8: Chapter 8. Forty-two-year-old Old Deng finally figured it out.

[The surname is Ling!]

[You did not respond.]

[Xiu Yun was still standing at the door, waiting for your response.]

[You were silent for a few moments.]

["Not seeing them."]

[Xiu Yun was stunned for a moment.]

["Brother Ji, they are offering a price thirty percent higher—"]

["I said not seeing them."]

[Xiu Yun opened his mouth, but in the end, he did not try to persuade you further. He closed the door and left.]

[Ling, this surname is not rare in Yunzhou City, but a big buyer from outside the city with the surname Ling? The implication is very clear.]

[The Ling Family.]

[Even if it is just a branch family, it is not a situation that this body, which is falling apart, can handle.]

[You leaned against the headboard and looked down at your hands.]

[The skin was bruised with medicinal toxicity, and the joints were thick.]

[The five fingers were difficult to fully straighten.]

[Only forty-two, yet living like a decrepit old man.]

[You did not fall asleep that night. You turned over, and a dull pain came from your right shoulder. The medicinal toxicity had already seeped into the bone joints.]

Shen Ji leaned against the wall in reality, staring at these lines for a long time.

The path of selling Medicinal Pill had reached its end.

The person was gone first.

Fourteen years, climbing from the very bottom of Loose Cultivator to the Qi Refining Stage 3 Peak.

It sounds inspiring.

But what was the cost? The Meridians were mostly blocked, medicinal toxicity had entered the bones, and the body was getting worse year by year.

If he kept eating them like this, his self in the simulation would not live past fifty.

Fifty years old. He would have to give up before even touching the threshold of Foundation Establishment.

Then what was the point of it all?

Shen Ji rubbed his Face.

He had to change his way of living.

In the first simulation, the most important thing was to figure out the foundation of this world.

Where were the Sects, how many connections were held in their hands, how resources flowed—these things were far more valuable than eating three hundred more Qi Gathering pills.

One must be alive first to have the qualification to talk about the next step.

Having figured this out, Shen Ji clicked on the panel again.

The simulation continued.

[42 years old, August. You began to deliberately reduce your Medicinal Pill intake. From three pills a day to one pill every three days.]

[The deterioration of your body slowed down. Your Cultivation made no progress. But you no longer vomited blood.]

[Pretty good. Not vomiting blood is a victory. You silently applauded yourself.]

[The body was slowly compensating for what was lost in the first half of your forty-second year.]

[It could not make up for much, the hole was still there, but at least it was no longer growing.]

[43 years old, Spring. You noticed one person.]

[Manager Luo Bin. Twenty-eight years old. He had worked at your Nan Town branch for three years, rising from a cargo handler to a manager.]

[This kid has a habit—he verifies every account three times. He just doesn't feel at ease.]

[You have an impression of this name.]

[It had appeared a few times before, always in the notes of the monthly reports.]

[The account book of the Nan Town branch was the cleanest among all branches; it never had a single error.]

[You called Manager Luo Bin to Yunlai Inn and talked to him Face-to-Face for an hour.]

[Manager Luo Bin sat opposite you, his back straight. He would pause for two breaths before answering questions, thinking clearly before speaking.]

[You asked him one question.]

["Last month in Nan Town, a merchant wanted to use your connections to get goods directly, bypassing the headquarters. How did you handle it?"]

[Manager Luo Bin did not answer.]

[After two breaths.]

["I refused. I told him the headquarters has rules, and I cannot break them."]

["He increased the price, right?"]

["He increased it by thirty percent." Manager Luo Bin did not dodge or blink, "I still refused."]

[Thirty percent. Exactly the same price offered by that person surnamed Ling.]

[But Manager Luo Bin's reason for refusing was different from yours. You were afraid of causing trouble. Manager Luo Bin was following the rules.]

[One is shrewd, one is righteous. The latter is more suitable to be a successor.]

[Shrewd people will adapt when the benefits are large enough. Righteous people will not.]

[You patted his shoulder.]

["From tomorrow, follow me."]

