Chapter 251 – Gold Talent Heaven Devourer, Returning to Tiger Immortal Fortress! (Two-in-One, Vote for Monthly Tickets)

“Hm? I actually… drew another gold-quality talent!”

Su Xing felt a surge of pleasant surprise. This simulation’s probability had only accumulated to fifty percent, yet he had successfully drawn a gold talent!

One had to know that the Blessed by Fortune talent had no effect on the simulation’s talent lottery.

And given the simulator’s usual stinginess, being able to draw a gold talent meant Su Xing’s luck was truly excellent!

“Tsk tsk… I just don’t know what effect this gold talent, Heaven Devourer, actually has.”

Su Xing’s eyes were filled with anticipation as he looked at the talent description.

【Heaven Devourer】: Gold talent. You can devour substances containing life energy and digest them at an astonishing speed, strengthening your physical body and accelerating your cultivation.

“Hiss… this seems to be exactly the cultivation-oriented talent I’ve been dreaming of!”

Su Xing’s eyes lit up.

Heaven Devourer’s effect was somewhat similar to the King of Gluttons talent Su Xing had drawn before.

Both accelerated cultivation through devouring substances!

One could imagine that the gold-ranked Heaven Devourer’s enhancement of energy would far surpass the King of Gluttons talent!

“Hiss… perhaps even after stepping into Body Tempering Grand Accomplishment, my body tempering cultivation speed won’t slow down at all!”

Su Xing murmured, his gaze expectantly turning to the simulation panel.

【In the spirit field grotto-heaven, you realized you were in a simulation.】

【You went to trade with Lu Yuanwu. Nothing unexpected occurred.】

【Ten days later, you entered the Luotian instance.】

In the Real World, Su Xing’s heart stirred when he saw this, and he silently recited:

“Use immersive simulation, duration twenty-four hours!”

【Ding. You have successfully used immersive simulation. Cost: 2,400,000 energy points. Remaining energy: 309,930,000 points.】

As the simulator’s notification faded, Su Xing’s vision shifted and transformed.

The next second, Su Xing appeared in the great hall.

Only this time, things seemed somewhat different from before.

Su Xing’s master was no longer Supreme Elder Luo Song, but another Supreme Elder named Wuge.

Wuge was an elderly man standing a full three meters tall, built like a tiger, yet his face perpetually wore a smile.

Information about Wuge flashed through Su Xing’s mind.

One of the Luotian Sect’s eighteen Supreme Elders, a Loose Immortal who had achieved immortality a thousand years ago… and moreover, a Loose Immortal who had achieved the immortal physique!

“My current strength is at Body Refining Grand Accomplishment Realm, First Layer… equivalent to Qi Refinement Mahayana!”

“And my age in the Luotian instance is certainly still under a hundred, though I don’t know how old Luo Xiaochuan is exactly.”

“So I’ve already met the requirements for a first-rank Immortal Seed! Body Tempering Grand Accomplishment before the age of one hundred!”

“I wonder if things will be somewhat different this time?”

Several thoughts flashed through Su Xing’s mind.

After his strength had improved, he naturally wanted to come to this Luotian instance to give it a try…

Just as Su Xing was deep in thought, the imposing elder above spoke to him:

“Good disciple, go to the rear mountain and invite Senior Brother Shennong to attend the Luotian Assembly…”

“Yes, Master!” Su Xing nodded and prepared to turn and leave.

Just then, Wuge’s voice came from behind him.

“Xiaochuan, when you return later… your master has an important matter to tell you.”

Su Xing’s heart stirred when he heard this. That last sentence—he had never encountered it before!

“Could this be a new plotline triggered by advancing to Body Tempering Grand Accomplishment?”

Thinking this, Su Xing couldn’t help but quicken his pace.

Wind rose beneath Su Xing’s feet, and in mere moments he arrived at the rear mountain, where he found Shennong Youtian hard at work.

When Shennong Youtian saw Su Xing, he set down his work and said with a smile:

“It’s been a while… Junior Brother Luo’s cultivation has improved again!”

“Tsk tsk, not yet a hundred years old and already at Body Tempering Grand Accomplishment—your future on the path to immortality looks promising!”

With that, Shennong Youtian tossed aside his work and walked along, asking as they went:

“Junior Brother, I see your Qi Refinement cultivation has also risen to Body Integration Perfection, not far from Mahayana…”

“After you achieve immortality, do you intend to follow the body tempering path or the Qi Refinement path?”

Hearing Shennong Youtian’s words, Su Xing was momentarily stunned and asked instinctively:

“Can one not dual-cultivate both body and qi?”

