I Have a Cultivation Simulator

Bottlenecks were a trial every cultivator had to face.

The path of cultivation was littered with them, though most were small—like the thresholds from the first layer to the Foundation Establishment Second Layer, or from the second to the third.

These stages all belonged to the early Foundation Establishment phase. As minor bottlenecks, they could be worn down with time.

But a major bottleneck could not be worn away by time. Many early Foundation Establishment cultivators stalled at the Foundation Establishment Third Layer Peak, lingering until their sunset years when their vitality decayed, never once stepping into the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.

To breach a major bottleneck of that magnitude, luck was essential. Some cultivators at the Foundation Establishment Third Layer Peak would be trapped for only two or three years before inexplicably crossing over.

Furthermore, spiritual roots were a tremendous help with bottlenecks at the Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment levels. Cultivators with Heaven Spirit Roots never encountered a single bottleneck during either stage; their path of cultivation was completely smooth.

Only when attempting Core Formation did they need to take it seriously.

After you soaked in the Biyue Pool, your aptitude reached a Mid-Grade Spirit Root.

Yet a Mid-Grade Spirit Root was still somewhat strained when cultivating at the Foundation Establishment level. Only by frequently consuming pills did your cultivation speed approach that of a High-Grade Spirit Root.

"I'll wait another two years and see," you thought to yourself.

Although you only had a Mid-Grade Spirit Root, you were young—currently just forty-six years old.

Under normal circumstances, the age at which Heaven Spirit Root cultivators reached Foundation Establishment was also around forty.

Not only had you already reached Foundation Establishment, but you were at the peak of the early stage.

The maximum lifespan of a Foundation Establishment cultivator was two hundred and forty years, and the vast majority lived past two hundred.

At present, you still had plenty of time left.

In the thirty-first year, at forty-seven years old, you received news you had been quietly monitoring.

Ruan Hu of Beast Taming Mountain had failed his breakthrough to Foundation Establishment. Although a Foundation Establishment Pill had protected his heart meridians, saving him from dying on the spot, his vitality had still suffered a massive blow.

"Ruan Hu..."

Your thoughts churned. In the previous two simulations, Ruan Hu had ultimately become a Foundation Establishment cultivator of Beast Taming Mountain, commanding an Earth-grade bloodline Dark Magic Eagle with unmatched might.

In this simulation, however, your intervention had quietly snatched away the Dark Magic Eagle. Losing that massive stroke of fortune triggered a chain reaction that culminated in Ruan Hu's failed Foundation Establishment attempt.

In truth, Ruan Hu failing his breakthrough and being left to die of old age was a good thing for you.

Back at the auction, Ruan Hu had clearly noticed something unusual about the Dark Magic Eagle Egg. After you won it at a high price, Ruan Hu had looked utterly devastated.

You couldn't be certain whether Ruan Hu recognized that Dark Magic Eagle Egg, or if he would recognize the Dark Magic Eagle once it hatched.

Under those circumstances, once the other party smoothly stepped into the Foundation Establishment Realm and learned you possessed a Dark Magic Eagle... it would be a hidden danger, even without any evidence.

For example, he might feel that you had bullied the weak back then, using your status as a Foundation Establishment senior to intimidate him out of competing for the Black Wind Eagle Egg.

Of course, this possibility was low, but no matter how low, it was still a hidden danger.

Now that he had failed his breakthrough and would die of old age within a few decades, it was equivalent to thoroughly erasing this hidden danger for you.

"Fellow Daoist Ruan Hu, rest in peace. In the next simulation, I won't let that Dark Magic Eagle Egg appear at the auction for you to see, sparing you that devastation," you mused silently.

With the experience from this simulation, you had completely memorized the aura of that Dark Magic Eagle Egg. Next time, you wouldn't need to wait for the auction at all.

You would simply take it straight from the Ouyang family before the auction even began.

You stepped into the courtyard of the Pill Pavilion and glanced at the Dark Magic Eagle, which had already grown to over a meter tall.

