561: Chapter 561 The Sixteenth End

[Ding! The sixteenth simulation has ended. Please choose your reward:]

[1. Personal Strength: Body Integration Middle Stage, a wisp of Sword Dao Origin, a wisp of Chaos Origin, Lonely Slaying Annihilation (Perfection), Two Principles Rotation (Perfection), Three Talents Soul Slaughter (Perfection), Four Symbols Sealing Heaven (Perfection), Five Elements Life and Death Sword Array (Beginner), Ziyang Divine Palm (Perfection), Four Hundred Laws (Perfection)]

[2. External Items: immortal slaying sword (Ice), immortal slaying sword (Wind), chaos cloak (Innate Spirit Treasure), nineteen Acquired Spirit Treasures (xuantian seal, nine nether profound armor, soul suppressing bell, myriad transformations returning to origin scroll, Primordial Chaos Pearl, immortal binding rope, Heaven and Earth Bottle, Dragon Abyss Sword, soul suppressing bell, soul devouring mirror, God-Slaying Spear, etc.), "Ziyang Divine Art" Jade Slip, "Body Integration Mind-Cultivation Technique" Jade Slip, three copies of Jade Slips (Lin Feng, Old Ancestor Wuji, Venerable Ziyang), 60 million Spirit Stones.]

[3. Special Rewards: Cultivation Insights, Combat Experience, Detailed Memories.]

Watching the simulation end, Qin Chen exhaled a heavy breath of turbid Qi. He felt as if a heavy stone had been lifted from his shoulders, and his entire body and mind relaxed.

"I've finally reached Body Integration!!!"

With a thought, he said, "Choose option one."

[Host, please merge your Clone with your original body first.]

Qin Chen was taken aback for a moment, then he smiled.

That was true; he was about to reach the Body Integration Stage, so there was really no point in keeping his Clone hidden away.

Moreover, there weren't many people left who could kill him—at least within the Liu Clan Territory, no one could.

With a thought, his original body deep underground flashed and appeared before him.

The two bodies merged into one, and a familiar sense of power surged through his entire body.

"Choose option one."

The next second—

Buzz!

An invisible surge of energy poured into his body.

His cultivation levels stacked.

Body Integration Late Stage.

This power was majestic and vast, far exceeding his previous self.

Not only that—he clearly felt that the faint, indistinct sense of disconnection between his Divine Soul and Physical Body had completely vanished.

His consciousness also became sharp and clear, like a dusty mirror being wiped clean.

A sharp light flashed in his eyes, and his invisible, vast Divine Sense instantly expanded, bringing the entire Heaven Desolate Continent under the shroud of his Divine Thought.

Mortals, Martial Artists, Cultivators—the Auras of everyone had nowhere to hide.

"As expected, every city has Cultivators?"

He frowned slightly, discovering that the strongest among them was Liu Jinfeng at the Soul Transformation Stage.

He concentrated his thoughts, and his Divine Thought locked onto a shop in Nanjiang City—the Golden Phoenix Tea House.

Liu Jinfeng was currently sitting in meditation in the backyard, seemingly comprehending something.

Perhaps because the gap in strength was too large, she remained completely unaware.

Qin Chen's Divine Thought then turned toward the Imperial Capital.

The strongest Cultivator in the Imperial Capital was at Golden Core Perfection, an old man with white hair and beard, and a red mole on his eyebrow.

It was Liu Chengyu, also known as Uncle Cheng.

Liu Chengyu had just arrived at the Imperial Capital yesterday, and after buying a small courtyard, he had settled in.

Qin Chen thought about it and eventually withdrew his Divine Thought.

He then remembered those two wisps of Origin power and immediately turned his Divine Thought inward, sinking it into his body.

His current Dantian Qi Sea was like a vast and chaotic void.

One wisp was the Sword Dao Origin; its sharp Aura seemed capable of slaying everything, causing his heart to palpitate involuntarily.

The other wisp was the Chaos Origin, gentle yet powerful, yet also profoundly mysterious and difficult to fathom.

These two forces were truly marvelous. If he could fully comprehend their Origins, what kind of sights would he see?

He withdrew his Divine Thought, the sharp light in his eyes faded, and then he slowly stood up, walked to the balcony, and looked toward the sky.

