I Have a Cultivation Simulator

["The Shanhai Secret Realm..."]

[You Rou's beautiful eyes danced as she chuckled softly. "I didn't expect Alchemist Wang to be so interested in that secret realm."]

[You smiled without saying a word.]

[No matter how grand the Shanhai Secret Realm's origins were, over a decade had passed since its discovery. Information about it could hardly be considered a secret anymore.]

["No problem."]

[You Rou nodded. "I'll look into that secret realm for you, Alchemist Wang. However, I've heard it has quite a background. It is closely tied to the Shanhai Sect, which mysteriously vanished several centuries ago."]

["Is that so?"]

[You made sure to show a timely trace of surprise.]

[You had already learned of the connection between the Shanhai Secret Realm and the Shanhai Sect during your first simulation, but naturally, you wouldn't reveal that in front of You Rou.]

[As the deputy leader of the Alchemy Alliance, You Rou possessed a vast network of connections. If she asked around, she could certainly dig up hidden details you hadn't uncovered during your first simulation.]

[After all, the leader of the Alchemy Alliance stood behind her. The alliance leader was a genuine cultivator in the Foundation Establishment Realm with Tier Two alchemy skills.]

[To a certain extent, she could leverage a Foundation Establishment cultivator's network.]

[This was the difference that a higher status brought. In your first simulation, you had only been a cultivator at the Qi Refining Fifth Layer and a Mid-Grade Alchemist. Naturally, that couldn't compare to your current standing.]

['The Alchemy Alliance leader...']

[Information about this Foundation Establishment cultivator flashed through your mind.]

[The alliance leader also permanently resided in Biyue Immortal City. As for Wushan Market? He only came over occasionally to check on things.]

[To a Foundation Establishment cultivator, Wushan Market was ultimately too small. Biyue Immortal City was the true stage.]

[The various resources and pills a Foundation Establishment cultivator needed for routine cultivation were incredibly rare in Wushan Market, often carrying a price but no supply. Take, for instance, the grand finale of the recent auction—the Tier Two Mid-Grade Realm-Breaking Pill.]

[In Biyue Immortal City, however, while you couldn't buy an endless supply of such pills, you could definitely acquire them as long as you had enough spirit stones.]

['The alliance leader's alchemy mastery is at the Tier Two low-grade. He can't refine Foundation Establishment Pills...']

[You mused silently.]

[The Foundation Establishment Pill was a Tier Two High-Grade pill. One needed to be at least a Tier Two Mid-Grade Alchemist to have any hope of refining it.]

[From this perspective, the leader of the Alchemy Alliance couldn't compare to Master Zhao, the figure backing Alchemist Yun.]

[News of you becoming a High-Grade Alchemist quickly spread throughout the surrounding Wushan Market.]

[Cultivators came to visit you every single day.]

[These cultivators were either rogue cultivators at the Qi Refining Late Stage or representatives from nearby Qi Refining cultivation clans.]

[Every visitor brought a specially prepared gift.]

[Naturally, their goal was to curry favor with a High-Grade Alchemist like you.]

[A High-Grade Alchemist could refine high-grade pills, which was equivalent to controlling the path of advancement for the vast majority of Qi Refining Late Stage cultivators.]

[Even if one couldn't become friends with a High-Grade Alchemist, they absolutely could not afford to offend one.]

[After all, alchemists mostly liked to stick together. If you offended one High-Grade Alchemist, you might end up on the blacklists of several others.]

[How many High-Grade Alchemists were there in the entire Wushan Market, anyway?]

[Three days later, a Foundation Establishment cultivator showed up at your door in person.]

[This was the first Foundation Establishment cultivator to visit you since you became a High-Grade Alchemist.]

[He hailed from the Qingsong Mountain Zheng Family and was their Foundation Establishment patriarch.]

[The purpose of his visit was to invite you to become the chief alchemist of the Qingsong Mountain Zheng Family.]

[You were allowed to name your own terms and compensation.]

