9: First End

[Year Ten,]

[You finally break through to the Late Stage of the Body Tempering Realm!]

[Cheng Rongrong occasionally visits you in secret, providing the only solace in your dull life.]

[Over these years, you haven't taken a single step out of the Imperial City Guard. Every day is spent either working or cultivating; you live like a prisoner.]

[However, though you never leave your house, you have the world's affairs at your fingertips—because you spent all your contribution points on browsing the archives!]

[You originally wanted to find clues about Cultivators, but unfortunately, you found nothing.]

[As for those classified files you lack the authority to view, you can guess even with your toes that they contain nothing more than tales of killing for treasures and the law of the jungle.]

[After all, practicing martial arts consumes the most resources.]

[Especially for those with power and influence who maintain large groups of Martial Artists, the resource consumption is staggering—the greater the power, the bigger the appetite.]

[What happens when resources are insufficient?]

[Naturally, you steal from others!]

[At the same time, you've gained a better understanding of this world—]

[It turns out this world is called the 'Tianhuang Continent,' and it contains over a hundred countries.]

[The Yan Dynasty is a mid-sized nation with a territory spanning ten thousand miles, a population of over a billion, more than fifty cities, and tens of thousands of villages and towns.]

[You gasp—you didn't expect the Yan Dynasty to be so massive!]

[What shocks you even more is—]

[The Tianhuang Continent is surrounded by the Endless Sea. For thousands of years, countless ships have set out to explore, yet not a single one has ever returned!]

[This is too eerie!]

[Over a hundred dynasties and thousands of years of exploration, yet they don't even know what's on the other side of the sea?]

[Just how big is this sea?!]

[You also discover something even more terrifying—]

[A thousand years ago, an invasion of Yao Beasts nearly wiped out the Human Race!]

[The Human Race was at its peak back then, yet they were slaughtered by the Yao Beasts to the point of near extinction.]

[It is said that an Immortal later descended to resolve this disaster.]

[The Yan Dynasty was established after that catastrophe.]

[The most frightening part is that history shows a Yao Beast invasion erupts every thousand years...]

[You calculate the time, and cold sweat begins to pour—]

[Doesn't that mean the next disaster is coming soon?!]

[The more you know, the more panicked you become.]

[Worse still, you have the Realm but no actual strength; you have neither Cultivation Techniques nor combat experience.]

[The Imperial City Guard's logistics department sells everything—techniques, armor, hidden weapons, armaments...]

[Unfortunately, they are all very ordinary.]

[Thinking back now, you really regret it. The Qin Family also had techniques, but you were actually too lazy to look at them back then!]

[Gritting your teeth, you use the silver Cheng Rongrong gave you to buy the 'Mizong Step' and the 'Void-Piercing Sword Technique,' plus a Blue Steel Sword.]

[For these two Low Grade techniques, it took you two months just to reach the entry level.]

[Wanting to reach Perfection? It's likely as difficult as ascending to heaven!]

[You finally understand: without actual combat, you can never hope to become stronger.]

[Every time you want to give up, the tragic deaths of your parents and your sister's mockery flash before your eyes.]

[Relying on this hatred, you force yourself to persevere through the hardship.]

[Days pass by, one after another...]

[Year Fifteen,]

[You finally reach Body Tempering Perfection.]

[But you can't bring yourself to be happy.]

[Being in the Body Tempering Realm in your thirties is embarrassing to even mention.]

[If not for Cheng Rongrong's financial aid over the years, you wouldn't even have this much cultivation.]

[You've accepted your fate—you are a martial arts mediocre talent.]

[Those martial arts geniuses at your age are already Innate experts, and some have even become Grandmasters.]

[And you?]

[Entering middle age, you're not only stuck in the Body Tempering Realm but also just a clerk doing odd jobs.]

[With no background and no talent, in this world where strength is respected, you even have to lower your voice when speaking.]

[As for revenge?]

[You know there's no hope for it in this lifetime...]

[Whenever the night is deep and quiet, you remember—]

[The sight of your father being besieged...]

[The fragrance of the Purple Ginseng Cakes your mother made...]

[Your sister mocking you in her childish voice...]

