As the text simulation came to an end, Wang Ping's mind was filled with various images and insights from his cultivation. Finally, his figure appeared in the realm of the living, where he saw the time-space holy medicine he had transformed into and the many swaying sacred herbs, his expression heavy.
In the end, Wang Ping let out a sigh and muttered, "Well, my intuition was spot on. This place is really in trouble. Whether it's the realm of the living or the realm of death, they are both too dangerous, true danger zones."
"But being able to obtain the second fragment this time and learning some secrets here is not bad. It can prepare me for future opportunities in this place."
Wang Ping's eyes flickered as he thought to himself.
In Wang Ping's view, although this place was extremely dangerous, it undoubtedly concealed great secrets.
Throughout history, adversity and fortune were intertwined. If he could unravel the secrets here and obtain the greatest opportunities, it would truly be amazing.
Wang Ping had a hunch that the opportunities here reached a level that could drive even a Great Emperor to madness.
Of course, as he was still weak now, he had no intention of wasting simulation attempts to confront this place head-on. He would focus on becoming stronger first.
Until he reached the level of a Great Emperor, he wouldn't attempt to conquer this "instance."
Unless, like the previous few times, he was forcibly transported here, he would risk his life to gather more information.
While Wang Ping was lost in thought, his consciousness suddenly blinked, and his perspective shifted. He had exited the immersive simulation and returned to the real world.
At the same time, the system's voice rang out.
"Ding, reward generation successful. Host can choose two items from the following rewards:
1. Emperor's Scripture Fragment.
2. Red Talent: Earth Mystical Body.
3. Personal Great Saint Artifact: Illusionary Void Sword.
4. Random Great Saint Artifact.
5. Sacred Elemental Stone."
"The rewards list this time is quite meager. However, something is better than nothing. Most importantly, the Emperor's Scripture Fragment has been refreshed."
Wang Ping looked at the rewards list and shook his head slightly.
Although he had already memorized the information from the fragment, having another Emperor's Scripture Fragment was still better than not having it.
After all, he had read many fantasy novels, and fragments left behind by powerful beings, when obtained by the protagonist, often had powerful hidden abilities that played a crucial role in obtaining great opportunities in secret realms.
"System, I choose 1. Emperor's Scripture Fragment and 3. Personal Great Saint Artifact: Illusionary Void Sword."
After some consideration, Wang Ping made his choice.
The other rewards were not very useful to him, and while Sacred Elemental Stones were valuable, he had already used his personal Great Saint Artifact, so choosing another one would be more valuable.
Moreover, the most important reason was that if he could obtain another personal Great Saint Artifact, he might be able to use Zhang Haoran's synthesis system to combine the artifacts into a Supreme Artifact.
If that happened, he would have his own Supreme Artifact.
At that time, his combat power would experience a significant increase.
After Wang Ping made his selection, he received the Emperor's Scripture Fragment and a personal Great Saint Artifact: Illusionary Void Sword in his storage world.
Then, without hesitation, Wang Ping opened the chat group and first sent the personal Great Saint Artifact to Xu Yi, hoping that Xu Yi could trigger the doubling effect.
Unexpectedly, this time, he successfully triggered a threefold doubling effect on the personal Great Saint Artifact.
Wang Ping's personal Great Saint Artifact suddenly became three, effectively reaching four in his possession.
That felt quite comfortable.
Next, Wang Ping took back the personal Great Saint Artifact and contacted Zhang Haoran.
Wang Ping (Level 66): "Haoran, I have a task for you. Try to combine my personal Great Saint Artifact."
Zhang Haoran (Level 92): "Brother Wang, your items are of a high level. I may not be able to succeed, and if the synthesis fails, they will be destroyed. I'm hesitating."
Wang Ping (Level 66): "It's okay, even if it fails, it's just a try."
Wang Ping didn't hesitate or waver in his determination.
Even if all four Great Saint Artifacts were scrapped, although it would pain him, he wouldn't say much.
