I Have a Cultivation Simulator

[Slaughtering the Gan Kingdom Royal Family served two purposes: first, for revenge; and second, to test them, to probe the true depths of their foundation.]

[To prepare for reality.]

[The reason you didn't strike personally, but instead coerced these bandit cultivators...]

[Was naturally to prevent any extreme scenarios.]

[For instance, what if the Gan Kingdom Royal Family had a Foundation Establishment Realm ancestor presiding over them? Or perhaps other means equivalent to the Foundation Establishment Realm?]

[If that were the case and you charged at the forefront, wouldn't you face a massive risk?]

[However, sending these bandit cultivators in first would avoid those extreme scenarios. At worst, the bandit cultivators would die. Hiding behind the scenes, you could retreat completely unscathed the moment you sensed anything amiss.]

[In this simulation, you still had many things left to do. Naturally, you couldn't allow it to end so easily with your death.]

[Even if you wanted revenge and needed to test their strength, it had to be done in the safest way possible.]

[Of course, such extreme scenarios were highly improbable.]

[You didn't actually believe the Gan Kingdom Royal Family truly had a Foundation Establishment Realm ancestor presiding over them.]

[If they did, why would they hide in the Mortal realm?]

[With a Foundation Establishment Realm ancestor, they could completely occupy a Tier Two spirit vein just like the Ouyang family of Wushan Market. Wouldn't that be far more liberating than establishing a mortal dynasty?]

[The Mortal realm was a barren land devoid of spiritual energy. With such sparse qi, any cultivator with even a shred of ambition would find it virtually impossible to remain there for long.]

["The Mortal realm? Gan Kingdom?"]

[The Qi Refining Eighth Layer bandit cultivator froze. He had initially assumed this black-masked man was driving them to slaughter other cultivators, and was even debating whether he should take the opportunity to flee.]

[But upon hearing they were being sent to massacre the royal family of a mortal dynasty...]

[Wasn't this as easy as lifting a finger?]

["No problem. I'll take my brothers and get it done right now..."]

[Although the Qi Refining Eighth Layer bandit cultivator didn't know how the Gan Kingdom Royal Family had offended this black-masked fiend, the task wasn't difficult for him at all.]

["My current strength..."]

[Your thoughts churned.]

[Having cultivated the Shanhai Art to the Qi Refining Ninth Layer, the quality of your magical power far exceeded that of ordinary Qi Refining Perfection cultivators. Furthermore, it carried a spiritual pressure as vast as mountains and oceans, making it especially convenient for crushing weaklings.]

[Moreover, that Small Black Mountain was a high-grade magical artifact—the one Ye Feng had brought out of the Shanhai Secret Realm in the past.]

[Aside from this high-grade Small Black Mountain, you also had two other high-grade magical artifacts, six mid-grade magical artifacts, and one flying artifact.]

[Relying on your dense, pure Shanhai magical power, you were capable of easily activating the Small Black Mountain.]

[With the might of a high-grade artifact, your offensive power at the Qi Refining Perfection level was practically in a league of its own.]

[Unless you faced a peer at Qi Refining Perfection who could also activate a high-grade artifact, no other cultivator at Qi Refining Perfection could be your match.]

[More than half a month later. Gan Kingdom, the capital, the royal palace.]

[Sounds of slaughter suddenly rang out as ripples of spiritual energy erupted one after another.]

[To be safe, you hid outside the palace, watching the massacre unfold within with cold detachment.]

[It was just like the massacre that had taken place at the Zhou Estate decades ago.]

[Sixteen bandit cultivators: three at the Qi Refining Late Stage and thirteen at the Qi Refining Middle Stage. Placed in the Mortal realm, this was simply an irresistible force.]

[Deep within the palace, several auras faintly erupted, but they were quickly suppressed. What followed was a massacre aimed directly at the Gan Kingdom Royal Family, sweeping across the entire palace.]

[More than half a day later, the slaughter in the palace gradually ceased.]

[The Qi Refining Eighth Layer bandit cultivator respectfully approached the courtyard where you were staying.]

["Senior, how should we deal with these cultivators..."]

[The Qi Refining Eighth Layer bandit cultivator looked behind him. Six or seven cultivators from the Gan Kingdom Royal Family had been brought over, the spiritual energy in their dantians completely sealed.]

[Among these six or seven Gan Kingdom Royal Family cultivators, the strongest was only at the Qi Refining Middle Stage, while two were merely at the early stage of Qi Refining.]

