I Have a Cultivation Simulator

"Ah Qing, you can't just say things like that," Zhou Shizhong said, lowering his voice. "His Majesty... His Majesty has cultivators under his command, too..."

The implication was clear: even if Zhou Qing had become a cultivator himself, he couldn't afford to act so recklessly.

"I know."

Zhou Qing nodded. "But this is going to happen."

Zhou Qing looked at the dumbfounded expressions around him and continued, "The Eldest Prince's prestige is too high. If he successfully pacifies the northern barbarians and returns safely, won't the Gan Emperor be forced to abdicate?"

Zhou Shizhong fell silent.

Madam Zhou, Zhou Wen, and Zhou Wu also fell deep into thought.

"And once the Gan Emperor makes his move against the Eldest Prince, who will be the first to die? The Zhou Family holds high positions and immense authority. We are part of the Eldest Prince's faction, and we control the capital's military..."

Zhou Qing looked at Zhou Shizhong. "I have already confirmed this."

Zhou Wu asked anxiously.

If things were truly exactly as Zhou Qing said, wasn't the Zhou Family on the brink of extermination?

"Ah Qing, this matter... this..." Zhou Shizhong looked grim. Torn between the emperor he served and the son he trusted, he struggled to choose a side.

"Father, why don't we run? We can leave the Gan Kingdom..." Zhou Wen suddenly suggested.

If the Gan Emperor truly intended to move against the Zhou Family, fleeing ahead of time was indeed an option.

"We don't necessarily have to run," Zhou Qing said. "Since the Gan Emperor is acting unjustly toward our family, we might as well overthrow his Li family's regime and take the throne for ourselves."

The room was completely dumbfounded by these words.

"Ah Qing, you..." Zhou Shizhong stammered.

The Zhou Family had been loyal to the sovereign for generations. They had never entertained the thought of taking the throne for themselves.

"Don't worry about whether it can be done. The current Gan Kingdom Royal Family..." Zhou Qing swept his gaze over the room. "From the Gan Emperor at the top, down to... those thirteen enshrined royal cultivators, they are all under my control."

"It is entirely possible for the Zhou Family to replace the Li family and become the masters of this territory."

"What?" Zhou Shizhong's eyes widened, his mind reeling.

From the moment Zhou Qing appeared, Zhou Shizhong hadn't known a single moment of peace.

"Ah Qing, what do you mean..." Madam Zhou asked, her voice thick with shock.

"Bring him in."

Zhou Qing clapped his hands.

Immediately, several Qi Refining Late Stage bandit cultivators dragged the Gan Emperor into the room.

The Gan Emperor was unconscious, which was exactly how Zhou Qing wanted him.

When they actually saw the Gan Emperor being dragged before them like a dead dog, the room fell silent once more.

"Your Majesty..."

Zhou Shizhong started to rise, but catching sight of Zhou Qing, he forced the impulse down.

"If you have any questions, you can ask him directly."

With a mere thought, Zhou Qing cast a mind-bewildering technique on the Gan Emperor, forcing him into a state where he would answer anything asked of him.

"Your Majesty, did you truly intend to move against our Zhou Family..."

Zhou Shizhong asked in a low voice.

"Zhou Shizhong of the Zhou Family is too rigid. Only by killing him can the situation in the imperial palace be completely stabilized. No one in the Zhou Family can be spared either, to prevent any hidden threats from surfacing later..."

The Gan Emperor answered in a stiff, mechanical tone.

Zhou Shizhong's face turned ghastly pale.

From the Gan Emperor's perspective, this course of action was undeniably correct. Since he wanted to take out the Eldest Prince, the Zhou Family would definitely be the first target for eradication.

But when the axe was actually swinging toward his own neck, the complicated emotions swirling in Zhou Shizhong's heart were easy to imagine.

"Father, if this dog emperor treats our family like this, we might as well do as Third Brother suggested and overturn the heavens of the Gan Kingdom..." the hot-blooded Zhou Wu stood up and declared.

Zhou Wen didn't say anything, simply looking at Zhou Shizhong.

