Chapter 167: Fateful Encounter

The first thing to consider is the difficulty level of several tasks, which can shed light on the situation.

Just from the perspective of the three gods' own strength, there is no difference; they are all primary gods, and there are no god kings present, yet the difficulty levels are drastically different.

However, looking at the power levels behind the three god seat inheritances, there is no reason for the difficulty of the Destruction Rakshasa God's inheritance to be higher than that of the Angel God.

Besides, labeling the Destruction Sea God's inheritance as an S-rank task is somewhat exaggerated.

The Sea God Island itself is powerful, with a unified faith, which is indeed true. But solely from the perspective of high-end combat power, it shouldn't be enough to suppress the Martial Soul Hall and be designated as an S-rank difficulty task.

Now, Su Cheng's own foundation is different from before.

After experiencing two simulations, even if his initial talent is average, he can still surpass his peers by accumulating knowledge, greatly enhancing his strength.

So the most likely reason for this situation is that the Sea God Island in this simulation is probably similar to the situation in reality, with the Sea God possibly intervening.

A-rank difficulty tasks are the same.

Although the Rakshasa God's inheritance itself is average, it is hidden within the City of Slaughter and has numerous connections with the Asura God's trial, leading to the increased difficulty of this task.

"Finally going to touch upon the level of the gods, or rather, will a true god cast their gaze upon the mortal realm?"

During the first simulation, Su Cheng had observed Tang San's situation.

At that time, although a child named Tang San was born, he was not occupied by another soul.

This indicates that the simulated world at the time did not fully replicate the situation in the real world, or it was incomplete.

And now, the simulated tasks have finally begun to truly encounter external variables.

"Samples of divine power, samples of natural power, samples of Origin power..."

Su Cheng hesitated.

Actually, he really wanted to obtain the samples of divine power and natural power from the rewards.

With these two things, he could better understand the essence of the god seat.

But undoubtedly, the Origin power is even more precious.

Although he is not clear about what it represents at the moment, he has encountered this term before.

Years ago, when he completed the second simulation task and obtained the reward of the external soul bone, he learned that it contained Origin power.

Su Cheng understands how powerful True Vision is now.

Although this external soul bone doesn't have any attack capabilities, it has greatly assisted him.

In terms of understanding Martial Souls, condensing soul rings, or comprehending laws, True Vision has played an excellent auxiliary role in this process.

It can be said that his current strength owes a great deal to the existence of this external soul bone.

Otherwise, relying solely on his own accumulation, he might surpass his peers by far, but his foundation would at most be slightly higher than Qian Renxue's. He would never be able to suppress Qian Renxue with the strength of a Soul King, let alone comprehend those extraordinary high-level insights.

Moreover, as for divine power, he has other means to access it, not necessarily relying on task rewards to obtain it.

Bibi Dong has already started the Rakshasa God's trial now, so there may be a chance in the future. Moreover, isn't there still an Angel God's inheritance in the Martial Soul Hall?

[You have selected the final simulation task goal: Destruction Sea God's inheritance.]

[You can choose the initial time and place:]

[1. Fifty years ago, Sea God Island.]

[2. Twenty-five years ago, Martial Soul Hall.]

[3. Fifteen years ago, Holy Soul Village.]

"Huh, this time it's not about the initial identity?"

Seeing these three options, Su Cheng was first startled, then his heart sank.

"As expected."

Fifteen years ago, Holy Soul Village...

This choice of birth time and place is quite meaningful.

That is exactly where Tang San from another world was born.

It must be another world's Tang San.

If it were just a native, even with a congenital dual martial soul, it wouldn't stir up much trouble.

"So, in this simulation, it has indeed completely replicated the situation of the real world, even including Tang San's factors."

Obviously, choosing to be born in Holy Soul Village means borrowing the power of Tang San.

"But why should I borrow Tang San's power?"

Su Cheng shook his head. He and Tang San have different ideologies, and guiding him would be very difficult.

Moreover, choosing this path means that the final decision is not in his hands.

In the first simulation, there was no other way. At that time, he was too weak and could only use his surroundings to gain strength.

But now, there is no need for that at all.

"So which one should I choose..."

If possible, Su Cheng naturally hopes to choose an earlier time, preferably before the three Great Douluo meet, or even before the Sea God Douluo Bo Saixi has achieved success in cultivation.

Of course, the latter is just wishful thinking; no matter how you look at it, it's not possible. Otherwise, this task would have no difficulty at all.

But even if he could be born before the three Great Douluo meet, it would give him a lot of room for manipulation, but it seems unlikely now.

Even if he chooses to be born fifty years ago, he probably won't make it.

Not to mention that Su Cheng doesn't know when those few people met, even if he does, he simply won't make it in time. He needs time to develop before he can intervene; otherwise, it's just seeking death.