[Manager Luo Bin was slightly stunned, then stood up and bowed respectfully.]

["Boss Shen—"]

["Don't call me Boss. Just call me Brother Ji."]

[Saying this felt a bit pretentious.]

[You are forty-three years old, asking a twenty-eight-year-old young man to call you brother.]

[But Xiu Yun also called you that back then.]

[For the next year and a half, the simulation screen skipped quickly.]

[43 years old, April. You took Manager Luo Bin to visit all the cooperative business firms in Yunzhou City, handing over every connection in person.]

[Manager Luo Bin has a very good memory. He could accurately call out the names of people he had met once and the content of their previous conversations.]

[43 years old, July. You handed over the management rights of the account book to Manager Luo Bin. Ji Mengxue did not express an opinion on this.]

[Ji Mengxue did not express an opinion.]

[In the past, whenever you made business decisions, Ji Mengxue would participate in the discussion and offer her views. Back then, everything was discussed between the two of you.]

[Now, your affairs are decided by you alone.]

[You did not dwell on this.]

[The emotional line is no longer important.]

[What is important is the smooth transition of the business.]

[44 years old. Your physical condition stabilized. The medicinal toxicity stopped spreading. Your Cultivation was still stuck at the Qi Refining Stage 3 Peak, unmoving.]

[Manager Luo Bin began to handle large transactions independently. There were a few orders you deliberately didn't interfere with, letting him negotiate on his own. The results were better than you expected.]

[44 years old, September. Xiu Yun complained to you privately once.]

["Brother Ji, are you really planning to hand over the business to that Manager Luo Bin? He has only been here for a little over a year. How many years have I worked with you?"]

[Xiu Yun's dissatisfaction was within your expectations.]

[For an old partner who has followed you for so many years to be surpassed by a newcomer, no one would feel comfortable.]

["You are not suitable for managing the big picture."]

[Xiu Yun pulled a long Face.]

["Why?"]

["Last month, you hosted a banquet at the East Street restaurant and spent forty-seven Spirit Stones on one meal. Who were you treating? The proprietress of the Li Family Pharmacy."]

[The flesh on Xiu Yun's Face twitched twice.]

["That was for business—"]

["You spend Spirit Stones in such places, I don't feel at ease handing the headquarters to you." You did not save him any Face, "Running errands, gathering information, building connections, you are better at these than anyone. But sitting behind the counter managing money, you cannot sit still."]

[Xiu Yun's lips moved slightly, but in the end, he did not respond and turned to leave.]

[The door slammed very hard.]

[You knew Xiu Yun would not fall out with you over this.]

[This person is self-interested, but not stupid.]

[He knows his own limits and what he is capable of.]

[After making a scene, he will be fine in a couple of days.]

[45 years old, the first month of the lunar year.]

[You officially handed over the daily management rights of Yunlai Inn and all its chain business firms to Manager Luo Bin.]

[When Manager Luo Bin signed the handover documents, his hand shook twice.]

[Just those two times. Then the strokes were steady, and the handwriting was neat and tidy.]

[Looking at this young man's back, you couldn't help but compare—this kid is much more reliable than you were at twenty-eight. Back then, you were still moving stones at the mine, not even understanding what business was.]

[Alright. The matters in the rear are settled.]

[It is time to do the real work.]

[Starting at 45 years old, you began to leave Yunzhou City and travel to various places.]

The simulation screen was no longer limited to the inn and business firms.

Shen Ji saw the world outside Yunzhou for the first time in the simulation.

[Nandu City, a transit hub for Cultivators. You saw a Foundation Establishment Cultivator flying for the first time here.]

[That person stepped on a long sword and swept over your head. The wind from the sword made the banners on the street flap loudly.]

[Qi Refining Stage 3 Peak, it can still bluff people among Loose Cultivators. But in Nandu City, it's not even enough to tie someone's shoes.]

[You began to systematically collect information about Sects.]

[You mingled in teahouses and taverns, hung out in markets and auction houses, and struck up conversations with all kinds of Cultivators. A forty-year-old Loose Cultivator merchant, no one has any guard against you. An old businessman with one foot in the grave, what threat could he possibly have?]

