New Rare Trait, Spider-Sense

["Come on in! It's spacious inside! You definitely won't be found!"]

["To survive, you held your nose and dove right in!"]

"Oh~no..."

Outside the simulation, Chen Yi couldn't help but pinch his own nose.

"'Me', oh 'me', you've suffered again..."

[Year 16, Age 33.]

[Drawing Trait...]

[Draw Successful!]

["Spider-Sense" (Green): When danger approaches, your hair will stand on end and you will get goosebumps.]

[Adjust Traits?]

[Yes/No]

"This is actually pretty useful..."

Chen Yi thought about it. Since his cultivation realm was stuck at the peak of Body Tempering, even if he kept cultivating, breaking through to the Spirit Gathering realm on his own would be difficult.

He might as well swap out "Hard Work Pays Off" for now.

Use "Spider-Sense" to improve his ability to survive.

[You replaced "Hard Work Pays Off" with "Spider-Sense".]

[Relying on "Spider-Sense" to perceive danger in advance multiple times, you and Old Liu barely escaped with your lives on the battlefield.]

[In this battle, the Suzhou Frontier Army was completely wiped out, and not a single civilian in Yanguan survived.]

[After Sun Chengen fell, the Dashi army faced no further obstacles. They drove straight in, capturing thirty-one cities in Suzhou in succession, completely occupying the entire province.]

[Ridiculously, the Imperial Court still believed that it was Sun Chengen's frontier army that failed to resist effectively, allowing the insignificant Southern Border barbarians to occupy a province of the Central Plains.]

[Upon learning this, Old Liu told you that you must live under a pseudonym from now on.]

[Although the frontier army was annihilated, they received blame instead of glory, meaning you are now doubly guilty.]

[He, Old Liu, is just a small figure; people might not remember him.]

[But you were too famous in the frontier army. If the Court finds out you are still alive, they will certainly arrest you.]

[In a feudal society, living anonymously isn't hard; changing your name is enough.]

["Boss Chen, where do you plan to go?"]

["I want to find a sect to join. See if they'll take in an older disciple and maybe award me a Spirit Gathering Pill."]

[You heard Sun Chengen say that the martial arts sects on the continent do not participate in war or politics, so your status as a criminal shouldn't affect joining a sect much.]

["You're still thinking about breaking through to the Spirit Gathering realm? Not to be a downer, but that stuff depends on luck. Some people with low-grade bone structure break through with no pressure, while others can't make it up there in a lifetime. Better not waste the energy. Look at me, I've been stuck at the ninth stage of Body Refining for years. No hope."]

[You shook your head slightly, your gaze firm.]

[Year 17, Age 34.]

[On the way to search for martial arts sects, you stopped by Old Liu's hometown.]

[Seeing the ruined walls of his old home, Old Liu learned that as the only able-bodied man in the family, not long after he was conscripted, his parents' property was seized by relatives, and his sister was sold to a brothel, dying a few years later.]

[That day, the usually happy-go-lucky Old Liu disappeared for three days.]

[You knew he was grieving, so you didn't disturb him. Instead, you gathered information in a nearby town.]

[In a teahouse, you heard scholars discussing that the incompetent Emperor of Great Qian still believed Sun Chengen wasn't dead, but hiding somewhere to avoid battle.]

[For this reason, he even issued a wanted warrant, ordering the Dragon Guard across the country to arrest a dead man.]

[Furthermore, ever since the Kingdom of Dashi took Suzhou, the various nations of the Southern Border have raised their armies.]

[They all felt that if Dashi could do it, so could they. Everyone wanted a slice of the pie from the resource-rich Central Plains.]

[Not just the Southern Border, but also the three dynasties of Western Liang and the tribes of the Northern Territory were all restless, intending to compete for the Central Plains.]

[The Eastern Wasteland was quiet because there were no nations there, only deep forests, high mountains, and treacherous waters.]

[The Emperor of Great Qian saw the situation was dire.]

[Although Great Qian was a unified empire, it couldn't handle fighting on three fronts simultaneously.]

[Especially since General Sun Chengen's death, resentment in the army was high, reaching the point where soldiers wouldn't leave their camps unless paid in full.]

[Thus, the Court decided to marry off Princess Baihua, whose beauty was renowned across the five domains, to the King of Dashi.]

[They would also cede some land in Suzhou.]

[Using a policy of marriage alliance and land cession, they hoped to stop Dashi, the madman leading the charge, to prevent the situation from spiraling out of control.]

["Ceding land and a marriage alliance! They've completely thrown away the ancestors' face!!"]

[You saw some people in the teahouse smashing their cups in anger while discussing this topic.]

["Well smashed! The tea is on the house!!"]

[The teahouse owner was also a passionate man; any customer who smashed a bowl in anger over the Court's humiliating surrender got their bill waived.]

[That day, the sound of smashing cups in the teahouse was endless.]

[You sighed with emotion: "This Great Qian is just like these broken bowls—rotten..."]

[In this time of national turmoil, where will you go?]

[1. Gather righteous men and rise up in rebellion. With your super memory, you can surely achieve great things;]

[2. Continue searching for martial arts sects and travel the world;]

[3. Find a place to farm and settle down, living a lowly life until old age.]

"It was mentioned before that rebellion in this world is doomed to fail, especially for a small fry like me, so option 1 is out."

Chen Yi's gaze shifted to options 2 and 3.

"Option 3 is more stable, with a higher chance of living longer, but option 2 might offer a chance to get a Spirit Gathering Pill?"

Although Chen Yi didn't believe he would never break through to the Spirit Gathering realm in his lifetime.

But breaking through faster was always better, allowing him to accumulate more cultivation for the next realm.

"How can one succeed without a spirit of adventure? I choose 2!"

[You chose option 2.]

[You suddenly realized that you seem to be living in the final years of a once-powerful dynasty, which is why you are witnessing all these absurdities.]

[Sun Chengen's death has made you completely disappointed in the Imperial Court—they even owe you a Spirit Gathering Pill!]

[Therefore, you no longer care where Great Qian is heading.]

[From now on, you just want to live as long as possible, draw more Traits, and find a martial arts sect willing to take you in and give you a Spirit Gathering Pill.]

[Old Liu, who had been missing for three days, returned. His hair began to turn white from this day on.]

["Boss Chen, I have no home or family left. Can I follow you from now on?"]

[When you escaped from Yanguan, you brought a fair amount of money with you.]

[Low-level soldiers like Old Liu had no savings at all. If he didn't follow you, even eating would be a problem.]

[With years of camaraderie in the army, you certainly didn't mind taking him along.]

["That's fine."]

[You and Old Liu continued your journey, visiting martial arts sects all over the Central Plains.]

[There were quite a few sects everywhere. You could find the locations of the famous major sects just by asking around.]

[However, those kinds of sects definitely wouldn't accept a middle-aged loser like you who was over thirty and hadn't even reached the Spirit Gathering realm.]

[What you needed to find were those small to medium-sized "startup" sects. They needed manpower and had some resources on hand.]