Take Down the Enemy Flag in Advance, Eliminate the Old Foe Ahead of Time

The third simulation ended.

Chen Yi first looked at his head in the bronze mirror.

"The red hair didn't carry over..."

Then, he sat on the bed in his small cabin, spreading his arms to welcome the infusion of power.

"Buzz—"

Chen Yi felt a ringing in his ears. Every inch of skin, muscle, and meridian across his body trembled slightly.

This time was different from the previous two.

The cultivation bases inherited from the first two simulations only spanned a single realm.

This time, not only did it span two realms, but it was also a massive leap from the early to the mid-stages of the Martial Dao!

Although it felt a bit strange, there was no discomfort. There was only a continuously surging sense of power, bringing with it confidence, high spirits, composure, and fearlessness!

The acceptance of power was complete.

Chen Yi slightly channeled his external martial arts, allowing his vital blood to circulate through his entire body in a Grand Circulation.

When the circulation speed reached a certain threshold, it triggered the Golden Body state, a unique trait of martial artists at or above the Golden Body Realm.

Seeing the faint golden light shimmering on the surface of his body, the corners of Chen Yi's mouth couldn't help but rise.

"So this is the power of the Golden Body Realm!"

Within the borders of the Great Qian Dynasty, in regions at the county or town level, one would rarely see a Golden Body Realm martial artist under normal circumstances.

If a martial artist served the imperial court, the court mandated that anyone reaching the Golden Body Realm must serve in an administrative unit at the commandery level or higher.

Therefore, in a place like Baiyun County, Chen Yi could now pretty much do whatever he pleased.

The Golden Body Realm had nine tiers, corresponding to the nine stages of Body Refining.

It was equivalent to walking the path of the Body Refining Realm all over again, only this time, the amount of vital blood required for each breakthrough was much larger.

Sixty-seven years of memories transformed into scenes that merged into his mind.

Chen Yi did not inherit the emotions; he merely learned of the events and experiences, as if reading a biography of his own future.

Cultivation methods, combat experience, military leadership experience, and so on, all transformed into his own skills, thoroughly integrated and mastered.

Finally, there were the traits.

In the previous three realm breakthroughs, each only added two equippable trait slots. But breaking through from Soul Tempering to the Golden Body Realm added three slots in one breath.

Now, there were twelve slots in total!

Chen Yi had much more room to equip his traits.

Calling up the trait system panel, Chen Yi adjusted the traits equipped on his body.

[Name: Chen Yi]

[Realm: First Tier of the Golden Body Realm]

[Cultivation Methods:

-- External Arts: Heart Flame Profound Art (High-tier, Transcendent)

-- Internal Arts: Pure Yang Spirit Guiding Profound Art (High-tier, Perfection)

-- Mental Methods: Azure Flame Mental Mantra (High-tier, Perfection)

-- Martial Skills: Star Shattering Wave Finger (Earth-tier, Minor Accomplishment), Dragon Flame Profound Art (High-tier, Perfection), Crimson Heart Fist (High-tier, Perfection), Rocket Steps (Mid-tier, Transcendent), Cloud Burning Hand (Mid-tier, Perfection), Shen Family Spear (Mid-tier, Perfection), Wind Wave Palm (Mid-tier, Minor Accomplishment), Cloud Collapsing Sword Art (Mid-tier, Minor Accomplishment)...]

[Equipped Traits (12/12): Simulator [Prismatic], Proficiency [Prismatic], The Strictest Father of Foreign Races [Gold], Veteran Tomato User [Purple], The Only True Prophet on the Field [Purple], Photographic Memory [Purple], Treasure Snatching Magic Nose [Purple], Low-tier Bone Structure [Green], Spider Sense [Green], Demonic Aura Detected [Green], Silent Step [Green], Serious Punch [Green]]

[Acquired Traits (186): Mortal Bone [Gold], Older and Wiser [Purple], Stroke of Genius [Purple], Must Learn Foreign Languages [Green], Hard Work Pays Off [Green], The Older The Luckier [Green], Ji Ni is Too Beautiful [White], Is Your Brother Kun Awesome or What? [White]...]

[Current Probabilities for Traits of Various Qualities:]

[White Normal 56%, Green Rare 25%, Purple Epic 15%, Gold Legendary 3.7%, Prismatic Mythic 0.3%]

"Mhm... This feels good!"

In the simulation, because his slots were so tight, Chen Yi often had to rob Peter to pay Paul, equipping the traits he needed most at the moment and setting aside those of secondary importance.