After all, within the simulation, he could still use the resources of the Taiyi Emperor's Palace to cultivate new personal Great Saint Artifacts.
But if he could obtain one of his own Supreme Artifacts, that would be great.
So, it was worth a gamble.
Zhang Haoran (Level 92): "Since Brother Wang insists, I'll give it a try! Fighting!"
Wang Ping (Level 66): "Okay, I'll send you the items now. Don't be nervous."
After saying this, Wang Ping directly sent the four Great Saint Artifacts to Zhang Haoran.
On Zhang Haoran's end, after taking a deep breath, he began to operate the synthesis system.
The first synthesis attempt left Zhang Haoran's face green because it failed.
Seeing the remaining two Great Saint Artifacts, Zhang Haoran was quite conflicted but chose to attempt the synthesis.
In the end, something that surprised Zhang Haoran happened. The synthesis succeeded, and the two Great Saint Artifacts were transformed into one Supreme Artifact.
Zhang Haoran (Level 92): "Brother Wang, I failed once, but I succeeded once. I have combined your personal Great Saint Artifacts into a Supreme Artifact! I'm so excited!"
Wang Ping (Level 66): "Haha, not bad, not bad! I'll send you a big red envelope later as a reward. Consider it payment for your efforts."
Wang Ping looked at Zhang Haoran's message with a happy smile on his face. He hadn't expected Zhang Haoran to actually succeed in combining the Great Saint Artifacts into a Supreme Artifact. Now his combat power had greatly increased.
Zhang Haoran (Level 92): "Brother Wang, please, you've helped me so many times before and even saved my life. It wouldn't be appropriate for you to reward me. It would make things awkward."
Wang Ping (Level 66): "Okay, let's forget about it."
Wang Ping smiled and didn't say much. He knew that the group owed him a lot of favors, and he didn't want to make a big deal out of it by insisting on giving out rewards or red envelopes.
As the saying goes, small favors cultivate friendships, while big favors breed resentment. It's important to give other group members a chance to repay the favors he owed them. Otherwise, it could lead to problems if he continued to accept help without giving back.
That's just human nature.
Next, Zhang Haoran sent the Supreme Artifact back to Wang Ping, which he was very satisfied with. He received the red envelope and easily recognized it as the master.
"Next, I'll continue with the simulation and find a way to break through to the Grand Saint Realm."
After feeling the power of his Supreme Artifact, Wang Ping put it away and thought to himself. In this life simulation, he had gathered information about many geniuses on the Saint King Rankings and those with the potential to enter it. While most of them came from major powers and were not accessible for him to recruit, there might be one or two exceptions.
For this, Wang Ping only needed to wait for the birth of such a genius and then directly recruit them.
By taking such a genius as his disciple, Wang Ping had a high probability of breaking through to the Grand Saint Realm. Once he reached the Grand Saint Realm, Wang Ping planned to use his cultivation to suppress Gu Xuan and force him to reveal all his secrets, to see just how powerful Gu Xuan truly was.
Various thoughts crossed Wang Ping's mind, and he whispered to himself, "System, I want to initiate a paid simulation."
"Ding, consumes 150,000 top-grade divine sources. Life simulator activated. Talent refresh in progress."
The system's voice echoed.
"Ding, talent refresh successful. Congratulations, host, for refreshing the Red Talent: Water Mystical Body."
"Another stroke of bad luck, only a Red Talent again. I can understand, but why is it another Mystical Body? These Mystical Bodies seem to appear too frequently."
Wang Ping looked at the talent that had been refreshed this time and couldn't help but feel speechless.
"If I select all these Mystical Bodies, maybe they won't appear anymore, and it will increase the chances of refreshing higher-level talents. Furthermore, if I collect all the basic attribute Mystical Bodies, could there be a qualitative change?"
Wang Ping furrowed his brow, pondering to himself.
However, he didn't think it was very likely. With so many talents, even if he didn't refresh a Red Talent, he would probably refresh other types of Red Talents.