A long time passed.

Zhou Shizhong finally spoke. "Ah Qing, please... send His Majesty back to the palace."

"Send him back?"

Zhou Qing looked at him.

"Our Zhou Family has received the sovereign's grace for generations. Even if His Majesty is heartless toward us, I cannot bring myself to usurp his nation..." Zhou Shizhong said slowly, his tone conflicted.

Zhou Qing understood his father's mindset.

It was similar to the ancient concept of loyalty on Earth—if the sovereign wanted a subject dead, the subject had no choice but to die.

"What do we do after this?" Zhou Qing asked.

If they sent the Gan Emperor back to the palace, could the relationship between the Zhou Family and the emperor ever return to what it was?

If they laid all their cards on the table with the Gan Emperor now, he would likely spend the rest of his life treating the Zhou Family like revered ancestors out of sheer terror. How was that any different from replacing him?

And if they didn't, the Gan Emperor would probably still try to wipe them out.

"We'll leave the capital," Zhou Shizhong said, his tone bleak. "Our Zhou Family has a few properties in the Lie Kingdom. We will go there."

After everything that had just happened, Zhou Shizhong's heart had grown cold toward the imperial court. He now entertained the idea of retiring to live as a wealthy commoner.

What did it matter if he held a high position and heavy authority? He was nothing more than a dog to those in power, able to be erased on a whim.

"That works."

Zhou Qing thought it over and decided this wasn't a bad choice.

At the very least, they would have more freedom.

Zhou Qing had no interest in worldly power.

Madam Zhou, Zhou Wen, and Zhou Wu had no objections either.

While the entire Zhou Estate secretly prepared to leave the capital and head to the Lie Kingdom...

Zhou Qing had already ordered his subordinates to send the Gan Emperor back to the imperial palace.

Of course, before sending him back, Zhou Qing had tampered with the Gan Emperor's body. The man wouldn't live past a month.

Zhou Qing naturally had no intention of letting the chief culprit behind his family's extermination in two different simulations live.

This was true for the Gan Emperor, and it was true for that Demonic Sect cultivator, Lu Mu.

With all of this done.

Zhou Qing made a trip to the Northern Border to see the Eldest Prince.

After Zhou Qing displayed strength sufficient to sweep away an army of tens of thousands, the Eldest Prince naturally stood before him trembling in fear.

Zhou Qing actually harbored no ill will toward the Eldest Prince.

In his childhood memories, the Eldest Prince had even carried him around.

If not for the mess with the Gan Emperor, the Eldest Prince would have inherited the throne and likely become a wise and capable ruler in the Gan Kingdom's history.

However, Zhou Qing didn't meet the Eldest Prince in his identity as the Third Young Master of the Zhou Family.

Instead, he disguised himself as a passing cultivator.

"Thank you for the warning, Senior. I will head back immediately..." the Eldest Prince said respectfully.

When Zhou Qing met him, he casually mentioned some of the Gan Emperor's plans.

As for how he knew about these plans...

He claimed he had learned of them while hunting down a Demonic Sect cultivator.

At any rate, he just fabricated a reason to explain it all away.

"By the way, I share some karmic ties with the Zhou Family. I took the entire family with me this time, so there's no need for you to investigate when you return," Zhou Qing said.

This was his real purpose for seeing the Eldest Prince.

It would save the Eldest Prince from searching everywhere for Zhou Shizhong after inheriting the throne.

"Understood."

The Eldest Prince naturally didn't dare raise any objections.

...

One month later.

Jiangnan of Lie Kingdom.

Compared to the Gan Kingdom, the Lie Kingdom's climate was much milder, and the local customs were quite simple and honest.

Zhou Qing had secretly escorted his family to Jiangnan of Lie Kingdom, watching as they put down roots and settled in securely.

"My worldly affairs are settled..."

Zhou Qing's gaze was calm. He had spent nearly two months eliminating the threat of extermination looming over the Zhou Family, fully resolving his worldly karma.

Now, it was time to continue down his path of cultivation.

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