I Have a God Simulator

Nong Lei had loved to fight since he was a child.

He was more passionate about fighting than any of his peers.

After finishing his scant farm chores, Nong Lei would think about how to use the terrain, how to bluff, how to pressure an opponent, and how to leverage his own agility.

He built a wooden man modeled after the human body and practiced his fighting skills against it as a mock opponent.

As a child, this sort of thing was admired by many other kids.

As he got older, his fighting friends dwindled. If they had any spare time, they would till the soil and plant crops, find work in the city, or even just lie on the ridges between fields to bask in the sun.

Everyone would say, "Nong Lei, it's time to wake up."

"You can't pass the exam for the Divinity School, and you couldn't get into the City Guard Army. Just be a good farmer, save up some money, marry a wife, and stop with these fantasies."

Nong Lei never managed to pass the Divinity School exam.

He was born with an illness, causing him to cough often and occasionally suffer from sharp pains in his chest. Because of this, his father usually didn't let him do heavy farm work, hoping only that he could get well.

As a result, Nong Lei had more freedom and an easier life than the other farmer kids his age. He had plenty of time to run through the fields, practice his kicks and punches, and hone his fighting techniques—or so he believed.

Nong Lei set his sights on becoming like the master Martial Cultivator, Yan Jiu.

He firmly believed he would become a Martial Cultivator, travel the world, and fight all kinds of Extraordinary Beings and monsters in battles of skill and life-or-death struggles.

But his father's death brought the heavy burden of reality crashing down on his shoulders.

Nong Lei had no choice but to toil in the fields every day like the other farmers. For a long time, the heavy labor left him with no energy to think of anything else.

Just as everyone had told him, his mind was filled only with thoughts of saving a little more money, fixing his thatched hut that always leaked when it rained, having enough left over to buy some wine, and then marrying a woman and living out his life that way.

Only in his spare moments would he still practice on his wooden man.

It was a simple and pure kind of joy.

As the intensity of his work in the fields increased, Nong Lei began to cough up blood frequently. He spent all his savings trying to cure his illness, only to be told by a Physician that it was currently incurable and could relapse at any time.

It was then that Crystal City began recruiting people, saying they needed someone to take care of the Rose Garden.

Nong Lei went there, carrying his Wooden People on his back.

In the new city, he started over from scratch.

Nong Lei set up the wooden man outside his dilapidated hut. He was never lonely, because he was always fighting the wooden man. In the eyes of many, he was just an oddball.

The first time he left the city, he was attacked by Slaughter Flying Locusts.

Nong Lei didn't flee immediately. Relying on a wooden staff he carried with him, he successfully killed six of the locusts.

He had rehearsed the entire combat process hundreds of times while fighting his Wooden People. As he looked down at the insect corpses at his feet, his body couldn't stop trembling.

'It was worth it.'

'All those years of practice were worth it.'

Nong Lei clenched his fists.

His actions immediately drew the frenzied retaliation of the locust swarm. In the end, Nong Lei died in Crystal City from his grievous injuries.

After becoming a Ghost Warrior, Nong Lei exacted his revenge on the locust swarm.

Years later, Nong Lei was a well-known locust-killer in Crystal City. Anyone who needed to pass through a locust-infested area would try to hire him as a bodyguard.

After killing his 10,000th Slaughter Flying Locust, Nong Lei let go of his grudge.

There was no point in continuing to kill them. He was too familiar with the locust swarm, and the repetitive, monotonous battles no longer brought him any improvement.

He needed a new opponent.

So Nong Lei set out once more, carrying his Wooden People on his back. He traveled all the way to the entrance of the Martial Cultivation Association in Yan City. Now, he could finally hold his head high, become a member, and fulfill the promise he had made long ago.

A new era had quietly arrived, but it had changed many things.

Nong Lei had once sparred with a middle-aged Martial Cultivator in Crystal City.

The man's strength was considerable, and Nong Lei had won only with great difficulty.

"You're very strong."

The Martial Cultivator said after pulling back, "You should become an Armored Warrior. Put on the latest Twin Cities Armor and equip yourself with a Fine Weapon, and you'll be much stronger than you are now."

Nong Lei replied that he wanted to become a Martial Cultivator.

The Martial Cultivator didn't object. Instead, he asked him, "What's the fastest way to kill an Extraordinary Being?"

After some serious thought, Nong Lei said, "Set a trap and launch a surprise attack."

The man shook his head. "It's with a Black Rose."

"The Assassin Black Rose is a forbidden weapon cultivated by Lord Apostle Pinkman. It's also the strongest type of Extraordinary Rose currently known. As long as you activate its Assassin Mode, the Black Rose can instantly kill any enemy within ten paces."

The Martial Cultivator picked up a tree branch and pointed it gently at Nong Lei.

"Just like that, you'd be dead."

Nong Lei was stunned. "Is it impossible to block?"

