Chapter 234 – A New Round of Simulation, Su Xing’s Goals! (5k)

January 13th, New Era 2025. Su Xing opened a new round of simulation right on schedule.

For this simulation, Su Xing’s objectives were clear.

First, find a way to obtain more energy-containing materials.

Second, explore the Luotian Assembly again to see if he could uncover new clues.

Third, reach the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm and find a way to gather more intelligence about it, searching for cultivation resources useful to himself.

Su Xing jotted his plans down in a small notebook, then murmured:

“Begin simulation!”

【Ding! This simulation consumes 7,000 energy points. Remaining energy: 700,589,000 points. Remaining simulation attempts: none.】

【Simulation begins!】

【Drawing a purple talent costs 100,000 energy points. Drawing a gold legendary talent costs 1,000,000 energy points. Would you like to draw?】

Su Xing didn’t hesitate and silently recited:

“Draw a gold quality talent!”

【Ding! Congratulations, you have obtained the purple talent Hua Tuo Reborn. Probability of drawing a gold quality talent next time: 20%…】

【Hua Tuo Reborn】: Purple talent. You have a knack for treating injuries — even the most difficult external wounds can be resolved in your hands. The effectiveness of healing-type pills you refine is increased by 50%. (PS: What? Immortals can’t just cure people by blowing a puff of immortal qi on them?)

Su Xing looked at the newly drawn purple quality talent without the slightest surprise.

With a ten percent probability, given the simulator’s notoriously stingy luck with draws, it would be a miracle if he actually hit gold.

“But… this seems to be a divine physician-type talent?”

Su Xing nodded slightly. Strictly speaking, the talent’s effect was genuinely good, especially the enhancement to Healing Pills.

But for Su Xing at present, its usefulness was still somewhat limited.

“Let’s run the simulation first and talk later…”

Su Xing could hardly wait. His gaze turned to the simulation panel.

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

【You take out the pill furnace and begin refining pills.】

【You spend one day refining several batches of Essence Nurturing Pills and Organ Tempering Pills.】

【You inquire about Lu Yuanwu’s whereabouts in advance, then disguise yourself and conceal your aura before finding Lu Yuanwu.】

【Lu Yuanwu does not recognize you, and thus regards you with some hostility.】

【Without any preamble, you directly abduct Lu Yuanwu.】

【Despite being a Martial Sovereign, Lu Yuanwu is as helpless as a baby chick in your hands, unable to resist at all. Lu Yuanwu is utterly shocked by your strength.】

【You tie Lu Yuanwu up in a deserted mountain. Though somewhat alarmed, Lu Yuanwu still asks who you are and why you’ve kidnapped him.】

【He already suspects you are from the Advent Cult, but is unclear about your purpose.】

【You don’t answer. Instead, you produce a bottle of Essence Nurturing Pills and a bottle of Organ Tempering Pills.】

【You hand the two bottles of pills to Lu Yuanwu and tell him you need someone to test the effects of these two pills, and that Xia’s military must not be informed.】

【Lu Yuanwu accepts the pills with a puzzled expression.】

【You offer no further explanation, only saying that you have many such pills in your possession, and if Lu Yuanwu is interested in cooperating, he should meet you at this same location one month from now.】

【With that said, you leave the mountain.】

【After leaving the mountain, you travel in disguise with your aura concealed, then restore your original appearance before entering the Luotian Assembly instance.】

In the Real World, Su Xing saw this and silently recited:

“Activate immersive simulation function, duration: 24 hours!”

【You have successfully activated immersive… Remaining energy: 702,490,000 points.】

As the simulator’s notification faded, Su Xing immediately entered the Luotian Assembly instance.

“Good disciple, go to the rear mountain and invite your Senior Brother Shennong over…”

Before Su Xing stood an elder with a youthful face and crane-white hair, speaking with a warm smile.

This was the Supreme Elder of the Luotian Sect — Luo Song.

A Loose Immortal who had survived the Thunder Tribulation! His cultivation was unfathomably deep.

Ever since breaking through to the Body Integration stage, Su Xing’s status within the Luotian Sect had risen to that of a second-rank Immortal Seed.

In Su Xing’s previous few immersive simulations, this Supreme Elder had already been Su Xing’s master.

But aside from having deeper cultivation, Su Xing hadn’t noticed any other distinction.

To Su Xing, whether it was Niu Rilie, the Luotian Sect Master, or Luo Song standing before him — they all seemed like mere quest-giving NPCs.

“As you command, Master!”

Su Xing replied, then went to the rear mountain to fetch Shennong Youtian, skillfully running through the quest sequence.

After completing all of this, Su Xing didn’t rush to the Scripture Pavilion. Instead, he began exploring within the Luotian Sect.

