Begin simulation!
Simulation started. Remaining simulations this month: 0 Year 1: You were trapped within the Spirit Sealing Grotto-Heaven Ruins and used the Molten Flames to temper your meridians. Year 2: You found a way out of the ruins, but were ambushed by a cultivator lying in wait and died miserably on the spot. Simulation ended. Simulation reward: None.
Shen Yi's eyelid twitched. Once again, there was no simulation reward. Was it because he had survived for too short a time? And from the results of several simulations, who exactly was that cultivator determined to put him to death?
"After a month, my cultivation shows faint signs of breaking through again. My meridians have begun adapting to the scorching flames and are no longer being burned." Looking at the pills in his Cosmic Ring, more than half of which had already been used up, Shen Yi felt fortunate. "Good thing I have so many pills to assist me. Otherwise, my meridians could not have adapted so quickly."
As for the two powers within his body, they had both gone dormant. Occasionally, they still tried to stir up chaos in his spiritual energy, but Shen Yi ruthlessly suppressed them every time.
"Trouble within and enemies without—I have to speed up my cultivation!"
Shen Yi's gaze hardened. He stepped out from the protection of the blue beam of the teleportation array, bared his upper body, and walked into the roaring flames.
The surging flames swallowed him in an instant. Only a vague outline of him could be seen. Shen Yi sat cross-legged in midair, white vapor rising from his body in waves as the water within him rapidly evaporated.
"It still hurts!"
After only one breath, Shen Yi could no longer endure it. He swiftly retreated into the blue beam, and the flames around him were instantly cleared away. He grabbed a pill and swallowed it in one gulp. Only then did his charred skin gradually begin to recover.
Once he had recovered, Shen Yi stepped into the flames again.
The cycle repeated itself, and another month passed in the blink of an eye.
Begin simulation!
Simulation started. Remaining simulations this month: 0 Year 1: You cultivated diligently within the Spirit Sealing Grotto-Heaven. Year 2: You cultivated diligently. Year 3: You cultivated diligently. Year 4: You decided to leave the ruins, but were ambushed by a cultivator lying in wait and died miserably on the spot. Simulation ended. Simulation reward: One blue pill. Effect unknown.
"Who the hell is this? He has that much perseverance? He stayed outside the ruins without wavering for four whole years!" Shen Yi's face darkened. The mysterious person outside the ruins was practically becoming his inner demon. "Could it be him?"
Something suddenly occurred to him, and his heart sank. It was probably no one else but him—the Great Elder of the Qingxuan Sect, Wang Shangren. It seemed Wang Shangren had still grown suspicious of him. The hatred of losing his son—no wonder he was this persistent.
"A Golden Core Stage cultivator!"
Shen Yi shook his head. He was merely a Qi Condensation Realm cultivator, an existence no different from an ant in the eyes of a Golden Core Cultivator. What a headache.
"Cultivate!"
Shen Yi knew he was not entirely without hope. It was only two major realms. Sooner or later, he would reach that step; it was merely a matter of time.
"If one month isn't enough, then one year. If one year isn't enough, then ten years! Do you think I'm afraid of you?"
With that thought in mind, Shen Yi once more walked into the flames.
Begin simulation!
Simulation started. Remaining simulations this month: 0 Year 1: You cultivated within the Spirit Sealing Grotto-Heaven. Year 2: You triggered a mechanism in the ruins, allowing passage throughout every part of the Grotto-Heaven Ruins. You decided to look around. Year 3: You traversed the entire ruins and passed every trial. Year 4: You decided to leave the ruins, but were ambushed by a cultivator lying in wait and died miserably on the spot. Simulation ended. Simulation reward: Unknown. The host must explore it personally.
"Damn it, why is it still you!"
Even with Shen Yi's resilient temperament, seeing that final outcome made him unable to suppress the urge to curse. Yet what intrigued him even more was what exactly the reward given by the simulator was.
"Looks like I still need to pass all the trials."
Shen Yi rose from the flames. As his spiritual energy circulated, the fire actually fell from his body like dust.
"The Indestructible Meridian has reached minor accomplishment. These flames can no longer harm me in the slightest, and my cultivation has even broken through to the fifth level of the Qi Condensation Realm." Shen Yi exhaled a mouthful of turbid air. He decided to follow the simulator's instructions, find the mechanism within the ruins, and pass every trial. Before that, however, he had to deal with one major hidden danger inside his body—that cursed Sword Qi.
The Indestructible Scripture began circulating, and his spiritual energy slowly pressed toward the Sword Qi. Seemingly sensing danger, the Sword Qi awakened and suddenly erupted, rampaging through his meridians in an attempt to disrupt Shen Yi's spiritual energy circulation. But Shen Yi's meridians were now far tougher than before; the Sword Qi could no longer inflict any harm.
Pursuing it all the way, Shen Yi forced the Sword Qi to his fingertip. With a shout, his spiritual energy slammed into it, blasting it through the air.
"Pwah!"
Shen Yi spat out a mouthful of congealed blood, but his expression grew more relaxed.
"Hm?"
He suddenly received a message in his mind. Between its lines, there was a measure of fear.
"Is it?"
Only then did Shen Yi realize that the black qi within his body was communicating with him. It seemed that after witnessing Shen Yi's methods, it had become frightened.
"If you know what's good for you, come out obediently. Otherwise, I'll make you vanish into ashes and smoke!"
Shen Yi spoke threateningly. He was exceedingly curious about this black qi within his body that had only just developed intelligence.
"What? You don't want to?"
Shen Yi's gaze shifted as his spiritual energy surrounded the black qi. He could clearly feel the fear it emitted. Under the pressure, the black qi ultimately submitted.
Looking at the mass of blackness before him, Shen Yi widened his eyes, grabbed it, and turned it over and over in curiosity.
"You've been here for so long. You should know where the mechanism is, right?"
Looking at the black qi curled into a ball, Shen Yi stroked it with his finger and asked.
The black qi seemed to enjoy it greatly. It babbled for him to continue, while also telling him that the mechanism was in the room at the end of the passage. As for precisely where, it could not remember.
Shen Yi smiled. This black qi was rather innocently adorable. It had confessed so easily.
When he arrived at the room at the end of the passage, it had already been destroyed beyond recognition. Returning to this old place, Shen Yi's heart was filled with mixed emotions. His determination to leave as soon as possible grew even firmer, even if powerful enemies waited outside on every side.
"Little Black, do you have any rough recollection?"
It was rather miraculous. In such a short time, the black qi had grown close to Shen Yi, and Shen Yi had even named it "Little Black." Little Black, however, did not seem to like that name. Every time, it would hum and whine in protest.
Little Black circled through the air several times, then drifted around the room a few more times. In the end, it stopped before a skull banner and repeatedly gestured for Shen Yi to come over.
Seeing this, Shen Yi sent a strand of spiritual energy into the banner. The skull mark suddenly flew out from it, radiating a brilliant red light in midair. As the light shone in every direction, teleportation arrays formed one after another, arranged in exactly the same pattern as the map in Shen Yi's hand.
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