Chapter 88: Do You Choose Death or Do You Choose Death?

Ruan Xing felt this possibility was unlikely; although she did not know Fu Yu, just looking at Fu Qinghong's appearance was enough to know the character of the Fu Yu who had raised him.

In a mere eight days, Xie Huai had killed both of them and altered the Teleportation Array...

It was truly incredible.

Then, the next simulation plan would be to evade Xu Xi's pursuit within eight days, obtain valuable treasures, familiarize herself with the terrain, and ideally find a suitable place to serve as a burial ground for Xu Xi.

Ruan Xing was no saint; she had never thought of wasting her points to save a few strangers. Moreover, if two direct disciples, core elites, and Foundation Establishment Late Stage cultivators from the Central Province couldn't handle Xie Huai alone, then she would just be delivering herself as a snack if she went over.

The most important thing for her now was to obtain improvements beneficial to herself through the Golden Terrace Secret Realm.

Ruan Xing continued the simulation.

【Simulating】

Seven years old, you participated in the Jin Tai Dao Discussion within the Sect, successfully achieved the top thirty, and obtained the qualification to enter the Golden Terrace Secret Realm.

After entering the Secret Realm, you discarded your Sect Jade Token, steered your Flying Sword to head in the east direction. On the way, you encountered several disciples from the Central Province; their attitude toward you was very guarded, so you followed them and discovered they entered a hidden Cave Abode. You waited outside the cave for several days without seeing anyone come out, so you entered the Cave Abode yourself.

Inside the Cave Abode, you did not see the cultivators who had entered earlier, but instead saw two Residual Souls and two inheritances. The Residual Souls asked if you wanted the Immortal Method inheritance or the Demonic Path inheritance. You asked strangely, why choose? I want both.

The Residual Souls felt what you said made sense, so they gave you both inheritances.

You died.

【Simulation Ended】

Ruan Xing looked at the few short lines of text and pondered for a moment, then chose to receive the memory.

Inheritances of this kind were basically all infusion-based; she didn't know if things without physical form could be judged as items by the Simulator, and besides, she didn't know how she had died.

After viewing the memory, Ruan Xing finally understood: having both Immortal and Demonic bodies would lead to immediate death...

Ah, this, could one only choose one? But in the memory, that female immortal Residual Soul had even advised her not to choose any inheritance and to leave here quickly, because if she chose the Immortal Method, the Demonic Path Residual Soul would immediately devour her; if she chose the Demonic Path, the immortal would kill her to prevent her from bringing disaster to the world after leaving.

Both of them had been Spirit Severing Dao Lords while alive; even if their Residual Souls were trapped here after death, killing a few Foundation Establishment little cultivators would be no more than a breath of air.

Heaven knows why two Spirit Severing great experts would appear in this kind of Secret Realm.

And the technique practiced by the Demon Cultivator could devour all things to nourish himself; whether living cultivators or dead ones, they could all be turned into his nutrients. He would even share some with the immortal to help her maintain her Residual Soul power.

There was no other reason; it was just too boring. The two had been trapped here for a thousand years. Apart from the cultivators who came to seek opportunities from time to time, only the immortal was here to keep him company. Although the immortal didn't have a good attitude toward him, if the immortal's Residual Soul dissipated, he would be the only one left here.

The immortal did not want her inheritance to be buried here, while the Demon Cultivator didn't care; he was just doing it to compete with the immortal.

What a pity, Ruan Xing sighed. She actually quite wanted these two inheritances. Even if she didn't use them herself, she could give them to others. The Immortal Dao technique could go to Ruan Tao and Hu San, and the Demonic Path technique could go to Sword Lai. Although Sword Lai couldn't practice it, the Magic Arts inside could be used to draw inferences about other cases; learning a few more Magic Arts wouldn't hurt.

Ruan Xing decided to start the simulation and try again, to see if she could avoid infusing the inheritance into herself and instead bring it out of the Secret Realm.

"Bring it out of the Secret Realm?" The immortal's sandalwood lips parted slightly. She was surprised for a moment before shaking her head and answering: "You cannot bring it out of the Secret Realm. The infusion inheritance uses the remaining power of my Residual Soul. Unless you take my Residual Soul away, but we have both been trapped here for thousands of years. If there really were a way to escape this predicament, we would have left long ago. I advise you not to think about the inheritance anymore and leave here quickly. With me stopping this demon, I can buy you a few breaths of time to escape. Once you leave a hundred-foot radius, you will be safe."

"Heh." The Demon Cultivator on the side gave a lazy sneer. "If I eat her, I can extend our lives by another twenty years. You want to let such good lamp oil run away? Little girl, come here. As long as you choose my inheritance and become a Demon Cultivator, I won't eat you and will let you leave."

The immortal pursed her lips. "You only have two choices: either leave now, or choose my Immortal Method."

The Demon Cultivator was coaxing and tempting, but the immortal seemed somewhat lacking in confidence.

The incomplete map issued by the Sect did not show such a place; this could only prove one thing: everyone who had come to this Cave Abode had died.

