2: First simulation

[Ding! The first simulation is beginning...]

[You test the System but get no response; you realize you are already in the simulation.]

[You decide to Cultivate seriously for once, so you find your mother to ask for Materials for a Body Tempering medicinal bath.]

[Lin Xueping looks at you with relief: "Chener, you've finally grown up!"]

[Qin Yu curls her lip nearby: "Heh, hypocrite! You just said you'd leave the Family business to me, and now you're going back on your word!"]

[Ignoring your sister's mockery, you return to the courtyard to wait for the herbs.]

[Before even starting, a strong sense of resistance wells up in your heart.]

[The servants soon bring various training equipment: wooden dummies, sandbags, a large bathtub, and a pile of medicinal herbs...]

[Following the recipe, you brew Purple Sun Flowers, Blood-Patterned Grass, Iron-Bone Ginseng, and other herbs into a pot of yellowish-brown medicinal soup.]

[Looking at the boiling medicinal water, you take a deep breath, close your eyes, and jump in.]

[The scalding liquid, accompanied by a pungent odor, makes your head spin.]

[With this level of intensity, no wonder eighty percent of Martial Artists are stuck in the Body Tempering Realm!]

[This is clearly torture!]

[The soaking skin feels like it's being pierced by thousands of steel needles; it's both painful and itchy, and sweat constantly rolls down your forehead.]

[In the past, you would jump out of the tub after five minutes at most, but this time you endure for half an hour.]

[After the medicinal bath comes the training—standing stakes, stretching, sit-ups, crunches, squats, frog jumps...]

[Only halfway through, you are panting like a bull, your legs trembling as you collapse to the ground.]

[After resting for an hour, you grit your teeth and practice martial arts techniques—straight punches, palm strikes, hook hands, snap kicks...]

[After only half an hour of practice, you are sprawled on the ground like a pile of mud, unwilling to even move a finger.]

[Thinking about having to practice for two hours every morning, noon, and night from now on, you suddenly feel your life turn bleak.]

[If I have to train like this for a lifetime... it would be better to just slit my throat and get it over with!]

[You think of your sister—how she looks full of energy after finishing this set of movements.]

[For the first time, you truly admire this sister of yours.]

[It turns out the gap between yourself and a Genius is that she can hammer herself like a block of iron without batting an eye...]

[You sigh to the heavens: "I really can't endure this suffering."]

Watching the simulation, Qin Chen, lying on a lounge chair, looked a bit grim as he spat out a grape seed with a "poof."

"Can't you show some backbone?"

"How can you get stronger if you're this lazy?"

"Hurry up and Cultivate for me, you trash!"

[The second day,]

[Unsurprisingly, you have basically given up.]

[Your mother is long used to this and didn't even urge you.]

[Qin Yu runs over on her short little legs, takes a couple of looks, and curls her lip: "Yo yo yo, is that it?"]

["Sigh!" She sighs with an air of feigned maturity, putting her small hands behind her back, "The Qin Family really does have to rely on me!"]

[Clearly just a meter-tall little bean, she insists on acting like an adult: "At my age, I shouldn't have to bear so much..."]

[After saying that, she shakes her head solemnly and walks away with a waddling gait, hopping and skipping.]

[On the third day, you grit your teeth and manage thirty minutes in the medicinal bath, and barely endure ten minutes of stake-standing and training.]

[On the tenth day, you only soak in the medicinal bath for ten minutes, and your training is just a casual minute of going through the motions.]

[The fifteenth day,]

[You soak in the medicinal bath for a casual three minutes, strike a single pose for training, and give up after three seconds.]

[You are very distressed; your mind clearly wants to work hard, but your body just won't listen—it seems that being lazy to the bone for over ten years is truly hard to change overnight.]

[You lie on the lounge chair in the courtyard, feeling completely comfortable, yet your face is full of sorrow.]

[You truly admire those Martial Grandmasters; how on earth did they persevere?]

[You know your own worth very well; you're simply not cut out for martial arts, and you even find several excuses for yourself—]

[One, the Family isn't short of money, so there's no need to work hard...]

[Two, my sister's talent is that of a Prodigy; she can protect the Qin Family...]

