[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-simulated-to-reality-i-once-looked-down-upon-ten":3,"chapter-simulated-to-reality-i-once-looked-down-upon-ten-simulated-to-reality-i-once-looked-down-upon-ten-chapter-701":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Simulated to Reality: I Once Looked Down Upon Ten Thousand Ages?",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2347716,4587,"Chapter 701: The Lake","simulated-to-reality-i-once-looked-down-upon-ten-chapter-701",701,"\u003Cp>Yanbo Tower, lakeshore.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Zi Xin, in your Zixiao Pavilion, the Tingyu Tower, Xuanhua Tower, and Miaoyin Tower—doesn’t the Tingyu Tower seem to have the worst business?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The speaker was a young man dressed in a pale blue Confucian robe, scholarly in bearing, gazing at the towers rising from Yanbo Lake.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Several others followed behind the man.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If Xie Guan were here, he would recognize this group as those who had shared a boat on the lake at Daguan Garden.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xue Huai’an, and the two courtesans of Zixiao Pavilion, Liu Zixin and Su Zhirou.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Aside from these three.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was also a woman trailing behind, cradling a sword in her arms—Luo Su, current shopkeeper of Jinxiu Tower.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A middle-aged man in green robes, his hem embroidered with the Eight Trigrams, was Mei Qingsu, Grand Commander of the Giant Whale Clan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The five of them had previously caused trouble at the Xie household, prompting the Xie family’s patriarch to rage and demand accountability.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After You Dao Ren met his end, the White Bone Pavilion, deprived of its patron, was uprooted and nearly exterminated under the joint assault of the Xie family, Jinxiu Tower, and the Giant Whale Clan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After Xue Huai’an’s previous misfortune, the old patriarch could not rest easy, fearing his long-lost legitimate grandson might suffer another accident in Bianjing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After much deliberation, he requested Mei Qingsu and Luo Su to serve as his bodyguards for several days.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Neither refused—they owed the Xie family great debts, and this time, it was the patriarch himself who had made the request.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, for the past month, whenever Xue Huai’an stepped out, the two never left his side.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Liu Zixin sniffed coldly, “It seems our Master Xue knows Zixiao Pavilion inside and out—must have spent plenty of silver here.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xue Huai’an wore an expression of helplessness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Su Zhirou furrowed her delicate brows: “Strange—it’s true Tingyu Tower isn’t as bustling as Xuanhua Tower, nor does it echo with music like our Miaoyin Tower, but it shouldn’t be this silent.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The two women were courtesans of Miaoyin Tower, one of Zixiao Pavilion’s three upper floors.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Both women turned their gaze to the lake.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The painted boats that once crisscrossed the water now floated alone, sparse and isolated, drifting or moored at the shore.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Liu Zixin tilted her head in confusion: “Could it be because of that sudden rain just now? Everyone went to take shelter?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xue Huai’an shook his head: “Unlikely. When we came from Miaoyin Tower just now, I saw many people seeking refuge inside—the business was actually busier than usual.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Su Zhirou pondered: “Could a VIP have arrived today and cleared out the regular guests?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That doesn’t make sense,”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Liu Zixin immediately countered, “None of the sisters inside took clients today. If a VIP had come, Zixiao Pavilion would have assigned a courtesan to accompany them—no one is ever left alone.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She paused, adding, “Besides, we’re from Zixiao Pavilion ourselves—if this were true, how could we have heard nothing?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mei Qingsu suddenly frowned deeply and said gravely: “This isn’t right.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Something’s wrong here.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At these words!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Luo Su, who had been holding her eight-sided Han sword, lost in thought and unable to quiet her mind, finally snapped back to awareness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since the Daguan Garden incident, her heart had never settled again—the sword stroke Xie Guan had unleashed by the lake had nearly shattered her twenty-year-earned sword heart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Like moonlight reflecting on the ocean…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For this past month, she had chewed over the meaning of that single stroke daily, neglecting even the sword art she had practiced since childhood. Every time she gripped her blade, it felt hollow and meaningless. All her decades of relentless training had been undone by a casual swing from another.