The knowledge of the Qi-gathering pill recipe was a faint light in Ren's desolate existence, a promise of slow, agonizing progress for his poor roots. He practiced the borrowed Qi circulation technique diligently, feeling the subtle shifts in his energy, infinitesimally small but undeniably present. *Slow progress is still progress,* he reminded himself, his mind a steel trap, locking away every fragment of insight. The memory of the demon attack from the last simulation still prickled his skin. It had solidified a grim truth: to survive, he couldn't just avoid danger; he had to **acquire the means to endure it.**
His current goal was clear: more spirit stones. The pill recipe was a long-term investment, requiring ingredients he didn't possess. He needed immediate, tangible resources. And his simulations had given him a new, dangerous idea: hunting. Not powerful spirit beasts, but common wild animals. Their pelts, their meat, even their bones, held value in the outer markets.
Over the next few days, Ren moved with a newfound purpose. His bruised body still protested, but his mind, sharper than ever, drove him. He performed menial tasks, observing the routines of the city guards, the paths of merchants. He chose his moments, slipping into the cleaner alleys under the cloak of dawn or dusk, his eyes, still recalling the acuity of [Keen Eye], scanning for discarded fragments. He learned to track, to read the subtle signs in the undergrowth, to predict animal movements. His cultivation was weak, so direct confrontation was suicide. He relied on crude snares made from vines and sharpened bamboo, patiently waiting. He managed to catch a few small rabbits, their pelts rough but valuable. He traded them discreetly, avoiding attention, slowly accumulating **another five low-grade spirit stones.**
He paid for another three days in his rented room, the act of handing over the coins a quiet declaration of his continued survival. *A temporary sanctuary. A place to gather my thoughts. To die, and learn.* He closed the door, sealing himself in. His body ached from the physical exertion, but his mind buzzed with anticipation. The System shimmered.
**System Update Detected: Talent Refresh Protocol Activated!**
**Upon a new simulation, previously chosen F-Grade talents will be replaced with a new set of random F or D-Grade talents.**
Ren's eyes widened. This was significant. *New options. New strategies. The System is evolving, just as I must.* He felt a surge of grim excitement. This meant more chances to find a truly useful talent, even if he couldn't extract it yet. He still didn't have the funds to extract talents, only memories.
**Simulation Opportunity: Text-based. Cost: 2 Low-Grade Spirit Stones.**
**Choose 1 of 3 Random Talents:**
* **[F] Rough Skin:** Minor increase in physical toughness, dulling impact.
* **[D] Basic Herbology:** Minor ability to identify common, non-spiritual herbs and their uses.
* **[F] Light Step:** Slightly reduced sound when moving, improving stealth.
Ren considered the new options. *Rough Skin is tempting for raw survival. Light Step for evasion and infiltration. But Basic Herbology… that's a way to find resources myself, to break free from the constant need to scavenge manufactured discards.* His experience with the Qi-gathering pill recipe reminded him of the power of understanding ingredients. *Knowledge for self-sufficiency. That's efficiency.*
He chose **Basic Herbology**. The two spirit stones vanished. The room dissolved into blocks of shimmering text.
