Chapter 219: Armored Guardian: An Eighteen-Year-Old Late Nascent Soul Great Cultivator?

"The simulation count has refreshed!"

Zhou Qing's mind trembled slightly.

He had waited almost two months just for this moment.

The benefits each simulation brought him were simply too immense.

They triggered qualitative transformations.

Compared to his growth within the simulation, his cultivation progress in reality was negligible.

"I can run the simulation now!"

Zhou Qing focused his thoughts.

The plans he had formulated over the past two months surfaced in his mind.

Because his starting point changed with every simulation, his objectives shifted accordingly.

For instance, in this sixth simulation, he would be able to easily subjugate the Blood Roc deep within the Myriad Beast Mountain Range, a beast possessing the Heavenly Roc Bloodline.

Doing so would not only give him an additional transformation technique but also yield a spirit pet with a True Spirit Bloodline.

Due to the restrictions of the Human Realm, even a beast king with a True Spirit Bloodline was like a whale trapped in the desert, unable to unleash its true might as an immortal beast.

However, raising such a beast king was of some use even to a Great Cultivator.

If he could raise it to the Mid Nascent Soul Stage, it would be even more valuable.

He never would have dared target the Blood Roc at the start of his fifth simulation.

Back then, he only possessed a Core Formation Perfection Stage cultivation base. He wouldn't have even been enough to fill the gaps between the bird's teeth.

Even later, after stepping into the Nascent Soul Stage, he had barely managed to take the Blood Roc down by joining forces with True Monarch Beiheng.

Of course, across all of his simulations, one objective remained constant.

He had to head to the Ghost Realm Trial Field and claim its rewards.

Zhou Qing coveted the trial field's numerous top-tier resources.

It was a mandatory stop at the start of every simulation.

The rewards were exceedingly rare, and they cost him nothing.

It was practically free treasure.

He would begin the simulation right away.

Zhou Qing composed himself without hesitation.

Simulation chances didn't stack; using this one immediately meant the cooldown for the next would start sooner.

With that thought, he triggered the system.

Buzz—

The illusory text at the bottom of his vision shifted rapidly.

[Year 1: You are eighteen years old, with a Late Nascent Soul Stage cultivation base and a Rank 4 Mid Stage body cultivation. You have mastered various Rank 4 skills...]

[You look out at the Human Realm. From the moment this simulation begins, you already stand at its absolute peak.]

[You immediately summon Li Yan and pass on the myriad cultivation insights, musical techniques, and other comprehensions from your fifth simulation.]

[You have organized these insights to progress step by step from the Qi Refining Stage to the Core Formation Stage, and further into the Nascent Soul Stage. They form an incredibly complete system perfectly suited to her.]

[The same applies to the musical insights. Since they originated from her future self, giving them to her now is tantamount to her teaching herself.]

[They are capable of resolving every doubt she might encounter in her cultivation.]

["Master, these..."]

[Li Yan has not yet processed the sheer volume of information.]

["Cultivate and comprehend the Dao according to this jade slip."]

[You offer a brief explanation.]

[Drawing on the experience of your fifth simulation, you know these insights will quickly set her on the right track.]

["Understood..."]

[Li Yan nods obediently.]

[Although she only briefly skimmed the insights corresponding to the Qi Refining Stage, she already feels an inexplicable sense of familiarity with them.]

["I need to go out for a trip. Stay inside the cave abode."]

[You rise, preparing to head to the Ghost Realm Trial Field.]

[Because age carries significant weight in the Ghost Realm Trial Field's aptitude test, the earlier you go, the better.]

[After giving Li Yan a few more instructions, you soar above the clouds, rushing toward the Ghost Realm Trial Field.]

["Exhilarating!"]

[As you fly above the sea of clouds, an unprecedented sense of freedom washes over you.]

[At the end of your fifth simulation, you were also a Late Nascent Soul Great Cultivator, but by then you were seven or eight hundred years old and entering your twilight years. Naturally, your mindset was vastly different.]

[Right now, you are only eighteen years old. You have over a thousand years of life ahead of you.]

[If you successfully step into the Deity Transformation Stage, your lifespan will extend to two or three thousand years, allowing you to overlook the entire Human Realm.]

[The current you is young and vigorous.]

[You are at the peak of not just your strength, but your mental fortitude.]

[Soon, you approach the Taiyuan Region.]

[Since the Tier 4 spirit vein cave abode you occupy is located in the western part of the Taiyuan Region, your journey naturally takes you through the Jiuyou Region.]

[The Jiuyou Region is a vast demonic path territory; its strongest figures are demonic true lords.]

['During this time period, are the rulers of the Jiuyou Region still Demon Lord Dark Sky and True Lord Seven Fiends... or are they only Core Formation true persons right now?']

[You ponder this as you glance down at the majestic Nine Nethers Mountain from atop the sea of clouds.]

