18: Subsequent development

Gu Yuchuan was happy in his heart. Now he had two more Simulation attempts, bringing his total back to three. He could cultivate in peace for a while again. Most importantly, he had successfully taken his revenge. That Red Flame Cultivator had killed him many times, but this time, the man had finally died by his hand.

After returning, Great King Hui She asked if he wanted to join Yunxi Palace. He thought about it but ultimately refused. He had his own Legacy and Golden Finger, allowing him to cultivate entirely on his own without needing help from any organization. Furthermore, getting too close to others would likely risk exposure. Therefore, there was no need for him to join Yunxi Palace. For now, staying in the Yunxi River was safe enough.

However, Great King Hui She still liked him very much. After all, they were of the same race and followed the same path to become a Dragon. Since Yunxi Palace had lost Black Snake King and Crab General one after another, its mid-level strength was clearly lacking. Naturally, the King wanted to fill these gaps. However, this was a matter of mutual consent, and since Gu Yuchuan was unwilling, he couldn't be forced. Thus, Gu Yuchuan returned to his Immortal Cave. This time, Great King Hui She gave him a bottle of yellow bud pills as a reward.

The yellow bud pill was a type of Medicinal Pill very popular among Qi Refining Cultivators of the Human Race. It was the top choice for Mid Qi Refining Stage Cultivators to increase their cultivation speed. Taking one pill could accelerate cultivation speed several times over. Crucially, its pill toxicity was very low, allowing for long-term consumption. A small bottle cost 50 Low-Grade Spirit Stones. Ordinary Sect Cultivators only received a salary of less than 10 Spirit Stones a month, which showed its preciousness.

Gu Yuchuan was also very happy to receive them; he was now even closer to the Qi Refining Sixth Layer.

Just as he arrived near his home, he saw Koi. Koi swam over, happily flapping his large tail, and muttered, "Fellow Daoist Green Snake, you're finally back! I knew you'd return safely. You have no idea how worried I've been these past few days. You're the only good neighbor I have."

Gu Yuchuan wasn't used to such enthusiasm, but he knew that Koi was like this with everyone. This was perhaps his way of survival—forging good relations with everyone so that, unless there was a real grudge, no one would want to move against him. His race and talents weren't suited for combat; he could live so well because of his own social management.

"Alright, I'm going back now. Today's battle was too intense, and I'm truly exhausted, so I won't talk much more with you."

His complexion was indeed quite poor. Although he hadn't contributed much in this battle, he had been highly tense the entire time, fearing that something beyond his control might happen. Fortunately, the Yao Race's planning was flawless, and every move by the Human Race was perfectly countered, eventually forcing them to leave in defeat. However, he felt it was a pity that Elder Heavenly Snake wasn't left behind. It seemed there was still a significant gap in combat power between humans and yao.

After returning to his Immortal Cave, he had a wonderful sleep. This was life—no, this was the life of a snake! Recently, his state at Yunxi Palace had been very poor, and his spirit had been under constant strain. Cultivation was about balancing tension and relaxation; he had been a bit too tightly wound and definitely needed to unwind.

He slept until the sun was high in the sky. The cave was underwater, after all, so it was a bit damp. After sleeping for so long, he felt his body was sticky and greasy. However, that was easily solved. He went out for two laps in the water, and his body felt much fresher. He stretched his body like he was yawning, and once he was done, he began to think about what to do next.

If his guess was correct, the Human Race and Yao Race wouldn't go to war in the short term. After all, they had lived in peace for a hundred years. Even if they did start fighting, it would be a slow process of testing each other. Neither side knew the other's true strength, so they wouldn't start a direct war. Therefore, he still had time to develop.

He took out the yellow bud pills and prepared to start cultivating. Suddenly, a thought popped into his small head. It seemed he could exploit a bug. After all, if he ate the yellow bud pills in the Simulation, he would still have them in reality! Thinking of this, he quickly began a Simulation.

[Congratulations to the Host for starting the tenth Simulation. Now beginning the talent draw.]

[White talent: Scale Reinforcement; White talent: Swiftness; White talent: Strength.]

Looking at the talent draw this time, he felt his vision go dark. What was this? It was exactly the same as last time. What was going on? Was his luck really this bad now?]

Forget it, he could only pick one at random and start the Simulation.

[Host selects White talent: Scale Reinforcement. Simulation begins.]

[Day 1: You take a yellow bud pill and cultivate in your Immortal Cave. The Human Race's Medicinal Pills are indeed powerful; you can feel your cultivation speed has increased significantly.]

[Day 2: You continue to take a yellow bud pill and cultivate in your Immortal Cave. You can clearly feel that you are very close to the Qi Refining Sixth Layer.]

[Day 3: Koi comes to find you, saying a friend has invited him to a Dao discussion meet and asks you to go along. You are tempted, but since your cultivation is about to advance, you refuse.]

[Day 4: You continue to cultivate.]

... [Day 9: You take the last yellow bud pill and successfully advance to the Qi Refining Sixth Layer. You swim back and forth in the water happily.]

[Day 10: You have nothing to do and plan to ask Koi if there are any fun places nearby. After all, you've been in seclusion for nine days and want to rest today. However, Koi isn't home. You ask several yao in the vicinity, but they all say they haven't seen him.]

[Day 11: You still don't see Koi today. You think about how he helped you in the past, even helping you pick the right one out of the three traitor candidates. You can't just ignore it. You start investigating his whereabouts that day and eventually learn he accepted an invitation from a Toad Spirit.]

[Day 12: You find this Toad Spirit. The other party denies having seen Koi. You take direct action and capture him. With the help of your venom, he admits that he sold Koi. Someone is buying Yao Beasts—it's people from the Beast Taming Sect.]

[Day 13: You get information about the Beast Taming Sect from the Toad Spirit. You kill him and plan to return, but as soon as you step out, you encounter Xuan Ming of the Beast Taming Sect. He kills you with a single sword light.]

[This Simulation has ended. Survival time: 13 days. Cultivation: Qi Refining Sixth Layer. Evaluation: A Yao Beast with some brains but lacking a bit of luck. Reward: 115 divine dragon points. (Including 65 points for 13 days of survival and 50 points for increasing cultivation by one layer).]