36: Chapter 36 Simulated Shop, Past Events
Chu Sheng stood up from behind the woodshed and stretched his limbs.
The Qi Induction Fourth Grade spiritual energy flowed through his body, feeling countless times more refreshing than when he was at the First Grade.
Although it was still a bit unstable, it was genuine Fourth Grade strength.
In Qingshi Town, he could practically walk wherever he pleased.
He brushed the dust off his body and was about to return to the Listening to Bamboo Pavilion when he suddenly remembered something, his consciousness sinking into the simulator interface.
[Current simulation points: 1323.]
Chu Sheng looked at this number, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but rise.
"One thousand three hundred! I'm rich, I'm rich!"
He happily opened the simulation points shop.
He hadn't looked at it carefully before, but now that he had money, he had to do some shopping.
[simulation points shop (Lv.1 unlocked)]
[Available functions:]
[Upgrade Prize Pool (800 points): Elevate the prize pool to Lv.3, further increasing the probability of random trait quality, and unlocking a higher-level trait pool.]
[Increase Initial Trait Slot (1000 points/slot): For the next and subsequent simulations, you can permanently add one selectable trait slot.]
[Unlock Backup Trait Slot (100 points): You can preset a backup trait before the simulation starts, and temporarily replace the current trait during key choices in the simulation.]
[Real-world Item Exchange:]
[Low-Grade Spirit Stone: 1 simulation point for 1 piece (Limited to 100 pieces/week).]
[Yellow-rank Low Grade Dharma Sword · Qing Feng: 100 simulation points.]
[Yellow-rank Low Grade Sword Technique · Nine Swords of Swift Wind (Minor Achievement): 100 simulation points.]
[Yellow Rank Medium Grade Protective Soft Armor: 300 simulation points.]
[First-grade Low Grade Medicinal Pill · Peiyuan Pill (Pack of ten): 50 simulation points.]
[...]
[...More items to be unlocked; upgrade the shop to unlock higher permissions.]
Chu Sheng looked at this list of options, and his smile gradually froze.
"Damn it, so expensive?"
He counted on his fingers:
Upgrading the prize pool is 800, adding a slot is 1000, that's already 1800.
He only had 1300 in total.
"Is this designed specifically to target my wallet?"
He rubbed his temples and began to think seriously.
The prize pool definitely had to be upgraded.
The Lv.2 prize pool had already allowed him to draw a Divine-Grade trait like Pill Dao Physique; what would Lv.3 be capable of?
Perhaps he could get a Golden Legend, or even a Red Collection.
He also had to add a slot.
Currently, there were only four slots: [Trash] was locked, [Many Children, Many Blessings] was a must-have, [Strong Luck] was a must-have, leaving only one free slot.
If he could have one more slot, the flexibility would be much greater.
Backup trait slot...
100 points wasn't expensive, but it seemed useless for the time being?
After all, he didn't even have enough free slots right now.
He looked at the real-world item exchange.
Low-Grade Spirit Stone, 1:1 exchange.
He still had dozens of Spirit Stones on him, enough for a while.
Moreover, simulation points were clearly more precious than Spirit Stones.
simulation points could be exchanged for Spirit Stones, but Spirit Stones couldn't be exchanged for simulation points.
"Not exchanging."
Medicinal Pill?
He was an Alchemist himself, and he would soon inherit the Medicine God's experience package, so there was even less need to exchange for them.
Dharma Sword and Sword Technique... these were worth considering.
His current combat power likely relied entirely on poisonous Medicinal Pills and underhanded tricks; facing someone head-on was basically asking to be served on a platter.
If he happened to encounter an opponent who was immune to poison, he couldn't just fight them head-on, right?
"Buy!"
[Consumed 100 simulation points, exchanged for Yellow-rank Low Grade Dharma Sword · Qing Feng.]
[Consumed 100 simulation points, exchanged for Yellow-rank Low Grade Sword Technique · Nine Swords of Swift Wind (Minor Achievement).]