Hearing Su Xing’s words, Shennong Youtian shook his head and said:

“Everything in this world has its destined allotment… even immortals cannot possess infinite lifespans…”

“An ordinary Human Immortal’s lifespan is no more than ten thousand years. Even those skilled in longevity techniques can live no more than fifteen thousand years… and when factoring in the inevitable hidden injuries from battles and conflicts, the vast majority of Human Immortals don’t even live to ten thousand years…”

“After reaching the Earthly Immortal realm, things are somewhat better. With a lifespan of twenty thousand years, one needn’t worry too much about running out of time…”

After a brief pause, Shennong Youtian continued:

“But even at the Earthly Immortal realm, twenty thousand years of lifespan is still insufficient for dual cultivation of body and qi… For an ordinary immortal, breaking through even a single minor realm requires at least a thousand years, even with a Heavenly Spirit Root!”

“And the difficulty of body tempering exceeds that of an immortal’s Qi Refinement! Without an extraordinary physique or heavenly treasures, it wouldn’t be strange to make no progress for a thousand years.”

“Given all this, how could one possibly achieve dual cultivation of body and qi? It would merely be a waste of time!”

After listening, Su Xing’s eyes lit up as he asked:

“Senior Brother, what if one possesses an extraordinary physique and high-quality spirit roots? Could one dual-cultivate body and qi then?”

Hearing this, Shennong Youtian smiled and said:

“If one is confident in possessing exceptional talent, then naturally dual cultivation of body and qi is possible…”

“Those who dual-cultivate body and qi are virtually invincible within the same realm, and quite a few can even fight opponents above their level—the advantages are obvious…”

“Moreover, legend has it that the secret of the supreme realm may well be hidden within this dual cultivation of body and qi.”

“However, for ordinary prodigies, the most they typically do after achieving immortality is spend resources cultivating an immortal physique at the Human Immortal level so they can be impervious to heat and cold and immune to mortal means… after that, they focus on Qi Refinement, which is more efficient…”

Hearing Shennong Youtian’s words, Su Xing remained unfazed.

What Shennong Youtian described applied to ordinary cultivators, for whom breaking through even minor realms was extremely difficult.

But for Su Xing, the only thing that truly constrained him were the breakthrough bottlenecks between major realms. Minor realm breakthroughs merely required some time.

Moreover, Su Xing had just obtained the Heaven Devourer talent, further enhancing his body tempering capabilities. He would naturally not abandon the path of body tempering.

While Su Xing was contemplating, Shennong Youtian said:

“Oh, right—now that you’ve reached Body Tempering Grand Accomplishment… your master-uncle should have you make a choice. As for how you choose, that’s up to you!”

Having said this, Shennong Youtian fell silent.

Su Xing could only quicken his steps, hoping to return to the great hall as quickly as possible.

Moments later, Su Xing returned to report to his master in this simulation, Wuge.

Wuge nodded slightly, then beckoned to Su Xing:

“Xiaochuan, come with your master to the inner hall…”

Hearing this, Su Xing hurried to follow, arriving at a relatively private hall.

Then, Wuge’s expression grew somewhat grave as he addressed Su Xing:

“Xiaochuan, you are now a cultivator at Body Tempering Grand Accomplishment, and not yet a hundred years old. In the body tempering lineage, you are the most talented disciple our Luotian Sect has seen in ten thousand years.”

“When you became a first-rank Immortal Seed some time ago, your master did not rush to pass on the sect’s closely guarded secret… mainly to observe your temperament.”

“Now your master is very satisfied… so I would like you to make a choice. After you achieve immortality, do you wish to follow the Qi Refinement path or the body tempering path?”

Hearing this, Su Xing’s heart stirred as he recalled what Senior Brother Shennong had said earlier.

Then he remembered that Wuge was a powerhouse of the body tempering lineage—could the Luotian Sect still hold some body tempering secret?

So Su Xing declared without hesitation:

“Master, your disciple wishes to follow the body tempering path!”

Hearing Su Xing’s words, Wuge was silent for a moment, then asked:

“The body tempering path lacks the myriad techniques of Qi Refinement cultivators, and cultivation is several times more difficult. Have you truly made up your mind?”

Su Xing quickly nodded:

“Your disciple has made up his mind!”

Hearing this, Wuge let out a hearty laugh:

“Excellent! Worthy of being my disciple Wuge! Worthy of being the Luotian Sect’s once-in-ten-thousand-years body tempering prodigy!”

“You have walked the body tempering path from the very beginning without ever practicing any other body forging methods. Now is precisely the right time to learn this secret technique!”

“It is called the Great Wu Body Forging Method! Cultivated to its highest level, it can rival the Grand Luo Saints!”

“The Great Wu Body Forging Method is an ancient secret technique that has been passed down through countless cosmic cycles. It can only be practiced after achieving the immortal physique…”

“And you possess an acquired extraordinary physique—the Heavenly Thunder Physique. Though it is not a supreme divine physique, its potential is considerable and perfectly suited! In the future, you will have every chance of achieving Heavenly Immortal, or even the Mystic Immortal realm!”

