493: Rich woman!

His figure soon disappeared amidst the swirling dust.

Su Ming watched the direction in which Sword Thirteen departed, his brow furrowing slightly.

"One year... will it be too long?"

He knew very well that the ten-year limit in the simulation seemed distant, but in reality, it would pass in the blink of an eye.

"It's not long."

Jian Lingtian looked back at the crack, a hint of self-deprecation in his tone.

"Those two old fellows are suspicious by nature. Just verifying the authenticity of the news will likely take half a year."

"The remaining half-year is time for them to prepare their backup plans."

Then, he turned his head, his gaze falling upon Su Ming.

His eyes no longer held just the regard of an elder for a Junior, but also a few hints of an indescribable complexity.

"As for you, little friend."

"This time, if not for your prior deduction, the Vast Immortal Domain might have truly marched toward destruction in silence."

"Five Eerie Immortal Emperors... this power is enough to completely destroy the Vast Immortal Domain."

Jian Lingtian gave a self-deprecating laugh, one that carried a streak of ruthlessness.

"I, Jian Lingtian, will remember this favor, and so will the Immortal Sword Manor."

He didn't give Su Ming a chance for pleasantries, simply waving his hand as if driving away some unease, his movements stiff and decisive.

"Alright, don't linger here."

"The Death Qi here is heavy. Take Tianji and return to the manor to Cultivate properly."

"The priority right now is to raise your strength."

"Ten years is but a mere flash of a moment."

Su Ming looked at Jian Lingtian's stalwart back, his heart sinking slightly.

He didn't bother with any sentimental nonsense about living and dying together.

In the face of Immortal Emperor-level combat power, he didn't even have the qualification to approach the battlefield.

Staying behind would serve no purpose other than distracting Jian Lingtian to protect him.

This sense of powerlessness was like a fine needle, pricking his nerves from time to time.

"This Junior understands."

Su Ming responded and then looked at Xuanyuan Tianji beside him.

The two said no more. Their figures flickered, turning into two streaks of rainbow light as they sped toward the edge of the Outer Heaven.

The wind whistled in his ears. Su Ming turned his head and took one last look at that pitch-black crack spanning between heaven and earth.

Deep within the crack.

Those five suffocating auras seemed to sense his gaze, emitting an even deeper malice as if mocking his weakness... After returning to the Immortal Sword Manor, Su Ming shut the wooden door behind him and locked himself in the room.

Inside the quiet room.

He didn't immediately sit in meditation to Cultivate, but instead stared intently at the simulator panel in his mind.

[Simulation Cooldown: 23 years!]

"Tsk."

Su Ming rubbed his brow and let out a long sigh, his voice filled with helplessness.

The time when those five Eerie Immortal Emperors would descend was ten years away.

Yet, the simulator's cooldown was actually twenty-three years.

There was a gap of exactly thirteen years in between; it was practically a dead end.

Without the simulator's ability to foresee the future, he was like a blind man traveling in the dark of night.

Even if he knew there was a pit ahead, he wouldn't know how deep it was, let alone which way to go around it.

This feeling of knowing death was approaching yet losing the tool to turn the tables made Su Ming feel a surge of irritability.

He lay flat on the hard wooden bed, staring blankly at the beams on the ceiling.

"Is it possible that leaving the Vast Immortal Domain is the only path left?"

Su Ming muttered self-deprecatingly.

Random tasks hadn't appeared for many years.

Previously, it wouldn't have mattered if no task was triggered.

But now, he desperately needed simulation attempts, so he was extremely eager for a random task to appear.

Just then, a long-awaited electronic sound suddenly rang out in Su Ming's mind.

[Ding!]

[Random Task Triggered!]

[Random Task: Breakthrough to the Immortal Lord Realm within one year.]

[Task Reward: Simulation Count * 1]

This sound was crisp and pleasant, sounding more moving to Su Ming than any immortal music in the world.

He froze for three seconds before suddenly jumping up from the bed, his movement so large it nearly overturned the wooden table nearby.

"Holy shit!"

Su Ming couldn't help but curse; the gloom on his face vanished instantly, replaced by a near-manic excitement.

"System Bro, you're truly my brother! This timely help is just perfect!"

He didn't care at all right now if the task was difficult.

As long as it gave simulation counts, let alone breaking through to Immortal Lord, even if he were told to pluck the feathers of the Golden Crow Great Emperor right now, he'd be pondering where to start.

After calming down, Su Ming carefully looked at the task requirements.

"One year, Immortal Lord."

If it were before, he might have felt apprehensive.

After all, going from Heavenly Immortal to Immortal Lord was a qualitative leap; countless Geniuses were stuck at this stage for thousands of years without necessarily being able to cross it.

But the current Su Ming was different.

In the previous simulations, although he hadn't truly broken through, the feeling of glimpsing the threshold of the Immortal Lord Realm still remained deep within his Divine Soul.

That wasn't just an insight; it was more like a kind of muscle memory.

"One year... it's enough."

Su Ming sat back cross-legged on the prayer mat, his gaze becoming exceptionally calm.

However, to be safe.

He walked out of the wooden house and found Xuanyuan Tianji once again... "You want resources?"

Su Ming scratched his head awkwardly, coughing dryly to hide his embarrassment.

"This... as you know, the energy required for the Chaos Body to advance is far too immense."

"If I want to Breakthrough the Immortal Lord Bottleneck within a year, the conventional resources in the manor will likely be insufficient."

Xuanyuan Tianji turned around, her deep eyes lingering on him for a moment.

She didn't ask Su Ming why he was in such a hurry to Breakthrough, nor did she ask how much confidence he had.

A streak of light traced a graceful arc through the air.

Su Ming instinctively reached out and caught it. His palm felt heavy; it was a bronze ring.

"Take it."

After uttering those two words, she turned back around, clearly having no interest in continuing the conversation.

Su Ming said his thanks and, clutching the ring, walked quickly back to his residence.

Closing the door, he sent a wisp of Divine Sense into the ring.

The next moment, Su Ming froze on the spot, the expression on his face instantly turning from anticipation to dull shock.

"Holy shit!"

He couldn't help but exclaim in a low voice, his heart rate suddenly accelerating.

"Did she raid a Heavenly Emperor's nest?"

The ring within the space was enormous, filled with piles of treasures rarely seen once in a hundred years.

What startled him even more was that in an inconspicuous corner, a few stalks of medicinal herbs shimmering with starlight lay quietly.

"Nine-Revolution Soul-Returning Grass? And this... Star Origin Marrow?"

These things were items he had only occasionally seen before during his ventures into the Heavenly Emperor Secret Realm in the simulations.

If any of these were to be leaked out, they would be enough to make those Immortal Sovereign experts in the outside world fight to the death.

Now, these treasures were just piled haphazardly in the ring like a heap of worthless sundries.

Su Ming swallowed hard. Looking at this ring full of rare treasures, only one thought remained in his mind.

"She's truly a rich lady..."

He had originally thought he had sufficiently overestimated the foundation of this Xuanyuan Imperial Princess, but now it seemed his perspective was still too narrow.

With the support of these resources, no matter how large the Chaos Body's appetite was, it could be forcibly satiated.

Su Ming took a deep breath, calming his surging emotions...