53: Should Chapter 53 initiate the second simulation?

Outside the Safe Zone, there was a quiet, deep green ditch.

Suddenly, bubbles began to gurgle up from the water...

Immediately after, a splashing sound rang out!

A head emerged from the deep ditch, and following that, a young man wearing a white shirt broke through the water...

His name was Xiao Chen, and he was the illegitimate son of the Xiao Family.

Xiao Chen glanced at his abdomen, where several knife wounds were visible. The flesh was mangled as if torn apart, and blood gushed out like a spring, staining his clothes red.

Enduring the pain, he sat on the bank, clenching his fists and gritting his teeth, saying indignantly: "Xiao Family! You actually wanted to kill me and take away my precious ring..."

As he spoke, he slowly took out the ancient-looking ring from his pocket. At that moment, a hint of crazed ferocity appeared on his face.

Just then, a strange voice suddenly emanated from the ancient ring:

"Hehe... disciple! Look, Revered Master prepared a fake ring in advance and applied some Demonic Path power to it, so they would think it was the real one. How about that? Did Revered Master think ahead, or what?"

"Revered Master, thank you for saving me! The person who wanted to kill me was at the Golden Core Stage; it must be someone from the Xiao Family, perhaps even someone I know. I must take revenge. If I do not avenge this, I am unworthy of being a person!"

Xiao Chen gritted his teeth tightly, his eyes filled with hatred.

"Disciple, do not rush. You are only at the fourth level of Qi Refining and are not yet their match. According to my observations, the Xiao Family seems to have experts at the Nascent Soul Stage. Once you reach the Core Formation Stage, you can kill your way back... For now, just focus on developing yourself in the wilderness!"

The voice in the ring continued: "You must remember, by joining our Demonic Path, you cannot have love in your heart. Kill whoever provokes you, and you can even kill those who haven't. The Demonic Path is even more overbearing than the Overbearing Path. Only in this way can you quickly condense your Demonic Core."

"And for us Demonic cultivators, once we condense a Demonic Core, we can rely on it to devour others' Primordial Spirits. Even if you challenge a Nascent Soul expert at a higher level, you will still have a thirty percent chance of winning!"

"Disciple, I have already healed your flesh wounds. So, from now on, go on a killing spree!"

Xiao Chen glanced at his abdomen. The wounds had miraculously healed and scabbed over quickly, and even the pain had vanished. Before long, he was almost completely recovered.

He couldn't help but be overjoyed.

"Revered Master, you are truly too powerful!!"

"Remember, only slaughter can make you stronger. You will bloom amidst the slaughter; you are the protagonist of this Earth! Now, begin the slaughter!"

"Yes, Revered Master!"

...

The banquet of the Four Great Families finally ended.

Su Fan and Qin Xiaoxiao left the Xiao Family residence together. After dismissing the Qin Family driver, Qin Xiaoxiao snuggled into Su Fan's arm, her starry eyes filled with a glistening light as she said: "Su-su, today felt so good... Why don't you just be my real boyfriend, okay?"

Su Fan was stunned; he hadn't expected her to confess to him just like that.

However, his heart only held Ji Yao.

He was a devoted person, and he had agreed with Qin Xiaoxiao from the start that he was only helping her out, acting as a shield against her parents' pressure to marry.

Who could have guessed that while he treated her as a friend, she truly treated him as a boyfriend...

"Qin Xiaoxiao, I must tell you seriously and earnestly that I am truly married, and I only love her. This time, I am merely helping you; please do not make such jokes."

Su Fan was not cut out to be a scumbag, nor did he want to be one, so he laid it out for her straightforwardly.

Unexpectedly, Qin Xiaoxiao pursed her lips and smiled: "But your records clearly state that you are single and unmarried. Tell me honestly, did your ex-girlfriend cheat on you? Are you still stuck in your previous relationship, unable to move on?"

"That's not the case. I haven't had a girlfriend, but I am truly married, and she is coming to Earth to find me..." Su Fan said solemnly.

