Chapter 352 – Better a Minor Cultivator in the Immortal Realm Than Dream of Being Emperor in the Mortal World!

Su Xing looked at the simulation rewards before him without much deliberation.

The Spirit Domain cultivation results couldn’t be brought out through immersive simulation—that was something Su Xing hadn’t anticipated.

But fortunately, his primary goal this time had been improving his body tempering cultivation.

Great Shaman Body Forging Art, Fourth Layer (Major Accomplishment) already met his expectations.

So Su Xing silently recited:

“I choose to bring out the gold talent Inevitable Epiphany, and Great Shaman Body Forging Art, Fourth Layer, Major Accomplishment!”

【Congratulations on successfully bringing out Great Shaman Body Forging Art, Fourth Layer, Major Accomplishment cultivation. Cost: 600,000 origin energy points. Remaining origin energy: 2,268,407 points…】

【Ding! Detected that you possess the purple lower-tier talent Spontaneous Epiphany. Talent substitution in progress…】

【Congratulations on successfully bringing out gold talent Inevitable Epiphany… Cost: 10 origin energy points. Remaining origin energy: 2,268,397 points…】

As the notification sounds faded, two streams of mysterious energy flowed into Su Xing’s body.

Su Xing’s body tempering cultivation surged dramatically in a short time, with his blood vitality, physical strength, and recovery all greatly enhanced.

After sensing the explosive increase of energy within him, Su Xing narrowed his eyes and murmured:

“The feeling of growing stronger is as wonderful as ever!”

“But… improvements within the fourth layer of the Great Shaman Body Forging Art won’t produce a qualitative transformation after all. Only by breaking through to the fifth layer will my overall strength reach a new level!”

Su Xing thought to himself.

His strongest abilities could no longer be measured by cultivation level alone.

The blessings of various talents, supernatural arts and techniques, Great Dao comprehensions, and even the baptism of the Three Calamities of wind, fire, and thunder—these were the true source of Su Xing’s formidable combat power.

Even if the Great Shaman Body Forging Art advanced to the fourth layer at Perfection, it would only add some self-preservation ability within the Mystic Immortal realm.

Against Golden Immortal powerhouses, he was still far from enough…

“The path of cultivation is long and winding… Mystic Immortal and Golden Immortal powerhouses may struggle to advance a single step in tens of thousands of years…”

“Yet I gain new improvements in strength with nearly every simulation! Though I can’t ascend to heaven in a single step… I should be content with this!”

Su Xing murmured.

Reaching the sky in one leap, prosperity as fleeting as a mirage—none of that was as solid as steady, step-by-step growth built on a firm foundation.

“If I want to arm-wrestle with Golden Immortal powerhouses… I’ll probably need both my body tempering and qi refining cultivation to reach a new level…”

Su Xing wasn’t in a hurry. Strength would grow gradually, and he still had plenty of time.

He had more than enough time now. Those Supreme Unity and Grand Luo Golden Immortals he currently had to look up to—in the future, he might not be unable to catch up!

What Su Xing focused on now was building a solid foundation, ensuring his Dao path could extend as far as possible!

At the True Immortal stage, it was already like treading on thin ice. One careless misstep, an insufficient Dao foundation, and trying to compensate later would be a Herculean task!

Having spent so much effort solidifying his foundation before, Su Xing naturally wouldn’t give up now!

“Where does a cultivator’s foundation come from?”

“From the very first step through the gates of cultivation as a Qi Refinement practitioner—aptitude, lifespan, innate roots…”

“And then to the present—spiritual power, dantian, divine soul, supernatural arts and techniques… even Great Dao comprehension. All of this is what truly measures a cultivator’s strength!”

“Even someone as powerful as Qingyunzi didn’t conquer the Three Thousand Worlds with just One Qi Transforms into Three Purities alone… Among Grand Luo Golden Immortals, who doesn’t have several trump-card supernatural arts?”

“What they compete on is depth of foundation!”

“And look at the Luotian Ancestor—the foremost Spirit Domain master in the Three Thousand Worlds—didn’t he ultimately meet his end with both body and Dao extinguished?”

“Mastering one particular Dao to its extreme can make you a regional hegemon with all directions paying tribute… but if you truly want to suppress all ages and become the supreme being of the myriad worlds, you can’t rely on just one Dao taken to its end!”

In the Three Thousand Worlds, which of those famous powerhouses hadn’t walked their own Dao to the extreme?

The Five Elements Dao, Sword Immortals… or perhaps the Dantian Sea, body tempering, transformation arts?

But even among supreme beings there were disparities, and the difference wasn’t merely the height of one’s Dao, but the breadth of it!