[The Zheng Family's Foundation Establishment patriarch promised that, as long as you were willing, the family would fully support your attempt to break through to the Foundation Establishment Realm.]

[You pondered for a moment but ultimately declined his invitation.]

[The main issue was that if you accepted, you would have to relocate to the Qingsong Mountain Zheng Family. That would leave you feeling far too insecure.]

[Between entertaining wave after wave of visitors, you once again realized just how valuable a High-Grade Alchemist truly was.]

[When you reached the Qi Refining Late Stage, only a few close friends like Alchemist Yun came to congratulate you.]

[But becoming a High-Grade Alchemist gave you a sphere of influence that encompassed countless cultivators in the Qi Refining Realm.]

[Even Foundation Establishment factions wouldn't dare look down on a High-Grade Alchemist. Many of those factions hadn't managed to nurture their own and were forced to rely on outsiders to refine their pills.]

[In the thirty-third year, at forty-eight years of age, you emerged from a months-long secluded meditation only to find that your cultivation speed was crawling along like a turtle.]

[Reaching the Qi Refining Late Stage was already considered breaking certain limits for a cultivator with a Low-Grade Spirit Root. At this level, even with the help of numerous high-grade pills, you found progress incredibly arduous.]

[In truth, even those with Mid-Grade Spirit Roots saw their cultivation speed slow down in the late stages, but for a Low-Grade Spirit Root, this deceleration was far more exaggerated.]

[Judging by your current pace, you estimated it would take roughly eighteen to twenty years to break into the Qi Refining Eighth Layer.]

[And in eighteen to twenty years, you would be sixty-seven years old, just a few years shy of the seventy-year threshold of old age.]

[At that point, never mind attempting Foundation Establishment—even cultivating to the Qi Refining Ninth Layer would be a pipe dream.]

[You realized you had underestimated the difficulty a Low-Grade Spirit Root faced when attempting a breakthrough to Foundation Establishment.]

[Of course, this was also partly due to you switching to the Shanhai Art.]

[The magical power cultivated from the Shanhai Art was incredibly dense and heavy, naturally making it far more difficult to practice than your previous cultivation method.]

[However, you weren't discouraged in the slightest.]

[Even if you didn't have the chance to attempt Foundation Establishment in this simulation...]

[In the next simulation, you would start fresh at sixteen or seventeen. With over fifty years to work with, even a pig could break through to the Foundation Establishment Realm.]

[Several days later, Deputy Leader You Rou came to visit.]

[Inside the cave dwelling, Deputy Leader You Rou rolled her eyes. "Alchemist Wang, I made a special trip to Biyue Immortal City and asked the alliance leader just for your sake..."]

["Thank you. If Deputy Leader You ever needs anything in the future, just say the word."]

[You spoke up immediately, making your stance clear.]

[You Rou smiled lightly, not keeping you in suspense. Her voice was gentle as she said, "Alchemist Wang, as for the Shanhai Secret Realm, it was created back in the day by the Shanhai Sect, a Core Formation level faction..."]

["It served as the Shanhai Sect's final fallback plan."]

["The Shanhai Sect was founded by Master Shanhai. However, over two hundred years ago, Master Shanhai's junior martial brother, Master Xuehai, showed up at their door, and the two of them fought a massive battle..."]

["The destruction and disappearance of the Shanhai Sect had a lot to do with this Master Xuehai."]

["It's just that afterward, not only did Master Shanhai vanish, but Master Xuehai disappeared as well. This actually drew the attention of quite a few Masters at the time."]

[Deputy Leader You Rou sat with elegant poise, her dark eyes smiling as she revealed this hidden secret from two or three hundred years ago.]

["Master Xuehai? Master Shanhai?"]

[You looked confused. "Since those two Masters were martial brothers, why did it escalate to such a degree?"]

["I'm not entirely sure about that. The alliance leader said it was probably because of a female cultivator. But when it comes to conflicts at the Master level, even the alliance leader only knows so much..."]

[Deputy Leader You Rou brushed a lock of hair from her temple and smiled.]

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