Chapter 1: First Life Simulation
Inside a small cave beneath the cultivator market of Huling Town.
Xu Changxing, his face bruised and swollen, stared at the faintly glowing Low-Grade Spirit Stone in his hand. His eyes were filled with hesitation.
He had transmigrated nearly ten years ago—arriving as a young child and growing into a half-grown youth.
Over the years, by selling herbs in the market, he finally saved enough Spirit Stones to exchange for a basic Qi Refining cultivation technique. But without Spirit Stones to assist his cultivation, his progress had been painfully slow. After several years of effort, he had only reached the first stage of Qi Refining.
Just a few days ago, fortune finally smiled upon him. A wealthy young master, origins unknown, bought all his herbs for twenty Low-Grade Spirit Stones.
Xu Changxing believed his luck had turned. With so many Spirit Stones, he could finally speed up his cultivation.
But he never expected that the news would spread to High Rising, the market's infamous bully.
High Rising confronted him directly, demanding sixteen Spirit Stones.
Fortunately, Xu Changxing had hidden his Spirit Stones in advance, so High Rising couldn't steal them. But the bully didn't intend to let the matter rest. He threatened that if Xu Changxing didn't hand over sixteen Spirit Stones within three days, he would make him disappear from the market entirely.
Whether to fight desperately and flee with the Spirit Stones, or swallow his anger and hand them over, left Xu Changxing torn with indecision.
Just as he hesitated, a crisp voice suddenly echoed in his Sea of Consciousness.
"Ding! Detecting that the host is facing an inescapable predicament. Activating the Simulated Life System."
"A System! There's really a System!"
Xu Changxing almost burst into tears. When he first transmigrated, he had called for a System countless times, yet no response ever came. He never expected it to appear now, when he needed it most.
As he rejoiced, several messages appeared in his mind.
After reading them one by one, he quickly understood the System's function.
The Simulated Life System could simulate his future life at the cost of points, and he would receive rewards from the simulation.
Points could be obtained by recharging Spirit Stones. Each Low-Grade Spirit Stone provided one point.
With his current first-stage Qi Refining cultivation, activating a simulation required only one point.
Without hesitation, Xu Changxing grabbed a Low-Grade Spirit Stone and silently muttered, "Recharge."
The Spiritual Qi inside the stone rapidly drained away, turning it into dust. The System gained one point.
Suppressing his excitement, Xu Changxing continued, "Activate Simulation."
Lines of text appeared in his Sea of Consciousness.
"Day 1: You immediately absorbed a Low-Grade Spirit Stone. Feeling your strength grow, you absorbed a second one."
"Day 2: You absorbed two more Low-Grade Spirit Stones."
"Day 3: Just as you were about to cultivate with another Spirit Stone, High Rising barged in and snatched it from your hand. Fortunately, you had hidden ten Spirit Stones in advance.
High Rising beat you severely and warned that if you dared cultivate with 'his' Spirit Stones again, he would sell you to the Yin Corpse Sect to be refined into a Puppet."
"Day 4: You only dared to cultivate secretly at night, planning to escape after breaking through."
"Day 5: You broke through to the second stage of Qi Refining. That night, you escaped the market with your remaining Spirit Stones.
However, High Rising's subordinates had been waiting outside, hoping you would bring out the Spirit Stones. You failed to evade them and were surrounded.
Despite resisting with all your strength, you were subdued. High Rising, enraged that you only brought four Spirit Stones, sold you to an Outer Sect disciple of the Yin Corpse Sect."
"Day 7: You were refined into a Puppet. You died."
"…"
Xu Changxing's expression turned pale as he read the text. He had truly considered doing exactly that. But the result was horrifying.
More lines appeared.
"Simulation ended."
"Evaluation: You followed your instincts but lacked the strength to resist, leading to your death."
"Rewards available. Choose one:"
"1. First-person playback of the simulated life."
"2. Qi Refining second-stage cultivation."
Without hesitation, Xu Changxing chose option 2. He had no interest in watching himself be refined into a Puppet.
Warmth surged into his Dantian, and in an instant he reached the second stage of Qi Refining.
Ecstasy filled his face. The System really worked. He could bring cultivation gains from the simulation into reality.
After calming down, Xu Changxing grabbed two Spirit Stones. "Recharge."
Now that he was at the second stage of Qi Refining, the required points doubled to two.
After recharging, he activated the simulation again.
"Day 1: Having seen the consequences of resisting, you handed sixteen Spirit Stones to High Rising. High Rising praised your obedience and accepted you as his underling."
"Day 2: You continued to set up your stall, but when people heard you had become High Rising's underling, the vendors began to boycott you. You kept silent and focused on earning Spirit Stones and cultivating."
"Day 16: Luck favored you and you earned six Low-Grade Spirit Stones. As High Rising's underling, you only needed to pay four as protection fee. You cultivated with the rest."
"Day 43: You broke through to the third stage of Qi Refining."
"Day 55: High Rising discovered your cultivation and wanted to keep you by his side as an enforcer. Although unwilling, you didn't dare resist someone at the fifth stage of Qi Refining."
"Day 56: You oppressed other vendors for the first time. You felt a brief pang of guilt, but surprisingly, the feeling didn't last long."
"Day 70: You continued exploiting vendors. Your shame faded, your methods grew ruthless, and your Spirit Stone income increased. The only thing that displeased you was that you could only keep ten percent of it—High Rising took the rest."
"Day 86: A vendor obtained a large amount of Spirit Stones. He tried to bribe you with half. Tempted, you demanded sixty percent instead."
"Day 93: You broke through again, reaching the fourth stage of Qi Refinining."