I Have a Cultivation Simulator

Li Yan felt as if she had dreamed many, many dreams.

Whenever she plunged into endless darkness and a freezing abyss, a figure would pull her back up.

The figure's face was always a blur—sometimes an old man, sometimes a youth, sometimes a man, sometimes a woman.

But in the end, all those faces merged into the same face.

That of her master.

"Mhm..."

Li Yan slowly woke up, finding herself back in her room.

"Last night..."

Deeply embarrassed, she was unsure of what to do until she realized she was still a virgin.

Time flowed on.

In the blink of an eye, two months passed.

These were the happiest two months Li Yan had ever experienced.

Not only was she free from the bullying of her fellow clan members, but staying by her master's side gave her an unparalleled sense of security.

It felt as though she had known him for many years, as if he were her father, her Dao companion, her closest kin...

There was no logical basis for it, yet the feeling was undeniable.

Li Yan was hopelessly infatuated with this sensation, believing she had finally found someone to rely on for the rest of her life.

A gentle breeze blew.

Countless purple bamboos swayed in the Purple Bamboo Forest.

Zhou Qing sat at his desk while Li Yan served him from the side.

"Master, please have some tea."

Li Yan carefully brewed a pot of Spirit Tea, poured a cup, and offered it to him.

Zhou Qing accepted it. It was only a first-rank lower-grade Spirit Tea, naturally far inferior to the many top-tier Spirit Teas he had enjoyed in his simulations.

However, tasting it in reality had its own unique charm.

He took a sip, glancing at Li Yan.

After two months of continuous "spiritual communion," Zhou Qing had left an incredibly deep impression in Li Yan's heart.

The most obvious sign was that she no longer had her guard up around him at all.

When Zhou Qing first took her in, she had been incredibly obedient as well.

But deep down, she had maintained a high level of wariness—otherwise, she wouldn't have actively offered her body.

Offering herself in exchange for his protection was essentially a transaction, and a manifestation of her defenses.

If she had completely trusted him, the thought of "offering" herself wouldn't have crossed her mind; whenever Zhou Qing wanted her, he could simply take her.

But now, Li Yan was like a delicate flower, ready for him to pluck at any moment.

It's a pity... it's still not enough... Zhou Qing thought to himself.

Her current lack of wariness was built entirely on the fact that he held absolute dominance.

If one day she broke through to the Foundation Establishment Realm, or even the Core Formation Realm, and her cultivation surpassed his, she might start having different ideas.

It was like a young child growing up under their parents' protection, naturally believing their parents were omnipotent.

But once they grew up and saw the outside world, that halo would shatter.

Li Yan was exactly like that right now.

What Zhou Qing wanted was perfect control.

However... in this state, executing the Demonic Seed Incantation should go incredibly smoothly... he mused.

The yin-essence physique... and Ye Feng's water-spirit physique...

Zhou Qing thought of the two physiques he had encountered so far.

Physiques, Dao bodies, and innate bodies were all talents independent of the spirit root system.

The water-spirit physique was on par with an Earth Spiritual Root, placing it in the lowest tier of special physiques.

I wonder what tier of physique Dachun's ancient saint bloodline belongs to...

He suddenly thought of Dachun. At this point in time, Dachun should still be in the Lie Kingdom protecting the Zhou family.

The ancient saint bloodline was the reason Dachun had been pulled into the Youshan Inner Realm.

Dachun had told him this himself.

To jump from a common Mortal to a tier-3 body cultivator in just over a hundred years—and an ancient body cultivator at that, rivaling a dharma-cultivating Master with a Flawless Golden Core—that trace of ancient saint bloodline is likely no weaker than a heavenly spirit root's aptitude.

Zhou Qing thought to himself.

Even a cultivator with a heavenly spirit root had to go all out to form a Flawless Golden Core, and whether they succeeded ultimately depended on luck.

If a mere trace of the ancient saint bloodline can achieve this, what about a complete one? His mind whirred.

Subconsciously, he tried to calculate it using his divination art.

However, the result yielded no substantive information.

Even a special physique possessed the ability to obscure its own heavenly secrets, much less the ancient saint bloodline.

Zhou Qing wasn't surprised by this.

Dachun...

He glanced toward the mortal Liefeng region.

After the recent simulation ended, he hadn't returned to the Lie Kingdom.

In the third simulation, the Zhou family in the Lie Kingdom had remained safe and sound for decades.

There was no need for him to go back.

It was enough just knowing his family was safe.

"What are you thinking about, Master?"

Noticing the shift in his thoughts, Li Yan asked curiously from beside him.

"I was thinking about my family."

Zhou Qing smiled.

"Your family must be wonderful, Master."

She paused, her tone dimming significantly. "I just wonder how Yan'er's family is doing..."

A bloodline secret art required at least the Qi Refining Middle Stage to execute, and it could only be fueled by one's own bloodline.

An outsider could not use another person's bloodline to perform the art and obtain information about that person's closest kin.

