40 – A Powerful Feeling

As one scene after another flashed by, Wang Ping’s heart was deeply moved.

Finally, when it all ended, Wang Ping’s spirit also withdrew, leaving him in a daze. He looked around the wooden cabin, feeling as if in a dream, everything so surreal.

This overlapping of time and life felt so contradictory, like the tale of Zhuang Zhou dreaming of being a butterfly, or a butterfly dreaming of being Zhuang Zhou.

“Life Simulator…” After a long time, Wang Ping finally snapped out of it, murmuring to himself, “Is each simulated life merely characters in a story? Is it a simulated future? Or is each simulation a real, parallel world? The realism is truly unforgettable…”

“I’m really overthinking things, actually associating the mysterious world with parallel universes. Ultimately, the simulated world is too realistic, making it hard for me to distinguish reality from illusion.”

Wang Ping shook his head, smiling bitterly.

This simulated life had impacted him deeply, making it hard for him to forget the various scenes, always feeling like he couldn’t tell the difference between reality and the simulation world.

“The simulated Wang Ping is a miniature version of a future life, hating his own incompetence and weakness.” Wang Ping opened the door, looking up at the starry sky and whispered, “In the end, what I must do remains unchanged… I must grow stronger. That way, I won’t die, nor will I have to helplessly watch old friends wither away.”

Just then, a vast power surged within Wang Ping, elevating his cultivation directly to the first level of the Spirit Origin Realm.

This powerful feeling was something he became infatuated with.

However, Wang Ping also knew very well that his current foundation was quite shaky.

After all, he had relied too much on pills, never leaving them since he started his journey on the path of cultivation.

From today onwards, he would no longer recklessly consume pills. Otherwise, with too unstable a foundation, he would eventually get stuck at a certain stage and find it difficult to advance.

Take Bai Tianhong, for instance. Living in a powerful sect like the Sword Spirit Sect, with his master being the Grand Elder with access to all kinds of resources… Despite this, he remained true to his heart, never taking pills, solely focused on cultivating and practicing his sword skills.

Even so, his progress in cultivation was incredibly fast, capable of breaking through any bottleneck with ease. Nothing could stop him.

This was Bai Tianhong’s solid foundation. It might not be perfect, but it was exceptionally sturdy.

Breaking through bottlenecks for Bai Tianhong might be as natural as water flowing.

Wang Ping had a feeling that this small isolated island was too limited, with weak martial heritage, or perhaps even a severed legacy.

Geniuses from impoverished regions might not be much weaker than those from great sects; they just lacked opportunities.

If Bai Tianhong were in the Eastern Wilderness as Cai Yonglong mentioned, with Bai Tianhong’s aptitude and mindset, he would likely rise with astonishing momentum.

“There are few like Brother Bai in the world…” Wang Ping sighed.

“Heh!”

The next day, as Wang Ping walked through Chi Village, he watched children drinking beast milk, laughing and playing, while Chi Feng and other older kids practiced martial arts, sweating profusely. This sight gradually calmed his mood.

He liked the feeling of having profound cultivation and holding a high position, but also enjoyed this sense of peace.

However, at this moment, he preferred this peaceful feeling, which helped to dissipate his complex emotions and made him feel tranquil.

“Hey, Wang Ping, you shouldn’t keep wandering aimlessly. Sometimes it’s better to practice techniques with me or go hunting.” Seeing Wang Ping approaching, Chi Hu patted his shoulder and, with his characteristic loud voice, said, “Otherwise, no matter how special your physique is, and how fast your cultivation progresses, without a solid foundation of martial practice and combat experience, you’ll definitely run into problems in the future.”

“My combat experience is pretty solid.” Wang Ping said with a smile.

“Since discovering your ability to absorb spirit stones to increase your cultivation, you haven’t come to practice with me, and you call that solid?” Chi Hu scoffed, “I think you’re all show, crumbling with a single blow.”

“Well, shall we have a match?” Wang Ping said with a smile, not taking Chi Hu’s taunts to heart.

He knew very well that the men of Chi Village were straightforward and hearty; Chi Hu didn’t mean to mock him, but wanted to provoke him into practicing more and developing more combat experience.

“Alright.” Chi Hu grinned, revealing his firm, white teeth, and began to rub his hands together eagerly: “Hehe, even though we’re at the same cultivation level, I only need three moves to defeat you.”

“Hehe.” Wang Ping smiled and said: “I don’t believe that. How about we make a bet? Let’s bet on your meat and wine for today.”

“Damn, you’re really ruthless. If I don’t eat meat and drink wine for a day, I’ll go crazy.” Chi Hu’s face twitched.

“Didn’t you say you’d beat me in three moves? Where’s your confidence now?” Wang Ping retorted, looking very eager to start. “You’re not afraid of me, right?”

“Who’d be afraid of you, you skinny beanpole.” Chi Hu glared and rubbed his hands together again: “Since you said that, don’t blame me for hitting you hard. Today, I’m going to show you the gap in our combat experience.”

“Fight! Fight!”

A child cheered.

“Place your bets, place your bets,” an older child yelled.

“I’m betting a piece of meat on Uncle Chi Hu winning.”

“I’m betting two pieces of meat on Uncle Chi Hu winning!”

“I’m betting a bowl of beast milk on Brother Wang Ping winning!”

Chi Feng raised his hand.

“Chi Feng, why are you betting on Brother Wang Ping? Brother Wang Ping has never fought. I feel like he can’t even beat us at the same level,” said a little girl from Chi Village, blinking her lively, pretty eyes as she muttered.

“Yeah, yeah.” The other kids echoed, not believing Wang Ping would win.

“I believe in Brother Wang Ping.” Chi Feng said firmly: “If you look at Uncle Chi Hu, according to Brother Wang Ping’s stories, he looks like a generic background character. But Brother Wang Ping is mysterious; he doesn’t seem simple at all.”

“Ugh.” Wang Ping was speechless.

“You brat, what kind of stories are you telling Chi Feng every day, saying I’m a background character?” Chi Hu’s forehead was covered in black lines as he glared at Wang Ping with his copper-bell-sized eyes.

“…” Wang Ping was speechless.

Chi Feng always clung to him, asking him to tell stories from novels. Now he understood many jokes and could say things like this. Though it was surprising, it wasn’t unexpected.

“Forget it, let’s start. Today, I want to see who really is the background character.”

Chi Hu stepped back a bit, took a stance, and snorted.

All the kids around stopped their martial arts practice and surrounded the two, laughing and watching.

“I’m coming!” Seeing Wang Ping full of openings, Chi Hu thought he could defeat Wang Ping in one move and become the brightest star in the kids’ hearts. He shouted, then charged directly at Wang Ping, throwing a punch.

This punch was powerful and heavy, with strong Postnatal fire-type true energy surrounding it, making it extremely hot.

At the critical moment, Wang Ping calmly sidestepped, dodging the punch.

Then he casually slapped out a palm, sending Chi Hu flying and crashing to the ground, not getting up for a while.

This left Chi Hu dumbfounded.

Earlier, Wang Ping hadn’t moved, and Chi Hu thought Wang Ping was scared stiff, ready to hold back. But unexpectedly, Wang Ping calmly sidestepped and, with a tricky angle, casually slapped Chi Hu away.

If this were a life-and-death battle, Wang Ping’s palm just now would have been enough to take his life.

For a moment, Chi Hu doubted his life. Who was really the elite hunter of the village, and who was the novice that had just started practicing martial arts?