As for whether collecting all the basic attribute Mystical Bodies could lead to a qualitative change, Wang Ping found it doubtful. After all, Red Talents were still Red Talents, and they had a significant advantage in the Imperial Realm. Even if he collected all the Mystical Bodies, it would likely only lead to a slight increase in power, not on the level of a Saint Body. It was far from enough.
Wang Ping had much higher expectations of collecting all the basic attribute Saint Bodies, as that would be a true qualitative change.
Unfortunately, whether it was the incomplete Time Dao Body or the Saint Bodies, they were all guaranteed to be gold-grade at best. They had likely already reached the ceiling for gold-grade, making it difficult to refresh them, and there was no point in forcing it.
While Wang Ping was lost in thought, the system's voice rang out once again.
"Ding, talent loading successful. Life simulator starting."
The system's voice echoed once more.
However, just as the life simulator system was about to immerse Wang Ping's consciousness, the chat group system's voice also synchronized.
"Ding, detected a major anomaly in the original world where Qin Tian (Level 77) crossed over. The cultivation world will face a comprehensive invasion. Mission issued: Save the Cultivation World."
"Ding, this mission is extremely difficult. Proxy group leader Wang Ping (Level 66) can select any group member to participate in the mission to save the cultivation world."
"What the heck? The world where Qin Tian crossed over is actually going to end?"
Wang Ping proactively suppressed entering the immersive simulation and had an unpredictable expression on his face.
It was widely known that there were problems with the cultivation world where Qin Tian had crossed over.
However, Wang Ping had once simulated it, and even after several hundred years, it had not completely perished. The heavenly path and the immortal emperors of the cultivation world had been fiercely resisting the mysterious invasion.
Now, only five or six years had passed, and it was on the verge of collapse.
"It seems that there is an abnormal situation, and this anomaly is coming from the various heavens."
Wang Ping's expression became extremely serious.
"This mission is very dangerous. Should I go or not?"
Wang Ping hesitated.
The chat group system had already stated that it was very dangerous, and there was no intention to force participation in the mission.
He had the option to choose not to go.
"Alpha, can I choose not to go?"
Wang Ping asked in his mind.
Perhaps, by saving the cultivation world, he could gain billions or even tens of billions of group points in one fell swoop, taking him a step closer to a trillion group points. But he was currently rapidly getting stronger. When he became a Dao Emperor, collecting group points would be much easier, and there was no need to risk his life in group missions.
In that case, the drawbacks would outweigh the benefits.
"You can choose to go or not. Dealing with the mysterious invasion doesn't have teleportation restrictions. Even if you can't handle it, the chat group will help you forcibly escape."
Alpha's voice echoed.
"I see. However, dealing with the mysterious invasion, even if I can forcibly escape, there is still a risk. But my life is more valuable than theirs. I always prioritize my own life the most."
Wang Ping's expression gradually became calm as he made up his mind.
"Although I also think your life is more important, the destruction of a world and the deaths of countless living beings, while cruel, their lives are not as valuable as yours. I actually recommend you go."
At this point, Alpha's voice echoed once again.
"Why?"
Wang Ping furrowed his brow and asked.
"I once said that Rule Stones can only be found in places like the Heaven's Joy Park, right?"
Alpha's cold voice spoke.
"Yes, you did say that." Wang Ping narrowed his eyes and slowly spoke, "Are you suggesting that there might be other ways to obtain Rule Stones?"
"No, there are no other ways. At least, the worlds you are currently exposed to cannot produce Rule Stones at that level of treasure."
Alpha neither confirmed nor denied Wang Ping's speculation but gave a partial answer.
Wang Ping asked in confusion, "Given that the worlds I can currently access are not qualified, the cultivation world definitely doesn't qualify either. So, what's the deeper meaning behind you wanting me to go?"
Alpha's voice resonated, explaining, "Although you can't currently access worlds of that level, it's also challenging to obtain Rule Stones from the outside world. However, this is an opportunity."