However, according to the task allocation of the simulator all along, as long as the rewards are the same, the difficulty between these three options should not vary greatly.

The purpose of providing these choices is actually to offer different completion paths.

The first option is a regular start, the third option involves borrowing Tang San's power, so the target represented by the option of twenty-five years ago in Martial Soul Hall is quite obvious.

The Angel God Qian Renxue.

"So, should I try this path again?"

Su Cheng felt some resistance.

He didn't want to use Qian Renxue again, even if it's in a simulated world.

Moreover, although this path is familiar, there are variables within it.

The Sea God is not someone who plays by the rules, and if the Angel God intervenes, the level of obstruction he faces could be unpredictable.

Additionally, Bibi Dong, Tang San, and others could also become significant obstacles.

The Sea God Island itself is not weaker than the Martial Soul Hall, especially when fighting on the sea, where its strength is even stronger.

"Let's choose the path with the least variables."

Since the difficulty levels among the three options are relatively balanced, it is likely that there will be compensations in the initial talents.

Moreover, being born on Sea God Island itself can be considered an advantage.

Furthermore, who says there's no way to borrow power fifty years ago?

[You have selected the initial time and place as fifty years ago, Sea God Island.]

[You can choose three out of the following ten talents as initial talents:]

[Natural Born Full Soul Power, Dual Martial Souls, Sword Genius, Soul Scholar, Master Theorist, Professional Divine Practitioner, Handsome Appearance, Extraordinary Background, Child of the Ocean, Fated Person]

Su Cheng's eyes lit up.

As soon as he saw the talent panel, he was sure that "Soul Scholar" here is a must-select.

Whether it's for Qian Renxue's current state or for his own future development, he cannot afford to give up this talent.

Even if this talent doesn't directly contribute to completing the task, choosing it would still be beneficial.

"As for the others..."

Su Cheng glanced over the other nine talents, and his gaze lingered on "Sword Genius" for a moment before reluctantly shifting away.

Encountering this thing again...

But unfortunately, the difficulty of this task is too high, and with one talent already chosen that doesn't necessarily benefit the task completion, he cannot afford to waste any more allocations.

"Do I want to choose the path of strength?"

The combination of dual martial souls and natural born full soul power is almost equivalent to his real-life self.

Taking it into his hands, and relying on various foundational qualities such as techniques and sword intent, his rate of improvement would be extremely fast.

However, Su Cheng quickly abandoned these two talents.

He didn't want to attract the attention of the sea god who often peered into the mortal realm.

In the early stages, he must keep a low profile; being too conspicuous would be detrimental.

What he wanted was the Destruction of Inheritance, not inheriting a god's seat. Being too conspicuous from the start would be of no benefit to him.

Moreover, with his current foundation, he wouldn't be constrained in his future development by awakening martial souls.

As a result, talents similar to "Child of the Ocean" couldn't be chosen either.

It seems advanced, but without knowing the specific effects, the cost-effectiveness is too low, and it's too risky.

"The key lies in that Sea God Douluo."

Su Cheng frowned as he examined the remaining talent options.

Wanting to obtain the Destruction of Sea God's inheritance involves many obstacles.

Sea God Island is powerful, and the Sea Douluo there are extraordinary, but undoubtedly, the biggest hurdle is Bo Saixi and the Sea God.

Su Cheng can't reach the Sea God in the early stages, nor does he dare to, so whether he can get close to Bo Saixi is extremely important.

Don't think that being born on Sea God Island gives you a chance to meet this High Priest.

For the sea soul masters living on the island, ordinary sea soul masters are completely inconspicuous.

To Bo Saixi, the sea soul masters on the island are like the residents of the Martial Soul City to the Pope, with no chance of getting close to each other.

The difficulty might even be greater.

In the Martial Soul City, if someone has outstanding talent, they might at least be able to join the Martial Soul Hall Academy and gradually move closer to the center of power.

But Bo Saixi is different from the Pope.

The Pope is the core of power, a superior being above all, with his own ambitions.

Bo Saixi, on the other hand, has always considered herself a servant of the Sea God, dedicating her life to faith in the Sea God without any desire for power.

Su Cheng looked at the last talent.

"This is probably the most likely option, right? Even if I can't get close to Bo Saixi, having this talent will greatly increase the possibility of obtaining other opportunities."

[You have selected the initial talents as: Soul Scholar, Professional Divine Practitioner, Fated Person.]

[...]

[You have chosen Free Exploration Mode.]

[Note, everything in the life simulation is a projection of the real world, and will also affect the fate of the original plane, so please take it seriously.]

[Simulation begins.]

With the prompts appearing, Su Cheng's consciousness instantly left his body and entered another seemingly real yet illusory world.