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If hard work yields one sword stroke, and effortless effort yields the same, what is the point of decades of rigorous cultivation?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The young man’s face also haunted her thoughts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only now, hearing Mei Qingsu speak, did she realize.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the Daguan Garden battle, everyone had become jumpy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Liu Zixin and the other woman fell silent, their eyes scanning Yanbo Lake along with the others’.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Today was truly strange!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Luo Su narrowed her eyes, her gaze sharp as a blade, and whispered: “There are ambushes in the lake—experts!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the same moment!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xue Huai’an also sensed something—his primordial spirit stirred, his gaze sweeping the surroundings, catching faint glimmers on the water.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Occasional passersby on the lakeshore hurried past, their numbers unnaturally sparse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the distance, figures could be seen blocking intersections, halting many pedestrians.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some pedestrians, as if guided by instinct, avoided the lakeside entirely, just as ordinary folk shun graveyards and places of ill omen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mei Qingsu and Luo Su exchanged glances, both faces darkening.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mei Qingsu’s gaze fixed on the lake’s surface as he murmured: “Something massive lies beneath—the shape resembles a dragon, its back armored like black iron, teeth like saw-bladed steel. The aura… it’s likely a pig-woman dragon bred by the Yan Prince’s household.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Luo Su nodded slightly: “Rumors say Lady Ruan of the Yan Prince’s household excels in this art. They say she was born of a fisherman and a clam spirit, most skilled at raising aquatic beasts. This pig-woman dragon, it’s said, was raised on her own blood.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Among fishing families along the river, it was whispered: “The pig-woman dragon swallows moonlight at midnight; those who see it fall ill. In water, it can slay dragons.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ancient texts record it as one of the dragon’s lineages.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dragons are lustful; when a dragon mates with a snake, it bears a jiao; when a dragon mates with a jiao, it bears a pig-woman dragon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Luo Su gazed at an old fisherman by the shore: “That man must be Li Kongming, the ‘Sky-Hooking Old Man’ of the Thirteenth Prince’s household—he wields an iron fishing rod with silk spun from heavenly silkworms, and his ‘Three Changes of the Unhooked Line’ grants him life-and-death mastery in the upper three realms of martial cultivation.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mei Qingsu turned his gaze to a burly man wearing a straw hat on the shore.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He wore short robes, his left ear missing, his face shadowed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“A lay disciple of Dongsheng Sect,” he said, “who, due to his lewd nature, once abducted female pilgrims in a Buddhist sacred ground and was expelled. Later, he stole Buddhist internal arts and had his left ear cut off as punishment by the abbot.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He added gravely: “He masters the Buddhist Lion’s Roar and Flame Blade. After fleeing to Bianjing, he won thirty-six consecutive battles in the black market and was taken into the Yan Prince’s service.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The more they observed, the more their hearts tightened, their expressions growing heavier.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xue Huai’an whispered: “It’s not just them. The white-browed elder on the lake, and the woman holding the child—both are likely cultivators who have ignited their divine fire.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Luo Su suddenly noticed a woman in a fur-lined hat, a long whip coiled like a serpent at her waist: “This woman isn’t from Great Qi… yes, I remember—she’s the consort of the Crown Prince of the Northern Realm’s Changsheng Heaven.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Luo Su’s gaze snapped tight, locking onto a painted boat drifting in the lake’s center, wreathed in purple smoke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seated on its prow was a middle-aged Daoist nun, a censer before her, smoke curling gently.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“A nun of the Great Sui Crown Prince’s household…” Her voice trembled slightly, “Rumors say this female Daoist received the True Script from the Sanzhen Sect. She rarely acts in Bianjing—she is the personal guardian of the Great Sui Crown Prince.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On another nearby boat, a fat monk sat with one hand holding a wine jug, the other gripping greasy, glistening meat; his heavy frame sank the boat half a foot into the water.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The wine-and-meat monk of the Southern Buddhist Kingdom’s Crown Prince,” Mei Qingsu murmured, his brow deepening in worry. “So far, we’ve identified six or seven. Many more unfamiliar faces—yet none of their auras are weaker than these.