My Simulated Road to Immortality

“But the contents seem to be different.”

As scenes from the book flashed through Li Fan’s mind, he felt an almost familiar sense, causing his brows to furrow slightly.

“Fellow Daoist, does this book come in any other versions?” He asked the cultivator who was intensely watching the battle in the sky from his booth.

The bookselling cultivator was initially a bit impatient, but his expression changed slightly upon seeing which book Li Fan held in his hands.

“You must be joking, fellow Daoist. This ‘Ancient Cultivation Secrets’ was personally written by Lord Heavenly Venerable himself, how could there be other versions?” He denied outrightly.

Even though the body was controlled by a spirit consciousness stripped of most memories, the ability to read the situation had become as instinctive as breathing.

With just a glance, Li Fan confirmed his speculation.

“Name your price.” He lowered his voice, speaking directly. “I was introduced by an acquaintance.”

The bookseller hesitated slightly upon hearing this.

Looking around, he saw that the attention of all the cultivators in the city was centered on the battle in the sky. He immediately whispered, “Ten thousand Divine Soul Points, or an equivalent value of Spirit Stones. Firm price.”

Li Fan instinctively reached for his Storage Ring, ready to make the payment.

However, he realized he didn’t have a single coin, not even a Storage Ring.

“Please wait a moment, fellow Daoist.”

Apologizing, he returned to the crowd.

Once Lu Fan’s battle ended, he flew forward and explained his intention.

Lu Fan, buoyed by yet another victory, was much more generous this time, without the earlier meticulous haggling.

He easily handed over a Storage Ring full of standard Spirit Stones to Li Fan. “It’s just an external object. Feel free to take it, Brother Jiao!”

After thanking Lu Fan, Li Fan gracefully floated back under the watchful eyes of the crowd.

The bookseller, seeing this, realized he had been fooled. His face turned green as he quickly packed up, ready to leave.

“You really lack the integrity of a businessman. If you just leave like this, I’m going to have to shout out!” Li Fan threatened through spiritual transmission.

The bookseller immediately paused, looking around nervously before trembling.

“Damn.” After struggling for a while, he handed over a booklet that radiated a pink glow.

Li Fan took the booklet and in return, handed over the Spirit Stones.

Once the transaction was completed, the bookseller was about to retreat, but saw Li Fan intend to open the booklet there and then.

His face turned pale. He quickly approached and held Li Fan’s hands.

“Are you trying to get yourself killed?”

He was trembling all over, his face stricken with terror.

“No harm!” Slight struggling led to Li Fan wresting his hands free and resolutely opening the pink booklet.

Beading like soybeans, cold sweat fell from the bookseller’s forehead. Unable to stop Li Fan, and realizing that no one has noticed the abnormality here, he rushed to the Teleportation Array within the city and escaped.

Meanwhile, Li Fan was completely immersed in the vivid and authentic illusion.

“Qin Shou repeatedly pursued Sister Zhao and was repeatedly rejected. In a fit of rage, he harbored evil intentions.”

“Sister Zhao was poisoned with Yin Yang Infatuation Powder and fell into a stupor.”

…

The expressions on Li Fan’s face constantly shifted, and even his breathing became rapid.

The eerie pink glow on the booklet seemed to synchronize with Li Fan’s breath, continuously flickering.

Li Fan was so immersed that even the surrounding noise didn’t affect him.

At the same time, he kept mumbling something under his breath.

“There is such a beautiful woman in the world…”

“Incompetent! He’s already had an intimate encounter, yet doesn’t seize the moment…”

“Fool! Isn’t her intention already obvious!”

“If not now, when!”

…

It seemed that the development of the plot in the booklet didn’t please Li Fan, and he would furrow his brows and grumble angrily from time to time.

“Ah, such a coward of a protagonist!”

“If I were to make my move, Sister would have long been subjugated under my crouch…”

His words abruptly stopped.

Centered around Li Fan’s puppet body, a small area suddenly froze in place.

The bizarre pink light from the book also suspended in mid-air.

Above the sky dome, a beam of pure white light appeared and shot straight down.

Enveloping the motionless Li Fan.

The bustling Weichang City, thanks to the ongoing battle, was now plunged into absolute silence.

The white radiance grew stronger as it drew a force from the sky dome.

Li Fan, like a statue, was drawn to it, slowly rising to the sky.

“It’s the Guiding Immortal Light! That’s the Guiding Immortal Light!”

“Who is it? Has another cultivator in our Canhong State caught the eye of Lord Heavenly Venerable so soon?”

“Haha, we have produced three disciples of the Immortal Sects in just one month! Now our Canhong State will surely make a big name for itself!”

…

No one cared about Lu Fan’s duel anymore.

All the cultivators on the scene had their eyes unblinkingly fixed at the white pillar penetrating Heaven and Earth.

Looking up to the blurry figure in the beam, their conversations were exciting and full of reverence and envy.

Lu Fan too stopped fighting.

Looking dazedly at the light pillar, he felt as if the love of his life was being snatched right before his eyes.

It was torturous.

Victories, cultivation, realm…

In an instant, everything in the world seemed to have lost its meaning.

“Why, why…” Lu Fan was at a loss, disoriented.

As the figure in the white light beam rose higher, Lu Fan suddenly realized something – that figure looked familiar.

His pupils dilated sharply. He hurriedly lowered his head and scanned the crowd.

As expected, the figure of “Brother Jiao” was nowhere to be found.

“How could this be?” Lu Fan’s face was filled with disbelief.

“Didn’t I defeat more than twenty Gold Cores from the Five Elders Organization? Didn’t you see that?”

“Why him and not me?”

A sense of injustice, unwillingness, and anger rose in Lu Fan’s heart.

“No!”

He screamed in rage, rushing towards the light pillar recklessly.

But it was all in vain.

Just when it looked like he was about to reach the beam, Lu Fan just rushed past it in the next moment.

The beam was just like an illusion, despite being right before his eyes, he couldn’t touch it.

Carrying Li Fan, the beam slowly disappeared between Heaven and Earth.

Despair crept into Lu Fan’s eyes.

—————–

“Junior Brother, you are awake.”

A crisp voice sounded in his ears, Li Fan opened his eyes.

“Cough, cough…” The intense pain in his chest made him gasp for air involuntarily.

“I told you not to overdo it when you just entered the sect, but you wouldn’t listen.” A charming figure appeared by Li Fan’s side.

She helped Li Fan sit up against the bedhead.

“This is the medicine I boiled for you, it will help you recover. Drink it quickly.” She scooped a spoonful of medicine soup and brought it to Li Fan’s lips, her face full of concern.

His mind was in chaos, and he couldn’t remember anything.

Instinctively, Li Fan opened his mouth and swallowed the medicine.