[In the 106th year, on your way to the Southern Deep Forest, you were traveling through a barren forest when you suddenly heard a call filled with urgency: "Brother Lin, please wait."]
[You turned toward the direction of the sound and saw your good brother, Su Ming.]
["Why are you here?" you asked him.]
[He replied, "I just broke through to the Foundation Establishment realm, so I decided to give you this good news first."]
[Hearing his answer, a doubt flashed in your eyes. After all, the speed at which you had traveled just now was not something a normal Golden Elixir realm cultivator, let alone someone at Foundation Establishment, could detect.]
[You decided to test him and uncover his motives.]
[But just as you looked at him, you were surprised. At this moment, a devilish grin spread across Su Ming's face.]
[Seeing you notice him, without any explanation, Su Ming directly attacked.]
[In these past years, your cultivation had reached the peak of the Nascent Soul stage. You had also comprehended spear intent to the 9th level and consumed over two thousand different kinds of poisons, which had further strengthened your physique.]
[But at this moment, it all seemed futile—you couldn't overwhelm Su Ming at all. You even tried to escape, only to discover this place was isolated by an array.]
[You didn't know why he was doing this, but it wasn't the time to think.]
[You unleashed all your strength, displaying flames such as the Extreme Yang True Flame, the Nine Netherworld Mysterious Flame, and your newly obtained Crimson Dragon Flame.]
[Yet, just as you displayed these, a crimson-golden flame appeared around Su Ming's body, slightly stronger than the combined might of all your flames.]
["Brother Lin, is this all you've learned as the direct disciple of the Holy Lord?" Su Ming sneered, watching you struggle. But you weren't the kind to lose composure over useless remarks.]
[After fighting for thousands of rounds, you were still overwhelmed. You used nearly every means at your disposal, yet each time Su Ming crushed you with ease.]
[He even possessed all the same equipment you had—of equal strength or stronger.]
[Only now did you realize the horror of Su Ming.]
[You also understood that throughout this battle, he had only been toying with you, never fighting seriously.]
[At that moment, you used your trump card—the Sword Law you had not revealed in this entire simulation—along with powerful talismans.]
[When you displayed your Sword Law and talismans, Su Ming's expression finally changed. "When did you comprehend the Sword Law? I never knew you practiced the sword. And this talis—?"]
[You didn't let him finish. The talismans burst forth, covering the surroundings—and Su Ming within.]
[But even while trapping him, you reflected on his earlier words. His shock at your Sword Law and talismans, which you hadn't practiced in this simulation, made you suspicious. You began piecing together his strength, weapons, and items, carefully considering everything he had displayed.]
[And then a thought struck you, dragging you back to the past.]
———
[In the past.]
[Around a hundred years ago, in the outer periphery of Five Elements Origin Peak.]
["Brother Lin, can we always be friends?" Su Ming had asked you.]
[And you had replied, "Yes."]
———
[Your thoughts snapped back to reality, only to find Su Ming had already shattered the talismanic space you created. He was staring at you curiously, as though anticipating more surprises.]
[Knowing you had no path to survival, you decided to gamble everything on the thought that had just arisen in your heart.]
[You placed your hand on your abdomen and began crushing your own Nascent Soul under Su Ming's mocking gaze.]
[Seeing you destroy your own Nascent Soul, his mocking smile grew wider. "Brother Lin, you're not allowed to attempt suicide in front of me."]
["I am not committing suicide," you gasped. "I... am... about to take... you... to... h...ell with... me..."]
[As your words ended, your Nascent Soul shattered. Slowly, your cultivation drained away.]
[Even as you lost all your hard-earned cultivation, your gaze never left Su Ming. That mocking look lingered on his face unchanged, which disappointed you greatly.]
[But soon, you saw his face turn purple and blue. Blood spilled from all seven orifices, and just like you, he slowly began losing all his cultivation.]
[Realizing his condition, Su Ming frantically opened a storage space and rummaged for something.]
[But how could you let him? You directly used the Soul-Piercing Needle. Though not fatal to cultivators, it was enough to kill a mortal thousands of times.]
[The moment you activated it, you felt as if millions of ants were gnawing at your soul, slowly tearing it apart.]
[Crying out in pain, you ignored Su Ming's condition and didn't pull it out.]
[Half an hour later, you collapsed, not knowing whether Su Ming lived or died.]
—
[Who knows how much time passed before you woke from a deep sleep. You could barely walk, but the first thing you wanted to know was—was Su Ming alive or dead?]