Qin Xiaoxiao chuckled, "You are really cute in your foolishness! If you haven't had a girlfriend, how could you be married? Isn't what you said contradictory?"

"I am truly married. If you don't believe me, look at this..."

Su Fan took the [tear of the empress] from his bosom, "This is the token of love between her and me!"

"What is this? It looks like a teardrop..."

Qin Xiaoxiao looked at it, then laughed again: "Su-su, you are truly too cute. You don't actually think that giving something like this means you can only love one person for your whole life, do you?"

"You don't need to think that way, babe. Thinking like that will only exhaust you. You have already done right by her; you can completely forget her and start a new relationship. If she cheated on you, that is her fault. Why must you punish yourself for her mistake?"

Qin Xiaoxiao murmured, gently shaking Su Fan's arm, her voice gradually softening, "I can't guarantee that I will stay with you forever without ever separating, but I really like you right now, and I really want to be with you..."

Su Fan stopped walking and pried Qin Xiaoxiao's hand off: "Second Young Miss Qin, you just didn't want to marry into the Su Family or the Wang Family, so you used me as a shield. As for whether you genuinely like me, I'm afraid even you don't know, right? So... I can pretend I never heard what you just said to me. I ask that you, Second Young Miss Qin, do not toy with me anymore."

After saying this, he casually plucked an umbrella from the umbrella rental stand nearby and flew away into the sky on it.

Qin Xiaoxiao, stunned where she stood, covered her mouth: "Heavens, what exactly did I say wrong..."

Then, looking up at the sky, she stomped her feet in anger: "Babe! Don't be angry! I genuinely like you!"

After shouting, her eyes inexplicably became moist, and before she knew it, tears were streaming down like rain.

Walking down the road, she pouted and angrily pinched her own arm: "I am truly damned. He is such a devoted person, yet I only said I like him now. I could have clearly said I like him for a lifetime..."

...

Su Fan returned to his residence and glanced at his phone. Suddenly, there were 17 missed calls and over a dozen messages.

Both the calls and messages were from Qin Xiaoxiao. She kept apologizing to him, explaining that she had said the wrong thing, that she really, really liked him, and that she wanted to walk with him all the way...

"Understood."

After sending this brief reply, he tossed his phone aside and lay on the bed with complex emotions.

To say he had no feelings for Qin Xiaoxiao at all wouldn't be true. At the very least, she was beautiful, and when he touched her body, he did have fantasies; after all, he was a normal man.

However, he was very clear that the one he loved was Ji Yao.

For a moment, all sorts of messy thoughts seemed to be stuffed into his brain, making him very annoyed...

On Qin Xiaoxiao's side, upon suddenly receiving his reply, she immediately broke into a smile through her tears and clenched her pink fists.

"He said understood. He didn't misunderstand me... Yay! That's great!!"

At this moment, a certain tall, aloof, and heroic female section chief had truly become a love-struck girl...

...

[Ding~~~] [This simulator has finished charging happiness energy. Current energy level: 199.95%] [Available simulation count: 1] [Shall the simulation be started?]

Su Fan was lying on the bed when he suddenly heard the prompt from the simulator.

"It has finished charging?"

"How strange. I only attended one gathering of the Four Great Families, and it finished charging?"

He clearly remembered that before he went, he had specifically checked the energy level, which was 55.9%. According to the normal charging speed, it wouldn't exceed 1% per day. Yet, just by attending such a top-tier gathering, it had soared directly to 199.95%?

That's almost enough for two simulation sessions!

Could it be... that the happiness energy required by the simulator is related to this group of social elites?

"Happiness energy... happiness energy... Oh, I think... I probably understand now!"

Su Fan slapped his thigh, suddenly realizing that the simulator was absorbing happiness energy from the people around him. In other words... the sense of happiness from this group of top-tier figures was over a hundred times greater than the people he usually encountered!

"It seems... they are truly living very happily!"

Su Fan sighed with genuine emotion, and then looked at the simulator screen again...

"Should I start the second simulation immediately?"