Chapter 69 – The Mysterious Protector Shadow, Traitor Exposed?

Su Xing was stunned for a moment when he saw this. Why would Protector Shadow suddenly seek him out? This didn’t seem to have happened in any of the previous simulations.

“Is it because I did something that altered the trajectory of the future?”

Su Xing was utterly confused, but continued the simulation.

【At the same time, Protector Shadow directly revealed some of your information. She stated plainly that you had some kind of connection with the Tarot Society, because a year or two ago, the Tarot Society had also produced a batch of Healing Pills.】

【However, she also indicated that she had no interest in your true identity. She only wanted you to help her refine a batch of Essence Nurturing Pills and keep it a secret.】

【You asked Protector Shadow how many Essence Nurturing Pills she needed, and she said she required five thousand.】

【You were shocked. Five thousand Essence Nurturing Pills was no small number. Protector Shadow definitely had some great secret behind her to need so many Essence Nurturing Pills.】

【To be safe, you claimed that you could only refine so many Essence Nurturing Pills each month and had no time to produce more.】

【Protector Shadow saw through your childish lie. She then stated that your compensation would be generous—each month she would provide you with double the materials, and in return you would refine an extra batch of Essence Nurturing Pills to hand over to her.】

【You became even more certain that Protector Shadow was hiding a secret. So you seized the opportunity to make a demand: in addition to the previous materials, you also wanted her to provide you with a batch of Yellow Immortal Essence each month.】

【Protector Shadow agreed to your terms and then departed.】

【In the third year, you set aside one week each month for pill refinement. In addition to refining a sufficient quantity of Essence Nurturing Pills, you began refining Organ Tempering Pills and stockpiling them in preparation for the future.】

【In your spare time outside of pill refinement, you continued to diligently improve your cultivation every day. You re-cultivated back to Golden Core stage, Grand Perfection.】

【In the fourth year, you continued working hard to inscribe the seventh core marking. At the same time, you completed Protector Shadow’s request for five thousand Essence Nurturing Pills. However, she didn’t stop there—instead, she demanded that over the next several years, you provide her with ten thousand Essence Nurturing Pills.】

【You agreed to Protector Shadow’s request, because the more she demanded, the more materials you received, which meant you could accumulate even more pills.】

【In the fifth year, you successfully inscribed the seventh core marking, and your cultivation dropped to Golden Core stage ninth layer.】

【In the sixth year, you re-cultivated back to Golden Core stage, Grand Perfection.】

【In the seventh year, you began working on inscribing the eighth core marking. You also discovered that starting from the seventh core marking, the difficulty of inscription had increased by more than just a level. Fortunately, you possessed True Spirit Root talent, so this degree of difficulty was not beyond you.】

【In the eighth year, you continued inscribing core markings while completing the task Protector Shadow had given you of refining an additional ten thousand Essence Nurturing Pills.】

【You had expected Protector Shadow to ask you to continue refining the next batch of pills, but she made no such request. She seemed preoccupied with something, appearing even more taciturn than before, as though some burden had been lifted from her shoulders.】

【You mustered the courage to ask Protector Shadow why she needed those pills. Protector Shadow gave you a long, deep look and told you not to meddle in affairs that weren’t your concern—these were things you had no business knowing. Otherwise, she would make you disappear from this world.】

Su Xing furrowed his brow tightly when he saw this.

“As expected, Protector Shadow’s behavior in this simulation is completely different from before… but why did this change occur?”

Su Xing thought carefully for a moment and realized that the biggest change he had made in this simulation was expanding the Tarot Society’s influence tenfold compared to before!

And in order to expand the Tarot Society’s influence, he had refined and sold a massive quantity of pills—among which were Healing Pills!

It was precisely because of this that Protector Shadow had vaguely guessed his connection to the Tarot Society. Of course, Protector Shadow probably didn’t know that he was actually Su Xing.

“Wait… perhaps she’s already figured it out?” Su Xing suddenly recalled that he had joined the Advent Cult together with Wang Qingxuan, and combined with his connection to the Tarot Society, others might not be able to identify him—but Protector Shadow might have already pieced it all together.

Su Xing’s brow furrowed slightly as he murmured:

“Good thing my identity was only discovered in the simulation—it’s not a big deal… But did Protector Shadow do all of this precisely because she learned who I really am?”

But if she knew his identity, why would she make choices different from the previous simulations?

Su Xing followed this line of reasoning further.

“Perhaps it’s because she didn’t fully trust me before. Once she learned my identity, certain reservations she had simply disappeared?”

Su Xing shook his head slightly, deciding to slowly uncover the secrets surrounding Protector Shadow in future simulations.

【In the ninth year, you successfully inscribed the eighth core marking, and your cultivation dropped to Golden Core stage ninth layer.】

【In the tenth year, you trained diligently for a full year, and your cultivation returned to Golden Core stage, Grand Perfection.】

【In the eleventh year, you began working on the final core marking. The difficulty of inscribing the ninth core marking exceeded your imagination, but you had ample time to complete it.】

【In the twelfth year, you still had not successfully inscribed the ninth core marking. By your estimate, you would need at least two to three more years to complete it.】

【During these years, Protector Shadow did not ask you to refine any additional pills. She seemed to have withdrawn into silence, growing increasingly obsessed with her fusion with the shadow beast. You even noticed that her right hand had completely turned into the black color of the shadow beast.】

【That same year, in order to extend the duration of the simulation, you used certain means to find Lu Yuanwu.】

【You handed over to him all thirty thousand Organ Tempering Pills you had accumulated over the years, and instructed him to publicly announce that they had been produced by alchemists within the Great Xia Military.】

【You silently prayed that humanity could survive longer in this simulation, which would give you more time to continue simulating.】

【But at the same time, you also prepared a sufficient supply of Essence Nurturing Pills and Spirit Nurturing Pills, ready to flee at any moment. After all, in this simulation you had exposed quite a bit in front of Protector Shadow—she might have already guessed that the Organ Tempering Pills were refined by you. If she reported it to the Advent Cult, your betrayal would be impossible to hide.】

【Fortunately, nothing happened that year.】

【In the thirteenth year, you remained absorbed in inscribing the ninth core marking. The inscription of the ninth core marking required an enormous expenditure of mental energy. If you hadn’t consumed a considerable number of Spirit Nurturing Pills beforehand, boosting your spiritual power well above that of cultivators at the same level, inscription would have been virtually impossible.】

【Fortunately, your inscription progress had already passed the halfway mark. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, you would be able to complete the ninth core marking within this simulation.】

【Just as you were engrossed in inscribing the core marking, one day, the upper echelons of the Advent Cult arrived at your dwelling.】

【The number of high-ranking Advent Cult members mobilized this time was enormous—a full four Protectors and over ten Elders, among them Protector Shadow and Grand Protector Zong.】

【A savage grin spread across Grand Protector Zong’s face. He produced an Organ Tempering Pill from his storage artifact and declared that this Organ Tempering Pill had been refined by you—and that you were the traitor who had betrayed the Advent Cult!】