Immortality Simulator

"My path lies in commerce. In profit."

Jiao Xiuyuan spoke with a touch of emotion. "All under heaven bustles for the sake of profit. The path of commerce permeates the world with inexorable force.

"So I refined countless puppets to observe the world's gains and losses, and cultivated in this way.

"Assets always accumulate fastest at the very beginning. I made progress nearly every day, and my realm climbed step by step alongside it.

"But after a certain point, the expansion of Thousand Li Hall slowed.

"My cultivation stagnated for a long time. I had hoped the insight from this recent massive profit would let me push through in one go and make a breakthrough. I never expected that final spark to still elude me.

"It's like seeing a mountain clearly, only to exhaust your horse trying to reach it. I thought it was right before me, only to find a thousand mountains and ten thousand valleys still lay ahead."

Listening to Jiao Xiuyuan's lamentations, Li Fan recalled the vast gulf he had recently witnessed between those at the Dao Unity realm, and then the immense chasm separating the Dao Unity realm from the Eternal Life realm. He couldn't help but nod inwardly.

Just then, Jiao Xiuyuan continued, "Moreover, I've found that the path of commerce, at my current level, is already constrained on all sides, every step a struggle. To advance even a single step further is like pushing through a thousand difficulties and ten thousand hardships!"

Without waiting for Li Fan to prompt him, he continued, "Take the recent Samantabhadra True Leaf incident. Under absolutely ideal conditions, we could have profited far more. Purely from the perspective of commerce, the price of Samantabhadra True Leaf had already soared to the heavens. The Myriad Immortals Alliance controls the Five Elements Grotto-Heavens, which contain an immense supply of the leaves. They could have easily ridden the wave for profit. Yet with a single proclamation, they smashed everything back to its original state.

"All that talk about stability... it's just for their own benefit in the end," Jiao Xiuyuan grumbled.

Li Fan grew thoughtful. "Fellow Daoist Jiao means that profit must be earned from others. After reaching a certain level, to advance further inevitably brings one into conflict with them."

"Precisely!" Jiao Xiuyuan said approvingly.

"If the other party is weak, of course you can crush them outright. But if they are a solid wall, charging headlong into it will only leave you bloodied and broken.

"At that point, you have no choice but to go around the wall.

"Yet this world ultimately exists under the rule of the Myriad Immortals Alliance and the Five Elders Council. Evading their constraints is easier said than done.

"Dancing in shackles is naturally a hundred times more difficult."

Li Fan chuckled. "So it seems it's truly not your fault, Fellow Daoist. It is this world's failing!

"Being restrained at every turn is truly vexing. Fellow Daoist, why not join me? Let us overthrow the Myriad Immortals Alliance and remake heaven and earth! What say you?"

Jiao Xiuyuan fell abruptly silent.

He looked at Li Fan with a peculiar gaze.

A strange, oppressive quiet settled between the two men.

"Haha, you jest, Fellow Daoist."

"Hah, that's just a joke. You didn't take it seriously, did you, Fellow Daoist Jiao?"

A moment later, their voices rang out simultaneously.

They exchanged a glance, and both chose to skip past the topic.

"Speaking of which," Li Fan asked, "in your mind, Fellow Daoist, what would the ultimate state of your path look like, when developed to its limit?"

Jiao Xiuyuan pondered for a moment before slowly replying, "The total assets in the world are finite. The wealthy grow ever richer; the poor remain perpetually destitute. If I continue to profit, if the world's wealth flows unceasingly toward me, then one day... perhaps my personal fortune could surpass the combined wealth of everyone else in the world."

A look of yearning shone in his eyes.

To his surprise, Li Fan let out a soft chuckle.

Jiao Xiuyuan's eyebrow arched. "What? Do you have some profound insight, Fellow Daoist?"

"Your vision is too narrow. I had thought you were a man of peerless intellect, but it seems..." Li Fan shook his head slightly, a picture of profound disappointment.

A flicker of gloom passed through Jiao Xiuyuan's eyes.

"If it were truly the ultimate state," Li Fan said with a faint smile, "why would anyone else in the world still possess assets?

"Should it not be that all things under heaven belong to you, Fellow Daoist, and all others are indebted to you?

"You must understand, Fellow Daoist—the total sum of worldly wealth has a definite upper limit. But the wealth others owe you has no such limit." Li Fan's tone turned icy. "Tens, hundreds, thousands, millions, billions—it can accumulate without end.

"Not only in this life and this world, but across all lives, all worlds—their endless descendants would toil eternally to repay what they owe you!"

Li Fan's words struck Jiao Xiuyuan like a thunderbolt.

The gloom in his eyes vanished instantly, replaced by stunned shock.

"It... it can be like that?"

Li Fan's words seemed to open an entirely new world for him. Confusion clouded his gaze at first, then it grew brighter and brighter, more and more animated. Before long, it was as if he had experienced a sudden epiphany.

"Right! Exactly!

"Profit in a single moment, a single lifetime, is ultimately limited.

"But time is infinite. If I extend the goal I wish to achieve across the long river of time..."

Jiao Xiuyuan lost himself in the vision, his eyes blazing with light.

"Fellow Daoist Li Fan, is this the future path you have divined for me?"

A long while later he finally snapped back and looked at Li Fan.

Li Fan shook his head. "I dare not claim to offer guidance. It is simply a possible glimpse of the future I once saw during my daily divinations. I thought it might be of some benefit to your path, so I committed it to memory. Since we've spoken today, I simply decided to share it. I only hope you do not find my thoughts absurd."

Jiao Xiuyuan's gaze flickered. "Fellow Daoist, your divination abilities are truly earth-shattering, unprecedented. To foresee such an... interesting future.

"And yet you sought me out today specifically to offer this insight?" He looked at Li Fan, somewhat puzzled.

Li Fan smiled. "I said you'd forget old friends once you prospered, and you denied it. Fellow Daoist, have you perhaps forgotten my previous commission?"

Jiao Xiuyuan was taken aback before comprehension crossed his face. "You mean..."

"With your cultivation, forgetting is naturally impossible. But such a long time has passed without a reply, so there must be some difficulty. Yet this matter holds some importance for me. So I can only swallow my pride and trouble you once more, Fellow Daoist Jiao!" Li Fan cupped his hands in a solemn salute.

Jiao Xiuyuan's expression shifted rapidly.

Five years ago, he had promised Li Fan to inquire into the identity of the ancient cultivator the Myriad Immortals Alliance was searching for in their excavation of ancient sect ruins.

He had indeed followed through on it.

At first, he hadn't taken the matter too seriously, thinking he'd gather a few scraps of information and fulfill his obligation. But what surprised him was that the Myriad Immortals Alliance, an organization usually as leaky as a sieve and incapable of keeping any secret, had this time carried out its confidentiality measures with unexpectedly tight discipline.

Even with all his resources, after a solid year or two of digging, he had come up with nothing.