"An opportunity? What kind of opportunity?" Wang Ping became curious, and his eyes brightened.
Alpha's cold voice continued, "The game to obtain Rule Stones is not open to just anyone. It's not enough to have a sufficient number of world origins to enter. You need a special entry ticket."
"This special entry ticket is a certain level of mysterious origin. The cultivation world barely reaches this level of strangeness. While you can't directly participate in the game to obtain complete Rule Stones, you can participate in the game for Rule Stone fragments. As long as you keep winning, you will eventually obtain complete Rule Stones."
"As long as you can consistently win and obtain a complete Rule Stone, you can evolve your Golden Finger Life Simulator once again. At that time..."
Alpha paused, not continuing.
"I see. It does make sense to go in that case," Wang Ping pondered, his expression thoughtful.
Alpha had been extremely reliable for him thus far, and they shared each other's gains and losses. Therefore, Alpha wouldn't deceive him or mislead him in situations involving danger or extreme risk.
If Alpha had gone to this extent, Wang Ping knew that he should seize this opportunity to prepare for further optimizing his Golden Finger Life Simulator in the future.
Wang Ping asked out of curiosity, "So, what will happen when that time comes?"
Alpha, however, responded vaguely, saying, "Nothing much."
Wang Ping shook his head slightly, not pressing for more information. He realized that dwelling on it further would be pointless.
Next, Wang Ping opened the chat group and entered the chat channel.
At this moment, the chat group was in an uproar.
Whether they were old members or new members who had recently joined, as long as they were not currently engaged in tasks or deep in meditation, they all started discussing the situation.
Qin Tian (Level 77): "What the heck, is my original world really about to be destroyed? This is too frightening. We were supposed to survive for hundreds of years, but it seems anything can happen in these various realms."
Ye Xiaofan (Level 75): "Thank goodness we evacuated early, or it would have been really dangerous. We don't even know what's happening in the lower realms now."
Fang Yun (Level 3): "Since the chat group is asking Wang to step in, it means there's still hope."
Chen Yao (Level 71): "It can only mean that, indeed. However, the situation must be extremely critical."
Wang Ping (Level 66): "For this group mission, I will be selecting participants, and it seems there's no limit to the number of people. So, I will choose a few group members who can be of assistance to me. The rest of the group members can decide whether to actively participate in this group mission."
Wang Ping (Level 66) @All Members: "Cai Yonglong, Wu Jun, Liu Mei, Zhang Yueying, Chen Si, Chen Kang, Lin Yuanyuan, will you all join me for this group mission? Is that okay?"
Zhang Yueying (Level 86): "Since Brother Wang asked me to go, I will definitely participate. But I'm currently involved in another group mission, as you know, so it's a bit challenging."
Chen Kang (Level 67): "Uh, I'm also in the middle of a group mission."
Wang Ping (Level 66): "You can temporarily set aside other group missions and make a temporary crossover. As for any lost group points, I can compensate you."
Lin Yuanyuan (Level 80): "Brother Wang, there's no need to say that. No matter what task I'm currently engaged in, as long as Brother Wang needs me, I will go."
Cai Yonglong (Level 1): "Lin Yuanyuan is right. I feel the same way."
Zhang Yueying (Level 86): "I didn't mean it that way. I'm just concerned about whether the mission can be interrupted, not about losing group points or anything."
Chen Kang (Level 67): "Agreed with the above."
Qu Zhong (Level 201): "Um, Brother Wang, can I go? I think I should be able to help."
This sudden appearance of a new group member surprised everyone in the group.
Wang Ping's eyes also flickered with surprise.
Over the past few years, many newcomers had joined the group. However, perhaps due to the survivorship bias among Wang Ping and the other existing members, they all seemed to be living quite comfortably with excellent Golden Fingers. Most of the Golden Fingers were quite ordinary, with only a few being particularly powerful.
As a result, most of the newcomers faced two challenges:
Firstly, some of them had died.