[That mountain serves as the headquarters of the Jiuyou Cult, where many of its elites and Nascent Soul true lords permanently reside.]

['Perfect timing...']

[An idea stirs in your mind: you will plunder the Jiuyou Cult.]

[The beginning of every simulation is when you are at your poorest. Rather than hunting isolated bandit cultivators and demonic cultivators, it makes far more sense to raid the dominant demonic lair in this ten-million-li region.]

[You hold no sympathy for the Jiuyou Cult. In the normal timeline, they eventually launch a war against the Taiyuan Region, leading to the deaths of countless cultivators.]

[Compared to the Jiuyou Cult's atrocities, Taiyuan Palace is far more benevolent. They might look down on lower cultivators, but they do not actively slaughter them for raw materials.]

[Furthermore, after acquiring intelligence on the Demon Abyss Realm during the final centuries of your fifth simulation, you know demonic cultivators represent a fundamental threat to the Human Realm.]

['I will eradicate this tumor from the Human Realm.']

[You think to yourself.]

[In reality, eradicating the Jiuyou Cult would trigger massive chain reactions, preventing you from making a move.]

[But in the simulation? Even if wiping them out creates massive, unexpected variables, it has no impact on reality. At worst, you simply exercise more caution in your next run.]

[Whoosh—]

[You continue flying toward the Ghost Realm Trial Field.]

[Meanwhile, your chubby Second Nascent Soul plummets toward Nine Nethers Mountain below.]

[Because your Second Nascent Soul hasn't absorbed the Nine-Star Ancient Soul Fruit, its stability is far inferior to your main Nascent Soul.]

[But that is only relative.]

[A Second Nascent Soul at the Late Nascent Soul Stage—even without walking the path of an ancient top-tier dharma cultivation true lord—can easily crush a Jiuyou Cult overseen by a single early-stage true lord purely through realm suppression.]

[Furthermore, your Second Nascent Soul benefits from the talents 'Natural Enemy of Demonic Cultivators' and 'Surpassing Oneself by Half a Move'.]

[Against a cult consisting entirely of demonic cultivators, its advantage is absolute.]

[Through the experiences of your previous simulations, you already know the Jiuyou Cult's deepest secrets and trump cards. Augmented by your Rank 4 Middle Grade divination skill, the cult has nowhere to hide.]

[Given the absolute gap in strength and your total intelligence mastery, your Second Nascent Soul will face zero variables when sweeping through them.]

[Nine Nethers Mountain, Summit Hall]

[The current master of the Jiuyou Cult, Demon Lord Dark Sky, sits cross-legged with a gloomy gaze. "Cultivation is so difficult. Even after devouring millions of living beings, this true lord still cannot step into the mid-stage..."]

[Demon Lord Dark Sky sighs inwardly. Demonic path cultivation methods are always like this: they advance by leaps and bounds in the early stages, but once they hit a bottleneck, breaking through is nearly impossible.]

[In the current Human Realm, mid Nascent Soul demon lords are exceedingly rare; the vast majority of demonic path true lords remain trapped at the Early Peak.]

[Demonic path inheritances imitate the Demon Abyss Realm. Even though Almighty Heavenly Monarchs of the ancient era improved them, they could never perfectly integrate with the laws of the Human Realm.]

["With less than a hundred years of lifespan remaining, I must consider..."]

[Demon Lord Dark Sky's train of thought freezes abruptly.]

[At some unknown point, a chubby Nascent Soul spirit body had appeared right next to him.]

["A Nascent Soul spirit body?"]

[Demon Lord Dark Sky finds this utterly absurd. He is a Nascent Soul true lord—how could a Nascent Soul spirit body sneak within dozens of meters of him completely undetected?]

["No!"]

[Extreme panic erupts in Demon Lord Dark Sky's heart.]

[A Nascent Soul spirit body appearing silently within striking distance... what did that mean?]

[It meant this entity's strength vastly exceeded his own.]

["Run!"]

[As a demonic path true lord, Demon Lord Dark Sky had survived countless desperate situations to reach his current heights.]

[He instantly realizes he is in unprecedented danger. The slightest misstep will mean certain death.]

[Acting ruthlessly, Demon Lord Dark Sky abandons his physical shell, and a black Nascent Soul spirit body instantly flees from the crown of his head.]

[With less than a century of lifespan left, he already had no hope of breaking through. Losing his physical body was an acceptable price to pay for survival.]

[Freed from the shackles of flesh, a Nascent Soul spirit body's speed reaches terrifying extremes—especially for a demonic path true lord who has mastered countless escape arts.]

["With my Nascent Soul spirit body fleeing, even a mid-stage true lord wouldn't be able to catch me!"]

[Demon Lord Dark Sky's Nascent Soul spirit body flickers, instantly appearing over a thousand li away. He turns to look back at the summit hall.]

