Chapter 62: First Experience with Real Scene Simulation
Two days later, Ruan Xing packed up all the things he needed to take, stuffed them into a storage bag, and left the city with the sword.
The talisman he drew yesterday was sold for one hundred low-grade spirit stones. Ruan Xing kept fifty-one for himself and spent the rest.
Why is it this number?
Fifty was the ticket to enter the Hanshan Secret Realm, and one was the entrance fee for her to return to Yunyang City.
The main point is not to waste anything, not even a drop more.
But she was finally able to fly on her own, a skill she had chosen for the last few simulations, so she was a little excited as she had yet to experience the feeling of flying a sword herself.
She pinched her fingers to urge the magic sword to take off, and Ruan Xing jumped on it, slowly commanding the flying sword to speed up. She soon mastered the skills given to her by the simulator, but the backflow of wind was too strong, so Ruan Xing could not open her eyes, and her hair was all over the place. She made two "Puh" sounds and slowed down her speed so that she would not be blown too hard by the wind.
I don't know the name of the magic technique that the national teacher used to block the wind. She will learn it when she has the chance.
The current flying speed is only about 40 to 50 miles per hour. If it were on the highway, people would honk their horns to speed it up. At this speed, it would take an hour to reach the Hanshan Secret Realm.
I can try out the new real-life simulation function on the way to see if it works.
Ruan Xing planned to simulate it for a day to give it a try. As soon as he started the simulation, he felt as if he was riding on a flying sword and quickly passing through an invisible transparent film.
Ruan Xing looked at his hands and then looked around.
That’s right, she was still standing on the flying sword and traveling. Did she start the simulation now?
Calling up the simulator in his mind and looking at the button that could end the simulation at any time, Ruan Xing felt relieved and drove the flying sword quickly towards his destination.
An hour later, Ruan Xing arrived at the Hanshan Secret Realm.
Ruan Xing was stunned by the straight mountain in front of her. If there weren't so many monks around and it looked very lively, she would have thought she had taken the wrong road.
How sharp is this Hanshan Pen? It is like a primary school student who has just sharpened her pencil and puts it into an ant nest. She is an ant beside the ant nest, and the pencil is Hanshan.
Ruan Xing put away his magic sword and found a low-level Qi training cultivator who was setting up a stall and asked, "Excuse me, fellow Taoist, could you tell me about this Hanshan Secret Realm?"
The monk'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 and gave them to him.
It’s not a big problem. After all, it’s a real-life simulation and you’re not really spending any money, so there’s no need to haggle over the price.
"Fellow Daoist, you are really straightforward!" The monk who was setting up the stall laughed, took the spirit stone and took out a booklet from the storage bag, "It contains a map, the approximate distribution of monsters and spirit herbs, and the purchase prices of various materials. The purchase standards and contact information are on the last page..."
The cultivator who was selecting at the stall next to him couldn't stand it anymore. "Little sister, you were deceived by him. This booklet was given to you for free by the disciples of Xuanbing Sect after you paid fifty low-grade spirit stones for the ticket. Moreover, the booklet is from thirty years ago, so there may be some discrepancies with the current version."
"She took the initiative to buy from me. I didn't force her to buy. Is it your business?" The monk rolled his eyes and turned to Ruan Xing and said, "At worst, I can give you the shells of the red nematodes on my stall."
“This red nematode shell has been burned by fire and has lost its medicinal properties. It does not meet the Xuanbing Sect’s purchasing standards and is a defective product,” the cultivator commented in a cold tone.
"Hey, you're looking for trouble, aren't you?" The monk who was setting up the stall was anxious. "What's wrong with being burned by fire? It will still be burned if you throw it into the alchemy furnace. How can you make an elixir without burning fire?"
"It's okay, it's okay." Ruan Xing finally seized the opportunity to interrupt and stop the quarrel between the two.
It's just Schrödinger's spirit stone, there's no need to hurt the relationship.
