Chapter 112

This simulation also told her that the current best strategy, before having real strength, is to never expose her alchemy level in front of others.

The Xuanbing Sect would not protect her at all; if she were useless and in a wretched state, she might be able to leave the Xuanbing Sect unscathed, but as a young genius with infinite prospects, leaving meant only death.

Since a Fourth-Tier alchemist held no weight in their eyes, what about a Fifth-Tier? Ruan Xing lowered her head, clicked on the text simulation, and after simulating four or five times, all of which chose random skills, the alchemy level on the panel finally displayed as Fifth-Tier.

Perhaps, this time, the Xuanbing Sect would be reluctant to give her up?

【Simulating...】

At seven years old, you made a name for yourself in the Xuanbing Sect thanks to your outstanding talent in alchemy, and your rapid progress made people have to exclaim that you were a natural master of the Dao of Alchemy.

……

At twenty years old, you announced to the Sect that you had already advanced to a Fifth-Tier alchemist, and using this as leverage, you demanded the Sect provide you with a Golden Core stage cultivation technique; the Sect stated they needed to consider it.

Three days later, the Sect gave you the Golden Core volume of the Tongxuan Scripture; you were ecstatic and began to cultivate according to the contents of the manual, preparing to form your Golden Core, but during the cultivation process, you suddenly suffered from Qi deviation, your Spirit Bone shattered, and you died.

【Simulation ended】

She actually obtained the technique this time? Ruan Xing was extremely surprised, having thought she would need to simulate several more routes.

However, looking at her ending in the simulation, she frowned and realized things were not that simple.

Her self in the simulation had stayed at Foundation Establishment Perfection for over ten years and had long since achieved a harmonious state of mind, ready to form a Golden Core at any time; how could she have suddenly suffered from Qi deviation?

Unless there was a problem with the technique.

She hurriedly chose to retain the memory, but after reviewing the technique, she found nothing wrong, so she began another simulation, starting her cultivation according to the technique obtained from that memory.

Sure enough, she suffered from Qi deviation again.

It seems... in the eyes of the Sect, even though she had stayed in the sect for over ten years without ever leaving and had refined countless Pills to supply the Sect, she was still not "one of their own."

Then, how could she become one of the Sect's own? Ruan Xing flipped through the information about the Xuanbing Sect in her memory, racking her brains for a solution.

Wait, Xu Sirui's mother was only at the Foundation Establishment stage before giving birth to Xu Sirui, and only became a Golden Core after receiving resources from Xu Father; did the resources Xu Father gave her include cultivation techniques? That's right, the entire Xuanbing Sect didn't just have one Xu Family with special privileges; there were over a hundred Peak Masters of all sizes around Xianyuan City, each of them at least a Nascent Soul True Monarch, and at least one-third of them had families, or even those without families had a few close disciples and grand-disciples. As long as she could bewitch and win over one of these families to treat her as one of their own, perhaps she could break the restrictions the Sect had set for her? She was beautiful and her emotional intelligence was not low; as long as she chose the right target, it shouldn't be difficult.

Thus, she began to recall which big shots were notoriously protective of their own, and which gentle-natured, easily deceived disciples would form their Golden Core in a few years.

After rummaging through her memory for a long time, she finally identified a suitable target: the Peak Master of Chenshui Peak, Cheng Lu, a Nascent Soul True Monarch, whose grandson, Cheng Bi, would form his Golden Core in nine years.

Cheng Bi was twenty-seven years old this year, at the Foundation Establishment Late Stage; his aptitude was also excellent, and he was highly valued by Cheng Lu. Moreover, Cheng Bi's own personality was not the type to be arrogant and domineering because of his family; rather, he was the kind who was somewhat kind and had a sense of justice, but was delicate and easily swayed. Therefore, he was not skilled in combat and had not obtained the qualification to go to the Golden Terrace Secret Realm, thus escaping a disaster.

Ruan Xing had accumulated a lot of experience in Xizhou on how to deal with male cultivators like him.