Su Xing’s heart trembled with shock.

He was about to receive a body tempering technique!

The Great Wu Body Forging Method—could it be a body forging technique passed down from the ancient Wu Clan?

Su Xing’s heart pounded with excitement.

Then Wuge pressed a finger to the center of Su Xing’s brow and said:

“The Great Wu Body Forging Method… has an extremely high ceiling, but its requirements for talent and heavenly treasures are even higher. Each generation may only pass it on to a single person…”

Immediately, Su Xing felt several streams of memories flood into his mind.

In a vague vision, Su Xing seemed to see a titanic giant standing in the primordial wilderness, training day and night without rest, impervious to heat and cold, forging his body through scorching summers and bitter winters, day after day.

Every movement, every passage of the mental cultivation method, every strike and technique was engraved into Su Xing’s mind.

A long time later, when Su Xing opened his eyes again, he had already returned to reality.

And in his mind, the Great Wu Body Forging Method had been completely memorized!

“The Great Wu Body Forging Method… has ten layers. Mastering the first layer grants strength comparable to a Human Immortal Realm powerhouse… the second layer, comparable to an Earthly Immortal Realm powerhouse…”

“Cultivating it to the tenth layer grants strength comparable to a Saint!”

“Hiss… this Great Wu Body Forging Method is truly a supreme secret technique leading to the very pinnacle of cultivation!”

A flash of wild joy gleamed in Su Xing’s eyes.

Previously, when Su Xing had been improving his body tempering cultivation, he had relied merely on some rudimentary Wu Clan training movements and large quantities of blood essence supplements.

At lower realms, the results had been excellent.

But as his realm continued to rise, the effects of that basic body forging would predictably grow weaker and weaker.

But now things were different. With the Great Wu Body Forging Method, Su Xing could battle immortals with his physical body alone!

Taking a deep breath, Su Xing composed himself. Then something occurred to him, and he murmured:

“Cultivating body tempering to the Grand Accomplishment realm grants the Great Wu Body Forging Method…”

“Then what about reaching the Mahayana stage in qi refinement? As a first-rank Immortal Seed, what kind of secret technique would one receive!?”

Su Xing’s little heart was pounding wildly.

Could it be… a cultivation technique of the Immortal realm!?

A broad highway leading straight to sagehood!

Although Su Xing had already obtained the Great Wu Body Forging Method, that didn’t prevent him from acquiring the Mahayana stage reward in future simulations…

After all, he could get both. As for which to focus on as his main cultivation—wouldn’t that be entirely up to Su Xing’s mood?

“Only children have to choose! I’m obviously taking everything…”

The corners of Su Xing’s mouth curled upward slightly. He hadn’t expected this cultivation breakthrough to come with such a pleasant surprise.

His gaze returned to the simulation panel.

【After emerging from the Luotian instance, you returned to the spirit field grotto-heaven.】

【Afterward, you methodically joined the Advent Cult and had your puppet organization, the Celestial Secrets Pavilion, conduct transactions with the major merchant associations.】

【After joining the Advent Cult, you spent your days refining pills.】

【Two years passed in this manner.】

【During this period, you made one trip to the Luotian instance.】

【In the third year, you gave the pills to Great Xia’s military, bolstering their ranks with many powerful cultivators.】

【You traveled to the Flame-Commanding Sect ruins and laid eyes on that Vermilion Bird tail feather…】

【You took out a Supreme Spirit Awakening Pill and prepared to enter seclusion for one month to comprehend the Essence of Fire…】

Su Xing’s heart stirred at this sight. He silently intoned:

“Activate immersive simulation, duration thirty days…”

【Ding, you have successfully activated immersive simulation. Cost: 72 million energy points. Remaining energy: 237.93 million points.】

As the notification faded, Su Xing appeared within the Flame-Commanding Sect ruins.

In his hand was a branch from the innate Fusang divine tree, and before his eyes lay the mummified remains of the Fire-Controlling True Master.

Su Xing first bowed respectfully, then took out the Vermilion Bird tail feather.

The Vermilion Bird tail feather burrowed into Su Xing’s body and vanished without a trace.

Immediately after, Su Xing released the Separation Fire Technique, sensing a subtle transformation within it.

“Now then… it’s time to begin comprehension…”

Su Xing murmured, then swallowed the Spirit Awakening Pill and began meditating on the Essence of Fire.

Under the combined enhancement of the Spirit Awakening Pill and the Great Wisdom state, Su Xing’s comprehension ability was massively elevated!

On top of that, Su Xing himself possessed a wood-fire-lightning triple Heavenly Spirit Root, making him naturally attuned and sensitive to the Essence of Fire.