Su Xing flew on his sword a thousand meters in the air, surveying the ground below.

“The Luotian Sect’s sphere of influence is simply enormous… Hundreds of thousands of li in every direction all seem to fall under the Luotian Sect’s jurisdiction.”

After a pause, Su Xing murmured.

“This realm is called the Luotian Realm. Countless cultivation sects large and small exist within it, all acknowledging the Luotian Sect as their leader…”

“The Luotian Sect’s mountain gate alone spans the breadth of an entire city!”

“And besides the rear mountain, the sect’s main hall, the artifact-forging chambers, the pill-refining chambers, and the Scripture Pavilion… there are also the residences of various disciples, the seclusion chambers of various Elders, and the grotto-heaven blessed lands where the sect’s core figures reside…”

“If I search through them one by one, who knows how long that would take…”

Su Xing let out a sigh.

From the intelligence he’d gathered previously, Blood Three and Blood Nine almost certainly had some enormous secret connected to the Luotian Sect.

Su Xing speculated it might be a supreme treasure of some kind.

So Su Xing planned to search within the Luotian Sect’s grounds to see if he could find it.

Before long, half a day had passed. Su Xing’s divine sense had swept through nearly every corner of the Luotian Sect.

Apart from certain seclusion chambers of powerful cultivators and certain forbidden zones that he couldn’t search.

Yet even so, Su Xing still hadn’t found the slightest trace of a great hidden treasure.

“Sigh, this search is no different from looking for a needle in the ocean…”

Su Xing sighed lightly, preparing to use the remaining time to visit the Scripture Pavilion and continue studying the Dao of Puppetry with Ghost Granny.

…

“Little one, would you be willing to help me with something? Next year at this time…”

Ghost Granny began with the same familiar speech as always.

But Su Xing had a flash of inspiration and asked:

“Senior, what exactly is the favor? Could you give me a hint in advance?”

Ghost Granny smiled at his question and said: “Your strength is still too low right now. We can only wait until next year…”

Hearing Ghost Granny’s words, Su Xing’s heart suddenly trembled as a thought surged wildly through his mind.

“Could it be that the secret connected to the Luotian Sect lies with this Ghost Granny!?”

“And the reason I can’t access it yet… is because my strength is too low!”

Su Xing felt as though he’d grasped something.

For the remainder of his time, Su Xing continued studying the Dao of Puppetry with Ghost Granny as usual.

Soon, the immersive simulation time expired.

Su Xing returned to the Real World.

“What exactly is the Luotian Sect’s secret?”

“Even at the Body Integration stage, I can’t access it… For now, the only option is to raise my cultivation further before anything else…”

With this thought, Su Xing turned his gaze to the simulation panel.

【After leaving the Luotian Sect instance, you return to the grotto-heaven blessed land and continue refining pills.】

【One month later, you arrive at the mountain where you previously met Lu Yuanwu.】

【You see Lu Yuanwu, who has been waiting for some time. You extend your divine sense and confirm that apart from Lu Yuanwu, no one else is secretly monitoring the area.】

【You silently commend Lu Yuanwu for his forthrightness.】

【You reveal yourself and meet with Lu Yuanwu.】

【The moment Lu Yuanwu sees you, his face flushes red with excitement, calling you ‘Senior’ with every breath.】

【You knew that Lu Yuanwu must have discovered the effects of these pills, which was why he was being so respectful.】

【Sure enough, Lu Yuanwu stated that on the very day he received the pills, he had tested their effects and discovered they were tremendously beneficial for the strength growth of Master-stage Class Users.】

【He declared that these pills were a national treasure for Great Xia’s military, and indeed for the entire human race!】

【At the same time, Lu Yuanwu cautiously inquired about your needs and whether you had any intention of trading.】

【Upon hearing Lu Yuanwu’s words, the corner of your mouth curled slightly upward. Lu Yuanwu’s reaction was entirely within your expectations.】

【After a moment of contemplation, you proposed a suitable price: 10 Essence Nurturing Pills or Organ Tempering Pills in exchange for 1 ton of Third Rank exotic metal.】

【Upon hearing this price, Lu Yuanwu raised an eyebrow.】

【Third Rank exotic metal was certainly precious, but Great Xia’s military had been mining dungeon mineral zones for who knows how many millennia. The precious exotic metals that were rare on the open market had long since piled up like mountains in the military’s treasury.】

【Third Rank exotic metal could provide Grandmaster-stage, or even Heavenly King-stage Class Users with precious weapons, greatly boosting their combat power.】

【But Essence Nurturing Pills and Organ Tempering Pills could directly produce Grandmaster-stage powerhouses…】