"Should I take action now?"

After thinking it over repeatedly, he suppressed the thought—he would enter Mahayana first.

He sat on the balcony, quietly waiting for dawn.

Dawn came quickly.

Sunlight spread from the east, washing over the eaves, the treetops, and the few pedestrians on the street.

White steam from breakfast stalls drifted in the air, mixing with the smells of fried dough sticks, soy milk, and scallion pancakes. It was piping hot and tempting enough to make one's stomach growl.

More and more people appeared on the street—

Those carrying loads on poles, pushing carts, or carrying baskets emerged from various alleyways, merging into a bustling river.

"Candied haws for sale!" An old man carrying a straw pole walked slowly down the street, followed by several children with longing eyes.

"Want some Jianbing Guozi? Three for ten wen!" A stall owner worked nimbly, pouring batter onto the iron plate, turning the scraper, cracking an egg, and sprinkling a handful of scallions. The aroma was mouth-watering.

"Hiring! Hiring! One hundred wen a day! Looking for young, strong men!" A man who looked like a manager shouted at the top of his lungs.

Qin Chen stood on the balcony, looking at the street below and the people coming and going, and suddenly felt—it's truly good to be alive.

Not the kind of living that came with Cultivation, but this kind of living.

With the atmosphere of daily life, the human touch, fried dough sticks, soy milk, and candied haws.

He suddenly understood something.

The preciousness of life was never because it was long.

On the contrary, it was because it was short.

Because it was short, one cherished the present.

Because there was an end, one feared it would be too late.

Because it would be lost, one tried desperately to grasp it.

Those old monsters who had lived for thousands or tens of thousands of years had long forgotten what humanity was, and thus, they no longer lived like humans.

But these people below, they knew.

So they lived vibrantly, with flavor and zest.

Qin Chen took a deep breath, thought for a moment, and finally decided to handle Squire Shen's matter first.

It was just that his current self no longer had the murderous intent from two days ago.

For some reason, he couldn't muster even a hint of interest in killing people like "Squire Shen."

Even he hadn't expected that in just two short days, his state of mind had quietly shifted a bit.

It wasn't that he had gone soft, but that he had seen through it.

Killing one person couldn't save this world.

Although he wouldn't kill, he wanted to set a new set of rules for this Heaven Desolate Continent.

After reaching Body Integration, he seemed to understand many of the laws governing the operation of heaven and earth.

As the saying goes—Man follows Earth, Earth follows Heaven, Heaven follows the Dao, and the Dao follows Nature.

Nature is the constant of all things.

Strength and weakness have their times, and life and death have their fates; this was originally the principle of heaven.

But the strong bullying the weak and the many oppressing the few violated the way of nature.

He didn't want to act as an executioner himself, and he certainly didn't want to follow the old path of the Liu Clan Immortal Family.

The Liu Clan Immortal Family preached being the sole supreme, where those who followed prospered and those who opposed perished.

They considered themselves heaven, the law, and the Dominators of everything.

But what was the result?

He who seeks to be the sole supreme will eventually be destroyed by others.

One can be supreme for a time, but not for a lifetime.

Know the masculine, but keep to the feminine; be the valley for the world.

True strength is not about suppressing others, but about holding onto one's original heart.

Might can only suppress for a moment, but righteousness can endure for ten thousand years.

What he wanted to do was not kill, but establish rules and perfect the laws here, so that everyone on the Heaven Desolate Continent would learn to constantly strive for self-improvement.

As Heaven's movement is ever vigorous, so must a gentleman constantly strive for self-improvement.

Living as a human should be the same.

It's not about waiting for someone to save you, but about saving yourself.

In the flash of a thought, he felt as if he had touched something in the dark—like a thin mist, like a wisp of morning light, right before his eyes, yet seemingly out of reach.

It was something indescribable and inexplicable, like the edge of the Dao, yet also like the Dao itself.

He closed his eyes and felt it carefully.

That thing was in the distance, in the depths, before heaven and earth were opened, and before all things were born.

It was neither near nor far, neither attached nor detached.

He wanted to grasp it, but couldn't.

He wanted to see it, but couldn't see clearly.

But he knew it was there.