"Don't even think about trying to out-react a Black Rose."

The man said with a solemn expression, "The Assassin Black Rose can detect you the moment you look at it. What you see is only its shadow; you can't determine its true location. It will precisely pierce its target's heart or brain for a fatal blow."

The Martial Cultivator tossed the branch aside and said with self-mockery, "No matter how strong a Martial Cultivator is, without Fine Equipment, their physical body can't withstand the fatal attack of a Black Rose. That's the reality of the situation."

"The traditional path of the Martial Cultivator has already fallen far behind."

"In this era, at least, the path of the Armored Warrior is the stronger one."

"Young man, take some good advice: go be an Armored Warrior."

Nong Lei simply said, "I want to try."

Compared to the Twin Cities at the center of the world, Crystal City was still a remote place. Everything there was relatively slow, and many of the new changes were delayed, so the immense shifts of the era weren't yet apparent.

But after arriving in Yan City, the main hub of the Martial Cultivators, Nong Lei finally understood why that Martial Cultivator had said what he did.

An ordinary Armored Warrior could fight Nong Lei to a standstill. And his opponent was just a twenty-year-old youth in his first year of service.

The young man relied on the latest Twin Cities Armor, a Quenching Sword, and a Hundred-Bend Shield.

The Twin Cities Armor needs no introduction; its reputation precedes it, being synonymous with powerful defense.

The Quenching Sword was a Fine Iron Sword infused with the Fire Element. It was sharp and tough, and also dealt burning damage.

The Hundred-Bend Shield was forged from high-quality Copper Ingots, possessed excellent impact resistance, and was infused with the Earth Element, allowing it to significantly reduce damage.

The widespread adoption of this equipment among Armored Warriors was primarily due to the invention of the Fire Steam Furnace. It drastically reduced the manpower needed for Forging and Refining, leading to a massive surge in the production of Fine Equipment.

Nong Lei couldn't help but feel confused.

'Is training one's individual limits through life-and-death struggles truly meaningless?'

After a brief moment of doubt, he reaffirmed his conviction.

'Absolutely not.'

Nong Lei observed in Yan City that while the Armored Warriors there possessed outstanding Combat Power, most of them lacked rich combat experience. Their reputation alone was often enough to deter potential criminals and Extraordinary Beings.

If they were caught in a surprise engagement and couldn't don their armor, they became incredibly vulnerable.

In comparison, Martial Cultivators had no such worries.

Because the path of the Martial Cultivator was all about constantly challenging one's limits, treating ambushes and danger as commonplace. Fighting bare-handed was the natural stance of a Martial Cultivator.

The respective advantages and disadvantages of the two Extraordinary paths hadn't changed.

Armored Warriors were easy to train; the stronger their equipment, the stronger they became. Their individual combat and surprise engagement capabilities were weaker.

Martial Cultivators were few in number and didn't rely on Artifacts. Their overall individual abilities were strong, but their style of challenging their limits could put them in danger when surrounded.

Nowadays, the requirements to become a Martial Cultivator had become extremely lax. As long as you could demonstrate some ability, you could register.

After registering as a Martial Cultivator, Nong Lei walked out of the association's dilapidated, long-neglected gates. The decay and desolation within were even worse than he had imagined.

He stood on the streets of Yan City.

The streets were filled with citizens dressed in colorful clothes, chatting with one another.

Armored Warriors, carrying swords and shields, patrolled the stone-paved roads with synchronized steps. CLANK, CLANK.

A constant HISS rose and fell throughout the city, and a damp, faint white mist lingered in the streets. It was the Fire Steam Furnaces, working ceaselessly like the city's beating heart.

Nong Lei couldn't help but wonder.

'If it were Mr. Yan Jiu, what would he do?'

'Can fists of flesh and blood still contend with bodies of steel?'

Just as he was lost in thought, a voice suddenly sounded beside him.

"Mr. Nong Lei, interested in participating in an event?"

The speaker was a tall, thin man. He wore a bright, well-fitting green overcoat, held a silver Walking Stick, and wore a wide-brimmed black hat, its brim completely concealing his face.

"The event is called the 'Martial Arts Tournament.' Only bare-handed Extraordinary Beings may participate, and all qualifying Extraordinary Beings from around the world will be invited. The final victor will receive a special reward from the Lord God."

Nong Lei was taken aback. "The Martial Arts Tournament? Who are you?"

"I am merely a messenger."

The man tipped his hat brim lower and said, "If you're interested, please prepare well over the next few days and build up your strength. The tournament will begin in one month. I look forward to you achieving a good result."

With that, he turned and left, disappearing from sight in just a few steps.

Nong Lei couldn't see how the man had left at all.

A moment later, a fire ignited in his heart.

'Martial Cultivators from all over the world, gathered in one place to determine the strongest.'

The mere thought of it made his fists itch for a fight, and his whole body surged with power.