YM778.TV Chapter 30 - 29: Artistic Conception
“Sword intent?” muttered Pei Xuanjing.
He felt the indescribable something, akin to an atmosphere or perhaps ‘sword intent’.
An atmosphere is an elusive feeling a cultivator gets as they progress in their martial arts. It transforms into something controllable during martial studies, and when used in combat, the martial artist’s power far exceeds the ordinary.
Suffice it to say, whether it’s bare-handed combat or weapons, if one can master this atmosphere, then they can undoubtedly cultivate the martial art to its apex.
However, sometimes, no matter how much effort you put into cultivating a martial art to its ultimate state, it still doesn’t guarantee that you can grasp this atmosphere.
“They say in the martial world, only those who grasp the atmosphere can truly cultivate the martial art to its peak and carve out their own path. I wonder if that’s true,” mused Pei Xuanjing.
Unexpectedly, he encountered this concept typically only touched upon by Upper Three Realm martial artists when he was only at the rank of the fifth -grade, which left him enthralled.
After a few more days of recuperation and some practice of “Water Swordsmanship”, Pei Xuanjing once again initiated the next life simulation.
[Taoyun: 19021 points.]
[Do you want to use the life simulator? Each use consumes 5000 Taoyun points.]
This time, Pei Xuanjing decisively chose ‘yes.’
[Great Tao has fifty, Forty-Nine Heavenly Paths derived, one hidden! Hence, every being in the world has a single thread of vitality!]
Age 20: The Forbidden Place has been revealed, and you venture into it…you manage to seize the rare artifact within.
Age 21: The Prefecture Lord presents the artifact as a token for a promotion and invites you to leave with him, to which you eagerly accept.
Age 25: Half a month later, under the sponsorship of the Governor, a martial contest was held in the Northwest Dao. You smoothly advanced to the top ten, thereby earning fame in the Northwest Dao.
However, right after entering the top ten, you encountered a real genius, the direct disciple of the Tie sect, a fifth-rank martial artist at age twenty. You barely defeated him, earning a hard-won chance.
A month later, you and the others were recommended by the governor to attend the Discerning Talent Ceremony in Tiandu.
Age 26: Due to your outstanding performance at the Discerning Talent Ceremony in Tiandu and your familiarity with the Taoist canon as a member of the Taoist School, you were favored by King Xing, who resided in Tiandu, and invited to be a lecturer at the Royal Mansion. You then returned with King Xing to his fief.
Age 29: You heard about the rebellion in the Northwest Dao and the Prefecture Lord’s death while trying to quell it, and grieved for the loss of a friend.
Age 30: With the support of the Xing King Mansion, you broke through a realm and became a fourth -rank martial artist.
King Xing was pleased with your breakthrough, and besides letting you explain the Taoist canon to him, he also hired you as a martial studies instructor for the prince and other princes.
Age 31: King Xing passed away, and the prince ascended the throne. You continue your duties at Xing Mansion, providing Taoist teachings and martial instruction.
Age 33: The Emperor had no heirs, and on his deathbed, issued a decree that King Xing should succeed to the throne, as stated in the “Imperial Instructions of Great Ming” with the principle of “younger brother succeeding older brother.” Five days later, the Emperor died.
Seven days later, the imperial court sent envoys to the fief to announce the edict.
Half a month later, you escorted King Xing back to Tiandu to ascend the throne. However, on the way, you were assassinated by a killer while protecting King Xing.
[End of this life.]
After viewing the results of this life simulation, Pei Xuanjing took a long time to return to his senses.
His original plan was simple: to be a martial artist, stand at the pinnacle of martial arts, and search for traces of the legendary Fairy Gods.
But in these life simulations, he seemed to be repeatedly linked with the Court, even getting directly involved in the struggle for the throne this time.
“Heh,” scoffed Pei Xuanjing, “the martial world and the Court are interdependent. Trying to remain free of ties is a bit naive.”
He hadn’t been thinking clearly. Cultivation didn’t solely rely on bitter cultivation. The stronger a martial artist, the more resources they need for each step of cultivation.
To focus solely on cultivation while ignoring worldly affairs was indeed dreaming.
It wasn’t that Pei Xuanjing wasn’t willing to get involved in the succession war. After all, apart from establishing one’s own dynasty, participating in the Dragon’s Merit was the second-biggest accomplishment since ancient times.
What surprised him were the individuals and events he encountered in this life simulation.
The Emperor had no heir and decreed King Xing’s succession.
The ‘King Xing’ could not be Emperor Wanshou, who was obsessed with cultivation in his original world, could it?
Having lived in this world for over twenty years, this Great Ming was similar yet different from the Great Ming in his original world. The posthumous titles of the emperors almost coincided with those in his original world, perhaps due to their practice of cultivation, causing some discrepancies in their reign durations.
Moreover, Pei Xuanjing had been focusing on cultivation and hadn’t paid much attention to these matters, as they weren’t closely related to him.
But now, when he discovered he was embroiled in a succession war in his life simulation, he had no choice but to think more about it. After all, Emperor Wanshou had mixed reviews in later generations.
Getting involved might have advantages and disadvantages, depending on how he chose to proceed at the time.
But that was a long way off. According to the timeline in the life simulation, it wouldn’t happen for another decade or so. By then, he might have gained enough power to participate, or even control the situation.
However, getting involved this time wasn’t a total loss. At least, with the support of the Xing King Mansion, he broke through to the Fourth-grade realm smoothly. [Simulation ended. You may choose to retain one of the following rewards.]
[First, Fourth-grade martial artist realm.]
[Second, Combat experience of a Fourth-grade martial artist.]
[Third, The content and annotations of ten Taoist canons.]
The choice this time didn’t require much thought. Pei Xuanjing chose the first one without hesitation, as his frequent life simulations were meant to breakthrough to the fourth-grade martial artist realm. Now that the opportunity was presented, how could he let it pass?
After making the choice, he felt his True Qi in his body start to circulate rapidly again. The six organs nourished by the True Qi started to intensify their enhancements, and his True Qi was quickly depleted.
“It will exhaust the True Qi in my body at this rate. Luckily, I was prepared.”
Learning from his past breakthrough where he hadn’t adequately prepared, He had been preparing reserves during these life simulations.
Once he realized that his True Qi might be insufficient, he promptly took out more than ten porcelain bottles from his bag, each filled with an elixir to replenish True Qi..