Simulation Point Shop

After Zhao Cheng finished reading, he fell into deep thought.

"Hm?!"

"I actually discovered so many things."

"I had no idea I was this impressive!"

Even he hadn't realized he'd discovered so much.

Earlier, in the dungeon, he'd focused on taking the main roads so he could explore as much ground as possible—in other words, he'd gone for a full map run. Naturally, he couldn't go inside every building he came across and look around.

As for the few places mentioned in the log, he couldn't say he'd been completely oblivious when he passed them. It was more accurate to say he hadn't felt anything at all.

But the Panel couldn't conjure things out of thin air and make them up.

If the log said he'd discovered them, then he really had.

It was just that feelings were easy to muddle. He'd unconsciously ignored them, but the log had brought to light all those tiny details he'd overlooked.

In a sense, the Panel's operating logic was very meticulous.

"So that place was called Heavenly Phoenix Pavilion."

Zhao Cheng thought to himself.

Now that he thought back, one of the places he'd passed had indeed been a relatively unusual building.

A small manor stood out naturally in a city full of towering buildings.

There had also been a stone tablet by the manor's entrance. Time had worn away the writing, leaving only the character "Heaven," barely legible.

Zhao Cheng could also roughly pinpoint where Moyun University was.

As for Longteng Building and Zhengshang Office Building, he couldn't determine their exact locations just yet. The city had far too many similar buildings.

Besides that, Zhao Cheng had also noticed the difference in wording in the log. Heavenly Phoenix Pavilion had merely contained Grunts, while Longteng Building and Zhengshang Office Building had been described as unusual. Only Moyun University had been called terrifying.

In Zhao Cheng's understanding, this meant Heavenly Phoenix Pavilion had Grunts, Longteng Building and Zhengshang Office Building had Elite Monsters, and Moyun University had a mini-boss.

"As expected of me. My approach to exploring the map was spot on. When in doubt, cover more ground—that's how you break the deadlock."

Zhao Cheng silently gave himself a thumbs-up.

As for the way he'd died—his life essence had run out. Zhao Cheng found that rather fascinating.

Running out of life essence was easy enough to understand. Vitality and life essence were two sides of the same coin, much like the difference between a person's body and their strength.

When your vitality was exhausted, it was like you'd run out of energy. As long as your body was still intact, you could recover after resting for a while.

Practicing swordsmanship consumed vitality. It was much like working out with weights, except that the body was tangible and real, while life essence was subtle and hard to perceive. That was why it took special training methods—in other words, swordsmanship.

Practicing swordsmanship too much shortened your life, just as overtraining could injure your body. The principle was the same.

By that measure, running out of life essence was roughly like having your body burned to ashes, reduced to dust with not a scrap left behind.

And by all rights, even the loss of vitality alone—let alone life essence—should have been unmistakable.

The loss of vitality brought fatigue; the loss of life essence brought weakness.

The more you lost, the weaker you became. Usually, once you'd lost around half, you'd pass out.

Strangely, though, Zhao Cheng hadn't felt a thing until the very moment he died.

Clearly, some mysterious force had been at work.

As it eroded Zhao Cheng's life essence, that force had also sustained his life, right up until the instant his life essence ran out.

"Without the Blood Moon, my life essence drains quickly. Once the Blood Moon appears, it drains rapidly—a whole order of magnitude faster."

"I just don't know exactly how much faster."

"Besides, if there's a Blood Moon outside, would being in a sealed environment slow the loss of life essence?"

One thought after another turned over in Zhao Cheng's mind.

"Given the situation, the time I have in each simulation is extremely limited. Spending all of it practicing swordsmanship won't do, but neither will spending all of it exploring."

"The best option would be to stay somewhere without any light, where I can block the Blood Moon's influence. Then I could use special Trait Modules to explore the dungeon in the dark and practice swordsmanship when the Blood Moon appears."

"I'll have to figure that out for myself later."

"For now, I can only practice swordsmanship in the dark and explore the dungeon when the Blood Moon appears."

As he thought this, Zhao Cheng looked at the final Simulation Point +1.

He figured this one Simulation Point was probably a guaranteed reward.

One point wasn't much, but in a way, it was the leap from zero to one—a breakthrough.

Sure enough, the Simulation Point interface in the Shop opened.

Like the Source Point Shop, the Simulation Point Shop had three tiers.

The top tier used a currency other than Simulation Points: a currency called Miracle Points.

Zhao Cheng mentally tapped it, and a description immediately popped up.

Miracle Points: The crystallization of miracles. Transcending all constraints and shattering all laws. With enough of them, any wish can be fulfilled. (Note: obtained by clearing dungeons)

Miracle Points could be exchanged for three items.

Body Trait Module Loading Slot (1 Miracle Point)

Blank Gold Trait Module (1 Miracle Point)

1 Universal Point (1 Miracle Point)

Each of these three items lived up to the miraculous name of Miracle Points.

The first one added a slot to the body in the real world. If he could exchange for one of these, he'd be looking at a "Dragon King Returns Thirty Years Later" storyline.

The second, a Blank Gold Trait Module, was "blank" in the sense that he could write its effects himself. Of course, its effects couldn't exceed the limits of a Gold Trait Module. Beyond that, he could do as he pleased.

The third, a Universal Point, could be more overpowered than the first two if used well. Used poorly, it would be rather underwhelming.

Just as its name suggested, a Universal Point could be added to anything—as long as it appeared on the Panel.

For a simple example, it could even be added to the two characters "Panel" on the first line of the Panel interface.

It could also be used to strengthen an existing Trait, such as that ???, or to complete the Sword Seed. All of that was possible.

Using it to raise one of the five attributes or increase a skill level, though, would be a waste.

The second tier of the Simulation Point Shop had four exchange items.

Hyper-Dimensional Body Trait Module Loading Slot (10,000 Simulation Points)

1 Attribute Point (1 Simulation Point)

1 Skill Point (1 Simulation Point)

1 Evolution Point (1 Simulation Point)

The first one needed no explanation. It expanded the number of slots.

As for the other three, Attribute Points increased the five attributes, Skill Points increased skill proficiency, and Evolution Points raised your life level—in other words, your realm.

With a game-like Panel, how could it be missing the most important feature of all: allocating points?

These three kinds of points were universal. They could be used on either the original body or the Hyper-Dimensional Body.

Zhao Cheng just didn't know how much of an effect a single point would have. According to the Panel's principle of equivalent exchange, it couldn't be that when a base attribute was at one, an Attribute Point raised it by one, but when the base attribute exceeded a hundred, an Attribute Point still only raised it by one.

Obviously, the "1" in these three kinds of points referred to the smallest unit, not an increase of one.

But even so, they were more than overpowered!

Zhao Cheng had only one thing to say: he was going to grind the hell out of this dungeon!