Chapter 62: The First Experience of Real-scene Simulation

Two days later, Ruan Xing finished organizing the things she needed to bring, stuffed them all into her Storage Bag, and left the city with her Sword.

The Talismans she drew yesterday sold for one hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones; Ruan Xing kept fifty-one for herself and spent all the rest.

Why this specific number? Fifty was the admission ticket for the Cold Mountain Secret Realm, and one was the entry fee for her to return to Yunyang City.

The main point was not to waste anything; there wasn't a single drop more than that.

However, she was finally able to fly by Sword Control herself. In these few Simulations, she had chosen this skill, so she hadn't experienced the feeling of the Sword Control Technique in person yet, and she was a little excited.

She pinched a seal to urge the Dharma Sword to take off, Ruan Xing jumped on, and slowly directed the Flying Sword to speed up. Very quickly, she mastered the skill the Simulator had brought her, but the back-flowing wind was so fierce that it blew Ruan Xing until she couldn't open her eyes, and her hair was all askew. She spat twice and slowed down, so as not to be blown too hard by the wind.

She didn't know what the name of the technique the National Preceptor used to block the wind was; she would have to learn it when she had the chance.

Her current flight speed was probably about forty or fifty yards; on a highway, it would be the level where people would honk their horns fiercely to urge her on. At this speed, it should take an hour to reach the Cold Mountain Secret Realm.

It was just as well to test if the new Real-scene Simulation function was easy to use on the way.

Ruan Xing planned to simulate for a day first to try it out. Just as she started the Simulation, she felt as if she were riding her Flying Sword and quickly passing through an invisible, transparent thin film.

Ruan Xing looked at her hands, then looked around.

That's right, she was still standing on the Flying Sword on her way; had the Simulation started already? She summoned the Simulator in her mind, looked at the Simulation-ending button that could be pressed at any time, and Ruan Xing felt slightly relieved, then steered the Flying Sword to advance quickly toward her destination.

One hour later, Ruan Xing arrived at the Cold Mountain Secret Realm.

The straight, upright mountain peak before her eyes made Ruan Xing stare in a daze. If it weren't for the many Cultivators bustling about in the vicinity, she would have thought she had taken the wrong path.

Just how straight was this Hanshan? It was like a primary school student who had just sharpened a pencil and stuck it into an ant hill; she was an ant beside the ant hill, and the pencil was Hanshan.

Ruan Xing put away her Dharma Sword and found a low-level Qi Refining Cultivator who was setting up a stall to ask: "Excuse me, fellow Daoist, could you tell me about this Cold Mountain Secret Realm?"

The Cultivator's eyes lit up and he said, "Five Low-grade Spirit Stones."

Ruan Xing thought for a second and silently took out five Low-grade Spirit Stones for him.

It wasn't a big deal; it was a Real-scene Simulation anyway, not actually spent, so there was no need to haggle.

"Fellow Daoist is truly a straightforward person!" The stall-owning Cultivator chuckled, took the Spirit Stones, and pulled a small booklet out of his Storage Bag. "Inside there is a map, the general distribution of Monster Beasts and Spirit Herbs, and the purchase prices for various materials are also on it. The acquisition standards and contact information are on the last page..."

A Cultivator picking through items at the stall next to them couldn't bear to watch. "Little sister, you've been scammed by him. This booklet is given away for free by the Xuanbing Sect disciples after you pay the fifty Low-grade Spirit Stone admission fee. Besides, it's the version from thirty years ago, and it might have some discrepancies with the present."

"She was the one who took the initiative to buy it from me, it wasn't me forcing a sale, is that any of your business?" The stall-owning Cultivator rolled his eyes, turned his head to Ruan Xing and said, "At worst, I'll give you these Red Thread Worm shells on my stall."

"These Red Thread Worm shells were scorched by a Fire Technique and lost their medicinal properties; they don't meet the Xuanbing Sect's acquisition standards and are defective goods," the Cultivator commented in a cold tone.

