Chapter 290: The Simulation Ends

[Li Yan passed away in meditation, leaving a vacant Heavenly Monarch seat in the Human Realm.]

[One after another, Late Nascent Soul Stage Grand Cultivators began vying for it once more.]

[Compared to the era several thousand years ago, pressure from the Demon Abyss Realm had forced the vast majority of factions in the Human Realm to merge. With so many inheritances exchanged and studied together, the number of Late Nascent Soul Stage Grand Cultivators far exceeded that of two or three thousand years prior.]

["Heavenly Monarch Qingyuan's dao companion... has passed away in meditation..."]

[The other Heavenly Monarchs of the current age all turned their gazes toward Heavenly Sword Peak.]

[There were only so many Heavenly Monarchs in the Human Realm; whenever one passed away in meditation, the others could essentially tell right away.]

[You looked down over the Human Realm for a while before returning to your cave abode once more.]

[Even in the final moments of your lifespan, you never stopped cultivating and contemplating, preparing for your next simulation.]

['The art of alchemy... and the art of puppetry...']

[You pondered this. Both arts had already reached the Fifth Tier Low Grade Peak. All that stood between you and the Fifth Tier Middle Grade was a single opportunity or a flash of epiphany.]

[By comparison, your array arts and Divination arts were still some distance away from the Fifth Tier Low Grade Peak.]

[Your Divination skill in particular had hit another bottleneck, making progress difficult.]

['In the next simulation, I can still trade for that raw stone of the Heavenly Cycle Book of Changes and see if I can gain insights from it a second time.']

[You thought to yourself.]

[In theory, every diviner could only gain insight from a raw stone of the Heavenly Cycle Book of Changes once. Even if they obtained a second stone, comprehending it again would yield little effect.]

[However, in the next simulation, after inheriting your skills, everything would be "refreshed" in the process—including pill resistance and the like. Perhaps that would also include your experience comprehending the raw stone of the Heavenly Cycle Book of Changes.]

['Still, in the next simulation, I'll directly choose "Legend of a Generation." By then, I won't even be in this era anymore, so the information advantage I've accumulated over seven simulations probably won't be of any use...']

[You thought to yourself, your expression filling with anticipation.]

[Judging from the intelligence you currently had, the Sword Lord from the late ancient era had very likely evolved from your Legend of a Generation talent.]

[Year 2,600. You were two thousand six hundred and seventeen years old.]

[You slowly opened your eyes, feeling the last remnants of vitality in your body rapidly slipping away.]

['I have about half a shichen left to live.']

[Your gaze was calm. As a Deity Transformation Stage Heavenly Monarch, your estimate of your own remaining lifespan was unerringly accurate.]

['Over these past few decades... my alchemy and puppetry skills still haven't broken through, though in the Three Thousand Illusion Realms... I did manage to fight my way to the three hundred and fifth floor...']

[You examined yourself. The whole reason you had humored and stalled the Purgatory Demon Sovereign was to buy time for your own cultivation.]

[Whether in your cultivation base, arts, or even secret techniques, so long as you made progress in any of them, the delay was worth it.]

['It's time to pass away in meditation...']

[You let out a soft sigh. In this simulation, unlike the last one, you did not fight the many Rank 5 demon monarchs of the Demon Abyss Realm before passing away in meditation.]

[Drawing on the experience and intelligence from your previous simulation, you had taken the mildest possible approach, dragging things out until the very end of your lifespan—or to be precise, until a hundred years after you passed away in meditation.]

[This was also the outcome most advantageous to you.]

[As for what would happen a hundred years after you passed away in meditation? The Human Realm would simply be reduced to a vassal plane of the Demon Abyss Realm. However, that was a timeline inside the simulation—an alternate future, not something happening in reality.]

[You looked toward the end of the Deep Sea.]

[More than ten years ago, you had secretly made a trip to the end of the Deep Sea and arranged one hundred and twenty Quasi-Tier 6 Magical Talismans one by one near the spatial rift.]

[That measure was taken to prevent the Purgatory Demon Sovereign from breaking his great heart demon oath and forcibly descending into the Human Realm.]

[With those one hundred and twenty Quasi-Tier 6 Magical Talismans in place, you could more or less delay the Demon Abyss Realm's complete occupation of the Human Realm by several years, or even a decade.]