A stream of information flooded into his mind.
It was the technique for circulating Qi and the Move sets of the sword technique.
At the same time, his hand sank, and a three-foot-long Qing Feng appeared; the sword body was light, with faint green light circulating.
Chu Sheng casually swung the sword in a flourish; it felt quite natural.
"Yellow-rank Low Grade, barely enough. I'll exchange for better ones when I have money in the future."
He checked his balance: 1122 points.
"Still have 1100... barely enough to upgrade the prize pool, but not enough to add a slot."
He sighed, "simulation points, they are truly hard to earn and fast to spend."
He suddenly thought of a problem: the cooldown time for each simulation was increasing.
In the first simulation, he lived to eighty-three.
In the second simulation, he lived to seventy-two.
In the third simulation, he was gone at twenty-four.
But that was an accident; normal development should have been longer.
"Is the simulator pushing me towards a more distant timeline?"
He rubbed his chin and pondered.
"Is the simulation itself evolving, or... is the plot I'm participating in becoming more complex, naturally stretching out the time?"
He remembered the sentence from the Jin Xiao City Lord at the end of the third simulation: "If you can survive, there will always be a place for you in Jin Xiao City."
"If the fourth simulation can develop normally, I might be able to come into contact with higher-level things—True Condensation Realm, Spirit Sea Realm, or even Dao Palace, Divine Ability..."
He took a deep breath.
"Then I can't spend simulation points recklessly."
He looked at the shop page and found there was also a shop upgrade option.
[Shop Upgrade (500 points): Unlock more exchangeable items, including Profound Rank Cultivation Technique, second-grade Medicinal Pill, special talents, etc.]
Chu Sheng's eyelids twitched.
"Upgrading also requires simulation points? Is this shop a nesting doll?"
He decisively closed the interface.
"Forget it, forget it, I'll keep them for now. I need to keep a low profile in reality for these two weeks; if anything happens, I can use the simulation points for emergencies."
He thought about it, then opened the shop again and spent 100 points to unlock the [Backup Trait Slot].
[Consumed 100 simulation points, unlocked Backup Trait Slot. Currently available backup slots: 1.]
"One hundred points isn't expensive, I'll keep it just in case. If I bring the wrong trait in the simulation, I can temporarily swap it."
[Current remaining simulation points: 1022.]
Chu Sheng put away the Dharma Sword, circled out from behind the woodshed, and walked toward the Listening to Bamboo Pavilion.
The night was deep, and the Lin Mansion was quiet.
The patrolling guards saw him from afar and voluntarily made way.
After all, this servant was now a guest retainer.
But they didn't realize that Chu Sheng was already at Qi Induction Fourth Grade.
Returning to his small courtyard, Xiao Huan was already asleep, and the sound of even breathing came from the side room.
Chu Sheng sat down on the stone bench in the courtyard and looked up at the night sky.
Everything from the third simulation:
The femme fatale from Danxia Peak, the explosion of the poisonous Medicinal Pill on the competition stage, Liu Qingyan's tearful eyes, the rosy clouds when Chu An was born, that sentence from the Jin Xiao City Lord about retirement...
"The third one, it really was short." He murmured, "But it was also truly brilliant."
He touched the qing feng sword in his bosom and felt the Fourth Grade spiritual energy in his body again.
"In reality, I also need to speed up my progress."
Lin Wanqing was still in the Lin family, Lin Hao and Han Li were still watching from the shadows, and although there was no movement from the Qinglan Sect, they would sooner or later come looking for him if he exposed his talent.
"For these two weeks, first stabilize my cultivation and practice the sword technique until I'm proficient."
He stood up.
"If I get through this smoothly, I'll save more simulation points and refresh a wave of traits before the next simulation."
He looked at the simulator interface; the cooldown for the fourth simulation was still counting down.
[Fourth life simulation cooling down... Remaining time: 13 days 22 hours]
"Two weeks." He smiled, "Enough to do a lot of things."