After all, over a thousand years, perhaps they were equal in strength while alive, but after death, the immortal's Residual Soul would only grow weaker day by day, while the Demon Cultivator, having the replenishment of cultivators who stumbled into this place, showed no signs of fatigue instead.

The immortal had no ability to stop the Demon Cultivator at all.

It was just that the Demon Cultivator felt it was truly too boring staying here, so he played the "choose one of two" inheritance game with the immortal.

"I actually have a method," Ruan Xing said after pondering for a moment. "I once accidentally obtained a Puppet Technique that can seal a soul into a puppet, allowing it to walk and sit no differently from an ordinary person."

"Oh? A Ghost Dao art?" The Demon Cultivator became interested. "This technique's inheritance is obscure; it's rare to see anyone practicing it. I didn't expect you to have some talent and opportunity for the Demonic Sect. Not bad, not bad!"

"Absolutely not!" The immortal's words were intense. "I thought you were a disciple of the Immortal Sect, yet you practice Ghost Dao arts. Today, I fear you won't be able to leave this Cave Abode!"

This immortal seemed to have developed a murderous intent. Ruan Xing hurriedly waved her hands. "Hey, no, no, no. I have never refined a puppet before; I just happened to see it once and remembered it. This method is harmful to the harmony of heaven; how could a naive and kind little girl like me practice it?"

The turbulent aura on the immortal calmed down. She looked at Ruan Xing. "It seems you are indeed not lying."

She didn't expect the immortal to have the ability to discern lies... Fortunately, she really had never refined one; she had only used puppets refined by others.

Ruan Xing secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Although I don't know if it's feasible, I think it's worth a try," the Demon Cultivator said, rubbing his chin.

She didn't know how his soul-body hand could touch his chin; wouldn't it pass right through?

"How can this be!"

Seeing the immortal about to get angry again, the Demon Cultivator flicked his sleeve, and a gust of wind sent Ruan Xing out of the Cave Abode. She heard the Demon Cultivator's voice transmission from afar: "Little girl, go find the materials. I will persuade this little wench."

The two most basic things for making a puppet: the puppet and the puppet essence.

For the puppet, it was naturally better to use the corpse of the soul-body itself, but it looked like they probably didn't have them; they were likely eaten by the Demon Cultivator. She hadn't seen the corpses of those few cultivators from just now either; this Demon Cultivator had a big appetite. But that didn't matter; with one hundred and thirty cultivators in the entire Secret Realm, finding two corpses shouldn't be difficult, as long as the two of them didn't have overly high requirements for their own physique and appearance, it would be quite easy.

But the puppet essence was harder to say.

With her strength, she definitely couldn't get any particularly awesome heavenly treasures, but the two big shots might not look favorably upon ordinary-grade items either.

With low physical strength and low-grade essence, even if the soul-body realm was high, it wouldn't be higher than the Golden Core Stage after the refining was complete. A Spirit Severing big shot falling to Golden Core in one day—the sense of disparity might be a bit large.

However, this wasn't something she should consider right now. Whether the Puppet Technique could solve their predicament was not yet certain; who knows, she might end up losing her wife and losing her army in the end.

Ruan Xing pondered for a while, then stepped onto her Flying Sword and flew back. She seemed to have seen suitable materials on the road she had just come from, but the grade was a bit low and not worth much, so she hadn't taken them.

After flying for a short while, she saw two Central Province cultivators covered in wounds, supporting each other as they walked.

Eh? Corpses delivering themselves to her door? This was great; no need to search everywhere herself. With over a hundred cultivators scattered into such a large Secret Realm, it was like urine in a swimming pool—too diluted to find.

Ruan Xing did not act rashly. Although the other party appeared injured, they were, after all, Foundation Establishment Late Stage and Mid-stage; she didn't know how much strength they could still exert.

She jumped off the Flying Sword and landed in front of the two, asking with concern: "What happened to the two fellow sect members? Do you need help?"

One of the cultivators saw her and hurriedly said: "We just..."

Before he could finish his sentence, he was pulled by the other cultivator, stopping his words. He looked back at the other person in confusion.

"What would a little girl from Nanzhou know? It'll be good enough if she doesn't cause trouble. Let's go quickly; the location Senior Brother sent word about is not far from here..."

Since their attitude was so poor, Ruan Xing had no need to waste words with them. Taking advantage of the fact that the cultivator in front was facing away from her, she directly tapped the ground with one foot and leaped slightly, stabbing downward with the tip of her Short Sword. The opponent's protective Dharma Artifact flickered with a faint light, but he was already in an injured state, and the artifact was also battle-damaged. Before it could hold up for a second, Ruan Xing channeled the Sword Tassel to increase her output, piercing his heart. She rotated the hilt half a turn, mincing the soft flesh inside his chest.

The second Cultivator had not even finished speaking when he looked in shock at Ruan Xing, who had attacked without warning, and instinctively tried to pick up his Dharma Artifact to resist.