[Of course, you did not think the Purgatory Demon Sovereign would violate his great heart demon oath. Breaking a great heart demon oath just to avoid waiting a mere hundred years was simply not worth it.]

[Hum—]

[As your lifespan reached its absolute end, your consciousness rapidly dissipated.]

[At the same time, the contingency you had left behind activated, and your physical body began to disintegrate, burning into ashes.]

[All at once, the Human Realm trembled faintly, and an inexplicable fluctuation rippled between heaven and earth.]

["What is this?"]

[At the end of the Deep Sea, the Deity Transformation Stage Heavenly Monarchs were deeply shaken.]

[They naturally sensed that this tremor stemmed from the fall of a Heavenly Monarch. Yet nearly all the Heavenly Monarchs of the Human Realm were gathered right here; only you had remained at Heavenly Sword Peak...]

[In other words, you had fallen and passed away in meditation.]

[That realization sent a chill through the hearts of Heavenly Monarch Miduo, Heavenly Monarch Qianshe, and the others.]

[Any other Heavenly Monarch in the Human Realm could pass away in meditation and die, except you... Once you died, the Human Realm would have no power left to resist the Demon Abyss Realm.]

[Compared to the past six simulations, after you died in this one,]

[the prompt indicating the end of the simulation did not immediately appear.]

[You died.]

[The talent Dead But Not Stiff activated.]

[Before your eyes, figure after figure appeared.]

[Every one of them was a living being you had come into contact with during this simulation.]

[Among those figures were the Deity Transformation Stage Heavenly Monarchs of the Human Realm, as well as the Demon Abyss Realm's... Purgatory Demon Sovereign.]

['So that really counted as making contact.']

[Your mind settled. Keeping that section of the Purgatory Demon Sovereign's finger bone against your skin for a full year had not been in vain.]

[Aside from the Purgatory Demon Sovereign, that white-haired demon was also within your line of sight.]

[After the white-haired demon's incarnation came to visit you, you had deliberately patted his shoulder specifically to pull him into the range of targets you could possess.]

[You had not been sure whether touching a finger bone would count as making contact with the Purgatory Demon Sovereign, so to guard against the worst-case scenario, you naturally had not let the white-haired demon slip by.]

[The white-haired demon was the Purgatory Demon Sovereign's trusted strategist and had a Tier 5 Consummation cultivation base. If you could not possess the Purgatory Demon Sovereign, the white-haired demon would be an acceptable fallback.]

['The Purgatory Demon Sovereign...']

[You looked toward the most towering figure among them all.]

['This is...']

[Looking around, you found that you were no longer in the Human Realm, but inside the vast Demon Abyss Realm.]

['What a powerful physical body...']

[You felt the terrifying power coursing through this body, and vaguely, deep within it, lay a complete world.]

['Have I already possessed the Purgatory Demon Sovereign?' you thought to yourself.]

['A physical-body world... The Purgatory Demon Sovereign walks the path of an internal physical world...']

[Understanding dawned on you. A Void Return Stage being needed to open up an inner world—whether a primordial spirit world, a physical-body world, or some other kind of world.]

[Only by opening up an inner world, freeing oneself from the restrictions of the great realm one inhabited, could a cultivator be called a Void Return realm expert.]

[The scale of an inner world certainly could not compare to a great realm, yet it belonged entirely to oneself. When an ordinary Deity Transformation Stage Heavenly Monarch struck with full force, how much of the world's power could they actually mobilize? Moreover, when different Deity Transformation Stage Heavenly Monarchs fought, they would interfere with how much worldly power their opponents could draw upon.]

['Too strong...']

[You marveled inwardly. Right now, you shared every sensation of the Purgatory Demon Sovereign, and you knew that with a single thought, this demon sovereign could unleash a world-ending storm across ten million li.]

["Demon Sovereign! Demon Sovereign!"]

[Just then, the white-haired demon below suddenly spoke up.]

["What is it?"]

[The Purgatory Demon Sovereign lowered his head, looking down at him.]

["That Heavenly Monarch Qingyuan has passed away in meditation."]