[You were born in the largest coastal city, Hanhai City, located in the far west of the Tian Dou Empire. Your father is a mainland soul master, while your mother is a sea soul master from Sea God Island.]

[After your birth, your parents planned to take you to Sea God Island. However, unexpected events occurred. When you were about to reach your destination, you were attacked by a group of evil demon tiger whales. After struggling to resist, your father died protecting you and your mother. Your mother, though stronger in battle than your father, could not withstand the onslaught of the powerful evil demon tiger whales for long and soon suffered severe injuries.]

[At a critical moment, the Sea God Douluo, the Great Priest Bo Saixi, arrived at the scene and drove away the terrifying evil demon tiger whales, saving you and your mother. Unfortunately, your mother was already on the brink of death, and even Bo Saixi could not save her.]

[It turns out that your mother was originally born on Sea God Island and had extremely high talent. Because of her extraordinary talent, she successfully passed the Purple-Level Third Trial in the Sea God Island Soul Master Test at the age of eighteen. If she could pass all the trials, she had a great chance of becoming one of the strongest group of people under the Sea God Island's Sacred Pillar Douluo.]

At this point, Su Cheng's heart stirred.

Sea God Island has always had its own special rules.

Sea soul masters living on the island must undergo a trial when they reach the age of eighteen. Those who pass the trial can stay on Sea God Island to "serve the Sea God". If they fail, they will be expelled from Sea God Island. Some of the trials are extremely difficult and may even result in death.

Different people experience different trials, divided into White-Level Assessment, Yellow-Level Assessment, Purple-Level Assessment, Black-Level Assessment, and the top-level Red-Level Assessment. Just like the color of soul rings, the difficulty increases from low to high. Passing different levels of assessment will grant corresponding powers on Sea God Island. The difficulty of the assessment depends not only on the strength of the person being assessed but also on their potential and talent.

If one can reach the Black-Level Assessment, once successful, their future as a Title Douluo is basically assured, and they will become one of the Sacred Pillar Douluo on Sea God Island, with power second only to the Great Priest Sea God Douluo.

However, the success rate of reaching this level of assessment is extremely low, and the death rate is extremely high. There is almost no concept of failure; failure means death. So relatively speaking, the Purple-Level Assessment should be the most cost-effective assessment level.

Foreign mainland soul masters who enter Sea God Island also need to undergo an assessment to stay here.

The difference is that sea soul masters on Sea God Island undergo an assessment every ten years, while mainland soul masters need to complete an assessment every year.

Considering his mother's identity, since she was able to pass the Purple-Level Assessment, her talent shouldn't be too low, and her innate soul power should be at least at the fifth level.

In this case, the innate soul power of this body shouldn't be too weak.

Thinking of this, Su Cheng continued to focus and look further back.

[Unfortunately, your mother, although she passed the first assessment, failed in the second assessment ten years later. According to the rules, she could only be expelled from Sea God Island. At this time, Bo Saixi took the opportunity to give her a special task. It was because of this task that she went to the mainland alone and met your father.]

[After completing the task, her original plan was to return to Sea God Island and leave you there to establish a foundation. After all, for soul masters, the growth conditions on Sea God Island are much better than those in ordinary cities on the mainland. Although she herself had no chance to return to Sea God Island, she still hoped that you could receive better soul master education.]

[At your mother's request, Bo Saixi agreed to her last wish before she died. She promised that as long as you could awaken your martial soul and possess soul power, regardless of your talent level, she would treat you as a direct disciple and do her best to cultivate you.]

[After bringing you back to Sea God Island, Bo Saixi did not take you to Sea God Mountain immediately. Instead, she placed you in the most powerful city, the Sea Maiden City, and prepared to consider other matters after you awakened your martial soul, entrusting the strongest Sea Maiden Douluo among the seven Sacred Pillar Douluo to take care of you.]

[Currently, there are seven cities on Sea God Island, namely Sea Maiden City, Sea Dragon City, Sea Spear City, Sea Mirage City, Sea Horse City, Sea Ghost City, and Sea Star City, each governed by one of the seven Title Douluo who have passed the Black-Level Assessment.]

[Due to the adult assessment, the population of each city on Sea God Island hovers around a thousand, and each person is considered the most loyal follower of the Sea God. Among them, there are more than three thousand soul masters with decent strength, known as Sea God Warriors, all of whom have undergone the Sea God's assessment and are strong individuals.]

[You have lived in Sea Maiden City for four years. Because you were personally brought by the Great Priest Bo Saixi and secretly looked after by the Sea Maiden Douluo, you have enjoyed decent treatment in the city. However, the people on Sea God Island are all Sea God believers, and there is no distinction between high and low status. You have not received too much special treatment because of this. You can only access more learning materials and get to know more high-level soul masters. During this period, you have also learned a lot of information about Sea God Island.]