Ruan Xing said politely, "I am not a cultivator from this area. I am a casual cultivator from somewhere else. I don't know much about the Hanshan Secret Realm. I don't want your red nematode shells, and I don't need you to return the spirit stones to me. Just tell me a few more things about the Hanshan Secret Realm."
The monk setting up the stall suddenly realized, "Telling a story? I'm really good at that. It is said that thousands of years ago, a great man in the Guixu period sat in meditation here and formed this secret realm. The weapon he used, a stone stick, turned into the peak of Hanshan Mountain. The Xuanbing Sect controlled the Hanshan Secret Realm for thousands of years, and it was not until eight hundred years ago that it was made public. However, by then, the inheritance left in the secret realm had been taken away completely. If you go in now, you can only observe the ruins of the cave of the predecessor in the Guixu period. However, the spiritual charm left by his remains lingered for a long time, nourishing the exotic flowers and plants, birds and beasts in the secret realm. Every thirty years, it opens to allow people to pick and harvest, just like cutting leeks, one crop after another for thirty years."
"Why can a secret realm be formed by sitting in meditation during the Guixu period?" Ruan Xing asked curiously.
The monk who was setting up the stall looked at her strangely, "Where else did the name Guixu period come from? If you don't ascend, you will return to the ruins. You don't even know this common sense? Which country cultivator are you from? The Guixu period enjoys the good fortune of heaven and earth. If they cannot successfully ascend, their spiritual power will naturally return to heaven and earth after they die. Most of the secret realms that exist today are from the predecessors of the Guixu period."
Ruan Xing chuckled twice to hide his embarrassment, and quickly continued to ask: "Most of them are, how can there be a small part?"
"Some secret realms have unusual origins. Some are from the ancient war between gods and demons, some are the ruins of a sect that mysteriously disappeared, and some are formed naturally due to unstable space gaps... In short, there are many reasons, and those secret realms are all hard to come by. With our level of cultivation, we'd be dead if we went in. It's safer and more stable to just pick flowers and weeds in the Hanshan Secret Realm."
The monk who was setting up the stall shook his head and sighed, then suddenly changed the subject and said to Ruan Xing enthusiastically, "Fellow Daoist, didn't you come to Hanshan Secret Realm to collect some materials and earn spirit stones? We can cooperate then. If the Xuanbing Sect doesn't accept some defective materials, you can sell them at my stall and we can split the profits 50-50. How about that?"
"Okay, I'll consider it." After listening to this dry story, Ruan Xing learned some common sense in the world of immortal cultivation. He said something perfunctorily and stood up to leave. Unexpectedly, the cultivator who had just been selecting products and chatting nearby also followed him.
Ruan Xing was puzzled: "Does Daoist friend have anything else to say?"
"It's like this." The cultivator smiled and said, "I found a cave in the Hanshan Secret Realm. There is a cave spirit grass in it. Unfortunately, there is a foundation-building demon snake guarding the treasure at the door. I want to find a teammate to fight the demon snake with me, but the people who came to the Hanshan Secret Realm these days are all low-level cultivators who came to try their luck. I only met you today... Fellow Daoist, can you help me subdue the demon snake? When the time comes, we will take out the materials on the demon snake and the cave spirit grass and sell them together, and you and I will split the spirit stones equally." "The two of us?" Ruan Xing pointed at himself in disbelief, "To fight against a foundation-building demon beast?"
"Fellow Daoist, you don't have much experience fighting monsters, right?" The cultivator smiled knowingly. "The monster has low intelligence, doesn't understand formations and strategies, doesn't practice magic, and has a single means of attack. It also doesn't know how to use magic tools. I'm practicing Qi at the ninth level and you're practicing Qi at the eighth level. The two of us are enough to deal with the monster snake."
Ruan Xing thought about it and readily agreed, "That's fine, but I just spent spirit stones to buy information about the secret realm, and I don't have enough spirit stones on me now to buy the tickets."
