Chapter 2: Determination

In the darkness, lines of glowing small characters appeared one by one along with the images.

"You returned to anchor year 1. In your ecstasy, you did some outrageous things and were almost forced to drink exorcism water obtained from the village witch by your Aunt."

"There is half a year until the provincial examination; you study day and night at home. Since you already know the exam questions, you appear full of confidence. Although your Aunt usually has complaints about you, she has always supported your studies."

"The village chief's younger brother covets your family's ancestral fertile land and secretly pressures you. As a woman, your Aunt resists but is powerless. You use a small scheme to settle the matter. From then on, your Aunt looks at you with new eyes."

"Half a year later, you participate in the provincial examination. Although you only rank in the bottom thirty, you successfully become a Juren and bring honor to your ancestors."

"Anchor year 2, you go to Mystic Capital City to participate in the metropolitan examination. Having prepared for the questions, you naturally pass with high marks. In the subsequent palace examination, you perform outstandingly, placing in the second rank, and are granted the title of Jinshi."

"You network everywhere in Mystic Capital City and finally get your wish, obtaining the position of Magistrate of Wen County in Jiangnan."

"Anchor year 3, you bring your Aunt from home and take up your post in Wen County. You begin to secretly cultivate your own loyal core team. That same year, you lead your men to find several mineral deposits from your previous life's memories in the deep mountains."

"Anchor year 4, you successfully produce a batch of explosives and matchlock guns. Your musketeer team destroys and absorbs a nearby bandit group in their first test."

"Anchor year 5, a great drought hits Jiangnan, and refugees are everywhere. Because you built water conservancy projects and waterwheels for irrigation early on, Wen County under your rule is not greatly affected. That same year, a group of refugees rebels and attacks the Prince of Langya's mansion. You lead troops to arrive in time and save the Prince of Langya's family. The Prince of Langya is very grateful to you."

"Anchor year 6, you are promoted to Prefect of Jianghuai Prefecture. That same year, you marry the daughter of the current Minister of Personnel."

"Anchor year 7, a sudden locust plague hits the Jiangnan Dao, leading to crop failure. Only your jurisdiction is minimally affected. That same year, your wife gives birth to a son for you."

"Anchor year 8, your subordinates successfully produce flintlock guns."

"Anchor year 10, the Princess of Langya gives birth to a son. You personally visit to congratulate them and present carefully prepared gifts."

"Anchor year 15, the Emperor suddenly falls ill. Before passing away, he summons the Prince of Langya to the capital and abdicates in his favor. The Prince of Langya ascends the throne and changes the reign title to Xuanjing."

"Anchor year 16, Emperor Xuanjing summons you to the capital and promotes you to Vice Minister of War. That same year, rebellions large and small break out everywhere. Emperor Xuanjing orders you to lead troops to suppress them."

"Anchor year 18, you rush about various places and finally sweep away the rebel armies. After returning to the capital, Emperor Xuanjing strips you of your military power, promotes you to Minister of War, and appoints you as Grand Preceptor to the Crown Prince."

"Anchor year 20, the Empress is suddenly framed in a witchcraft Gu case. Emperor Xuanjing is furious and banishes her to the cold palace. The Crown Prince secretly seeks your help, and you decisively agree. Through private investigation, you find evidence that Consort Xi framed the Empress, clearing the Empress's name. Emperor Xuanjing executes Consort Xi's three clans but does not release the Empress from the cold palace."

"Anchor year 21, someone secretly accuses you of treason and submits evidence of your private mining of minerals and secret control of armed forces back then. You are terrified and submit a petition pleading guilty. Emperor Xuanjing removes you from your post as Minister but only lets you tutor the Crown Prince."

"Anchor year 23, Emperor Xuanjing goes on a spring hunt. Suddenly feeling a sentiment, he decides to return to the Prince of Langya's mansion in Jiangnan Dao to take a look."

"Anchor year 24, Emperor Xuanjing visits Jiangnan for the first time, ordering you to accompany him. While sightseeing in Jiangnan, he also takes the opportunity to see the mines you secretly operated back then."

"Anchor year 25, Emperor Xuanjing visits Jiangnan for the second time. But this time, he does not bring you. Three months later, you secretly receive news that someone has reported you for privately visiting the Empress in the cold palace. That same year, Emperor Xuanjing is assassinated on his way back to the capital. When the news spreads, the capital is shaken. The officials bring the Empress out of the cold palace, and subsequently, the Crown Prince ascends the throne with the reign title Kangning."

"Anchor year 26, you are conferred the title of Grand Preceptor and appointed Grand Secretary of the Council of State, reaching the pinnacle of officialdom. The Emperor is young and relies heavily on you. Taking this opportunity, you eliminate dissidents and establish your own core team at court."

"Anchor year 27, your Aunt passes away. You once again develop the idea of seeking eternal life, so you send people to explore the traces of Immortals everywhere."

"Anchor year 28, the Emperor comes of age. Your power grows day by day, and the court almost becomes your personal echo chamber."

"Anchor year 30, the people of the world only know of the Grand Preceptor and not the Emperor."

"Anchor year 31, the Empress Dowager is pregnant and urgently summons you to the palace to discuss countermeasures. Overjoyed, you secretly bring the Empress Dowager back to the Grand Preceptors Mansion to take good care of her. That same year, the Empress Dowager gives birth to a son for you."

"Anchor year 33, when you enter the court alone, you are surrounded by elite guards secretly cultivated by Emperor Kangning. Fortunately, with the help of a strange treasure, you luckily escape with your life. You are furious and want to kill the Emperor and set yourself up. Under the Empress Dowager's desperate pleas and the persuasion of ministers around you, you do not act. You execute all of the Emperor's close courtiers. After this, Emperor Kangning only has the name of Emperor but no actual power."