At this moment, the Dark Magic Eagle's aura was deep. It had matured to the late first tier, on par with a Qi Refining Late Stage cultivator.

In terms of flight speed, it was certainly no slower than an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Recently, quite a few Foundation Establishment cultivators had noticed this spirit pet and had begun probing you, asking if you were willing to sell.

You spent a little time with the Dark Magic Eagle to foster some affection, then made your way down into the Pill Pavilion's underground space.

Beyond its three surface levels, the Pill Pavilion also had an underground floor.

Within the two-hundred-square-meter underground space sat a wooden tub. Ye Feng sat inside it with his eyes closed.

The tub was filled with a viscous liquid containing dense water-attribute spiritual energy, which Ye Feng absorbed naturally.

"Truly worthy of a water-spirit physique. Even without any consciousness, he can independently absorb water-attribute spiritual energy and cultivate passively..." you marveled silently as you looked at Ye Feng.

More than ten years ago, you had taken Ye Feng captive, knowing he possessed the aptitude of a water-spirit physique.

Originally, you had planned to sell him to another faction through the black market in exchange for precious resources, such as Core Formation Spiritual Items.

But later you acquired the complete inheritance of the Shanhai Sect, which included a secret technique capable of awakening this type of physique early.

Although Ye Feng possessed a water-spirit physique, it had not yet awakened; even if you sold him, the price would be suppressed.

If you could bring Ye Feng's water-spirit physique to a full awakening, it would absolutely cause the physique's value to soar.

For over a decade, you had been using the Shanhai Sect's secret technique to nurture Ye Feng's water-spirit physique, and now it was nearing a full awakening.

Of course, Ye Feng remained completely unaware of everything you had done. For the past dozen years, he had never once woken up, remaining in a continuous state of slumber.

Even so, autonomously breathing in water-attribute spiritual energy during the awakening of the water-spirit physique had naturally brought Ye Feng's cultivation to the Qi Refining Sixth Layer.

"About one more year, and it should be fully awakened..." you concluded after an inspection.

...

In the thirty-second year, at forty-eight years old, you had already been trapped at the bottleneck of the Foundation Establishment Third Layer Peak for three years.

You still hadn't felt any opportunity for a breakthrough.

You were very certain that you were not one of those extremely lucky cultivators who could inexplicably vault across a bottleneck in three or four years.

With a mere thought, you took out a pill.

It was exactly a Tier Two Mid-Grade Stage-Breaking Pill, capable of helping a Foundation Establishment cultivator break through the bottleneck from the early to middle stage.

A Stage-Breaking Pill was a precious resource. It was exorbitantly priced and rarely sold on the market, especially a Tier Two Mid-Grade Stage-Breaking Pill.

Of course, for you, obtaining a Stage-Breaking Pill was not difficult. Even if you couldn't refine it yourself, you could ask your fellow Guest Elder colleagues in the Alchemy Hall for help.

However, the essence of a Stage-Breaking Pill's medicinal power was to burn a cultivator's potential in order to batter through the bottleneck.

In other words, taking a Stage-Breaking Pill would consume your own potential.

This was also the reason why, upon realizing you faced a bottleneck three years ago, you had still been unwilling to take a Stage-Breaking Pill.

In this simulation, you harbored thoughts of attempting Core Formation. Taking a Stage-Breaking Pill too early would be detrimental to that attempt.

Yet three or four years of stagnation had made you realize that without relying on a Stage-Breaking Pill, you might remain stalled in early Foundation Establishment for decades.

When that time came, let alone succeeding in Core Formation, you wouldn't even have the chance to attempt it.

Besides, even if taking the Stage-Breaking Pill burned your potential, to you, it was only your potential within this current simulation.

By the next simulation, everything would be restored, but your cultivation and everything else would carry over.

Even if you failed your Core Formation attempt in this simulation, your foundation would only grow deeper in the next simulation, and the one after that. The hope of success would only become greater.

You swallowed the Stage-Breaking Pill.

Half a month later, you successfully stepped into the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.

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