After a pause, Su Xing continued:

“Someday in the future, I too will set foot on that final journey, competing on the same stage as those Supreme Unity and Grand Luo Golden Immortals!”

“And they’ve lived long enough to master tens of thousands of arts?”

“What do I have to compete with them? Surely not the simulator… ahem, of course it’s the depth of my own Dao path!”

Su Xing thought to himself.

If Su Xing only wanted cultivation realm advancement without caring about Dao foundation, that would be far too simple.

Five hundred years per simulation—simulate ten times, a hundred times!

That would be five thousand years, fifty thousand years of cultivation!

Even without any actual growth, he could pile his cultivation up to the Golden Immortal realm or even higher!

But Su Xing’s current advantages in aptitude would shrink the further he went…

What use was slightly higher cultivation if his abilities couldn’t keep up?

He’d just be another face in the crowd among Golden Immortals! How would he compete for the Heaven Ranking or Earth Ranking?

Those who achieved Golden Immortal status were all once-in-a-billion prodigies. In an entire Greater World, it would be remarkable if one appeared every few thousand to ten thousand years.

Which of these people didn’t possess top-tier spiritual roots and divine physiques? Sacred bodies?

Facing the grueling journey of Mystic Immortal and Golden Immortal cultivators, where advancing a single realm could take tens of thousands of years…

Could Su Xing still guarantee rapid cultivation growth in a short time?

This advantage of advancing several minor realms per simulation would perhaps gradually fade away at the Mystic Immortal and Golden Immortal stages.

When that time came, what Su Xing would compete on was foundation alone!

“So what I need to do now is accumulate my foundation while simultaneously raising both my body tempering and qi refining cultivation to the Mystic Immortal realm!”

Su Xing had made his decision. After fully adapting to the explosive surge of physical power within him, he turned his gaze to the simulation panel.

“With my one remaining simulation attempt, it’s time to break through to the fourth layer at Perfection in one push!”

Su Xing didn’t hesitate, silently reciting:

“Begin simulation!”

【Simulation #130 initiated. Current remaining origin energy: 2,268,397 points… Remaining simulation attempts: 0.】

【Simulation begins!】

【Drawing a gold legendary talent costs 1 origin energy point. Draw?】

“Yes!”

Su Xing figured that if he could draw another talent as powerful as Inevitable Epiphany, it would be a huge gain.

【Ding! Congratulations, you have obtained the gold talent Mystic Yin Physique… Probability of drawing a gold talent next time: 80%…】

【Mystic Yin Physique】: Gold talent. One of the rare Hundred Great Divine Physiques of this world. Grants mental clarity and freedom from desires while strengthening the Daoheart, providing higher cultivation speed. Predominantly found in women; males who possess it will lose partial functionality.

“Hm? Mystic Yin Physique…”

Su Xing’s mouth twitched. This talent seemed to be the lesser version of Fairy Ziling’s Mystic Yin Sacred Body, capable of strengthening the Daoheart and increasing cultivation speed.

Though inferior to the Mystic Yin Sacred Body, it was surely no ordinary talent.

But after seeing the side effects of this Mystic Yin Physique, Su Xing decisively abandoned any thought of bringing out this talent.

“Lose partial functionality… uh, what man could possibly accept that?”

Su Xing shook his head without hesitation.

“Oh well. Looks like I won’t need to bring out any talent from this simulation!”

“In that case, the goals are body tempering cultivation and comprehending the Spirit Domain!”

Su Xing had his plan. Since he’d chosen the path of invincibility, he would do his best and cultivate to the strongest!

With the simulator in hand, he had that confidence.

Thinking so, Su Xing turned his gaze to the simulation panel.

【In the spirit field grotto-heaven, you realize you are in a simulation.】

【After making preparations, you leave White Emperor City and head toward Celestial Demon City…】

【The next day, you travel tens of millions of miles across mountains and rivers, arriving safely outside Celestial Demon City.】

【Upon arriving outside Celestial Demon City, you disguise yourself and conceal your aura, changing your identity.】

【You display early True Immortal realm strength, claiming to be a wandering independent cultivator roaming the Azure Origin Domain, seeking to join Celestial Demon City to fight against the foreign races!】

【After verifying that you are not a heretical cultivator, you quickly receive a warm welcome from Celestial Demon City.】

【Afterwards, you become a general of Celestial Demon City, granted special privileges to independently recruit personnel and soldiers, fighting against the foreign races on the front lines…】

【You remain in Celestial Demon City for a full year, familiarizing yourself with the front-line deployments of both Celestial Demon City and the foreign races, killing numerous foreign race deities and harvesting their blood essence and divinity…】

