I Have a Cultivation Simulator

"I've reached the Qi Refining Realm?" Outside the simulation, Zhou Qing's heart raced.

The Qi Refining Realm was the true beginning of cultivation. Those who reached this realm were known as cultivators.

"Only... it took me ten years to condense a complete strand of qi and finally reach the Qi Refining Realm..."

Zhou Qing rubbed his chin.

His spirit root aptitude must be far from ideal.

"Whatever. It took ten years in the simulation, but in reality, if I end it right now, I can instantly inherit my Qi Refining cultivation..."

Zhou Qing felt a surge of joy.

Ten years in the simulation was a mere instant in reality.

What did poor spirit root aptitude matter?

He turned his gaze back to the shifting illusory text.

[After stepping into the Qi Refining Realm, you vaguely sense a shift in heaven and earth, though you cannot say exactly what it is.]

[You know this is simply because your cultivation is too low. The Qi Refining Realm is divided into nine layers, and you are currently only a lowly cultivator at the Qi Refining First Layer.]

[You take out the Qi Guiding Art and flip through it once more.]

[After reaching the Qi Refining Realm, you vaguely notice that the Qi Guiding Art seems different.]

[Finally, staring at the last page, your cultivator's perception tells you it contains an extremely thin trace of qi.]

[You try channeling the qi condensed within your body into the final page.]

[Immediately, the page blurs and a map surfaces.]

[The map marks various cultivator factions, large and small, along with several perilous regions.]

['That ancestor of the Lin family was certainly thorough,' you muse while studying the map.]

[For a cultivator who has just stepped onto the path, this map is an invaluable guide.]

[Examining it, you find that the cultivator faction—or rather, the cultivator gathering place—closest to the Gan Kingdom is called Wushan Market.]

[The map also provides some notes regarding Wushan Market.]

[You make plans to head for Wushan Market.]

[The path of cultivation relies on wealth, companions, methods, and land. To go further, you must interact with other cultivators.]

[Wushan Market is built upon a Tier Two spirit vein. Cultivating in such an environment yields twice the result for half the effort.]

[Your spirit root aptitude is far from ideal. If you wish to pursue the immortal Dao, your need for external environments and resources will be even greater.]

[As for avenging your parents and brothers? The Fourth Prince is now the Gan Emperor, an existence you cannot rival as a lowly cultivator at the Qi Refining First Layer.]

[You need greater strength.]

[Following the map's directions, you take Dachun with you and head toward Wushan Market.]

[Two months later, you and Dachun finally arrive.]

[Wushan Market sits at the peak of Wushan, shrouded in mist and protected by an array formation.]

[Only a true cultivator can see through the fog and enter.]

[You settle Dachun at the foot of the mountain.]

[Since Dachun is a Mortal, even if you brought him inside, he would be discovered and expelled.]

[Wushan Market spans ten li. Its outer perimeter consists of terraced spirit fields, while the interior features an orderly network of streets lined with buildings of vastly different styles.]

[You watch a continuous stream of cultivators landing and departing.]

[Cultivators stand guard at the entrance. Everyone entering must register.]

[By revealing your Qi Refining mana fluctuations, you receive an identity token from the guards.]

["Those entering the market are forbidden from staying overnight or meditating to absorb spiritual energy unless they stay at an inn or rent a cave dwelling. Violators will face the consequences."]

[The guard's tone is icy.]

["Understood."]

[You naturally understand the reason for this rule.]

[It is to prevent visiting cultivators from 'freeloading' off the local spirit vein.]

[Every spirit vein has a limit to the spiritual energy it can emit.]

[Upon smoothly entering Wushan Market, you instantly feel the abundant spiritual energy.]

[Resisting the urge to immediately sit and cultivate, you begin observing your surroundings.]

[As a newcomer to the cultivation world, your immediate priority is finding a stable 'job' to earn spirit stones.]

[Spirit stones are the universal currency of this world. Cultivators need them to cultivate, to set up formations...]

[Over the next two months, you ask around and finally gather some useful information.]

[First, Wushan Market recruits spirit farmers year-round.]

[A spirit farmer is much like a Mortal peasant.]

[Except what they tend are spirit crops.]

[A vast number of these crops are planted around Wushan Market.]

[The job requires casting rain spells to water the plants at specific times, depending on their growth.]

[Simply put, it takes a massive amount of time and pays very little, so any cultivator with a bit of ambition refuses to do it.]

[A farmer tending ten mu of spirit fields earns around thirty spirit stones a year.]

["A spirit farmer?"]

[You have no desire to become one.]

[Farming has no future. Any cultivator can do it after just a few days of practice.]

[The chances of being replaced are far too high.]

[More importantly, it pays far too little.]

[Thirty spirit stones for a whole year?]

[Your goal isn't to farm, but to learn a true craft among the hundred cultivation arts—like alchemy, artifact refining, or talisman crafting.]

[These are the most lucrative trades.]

[Wushan Market does indeed offer ways to learn these crafts.]

[The first method is to become a formal disciple by preparing a tribute and bowing to an alchemist, artifact refiner, or talisman crafter.]

[According to the information Zhou Qing gathered, even the cheapest tribute costs five hundred spirit stones. And paying the tribute isn't the end of it; after joining, you must hand over a set amount of spirit stones every year as 'tuition.']

[The second method is to become an apprentice.]

[Many alchemists, artifact refiners, and talisman crafters in Wushan Market take on apprentices.]

[While an apprentice doesn't need to offer a tribute, they must constantly serve their master.]

[Before becoming an apprentice, one must sign a Spirit Contract, essentially selling themselves to the crafter for the next ten to thirty years.]

[Unlike a formal disciple, an apprentice has no right to choose and must obey orders completely.]

[Of course, during those ten to thirty years of indentured servitude, an apprentice can still pick up some true crafting techniques while working.]

[Both paths have their pros and cons. The first is naturally better, but it requires deep pockets. An ordinary cultivator couldn't possibly produce five hundred spirit stones.]

[Based on a spirit farmer's income, it would take over a decade of saving without eating or drinking to afford it.]

[You fall into deep thought, faced with a crucial choice.]

The next moment, outside the simulation, the illusory text in front of Zhou Qing rapidly shifted, presenting three choices.

[One: Choose to become an apprentice.]

[Two: Choose to save spirit stones and use them to become a formal disciple.]

[Three: Choose neither. If this place won't keep me, another will. Leave Wushan Market and try your luck elsewhere.]

Every single one of these three choices would influence the final direction of this simulation.

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