After a full day of loud accusations, dusty floors, and one very stubborn magistrate, the verdict finally came down:
Temporary release.Pending investigation.
Shen Li and the elders were let go — bruised in pride, not shackled in chains.
As for the deeds in question?
The court declared that a formal review would be conducted. An investigation into the legitimacy of land transfers, especially given the protests.
Shen Li wasn't thrilled. But he wasn't panicking either.
His deeds were real stamped, signed, filed even an investigator, if truly unbiased, would confirm them.
The next morning, Shen Li left his estate with two bodyguards flanking him.
He didn't say a word about it. Didn't explain.
But the message was clear:
Lesson learned.No more walking alone.
Meanwhile, thanks to his merchant warehouse and steadily expanding real estate agency, Shen Li's profits had quietly piled up.
His total savings had now reached nearly 800 gold coins.
A sum large enough to fund a small martial faction, or even establish a mid-tier sect's logistics network from scratch.
Of course, Shen Li couldn't carry that kind of fortune on him.
It was no longer the kind of wealth one could hide in robes or even pack into a travel bag.
This was chest-and-carriage money.
his gold sat sealed in iron-lined storage chests, guarded by hired men and layered contracts.
And Shen Li had accepted one truth:
If he ever left the county…he would need multiple carriages just to bring his fortune with him.
After stabilizing the situation — legally, politically, and socially — Shen Li finally regained control.
His real estate agency was back in order.His merchant warehouse was running profitably.And most importantly, the public had adjusted to his new look.
The fat version of Shen Li had become its own identity now.
People no longer whispered behind fans or pointed from alleyways.They just accepted it.
Some still joked — behind closed doors — but the weight of his coin made their laughter hollow.
Now, he could move freely again.
And with the outer world quiet…
It was time to return to the simulator.
To simulate.
Not for revenge.Not to become the strongest.Not to conquer.
But to transform.To transcend.
For Shen Li, the simulation was never just a tool to gain power.It was a mirror of potential. A way to evolve — beyond human, beyond common cultivation, beyond everything people expected.
He wasn't chasing the next realm like a desperate martial artist.He was chasing what came after the path ended.
That meant not always choosing the strongest road.But the right one.The one no one else dared walk.
[Simulation Panel Opened]
Name: Shen Li
Race: Human
Lifespan: 19 / 445
Enter years to sacrifice for simulation:[Awaiting Input…]
He didn't hesitate.
No dramatic speeches. No hesitation. No doubt.
"Ten years."
He said it like ordering tea.
With a soft flicker, the panel accepted the input.
To Shen Li, entering the simulation was no longer a dramatic event.
It was like flipping open a well-worn book.Or leaning back to enjoy a familiar film.
There was no fear.No panic.No sense of imminent danger.
He wasn't here to survive.He was here to observe, to shape, to learn.
Like a man settling into a chair at the theater.
"Let's see what kind of mess I walk into this time," he murmured.
[Input Received – 10 Years Lifespan][Simulation Beginning…]
[ thanks to your business, you have become a super rich person. the only difference between you
and a top-tier family is that you don't have any first-class martial artists under your command. you
know troublesome times are ahead, so you begin hiring wild martial artists from every corner.
over time, you slowly bind them to you with wealth and opportunity, building loyalty ]
[ you didn't get lazy. you decided to explore this body's maximum potential. you began learning
how to move and fight with it properly, adapting martial forms to your unique flesh and mass ]
[ second year, you feel the bandit outbreak drawing near. you begin scooping up 2nd-grade
martial artists from other factions using sheer wealth. their loyalty is thin, and their ethics
questionable — but you don't fear trouble. not yet. once the invasion begins, no one will care
about comfort or principles ]
[ before the bandit invasion, you are already prepared. you sell off all your land deeds for half
price and disappear from the city before public fallout can land on your head ]
[ like you predicted, the bandit invasion happens. chaos spreads. you wait in silence. you don't
strike Song family directly — not yet. instead, you begin looting. while others are bleeding, you
are profiting. when the looting ends and the major families retreat to lick their wounds, you
remain patient ]
[ your waiting pays off. your foresight was correct. the Song family, not wanting to attract too
much attention, chooses to evacuate the city in small convoys ]
[ you know exactly which one to follow. you and your hired men ambush the convoy carrying
Song Bu Son — a 2nd-grade martial artist and heir of the Song family. a fight breaks out ]
[ the Song family, trying to keep things quiet, did not assign powerful backup to this group. your
men overpower them. you capture Song Bu Son alive and begin torturing him to extract his
breathing method ]
[ thanks to your medical knowledge and your ability to move nerves and veins within the body,
you quickly extracted all the information about the Song family's inner breathing method. the