[The white-haired demon wore a grim expression. He had been watching the Human Realm at all times, so the instant you died, he naturally knew everything.]

["Heavenly Monarch Qingyuan passed away in meditation..."]

[The Purgatory Demon Sovereign fell silent. Although no change showed on the outside, you could clearly feel the demon sovereign's fury.]

[For Heavenly Monarch Qingyuan to pass away in meditation meant he had never once intended to submit to the Demon Abyss Realm. Although the Purgatory Demon Sovereign did not understand the point of doing this, there was no doubt that he, a Void Return demon sovereign, had been played for a fool.]

["Kill them all!"]

[Black currents of air billowed from the Purgatory Demon Sovereign's nostrils, pressing down on the surrounding space.]

["Yes."]

[The white-haired demon nodded.]

[In the next instant, countless demonic creatures, demons, and Rank 5 demon monarchs charged into the Human Realm.]

[Rumble—]

[The moment the demon horde descended into the Human Realm, the Quasi-Tier 6 Magical Talismans you had laid out in advance were triggered. Vast numbers of demonic creatures and demons died on the spot, and even the Fifth Tier Early Stage and Mid Stage demon monarchs suffered casualties.]

[In theory, Quasi-Tier 6 Magical Talismans were capable of wounding even a Fifth Tier Late Stage demon monarch.]

["Those ants!"]

[The Purgatory Demon Sovereign flew into a rage once more, never expecting that even in death you would refuse to go quietly and leave behind such countermeasures.]

[You quietly remained attached to the Purgatory Demon Sovereign. Although you could not interfere with his decisions or actions, you could experience everything he experienced.]

[His emotions, his perception of the Demon Abyss Realm, and the way he wielded the power under his command—]

[all of these were things you had never touched before. A Void Return Stage being's understanding of heaven and earth, and of the Great Dao, was completely different from that of the Deity Transformation Stage.]

['So that's how it works...']

[Sparks of inspiration burst continually in your mind. Things you had previously been unable to grasp or figure out now all pointed toward a clear direction.]

['Hmm?']

[You looked toward the spatial rift. Compared to the last simulation, this time you were watching the Human Realm be invaded and occupied from the Purgatory Demon Sovereign's perspective.]

['While possessing him like this, if I let that Dark Chessboard fall into the Purgatory Demon Sovereign's hands and he comprehends the illusion realms inside it, would I also share in the gains and insights?']

[The thought struck a chord in you, and you resolved to try this out in a future simulation.]

[Time flowed on.]

[In the blink of an eye, ten years passed.]

[Over those ten years, under the relentless assault of powerful demonic creatures and demons, the Human Realm had almost completely fallen, with Demon Abyss Banners planted across every corner of the world.]

[The Purgatory Demon Sovereign took a step forward, intending to descend into the Human Realm, but at the last moment he forced himself to stop.]

[Once again, you felt the Purgatory Demon Sovereign's rage. Clearly, the great heart demon oath you had made him swear was binding him.]

['The will of the Demon Abyss Realm...']

[Through the Purgatory Demon Sovereign's eyes, you sensed that eerie Black-Red Moon hanging high in the sky of the Human Realm.]

[In the sixth simulation, you had also observed this Black-Red Moon, yet gained nothing from it. Now, borrowing the Purgatory Demon Sovereign's perception, things were naturally quite different.]

['Even the Purgatory Demon Sovereign is constrained by the will of the Demon Abyss Realm...' You vaguely sensed the connection between the Purgatory Demon Sovereign and the will of the Demon Abyss Realm.]

['Using the Demon Abyss Realm as a fallback route... it's best not to choose it if I can avoid it.']

[You silently made up your mind. Originally, you had thought that so long as you stepped into the Void Return Stage in the Demon Abyss Realm, you could set out into the boundless Void to search for new great realms, or even the Upper Realm.]

[Yet judging from what you saw now, the waters of the Demon Abyss Realm ran far too deep. Its will was practically sentient, binding the Purgatory Demon Sovereign completely to the realm.]

[Under such circumstances, if the Purgatory Demon Sovereign wanted to break free of the Demon Abyss Realm, he would have to pay a brutal price.]

[Time flowed on.]

[Ten years, twenty years, thirty years, fifty years.]