"Hey, you brat, are you deliberately looking for trouble?" The stall-owning Cultivator got anxious. "So what if they were burned by fire? When thrown into a pill furnace, aren't they still being burned by fire? Is there any pill refining that doesn't involve burning fire?"

"It's fine, it's fine." Ruan Xing finally seized the opportunity to interject, stopping the two from arguing.

They were just Schrödinger's Spirit Stones, why ruin the harmony?

Ruan Xing said politely, "I am not a Cultivator from this region; I am a Loose Cultivator who came from elsewhere and don't know much about the Cold Mountain Secret Realm. I don't want your Red Thread Worm shells, nor do I need you to refund my Spirit Stones; just tell me a bit more about the Cold Mountain Secret Realm."

The stall-owning Cultivator suddenly realized and said, "Telling stories? I'm great at that. Legend has it that thousands of years ago, a great expert at the Return to Ruins Stage passed away here, forming this Secret Realm. The weapon he used, a Stone Staff, transformed into the high peak of Hanshan. The Xuanbing Sect controlled the Cold Mountain Secret Realm for over a thousand years until eight hundred years ago, when they finally opened it to the public. However, by then, the inheritances left behind in the Secret Realm had already been taken clean. If you go in now, you can only observe the ruins of the Cave Abode of the Return to Ruins Stage senior. But the spiritual charm left behind by his remains has lingered for a long time, nourishing the exotic flowers, rare herbs, birds, and beasts in the Secret Realm. Every thirty years, it opens for people to come in and harvest, just like cutting leeks, one crop after another every thirty years."

"Why can a Return to Ruins Stage expert's passing form a Secret Realm?" Ruan Xing asked curiously.

Hearing this, the stall-owning Cultivator looked at her strangely. "Otherwise, where do you think the name 'Return to Ruins Stage' comes from? If you don't ascend, you return to ruins. You don't even know this common knowledge? Which backwater are you a wild Cultivator from? The Return to Ruins Stage enjoys the creation of heaven and earth; if one cannot successfully ascend, after passing away, one's cultivation and Spiritual Power naturally return to heaven and earth. Most of the Secret Realms that exist today come from Return to Ruins Stage seniors."

Ruan Xing chuckled twice to cover her embarrassment and hurriedly continued to ask, "Most of them are, so what about the other small portion?"

"There are some Secret Realms whose origins are quite unusual. Some are because of the ancient war between gods and demons, some are ruins of a mysteriously vanished Sect, and some are naturally formed by unstable spatial rifts... In short, there are many reasons, and they vary. Those Secret Realms are all rare and hard to find. With our level of cultivation, going in is just asking to be served as a meal; it's safer and more stable to just pick flowers and pull grass in the Cold Mountain Secret Realm."

The stall-owning Cultivator shook his head and sighed, then suddenly changed the subject and said enthusiastically to Ruan Xing, "Fellow Daoist, aren't you here at the Cold Mountain Secret Realm to collect some materials to earn Spirit Stones? When the time comes, we can cooperate. You can put the defective materials that the Xuanbing Sect doesn't accept on my stall to sell, and we'll split the profits fifty-fifty, how about that?"

"Okay, I'll consider it." After hearing this dry story, Ruan Xing felt she had increased her common knowledge of the Cultivation world. She gave a perfunctory reply and got up to leave, not expecting the Cultivator who had been picking out items and interjecting nearby to follow her.

Ruan Xing was puzzled: "Does the fellow Daoist have something else?"

