Chapter 269: Surging Emotions

The illusory text rapidly shifted and expanded.

It finally stopped on a single line: [This simulation has ended.]

With that, Zhou Qing's sixth simulation came to a complete end.

Zhou Qing closed his eyes. Every detail of his experiences during the sixth simulation surfaced in his mind.

In the sixth simulation, he had lived for over 2,200 years. Not only had he broken through to the Deity Transformation Stage and joined the ranks of the Human Realm's Heavenly Monarchs, but he had also pushed all three of his major arts—alchemy, Talismans, and formations—to Tier 5.

Mastering a Tier 5 skill was as difficult as ascending to heaven. Even among the many heavenly grandmasters of the near-ancient era, most spent their entire lives mastering just one. Only two had ever managed to grasp a second.

Zhou Qing had mastered three—including the obscure and complex Dao of formations. This shattered the records of the entire hundred-thousand-year near-ancient era. Even in the ancient era, heavenly grandmasters with three Tier 5 skills had been exceedingly rare.

'It's a pity. If I had a few hundred more years, my puppetry would have had a great chance of breaking through to the fifth tier,' he thought.

He sighed in regret. When the Demon Abyss Realm first invaded the Human Realm, he had slain four Fifth Tier Middle Stage demon monarchs and a whole slew of Fifth Tier Early Stage demon monarchs. Their flesh, bones, and skin would have been perfect materials for crafting Tier 5 puppets.

If the Purgatory Demon Sovereign hadn't brought in a Divination grandmaster from the Demon Abyss Realm to expose his lack of sincerity in defecting, Zhou Qing was confident he could have dragged things out for a few more centuries, right up to his true lifespan limit.

By then, his puppetry might have also broken through to the fifth tier, making him a puppetry grandmaster.

'I poured my last few hundred years of lifespan into Divination, so it wasn't a complete waste,' Zhou Qing thought. Although those centuries hadn't pushed his Divination to the fifth tier, they had at least brought it a little closer.

Zhou Qing didn't know how Divination grandmasters in other major realms managed to reach the fifth tier, but for himself, he hadn't seen even a sliver of hope in the sixth simulation.

Perhaps in the upcoming seventh simulation, with the accumulation of vast amounts of time, he might glimpse a faint possibility.

'My talent for Divination must be extremely average.'

Reviewing his past simulations, Zhou Qing recalled the vast sea of ancient texts he had read inside Heavenly Sword Peak's 'Mountain of Books Heaven and Earth'. He knew that true Divination geniuses possessed an incredibly sharp perception of heavenly secrets and fate. Some even possessed specific Divination treasure bodies or dao bodies, which allowed them to divine all things and provided massive benefits in resisting the backlash of probing the heavenly secrets.

Naturally, none of this had anything to do with him.

'So what if my talent is average?' he mused. 'I can simulate. With the results of each simulation stacking together, who can compare?'

With that change in perspective, his mind settled.

Over the course of six simulations and thousands of years, his cultivation, skills, and foundational strength had been constantly accumulating. No matter how monstrous a genius might be, he would eventually surpass them.

What he was fighting for wasn't the result of a single simulation, but the final outcome after countless iterations.

...

He was quite satisfied with the refinement of his skills over the two-thousand-plus years of the sixth simulation. However, his progress in cultivation left him somewhat helpless.

From breaking into the Deity Transformation Stage at over six hundred years old to his death at over two thousand two hundred, he had remained stuck at the Deity Transformation Early Stage. He hadn't even managed to reach the Early Peak.

But he had long prepared for a protracted struggle. If one simulation wasn't enough, he would use five or ten. If that failed, twenty or thirty. No matter how poor the Human Realm's spiritual environment was, dripping water wears through stone; the day of breakthrough would eventually arrive.

...

Reining in his thoughts, Zhou Qing pondered the final moments of his sixth simulation: the scene where the Purgatory Demon Sovereign descended upon the Human Realm, only to be utterly obliterated by a slender flash of sword light.

'Did the Sword Lord leave a backup plan in the Human Realm?'

