Outside world,
"It's the reason why I say family is a burden." Lin Chen sighed with emotion.
In this simulation, he obtained a talent that increased his aptitude for everything by tenfold. On the surface, there was no visible change in his aptitude, but in practice, his cultivation speed had indeed increased ten times.
This time, he decided to join the Holy-Sword Sect. However, on his way there, he encountered a recruitment for a son-in-law in a scholarly family. Thinking it would be another hidden card up his sleeve, he decided to pursue the scholar's path—an auxiliary cultivation path.
With his knowledge from his previous life, he easily won the recruitment competition. With his charm and grace, he captured the heart of the bride, Su Wanqing, and smoothly married into the Su family.
After marriage, he was guided by the Su family in the cultivation of the scholar's path.
A few years later, with his extraordinary aptitude, he mastered all the knowledge the Su family could teach him, and they presented him with a scroll to comprehend.
During these years, he never slacked in his immortal cultivation. Within thirty years, he broke through to the Golden Elixir realm, condensing ten Elixir Patterns.
He also merged his Killing and Sword intents, creating a new path: Killing Sword Intent.
A week later, he comprehended the scroll given by the Su family and added another path to his foundation—Righteous Intent.
With nothing else pressing, he devoted himself fully to cultivating and comprehending Sword intent.
Years passed, and his Sword Intent reached level 9. His cultivation also advanced to the mid-stage of the Golden Elixir realm.
Seven years later, he reached the peak-stage of the Golden Elixir realm and even comprehended a higher level of the Sword—Sword Law.
(Sword Law is divided into 30 levels: levels 1–9 (early-stage), 10–18 (mid-stage), 19–27 (late-stage), and 28–30 (peak-stage). Each level is far harder to comprehend than the last.)
To achieve the Supreme Foundation for the Nascent Soul realm, he had to wait for a secret realm to open. In the meantime, he studied talismans.
Three years later, he became a fourth-grade Talisman Master, mastering every talisman technique available to him.
In these years, he and Su Wanqing had many children, their love deepened, and his status in the Su family grew until he eventually became the family head—thanks to his immense strength and scholarly talent.
In the 43rd year of the simulation, just as he was waiting for the secret realm to open, disaster struck.
The Hehuan Sect invaded Su family territory.
It was said that some arrogant members of the Su family had publicly condemned the Hehuan Sect for their evil ways and were immediately killed. But the Hehuan Sect did not stop there—they decided to massacre the entire Su family to set an example that they were not to be trifled with.
By the time Lin Chen received the news, it was already too late. The Hehuan Sect had begun their slaughter.
At the moment of crisis, Lin Chen upgraded his Blood-Devouring Demonic Sword and cut down half of the invading Hehuan Sect members, alarming their Mahayana ancestor.
However, even after devouring so much blood, the Blood-Devouring Demonic Sword only advanced to a Magic Weapon grade. From this, Lin Chen realized just how greedy this sword truly was. Yet the reward was undeniable—he directly comprehended Killing Intent at level 2 during the battle.
With that, his Killing Sword Intent also rose to level 2. At that moment, he discovered a crucial truth: after merging two paths, when both were raised to the same level, they would merge automatically without needing separate comprehension.
It was a huge discovery, but this was no time to dwell on it. He focused on the battle before him.
In the end, with no way out, he faced the Mahayana realm ancestor of the Hehuan Sect and fell after only two moves.
This was how the simulation ended.
Lin Chen waited patiently for the reward settlement. Some time later, the voice he most longed to hear echoed in his mind.
[Ding, reward settlement completed. The host may choose three of the following rewards.]
[Purple Talent: Aptitude Increase.]
[Cultivation: Peak-stage Golden Elixir {with Supreme Foundation}.]
[Experience {Marrow-Cleansing, combat experience, muscle memory, technique proficiency, practicing experience (Sword Law level 1, Killing Sword Intent level 2, Killing Intent level 2, Righteous Intent, and fourth-grade Talisman Master), breakthrough experience, cultivation experience, etc.}]
[Resources {78 million Spirit Stones, an ancient scroll, many cultivation resources, Blood-Devouring Demonic Sword (Grade: Magic Weapon), many scholarly books, etc.}]
[Detailed memory of everything you saw.]
Without hesitation, he chose Talent: Aptitude Increase, Experience, and Resources.
He then noticed that near the Blood-Devouring Demonic Sword, another sword had appeared. It looked identical, but the eerie aura and blood-red glow it emitted were far stronger.
As if anticipating his doubt, the system explained:
[Host, this system always determines the best reward for the host. Even if the same item appears, it will never be sent as a duplicate copy.]
After the explanation, Lin Chen understood and was very satisfied. This was a practical and useful feature of the system, and he appreciated it greatly.
Calculating that the resources weren't enough for an upgrade yet, he immediately began another simulation.
[1 Spirit Stone consumed. Remaining currency: 258.5 million Spirit Stones.]
[Ding, simulation begins. Talents are being drawn...]