【In the second year, you take temporary leave from Celestial Demon City and travel to the Celestial Secrets Pavilion in White Emperor City to report the matter of Red Moon.】

【The Celestial Secrets Pavilion responds swiftly, and you return to Earth to prepare in advance.】

【In the fifth year, you relocate the human race from Earth to the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm, ensuring their safety.】

【In the sixth year, the Celestial Secrets Pavilion contacts you, asking you to lead two Supreme Unity to find where Red Moon is hidden…】

【After leading the two Supreme Unity Golden Immortals to the location, you return to the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm.】

【In the seventh year, you successfully contact Fairy Ziling, ascend Three Immortals Peak, and complete a transaction with Qingyunzi.】

【In the tenth year, you arrive at the Third Heaven of the Nine Heavens Domain and begin collecting treasures from the Secret Realm.】

In the Real World, Su Xing nodded slightly as he read this.

“Heading to Celestial Demon City and establishing a third disguise identity—that’s exactly my next plan!”

“When you’re in the cultivation world, disguise identities… the more the better, naturally!”

Su Xing blinked. His previous alter egos, Su Ye and Ye Tian, had displayed Earthly Immortal realm and Celestial Immortal realm strength respectively.

Their purpose was to facilitate his own trades and acquire more origin energy.

So their strength didn’t need to be too high—keeping a low profile was fine.

But now, the third alter ego Su Xing was creating would display True Immortal realm cultivation, and this was only the initial plan!

As Su Xing’s strength grew, this alter ego would display even higher cultivation and power!

Because Su Xing’s purpose in going to Celestial Demon City was to build his own faction!

“If I want to fight against the foreign races… relying on my strength alone is simply too difficult!”

“The best approach is naturally to establish my own faction… unite with other factions and form an alliance against the foreign races!”

“And the sooner this is done, the better! The faster I start, the better!”

Su Xing had previously established the Heavenly Abyss Army in a simulation, helping the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm fight against the foreign races, and the results had been quite good.

And so, in reality, Su Xing also intended to follow this well-worn path!

For one, establishing the Heavenly Abyss Army would bolster his own strength and help him fight the foreign races.

Secondly, after slaying foreign races, their divinity, blood essence, and other materials were all excellent energy sources that could serve as one of Su Xing’s energy supplies…

“Then the force I establish in the future shall be called the Heavenly Abyss Army!”

In Su Xing’s vision, the Heavenly Abyss Army would not prioritize quantity—only quality!

He would recruit prodigies from across the Three Thousand Worlds, or cultivators skilled in combat and warfare!

As for cultivation level…

There was no need to set the bar too high. Body Integration stage and above would be useful to Su Xing!

“To rapidly establish an army, the most important thing is naturally offering sufficient benefits!”

“What matters most to cultivators is undoubtedly cultivation resources!”

“Spirit liquid—I’ll never lack for that! As long as I have enough Spirit-Gathering Flowers, I can endlessly produce spirit liquid from the Luotian Mirror!”

“Beyond that… the flesh of foreign races can also be refined into Rebirth Pills, which would be an absolutely irresistible temptation for body-tempering cultivators!”

The corners of Su Xing’s mouth curled upward slightly.

As long as he built his reputation, then with spirit liquid in his left hand and Rebirth Pills in his right, these two rewards combined would ensure he had no trouble assembling the Heavenly Abyss Army!

“However, building the Heavenly Abyss Army isn’t urgent for now… Before that, it would be best if my body-tempering cultivation could advance to the fifth layer!”

Su Xing thought this to himself, his gaze turning toward the simulation panel.

【In your fifteenth year, after spending five years thoroughly exploring the Secret Realms from your memories, you headed to the Fourth Heaven!】

【With your growing strength, you no longer needed to be as cautious and careful in the Fourth Heaven as before. You continued exploring Secret Realms, collecting various treasures related to Dao comprehension.】

【While exploring Secret Realms and collecting treasures, you did not abandon your cultivation either.】

【Aside from the daily mandatory body-tempering training, you began studying the Spirit Domain.】

【Your embryonic Spirit Domain had an excellent foundation, so subsequent comprehension came relatively easily. After each cultivation session, you made considerable progress…】

【In the blink of an eye, sixty years passed.】

【In your seventy-seventh year, having found enough Dao essence treasures to ensure your future comprehension, you found a Secret Realm in the Fourth Heaven and began studying the Great Dao.】

In the Real World, Su Xing saw this and murmured:

“Activating immersive simulation, duration sixty-three years…”

【Ding, you have successfully activated immersive simulation. Energy consumed: 22,995 points. Remaining energy: 2,245,401 points…】

As the notification faded, Su Xing’s consciousness entered the simulated world.