Zhou Qing had no doubts about the origin of that sword light. Aside from that towering figure who had stood at the absolute pinnacle of the Human Realm during the ancient era, who else could unleash a strike capable of annihilating everything? Even a Void Return Stage demon sovereign had been cleaved in two, its soul rapidly dissolving under the sword intent.

'Too strong...'

He marveled. Even in the ancient era, the absolute limit of the Human Realm was the Deity Transformation Stage. The conditions required to give birth to a Void Return Stage expert simply didn't exist.

In other words, the Sword Lord of the ancient era had still been in the Deity Transformation Stage. At most, he had reached the absolute peak of Deity Transformation—he definitely hadn't crossed into the Void Return Stage.

Under such circumstances, for a technique left behind by a Deity Transformation cultivator to withstand the passage of a hundred thousand years and still slay a demon sovereign of the Demon Abyss Realm... that level of power was simply inconceivable.

'The Sword Lord... was he really manifested by my Legend of a Generation talent?'

Zhou Qing sank into deep thought. In the sixth simulation, Heavenly Sword Peak had treated him as the Predestined Person, giving him the authority to command everything. The basis for this was his mastery of five Fourth Tier High Grade skills.

He already suspected the Sword Lord was somehow related to him. After all, besides himself, who else could so precisely master those five specific Fourth Tier High Grade skills while still in the Nascent Soul Stage?

However, without personally activating Legend of a Generation, it remained a mere suspicion. He couldn't be absolutely certain. After all, separated by a gap of a hundred thousand years, anything was possible.

'Whether he's related to me or not, I can definitely make use of the backup plan the Sword Lord left behind in the next simulation...'

Zhou Qing pondered silently.

First of all, this backup plan couldn't be used by just anyone; there were prerequisites for activating it.

In the simulation, Heavenly Sword Peak had been leveled by the demon race. Countless Heavenly Sword Peak Sword Cultivators had died in battle, yet the backup plan still hadn't been triggered.

'The prerequisite is... the Purgatory Demon Sovereign fully entering the Human Realm, completely unable to easily flee back to the Demon Abyss Realm...'

Zhou Qing drew this conclusion by analyzing the exact moment the sword light appeared in relation to when the Purgatory demon race entered the Human Realm.

'The Sword Lord left this backup plan to completely annihilate a demon sovereign... and that's only possible if the demon sovereign fully squeezes into the Human Realm. If they hide away in the Demon Abyss Realm, separated by the barrier between the two worlds, any attack would be drastically weakened...'

Zhou Qing rubbed his chin. 'In other words, if I want to trigger the Sword Lord's backup plan early, all I need to do is lure the demon sovereign into the Human Realm.' He began brainstorming ways to draw the sovereign out. It would be difficult, but not impossible—especially since the Purgatory Demon Sovereign didn't believe there was anything in the Human Realm capable of threatening it.

The only reason it had waited until the very end to enter the Human Realm was due to the lack of necessary conditions. For a Void Return Stage demon sovereign to cross realms, it had to consider not only the Human Realm's degree of assimilation but also the stress limit of the spatial rifts.

If the demon sovereign could have entered the Human Realm from the very beginning, why bother sending Tier 4 and Tier 5 demons? The sovereign would have simply led the vanguard and crushed the entire Human Realm alone.

'I just don't know if that Void Return demon sovereign truly died. If it completely perished, what will the ultimate fate of the Human Realm be? And if it didn't completely die... will it ever dare to enter the Human Realm again?'

Zhou Qing was deeply curious. At the very end of the sixth simulation, the moment he realized the Purgatory demons had discovered him and were descending upon the Human Realm, he had immediately poured every last drop of his remaining lifespan into Divination, not daring to delay for even a split second.

Without knowing the Purgatory Demon Sovereign's capabilities, Zhou Qing was utterly unwilling to have even the slightest direct contact with it.

What if the sovereign could suppress him with its divine sense before even fully crossing into the Human Realm? Even if Zhou Qing could forcefully end the simulation from the outside, that brief window of time might be enough for the Purgatory Demon Sovereign to perform a Soul Searching spell and plant some insidious influence.