And finally, there were two supreme treasures—the Vermilion Bird tail feather and the Fusang tree branch—stacking advantage upon advantage!

As a result, Su Xing’s speed of comprehending the Essence of Fire was astonishingly fast!

By merely the seventh day, Su Xing’s understanding of the Essence of Fire had reached the Beginner level!

By the twenty-eighth day, Su Xing’s comprehension of the Essence of Fire had reached the Minor Mastery level!

In the final two days, Su Xing further consolidated his grasp of the Essence of Fire, making slight additional progress.

Just before the simulation time was about to end, Su Xing personally buried the Fire-Controlling True Master with his own hands before returning to the Real World.

“Excellent! A single immersive simulation, and my comprehension of the Essence of Fire has already reached Minor Mastery!”

“At this rate, two or three more sessions and I’ll be able to cultivate the Essence of Fire all the way to Perfection!”

“When that time comes, breaking through to the Mahayana stage will be as easy as reaching out and grasping it!”

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

【Your comprehension of the Essence of Fire successfully advanced to the Minor Mastery level. Afterward, you continued to lie low within the Advent Cult, hoping to obtain a pass to the Three Thousand Worlds.】

【Four years passed in this manner.】

【In the seventh year, after a series of machinations, you became the leader of the Transhuman Faction.】

【In the eighth year, you released the spirit vein dragon and orchestrated the killing of Old Dog Dragon.】

【After killing Old Dog Dragon, you refined several hundred Rebirth Pills.】

【But you had already entered the Grand Accomplishment stage, and Old Dog Dragon was merely a Primordial Unity realm cultivator. Even though he carried the True Dragon bloodline, the benefit to your cultivation growth was far less than before.】

【You consumed several hundred Rebirth Pills, and even with the enhancement of “Heaven Devourer,” you only managed to painstakingly advance to the mid-phase of Grand Accomplishment First Layer.】

【In the eleventh year, Blood Three descended upon Earth. You offered up the spirit vein dragon, earning his trust and a transit pass.】

【Before Blood Three departed, he gave you a meaningful look and told you that after becoming a blood seedling, you could come find him at headquarters.】

In the Real World, Su Xing paused at this point.

“Phew… Now that I’ve obtained the transit pass, continuing to stay on Earth would provide virtually negligible improvement to my strength…”

“The advantage of staying on Earth is that I have the spirit vein dragon, the spirit field grotto-heaven… and sufficient spirit liquid, making it easier to advance my qi refinement cultivation.”

“But if I want to advance my body tempering realm, entering the Hundred Thousand Mountains is clearly the best choice!”

After a brief pause, Su Xing continued:

“Though there’s also that Nine Revolutions Pill… I can swallow it before leaving and see if it can push me up one layer!”

Within the Hundred Thousand Mountains, as long as Su Xing could serve under the Tiger Immortal, he could at minimum guarantee fifty years of simulation time. And during those fifty years, as long as Su Xing performed well, he could obtain high-level Demonic Beast Blood Essence.

When that time came, refining Rebirth Pills would be extremely effective for Su Xing!

Su Xing could absolutely advance another two or three layers!

And if the opportunity arose, Su Xing could even leave the Hundred Thousand Mountains and explore other parts of the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm…

With these thoughts in mind, Su Xing turned his gaze to the simulation panel.

【You spent half a month refining the Nine Revolutions Pill.】

【Without hesitation, before leaving Earth, you swallowed this Nine Revolutions Pill and entered seclusion.】

【One month later, you successfully emerged from seclusion!】

【With the enhancement of “Heaven Devourer,” you perfectly absorbed all the medicinal power of the Nine Revolutions Pill and successfully advanced to a Grand Accomplishment Second Layer cultivator!】

【In the twelfth year, after settling your family and friends, you prepared to depart for the Slaughter Battlefield.】

【You hid a small pouch of Spirit-Gathering Flower seeds within your body in advance, then headed for the Slaughter Battlefield.】

【You kept advancing in the direction of the Blood Moon. After an indeterminate amount of time, you reached the end of the Slaughter Battlefield.】

【You presented your transit pass and successfully entered that strange spatial dimension.】

【Upon entering the strange space, two choices lay before you: travel to the valley through the Advent Cult’s pathway, or cross the chaotic void currents to reach another passage.】

【After some hesitation, you decided to try exploring the other passage.】

【You walked several dozen steps forward along the star path beneath your feet, and felt a terrifying tearing force emerge from the void.】

【You hastily summoned your Protective Sword Aura. Spatial edges sharp as blades tore at the sword aura.】

【In merely a few breaths of time, over ten of your three hundred and sixty sword aura barriers had already been shredded away. This terrifying destructive power filled you with alarm.】

【But you still gritted your teeth and stepped forward, plunging into the chaotic void currents.】