Secondly, the newcomers who had revealed their Golden Fingers had generally been unlucky, as they received ordinary abilities with no significant utility.
Because of this, the older members of Wang Ping's chat group had adopted a hands-off approach with the newcomers. They received initial resources and assistance but were left to develop on their own. The older members would answer questions and occasionally provide help, but they wouldn't offer too much assistance.
The only exception was when newcomers managed to accumulate enough group points on their own to draw a new and valuable Golden Finger. In that case, the older members would invest time and resources in nurturing them.
This wasn't being heartless; it was practical. In any context, whether you had potential and were worth nurturing had to be carefully considered by those who came before you. Resources should be allocated where they would be most effective.
Of course, if a newcomer didn't draw any other Golden Fingers but had good innate talents, they could still be nurtured. However, most newcomers didn't possess either of these qualities, and some even lacked social skills, which made them prime candidates for a hands-off approach.
Apart from that, some newcomers were cautious and didn't reveal too much about their abilities, as they didn't fully trust Wang Ping and the other experienced time travelers. They quietly developed their abilities in the background.
Wang Ping and the others respected this cautious approach, as it was only natural to be cautious in their situation.
Qu Zhong (Level 201), the new member who had recently revealed himself, fell into the cautious category. His sudden willingness to participate in such a dangerous group task surprised Wang Ping.
Wang Ping could only guess that this newcomer had encountered some difficulties in his own world. Alternatively, he might have understood the significance of a group task of this level.
If he performed exceptionally well in this group task and earned enough contributions, he could quickly accumulate a large number of group points and elevate his own strength. Wang Ping didn't believe that the powerful time travelers from his own world would spend group points to come to his world and save him, especially if he had no value to offer them.
Qin Tian (Level 77): "Wow! Purification, damn, such an amazing Golden Finger, and you've been hiding it. That's too much!"
Cai Yonglong (Level 1): "With such a great Golden Finger, as long as you mention it, us old-timers would definitely have taken you under our wing. You've wasted a lot of time."
Chen Kang (Level 67): "Yeah, my sister's and my Golden Fingers are support-type, and we got taken under someone's wing."
Qu Zhong (Level 201): "..."
Wang Ping (Level 66): "Being cautious is normal, and we can't blame him. Qu Zhong, your Golden Finger is good, and it might be very effective in this group task, so you can join."
Wang Ping was also pleasantly surprised because he didn't expect Qu Zhong's Golden Finger to be so powerful. With this ability, it would be highly valuable against strange and powerful adversaries. Even in non-combat situations, it could prove invaluable. After all, the various realms across the multiverse had no shortage of curse-related abilities or cursed regions. With this Golden Finger, many potential pitfalls could be avoided, and it could be a game-changer in critical situations, preventing a total wipeout outcome.
Of course, there was one issue: while the Golden Finger's ability was one thing, raising its power level was another. To truly combat incredibly powerful curses or negative effects, it would need to be optimized once or twice. However, Wang Ping had accumulated billions of group points, so optimizing it a couple of times wouldn't be an issue.
The prerequisite, though, was that Qu Zhong's ability would be useful in this group task. Before understanding more about him, Wang Ping wouldn't spend too many group points nurturing him.
Qu Zhong (Level 201): "Thank you so much, Wang Ge! I'll do my best in this task and try not to hold anyone back!"
After reading Qu Zhong's message, Wang Ping didn't say much more. He asked the group once again to see if any other experienced or new members were willing to participate in the group task.
However, the older members already knew the score. In this group task, it was more suitable for those with special abilities, and having great strength wasn't particularly significant.
Even if they were stronger, could they surpass Wang Ge now? Among the current chat group members, only Lin Yuanyuan might be able to assist Wang Ge a bit with her strength.
As for the newcomers, apart from Qu Zhong volunteering, the others still showed no signs of participating, perhaps lurking or not noticing the conversation.
王平 was not concerned about it.