method is named the Azure Blue Sky Breathing Method — a high-grade inner technique passed
down through elite bloodlines ]
[ not only did you obtain the full circulation route and breathing rhythm, but you also identified
the supporting medicinal combinations that could drastically accelerate its cultivation speed ]
[ also you learned the Song family's high-grade martial art known as Azure Sky Palm, a powerful
physique-based technique designed for burst strikes and precision force redirection. it is
classified as a high-grade physical method, optimized for inner energy users with strong core
stability and flow control ]
[ you decided to put it aside as a sample — valuable, but not final. you believe that with a few
more examples like this, you'll eventually be able to create a superior, custom-built inner
breathing method and physical martial art perfectly suited to your unique body and cultivation
path ]
[ after the city was reduced to ruins in the aftermath of war and bandit invasion, you made your
move. you gathered 8 caravans and set your sights on Wuhan — a larger, more stable region with
stronger infrastructure and greater opportunity ]
[ 5 of those caravans carried your entire savings, a sum so vast that even a top-tier family would
struggle to accumulate it in ten years. gold, silver, deeds, pills, materials, and forbidden items —
all packed under reinforced steel and guarded by handpicked martial artists loyal to you alone ]
[ you know the top families are aware of your shady dealings — especially the land deed sales,
some of which even involved selling their properties during the chaos. while they are currently
weakened and focused on recovery, the amount of wealth you accumulated has drawn their
attention ]
[ there are only two 1st-grade martial artists left in the county, and both are seriously injured. but
that doesn't make them harmless. revenge from weakened beasts is often the most vicious. you
know the path to Wuhan will be troublesome ]
[ so you began preparing. your caravans were outfitted with extra guards, disguised cargo
sections, and pre-planned ambush responses. you rerouted supply stops, planted false rumors,
and made sure each convoy could act independently if necessary. you were not just fleeing —
you were evading pursuit ]
[ once again, your foresight saved the day. as you predicted, you were hunted relentlessly.
ambushed by rogue martial artists, hired assassins, and hired blades from injured noble families
seeking revenge. if you didn't possess pseudo-1st-grade martial arts and a mind sharpened by
simulation, you would have died, and your entire fortune would have been seized ]
[ even with all your preparations, only 3 of your 8 caravans made it through. the others were
taken, destroyed, or scattered during the journey. you barely escaped with your life — burned,
bruised, and exhausted. the journey carved the arrogance off your face, but not the fire in your
eyes ]
[ you arrived in Wuhan city under an embarrassing and battered state. 70% of your guards and
employees perished on the road. some betrayed you. some died protecting you. and the rest —
broken, tired, and loyal — arrived with you, carrying the last pieces of your shattered convoy ]
[ like all the simulators of the past, you entered Wuhan through one of the standard city
entrances. strangely, every gate you passed through had the same structure — two consecutive
doors with a extensive gap in between. you noticed that between those two doors, multiple
archers were stationed, bows drawn and watchful ]
[ you quickly understood the purpose. if the outer door were ever breached, the narrow corridor
would become a kill zone. bowmen would fire a rain of arrows from elevated slots, cutting down
invaders before they could reach the second gate. a brutal but effective design — clearly a city
that had seen war before ]
[ this time, your caravan waited in the narrow gate gap — the deadly corridor between the outer
and inner doors. you had passed the first door and were awaiting entry through the second
when things changed ]
[ more troops began to appear on the walls. the atmosphere turned cold. suddenly, the first door
behind you slammed shut, and the second door ahead remained locked. you and your men
were trapped inside — imprisoned in a choke point designed for slaughter ]
[ without warning, arrows began to rain down from the walls. your guards and employees fell
one by one. blood splattered over gold and crates as chaos erupted ]
[ without hesitation, you stabbed needles into key points across your body, shutting down your
pain receptors. you activated your full body mass, manipulating every shred of flesh, every
thread of tissue. you became a grotesque inferno of muscle, nerve, and rage — something no
longer human, but born to survive ]
[ if possible, you would have preferred not to reveal yourself. but to live, you had no choice. you
gave everything. you unleashed it ]
[ you used Cicada Shell Rebirth — a desperate soul-escape technique. your spirit burst forth from
the ruined flesh, leaving behind your monstrous vessel. your body collapsed like an empty sack
of blood and ash, but your soul lingered — floating, cold, and hateful ]
[ with eyes full of wrath, you soared through the air. you blamed the greedy officials who lured
you into the death trap. you cursed the noble families from your past who never let you go.]