Having chosen her target, Ruan Xing calmed her mind and began the simulation.

【Simulating...】

At seven years old, you became a Registered Disciple of Yaoguang Peak in the Xuanbing Sect, discovered your alchemy talent, and went to the Alchemy Peak to learn alchemy; soon, you made rapid progress, and in less than two years, you became a Third-Tier alchemist.

……

At ten years old, you caught Xu Sirui peeking at Qintai He and began to be harassed by Xu Sirui everywhere; under your intentional guidance, Cheng Bi saw this and saved you; you were very grateful to Cheng Bi, gave him Pills several times as a thank-you gift, and used this as an excuse, fearing further bullying, to recognize him as your sworn older brother.

……

At fourteen years old, for several years, you frequently gifted Pills to Cheng Bi and found excuses to trouble him with small tasks; as time passed, Cheng Bi gradually grew accustomed to your presence, and every time Xu Sirui wanted to trouble you, Cheng Bi would take the initiative to come out and protect you.

……

At sixteen years old, your alchemy reached the Fourth-Tier, and Cheng Bi formed his Golden Core in the same year; you gave him the first Fourth-Tier Pill you refined and a mid-grade auxiliary Dharma Artifact, a sword tassel. In Xizhou, a sword tassel usually represents an expression of one's feelings, and Cheng Bi had heard of this, but he accepted your sword tassel.

At seventeen years old, your relationship with Cheng Bi grew deeper, and Cheng Bi reported to his grandfather that he wanted to become your Dao companion; Cheng Lu was very opposed upon learning this, but after Cheng Bi insisted several times, and you promised to become the exclusive alchemist for the Cheng Clan in the future, Cheng Lu had no choice but to agree.

……

At twenty years old, the Cheng Clan gradually accepted your existence and recognized you as Cheng Bi's Dao companion; you held a ceremony to become Dao companions.

At twenty-one years old, you used Pills to create the illusion of pregnancy; when Cheng Bi was happy, you acted dejected. Under Cheng Bi's repeated questioning, you finally revealed the reason: your master refused to give you the Golden Core stage cultivation technique because of your relationship with Cheng Bi, and you were worried that you only had a short lifespan of two hundred years and wouldn't be able to accompany Cheng Bi and your child for long. Cheng Bi was furious upon hearing this and wanted to have his grandfather demand an explanation from Qinghong Zhenjun, but you hurriedly stopped him and persuaded him that you didn't want the two Nascent Soul True Monarchs to have bad blood because of you; it would be better for Cheng Bi to secretly tell you the technique, and you would use a concealment technique to hide your cultivation, then pretend to have taken a Longevity Pill after two hundred years to deceive the two True Monarchs.

Cheng Bi was hesitant, but seeing your day-and-night worry and fear, he agreed to your proposal and, keeping it from Cheng Lu, told you the Golden Core stage cultivation technique.

In order to ensure that your Golden Core formation and tribulation would not be known by anyone, you and Cheng Bi decided to go out for a journey; Cheng Bi guarded the array for you, and you successfully formed your Golden Core and passed the heavenly tribulation. Both you and Cheng Bi were slightly injured under the tribulation, and thus, your fake pregnancy was exposed. Cheng Bi was very sad and didn't understand why you lied to him; you felt some guilt, but in order to prevent Cheng Bi from returning to the Xuanbing Sect and exposing your Golden Core formation, you summoned your Sword and killed Cheng Bi together.

At twenty-two years old, you fled all the way to the border between Dongzhou and Beizhou, preparing to hide your identity and survive until the Demon Cultivators came out, but Cheng Lu was furious after learning of Cheng Bi's death and personally set out to hunt you down along the way, demanding you be buried with Cheng Bi.

At twenty-three years old, you were found by Cheng Lu, and you died.

【Simulation ended】

The content of this simulation was quite long, but the result was good; she had finally formed her Golden Core.