【On average, ten Essence Nurturing Pills or Organ Tempering Pills could, at minimum, give rise to one Grandmaster-stage powerhouse. Whose value was greater went without saying!】

【It was essentially trading one ton of Third Rank exotic metal for one Heavenly King-stage powerhouse—who wouldn’t be willing?】

【After thinking this through, Lu Yuanwu decisively agreed, and even subtly asked whether these pills had any side effects, wondering why the price was so low.】

【You didn’t answer, merely asking Lu Yuanwu how much exotic metal he could prepare within one week.】

【After some deliberation, Lu Yuanwu said that if this matter were reported to Great Xia’s military and the full force of the military was mobilized, the supply would be essentially unlimited… But if relying on his power alone, the amount of Third Rank exotic metal he could mobilize in the short term was only a few thousand tons.】

【You shook your head slightly, telling Lu Yuanwu that this matter must be kept quiet for now, because there were human traitors within Great Xia’s military.】

【Lu Yuanwu was startled upon hearing this and hurriedly asked if you had any information about the traitors.】

【You shook your head slightly, saying that you didn’t know for now, but would later share all the traitors’ information with him.】

【Lu Yuanwu wasn’t disappointed upon hearing this. In truth, it wasn’t just him—many military generals were aware of the traitors’ existence and had been secretly searching for the moles all along.】

【It was just that these military traitors were too difficult to identify. Some had been lying dormant for decades, and without a critical moment to reveal them, they were virtually impossible to detect.】

【Lu Yuanwu finally asked a crucial question: “Senior, may I ask how many of these pills you can provide?”】

【Upon hearing this, Su Xing slowly uttered a number: fifty thousand!】

【Lu Yuanwu’s body trembled with shock upon hearing this figure, and then wild joy spread across his face.】

【This was a full fifty thousand pills! Enough to produce at least five thousand—or possibly even more—Grandmaster-stage Class Users within a single year!】

【And this would be enough to increase the number of Grandmaster-stage Class Users in Great Xia’s military by over thirty percent! For the human race’s overall strength, it would represent a qualitative leap!】

【Lu Yuanwu asked when you could conduct the trade. After some thought, you told him that going forward, trades would happen once per month, at this same location, and that Lu Yuanwu must come alone each time.】

【Lu Yuanwu immediately agreed. He understood that you were doing this to avoid the eyes and ears of those traitorous spies.】

【You discussed the trade details with him further, then rode the wind and departed without a moment’s hesitation…】

【After a stretch of rapid travel, once you were certain no one was following you, you returned to the spirit field grotto-heaven.】

【At this point, you began tinkering with your puppets.】

【Unfortunately, aside from Big One, your other puppets were not yet capable of refining difficult pills like Essence Nurturing Pills and Organ Tempering Pills.】

【Big One had been a Nascent Soul stage alchemist in his previous life, so refining Essence Nurturing Pills and Organ Tempering Pills was naturally no challenge for him.】

【However, you also discovered that with Big One’s alchemy proficiency, he could refine at most around three hundred Essence Nurturing Pills per week—a quantity that was still far too small! Moreover, the quality of his pills was far inferior to yours.】

【Over the following half month, you remained in the spirit field grotto-heaven, continuing to refine pills.】

【It wasn’t until half a month later that you went to meet Luo Shuying as promised, and under Luo Shuying’s guidance, joined the Advent Cult.】

In the real world, Su Xing nodded slightly at what he saw.

“It really is time to start trading with Great Xia’s military… From what I can see so far, Lu Yuanwu at least is trustworthy!”

“And as my strength continues to grow, there are virtually no existences left on Earth that can threaten me…”

Having stepped into the Body Integration stage and comprehended the Heaven Sword, Su Xing’s current actual combat power was roughly equivalent to a late-stage Emperor.

In all of the human race, those who could face Su Xing in battle could probably be counted as just that one elderly Peak Emperor at Demon-Sealing Pass.

But that one could never leave Demon-Sealing Pass.

And among the Advent Cult on Earth, the only one who could be considered Su Xing’s match was Old Dog Dragon.

Furthermore, with Su Xing’s rapid growth in strength, these two would soon be left far behind.

Therefore, the only thing Su Xing needed to watch out for were enemies from beyond Earth.

That crimson moon on the Slaughter Battlefield… and the Cosmic Advent Church across the Three Thousand Worlds!

“Although that crimson moon hasn’t been revived yet, it is after all a deity. I still don’t know what means it has at its disposal… So to be safe, I still can’t be too brazen.”

“And then there’s Old Dog Dragon, who can contact the blood-ranked powerhouses in the Three Thousand Worlds at any time. I need to be extremely careful!”