[Three, you live a lifetime if you work hard, and you still live a lifetime if you don't...]

[Four, one should enjoy life while they can...]

[Thinking this way, your mood improves significantly, and even your sense of guilt lessens a lot.]

[You decide to go out for some fresh air—as usual, you head to the Tianxiang Pavilion.]

Qin Chen's expression turned a bit dark as he saw how useless he was in the simulation.

With this kind of behavior, how could his parents even stand him?

If his own son were this idle, he would definitely break his legs!

"No wonder they say you're the number one trash of Longyang Town; even I can't stand to watch this."

Qin Chen had originally hoped that his simulated self would Cultivate hard so that he could reap the benefits without effort.

He didn't expect the self in the simulator to be exactly as lazy as he was.

Qin Chen was also talking big without doing the work.

He actually understood very well how torturous practicing martial arts was—

Body Tempering alone is divided into five stages: Skin Tempering, Flesh Refining, Tendon Forging, Bone Casting, and Blood Exchanging.

Day after day, year after year, it takes at least three to ten years of bitter toil—and that depends on whether one's talent and resources are sufficient.

Only after Body Tempering reaches Perfection can one attempt to Breakthrough to the Houtian Realm.

The Houtian Realm involves four stages: Organ Cleansing, Marrow Transformation, Meridian Opening, and Aperture Piercing.

This process is even longer, taking five to fifteen years until all twelve main Meridians in the body are opened, forming a cycle of Internal Energy.

The bitterness of practicing martial arts is indeed not something an ordinary person can endure.

Between martial arts and the Tianxiang Pavilion, one is the life of a beast of burden, and the other is the life of an immortal.

Longyang Town has three major features: the Tianxiang Pavilion, the Slave Market, and the Medicinal Herb Market.

The Medicinal Herb Market is the economic backbone of Longyang Town, allowing it to rank among the top ten of the Yan Dynasty's top hundred towns.

The Slave Market is a characteristic industry of the Yan Dynasty, found in every town; slaves mainly come from families that have committed crimes.

As for the Tianxiang Pavilion, the reason it became a specialty is that it is much more Advanced than ordinary brothels, like a miniature version of the Zhao Capital Banquets.

As he watched, Qin Chen himself felt an itch and couldn't help but want to visit the Tianxiang Pavilion.

[As soon as you step into the Tianxiang Pavilion, the maid Xiaoya greets you with a beaming smile and leads you to an elegant seat on the second floor.]

[You lean lazily against the cushions, propping your chin with one hand, watching the central stage with boredom.]

[On the stage, three dancers in thin gauze are swaying their waists while the musicians beside them play with all their might.]

[You look around at the surrounding seats and see many acquaintances, who nod to you in greeting.]

[Xiaoya, squatting to the side brewing tea, asks in a sweet voice: "Young Master Qin, it's been half a month since we last saw you here~"]

[With a wicked smile, you use your toes to lift the hem of her light gauze skirt and gently stroke her thigh: "What, did you miss this Young Master?"]

[Xiaoya blushes as she catches your foot, gently pressing it against her chest and kneading it.]

[You take a sip of tea and squint your eyes in comfort.]

[This is what you call living.]

[Xiaoya suddenly whispers: "Young Master, about what we discussed last time... have you considered it?"]

[You naturally know she's referring to redeeming her freedom, but you deliberately pretend not to hear.]

["Young Master..." Xiaoya continues to press, clearly teasing you on purpose.]

["Hey, look at that girl dancing; she's quite good. Must be new, right?" You deliberately change the subject.]

[Xiaoya purses her lips in a smile and stops teasing you.]

[You are well aware in your heart—none of the girls in this Tianxiang Pavilion are simple.]

[Because there are several strange phenomena in this Tianxiang Pavilion:]

[First, they always sell the girls to powerful people as concubines or maids.]

[Second, branches are spread across the entire Yan Dynasty; that's impossible without some background.]

[Third, redeeming one's freedom is surprisingly easy; as long as you have money, though it's certainly not cheap.]

[If it were just to make money, this would be too ridiculous.]

[You guess—this Tianxiang Pavilion is most likely an intelligence agency!]

[You just don't know... who is behind it all...]