Then, Wang Ping reminded the group members not to inhale the world's aura after crossing into Qin Tian's world and proceeded to input the list of participants for this group task.
As Wang Ping entered the list of group members, he transformed into white light and disappeared.
In addition to him, Cai Yonglong, Wu Jun, Liu Mei, Zhang Yueying, Chen Si, Chen Kang, Lin Yuanyuan, and Qu Zhong also vanished, being transported to the cultivation world.
When Wang Ping's vision cleared again, he witnessed a horrifying scene.
In his eyes, the entire world had transformed into a distorted monstrosity, covered in countless tentacles, revolting insects, and indescribable aberrations.
Clearly, the lower realm that Qin Tian was in had already been thoroughly corrupted, becoming part of this strange, twisted body.
"The lower realm is like this; I wonder what the upper realm has turned into, and what caused the early outbreak of this strangeness," Wang Ping thought.
As Wang Ping was contemplating, the others also arrived in this nightmarish world. This time, they didn't need their special vision; everyone could directly witness this terrifying scene, which almost made them vomit.
At the same time, the energy barrier formed by the relatively weak Qu Zhong began to distort rapidly, turning into tentacles as well. Even his body started to sprout tendrils.
It was evident that he had been contaminated.
Wang Ping frowned slightly and immediately cast a secret technique to create a temporal and spatial barrier to protect Qu Zhong and the others.
"Purification!" Qu Zhong reacted after coming to his senses, his face turned pale. He used his purification ability on himself.
In an instant, a white light enveloped Qu Zhong, and the tentacles that had appeared on his body quickly disappeared.
This relieved Qu Zhong, who was pale and panting heavily. He had almost died right after arriving in this world. This place was incredibly dangerous.
"Are you sure this isn't a Cthulhu Great Old One?" Qu Zhong looked at the nightmarish world before him, feeling his stomach churn and unable to hold back his vomit.
"Perhaps. Whether it's an Old One or something strange, they are all dangerous beings. When we encounter them, we either eliminate them or find a way to escape," Wang Ping replied calmly.
"Uh," Qu Zhong couldn't say anything more.
"Wang Ge, it seems like it's been a long time since we had a big group mission like this. Besides the first time dealing with the zombie aberration, where everyone in the group was forcibly transported, this is the first time we have more than six people on a group task," Cai Yonglong said with a smile.
"Our first group task had only eight people. This time, we have nine," Wu Jun added with a sigh.
"This time, we're probably dealing with the most dangerous aberration we've ever faced. However, we are not the same as we used to be," Liu Mei said with a serious expression.
Zhang Yueying, Chen Si, Chen Kang, and Lin Yuanyuan remained silent because they had joined the group later and had not experienced the first encounter with aberrations.
"Yeah, we've all grown and become stronger. But our combat strength is not the main point; it's the growth and diversity of our abilities," Wang Ping smiled.
Then, Wang Ping's expression changed, and he looked down at the approaching monstrosities. He calmly said, "But let's save the chatting for later. For now, let's eliminate this world that has already been corrupted into a monstrosity."
With those words, Wang Ping extended his hand. He didn't use any supernatural abilities, laws, or supreme artifacts. He simply extended his hand and gently pressed it downward.
In response to Wang Ping's action, a gigantic hand formed from flames descended from the sky, suppressing the entire world. Countless monsters screamed as they turned into ashes. Even the world, already corrupted into a monstrosity, was destroyed. This area turned into a void, erasing everything.
"It's still Wang Ge after all, a Half-Step Great Sage. Truly terrifying," Cai Yonglong marveled.
As for Qu Zhong, he was so shocked that he couldn't speak. While he had always known that the old-timers in the group were very strong, especially Wang Ge, who was synonymous with invincibility, he hadn't expected them to be this powerful. They had effortlessly wiped out an entire world with a casual gesture.
"It's not a big deal. Yuanyuan can do it easily now too," Wang Ping chuckled lightly, shook his head slightly, and looked profound.
(End of this chapter)