[Thinking of these things makes your chest feel tight and stifled.]

[If not for Cheng Rongrong's company, you probably would have gone mad long ago.]

[So every time you see her, you feel incredibly guilty.]

[Cheng Rongrong notices your low spirits and gently comforts you: "Brother Qin, don't always think about things that can't be changed; it only makes you feel worse."]

[Looking at her, who has stayed by your side for over a decade, your heart warms: "To meet you in this life is truly my blessing."]

["Me too!" She snuggles into your arms. "If I hadn't met you, I might have grown old alone."]

[You are puzzled: "How could that be? You're beautiful and come from a good family."]

[She whispers: "Precisely because of my family..."]

[After hearing her finish, you understand.]

[It turns out that as the only daughter of the Grand Secretary, Cheng Rongrong only had two paths—either marry the sons of other powerful nobles or enter the palace as a concubine.]

[Marrying into another powerful family? The Emperor wouldn't allow it!]

[Entering the palace? She threatened to kill herself.]

[That's why she took the initiative to give herself to you back then and intentionally spread word of your affair.]

[This way, the palace naturally wouldn't want her anymore.]

[Although she is already your woman, with your status, the Grand Secretary looks down on you completely.]

[Coupled with the fact that your martial arts cultivation hasn't improved at all over the years, there's no possibility of you marrying into her family.]

[But Cheng Rongrong never cared about any of that.]

[She often says: "Walking hand in hand with you until our hair turns white like this is quite nice."]

[You can't help but sigh: the women of this world are truly devoted; once they choose someone, it's for a lifetime.]

[The next day, after Cheng Rongrong leaves, you step out of the Imperial City Guard, intending to buy a Body Tempering Pill for your Breakthrough.]

[This is your first time walking out of the Imperial City Guard.]

[After leaving the Imperial City Guard, you unconsciously walk toward the Martial Arts Academy.]

[You don't know what you're expecting; you just really miss your sharp-tongued sister.]

[But just as you're about to reach the Martial Arts Academy, Fang Chen surrounds you with five guards.]

[These guards are all Houtian Realm experts.]

[You know that this time, it's over.]

[You never expected this guy could keep a grudge against you for so many years.]

[Actually, Fang Chen wasn't specifically waiting for you, but the bounty on you has always been active; he brought men as soon as he received word.]

[Your gaze turns cold, and you decide to strike first. You grip the Blue Steel Sword, and your feet suddenly execute the Mizong Step, causing your body to accelerate abruptly—]

[But in the next second, with several 'whoosh' sounds, five hidden weapons strike from different directions. One of them pierces directly through your chest.]

[Before you can even react, a chill hits your neck, and your head has already rolled to the ground.]

[The world spins. You stare with wide eyes, watching your headless body spray a three-foot-high pillar of blood.]

[Fang Chen approaches with a cold sneer, squatting down to stare at your head: "Kid, keep your eyes open in your next life."]

[As soon as the words fall, you feel your Soul leave your body, slowly floating toward the sky.]

[In your blurred consciousness, you cannot control yourself; you can only watch helplessly as you fly higher and higher.]

[When you drift to the clouds ten thousand meters high, you are shocked—from all directions, a massive number of Souls are floating toward the sky.]

[These Souls are all the people who died on the Tianhuang Continent.]

[You never imagined that the Soul after death would be like this.]

[Suddenly, you see a giant bronze mirror hanging overhead, emitting a mysterious light.]

[It turns out all these Souls drifting across the sky are being sucked up by this bronze mirror.]

[Before you can see clearly, a powerful suction swallows you into the bronze mirror.]

[Instead of giving up, you get a second wind.]

[You struggle desperately...]

[However, it is in vain; in the end, you are still sucked in.]

[Three breaths later, your consciousness dissipates.]

[You are dead.]

[Ding! Simulation ended. Please choose your reward:]

[1. Personal Strength: Body Tempering Perfection cultivation, 'Mizong Step' (Entry), 'Void-Piercing Sword Technique' (Entry).]

[2. External Items: Two taels of silver.]

[3. Special Rewards: Cultivation insights, combat experience, detailed memories.]