【You could sense that within this terrifying void, threads of spatial origin were interwoven. If they touched one’s physical body, anyone below the Immortal realm would likely be torn apart instantly!】

【You controlled your sword aura and surged forward—ten zhang, a hundred zhang… In this chaotic void, every step of movement felt as heavy as a thousand pounds!】

【But you persisted… Yet that black passage, which appeared tantalizingly close, seemed impossibly distant due to the warping of space…】

【You gritted your teeth and charged another thousand zhang…】

【At this point, you estimated the black passage was only several thousand zhang of actual distance away.】

【But you had no choice but to give up, because your Protective Sword Aura had already been worn down by more than half. If you kept pushing forward, you would surely be killed by the chaotic void currents before reaching the passage entrance…】

【Without hesitation, you decisively retreated along your original path…】

【Just as the last of your Protective Sword Aura dissipated, you successfully returned to the original star path.】

【You gazed at the distant black passage with some regret, but ultimately entered the temporary passage.】

In the Real World, Su Xing sighed at this.

“What a shame, just a little short… Next time, once I’ve comprehended another one or two hundred layers of sword aura and my body tempering realm is a bit stronger, I should be able to cross through to that other black passage!”

Su Xing was extremely curious about what lay beyond the black passage.

“But since I need to enter the valley gathering point, I should stick to the original plan—develop steadily for a while, then look for an opportunity to head to the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm and win my freedom!”

Su Xing murmured, his gaze returning to the simulation panel.

【You entered the temporary passage and felt the surrounding space violently tearing at you.】

【You raised your Protective Hardened Qi. Everything went black before your eyes, and you lost consciousness…】

【When you awoke again, you were already in the valley gathering point.】

【You had only sustained minor injuries. Three days later, your wounds were fully healed.】

【You found work as a guard in a pleasure house and began gathering intelligence on the current situation in the valley.】

【You learned that there were still two years until the next blood seedling tournament.】

【So you continued as before, using your position as a guard to rob those “freeloading patrons.”】

【You quickly accumulated some initial capital, but it wasn’t yet enough to purchase the supplies you needed.】

【Two years passed swiftly…】

【In the fourteenth year, you participated in the blood seedling tournament.】

【You killed dozens of Void Return stage cultivators and dozens of Spirit Transformation stage cultivators, accumulating a considerable sum of Spirit stones.】

【You used these Spirit stones to purchase some spirit liquid and a ninth-grade pill furnace, then began cultivating Spirit-Gathering Flowers.】

【Another two years passed…】

【In the sixteenth year, you cultivated over a hundred Spirit-Gathering Flowers and sold them all to Old Second Song.】

【In exchange, you received a large sum of desperately needed resources, including various medicinal herbs, several eighth-grade speed-escape talismans, and one superior-grade spirit weapon.】

【With these resources secured, you began preparing your plan to escape the valley.】

【According to your intelligence, the two weakest guards were early-stage Mahayana cultivators—opponents who couldn’t last a single exchange against you.】

【So you secretly infiltrated the restricted zone. While the two cultivators were chatting, you struck without warning, activating your Protective Sword Aura and instantly stripping them of their combat ability.】

【You obtained the transit token and raced toward the core region of the Hundred Thousand Mountains.】

【For the first several days, you traveled by sword flight, covering millions of li.】

【Afterward, you faintly sensed that Immortal-level and Tribulation Crossing stage cultivators seemed to be pursuing you from behind. So you dove into the Hundred Thousand Mountains, using the mountain terrain as cover while fleeing deeper into the range.】

【You cast the Heavenly Secrets Concealment Art, reinforcing the concealment of your karmic traces. Along the way, guided by Blessed by Fortune, you skirted around the territories of powerful demonic beasts and pressed toward the core region of the Hundred Thousand Mountains.】

【After breaking through to Body Tempering Grand Accomplishment, your movement speed increased dramatically. Even traveling on foot, you could cover two hundred thousand li in a single day.】

【Twenty days passed in this manner as you gradually drew closer to the core region of the Hundred Thousand Mountains.】

【At the same time, the premonition in your heart grew ever more distinct—Blood Ninety-Nine was likely desperately searching for your trail somewhere behind you.】

【So you gritted your teeth and increased your speed. Seven days later, you had entered the core region…】

【After entering the core region, you continued your sprint for another three days.】

【One day, terrifying spell fluctuations erupted from behind you. You knew the Tiger Immortal and Blood Ninety-Nine had clashed.】

【So you seized the opportunity and pushed even further forward without stopping.】

【You wanted to try whether you could evade Tiger Immortal’s pursuit and successfully cross the Hundred Thousand Mountains…】

【Several days later, a strange, inexplicable gust of wind came from behind you.】

【Your heart tightened — you knew Tiger True Master had arrived.】

【When you turned to look, sure enough, you saw Tiger True Master sizing you up from beneath a large tree.】