Now, with twelve slots, space was suddenly much more abundant.

Although there were still some useful traits that hadn't been equipped, most of those were highly situational.

For example, old-age oriented traits like "Older and Wiser" or "The Older The Luckier" were obviously useless to Chen Yi, who was still only eighteen in reality.

Chen Yi yawned.

He had lived a long life in the simulation, but in reality, it had only been half an hour before Chen Yi's bedtime.

"Let's see what the guidance quest is before I sleep."

[Simulation on cooldown, one year remaining.]

[You may choose to complete the following guidance quest to directly gain a simulation attempt.]

[Guidance Quest: Strike First to Gain the Upper Hand!]

[A subtle fated rivalry exists between you and Feng Yucheng, which is detrimental to your future simulations and reality. Before his wings are fully fledged, sabotage his cooperation with the demon race, or kill him directly!]

[Rewards:]

[1. Simulation Attempt +1;]

[2. Premium Trait Draw (Epic or above) *1;]

[3. High-tier Spirit Artifact: Cold Glint Overlord Spear *1.]

"Fated rival? I suppose..."

In three simulations, he had died at the hands of Feng Yucheng twice.

Although this was brought about by various reasons, in a fantasy cultivation world, it wasn't strange to have karma and destiny.

If he was destined to die at Feng Yucheng's hands, then he had to get rid of him!

In reality, at this current point in time, Feng Yucheng was the Chief of the Demon Slaying Division in Baiyun County.

In the eyes of outsiders, there was nothing wrong with him; they might even think he was quite dedicated to his duties.

Who could have imagined that he colluded with the demon race and secretly harmed the commoners of Baiyun County.

Many years later, he would even directly defect to the enemy, using the Demon Refining Pot to slaughter countless humans.

He could also transform into a monster; he was definitely no saint.

Rather than keeping him around to affect his chances of living a long life in future simulations, it was indeed better to strike early!

Just looking at this quest, it actually wasn't difficult.

Even the Feng Yucheng from more than sixty years in the future was no match for Chen Yi, let alone the current one.

Compared to the battle at Everlasting Regret Slope, Chen Yi was merely missing the Myriad Soul Banner.

But compared to his self from more than sixty years later, Feng Yucheng was lacking far more.

The difficult part of this quest was how to handle the aftermath.

Reality was not a simulation; he couldn't just disregard the consequences.

The Great Qian Dynasty was indeed showing signs of being at the end of its era, but the entire state machine was still operating normally.

If a county's Chief was killed, the Dragon Guarding Division would definitely investigate to the very end.

A Golden Body Realm martial artist might be able to do as he pleased in Baiyun County, but going against the imperial court would be a quick way to end up lying horizontal.

What to do?

Commit the perfect crime?

There was no need for such trouble.

The beginning of the third simulation had already provided the answer; he just needed to copy it.

He could even check for gaps and fill the omissions to make it more perfect.

"The Inspector from the Baling Commandery Demon Slaying Division won't arrive for another few months. Rather than waiting around here doing nothing, why not take this opportunity to go retrieve the Myriad Soul Banner?"

In the simulation, Chen Yi only obtained the Myriad Soul Banner after intercepting Old Liu seventeen years later.

But in reality, the Myriad Soul Banner didn't just suddenly pop out of the ground seventeen years later.

It already existed right now, and it was currently wandering around.

In the simulation, Chen Yi had asked the Myriad Soul Banner about its experiences before meeting him, specifically to obtain information on where it was at this very moment.

In future simulations, Chen Yi would still need the assistance of the Myriad Soul Banner.

Since he needed the Myriad Soul Banner in every simulation and had to go fetch it within the simulation anyway.

Why not start the game with the banner and settle the matter once and for all?

With the Myriad Soul Banner in hand, the upcoming operation against Feng Yucheng would be much easier.

It was killing two birds with one stone.

Chen Yi recalled the information from the simulation and deduced the approximate location of the Myriad Soul Banner at this moment.

The exact time and location might not be perfectly precise, but Chen Yi possessed the Treasure-Sniffing Nose. As long as he got close enough, he would be able to catch the scent of the Myriad Soul Banner's aura.

He estimated the distance. Traveling at full speed on horseback, a round trip would take about five to six months, which roughly coincided with the time the inspecting envoy would arrive at Baiyun County.

"I will set off tomorrow! But right now, sleep!"