"Anchor year 38, Emperor Kangning dies of depression. You install his eldest legitimate son as Emperor and change the reign title to Longchang."

"Anchor year 40, the Empress Dowager passes away due to illness. Your desire to seek the Immortal Path becomes increasingly urgent."

"Anchor year 45, your wife passes away."

"Anchor year 46, your eldest son passes away due to illness."

"Anchor year 48, having sought the Immortal Path for many years without result, you give up the idea of searching for Immortals."

"Anchor year 50, two Immortals come from the Eastern Void Abyss and destroy Mystic Capital City in an instant. You luckily escape with your life."

"This simulation ends."

"You can choose one of the following options to retain: 1. An item held by yourself in this simulation. 2. Your own cultivation Realm in this simulation. 3. The simulation memory of a person close to you in this simulation. This memory can be inherited by that person. 4. Give up the above choices and accelerate the charging progress."

Li Fan regained consciousness and found himself back in his simple study.

Looking around at the scenery, both strange and familiar, the experiences of the past decades flashed through his mind one by one. Li Fan could not help but feel a sense of emotion: "Is it that reality has turned into illusion, or is everything a simulation that is just too realistic, leading to an illusion? Or perhaps, when a certain level is reached, there is no boundary between false and true."

However, Li Fan was not a sentimental person. Soon, he composed himself and focused his attention on these four options.

The first and second options were not worth mentioning; if Li Fan had embarked on the path of cultivation, these two would definitely have been of great help to him. It was a pity that he was just a Mortal in his previous life. He had no cultivation Realm at all.

As for the most valuable item he possessed, it was probably that Imperial Seal.

It was also useless and would only bring disaster.

As for the third option, letting someone else receive the memories of this simulation…

This actually made Li Fan's heart beat faster.

For a moment, several figures flashed through Li Fan's mind.

But in the end, he shook his head.

After all, the human heart is the most difficult to fathom. No one knows what a person would become after receiving decades of memory.

Currently, [Huan Zhen] had not finished charging, and he was still a weak scholar with no strength to truss a chicken, lacking the capital to start over.

Therefore, everything should be based on stability.

That left only the fourth option.

Accelerate the charging progress.

The [Huan Zhen]'s Virtualization requires charging.

According to Li Fan's experience from his previous life, this charging progress could only increase naturally with the passage of time. It would take about twenty years to be fully charged.

The charging progress would stop increasing after reaching 200%.

At the same time, when Li Fan suffered a fatal blow, [Huan Zhen] would consume the charging progress for automatic protection. This was the reason why Li Fan was able to survive near-death experiences several times in his previous life.

Therefore, the fourth option was the safest choice.

Having made up his mind, Li Fan did not hesitate and recited silently in his heart.

Immediately, the lines of glowing small characters dispersed into points of light and quickly rearranged into several new lines of characters.

Name: Li Fan

Realm: Mortal

Physiological Age: 20 / 86

Psychological Age: 166 / 1056 ↑

Virtualization Charging Progress: 30%

"Three lifetimes as a human, one hundred and sixty-six years. So I have already lived for so long. However, regarding the psychological age limit, I remember it was only over nine hundred years in my previous life, but now it has increased to over one thousand years. It seems this will increase with my experiences. It has reduced some of the anxiety in my heart."

Just as the body's lifespan has a limit, psychological endurance also has a certain threshold.

When carrying too many memories, it forms a mental burden. Once this burden becomes too heavy, it will completely crush a person's Soul.

This is the so-called "wear and tear of time."

However, the upper limit of psychological age will increase with the enhancement of psychological endurance.

Looking at it now, Li Fan does not need to worry about this.

"As long as I embark on the path of an Immortal Cultivator, everything will not be a problem. Now that I am starting over, wealth, glory, and beautiful women are not my pursuit."

"I only want eternal life!" The pain after the passing of loved ones in his previous life, and the powerlessness and fear brought by his aging body, made Li Fan's determination even firmer at this moment.

"The goal of this life is to learn the secret of cultivation from those two Immortal Cultivators. Fifty years later, they will descend upon Mystic Capital City. By calculating against them with intent, even if they are so-called Foundation Establishment Stage experts, I may not necessarily lack a chance of winning."

"Perhaps what I can rely on, besides guns and gunpowder, is also the Immortal-Mortal Miasma they mentioned…"

"Besides, I cannot just wait for fifty years. They came from the Eastern Void Abyss; perhaps I can send people deep into the Void Abyss first to investigate."

The most frightening thing in life is having no goal. In his previous life, many times when Li Fan woke up from the Empress Dowager's couch in the middle of the night, he would feel incomparable emptiness and confusion.

In this life, he already stood at the pinnacle of ordinary people.

He was the Emperor's teacher, and he held the world's armies in his hands. Eight or nine out of ten officials in the court were his confidants.

He could depose emperors, and even the Empress Dowager let him do whatever he wanted.

It could not be higher.

Even if he came back for another life, it would be the same.

Should he do the same in the next simulation?

If so, what is the meaning of Reincarnation life after life?

Power and pleasure are tasteless after being repeated too many times.

Perhaps, if there were no variables, after some Reincarnation, Li Fan would voluntarily give up and choose to end his own life.

But!

The appearance of those two Immortal Cultivators allowed Li Fan to see a brand new possibility!

It allowed Li Fan to see a strange and tempting world beckoning to him.

It gave Li Fan great ambition and a goal.

He wants to be an Immortal Cultivator!

He wants eternal life!

No one can stop him!

Li Fan pushed open the door of the room and walked out with his head held high.

His steps were firm!