"It's like this," the Cultivator smiled. "I discovered a cave inside the Cold Mountain Secret Realm that contains a Cave Heart Spirit Grass. Unfortunately, there is a Foundation Establishment Monster Beast snake guarding the treasure at the entrance. I want to find a teammate to deal with the Monster Beast snake with me, but the low-level Cultivators who have come to the Cold Mountain Secret Realm these past few days are all here to try their luck, and I only met you today... Fellow Daoist, would you be willing to join me in subduing the Monster Beast snake? When the time comes, we will take out the materials on the Monster Beast snake and the Cave Heart Spirit Grass to sell, and we will split the Spirit Stones we get equally." "The two of us?" Ruan Xing pointed at herself in disbelief, "To deal with a Foundation Establishment Monster Beast?"

"Fellow Daoist doesn't have much experience fighting against Monster Beasts, right?" The Cultivator smiled knowingly. "Monster Beasts have low intelligence, don't understand formations or schemes, don't practice Magic Arts, and their attack methods are singular. They also don't know how to use Dharma Artifacts. I am at Qi Refining Layer Nine and you are at Qi Refining Layer Eight; the two of us are enough to deal with the Monster Beast snake."

Ruan Xing thought for a moment and readily agreed, "That works, but I just spent my Spirit Stones to buy information about the Secret Realm, and I don't have enough Spirit Stones left for the admission ticket."

"No matter, it's just five Low-grade Spirit Stones; I'll lend them to you." Seeing Ruan Xing agree, the Cultivator's attitude became even more cordial. "I am Wang Zhi, may I ask how to address you, little friend?"

"I am Ruan Xing, then I shall thank you first, fellow Daoist."

Wang Zhi led Ruan Xing quickly toward the Xuanbing Sect disciples at the entrance of the Secret Realm and helped her make up the Spirit Stones. The disciple indeed gave Ruan Xing a small booklet exactly the same as the one from before, and also gave her a Wooden Tablet with the date written on it.

"This is your proof for entering the Cold Mountain Secret Realm for these ten days. Within ten days, you can enter and exit an unlimited number of times. If you want to enter again after these ten days, you will have to pay to renew it. The Cold Mountain Secret Realm opens once every thirty years, and each time it opens for a total of three months. It's just the first month now, which is exactly when there are many people. We must hurry over, otherwise, if other Cultivators discover that cave, it will be hard to settle," Wang Zhi explained.

The two crossed a barrier Light Gate, and after a short moment of dizziness brought by the teleportation, the place under their feet had already changed.

Tall trees and deep forests, with lush flowers and grass.

"The location each time you enter is random. We are quite lucky this time, not landing directly in the Monster Beast's territory," Wang Zhi said, taking out a map and a compass to compare their location. After a moment, he pointed in a direction, "It's not far from here, let's go."

The forest was not suitable for Flying Sword travel, so the two applied a Lightness Talisman to themselves and ran over.

When they arrived at the place, Ruan Xing looked at the bottomless lake in front of her and clicked her tongue. "This water is almost as black as ink. How did you dare to go down and still discover a cave?"

"By coincidence and good luck, when luck comes, it's naturally unstoppable." Wang Zhi smiled, revealing a mouthful of white teeth, and handed Ruan Xing a Water Avoidance Talisman. "Visibility underwater is not high, and this water can isolate Divine Sense. You must follow me closely when we go down later."

Ruan Xing nodded. Seeing Wang Zhi stick on the Water Avoidance Talisman and jump into the water, she followed suit. In order not to get separated underwater, she followed closely behind him as they swam.

They didn't encounter any aquatic Monster Beasts underwater. Occasionally, a few fish that could count as Spirit Food swam past them, but they were like blind men and didn't see the two of them.

It made sense; the water was so black and the visibility was only about one meter. Fish that lived in this water area for a long time didn't need eyes; even if they had them, they were just for show.

After diving down about ten meters, Wang Zhi stopped, tugged on Ruan Xing's sleeve, and signaled that they were almost there. The two moved to the bottom of a pitch-black stone wall, groped for a passage that one person could pass through, and drilled up. Inside, it was actually a spacious cave; although it was a bit damp, it had not been flooded by water.