Appearing in the familiar Secret Realm, Su Xing wasted no time and began preparing to comprehend the Great Dao.

“Currently, among the Great Daos I’ve mastered, only the spatial Dao has entered the fourth realm… But aside from the spatial Dao, there are still many other Great Daos that need to be brought up to par…”

“Among them, Cause and Effect, Destiny, Sword Dao, and Five Elements Dao are the most important, so they need to be improved as quickly as possible!”

After a moment of deliberation, Su Xing realized that he currently faced no great danger in reality. What he urgently needed was not an increase in combat power, but personal safety!

That was precisely why Su Xing had prioritized improving his escape speed before!

And besides escape speed, there were two other Great Daos that could make Su Xing even safer!

“The Dao of Cause and Effect and the Dao of Destiny… being only at the second realm is still a bit too low!”

“Then this time, let me start by studying the Dao of Cause and Effect and Destiny!”

Su Xing did not hesitate. He activated his Inevitable Epiphany talent, then began cultivating the Lesser Celestial Cycle Star Observation Method.

Su Xing’s consciousness gradually entered the cosmos. Countless stars surrounded him, arranged in some mysterious combination, as if concealing the ultimate truths of the Great Dao within.

Su Xing continuously drew insights regarding the Dao of Cause and Effect and Destiny from these countless stars.

In the blink of an eye, nine days passed.

Nine days later, Su Xing slowly opened his eyes, Dao essence related to the Dao of Cause and Effect and Destiny still swirling before him…

“Nine days, equivalent to eighteen hundred years of bitter cultivation… The Lesser Celestial Cycle Star Observation Method is still some distance from Minor Mastery, though it’s not far off!”

“If I can reach Minor Mastery… advancing the Dao of Cause and Effect and Destiny to the third realm won’t be a problem!”

Su Xing’s eyes held an expression of anticipation, and he began drinking Dao-Enlightenment Tea.

After downing a cup of Dao-Enlightenment Tea, Su Xing formally began his contemplation…

In the blink of an eye, eighteen years passed.

When Su Xing emerged from his contemplative state once more, his eyes were filled with delight.

“Finally, the Dao of Cause and Effect and Destiny has successfully entered the third realm!”

Su Xing’s heart stirred. He raised a finger toward the sky, and the previously clear skies of the Secret Realm instantly began to rain. What started as a gentle drizzle gradually intensified into a torrential downpour!

Su Xing pointed again, and brilliant sunlight immediately blazed across the sky—yet in the time it took to draw a breath, heavy snowflakes began to fall…

“Using the power of immortals to reverse cause and effect, to interfere with reality… Summoning wind and rain, snow in midsummer, scorching heat in midwinter—none of it is beyond reach!”

“The power of cause and effect can alter the causality of nature and living beings… It can even reverse life and death. Truly marvelous!”

Su Xing smacked his lips, finally understanding why the power of cause and effect ranked among the top of the three thousand great Daos. This wondrous power—where words became law—was truly mesmerizing…

“But how to apply the power of cause and effect in combat still requires further refinement!”

Su Xing fell into thought. Though the power of cause and effect was marvelous, its combat attributes didn’t seem particularly strong. It would require flexible application to truly enhance his fighting capability.

“And the power of Destiny! This is an existence no weaker than the power of cause and effect!”

Su Xing vaguely discovered that the power of Destiny possessed a heaven-defying function.

Altering a person’s destiny!

Initially, when Su Xing’s comprehension of the Dao of Destiny was insufficient, he could only crudely alter the destinies of ordinary people.

Turning a beggar into an emperor wasn’t particularly difficult…

But now, Su Xing could even alter the destinies of cultivators!

“In fact, it seems I can now directly bestow spiritual roots upon ordinary people! Allowing them to instantly become cultivators!”

“True Spirit Roots and Heavenly Spirit Roots might be difficult to bestow… but for ordinary spiritual roots, by paying a certain price, it might be achievable!”

At this thought, excitement flashed through Su Xing’s eyes.

Bestowing spiritual roots upon ordinary people—what incredible power that was!

Changing someone’s destiny, condensing a spiritual root for them—this was essentially gifting them a path to immortality, a favor of the highest magnitude!

The divide between immortal and mortal was not so easily crossed!

Even the lowliest cultivator in the cultivation world held a status higher than a mortal emperor!

This was the difference between immortal and mortal!

