Chapter 2: Determined to Pursue Immortality

In the darkness, lines of glowing text appeared, accompanied by a succession of images.

You returned to Anchor Year 1. Overjoyed, you acted out, almost leading your aunt to force-feed you exorcism water she had obtained from the village witch.

With six months remaining until the provincial examination, you dedicated yourself to studying day and night at home. Knowing the test questions in advance filled you with confidence. Although your aunt typically had grievances with you, she consistently supported your academic pursuits.

The village chief's brother coveted your family's fertile ancestral land and began to exert hidden pressure. Your aunt, a woman, tried to resist but was ultimately powerless. You resolved the matter with a clever stratagem, earning your aunt's newfound respect.

Six months later, you took the provincial examination. Despite placing in the lower thirties, you successfully passed, becoming a *Juren* and bringing honor to your family.

In Anchor Year 2, you traveled to Xuanjing City for the metropolitan examination. Your thorough preparation for the questions naturally led to a high score. You then performed exceptionally well in the subsequent palace examination, earning a second-class *Jinshi* degree.

You extensively networked in Xuanjing City, finally achieving your ambition of becoming the magistrate of Wenxian County in Jiangnan.

In Anchor Year 3, you assumed office in Wenxian County after bringing your aunt from home. You secretly began cultivating a loyal group of trusted associates. That same year, you led your team into the deep mountains and located several mineral deposits remembered from your past life.

In Anchor Year 4, you successfully produced a batch of explosives and matchlock guns. Your newly formed musket squad demonstrated their prowess by eliminating and incorporating a nearby group of mountain bandits.

In Anchor Year 5, a severe drought gripped Jiangnan, creating a multitude of displaced people. However, your early initiatives in water conservancy and the construction of waterwheels for irrigation meant that Wenxian County, under your administration, was largely spared. That same year, a group of displaced people rebelled, assaulting the Langya Prince's estate. You arrived with your troops just in time, rescuing the Prince and his family, who were profoundly grateful.

In Anchor Year 6, you were promoted to Prefect of Jianghuai Prefecture. That same year, you married the daughter of the current Minister of Personnel.

In Anchor Year 7, a sudden locust plague struck Jiangnan Province, resulting in crop failures. Your jurisdiction was the least affected. That same year, your wife bore you a son.

In Anchor Year 8, your subordinates successfully developed flintlock guns.

In Anchor Year 10, the Langya Princess gave birth to a son. You personally visited to offer congratulations and presented a meticulously prepared gift.

In Anchor Year 15, the Emperor was suddenly afflicted with a severe illness. Before his death, he summoned the Langya Prince to the capital and passed the throne to him. The Langya Prince ascended, adopting the reign title Xuanjing.

In Anchor Year 16, Emperor Xuanjing summoned you to the capital and promoted you to Vice Minister of War. That same year, rebellions of varying scales broke out simultaneously across the realm. Emperor Xuanjing commanded you to lead troops to suppress them.

In Anchor Year 18, you campaigned tirelessly across various regions, finally eradicating all rebel forces. Upon your return to the capital, Emperor Xuanjing stripped you of your military command, promoting you to Minister of War and appointing you Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince.

In Anchor Year 20, the Empress was suddenly embroiled in a witchcraft scandal. Emperor Xuanjing, enraged, banished her to the cold palace. The Crown Prince privately appealed to you for help, and you promptly agreed. Through discreet investigation, you uncovered evidence that Consort Xi had framed the Empress, thereby clearing the Empress's name. Emperor Xuanjing executed Consort Xi's entire clan, but still did not release the Empress from the cold palace.

In Anchor Year 21, you were secretly accused of rebellion, with evidence submitted detailing your illicit mining operations and hidden armed forces from years prior. Deeply alarmed, you submitted a memorial confessing your faults. Emperor Xuanjing removed you from your ministerial post, yet retained you as the Crown Prince's tutor.

In Anchor Year 23, during a spring hunt, Emperor Xuanjing suddenly felt compelled to revisit the Langya Prince's estate in Jiangnan Province.

In Anchor Year 24, Emperor Xuanjing traveled to Jiangnan, commanding your presence. While enjoying the region's scenic beauty, he also took the opportunity to inspect the mines you had secretly operated years earlier.

In Anchor Year 25, Emperor Xuanjing made a second trip to Jiangnan, though this time without you. Three months later, you covertly received news that someone had reported your private visits to the Empress in the cold palace. That same year, Emperor Xuanjing was assassinated on his return journey to the capital. The news reverberated through the capital. Officials then retrieved the Empress from the cold palace, and the Crown Prince subsequently ascended the throne, adopting the reign title Kangning.

In Anchor Year 26, you were elevated to Grand Tutor and Grand Secretary of the Deliberation Chamber, reaching the zenith of official power. The young Emperor heavily relied on you. Seizing this opportunity, you gathered allies, eliminated rivals, and solidified your power base within the court.

In Anchor Year 27, your aunt passed away. This renewed your desire for immortality, prompting you to send people across various regions to search for traces of immortals.

In Anchor Year 28, the Emperor reached adulthood. Yet, your power continued to escalate, and the imperial court effectively became your sole domain.

In Anchor Year 30, the populace of the realm knew only of the Grand Tutor, not the Emperor.

In Anchor Year 31, the Empress Dowager became pregnant and urgently summoned you to the palace for consultation. Overjoyed, you secretly brought her back to your Grand Tutor's residence for careful care. That same year, the Empress Dowager bore you a son.