【He asked why the Advent Cult was hunting you.】

【With the experience from last time, you naturally wouldn’t reveal the slightest bit of information about the Azure Cloud Sect.】

【So you took out that small bag of Spirit-Gathering Flower seeds, explaining that you were exceptionally skilled at cultivating Spirit-Gathering Flowers, and that was why the Advent Cult’s cadres had tried to capture you — they wanted to bring you back specifically to grow flowers.】

【Upon hearing this, a flash of unusual interest passed through Tiger Immortal’s eyes. He asked just how skilled you were.】

【You concealed the truth, stating that you only needed ten years to bring Spirit-Gathering Flowers to maturity, with a survival rate of over fifty percent.】

【After hearing your words, Tiger Immortal stared at you with his wide tiger eyes, clearly astonished.】

【Then, with a sweep of his massive hand, he grabbed you and kidnapped you to Tiger Immortal Fortress.】

【Tiger Immortal was unlike ordinary demon beasts in his attitude toward humans. He stated that since he had saved your life, as long as you grew Spirit-Gathering Flowers for him for five hundred years as repayment, he would let you go.】

【Upon hearing this, you put on an expression of terror and hastily agreed.】

【And so, you gloriously became a farmer of Tiger Immortal Fortress, specializing in growing Spirit-Gathering Flowers.】

In the Real World, Su Xing rolled his eyes at this.

“Damn, grow his flowers for five hundred years? How does this Tiger Immortal have the nerve to ask for that?”

“Tsk tsk, but forget five hundred years — in less than fifty, this Tiger Immortal Fortress is going to fall…”

Su Xing shook his head. Although he hadn’t escaped Tiger Immortal’s clutches, staying at Tiger Immortal Fortress wasn’t a bad choice either.

At the very least, it guaranteed fifty years of simulation time, during which Su Xing could push his Body Tempering cultivation as far as possible.

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

【You joined Tiger Immortal Fortress, putting on a show each day as you began cultivating Spirit-Gathering Flowers.】

【Because you hadn’t exposed your identity as a disciple of Qingyunzi, Tiger Immortal hadn’t confiscated your storage bag.】

【You had relative freedom — as long as you ensured the daily cultivation of Spirit-Gathering Flowers, you could even move freely throughout Tiger Immortal Fortress.】

【Within Tiger Immortal Fortress, there was no shortage of powerful demon cultivators. Tribulation Crossing and Human Immortal realm demon cultivators appeared from time to time.】

【And in Tiger Immortal Fortress, the most common trade goods were demon beast hides, materials, inner cores… and blood essence.】

【As the only human cultivator who could move freely within Tiger Immortal Fortress, you naturally attracted considerable attention.】

【Year seventeen — your first year after joining Tiger Immortal Fortress — you suffered bullying and robbery from several demon cultivators. But once you demonstrated your strength, such incidents never occurred again.】

【Demon cultivators worshipped the strong above all else. Even if the strong one was a human cultivator, they wouldn’t dare bully them.】

【Furthermore, Tiger Immortal personally appeared and declared you his designated “servant,” thus forbidding other demon cultivators from laying a hand on you.】

【With Tiger Immortal as your backer, your days at Tiger Immortal Fortress were fairly pleasant.】

【Your dwelling was closest to Tiger Immortal’s cave abode, where spiritual energy was most abundant — approaching blessed land levels of spiritual energy.】

【The reason for this arrangement was naturally that the spiritual energy there was sufficient for growing Spirit-Gathering Flowers, and keeping this human cultivator right under his nose put Tiger Immortal at ease.】

【But in the eyes of other demon cultivators, this became evidence that you enjoyed Tiger Immortal’s special “favor.”】

【Rumors even began circulating through the fortress, claiming that Tiger Immortal had peculiar tastes and a fondness for human male companions.】

【And since you were blessed with exceptionally good looks, you were secretly suspected of being Tiger Immortal’s kept boy toy.】

【But this rumor lasted only a month or so. The demon cultivators who had spread it were found dead in the wilderness the next day, with grass growing several zhang tall over their corpses.】

【Year eighteen — you gradually mapped out the power structure within Tiger Immortal Fortress and the situation of other powerful demon cultivators in the surrounding area.】

【Strictly speaking, Tiger Immortal Fortress’s situation was not good. On all sides, the fortress was surrounded by Demon King territories.】

【To the south was the Bear Demon King, an Earthly Immortal of mid-stage cultivation and Tiger Immortal’s longtime rival.】

【To the north was the Golden Eagle Demon King, an early-stage Earthly Immortal capable of traveling tens of millions of li in a single day — his speed was terrifying. Tiger Immortal had a minor feud with him from years past.】

