none as far as you were concerned.]
[Besides, you had no other avenue available.]
[But buying cultivation arts required silver. In all the years since you left the marquis's household, you had never worked, and the silver on hand was nearly gone.]
[Although the martial arts school paid dividends every year, that had only started after Senior Sister Liu Bai took over. Add to that its brush with bankruptcy...]
[You sighed. Better not to mention it.]
[After much thought, you decided to pawn the three pieces of jade you had brought out of the marquis's household.]
[After planning for several days, you invited Senior Sister Liu Bai to accompany you to a pawnshop, where you fenced the stolen goods you had brought out of the marquis's household for several hundred taels of silver. Once you received the silver, Senior Sister Liu Bai was clever for once and noticed you were planning something. Under her insistent questioning, you finally revealed your purpose.]
[Liu Bai was silent for only a moment before saying she wanted to accompany you. Unable to dissuade her, you could only agree.]
[Three days later, after settling the martial arts school's affairs, the two of you old women shouldered your bundles and left Liu Family Ferry.]
[You headed north all the way.]
[Before setting off, "troubled times" had been nothing more than words you heard. Only after setting off did you understand how difficult life was for mortals in this chaotic age. Your life changed noticeably: eating, walking, and joining Liu Bai in teaching the little bastards who tried to rob you what respecting their elders meant.]
[A year later, you finally reached Gathered Worthies Manor.]
[Liu Daye had been right. Internal and external arts really were everywhere here. They were sold at roadside stalls, peddled in teahouses, and posted on inn walls. Someone was even squatting outside a privy, asking everyone who passed, "Fellow Daoist, want a cultivation art? Cheap."]
[Although these cultivation arts were of very poor quality, their prices were not low.]
[For the most basic and most widely used internal art, the stallholder asked for three hundred taels right off the bat.]
[You asked whether he could lower the price. He looked you up and down and chuckled. "Old lady, this is an immortal cultivation art, not a head of cabbage. Three hundred taels is already an honest price. Go ask elsewhere. You won't get it for less than four hundred."]
[You went elsewhere, made a circuit, and returned.]
[You stood silently before the stall, looking at that yellowed booklet and thinking of the mere five hundred taels in banknotes left inside your clothes.]
[External arts were more expensive than internal arts. If you bought this internal art, the money left would definitely not be enough for an external art. But without an external art, what good was merely knowing how to draw in spiritual energy? Without being able to temper your body, you still could not truly enter the Houtian First Layer. You would remain a martial artist rather than a cultivator.]
[Liu Bai stood with you for a while before finally noticing your predicament. She took two banknotes out of her clothes and stuffed them into yours without allowing any argument.]
[You looked down. They were two hundred-tael banknotes, folded neatly, their edges worn fuzzy. One glance told you they had been carried around for a long time.]
Jiang Mi fell silent.
Although her luck was not particularly good and her martial aptitude was not particularly high, she truly had a fortunate life, and the people she met were the very best.
["Senior Sister, this..."]
[Liu Bai waved a hand and said nothing.]
[You opened your mouth, wanting to say something, but it felt as though something had blocked your throat.]
[Throughout the journey, Liu Bai had never asked why you wanted to buy cultivation arts, nor had she ever told you to stop putting yourself through so much at your age. She had simply accompanied you in silence for thousands of li, helped you drive off those robbers, and now pressed the private savings she had accumulated over a lifetime into your hands.]
[You recalled your first meeting with Liu Bai. She had only been in her early twenties, smashing a stone lion with one punch, only for Liu Daye to unleash a torrent of abuse on her. Back then, you had thought she was just a bit of a simpleton. Only later did you learn that she really was one.]
[Yet this very simpleton had stayed by your side for thirty years.]
["What are you standing around for?" Liu Bai gave you a shove. "Go buy them, before he packs up his stall."]
[You gripped those two banknotes so tightly that your knuckles turned white.]
[Seven hundred taels. Just enough for an internal art and an external art.]
[You turned and walked toward the stallholder, slapping the banknotes onto his battered wooden board. "The Qi Guiding Art, and an external art to go with it. The cheapest kind."]
[The stallholder paused and looked you up and down, but did not say anything else unpleasant. He rummaged through the battered chest behind him, took out two booklets, and casually pushed them toward you. "Qi Guiding Art, three hundred taels. Qi-Nourishing Art, four hundred taels. Exactly seven hundred. Keep them safe, granny."]
[You did not take issue with his attitude. You merely took the two booklets and carefully tucked them inside your clothes, as close to your body as possible.]
[You found a cheap inn in Gathered Worthies Manor and took two rooms. Next door, Liu Bai fell asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow. The journey really had exhausted her. You, however, could not sleep. Sitting beside the bed, you read the two booklets over and over.]
[The Qi Guiding Art was a scant dozen or so pages, its paper yellowed and its corners curled. At a glance, it had clearly been leafed through countless times. The Qi-Nourishing Art was even thinner, only a few pages, filled with drawings of strange postures that resembled those old men and women practicing qigong whom you had seen in parks in your previous life.]
[But you were an old woman now too, and had no right to laugh at them.]
[You read them carefully again and again, committing every movement to memory. Only then did you finally feel reassured and lie down to rest.]
[This year's tree-chopping opportunity officially refreshed tonight. You tapped lightly, and in an instant, green light burst forth!]
[Sandbag-sized fists (green): Your fists are bigger and harder! Your attacks hurt your opponents more!]
A green trait! Another one!
Good. This really was good!
Jiang Mi encouraged herself inwardly to keep up the effort.
Before you continue