Even when using one's own bloodline, there were many restrictions. First, one could only glean information about close relatives whose cultivation base was lower than their own.

Second, at best, it would only yield a vague sense of whether they were alive. More specific details, such as their exact location or strength, were far beyond what a Qi Refining Realm bloodline secret art could achieve.

"Yan'er's family..."

Zhou Qing looked at Li Yan, not saying anything else.

In truth, after confirming that Li Yan possessed the legendary yin-essence physique, Zhou Qing had long since used his divination art to calculate eight generations of her ancestors.

The physique itself naturally obscured heavenly secrets, making it difficult to divine.

However, her parents and her ancestors did not possess special physiques, so they were easily sussed out by his divination art.

Her parents had been a pair of Dao companions in the early stage of Qi Refining.

Shortly after Li Yan was born, they were hunted down by their enemies.

With no other choice, they had hidden Li Yan near the Purple Bamboo Forest.

Then, they had lured the enemies away.

Naturally, the end result was that they died at the hands of their pursuers.

As for the enemies who killed her parents, they too had been slain by other cultivators a few years later.

When it came to deducing the fates of low-level cultivators, the divination art was simply infallible.

Of course, such deductions required karma as a medium.

Zhou Qing could calculate her parents' fate because he shared an incredibly close connection with Li Yan.

If he had tried to divine it out of thin air, the difficulty would have skyrocketed.

The birth of a special physique follows no rules...

Zhou Qing sighed inwardly.

Her parents were nothing more than ordinary Qi Refining rogue cultivators.

From birth to death, their lives were no different from the vast majority of rogue cultivators.

Yet they had managed to give birth to Li Yan, a yin-essence physique comparable to a heavenly spirit root.

Meanwhile, even if both parents were cultivators with special physiques, their offspring would almost never inherit them, and might even end up with perfectly average aptitudes.

By contrast, the descendants of a heavenly spirit root cultivator had a reasonably high chance of being born with Mid-Grade Spirit Roots or High-Grade Spirit Roots.

"But from now on, Master is Yan'er's family..." Li Yan said, immediately looking up at him.

To her, Zhou Qing was much closer than the parents she had never met.

Right at that moment.

A faint spiritual energy fluctuation rippled from a short distance outside the Purple Bamboo Forest.

Soon after, the muffled sounds of slaughter drifted over.

"Ah?"

As a special physique, Li Yan possessed sharp spiritual senses despite her low cultivation. She subconsciously turned toward the noise.

Outside the Purple Bamboo Forest.

Two groups of cultivators were engaged in a life-and-death struggle.

Three Qi Refining Mid-Stage Cultivators were hunting down a man and a woman.

The fleeing male cultivator was in the Qi Refining Middle Stage, while the female was only in the early stage.

"We have no grudges between us, so why must you do this?!" the fleeing man cried out in grief and anger, shielding the woman behind him.

"Heh heh, drop the act. Didn't you slaughter the fat sheep we brothers had our eyes on?" the leader of the pursuing trio sneered.

As soon as the words left his mouth, the fleeing man suddenly grabbed the woman he was protecting and hurled her violently right at the three pursuers.

His own speed exploded as he fled in the opposite direction.

The three men paused for a brief second before disposing of the incoming woman, then resumed their pursuit.

Inside the Purple Bamboo Forest.

Sensing the spiritual energy fluctuations fade away, Li Yan subconsciously looked at Zhou Qing and asked softly, "Master, what happened over there?"

"It's nothing. Just dogs biting dogs," Zhou Qing replied casually, a smile touching his lips.

With a brief divination, he already knew that the hunted man and woman weren't good people either. They regularly double-crossed other criminals.

"You seem to be in a good mood, Master?" Li Yan blinked.

"Hahahaha."

Zhou Qing burst into laughter.

Naturally, he was in an excellent mood.

In the two months since he took residence in the Purple Bamboo Forest, he hadn't sensed the aura of a single Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator.

Everyone coming and going was a Qi Refining Realm cultivator.

Whether they were fighting or just passing through.

They were all Qi Refining Realm cultivators.

What did this mean?

Safety!

Back in Biyue Immortal City, there had been endless Foundation Establishment cultivators, to say nothing of the core formation masters watching from above.

The Purple Bamboo Forest gave Zhou Qing an overwhelming sense of security.

Everywhere he looked, there were only low-level cultivators.

Was there anything safer than this?

Coupled with the third-rank cave dwelling he had carved out, which connected directly to the underground Tier Three Spiritual Vein.

It had reduced the cooldown time for his simulation to just over four months.

It was simply the perfect place to live.

Time flowed on.

In the blink of an eye, another two months passed.

Inside the Purple Bamboo Forest Cave Abode.

Zhou Qing sat cross-legged, the puppet in front of him finally complete.

Over the past few months, he had crafted a total of six puppets. One had reached Tier Two, while the other five were First-Rank High-Grade.