Looking at how she viciously used the innocent Cheng Bi in the simulation, she sighed, but there was no other way; if she hadn't been pregnant, Cheng Bi wouldn't have been happy enough to ignore reason and violate the Sect's rules to tell her the technique.

If she didn't leave the Sect, she couldn't successfully form her Golden Core without attracting attention, but if she left alone, the Sect would certainly be suspicious; only by being pregnant and leaving with Cheng Bi would the Sect be at ease, and Cheng Lu be at ease.

All of this was the path she found within the most reasonable range.

Because it is well known that whether it is a woman or a female cultivator, children are an important bond. With a child, even the most free-spirited female cultivator will settle down.

Unfortunately, Ruan Xing didn't care about these things; her only goal was to form a Golden Core.

After thinking for a while, Ruan Xing wasn't sure if choosing to form a Golden Core by cultivation would immediately attract a heavenly tribulation, or if the Simulator could help her skip the tribulation step; moreover, if she only chose cultivation and not memory, she wouldn't know how to continue cultivating after forming a Golden Core.

Thus, she first chose the memory and obtained the Golden Core stage cultivation technique from Cheng Bi.

With the technique, the rest was easy to handle; she could simulate forming a Golden Core at any time, but she had to wait; she needed to leave the Sect first.

But now she had only been in the Sect for one day, and Qinghong Zhenjun's Divine Sense was still watching her; she would wait until this period passed, and after Qinghong Zhenjun felt reassured, she would find an opportunity to leave and form her Golden Core.

Having figured this out, Ruan Xing's mind relaxed a lot, and she began to ponder other matters.

First, before leaving, she needed to earn more Spirit Stones to use during the Golden Core stage.

Second, the Xu Family had harmed her so many times, and that old fellow who gave people readings at will was also not a good thing; even if her cultivation was low now and she couldn't cause any harm to those people, she still had to collect some interest.

Thinking of this, Ruan Xing recalled the previous few simulations where she sold Pills in Xianyuan City in exchange for Spirit Herbs and materials; Xianyuan City didn't count as leaving the Sect, so no one would care about her.

Looking at the remaining twenty-three thousand plus points in the simulator, Ruan Xing prepared to simulate a hundred times to see how her luck was today and whether she could draw good things from the Xianyuan City prize pool.

Qinghong Zhenjun's Divine Sense was likely just a long-distance scan of her, not a detailed look into the seams of her hair; otherwise, he wouldn't have known that the Sword came out of her Storage Bag, and his positioning of the Sword wouldn't just be as a helper hidden by Ruan Xing; he would definitely be furious that a Demon Cultivator had mixed into the Xuanbing Sect and wouldn't give her a chance to speak.

Therefore, even if Ruan Xing chose random items in the simulation, Qinghong Zhenjun probably wouldn't observe carefully, just thinking she had taken something out of her Storage Bag.

However, it did look quite strange for her to be taking things in and out in such a short time... Ruan Xing thought for a moment and installed a curtain for her tree house.

This curtain was just ordinary fabric, designed to keep out the gentleman but not the villain; Qinghong Zhenjun was a True Monarch after all, and didn't a True Monarch have a reputation to maintain? She would never admit to being a villain, and as long as she could confirm that Ruan Xing was in the tree house, she wouldn't be so shameless as to peek at someone's privacy.

With everything prepared, Ruan Xing lay comfortably in her little nest and began the draw.

Every route followed her remaining in the Xuanbing Sect as an alchemist, becoming a Fifth-Tier alchemist and then a model worker of alchemy, never resting day or night; the moment she opened her eyes she would refine, and the moment she closed them she would produce a batch.

It was fortunate that a Cultivator would not die from overwork.

Then, before the age of twenty-three, she would go to Xianyuan City to sell Pills in exchange for Mid-grade and High-grade Spirit Stones, or some high-level, valuable Dharma Artifacts and materials.

