I Have a Cultivation Simulator

'A purple talent?'

Zhou Qing's eyes lit up.

Talents were divided into white, green, purple, gold, and prismatic.

During his first simulation, Zhou Qing had obtained the white talent Pill Toxin Nemesis.

Though only a white talent, its utility to him had been immense.

A Low-Grade Spirit Root absorbed the spiritual energy of heaven and earth at an agonizingly slow pace. Within the simulation, however, by continuously consuming pills and completely ignoring the accumulated pill toxicity, Zhou Qing's cultivation speed had nearly matched that of a Mid-Grade Spirit Root.

Even with an abundance of spirit stones, other cultivators would never dare attempt such a thing. Doing so would lead to an excessive buildup of pill toxicity, invading their internal organs and leaving them wishing for death.

If a white talent was already this effective, what could a purple talent do?

Zhou Qing stared intently at the shifting illusory text.

'Indomitable Will?'

Zhou Qing paused, then continued reading.

[Indomitable Will: Your will shall be incomparably resolute]

'That's it?'

Zhou Qing blinked.

'No, wait.'

He pondered for a moment, suddenly realizing where the true value of this talent lay.

Willpower was practically useless during the Qi Refining Realm.

At their core, Qi Refining cultivators weren't significantly different from Mortals. Their battles relied entirely on mana, magical artifacts, and the like.

But upon reaching the Foundation Establishment Realm—and even more so the Core Formation Realm—willpower became increasingly crucial.

The most obvious example was possession.

The stronger a cultivator's will, the harder they were to possess.

If he had possessed the Indomitable Will talent during his second simulation, he wouldn't have needed to abandon his resistance to focus on transforming his divine sense and breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Realm.

He had only made that choice because he knew for a fact he couldn't resist True Person Blood Sea's possession. Knowing his death was inevitable, he had simply chosen the most advantageous path for himself.

Even if he had to die, he was going to die as a Foundation Establishment cultivator. That way, his starting point for the next simulation in reality would be far higher.

But with Indomitable Will, Zhou Qing now had another option.

He could face True Person Blood Sea's possession head-on.

True Person Blood Sea might have been a core formation master, but only a sliver of his soul remained. He was nowhere near his prime.

If he could withstand the possession, he had a real chance of turning the tables and refining that wisp of True Person Blood Sea's soul.

When that happened, this once-dominant core formation master would be thoroughly enslaved by him.

Resisting possession was only one aspect of a powerful will.

There were plenty of other advantages as well.

Defending against soul and divine sense attacks, for instance?

A Foundation Establishment cultivator's divine sense grew vastly, meaning their methods of attack were no longer limited to the physical realm.

Intangible soul and divine sense attacks began to enter the picture.

By the time one reached the Core Formation Realm, soul and divine sense attacks became incredibly commonplace.

'This is a late-stage talent.'

Zhou Qing concluded.

As his strength grew and his realm advanced, the utility of this talent would become increasingly apparent.

'I've heard that when a core formation master attempts to break through to the Nascent Soul Realm, they must endure the legendary heart demon tribulation. I wonder if this talent would be effective in defending against that...'

Zhou Qing mused to himself.

Of course, at his current level, he only had a vague understanding of the heart demon tribulation. Such knowledge was a secret truly belonging to the level of core formation masters.

'With this talent, I'll actually have some confidence when dealing with True Person Blood Sea in the next simulation.'

A smile crept onto Zhou Qing's face.

He had originally been considering how to handle True Person Blood Sea in his third simulation.

The man was a core formation master, after all. Even with only a sliver of his soul left, it was hard to guarantee he didn't have some method of mutual destruction.

But with this talent, Zhou Qing felt much more certain.

...

After inheriting his Foundation Establishment cultivation base, Zhou Qing didn't leave his cave dwelling.

Instead, he remained in seclusion to consolidate it.

After all, at the end of his second simulation, he had self-destructed to end the run almost the exact instant he broke through to the Foundation Establishment Realm.

He hadn't consolidated his Foundation Establishment Realm cultivation.

Of course, this so-called consolidation simply meant getting familiar with it.

Having reached the Foundation Establishment Realm via the Shanhai Art, both Zhou Qing's mana and divine sense were already incredibly stable.

Half a day later, Zhou Qing attempted to cultivate.

'The spiritual energy environment of a first-rank mid-grade cave dwelling just isn't enough...'

He only circulated the Shanhai Art for half a day before abandoning the idea of cultivating in reality.

It didn't bring even a fraction of improvement.

In reality, Zhou Qing was unwilling to consume medicinal pills, lest it impact his later simulations.

'Tier Two alchemy skills...'

Zhou Qing sat cross-legged, brought out his Pill Furnace, and attempted to refine pills.

At the end of the second simulation, his alchemy skills had already reached the peak high-grade level.

Coupled with the massive sum he had spent acquiring various alchemical inheritances, even though he hadn't comprehended them at the time, he had memorized them all.

Now that he had stepped into the Foundation Establishment Realm, his divine sense had vastly transformed and the essence of his soul had leaped forward. Reviewing those alchemical inheritances again naturally yielded new understandings and insights.

This was the importance of one's own realm.

Regardless of the craft, a cultivator's realm was the foundation.

Perhaps somewhere in the cultivation world, there were genius alchemists who possessed Tier Two alchemy skills while still in the Qi Refining Realm.

But they were a minority after all.

Using the Foundation Establishment Realm to drive one's alchemy skills to Tier Two was the norm.

In fact, the higher one's cultivation realm, the easier it was to grasp things from a commanding vantage point.

If a core formation master was willing to dedicate the time and energy to study a particular craft, their progress would be astronomical, outstripping any so-called genius to elevate that skill to the peak high-grade level or even Tier Two in a short time.

'My alchemy skills should be nearing Tier Two.'

Zhou Qing wore a thoughtful expression. With his alchemy guided by Foundation Establishment divine sense, it had naturally improved. Becoming a Tier Two Alchemist was merely a matter of steady progression.

...

Zhou Qing reeled in his thoughts and looked again at the illusory text below his line of sight.

[Name: Zhou Qing]

[Race: Human]

[Strength: First Layer of Foundation Establishment]

[Skill: High-Grade Alchemist]

[Age: 16]

[Talents: Pill Toxin Nemesis, Indomitable Will]

[Simulation Count: 0]

Zhou Qing's gaze lingered on the [Simulation Count] row.

An illusory countdown timer surfaced.

[09:28:12:14:25]

'A cooldown time of nine months and twenty-eight days?'

Zhou Qing rubbed his chin.

In the spiritual energy environment of a first-rank mid-grade cave dwelling, the cooldown for a simulation was nearly ten months.

If he were in the spiritual energy environment of a First-Rank High-Grade cave dwelling, the simulation cooldown would be reduced to just over eight months.

This was the result Zhou Qing had verified after his first simulation.

'Once everything is settled, I'll head to Biyue Immortal City and rent a Tier Two spirit vein cave dwelling for long-term residence.'

Zhou Qing mused to himself.

In a Tier Two spirit vein cave dwelling environment, the simulation cooldown time would shrink even further.

...

Zhou Qing stayed in the cave dwelling for several days. Only when he was completely familiar with his Foundation Establishment strength did he get up and walk out.

"Young Master!"

Dachun hurried over and followed behind Zhou Qing.

"Where are we going?"

Dachun asked curiously.

"Where?"

Zhou Qing stopped in his tracks. He glanced at Dachun and calmly said, "We're going home!"

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