The Tier Two puppet could unleash Foundation Establishment combat power, and the First-Rank High-Grade puppets could exhibit Qi Refining Late Stage strength.

Naturally, his reason for creating these puppets was to prepare for his simulation.

In the upcoming fourth simulation, Zhou Qing planned to head to Youshan immediately and reveal his innate aptitude—reaching Foundation Establishment Perfection at merely seventeen years of age.

He wanted to show that armored Guardian Deity what true, world-shaking talent looked like.

All to ensure he smoothly secured the Golden Core Condensation Pill reward.

He was worried that even a single day's delay might lower his evaluation.

Since he was heading to Youshan right away, he naturally wouldn't have the spare energy to look after the Purple Bamboo Forest.

That was why he had prepared these six puppets in advance—to guard the forest in his stead.

Six puppets: one at Foundation Establishment, and five at the Qi Refining Late Stage.

Combined with the forest's grand defensive formation, even if several Foundation Establishment cultivators attacked together, it could still hold out for a time.

Furthermore, Zhou Qing had specifically carved out a hidden space within the Purple Bamboo Forest.

In the event that Foundation Establishment cultivators actually broke in, Li Yan could hide away inside it.

Dozens of miniature formations were carved around the perimeter of this hidden room.

Even if a Foundation Establishment Late Stage cultivator arrived in person, they would overlook it if they weren't paying close attention.

Whether it was the six puppets or the dozens of miniature formations...

...all of them could be dismantled. Even if they were no longer needed later, Zhou Qing could simply sell them inside the simulation. It wouldn't be a waste.

Youshan...

Waves of emotion swelled in Zhou Qing's heart.

If he could truly obtain a Golden Core Condensation Pill in the simulation, then nurture Li Yan to Foundation Establishment and extract her first wisp of yin-essence qi...

Combined with the information he had gathered on various Core Formation Spiritual Items during his third simulation—such as the Fire Essence Jujube Tree in the Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain Range—

And finally, elevate his spirit root aptitude to High-Grade.

Zhou Qing truly had a chance to break through and form a Flawless Golden Core!

A Flawless Golden Core!

The seed of a Nascent Soul.

Once one reached the level of a core formation master, the impact of spirit root talent on cultivation speed diminished.

The quality of the golden core was the true driving force behind a Master's progress during the Core Formation Realm.

Before meeting Li Yan, relying solely on a Golden Core Condensation Pill, Zhou Qing's goal had been an Upper-Grade Golden Core.

As for a Flawless Golden Core? He could only pin his hopes on the core dissolving secret art.

However, the usage conditions for the core dissolving secret art were extraordinarily harsh and even carried a risk of death. Zhou Qing had no guarantee that he could successfully form a Flawless Golden Core after shattering his core.

If the core dissolving secret art was truly that reliable, there wouldn't be a saying that even heavenly spirit root cultivators couldn't guarantee forming a Flawless Golden Core.

After finishing the Tier Two puppet, Zhou Qing stood up and walked out of the cave dwelling.

"Master, the evening spirit food is all prepared."

Li Yan walked over gracefully, offering Zhou Qing a slight bow.

Zhou Qing glanced at her.

Dressed in a moon-white palace gown, her figure was graceful. Her snow-like skin was smooth as jade, utterly flawless and pristine. Her temperament was incomparably noble and pure, resembling the bright moon in the sky.

Compared to a few months ago, Li Yan had undergone a complete metamorphosis. If the Li Family Patriarch were standing right in front of her, he probably wouldn't even recognize her.

Zhou Qing naturally knew the reason.

With his help, the awakening speed of Li Yan's yin-essence physique had increased, which naturally caused her to undergo a transformation from the inside out.

Every possessor of a yin-essence physique was a peerless beauty, without exception.

Li Yan's yin-essence physique had not fully awakened yet.

Once it fully awakened, her appearance and temperament would far surpass what they were now.

"Yan'er."

Zhou Qing casually pulled her into his arms.

Over these past few months, he and Li Yan had naturally done everything there was to do, aside from piercing that final layer.

Feeling the rise and fall of the beauty's chest and her warm, fragrant breath that smelled of orchids and cassia, even Zhou Qing became slightly intoxicated.

After finishing their spirit food, Zhou Qing thoroughly "interacted" with Li Yan for a while, only stopping when she was gasping for air and completely unable to control herself.

More than ten days later, Zhou Qing sat cross-legged in his cave dwelling.

His eyes, however, were fixed on the bottom of his vision, locked onto a translucent countdown.

[00:00:00:45]

The unit for the countdown followed the timekeeping of Zhou Qing's home on the Blue Star—seconds.

At this moment, only forty-five seconds remained until the countdown hit zero.

In the blink of an eye, the countdown reached zero.

In his lower vision, the translucent text for the [Simulation Count] suddenly shifted.

[Simulation Count: 1]

"I can start a new simulation!"

Zhou Qing's eyes lit up, his expression brimming with anticipation.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!