The means of a Void Return demon sovereign were entirely unpredictable. Memory alteration? Cognitive interference? Even though the cultivation and techniques he inherited after each simulation were absolutely free of hidden dangers, Zhou Qing refused to take even the slightest risk when it came to his own memories and cognition.

Take the great heart demon oath, for example. Such an oath involved his cognition. Even though it almost certainly wouldn't carry over its binding effects into reality after he inherited the simulation's gains, he still refused to swear any great heart demon oaths during his simulations.

There simply was no need for it.

...

Just as Zhou Qing was lost in thought, the paused illusory text began to shift once more.

[Please select one of the following to inherit:]

[1: All cultivation, realms, skills, techniques, memories, etc., from the simulation.]

[2: A single treasure belonging to you from the simulation.]

...

Zhou Qing stared at the two options.

Without a doubt, his only choice was the first option.

His greatest gains in the sixth simulation were his Deity Transformation Stage cultivation and the massive improvements across his numerous skills.

However, unlike the previous simulations where he had made his choice instantly...

This time, Zhou Qing was not impulsive.

The situation was vastly different from the Core Formation Stage or the Nascent Soul Stage.

Deity Transformation Stage cultivation touched upon the absolute limits of the Human Realm's spiritual environment, and there was a hard limit on their numbers. Zhou Qing couldn't be certain how massive an impact inheriting this cultivation would cause.

At this point in time, the Human Realm could only support five Deity Transformation Heavenly Monarchs.

If Zhou Qing chose the first option and stepped into the Deity Transformation Stage, would it negatively impact one of the existing Heavenly Monarchs?

During the sixth simulation, Zhou Qing had formulated a theory about this. The so-called "world limit" was merely the limit as understood by cultivators. In reality, the five Heavenly Monarchs hadn't truly maxed out the Human Realm's capacity. It was just that with five monarchs already existing, the difficulty of giving birth to a sixth was terrifyingly high, rendering the probability practically zero.

But Zhou Qing wasn't breaking through to the Deity Transformation Stage; he was inheriting his cultivation. It was akin to recovering his strength, so naturally, he wouldn't be hindered by those environmental constraints.

'The next step... is to ensure that the moment I inherit my cultivation, the other Heavenly Monarchs don't detect it...'

If a Heavenly Monarch actively concealed their aura, the others wouldn't be able to sense them. In the simulation, when Zhou Qing had teamed up with the human Heavenly Monarchs to ambush the Void Whale Master, they had completely concealed their auras, silently sneaking up on their target.

However, this concealment required the active control of the Deity Transformation Heavenly Monarch themselves.

Yet in the exact moment Zhou Qing inherited his cultivation, he wouldn't be able to control it beforehand. This meant that the instant he gained his Deity Transformation Stage power, his aura would inevitably flare, alerting every other Heavenly Monarch in the Human Realm.

Granted, with his achievements from the simulation, he would instantly become the strongest existence in the Human Realm upon inheriting the power. So what if the other Heavenly Monarchs found out?

But it would still trigger a chain of consequences. In reality, Zhou Qing preferred to keep as low a profile as possible and avoid interfering with the world. Only by doing so could he maintain absolute control over the information and flow of events within his simulations.

Furthermore, among the five Heavenly Monarchs of the Human Realm, the Void Whale Master had long since defected to the Demon Abyss Realm. If it discovered a sixth Heavenly Monarch had appeared, it might alter the Demon Abyss Realm's strategic decisions...

Numerous plans flashed through Zhou Qing's mind.

Ever since he broke into the Deity Transformation Stage during the sixth simulation, he had been considering this exact problem, ultimately coming up with dozens of potential solutions.

If he was worried about his aura leaking during the breakthrough, he simply needed to choose an isolated location that could perfectly mask his aura from the outside world.

Such as the Ghost Realm Trial Field.

If Zhou Qing chose to inherit his cultivation inside the Ghost Realm Trial Field, leaking his aura wouldn't be an issue; the trial field would naturally block all traces of it.