As the poem went: Better a lowly cultivator in the Immortal Realm than dreaming of mortal thrones!

“However, bestowing spiritual roots upon ordinary people doesn’t seem to be that simple either…”

“Not only does it require paying a price, but it’s best to have some kind of medium! If I could find naturally occurring Pseudo Spirit Roots between heaven and earth, I could likely reduce the cost considerably…”

So Su Xing thought.

“The Dao of Cause and Effect and Destiny has entered the third realm… but it’s still not enough!”

“What I’m about to face is Red Moon! An existence that once slew a Grand Luo Golden Immortal!”

“Once my plans on Earth unfold, I’ll surely be treading on thin ice… So I must improve these two Great Daos as much as possible!”

Su Xing did not hesitate and continued his contemplation of the Great Dao of Cause and Effect and Destiny…

In the blink of an eye, several decades passed, and the immersive simulation ended.

…

In the Real World, Su Xing gradually recovered his memories and nodded slightly:

“The remaining thirty-six years of Dao-Enlightenment Tea insights were all devoted to comprehending the fourth realm of the Dao of Cause and Effect and Destiny!”

“But… there’s still quite a gap!”

Su Xing estimated that comprehending the Dao of Cause and Effect and Destiny was more difficult than the spatial Dao.

Moreover, Dao essence treasures containing the Dao of Cause and Effect and Destiny were extremely rare. Su Xing had only found a handful in total, making it very difficult to consistently use Dao essence treasures to assist his cultivation.

Fortunately, the Lesser Celestial Cycle Star Observation Method that Su Xing possessed was truly exceptional. As long as Su Xing progressed steadily and successfully cultivated this method to Major Mastery, reaching the fourth realm of the Dao of Cause and Effect and Destiny wouldn’t be difficult!

“Since the insights from this simulation have concluded… then next, I’ll focus entirely on cultivating the Great Shaman Body Forging Art and the Spirit Domain!”

Su Xing’s gaze turned to the simulation panel.

【In your one hundred and fortieth year, after successfully comprehending the Great Dao in the Secret Realm, you began your daily cultivation routine.】

【Each day, aside from one shichen of cultivating the Zhengyi Breath Absorption Art, you devoted most of your time to body-tempering cultivation.】

【Yet comprehending the Spirit Domain was not as easy as you had imagined!】

【What you sought was a Spirit Domain that fused the Dao of Cause and Effect and Destiny, speed, Five Elements, lightning, space, Sword Dao, and the Great Dao of Killing!】

【But among these, the Five Elements Dao and the Great Dao of Killing had not been integrated with your Spirit Domain from the very beginning. Trying to supplement and perfectly fuse them into your Spirit Domain was extremely difficult.】

【The hardest part was ensuring the balance of all these Great Daos.】

【This alone took you one hundred and sixty years!】

【In your three hundredth year, after over one hundred and sixty years of effort, you successfully fused the Great Dao of Killing into your Spirit Domain…】

【The Dao of Killing was formless and supplementary in nature. Though it was filled with slaughter, it had no conflicts with the other Great Daos, making the fusion relatively smooth.】

【But the truly difficult part was the complete integration of the Five Elements Dao into the Spirit Domain…】

【The Five Elements Dao was self-balancing. Introducing even the slightest external factor could easily disrupt its cycle of endless generation…】

【Fortunately, you still had one trump card remaining… the Dao-Hearing Pill!】

【You had previously refined nine Dao-Hearing Pills and used only three, leaving six unused.】

【Now was the time to use them!】

【And so, you consumed the first Dao-Hearing Pill. Leveraging the tremendous boost in comprehension, you began fully incorporating the Five Elements Dao into your Spirit Domain…】

【After one month of contemplation, you gained considerable insights and began making attempts.】

【From then on, every ten years, you consumed one Dao-Hearing Pill and continued cultivating your Spirit Domain, making remarkable progress.】

【Thus, by the time all six Dao-Hearing Pills were exhausted, sixty years had already passed…】

【In your three hundred and sixtieth year, you successfully incorporated both the Five Elements and the Dao of Cause and Effect and Destiny into your Spirit Domain…】

【But you also sensed that as more and more Great Daos were incorporated, it became increasingly difficult to absorb additional ones.】

【And so, you temporarily abandoned the idea of absorbing other Great Daos and instead focused wholeheartedly on cultivating the grade of your Spirit Domain.】

【Day after day of cultivation caused your Spirit Domain’s range to steadily expand.】

【In the blink of an eye, your four hundredth year arrived.】

【That year, your Spirit Domain’s range grew to three hundred zhang (999 m)…】