【Congratulations, you have obtained one hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones.】

【Congratulations, you have obtained one bottle of Profound-grade Wood Essence Spirit Liquid.】

【Congratulations, you have obtained the Mid-grade Magical Artifact Shuttle Spirit Boat.】

【Congratulations, you have obtained twenty Mid-grade Spirit Stones.】

【Congratulations, you have obtained five jin of Profound-grade material Blue Gold Ore.】

【Congratulations, you have obtained one High-grade Spirit Stone.】

In her mind, the text jumping incessantly from the Simulator dazzled Ruan Xing, and her hands also mechanically cycled between the two actions of claiming items and placing them into her Storage Bag.

Not until she felt that the space in her Storage Bag, which she had cleared out just two days ago, was filled up again did Ruan Xing stop.

She looked at the remaining points on the panel; there were still over eleven thousand left.

Yet the harvest she had obtained was absolutely enough to break even; after all, in the Simulation, she was already a Fifth-Tier alchemist, and there were few items on her person that were not valuable.

She first calculated the quantity of Spirit Stones: she originally had two thousand five hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones, and adding what she had obtained this time, there were a total of five High-grade Spirit Stones, eighty Mid-grade Spirit Stones, and over five thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones.

Happily putting them into her Storage Bag, Ruan Xing then checked the materials she had obtained; most were Profound-grade raw materials related to alchemy and artifact refining. She had not forgotten that she intended to freeload artifact refining techniques at the Xuanbing Sect, and since she would use them all anyway, she did not bother to calculate their value in detail.

Finally, there was the one Mid-grade Magical Artifact, the Shuttle Spirit Boat.

She had previously envied Qintai He's white wolf for transportation; look, when the heart has a desire, the Simulator sends it to her. She had bought more than one Dharma Artifact in the Simulations, but this was the only one she had obtained; if this wasn't destiny, what was?

This was a sailboat-style Flying Dharma Artifact that could fly in the air and also sail in water, and the Spiritual Power consumed in water was much less than in the air because it could utilize the water's momentum and the wind's force. The sail on it was woven from tree bark fibers, which not only had a protective function but could also shift the wind direction.

There was nothing to mention about the appearance; the whole body was made of brownish-yellow wood, which was different from a traditional boat. The half-deck under the mast was as smooth as a mirror, separated by a semi-circular railing, while the other half consisted of two small arched compartments.

This Shuttle Spirit Boat could be large or small, entirely depending on the changes in Spiritual Power. The smallest form could be held in the palm of one's hand to carry around, while the largest form had a hull thirty meters long, which could likely accommodate quite a few people.

Ruan Xing's Divine Sense probed inside, and both compartments were empty. It seemed the Shuttle Spirit Boat could not serve as a semi-storage Dharma Artifact; every time it grew larger, the items inside the rooms needed to be placed separately, and they had to be put away again after it shrank.

This made Ruan Xing somewhat disappointed. She had originally thought that if she stored some items in the rooms on the Shuttle Spirit Boat and then put the Shuttle Spirit Boat into her Storage Bag after it shrank, wouldn't she have gained several dozen square meters of storage space out of thin air?

Unfortunately, the Shuttle Spirit Boat was only a Mid-grade Magical Artifact, after all, and did not carry such spatial functions.

Moreover, it was not suitable for daily use. Imagine her riding a small boat down the street... it would look too strange.

Ruan Xing shook her head and put the Shuttle Spirit Boat away. It should be useful for running away in the future, and since her Flying Sword was broken anyway, it was perfect to use the Shuttle Spirit Boat as a replacement.

Thanks to _Panda Jun_ for the tip to Xing-bao~ Thanks to Rosetta_ for the monthly ticket~ Thanks to Love Branch 12345 for the monthly ticket~ Thanks to Book Friend 20220206122755693 for the monthly ticket~ Thanks to Flower Shop Little Shopkeeper for the monthly ticket~ Thanks to onion1 for the monthly ticket~ Thanks to mingliu2056 for the monthly ticket~ (End of chapter)