In Anchor Year 33, while entering court alone, you were surrounded by trusted imperial guards secretly trained by Emperor Kangning. Fortunately, a rare treasure intervened, allowing you to narrowly escape death. Enraged, you contemplated assassinating the Emperor and seizing the throne. However, persuaded by the Empress Dowager's earnest pleas and the counsel of your closest ministers, you refrained. You then executed all of the Emperor's inner circle. From that point on, Emperor Kangning retained only the title of Emperor, devoid of actual power.

In Anchor Year 38, Emperor Kangning died of sorrow. You enthroned his eldest legitimate son as emperor, who adopted the reign title Longchang.

In Anchor Year 40, the Empress Dowager passed away from illness. Your yearning to find immortals intensified.

In Anchor Year 45, your wife passed away.

In Anchor Year 46, your eldest son died of illness.

In Anchor Year 48, after years of unsuccessful searching, you abandoned your quest for immortality.

In Anchor Year 50, two immortals arrived from the eastern Void Abyss, laying Xuanjing City to waste. You miraculously survived.

This simulation has concluded.

You may choose one of the following options to retain:1. An item you possessed during this simulation.2. Your cultivation realm from this simulation.3. The simulated memories of an individual closely related to you in this simulation. These memories can be inherited by that person.4. Forfeit the above choices to accelerate the charging process.

Li Fan regained consciousness, finding himself back in his simple study.

As he surveyed the strange yet familiar surroundings, decades of past experiences flashed through Li Fan's mind, evoking a profound reflection: "Has reality blurred into illusion, or is everything merely a simulation so vivid it feels real? Or perhaps, beyond a certain point, the distinction between false and true simply vanishes."

Li Fan, however, was not one to indulge in sentimentality. He quickly composed himself and focused his attention on the four options.

The first and second options offered little benefit. Had Li Fan embarked on a path of cultivation, they would have been immensely helpful. Unfortunately, in his previous life, he was merely a mortal with no cultivation realm to speak of.

As for the most valuable item he possessed, it was likely the Imperial Seal. Yet, it was useless, serving only to invite disaster.

As for the third option, allowing someone else to also receive the memories from this simulation... This option, however, made Li Fan's heart stir.

For a moment, several figures flashed through Li Fan's mind. But ultimately, he shook his head. After all, the human heart is the most unpredictable. There's no telling how a person might change after acquiring decades of memories.

The "reality" system had not yet finished charging, and he remained a frail scholar, powerless and without the means to start anew. Therefore, stability was paramount.

That left only the fourth option: Accelerate the charging process.

Indeed, this transformation from reality to illusion required charging. Based on Li Fan's experiences from his previous life, this charging progress could only increase naturally with the passage of time, taking approximately twenty years to fully charge. The charging progress would cap at 200%.

Furthermore, if Li Fan sustained a fatal blow, the system would consume charging progress to automatically protect him. This was precisely why Li Fan had narrowly escaped death several times in his previous life. Consequently, the fourth option was the most prudent choice.

With his decision made, Li Fan no longer hesitated, silently affirming his choice.

Immediately, the glowing lines of text scattered into points of light, then swiftly re-formed into several new lines of characters.

Name: Li FanRealm: MortalPhysical Age: 20/86Mental Age: 166/1056↑Virtualization Charging Progress: 30%

"Three lives lived, one hundred and sixty-six years. So I've existed for quite a while. Regarding the mental age cap, I recall it was just over nine hundred years in my previous life, but now it has increased to over a thousand. It seems this limit grows with my experiences, which lessens some of my anxiety."

Just as physical lifespan has its limits, mental endurance also possesses a certain threshold. Bearing too many memories can create a mental burden. If this burden becomes too heavy, it can utterly crush one's spirit. This is what is known as the "wear and tear of time."

However, the mental age cap strengthens as one's psychological resilience improves. For now, Li Fan had no cause for concern regarding this.

"As long as I embark on the path of cultivation, nothing will be an issue. Starting anew, wealth, glory, luxurious carriages, and beautiful women are no longer my aspirations."

"I only want immortality!" The anguish of watching loved ones and close friends vanish one by one in his previous life, coupled with the powerlessness and dread brought by his own body's gradual aging, solidified Li Fan's resolve at this moment.

"My goal in this life is to uncover the secrets of cultivation from those two immortals. Fifty years from now, they will arrive in Xuanjing City. With meticulous planning against their unawareness, even if they are powerful Foundation Establishment cultivators, I may still have a chance."

"Perhaps, besides firearms and gunpowder, I can also rely on what they call the Immortal-Mortal Miasma..."

"Furthermore, I cannot simply wait for fifty years. They came from the Eastern Void Abyss; perhaps I can send people to explore its depths first."

The greatest fear in life is lacking a purpose. In his previous life, Li Fan often awoke in the dead of night from the Empress Dowager's bed, plagued by an overwhelming sense of emptiness and bewilderment.

In this life, he had already reached the apex of power attainable by a mortal. He was the Emperor's tutor and commanded the nation's military. Eight or nine out of ten court officials were his trusted confidants. He held the power to enthrone and depose emperors, and even the Empress Dowager yielded to his every demand. His position could not be elevated further. Even in another life, it would be no different.

Would he do the same in the next simulation? If so, what meaning could there be in endless cycles of reincarnation? Power and pleasure, when repeated too often, became as bland as chewing wax.

Perhaps, had there been no variable, after some future reincarnation, Li Fan might have voluntarily given up and chosen to end his life.

But then! The emergence of those two cultivators presented Li Fan with entirely new possibilities! It revealed to Li Fan a strange, alluring world beckoning him forward. It ignited within Li Fan immense ambition and a profound new purpose.

He was determined to cultivate immortality! He yearned for eternal life! No one would stop him!

Li Fan pushed open the door of the house and walked out, head held high. His steps were resolute!