[Precisely because no one guarded against you, you heard a lot of truths instead.]

[46 to 49 years old. You traveled through thirteen cities in the Eastern Region and gained a basic understanding of the situation of the major Sects.]

A large amount of text began to appear on the panel—

[Tianxuan Sect: The largest Sect in the Eastern Region. Entry requirements: Spiritual Root quality must reach Mid-High Grade, and age must not exceed eighteen.]

[Cangqiong Sword Sect: Famous for Sword Cultivators. Selection is extremely strict, one out of a thousand.]

[Lingxu Valley: A Sect supported by an Alchemy family. You must have talent in Alchemy to enter.]

[Moyun Sect: A mid-to-high level Sect. Entrance examination focuses on Comprehension Ability and Heart-Nature, with relatively loose requirements for Spiritual Root. Age limit is below twenty. Occasionally relaxed to twenty-five when accepting Outer Sect Disciples.]

[Your attention stopped at the three words Moyun Sect.]

[You had contact with Elder Mo Song, an Outer Sect Elder, in Yunzhou City before. You were not well prepared and did not meet the entry requirements of the Moyun Sect, so you didn't take it seriously at the time.]

[Comparing all Sect information side by side—among Sects with decent strength, the Moyun Sect has a lower entry threshold than others.]

[It doesn't look at Spiritual Root quality, but at Comprehension Ability and Heart-Nature.]

[The age limit is relatively loose.]

[The key is that the route is clear—Northern Eastern Region, about a four-month journey from Yunzhou City.]

In reality.

Shen Ji sighed. In the first fourteen years of the first simulation, he was completely holed up in Yunzhou City, fussing over business and Medicinal Pill. He never even had the thought of going out for a tour.

Information asymmetry is far more valuable than ordinary resources. Fourteen years of cost in exchange for this realization.

The simulation continued.

[50 years old. You returned to Yunzhou City. Manager Luo Bin had the business running in perfect order. Profits were twenty percent higher than when you were there.]

[You felt no jealousy at all. "Employ people without suspicion," he has truly achieved these four words.]

[Ji Mengxue moved out of the inn's backyard. She lives in the east of the city with that green-robed Cultivator.]

A line of text appeared.

When Shen Ji saw this line of text in the simulation, he was sitting in his old spot on the second floor of the inn drinking tea.

He put down his teacup and let out a breath.

The hand holding the tea was suspended in mid-air.

Five years without returning, it is fine that they have parted ways.

With his current half-dead, sickly body, staying would only be a burden.

[51 to 53 years old. You continued to travel, focusing on investigating the geography and resource distribution around the Moyun Sect. Your physical condition remained stable, neither deteriorating nor improving.]

The simulation pushed forward at high speed.

Qi Refining Stage 3 Peak, it was stuck there.

There is no hope of breaking through to Foundation Establishment in this lifetime's simulation.

Only to live.

See more.

Remember more.

As for the Trait extraction, from age 43 to 53, those ten years, you drew a lottery on every birthday. Nine white Traits, one useless green Trait.

Fortunately, two Traits were considered useful.

One was Mental Stability (White), which helps stabilize the mind when Cultivating.

The other was Unremarkable (White), the System description is: a plain life, no strange encounters, no accidents, a plain life through and through.

This configuration is the most suitable for the current situation, ensuring that you won't die from a fall when you get old.

To survive the remaining years.

[54 years old, birthday.]

[You are sitting alone in an inn in Yanzhou City, a small city in the Eastern Region. It is raining outside the window. A pot of turbid wine and a plate of peanuts are on the table.]

[No one remembers today is your birthday. You forgot it yourself.]

A notification popped up on the panel—

[Ding—This year's Trait extraction triggered.]

[Extracting...]

Shen Ji straightened his back, his eyes focused.

The color of the light screen on the panel changed.

[The Traits drawn recently, the panel background is either white or gray.]

[This time—]

[It is blue.]

[Congratulations on obtaining a Blue Trait—]

The words on the panel were popping out one by one.