The old woman stopped walking and turned to look at you.
Her wrinkled face wore a kindly smile.
"A strangely shaped flower? Young man, what a strange thing to say. How can a flower be strangely shaped? What exactly does it look like? If you don't tell me, how would I know?"
"It's... uh..."
You were speechless. In the last simulation, the Female Emperor's letter hadn't described what the strange flower looked like, only calling it a strange flower.
Just as you couldn't come up with a description.
A black flower appeared out of thin air in the old woman's hand, emitting a bizarre yet alluring fragrance.
"Is it this one?"
Your "Treasure-Sniffing Nose" went wild.
This black flower before you was something the trait system judged as a Supreme Treasure!
No wonder it could stimulate Li Lingyue's Sacred Physique to awaken.
You reached out your hand...
and touched your own hair.
This old woman was wandering alone in a place where you couldn't see another soul for five hundred miles around, and she could produce things from thin air. Could she possibly be an ordinary person?
Moreover, in the last simulation, the Female Emperor's letter also mentioned that when she mistakenly ate the strange flower and fell unconscious, she was saved by a mysterious old woman.
Later, she even became her disciple.
At this time, in this location, the Female Emperor's mentor mentioned in the letter—aside from the one right before you, you couldn't think of anyone else.
And you also realized why the strange flower wasn't in the cave this time; the flower had ended up in the old woman's hands.
This old woman had originally come to pick this heaven-and-earth spiritual treasure, the strange flower.
In the last simulation, Li Lingyue reached the cave one step ahead of her.
This time, because the two of you didn't know the way and asked for directions along the journey, you were delayed quite a bit, so you arrived late. The old woman had already picked the flower.
"Elder, to be honest, there's a young lady in the cave beneath the cliff. She desperately needs this flower. Could you possibly..."
The old woman smiled and put the flower away.
"Just eating the flower won't do. She's a mortal; she can't withstand the impact when the Sacred Physique awakens. Someone needs to protect and guide her..."
As she spoke, she glanced at you.
"Your realm isn't sufficient yet. Let me handle it."
"Elder, you know Li Lingyue has a Sealed Saint Body?"
"It's a Faith Sacred Physique that has never appeared in our world before. Its potential is very high... What a pity, born in the Void Realm."
Void Realm?
This was the first time you'd heard this term.
You wanted to ask, but this old woman didn't seem to want to continue the conversation with you.
"Young man, you've already created too much karma with her. If you don't part ways now, it will inevitably affect her heart for seeking the Dao.
I will take her as my disciple and give her a lift. You can rest assured.
As for how far she can go in the future, that depends on her own fortune."
Even though Li Lingyue would become the Southern Borderlands' Female Emperor twenty years later, right now, she was just a young woman not yet twenty years old.
Her mental fortitude was far from as resilient as it would be when she became the Female Emperor; emotions would become her shackles.
You knew you had to make a clean break.
Take one last look, say a proper goodbye?
No, being more resolute was better. The old woman meant this too.
"Then this junior takes his leave. I trouble you, Senior, to pass on a message to her... I... forget it. Farewell!"
You whistled. Black Wind galloped over from the distance, hooves treading on black flames.
You mounted the horse and rode north, heading towards the Central Plains.
Looking back, you saw that hunchbacked old woman still watching you from afar, her expression a strange mix of a smile and something else, quite eerie.
But your "Spider Sense" wasn't tingling, meaning the old woman posed no danger.
"Li Lingyue, when you become the Emperor, and we meet again, I'll apologize for today's abrupt departure..."
Everyone has their own path. Parting is for a better reunion.
Black Wind wove through the Southern Borderlands' mountain ranges.
Next stop, the Shen Family of the Starry Sky!
Year Eighteen, age thirty-six.
Drawing a trait...
Draw successful!
"Moonlight Clan" (White Common): You can't save money. As a martial artist, you can't save Spirit Crystals. You always want to buy, buy, buy!
Adjust traits?
Yes/No
You replaced "Husband Material Vibe" with "Galloping Steed".
You replaced "Ageless Male God" with "Alchemy Sage".
You replaced "Dragon Plays with Phoenix" with "Bad News Spreads in Martial Circles".
You whipped your horse and sped up, returning to Baiyun County in Qingzhou.
Phoenix Mountain was located in the northern part of the Southern Borderlands, not far from the Central Plains territory to begin with.
With the "Galloping Steed" trait's boost, and traveling alone, the return journey was much faster than the trip there.
Along the way, relying on the ability to recognize spiritual plants granted by the "Alchemy Sage" trait, you picked quite a few useful spiritual plants in some deep, remote mountains and old forests, places rarely visited by people.
After handing them over to Da Chun, he concocted some new medicines.
Thanks to the effect of "Bad News Spreads in Martial Circles", you accepted them all without hesitation, swallowing them down, with absolutely no worry about Pill Toxins.
Some of the pills were indeed quite effective, and your martial realm consequently rose to Golden Body Fifth Layer.
Year Nineteen, age thirty-seven.
Drawing a trait...
Draw successful!
"Zhengbang!" (White Common): You have exceptional intelligence and can easily recognize radishes, tissues, and Mickey Mouse.
Adjust traits?
Yes/No
You replaced "Galloping Steed" with "Effort Guarantees Reward".
This time, Chen Yi performed a crucial micro-adjustment.
He equipped "Effort Guarantees Reward", a trait he hadn't used in a long time.
In the first and second simulations, Shen Qingshan hadn't lived to the year Chen Yi turned thirty-seven.
In the third simulation, he finally lived to this year.
So Chen Yi learned he would be taken away by the Shen Family of the Starry Sky, and they indicated that returning with them to the Shen Family would bring a huge opportunity.
Regardless of whether the opportunity was real or not, since this was a simulation, any possibility, however small, was worth checking out.
If it was fake, he could just restart.
If it was real, then profit!
The Shen Family of the Starry Sky's method for identifying their scattered clansmen was to see if the person could cultivate the "Righteous Sun Formula".
Chen Yi wasn't a member of the Shen Family. In previous simulations, why had he also managed to master this Mid-Grade external technique?
After much thought, there was only one possibility.
Effort Guarantees Reward (Green): When you persevere in doing something, you will definitely gain something, though not necessarily a lot.
This was actually a bug.
I keep doing one thing, but this thing is impossible for me to succeed at.
But "Effort Guarantees Reward" has to guarantee a minimum baseline; there has to be *some* gain.
For cultivating a technique, what's the minimum possible gain?
Initial Mastery!
My "Effort Guarantees Reward" might not let you achieve Great Achievement in a technique, but it will fight tooth and nail to get you to Initial Mastery!
With "Proficiency", it seemed he might not need to equip "Effort Guarantees Reward".
But the Shen Family's technique recognized Bloodline and was very special. To guard against any unexpected issues, Chen Yi decided to equip both traits for double insurance.
You switched your external technique practice, changing back to the "Righteous Sun Formula".
This time, you still mastered it, and it seemed even faster than the first time.
"Then it's all correct! I'm a pure competition-grade Shen Family member! Elders, come pick me up!"
On this day, above Baiyun County town, two elders flew horizontally across the sky, drawing the curious gazes of all the commoners in the city...