Wang Zhi took a Night-luminescent Pearl out of his Storage Bag to illuminate the rugged and pitted cave. The pitch-black stone walls reflected a shimmering green light, looking very eerie. "It's just ahead."

There were some white, sticky secretions on the ground, giving a soft, stepping-in-poop feeling, but it would dirty her shoe soles, so Ruan Xing carefully chose dry, protruding surfaces to walk on.

Passing through this cave, Ruan Xing heard the sound of rushing water, and a faint fluorescence illuminated the vast underground river ahead.

An underground river in a lake... the geography of the Cultivation world really doesn't make any sense.

After Ruan Xing muttered a complaint in her heart, she noticed that Wang Zhi's pace had become a bit cautious. She hurriedly extended her Divine Sense to figure out what was hidden in the dark, but was interrupted by Wang Zhi reaching out.

He said with a grave expression: "I have been to this place twice already. The Cave Heart Spirit Grass is on the other side of the river, and that Monster Beast snake is usually in the river. Water can isolate Divine Sense, and I cannot detect where it will come ashore."

Ruan Xing asked humbly, "Then, what is your plan?"

Wang Zhi had already thought it through. He explained in detail: "I will first pretend to cross the river to pick the Spirit Herb and lure it out. Fellow Daoist Ruan, you hide on the side. The Monster Beast snake has poor eyesight; if you don't make a sound and have no Spiritual Power fluctuations, it won't be able to discover you. I will set up a formation in the cave passage. After I lure the Monster Beast snake away, you go over to pick the Cave Heart Spirit Grass. The Monster Beast snake will sense the theft of the Cave Heart Spirit Grass and will definitely return in a rage, but the cave is not wide enough for it to turn around, and there is also my formation to trap it. You can pick it with peace of mind; it won't be able to stop you. After you finish picking, you return to the cave entrance to help me. We will attack from the front and back; trapped, the Monster Beast snake will just be a target. Even if it has thick skin and flesh, it won't be able to withstand our joint efforts."

Although Wang Zhi's plan was simple and crude, it was feasible if the Monster Beast truly lacked high intelligence as he claimed; therefore, Ruan Xing readily agreed, and after Wang Zhi finished setting up the array in the cave passage, Ruan Xing found a protruding rock at the edge of the underground river to hide behind.

Watching Wang Zhi fly lightly over the underground river on his Flying Sword, just as he was about to land, the river that had been flowing with a splashing sound suddenly kicked up a large spray of water; under the illumination of the Night-luminescent Pearl, the matte black snake head could only be seen as a blurry shadow, and it attacked the mid-air Wang Zhi with an almost catapult-like start.

"Damn, is this a Monster Beast snake? This is a python, right!?" Ruan Xing couldn't help but curse in a low voice; no wonder Wang Zhi said the Monster Beast snake couldn't turn flexibly in the cave passage—the Monster Beast snake's body was nearly twice as thick as Wang Zhi.

Wang Zhi reacted extremely quickly, tilting his body to dodge the Monster Beast snake's assault head-first, while simultaneously changing the direction of his Flying Sword to circle back to the cave passage; in order to provoke the Monster Beast snake's anger, he even threw a Thunder Fire Talisman at it after landing.

With a loud boom, the power of the Grade 3 Spirit Talisman, the Thunder Fire Talisman, even shattered the stalactites above the underground river, which fell and smashed onto the Monster Beast snake; the Monster Beast snake shook its head, and a half-meter-long wound was blasted open on the skin atop its head by the Thunder Fire Talisman, revealing deep red flesh.

The Monster Beast snake hissed in anger and then chased in the direction Wang Zhi had fled; its body coiled in the river was like an endless strand of noodles, coiling three or four times before the entire snake body entered the cave.

Ruan Xing did not hesitate either, mounting her Flying Sword to leap across to the opposite bank of the river, where she landed and began searching for the Cave Heart Spirit Grass that Wang Zhi had mentioned.

Thanks to Qing Yu Yue for the tip~(End of chapter)