["Who are you..."]

[The Gan Kingdom Royal Family's ancestor was an old man nearing the end of his lifespan. Panic filled his eyes as he watched that unrivaled Qi Refining Eighth Layer bandit cultivator bow subserviently to a black-masked man whose aura felt as heavy as mountains and oceans.]

[This royal ancestor frantically scrutinized you, trying to recognize who you were and when the Gan Kingdom Royal Family had offended you to bring about such a catastrophe.]

["Kill them all."]

[You stood up, cast a fleeting glance at the cultivators of the Gan Kingdom Royal Family, and vanished after leaving those words behind.]

["Understood."]

[In the next moment, the Qi Refining Eighth Layer bandit cultivator's mind stirred. A long saber artifact swept out, decapitating every single cultivator of the Gan Kingdom Royal Family.]

[Although this Qi Refining Eighth Layer bandit cultivator seemed unable to withstand a single blow before you, as a bandit cultivator, he actually excelled at offensive combat. He only appeared fragile because he had encountered you—someone who crushed him completely in every aspect.]

Outside the simulation, Zhou Qing quietly watched the illusory text constantly flash by.

'It seems the strongest cultivators nurtured by the Gan Kingdom Royal Family are only at the Qi Refining Middle Stage.'

Zhou Qing thought to himself. Through this probing within the simulation, he finally had some understanding of the Gan Kingdom Royal Family's true foundation.

'Qi Refining Middle Stage?'

Zhou Qing shook his head slightly, then felt it was to be expected.

In a spiritual wasteland like the Mortal realm, it was impossible for truly powerful cultivators to emerge.

Without spiritual energy, cultivators couldn't cultivate; hardly anyone could endure that for long.

Back then, it had taken Zhou Qing a full ten years just to reach the entry stage of the Qi Guiding Art. While his Low-Grade Spirit Root aptitude was certainly a factor, the thin spiritual energy in the Mortal realm was just as crucial.

[Year sixty. At seventy-five years old, you returned to Wushan Market once more.]

[Your departure had not drawn much attention. Today, there were hardly any cultivators left in the market; it was now the kind of place where shops outnumbered the cultivators, exuding an atmosphere of decay.]

[You began to make your move, buying up shop properties that had plummeted to rock-bottom prices.]

[During the first simulation, when you were seventy-seven years old, Market Head Ouyang Shen had appeared. Bringing along the female Foundation Establishment Realm successor he had nurtured, he began sweeping out the bandit cultivators surrounding the market.]

[You were now seventy-five years old. That day was no longer far away, and the prices of properties and shops within the market had hit their absolute lowest point.]

[As you secretly bought up numerous properties and assets in the market at rock-bottom prices, you faintly noticed that, apart from yourself, another faction was also quietly buying them up.]

[Moreover, the number of properties and shops this faction was acquiring far exceeded yours.]

[This meant the amount of spirit stones at their disposal also vastly outstripped yours.]

[You were quite surprised. You had the experience of your first simulation and were certain Market Head Ouyang would cultivate a new Foundation Establishment Realm successor; that was why you dared to buy up these properties and shops.]

[But what gave this other faction the confidence to do the same? And to invest far more spirit stones than you into these acquisitions?]

[Unless they were equally certain that Market Head Ouyang Shen would succeed in nurturing a Foundation Establishment Realm successor.]

[But regarding this matter...]

[In a flash, an utterly unbelievable thought surfaced in your mind.]

[The faction secretly snapping up properties and shops at rock-bottom prices, just like you, was the Ouyang family.]

[Only Market Head Ouyang's family would have accurate inside information, knowing for a fact that he could nurture a Foundation Establishment Realm successor.]

[No. If there were merely a hope of producing a Foundation Establishment Realm successor, they couldn't possibly invest so heavily. Hope, after all, was not a guarantee.]

[If they failed to nurture one, wouldn't all the spirit stones they invested be washed down the drain?]

[Unless Market Head Ouyang had already successfully nurtured a Foundation Establishment Realm successor, but had simply kept it hidden from the public. He had sat back and watched the market wither, letting countless cultivators lose everything and tearfully sell off their properties and shops at the lowest possible price.]

["The Ouyang family... What ruthless means..."]

[You faintly realized that perhaps the Ouyang family was the true mastermind behind the market's decline over the past few decades.]

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