Ruan Xing's entire body weight was on the Short Sword; the Cultivator fell forward with his back to her, and Ruan Xing took the opportunity to stand on his back, then pulled out her sword and formed a seal with one hand, "Five Directions Water."

A water arrow suddenly appeared and struck the hand of the Cultivator behind her; although it did not cause the opponent any harm, it hindered the time he had to take out his Dharma Artifact.

She had just killed one Foundation Establishment Mid-stage, and facing a Foundation Establishment Late Stage, she dared not be careless.

Taking advantage of this moment, Ruan Xing took a step back, threw the Short Sword into mid-air to control it with the Sword Control Technique, and formed seals with both hands, "Myriad Swords Return to Origin!"

As her Spiritual Power erupted, the Cultivator's eyes felt as if they were being pricked by ten thousand needles, making it impossible for him to keep them open; his dispersed Divine Sense also signaled a crisis, but he could not distinguish where the danger was coming from, only feeling that there was danger on all sides, and he had no idea which direction to dodge in.

He could only pour all his Spiritual Power into his protective Dharma Artifact, attempting to resist.

The dense Sword Intent in the air was as if real yet illusory, reflecting a cold light, and the moment Ruan Xing finished her seal, it pierced the Cultivator's body like a hedgehog.

This move was an ultimate technique she had spent points to learn before the competition; it was very suitable for fighting in places with limited space, capable of both single-target and group attacks, and was the most expensive of the Mysterious Grade Magic Arts she could learn.

It was originally prepared for that Sword Cultivator, but she had not expected to use it here for the first time.

She had only practiced this Magic Art to the second level, for no other reason than it consumed too much Spiritual Power; her Spiritual Power was now almost exhausted, but the effect was good—the opponent was almost unable to resist, his whole body covered in fine wounds, some even deep enough to see bone.

The scorching blood watered the weeds on the ground; perhaps in a hundred or ten years, they would also be able to absorb Spirit Qi and become Spirit Herbs.

Ruan Xing took out a Spirit Returning Pill to eat, raised her other hand to catch the falling Short Sword, and stepped forward to deliver the final blow to the Cultivator.

After a while, Ruan Xing sat in meditation to refine the medicinal power of the Spirit Returning Pill, and only after recovering a sliver of Spiritual Power did she go to harvest her spoils.

In the two Storage Bags were some Spirit Stones, Pills, and some fresh materials, likely collected after entering the Secret Realm; one Spirit Jade and one Hook-Heart Vine, both Yellow Grade High-grade, could be used as the essence for Puppet refining, which saved her from having to look for more.

It was just that both of their Dharma Artifacts were basically destroyed, so there was no need to take them.

After cleaning up the spoils, Ruan Xing stroked her chin and fell into deep thought while looking at the two bloody, mangled corpses on the ground.

Although they were two male Cultivators, the Fairy shouldn't mind, right...

Although they were almost disfigured and there wasn't a single patch of good skin left on them, the Demon Cultivator shouldn't mind either, right...

After a small moment of repentance, Ruan Xing used the two newly confiscated Storage Bags to pack the corpses, preparing to take them back to the Cave Abode.

Suddenly, her footsteps faltered, her vision blurred, and the whole world began to spin.

After a moment, Ruan Xing recovered and frowned, "Not good, it's the eighth day; I don't know how much longer I can stay here if I don't leave the Secret Realm."

She quickened her pace, and after her Spiritual Power stabilized, she hurriedly flew back using her sword.

Inside the Cave Abode, the Fairy and the Demon Cultivator were silent; although the expression on the Fairy's face was not very pleasant, she did not stubbornly refuse again.

"You were quite fast," the Demon Cultivator teased.

"Two seniors, this junior has limited ability and can only bring these; please do not mind," Ruan Xing said, taking out the two corpses and the materials to be used as essence.

The Demon Cultivator's soul body squatted down, his gaze somewhat picky, but there were no conditions for him to choose from at the moment, "Barely acceptable. Here, this one has a better appearance, I'll let you use it; I'll take the loss and use this bloody one."

The Fairy snorted without speaking; to her, there was no difference, as they were both male Cultivator bodies anyway, and they were as bad as could be.

"Then two seniors, time is tight, I will begin refining," Ruan Xing reported carefully, sat on the ground and ate another Spirit Returning Pill, and after her physical state recovered by about thirty percent, she used the Dust-Gathering Technique to clean the dirt and bloodstains off the corpses. The blood at the wounds had already coagulated and would not flow out again. She took out mulberry bark thread, separated the fibers to twist into fine filaments, controlled her Spiritual Power to stitch the wounds flat, and then began to draw Talismans on the surface of the corpses using a Talisman brush and Cinnabar.

These were not professional tools and could only barely suffice. With the two big shots supervising from left and right, cold sweat was about to break out on her forehead, but fortunately, neither of them said anything.

The Fairy watched Ruan Xing operate, lowering her eyes in thought.

Thanks to Jiufang Liuhu for the monthly ticket~ (End of chapter)