【To the west was the Ground Rat Demon King, a late-stage Earthly Immortal. Though a mere rat, he was the most powerful Demon King within tens of millions of li, commanding an underground demon city. His strength was not to be underestimated.】

【To the east was the Demon King Gold Coin Leopard, once Tiger Immortal’s ally, but their relationship had soured over the past century. He would occasionally launch sneak attacks from behind Tiger Immortal Fortress.】

【In recent years, fighting over territory, resources, and a high-grade spirit vein… several Demon Kings had waged war in rotation, none willing to yield. Demon cultivator casualties numbered in the tens of millions.】

【But what struck you as even stranger was that, through observing these battles, you vaguely sensed a hidden force behind the scenes, pushing the Demon Kings into conflict…】

【Based on your speculation, this force was likely the Advent Cult!】

In the Real World, Su Xing raised an eyebrow at this.

“No wonder Tiger Immortal dies in battle by year fifty, and Tiger Immortal Fortress falls with him…”

“With enemies on all four sides, this is absolutely not a place that can be held long-term!”

“And with Tiger Immortal’s volatile temper, he’s on bad terms with all the surrounding Demon Kings. Naturally they’d take him out first to expand their own territories.”

After a pause, Su Xing’s gaze settled on the last line of text.

“But the Advent Cult — what’s their reason for driving demon cultivators into civil war?”

Su Xing narrowed his eyes. The Advent Cult’s goal was, of course, to have foreign races break through the various minor thousand worlds.

And the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm was one of the worlds currently under attack by the Advent Cult!

But because the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm was exceptionally strong, with multiple powerful factions — including the human Azure Cloud Sect, the White Emperor Tower, the Thousand Mysteries Pavilion, and others — all having established strategic positions.

Even if the foreign race invasion reached a critical point, the demon cultivators of the Hundred Thousand Mountains, as native-born creatures of this world, would also join the fight against the invaders!

And the Advent Cult’s strategy was naturally to sow division from within, making the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm’s internal forces slaughter each other. Once weakened, they would launch a decisive invasion!

At this thought, Su Xing felt a vague sense of foreboding.

“Perhaps… the day the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm faces its destruction isn’t far off either, is it?”

Su Xing sighed softly, but with his current strength, he wasn’t yet in a position to worry about such things.

His gaze returned to the simulation panel.

【Facing the situation of Tiger Immortal Fortress being surrounded by enemies on all sides, you felt deeply troubled. For now, the fortress’s situation was still manageable, because Tiger Immortal’s strength was formidable.】

【But the moment Tiger Immortal was injured, Tiger Immortal Fortress would surely be annihilated! And you would not escape the fate of death and the dissolution of your Dao.】

【But all of that was far in the future. What concerned you now was how to obtain more resources for your cultivation.】

【As wars with the surrounding Demon Kings grew more frequent, the price of Demonic Beast Blood Essence within the fortress had dropped.】

【You traded a few Spirit-Gathering Flowers for over a hundred jin of blood essence from Tribulation Crossing stage greater demons.】

【You refined it into Rebirth Pills and raised your cultivation!】

【The blood essence of Tribulation Crossing stage demon beasts was extremely effective!】

【With daily consumption, both your Body Tempering cultivation and physical strength improved significantly!】

【And so, two years passed…】

【Year twenty — with the Heaven Devourer talent’s enhancement, your cultivation advanced to Grand Accomplishment Second Layer mid-stage!】

【This year your supply of Rebirth Pills ran out. You secretly produced a few more Spirit-Gathering Flowers and traded them for over a hundred jin of blood essence.】

【You cultivated daily in Tiger Immortal Fortress, occasionally tending to your Spirit-Gathering Flowers, living a leisurely and carefree life.】

【Year twenty-three — your cultivation smoothly advanced to Grand Accomplishment Second Layer late-stage!】

【As your cultivation rose, your demand for blood essence grew ever larger.】

【If you kept trading Spirit-Gathering Flowers, it would inevitably arouse suspicion.】

【So you chose to trade directly with the demon beasts.】

【One hundred jin of Tribulation Crossing stage demon beast blood essence was enough for you to refine three hundred Rebirth Pills!】

【But a single Rebirth Pill was more effective than a full jin of Tribulation Crossing stage demon beast blood essence!】

【And so, you became a middleman, profiting from the spread.】

【You declared that you sought no profit whatsoever, only wishing to contribute to Tiger Immortal Fortress — offering one Rebirth Pill in exchange for one jin of Tribulation Crossing stage blood essence.】

【At first, some demon cultivators were skeptical. But after you hired shills to specially promote the Rebirth Pill’s effects, the pill instantly took the entire Tiger Immortal Fortress by storm!】

【In merely a month, over a thousand demon cultivators came knocking, hoping to obtain Rebirth Pills.】

