Epic Premium Entry, Treasure Hunting Begins

Baiyun County Town, a small courtyard near the East Street. This was the home of Chen Yi's third older sister, Chen Yun.

"Father, Mother, please bless my fourth brother so that he may escape death. There is still no news of my eldest brother and second sister. If my fourth brother is also no longer in this world, what am I to do..."

Chen Yun was at home, offering incense and praying before her parents' memorial tablets.

More than three months had passed since the entire Luoding Village was massacred.

The incident caused a huge sensation and still left the commoners of Baiyun County in a state of panic and unease.

The imperial court had strictly ordered the local authorities to investigate the matter thoroughly and even arranged for the Dragon Guard Department to assist, but the identities of the culprits who slaughtered the village remained unknown to this day.

When Chen Yun learned that the village where she grew up had been massacred, she rushed there immediately.

While collecting the bodies of her relatives, she could not find the corpse of her fourth brother, Chen Yi.

Therefore, she still harbored a glimmer of hope, praying that Chen Yi had somehow managed to escape with his life.

"Knock, knock, knock..."

A knocking sound came from outside.

"It must be my husband returning from his shift..."

When the door opened, the person standing outside was not Shen Qingshan, but Chen Yi, dressed as a young swordsman and carrying a crimson longsword on his back.

"Third Sister."

"F-Fourth Brother? Is it really you?"

As soon as Chen Yun opened her mouth, tears rolled down her cheeks.

She grabbed Chen Yi's hand and touched his cheek. Only upon feeling his warmth was she certain that this was not just another dream of reunion, unlike the many times before.

"Fourth Brother! This is wonderful! You are safe! You have returned!"

The siblings embraced in their reunion.

Chen Yi was a head taller than Chen Yun. She buried her face in his chest, her tears soaking his lapels.

"There, there, Third Sister. You are a mother now, how can you still cry like a little girl?"

Chen Yi's eyes also turned red.

However, he stubbornly held onto his pride in front of his sister, fighting back his tears.

"I will not cry, I will not cry, neither of us will cry. I thought I had no family left in this world. I never expected the heavens to take pity on us and let you survive..."

Chen Yi noticed his niece toddling unsteadily in the courtyard.

"Shen... uh..."

Chen Yi almost blurted out Shen Siqin, but his quick thinking reminded him that this was her name in the simulation.

In reality, his sister and her husband had yet to give her a proper name, simply calling her Nannan.

"This must be my niece, right?"

"Come here, Nannan, call him Uncle."

The little girl was well-raised. Her face was chubby and round, and her little arms looked like lotus roots.

"Un... Uncle... eat candy..."

Chen Yun said in an exasperated but fond tone.

"This child, asking for candy the very first time she meets her uncle. How clever of you!"

Chen Yi picked Nannan up affectionately.

"Wanting candy is easy. Uncle will take you to buy some right now. You can have as much as you want!"

"Yay!"

Hearing this, Chen Yun hurriedly interjected.

"Fourth Brother, do not spoil her so much. Besides, you just narrowly escaped death, where would you get the money to buy such things?"

He still needed to explain to his sister where he had been for the past three months.

However, telling the complete truth would be too shocking.

Who could possibly cultivate to the fifth level of the Spirit Gathering Realm in just three months?

Even someone with the most extraordinary aptitude would not progress that fast.

Therefore, on his way back, Chen Yi had already fabricated a story.

Da Chun pulling him into the water to escape the massacre could be told truthfully.

But for what happened next, Chen Yi simply claimed that they met a kind-hearted old martial artist who fished him and Da Chun out of the river.

The old martial artist taught him an external martial art, allowing Chen Yi to enter the path of martial arts.

Not long ago, the old martial artist went wandering and found it inconvenient to bring him and Da Chun along.

Thus, the two of them returned to Baiyun County.

On the way, they saved a wealthy merchant who was attacked by wild beasts. In gratitude, the merchant gave him some silver.

"So that is what happened... Do not spend that money recklessly, save it for taking a wife. For now, just stay at my house. I will tidy up a small room for you."

While his sister went to busy herself, Chen Yi played with his little niece and simultaneously claimed the reward for his tutorial quest.

