While Others are Leveling Up, I Alone Will Cultivate Until Mahayana Before Making My Move

In the real world, Su Xing's heart hung in suspense.

Having spoken those words within the simulator, he had effectively laid his identity bare. If the Shadow Protector was neither a spy nor a traitor, his death was certain.

This amounted to a wasteful use of a precious simulation opportunity.

But if the Shadow Protector truly was a traitor, then Su Xing would save himself much trouble in subsequent simulations.

Everything hinged on a single thought.

Su Xing swallowed and continued the simulation.

[After hearing your words, the Shadow Protector's expression subtly changed. She claimed she did not understand what you were saying, that she had joined the Descending Sect decades ago and had always been following the path of the master.]

[Your heart felt more at ease after hearing the Shadow Protector's response because if she truly was loyal to the Descending Sect, she should have killed you right then and there.]

[You simply closed your eyes, allowing the Shadow Protector to end your life, which led her to fall silent.]

[After a long while, the Shadow Protector let out a bitter laugh and said, "How pitiful. Compared to those true behemoths, our world is destined for destruction! In their eyes, our world is nothing more than insignificant dust…"]

[At that moment, the Shadow Protector finally opened up to you. Seizing the opportunity, you argued that as long as there was a glimmer of hope, you should exert ten thousand times the effort, just like how the Shadow Protector requested you to refine elixirs. Was it not a struggle despite knowing you were powerless to resist?]

[It seemed the Shadow Protector was swayed by your words. She inquired about your plan to resist the invasion of the Foreign Race. You presented an elixir, stating you would practice alchemy and that as long as you could produce enough strong individuals with elixirs, the Foreign Race would eventually be driven away.]

[However, the Shadow Protector responded with a bitter laugh, indicating that it was a mere drop in the bucket. Even if the Human Race's strength was raised by a notch, they would still be insignificant in the face of the Foreign Beasts.]

[The Shadow Protector then asked how many elixirs you could provide all on your own.]

[Filled with hope, you contemplated for a moment and then stated that you could supply a thousand Essence-Nourishing Pills every month and asked her if that number was sufficient.]

[Upon hearing your words, the Shadow Protector was visibly stunned. A supply of a thousand Essence-Nourishing Pills per month equated to creating two hundred warriors at the Grandmaster Level. Nearly three thousand in a year. If so many strong individuals could be produced annually, perhaps it could significantly delay the Foreign Race's invasion!]

Su Xing chuckled lightly upon seeing this.

With Su Xing's alchemy speed, if he focused only on that, he could even refine more than two thousand Essence-Nourishing Pills in a month.

However, Su Xing also needed to cultivate. In this simulation, he needed to advance to the Nascent Soul Stage, so without impacting his own cultivation speed, he could only spare four hours per day for alchemy.

"It seems that in this simulation, I'll have to form an alliance with the Shadow Protector. Just how long can we delay the end of the world?"

Su Xing raised an eyebrow and continued the simulation.

[Ultimately, the Shadow Protector agreed to form an alliance with you. She said she would do her best to cover for you, to conceal your identity, while you needed to supply her with at least five hundred Essence-Nourishing Pills every month!]

[You seized the opportunity to request Yellow Immortal Essence, essential for refining Organ Refining Pills, and the Shadow Protector agreed to your request.]

[In the fourth year, you maintained four hours of alchemy every day and spent even more time ensuring your cultivation, feeling yourself getting closer and closer to the Nascent Soul Stage.]

[Within a year, you had refined over ten thousand elixirs, nearly half of which were given to the Shadow Protector. The remaining pills you used to sustain your cultivation, and you had saved up several thousand Organ Refining Pills to use when necessary.]

[In the fifth year, you continued to consume Essence-Nourishing and Mind-Nourishing Pills daily to strengthen your Cultivation Level. You sensed a subtle change in your Golden Core, which forced you to spend more time stabilizing your cultivation. Breaking through from the Golden Core Stage to the Nascent Soul Stage was slightly more difficult than you had imagined.]

[That year, the number of Organ Refining Pills you accumulated reached ten thousand, which was still far from enough.]

[In the sixth year, you continued to refine elixirs methodically. Besides cultivating in your spare time, you also returned to the Spirit Field Blessed Land to tend to the spirit plants.]

[You discovered that many of the spiritual medicines you had planted had reached maturity, even surpassing the quality of those in the treasury of the Descending Sect.]

[You were tempted to try refining new elixirs, but you knew that the purpose of this simulation was to break through to the Nascent Soul Stage, so you abandoned the idea.]

[In the seventh year, you persisted in your cultivation efforts. You could feel that you were a mere thin layer of sandpaper away from the Nascent Soul Stage, and you knew you had hit a bottleneck.]

[You knew that breakthroughs couldn't be forced. Sometimes, relentlessly seeking a breakthrough would only lead to bitter consequences. It was better to let things take their natural course, which might unexpectedly lead to a breakthrough to a Nascent Soul Cultivator.]

In the real world, Su Xing nodded slightly.

With his True Spiritual Root aptitude, breaking through to the Nascent Soul Cultivator shouldn't encounter any significant bottlenecks.

For those cultivating, it was not uncommon to be stuck in a great realm for decades or even centuries—this was due to insufficient aptitude.

But Su Xing's issue was a lack of the right mindset. He was only one opportunity away from the Nascent Soul Stage and might be able to break through without pain.

With that thought, Su Xing continued to look at the simulation panel.

[You no longer practiced arduously every day, only cultivating lightly for half an hour each morning to maintain your spiritual sense, leaving you with more time for alchemy.]

[This year, you refined elixirs for ten hours each day. Thanks to the ample supply of spiritual medicine you had left, you weren't short on ingredients.]

[Within a year, you had produced over thirty thousand Essence-Nourishing Pills, knowing they would be of great use in the future.]

[You remembered clearly that in a previous simulation, the Shadow Protector had no further need for elixirs in the eighth year. Perhaps something catastrophic had happened in her original world, which led her to abandon her need for elixirs.]

[Thus, you sought out the Shadow Protector, intending to give her the Essence-Nourishing Pills a year in advance.]

[The Shadow Protector was shocked to receive more than thirty thousand Essence-Nourishing Pills but accepted them. You told her to distribute the elixirs as soon as possible.]

[After she nodded in response, you didn't see her for the upcoming days.]

[After resting for a few days, you immersed yourself back into the rhythm of alchemy. Apart from maintaining essential cultivation, you amassed tens of thousands of elixirs within a year.]

[The ninth year was just another ordinary day for you, where you continued your daily routine of alchemy and cultivation.]

[But that day, the Shadow Protector found you, looking considerably worn out. It had been months since you last saw her, so you quickly inquired about her situation.]

[The Shadow Protector remained silent for a long time before uttering a few words: "Give up, give up this futile resistance."]

[Your heart skipped a beat, knowing that the Shadow Protector's world might have ultimately perished. You hastily asked how she was defeated and how her world was destroyed.]

[The Shadow Protector seemed reluctant to elaborate, merely saying a few words about the coming of the great beasts and the world's apocalypse...]

[You fell silent, knowing that the Shadow Protector had managed to fight for an extra year for her world. According to the original timeline, her world might have perished in the eighth year, yet it had endured for one more.]

[But what truly shook you was the mention of the coming of great beasts, which almost exactly matched the cause of destruction of your own world. You didn't dare contemplate the implications.]

[Looking at the grieving Shadow Protector, you too seemed to be touched by her emotions, momentarily at a loss for how to console her.]

[Crack, under the strong surge of emotions, your long-stagnant cultivation level finally broke through, and you successfully became a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator!]