[You staggered forward until you found a corpse. It was Su Ming's. You kicked it a few times with your weak body before collapsing beside it.]
[You couldn't help but think: why are all these people with systems as golden fingers so arrogant, as if no one can defeat them? Mo Tianxuan, Su Ming—each died from their own carelessness.]
[After cursing and begrudgingly thanking their arrogance, you swallowed a healing pill. To your shock, Su Ming's corpse also healed along with you.]
[Your expression darkened. His system still existed. Fearing he might revive, you stopped consuming healing pills, stuffed his body into your storage space, and began searching for a way out.]
[But you couldn't even remember which direction you came from. You wandered aimlessly, hoping to find an exit.]
[Unbeknownst to you, you were walking deeper into the barren land, where not a trace of life existed.]
[After three days of stumbling on weak legs, you finally collapsed, a single thought echoing in your mind: this simulation is about to end.]
[You closed your eyes.]
—
[Who knows how much time passed before you regained consciousness. Surprisingly, you were still alive.]
[As you stirred, you felt something tickling your nose. Slowly, you opened your eyes.]
[You saw a girl, dressed in a white-lavender robe with plum accents. Purple hair draped over her shoulders, and her violet eyes shone with a beauty as natural and radiant as the heavens themselves. She held a chicken feather close to your nose.]
Outside Simulation,
"HAHAHAHA!" Lin Chen burst into laughter when he read the description. "Sigma System."
(System: Yes, host. 😎)
Inside Simulation,
[A few moments later, seeing the girl still holding the feather, you cleared your throat to catch her attention.]
[She snapped out of her daze, realized what she was doing, turned bright red, and ran away.]
[At dawn the next day, you awoke to find your body fully recovered—you could walk normally again, far better than before.]
[Checking your system space, you found that near Su Ming's corpse, a pure white substance had appeared. You named it System Origin.]
[You quickly healed your injuries, only to realize that unless you found resources to repair your Dantian, you could no longer cultivate. Moreover, you had lost access to the Combat Ranking System's constant resources.]
[Thinking this over, you began speaking with the girl and learned she had healed you. Three months had passed since she first found you.]
[Her name was Jiang Qingyu.]
[Afterward, you decided to live a mortal's life with her.]
[That night, the two of you lay in bed, about to become a couple.]
[The urges you had suppressed for decades became uncontrollable, and you felt an inexplicable attraction to her.]
[But one question lingered: why was she living alone in this barren land, devoid of all life?]
[Just as the thought arose, you unconsciously dismissed it and focused instead on her movements.]
[She leaned closer to you and—]
[That night, you died.]
[Because of your death, this simulation ends.]
—
"Haha! Bro, don't tell me you saw an Excalibur and died of shock?" Lin Chen laughed out loud, recalling a joke from his past life, imagining the same ridiculous end happening to himself.
Then his face grew serious.
"Jokes aside! System, explain what actually just happened." His voice carried a sharp edge. He knew his will wasn't so weak that he would simply die from shock.
And from the way the system had presented those prompts, he realized something was seriously wrong with her.
After all, in reality, Lin Chen would never dismiss his speculations so easily.
The system's explanation soon came.
[Ding, Host, I'm sure you noticed the barren land where she lived. The reason it was barren is that she possesses a physique called the World Destruction Physique. This physique generates massive destructive energy in its surroundings, and thus is condemned by the heavens, unable to cultivate.]
[If the possessor ever sets foot on the cultivation path, their disaster aura grows stronger with every realm. This has already happened once in your universe, which is why the Dharma-Ending Age arrived earlier than anticipated.]
[As you know, danger and opportunity always coexist, but they are also mortal enemies.]
[Because of this, the destiny deep within you had a sudden impulse to conquer disaster. Your suppressed urges toward the opposite gender only fueled the fire. When your destiny aura failed to suppress her disaster aura, you were infected by it—and unknowingly died.]
[But surviving under her influence for three months without cultivation was already incredible. Perhaps, if you had not gotten so close, you might have survived a year under her aura.]
"The reasoning is absolute," Lin Chen muttered. As a veteran reader, he instantly recognized the truth in the system's words.
A few moments later, a familiar chime echoed in his mind.
[Ding, reward settlement completed. The host can choose five of the following rewards.]
Lin Chen's eyes lit up with excitement. Finally, he could confirm the truth behind that mysterious bead, from the system, itself.