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He scanned the surroundings, whispering: “It seems all are from the courts of the three kingdoms’ crown princes, the Yan Prince, and the Thirteenth Prince.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Over a dozen here—no wonder the aura feels so unnatural. Ordinary people dare not approach.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xue Huai’an sensed several glances sweep over them, then quickly withdraw: “Someone noticed us—but they don’t seem to care… This setup today isn’t aimed at us.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Luo Su stared at the four-story tower at the lake’s center—now lifeless, like a monstrous beast crouched beneath the water, jaws wide open.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her eyes flashed with cold light: “What is this display meant for? The three crown princes dare such boldness in Bianjing—this force cannot be for trivial ends.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mei Qingsu said gravely: “Young Master, this place is no place to linger. Since it has nothing to do with us, let’s leave quickly.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Xue Huai’an gazed intently at the lake’s center: “Three crown princes, plus the Yan Prince, who’s poised to seize the succession—why such a massive mobilization? What are they plotting?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Young Master!” Mei Qingsu’s tone sharpened, “Our priority is protecting Miss Liu and Miss Su.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Liu Zixin and Su Zhirou, hearing each terrifying name, though unfamiliar with details, had heard whispers of these figures’ infamy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Recalling their earlier ordeal at the Xie household, their faces turned pale, their slender fingers instinctively clutching their sleeves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing this, Xue Huai’an quickly steadied himself and said firmly: “First, escort Zi Xin and the others away from here.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just as the group turned to leave—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Luo Su’s expression changed abruptly. Her gaze swept the street corner—several figures had silently blocked their escape routes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Trouble!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mei Qingsu noticed all surrounding roads now seemed sealed off.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The aura of Yanbo Lake began to shift subtly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mei Qingsu felt unease rise: “It seems… the main players have arrived.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xue Huai’an sighed helplessly—again, he found himself drawn into a vast storm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【“I deeply appreciate your kindness, Master Dongshan, and am truly grateful.”】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【The white-haired Master Dongshan, upon hearing this, shook his head with a soft sigh, his brow heavy with regret.】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【You suddenly lifted your gaze, eyes bright as sky-light, and asked the elder: “Tell me, Master—if you saw someone fall into a well, would you save them or not?”】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【The elder frowned slightly in confusion.】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【You continued: “Confucians say a gentleman does not stand beneath a crumbling wall—but if you see someone fall into a well, and you know saving them will cost you your life—do you still save them?”】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【“This… saving means certain death…” The elder’s brow knotted, as if understanding your current plight.】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Your voice grew clearer: “Yet Confucians also say: a gentleman may refuse to save, but a sage must act without hesitation. Why?”】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【“A gentleman… a sage,” the elder murmured, at a loss for an answer.】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【You had already passed the carriage: “Xie Guan is neither a gentleman nor a sage.”】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【You paused, glancing back: “Xie Guan simply cannot bear to leave someone drowning in a well—but refuses to drown with them.”】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【On the blue stone path, your figure grew distant. Behind you, the elder’s worried face suddenly relaxed, revealing a faint smile.】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【“So like… so very like…” he murmured, watching you vanish into the distance, “Just like the second son back then—only you’re sharper-tongued.”】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【“Since you’re willing to be this bold—if you wish to be a hawk soaring above the clouds, then let me help you break free from the Xie family’s cage and take flight.”】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【The elder calmly boarded the carriage: “Let’s go—to the academy.”】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1913,"2026-06-21T01:33:03.787Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","d48f5d101b686163767cec10493e7379ede94c8fa0bf526fb7044681ab461267","simulated-to-reality-i-once-looked-down-upon-ten-chapter-702","simulated-to-reality-i-once-looked-down-upon-ten-chapter-700",728,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fsimulated-to-reality-i-once-looked-down-upon-ten-cover.jpg"]