[Although the Purgatory Demon Sovereign stood in the same spot the entire time, you could clearly feel the fury burning inside this Void Return demon sovereign's heart.]

[To be bound until now by a dead ant was not merely a matter of entering the Human Realm a little later—it was a humiliation.]

["Demon Sovereign, the Human Realm has been completely converted into a vassal of our realm. All that remains is for you to descend in person and refine its Heart of Heaven and Earth, and you will receive the feedback of the great Demon Moon's will."]

[The white-haired demon spoke up at this moment.]

['Oh?' Hearing the white-haired demon's words, you immediately deduced a great deal.]

[For instance, to truly occupy the Human Realm, a demon sovereign had to descend in person and refine the Human Realm's Heart of Heaven and Earth, and there was also the feedback from the Demon Abyss will, among other things.]

['The Human Realm's Heart of Heaven and Earth? Where is it?']

[You wondered inwardly.]

["Hmph..."]

[The Purgatory Demon Sovereign let out a cold snort and said nothing.]

[Possessing his body, however, you felt his mood improve ever so slightly.]

[Time flowed on once more.]

[In the blink of an eye, a hundred years had passed since your possession began.]

[Over this century... having full access to the Purgatory Demon Sovereign's perspective and sensations had helped you beyond measure.]

[Even though the path and system the Purgatory Demon Sovereign walked differed from yours, upon reaching the Void Return Stage, all paths of the Great Dao led to the same summit—mastering one illuminated ten thousand others.]

[Rumble—]

[Suddenly, the Purgatory Demon Sovereign slowly took a step forward, drawing closer to the Human Realm.]

[You immediately knew the Purgatory Demon Sovereign intended to descend into the Human Realm. The hundred years were up.]

[It felt like a colossal behemoth squeezing into a narrow space. Had the Human Realm not already been completely converted into a vassal plane of the Demon Abyss Realm, the Purgatory Demon Sovereign would not have been able to descend at all.]

[Even so, it took several hundred breaths before the Purgatory Demon Sovereign finally descended completely into the Human Realm.]

["This new plane is finally mine..."]

[The Purgatory Demon Sovereign felt thoroughly pleased, and you could sense his delight as well.]

[Just then, you noticed the Purgatory Demon Sovereign raise his head to look up at the sky.]

[That eerie Black-Red Moon had vanished at some unknown point.]

[Immediately after, the Purgatory Demon Sovereign looked toward the Central Continent Territory of the Human Realm. The land there was already utterly shattered, and a beam of sword light was slashing straight toward him.]

["No—"]

[The Purgatory Demon Sovereign had no time to react at all. Beneath that beam of sword light, the Purgatory Demon Sovereign's physical body, divine soul, and even his inner world all began to crumble and disintegrate.]

['What a terrifying sword strike.']

[You were shaken to the core as well. In the last simulation, you had not experienced the might of this sword strike firsthand, but now you could clearly feel the Purgatory Demon Sovereign's despair.]

[Phew—]

[An unknown amount of time passed.]

[You opened your eyes once more. Inside a black lake, a gray worm awakened with a sliver of will.]

['Sure enough, the Purgatory Demon Sovereign didn't completely die. Is this worm a life-saving measure he left behind?']

[You inwardly surmised.]

[Over the next several days,]

[you could feel the Purgatory Demon Sovereign's heart bleeding with anguish, not daring to leave this black lake at all.]

[As a demon sovereign, the Purgatory Demon Sovereign had plenty of bitter enemies in the Demon Abyss Realm. Once those enemies learned that his true body had been obliterated and that he was currently at his weakest, they would certainly seize the chance to strike at him.]

[There was no such thing as fairness in the Demon Abyss Realm; striking an enemy while they were down to finish them off was all too common.]

[You could clearly sense the Purgatory Demon Sovereign's extreme caution,]

[as he secretly drew upon the demonic Qi beneath this black lake to restore his strength.]

[This black lake had been carefully chosen by the Purgatory Demon Sovereign; there were no powerful demons nearby, and a source of demonic Qi lay at the bottom.]

[With keen interest, you experienced every bit of the Purgatory Demon Sovereign's trepidation.]

[Until—]

[The talent Dead But Not Stiff ended.]

[This simulation has ended.]