After a pause, Su Xing continued:

“But if I simply trade with trustworthy people within the military, gradually releasing some inconspicuous items in exchange for massive amounts of simulation energy to further increase my strength—that’s the true path to victory!”

“Like boiling a frog in warm water… Once I’ve accumulated enough strength and energy… even if I’m eventually discovered, I’ll just crush them!”

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

His plan could be summarized in a single phrase: build high walls, stockpile vast energy, and bide your time before claiming power…

“However, there are still the spies and moles that the Advent Cult has planted within Great Xia’s military. They really are a hidden danger, and it’s time to clean them out…”

Su Xing murmured to himself.

“As for the list of these moles… I’ve already become a faction leader within the Advent Cult. How hard could it be to get my hands on one little list?”

The above were the risks of Su Xing’s trade with the military.

But if the trade were further expanded, the benefits to Su Xing would be enormous!

Ten Essence Nurturing Pills exchanged for 1 ton of Third Rank exotic metal, worth 2 million simulation energy!

Ten thousand pills would mean 1,000 tons of Third Rank exotic metal, worth 2 billion energy!

Su Xing only needed to produce one hundred thousand Essence Nurturing Pills, and that would be 20 billion energy—more than enough simulation energy to cultivate all the way to the Mahayana stage!

“But the problem is, refining one hundred thousand Essence Nurturing Pills would take me over a year… And I don’t have that many spirit herbs at the moment either…”

Su Xing furrowed his brow slightly. Relying solely on his own refining was clearly impractical—too much of a waste of time.

“But what if… I spend one simulation attempt to bring out Essence Nurturing Pills and Organ Tempering Pills from the simulation?”

Su Xing couldn’t help but feel pleased with himself.

The simulator’s pricing for Essence Nurturing Pills—each one definitely wouldn’t cost anything as exorbitant as two hundred thousand energy.

Su Xing estimated that each pill was probably worth only around ten thousand energy or so.

And Su Xing could bring out tens of thousands of Essence Nurturing Pills in one go, then resell them to Lu Yuanwu for exotic metals, profiting handsomely from the price difference!

“With my current strength, as long as I’m careful… I can complete this kind of trade with absolutely zero risk!”

“This is what you call low risk, high reward!”

With this thought, Su Xing’s gaze turned to the simulation panel.

This simulation, he was ready to root out the spies the Advent Cult had planted within Great Xia’s military!

【After joining the Advent Cult, you quickly secured the position of Protector within the cult through your exceptional strength.】

【Over the following year, your status within the Advent Cult gradually rose, attracting a large following of devoted followers.】

【At the same time, with Luo Shuying’s assistance, you refined over one hundred thousand pills in the span of a year.】

【In the second year, you set out for the Luotian Assembly dungeon.】

In the real world, Su Xing silently said:

“Activate immersive…”

【You have successfully activated immersive simulation… Remaining energy: 700,090,000 points.】

…

The immersive simulation ended quickly. In this simulation, Su Xing once again studied the Dao of Puppetry under Ghost Granny, as he always did.

“Not bad… Every session of Ghost Granny’s instruction deepens my understanding of the Dao of Puppetry considerably. Combined with the Great Wisdom talent bonus, a single session of her teaching is equivalent to months of independent study of the Dao of Puppetry…”

Su Xing nodded with satisfaction, his gaze turning to the simulation panel.

【After leaving the Luotian Assembly dungeon, you returned to the Advent Cult.】

【You continued refining pills as before. Over the course of another year, you refined over one hundred thousand more pills.】

【At the same time, the herb seeds you had previously planted gradually matured into fully grown herbs, and you used this batch of spirit herbs to refine several tens of thousands more pills.】

【At this point, the total number of pills in your possession exceeded two hundred and thirty thousand!】

【In the third year, you disguised your appearance, concealed your aura, and shielded your fate from divination, then went to meet Lu Yuanwu.】

【You handed over one hundred and eighty thousand of the pills to Lu Yuanwu, keeping the remaining fifty thousand Essence Nurturing Pills and Organ Tempering Pills for yourself.】

【In the fourth year, you began making time to improve your cultivation and devoted yourself to comprehending the Heaven Sword Art!】

【Over the course of the year, you consumed several million drops of low-grade spirit liquid. Combined with the three years of passive cultivation growth from the micro spirit-gathering formation’s autonomous operation, you successfully broke through to become a second-layer Body Integration stage cultivator!】

【However, after reaching Minor Mastery, the difficulty of advancing the Heaven Sword Art increased substantially. Even for someone like you, pushing it to Major Mastery would likely take decades, while ordinary sword cultivators would need centuries or more.】

【So you decided to cultivate the Heaven Sword Art while attempting to trigger a Spontaneous Epiphany through luck, all while continuing to train and improve your cultivation.】