[ you tried to leave — to escape this cursed corridor — but something was wrong. you couldn't
pass through the walls. your soul form, though weightless and unseen, remained bound to the
gate passage ]
[ confused but calm, you chose to wait. observe. gather information. if you couldn't escape, at
least you would learn who betrayed you, who gave up your location, who arranged this
execution ]
[ thanks to your strategic mind and keen observation, you unraveled the threads: Wuhan had a
method to detect Weirds and unnatural beings the moment they stepped into the city's
perimeter. the slaughter wasn't a coincidence — it was a purge, precise and planned ]
[ you still didn't know the exact technique they used, but one thing was clear — to enter this city
again, you would need to crack their detection method ]
[ once the massacre ended and the gates resumed normal function, you passed through like a
drifting breeze. and in that moment, you realized something far more chilling: the very
architecture of the city had been designed with Weirds in mind. even in soul form, you could not
fly high. you could not pass through walls. you needed open doors like a mortal. they had
thought of everything ]
[ after a few days, you realized your soul power was rapidly disintegrating. the city's environment
— filled with dense population, layered formations, and those cursed walls — was as hostile to
your soul as shattered glass. if you remained any longer, you'd be reduced to drifting fragments ]
[ unwilling to die a second death, you made a decision: to leave the city ]
[ that night, you hid yourself inside a merchant caravan preparing to exit Wuhan. cloaked in
shadow and hatred, you clung to it like a ghost tick. when the caravan passed the outer gates
and reached a safe distance, you quietly detached ]
[ you would not return to the county. not yet. instead, you settled on remaining in the outer
premises — just beyond Wuhan's reach. close enough to observe. far enough to survive. ]
[ this ten years you have grown your soul — step by step, thread by thread. but somewhere along
the way, you noticed it… stagnation. your cultivation speed dropped dramatically. despite your
efforts, insights, and breathing method refinement, the growth became painfully slow ]
[ you checked for limitations. restrictions. external forces. but nothing was found. there was no
seal, no spiritual suppression. just a silent, creeping plateau ]
[ after much contemplation, you reluctantly accepted the truth — perhaps this is simply the nature
of ghosts. after the initial burst of cultivation, progress slows. your current state wasn't blocked…
it was just the beginning of a much longer, more grueling journey ]
[ 10 Years of Simulation Timeline Ended ]
[ Please Choose One Reward Below ]
1. [ Body and Condition at Age 21 ](Human body at its martial peak. Shen Li's original body
refined through years of wealth-backed medical care, and adaptation to Skincrawler inheritance.
Body reinforced with layered muscles, flexible joints, and a resilient skeletal frame. Though not
supernaturally enhanced, it possesses the highest level of optimization achievable by mortal
means. Capable of fighting on par with hard step first-grade martial artists. Pain receptors can be
manually disabled through acupuncture. Medium speed, high endurance, moderate agility.
Excellent control over tissue and nerve systems.)
2. [ Memory Imprint: Azure Blue Sky Breathing Method & Azure Sky Palm ](High-grade inner
breathing method and physique-based martial art obtained from the Song Family under torture
extraction.Custom-created ghost cultivation method. Allows slow, safe soul expansion and
regeneration without harming core spirit. Includes passive recovery function, minor emotional
stealth, and spirit mist stabilization techniques. Foundation method for long-term Yin soul
cultivation.)
3. [ Refined Yin Soul:](Your soul has broken past the initial Yin Form through 10 years of silent
cultivation, observation, and internal refinement. Though still incomplete, it has stepped beyond
typical ghost existence into the threshold of intelligent soul cultivators.)
4. [ Treasure Chest: Merchant Caravan Vault ](The only surviving chest among the 5 caravans.
Hidden in reinforced ironwood, protected by layered lock seals and Feng Shui inscription to mask
Qi traces.
The golden shimmer of the simulation faded from Shen Li's eyes, leaving behind only the dull
glow of his chamber's lantern. He sat still, arms crossed over his oversized stomach, his
expression deep with thought.
"Hmm…" he muttered. "It changed. That formation… they knew. The moment I stepped inside
Wuhan, they knew I was Weird."
His brows furrowed.
"How? What did they use? I didn't trigger anything.
He leaned back, a cold light flickering in his eyes.
"I need to learn. Then I'll craft a countermeasure. If there's a method to detect me, I'll find a
method to erase myself."
Then his gaze drifted toward the glowing [Reward Panel].
One entry made his lip curl upward in satisfaction.
[Azure Blue Sky Breathing Method]A foundational inner breathing technique developed by the
Song Family. Steady, efficient, and compatible with a wide range of body constitutions.
"At last," Shen Li whispered, eyes gleaming. "A real inner breathing method.
With a casual flick of his finger, he selected the [Memory Imprint].
A sudden wave of heat surged through his temples. His muscles twitched involuntarily, his nerves
danced like lightning beneath his skin, and his breathing… shifted. Deeper. Sharper. Controlled.
In that instant, he remembered how Song Bu Son had moved. Every strike. Every inhale before a
blow.
"…Tch. This is worth more than gold," Shen Li murmured, flexing his thick fingers."
He rubbed his jaw, already thinking about the next simulation.