Beneath the mountains, a normal mortal was trying to cultivate and condense his first strand of Qi to break through to the Qi Gathering Realm when he suddenly heard a voice.

  Ding! Starting first simulation…

  He thought it was just his imagination, that he was going crazy. Meanwhile, the sounds continued.

  Simulation started

  Day 1: Attempted breakthrough to Qi Gathering Realm. Success! You have reached the 1st layer.

  Day 2: Searching for valuable herbs to break through to the 2nd layer.Failure. You were injured by a beast.

  Day 3: Recovering from injuries.

  Day 4: Recovering from injuries.

  Day 5: Recovering from injuries and resumed cultivating.

  Day 6: No progress. Attempted to search the wilderness for herbs but was attacked by another beast.You managed to escape. This time, you were lucky and found an herb. After absorbing it, you recovered from your injuries and successfully broke through to the 2nd layer of Qi Refining. Excited, you ventured deeper into the mountains—only to be attacked and die.

  "What?! This is absurd! How could I die like that? I must truly be going crazy… There's no way this is real!"

  Ding! Select your reward:

  

  
1. 
   
     Qi Gathering 1st Layer
   
     


  
2. 
   
     Unknown Herb
   
     


  
3. 
   
     Insights into Cultivation
   
     This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
   
     


  

  Although I knew I wouldn’t actually receive anything, I was curious about what would happen, so I chose the first option, expecting nothing.

  At that moment, a warm current flowed into my body. The strand of Qi quickly formed, and I successfully reached the 1st layer of Qi Gathering!

  T-This… how is this possible?!

  Is someone playing games with me? Or… does this thing called a "system" truly simulate my life? No, that’s impossible. Even the legendary Golden Core cultivators of ancient times—who could live for ten thousand years—were nowhere near capable of touching time itself.

  Unless…

  Is Golden Core not the peak?

  Are there even higher realms beyond my knowledge?

  But what kind of realm would one need to reach in order to manipulate time? It seems unlikely that the realm just above Golden Core could achieve such a feat…

  Is the road ahead really that long?

  Wait, why am I even thinking about this? I should just be happy to have such an opportunity. And even if this isn't real, I’ll be able to verify it later. Regardless, it still helped me reach Qi Refining without risk.

  Wait… but how do I simulate again?

  Ding! Just say "Simulation."

  I was shocked. It even has a mind of its own? If it didn’t, I might have been able to find loopholes… but if it does, then the situation is far more dangerous. Who knows? It might try to take over my body.

  Doubt crept in again. Could it really manipulate time? Or was this all just a trap set by some unknown being?

  But I knew that cultivation itself was a gamble. If I didn’t take risks, I would never become strong.

  So, I made my decision.

  I took a deep breath and said, "Simulation."

  Ding! Insufficient balance. You need 100 system points.

  1 of the lowest-grade spirit stones = 1 system pointYou may also exchange treasures, and the system will assess their value.

  "...Fu—"

  I stopped myself before cursing. Who knows? If this system is sentient, it might get annoyed and kill me.

  I decided to sell the herbs on my body. They were only useful before reaching the Qi Gathering Realm anyway.

  Ding! You sold a common herb. You received 1 point.

  Ding! You sold a 1-year-old ginseng. You received 10 points.

  …

  Ding! You now have a total of 124 points.

  Do you want to start the next simulation?

  "Yes."

  …