[In the next moment, his heart turns cold. The chubby Nascent Soul spirit body has followed him like a shadow, appearing right behind him.]

[Under Demon Lord Dark Sky's terrified gaze, the chubby Nascent Soul extends a small hand and presses down.]

[In Demon Lord Dark Sky's vision, the entire world shrinks beneath the overwhelming weight of that tiny palm.]

["No—"]

["You are a Late Nascent Soul Great Cultivator?"]

["Why would a dignified Great Cultivator target—"]

[Demon Lord Dark Sky plummets into an icy abyss of despair. Although he has never fought a Late Nascent Soul Great Cultivator, who else could project this kind of suffocating, irresistible oppression?]

[A mid Nascent Soul true lord could easily defeat an early-stage true lord, but they could never evoke such absolute, powerless desperation.]

[Your Second Nascent Soul easily suppresses Demon Lord Dark Sky's spirit body and directly performs Soul Searching. Afterward, it loots the Jiuyou Cult's numerous treasure vaults and the secret realms under their control.]

[As a Nascent Soul-level faction with a ten-thousand-year legacy, the resources the Jiuyou Cult has accumulated should be enough to lift you out of poverty—or at least provide enough materials to construct a Mid-Grade Tier 4 Great Array.]

[By the time your Second Nascent Soul completely wipes out the Jiuyou Cult, your true body finally arrives outside Nether Mountain.]

[Your Second Nascent Soul swept through the cult far too quickly. Demon Lord Dark Sky couldn't mount a decent resistance before being instantly suppressed and subjected to Soul Searching.]

['The Ghost Realm Trial Field... the Zhou Family... Dachun...']

[Your gaze shifts to the Zhou Family estate near Nether Mountain. Your vast spiritual sense shrouds every detail inside and out, locating Dachun as he dozes off.]

[At the end of your fifth simulation, you learned that Dachun died during the third phase of the body cultivation trials.]

['I can actually give Dachun some support in this simulation,' you think to yourself. At your current level, the Ancient Saint Bloodline and pure body cultivation hold no secrets. You possess inheritances and secret arts far superior to them.]

[If Dachun successfully passes the third phase of the body cultivation trials, he will become at least a Fourth-Order Late Stage pure body cultivator, granting him a slim hope of stepping into the Fifth-Tier Body Refining Heavenly Monarch level.]

[Given your relationship with Dachun, that would be tantamount to gaining a Heavenly Monarch-level enforcer.]

[Of course, for Dachun to step into the fifth tier, another Heavenly Monarch in the Human Realm will have to fall to vacate a position.]

[You step toward the Ghost Realm Trial Field, circulating a secret art to fully enter its domain.]

["I'm back!"]

[You gaze at the ancient buildings scattered in the distance.]

[Having visited the Ghost Realm Trial Field repeatedly across several simulations, you are already intimately familiar with it.]

[You take a moment to observe your surroundings. Augmented by the golden talent 'Surpassing Oneself by Half a Move', your divine soul is stronger than it was at the end of your previous simulation. You can now sense details that previously went unnoticed.]

["Amazing."]

[You marvel inwardly, then approach the high platform and ascend its white jade steps.]

[The Armored Guardian has long since opened his eyes and is watching you approach.]

[You walk straight up to him.]

[Following the procedure from your previous simulations, you state, "I wish to participate in the trials."]

[The Armored Guardian remains silent for a moment before replying in a flat tone, "Any living being that enters this place is qualified to participate in the trials."]

["However, the prerequisite is to pass the aptitude test."]

["After passing the aptitude test, rewards will be bestowed based on the level of your aptitude. Only then will the trial proceed..."]

[The Armored Guardian looks at you, his tone devoid of any fluctuation. "Do you accept this?"]

["I accept."]

[You give a slight nod.]

[Buzz—]

[A faint red light surges within the Armored Guardian's eyes.]

[An inexplicable fluctuation radiates outward, shrouding your body.]

[The dharma power within you circulates automatically, instinctively trying to block the invasive scan.]

[You quickly suppress the reaction, voluntarily dropping all resistance to let the Armored Guardian inspect you.]

[Time passes.]

[The red light in the Armored Guardian's eyes remains bright as he stares fixedly at you.]

[It isn't until the better part of a shichen later...]

[...that the Armored Guardian finally returns to normal.]

[He pauses for a moment before beginning to announce the results.]

[Every step of this process follows a protocol established long ago.]

["Dharma cultivation aptitude test completed—"]

["Race: Human."]

["Age: Eighteen."]

["Cultivation Base: Fourth-Order Late Stage."]

[The Armored Guardian, right in the middle of his announcement, abruptly stops speaking.]

[Deep within his eyes, the red light that had just dimmed surges once more as he stares at you.]

[An eighteen-year-old Late Nascent Soul Great Cultivator?]