Tutorial Quest Completed!

Reward Distributed!

A bottle of pills appeared in Chen Yi's hand.

Upon opening it, a fragrant medicinal aroma wafted out, refreshing his mind and spirit.

This felt entirely different from the inferior pills he had consumed in the military camp during the simulation.

"Products from the system are indeed of premium quality. Consuming such pills, as long as I do not take too many at once, the pill toxicity should be negligible."

The physical reward given for this tutorial quest was a bottle of ten Spirit Guiding Pills.

This was a type of pill used to assist in spiritual energy cultivation, capable of accelerating the gathering of spiritual energy.

In some martial arts sects, such pills were essential items for disciples' cultivation.

A glowing orb containing an attribute trait appeared.

Just like last time, Chen Yi had one chance to draw a premium trait.

Because he was now in the Spirit Gathering Realm, the probability of drawing a white trait had dropped to 79%.

Therefore, the glowing orb finally no longer looked completely white. Green and purple specks of light were no longer as rare as finding a needle in a haystack.

"Premium trait, you must live up to the word 'premium'. Give me a good one!"

Chen Yi slammed his palm down on it.

All the specks of light vanished, leaving only a cluster of purple radiance rapidly expanding until it filled his entire vision!

Treasure Snatching Miracle Nose (Purple Epic): Good news, your nose can now smell the scent of supreme treasures within a certain range (dependent on your realm)! Bad news, if it is not a supreme treasure, you will not smell it.

The moment he saw the purple light, Chen Yi knew in his heart that he had struck gold.

Upon seeing the effect, he almost fainted from excitement.

"A treasure-hunting trait!"

Brothers, this was a fantasy cultivation world!

Here, not only was there fist-to-flesh martial arts, but there were also countless treasures!

Even though Chen Yi had only simulated twice and had not even deeply interacted with the martial artist circle, he had already encountered a supreme treasure—the Myriad Soul Banner!

If he could actively hunt for treasures, wouldn't that be incredible?

Chen Yi equipped it on the spot and then sniffed the air.

"It seems... I do not smell anything?"

He figured it was because his realm was not high, so his detection range was small. He would need to be close enough to a treasure to smell it.

Or perhaps, as the effect described, he could not smell it if it was not a supreme treasure.

He just wondered to what extent a supreme treasure had to be "supreme."

With this trait, Chen Yi suddenly pointed a finger to the sky as an idea popped into his head.

"Could I go and find the Myriad Soul Banner?"

During the second simulation, Old Liu's hair started turning white after he visited his hometown.

At the time, he thought it was caused by excessive grief upon learning of his relatives' passing.

Looking at it now, it was highly likely that he obtained the Myriad Soul Banner at that time, and his life force was being drained by it.

Chen Yi only planned to retrieve the Myriad Soul Banner within the simulation for now.

Naturally, he also intended to take it in reality, but he had to first use the simulation to figure out the characteristics of the Myriad Soul Banner, and he needed sufficient strength to back it up.

Otherwise, it would be easy to botch the whole thing.

Without strength, holding the Myriad Soul Banner would make him a demonic cultivator that everyone had the right to execute.

With strength, what Myriad Soul Banner? This would be the Human Emperor's Banner!

However, whether in reality or simulation, Chen Yi had no intention of becoming a homicidal maniac.

Killing a few wicked people would leave his conscience clear, but slaughtering the innocent crossed his bottom line.

Even the Chen Yi in the simulation felt the same way.

Besides, if he truly relied on killing people to feed the Myriad Soul Banner like Old Liu did, he would easily draw pursuit and assassination attempts from all sides. That went against Chen Yi's fundamental guiding principle of trying to live as many years as possible in the simulation.

But without souls to nourish it, what use was an artifact like the Myriad Soul Banner?

Who said he had to kill people?

He could kill demons!

Wouldn't feeding the Myriad Soul Banner with demonic souls be far more powerful than using human souls?

With the "Demonic Aura" trait, did he really need to worry about not finding any demons?

Chen Yi was already looking forward to the next simulation. A golden path to greatness seemed to unfold right before his eyes!