【But you understood well the principle that tall trees catch the wind. If you alone casually refined tens of thousands of Rebirth Pills, you would certainly attract suspicion.】

【So you claimed your pill-refining skills were limited — you could only refine blood essence from demon beasts below the Tribulation Crossing stage, and at most a hundred pills per month!】

【Even so, many demon cultivators lined up to buy Rebirth Pills.】

【Because some demon cultivators discovered that the Rebirth Pill could neutralize the bloodline conflict that occurred when demon beasts consumed the essence of other demon beasts!】

【And so, the price of a single Rebirth Pill quickly rose from one jin of blood essence per pill, to one jin and one liang, to one jin and two liang… and finally to one jin and five liang per pill!】

【In Tiger Immortal Fortress’s black market, the blood essence price of a Rebirth Pill had even risen to one jin and eight liang per pill!】

【Even in the face of such enormous temptation, you held firm to your bottom line, insisting that you could only refine one hundred Rebirth Pills per month.】

【One hundred Rebirth Pills were enough for you to sell for 150 jin of Tribulation Crossing stage demon beast essence.】

【After spending a few more days refining, you would obtain 450 Rebirth Pills — a net profit of three hundred and fifty Rebirth Pills!】

【And three hundred and fifty Rebirth Pills were enough to sustain your cultivation for over a year!】

【Under these circumstances, you settled into a life of modest contentment.】

【Each month you spent five days refining pills, each week you devoted two hours to tending Spirit-Gathering Flowers, and the rest of your time was spent entirely on cultivation!】

【And under these conditions, your cultivation speed increased yet again!】

【Year twenty-five — your cultivation advanced to Grand Accomplishment Second Layer Peak!】

【At this point, you began preparing the resources needed for a breakthrough to Grand Accomplishment Third Layer…】

【Due to the lack of a Body Tempering cultivation method, the only way you could think of to break through the Grand Accomplishment realm’s barriers was to frantically stockpile resources, consume heavenly treasures, and rely on the power of Heaven Devourer to force a breakthrough!】

【But the quantity of Rebirth Pills needed would likely be as many as one to two hundred.】

【Fortunately, over these two years you had accumulated a thousand Rebirth Pills — more than enough for your breakthrough.】

【But before that, you had one more important matter to attend to: delivering the Spirit-Gathering Flowers you had grown over the past ten years to Tiger Immortal.】

【Because you had previously told Tiger Immortal that Spirit-Gathering Flowers were extremely fragile and could not be disturbed during cultivation, Tiger Immortal had promised that as long as you provided him with two hundred Spirit-Gathering Flowers every ten years, plus an additional twenty each year, he would leave you alone.】

【In this regard, Tiger Immortal had indeed kept his word over the past ten years — you had never once sensed Tiger Immortal’s divine sense probing your cave abode.】

【Over these ten years, you had grown three batches of Spirit-Gathering Flowers and cultivated new seeds, harvesting nearly a thousand Spirit-Gathering Flowers in total.】

【You selected two hundred and eight Spirit-Gathering Flowers and presented them to Tiger Immortal.】

【Tiger Immortal was greatly astonished. He explained that Spirit-Gathering Flowers had gone nearly extinct across the Three Thousand Worlds, and only in ancient ruins might a few still be found.】

【For cultivators at or above the Immortal realm, the environment of their cave abode was critically important. Spirit-Gathering Flowers could enhance a cave abode’s quality and spiritual energy concentration, making cultivators at the Human Immortal realm and above covet them desperately.】

【However, a mere handful of Spirit-Gathering Flowers served little purpose. Only when the quantity was large enough would they attract the attention of powerful cultivators.】

【If one possessed ten thousand Spirit-Gathering Flowers, even True Immortal realm cultivators would truly fight tooth and nail, to the death.】

【And with several thousand Spirit-Gathering Flowers, the core area of Tiger Immortal’s cave abode could be elevated to blessed land status, which would multiply Tiger Immortal’s cultivation speed several times over!】

【After hearing Tiger Immortal’s words, you gained an even deeper understanding of the Spirit-Gathering Flower’s value.】

【Having presented over two hundred Spirit-Gathering Flowers, Tiger Immortal’s favorability toward you increased dramatically.】

【He gifted you the corpse of a demon cultivator approaching the Human Immortal realm, and promoted you to the position of head steward of farming at Tiger Immortal Fortress.】

【For a time, you truly seemed to have become Tiger Immortal’s favored person.】

【Moreover, with your identity as a master pill refiner, for a time every demon cultivator in Tiger Immortal Fortress treated you with the utmost respect.】

【But a thread of anxiety always lingered in your heart, because you knew the current stability was merely an illusion…】

【Because in just over twenty years, the entire Tiger Immortal Fortress would be completely overrun…】