The problem was that the Ghost Realm Trial Field was deeply tied to many of his simulation plans. Unless absolutely necessary, he didn't want to interact with it in the real world.

'I'll choose that place, then.'

Zhou Qing gazed in a certain direction. Over there lay Profound King Island, the residence of Venerable Xuan.

Why did Venerable Xuan reside at Xuanwang Lake? Not only because it possessed a Tier 4 spiritual vein, but more importantly, because deep beneath Xuanwang Lake lay a shard of a grotto-heaven.

What was a grotto-heaven shard? The Central Continent Territory boasted the Thirty-Six Grotto-Heavens, but that didn't mean there were only thirty-six grotto-heavens during the ancient era. Over the countless years, some grotto-heavens had collapsed, their fragments raining down across the Human Realm.

One of these shards had plummeted into the depths of Xuanwang Lake. Venerable Xuan had discovered it and subsequently settled there permanently to study it. That particular shard had been forged by a human Heavenly Monarch of the ancient era. Upon discovering it, Venerable Xuan had realized that certain areas within the shard could only be unlocked by a human cultivator.

In the fourth simulation, the entire reason Venerable Xuan had provided Ten-Thousand-Year Spiritual Milk and helped Zhou Qing push for the Nascent Soul Stage was so that they could explore that grotto-heaven shard together once he broke through.

During the sixth simulation, Zhou Qing had returned to Profound King Island after reaching the Deity Transformation Stage. At the time, Venerable Xuan had not yet passed away in meditation, so Zhou Qing conveniently subjected him to Soul Searching. It was then that he discovered the grotto-heaven shard and learned the whole truth.

A grotto-heaven shard... Even as a mere fragment, it still retained some of a grotto-heaven's intrinsic nature, fully capable of isolating the inside from the outside world. If Zhou Qing inherited his cultivation and strength inside, it would be more than enough to completely mask his Heavenly Monarch aura.

An ordinary secret realm wouldn't be able to accomplish this. For example, the Mountain and Sea Secret Realm near Wushan Market wouldn't be able to completely conceal the flash of a Heavenly Monarch's aura that would leak the instant Zhou Qing inherited his Deity Transformation cultivation.

'Venerable Xuan... the grotto-heaven shard... there shouldn't be any problems.'

Zhou Qing thought it over carefully. Even though he hadn't yet inherited the power of his sixth simulation, he was still a Late Nascent Soul Great Cultivator in reality. As for Venerable Xuan... he was nothing but a Rank 4 Early Stage beast king. Zhou Qing could suppress him with a flip of his hand.

As for the grotto-heaven shard, Zhou Qing had thoroughly explored and understood it during the sixth simulation. There was no danger inside. Besides, he was merely borrowing the environment to inherit his cultivation; nothing would go wrong.

'Let's go.'

Zhou Qing immediately stood up. He glanced at the resting Li Yan before his figure vanished from the cave abode.

How incredibly fast was a Late Nascent Soul Great Cultivator? In just a little over an hour, Zhou Qing arrived at Profound King Island.

He didn't plunge directly into the depths of Xuanwang Lake. Instead, he took out a puppet nearing the fourth tier and deliberately released its spiritual pressure. Sure enough, the aura of the near-Tier 4 pressure immediately alerted Venerable Xuan.

Tier 4 Nascent Soul level beings were strictly forbidden from approaching Profound King Island. This was a rule set personally by Venerable Xuan.

An incredibly garishly dressed figure appeared.

It was an old man with a bald head and a white beard—Venerable Xuan himself.

As a Tier 4 beast king, Venerable Xuan was already capable of taking human form.

Upon appearing, Venerable Xuan immediately locked onto the puppet emitting the aura. Frowning, he said, "Who are you... Wait, no..."

Venerable Xuan's expression turned grave as he realized he had locked onto a puppet.

However, before Venerable Xuan could react, a divine soul attack descended upon him. Stripped of any ability to resist, his consciousness plunged inevitably into darkness.

In his final moments, Venerable Xuan had only one thought in mind.

'A majestic Great Cultivator... actually resorting to a sneak attack...'