---
**SIMULATION LOG: ATTEMPT 5**
**DAY 1: Forest Foray. Ren awakens, feeling a subtle new clarity about the natural world. His [Basic Herbology] talent instinctively guides him. He ventures into the surrounding wilderness, not towards the city, but deeper into the less-traveled woods. He finds common medicinal plants, wild berries, and even identifies a cluster of 'Whispergrass', known for its mild calming properties when brewed. He avoids larger beast tracks, moving carefully.**
**DAY 2: Unseen Eyes. Ren continues his foraging. He notices faint, unnatural disturbances in the foliage – broken twigs, faint scuff marks on rocks that are not animal. His senses, honed by past simulations, warn him of an unseen presence. He hides in dense undergrowth, observing a patrol of **rogue cultivators** moving silently through the woods. They carry crude, but spiritual, weapons. Ren understands they are hunting for something specific, and learns their patrol routes and general demeanor.**
**DAY 3: Trapper's Discovery. Ren stumbles upon a series of expertly laid traps, designed for small spirit beasts. He recognizes the cunning in their construction. He doesn't disturb them, but memorizes their design, the materials used. He realizes these traps belong to the rogue cultivators he saw yesterday. He finds a small, discarded pouch near one trap, containing **one low-grade spirit stone** and a rough map of hunting grounds, meticulously drawn.**
**DAY 4: The Wild Hunt. The forest erupts. A sudden, terrifying shriek. The rogue cultivators are engaging a **Qi Condensation Realm beast**, a hulking Bristleback Boar. The battle is brutal, chaotic. Ren, hidden high in a sturdy tree, witnesses their tactics, their weaknesses, and the immense power of a Spirit Beast. He sees one cultivator fall, his body dissolving into a bloody mist. The others, battered, eventually fell the beast. They collect its core and a few valuable parts, leaving the less valuable hide and meat.**
**DAY 5: Opportunistic Scavenge. After the rogue cultivators depart, Ren carefully descends. The air is thick with blood. He cautiously approaches the fallen beast. Using his crude knife, he manages to skin the Bristleback Boar, though clumsily, acquiring a large, tough hide. The scent of blood is a danger, but the opportunity is too great. He then searches the fallen cultivator's remains – a risky move. He finds **two low-grade spirit stones** and a **damaged communication talisman** that vibrates faintly.**
**DAY 6: Ambush. As Ren makes his way back, laden with the heavy hide, he encounters a new group of **rough-looking cultivators**. They are not the previous rogues, but bandits. They notice his laden form, his low cultivation. "Looks like little mouse found a big meal," one snarls. Ren attempts to use evasion techniques, but his burden slows him. He fights with desperation, but their numbers and higher cultivation levels are insurmountable. He is overwhelmed, his hide and stones taken.**
**SIMULATION ENDED.**
**YEARS LIVED: 0.016 Years (6 Days).**
**SURVIVAL POINTS GAINED: 7 (For successful resource acquisition and advanced observation).**
**ACHIEVEMENTS: Wilderness Forager. Trap Memorizer. Bristleback Scavenger.**
**NEGATIVES: Overburdened. Poor Evasion. Captured by Bandits.**
**MEMORY EXTRACTION AVAILABLE. Cost: 1 Low-Grade Spirit Stone.**
---
Ren gasped, bolting upright in his rented room, the scent of phantom blood and forest loam filling his nostrils. His body was stiff, but his mind raced, reeling from the raw brutality of the ambush. *Captured. By bandits. My greed. My inefficiency. I went for too much, too soon.* The sheer difficulty of acquiring even basic resources in this world, without a sect's backing, was a brutal reality. He was a lone wolf, always at risk.
He still had his last two spirit stones. He paid one for the memory extraction. What was most vital? The **design of the rogue cultivators' traps**? The **damaged communication talisman's faint vibration patterns**? Or the precise **skinning technique** for a larger beast like the Bristleback?
*The traps. They are a tool for survival, for resource gathering, and for defense. Understanding how to set them, how to avoid them.* He chose the **trap design**. The spirit stone dissolved, and the intricate schematics, the specific knotting patterns, the precise tension points of the traps, embedded themselves in his mind.
Over the next few days, Ren applied himself with brutal discipline. He practiced the Qi circulation method, feeling the agonizingly slow accumulation of spiritual energy. He began to experiment with snares, not just simple loops, but more complex, robust designs using vines and sharpened sticks, mimicking the memories from his simulation. He hunted small game again, but this time, he carried less, prioritizing speed over maximal gain. He traded the pelts, slowly accumulating spirit stones, painstakingly building his meager reserves.
His body was Ren, the weak, indebted cultivator. But his mind was a battlefield, a forge where simulated deaths were hammered into cold, hard knowledge. He was learning to be a hunter, a scavenger, a ghost in the shadows. He avoided any official cultivation shops or guild halls, knowing his lack of status and resources would make him a target. Instead, he focused on the wilderness, on the animals, on the lessons of survival the System so cruelly provided. He knew he was still fundamentally weak, a lone target in a world where only the strong truly mattered. But each simulation, each memory extracted, honed him. He was becoming less a victim, and more a predator of opportunity.
What new insights does Ren gain about his "original sin" of poor roots as he continues to cultivate, and what kind of random talents appear for his next simulation, pushing him towards new, unexpected challenges?