[Main quest begins.]

With a shake of his spirit, Su Cheng felt himself as a four-year-old, and the memories of the past four years quickly merged into his mind.

On the Douluo Continent, children tend to develop early, often being able to move independently and possess decent learning abilities by the age of three. Some privileged children even begin laying the groundwork for their future martial soul awakening at this age. However, this phenomenon is not directly related to whether they have the aptitude for cultivation.

This is likely due to the abundance of unowned energy in the world, which accelerates the development of even ordinary individuals, particularly evident during early childhood.

After a brief assessment, Su Cheng had a rough idea of the aptitude of his current body. His innate soul power level ranged from three to four, inheriting his father's sword martial soul rather than his mother's higher-quality swordfish martial soul. For Su Cheng, this presented both advantages and disadvantages.

On the one hand, having a sword martial soul significantly boosted his combat power, given his extensive experience with swordsmanship. However, inheriting this martial soul also meant weaker innate aptitude. Although offspring typically inherit the higher-quality martial soul of their parents, this isn't always the case, especially when the parents' differences are minimal.

Su Cheng's situation mirrored that of his first simulation. Both parents were mainland soul masters—one with a metal attribute and the other with a water attribute. Yet, he awakened a metal attribute martial soul, leading to some malignant mutations and a reduction in martial soul quality.

However, these details were relatively insignificant. With the Nirvana Scripture and methods to enhance his martial soul and accumulate soul rings, innate aptitude wouldn't pose a significant challenge.

Nevertheless, Su Cheng wasn't planning to practice the Nirvana Scripture just yet. Everything had to wait until after his martial soul awakened, as it would impact his future plans. Besides, Bo Saixi had promised his mother that as long as he was a soul master, it was sufficient, regardless of his talent.

Since the "Fated Person" talent had already helped him overcome a crucial obstacle, there was no need for further unnecessary actions.

Moreover, drawing too much attention with an exceptionally high innate soul power level might not be advantageous to his plans. In the four years of his memories, Su Cheng learned that the current strongest Title Douluos on Sea God Island were not the Sea Dragon Douluo, but rather the aging Sea Maiden Douluo and Sea Star Douluo.

However, the islanders were not overly concerned. These two aging Title Douluos already had successors undergoing the Black-Level Fourth Trial, not far from the Title Douluo realm. There was a great chance that they would inherit the titles and serve as the new pillars of Sea God Island, perhaps even adding a few more Title Douluos to the existing seven.

Additionally, the islanders believed that upon their death, these Title Douluos would serve the "Sea God" in the afterlife. Su Cheng found this belief somewhat absurd. Even if it were true, dedicating one's entire life to a deity was one thing, but continuing in the afterlife seemed excessive.

"Like a capitalist," Su Cheng mused to himself.

The sky was clear, and the air was fresh as Su Cheng strolled down the street, taking in a deep breath. The atmosphere of Sea God Island was indeed vastly different from that of the mainland, both in natural scenery and cultural environment.

Feeling a sense of affinity with this place, Su Cheng made a mental note to find a way to claim it for himself when he returned to the real world.

The streets were sparsely populated, much like in the Soul Master City. Everyone, whether pedestrians or shopkeepers, possessed soul power. Their attire, like soul rings, indicated their level—white, yellow, purple, black, or red, corresponding to the difficulty levels of the trials they had undergone.

However, only Bo Saixi had the qualification to wear red clothing. It didn't take long for Su Cheng to arrive at the Book Pavilion of Sea Maiden City. He greeted the yellow-clothed soul master guarding the entrance.

"Hello, Uncle Chen."

"Su Cheng, back to study the teachings of the Sea God again?"

Chen Yuan nodded with a smile, inwardly admiring Su Cheng's dedication at such a young age. To prioritize understanding the greatness of the Sea God even as a child meant he would undoubtedly become the most devout follower of the Sea God in the future.

Su Cheng was unaware of Chen's thoughts as he casually picked up a book he hadn't read before and began perusing it. Until his martial soul awakened, he had no intention of delving too deeply into cultivation-related matters. There were too few books available on soul-related topics in this world, and even fewer that provided meaningful guidance.

His current focus was solely on understanding the teachings of the Sea God.

"The talent 'Professional Divine Practitioner' is really something extraordinary. No wonder it's a creation of the simulator; it truly stands out..." Su Cheng muttered to himself as he flipped through the pages.

Previously, he believed that in a world with genuine extraordinary powers, there was no need to spread the existence of "gods" through texts and words. However, he now had a completely different understanding. It wasn't about finding profound truths in these teachings but rather easily identifying their flaws and shortcomings, even developing his own unique interpretations of spreading the teachings.

"It seems there are naturally gifted evangelists after all..."