"No problem, I'll lend you five low-grade spirit stones." Seeing Ruan Xing's agreement, the monk's attitude became more friendly, "My name is Wang Zhi, may I ask what your name is?"
"My name is Ruan Xing. Thank you, Brother Dao."
Wang Zhi took Ruan Xing and walked quickly towards the entrance of the secret realm to the disciple of Xuanbing Sect and helped her replenish her spirit stones. The disciple really gave Ruan Xing a booklet exactly the same as the one just now, and also gave her a wooden sign with the date written on it.
"This is your certificate for entering the Hanshan Secret Realm for the next ten days. Within these ten days, you can enter and exit as many times as you want. If you want to enter again after ten days, you must renew your membership. The Hanshan Secret Realm opens once every thirty years, and is open for a total of three months each time. Now is only the first month, and it is when there are many people. We have to hurry over, otherwise it will be difficult for other cultivators to figure out what is going on if they discover that cave." Wang Zhi explained.
The two of them stepped through a barrier light gate, and after a brief dizziness caused by the teleportation, they found themselves in a different place.
Tall trees and deep forests, lush flowers and grass.
"Every time we come in, the location is random. This time, we are lucky and did not land directly on the monster's territory." Wang Zhi said, taking out the map and compass to compare the location, and after a moment pointed in a direction, "It's not far from here, let's go over there."
It was not suitable to fly a sword in the woods, so the two men attached a talisman to themselves and ran over.
When they got there, Ruan Xing looked at the bottomless lake in front of him and sighed, "The water is almost as black as ink. How did you dare to go down and find a cave?"
"It's a coincidence. When luck comes, it's naturally unstoppable." Wang Zhi smiled with a big white tooth, and handed Ruan Xing a water-avoiding talisman. "The visibility underwater is not high, and this water can block the consciousness. You must follow me when you go down later."
Ruan Xing nodded and watched Wang Zhi jump into the water after putting on the water-repellent talisman. She followed his example and swam closely after him in order not to get lost underwater.
They did not encounter any aquatic monsters underwater. Occasionally, a few fish that could be considered spiritual food swam past them, but they were like blind people and did not notice them.
Yes, the water is so dark and the visibility is only about one meter. There is no need for fish living in this water area for a long time to have eyes, and they are just decorations if they have eyes.
After diving about ten meters, Wang Zhi stopped and pulled Ruan Xing's sleeve to indicate that they were almost there. The two moved to the bottom of a dark stone wall, groped for a passage that one person could pass through, and crawled up. There turned out to be an empty cave inside. Although it was a bit damp, it was not flooded.
Wang Zhi took out a night-shining pearl from his storage bag and illuminated the rugged and bumpy cave. The dark stone walls reflected a bright green light, which looked very creepy. "It's just ahead."
There was some white mucus-like secretion on the ground, which felt soft like stepping on shit, but it would dirty the soles of her shoes, so Ruan Xing carefully chose dry raised surfaces to walk on.
Passing through the cave, Ruan Xing heard the sound of flowing water, and the faint fluorescent light illuminated the vast underground river ahead.
The underground river in the lake... The topography of the world of immortal cultivation is really unreasonable.
After Ruan Xing complained casually in her heart, she found that Wang Zhi's steps became a little cautious. She quickly extended her spiritual sense to figure out what was hidden in the dark place, but was interrupted by Wang Zhi.
He said solemnly, "I have been to this place twice. The Spiritual Cave Grass is on the other side of the river, and the demon snake is usually in the river. The water can block the divine consciousness, so I can't find out where it will come ashore from."
Ruan Xing humbly asked, "So, what is your plan?"
Wang Zhi had already thought about it, and he explained in detail:
"I will pretend to cross the river to pick spiritual herbs to lure it out. Fellow Daoist Ruan, you hide aside first. The demon snake has poor eyesight. It won't be able to find you if you don't make any noise and your spiritual power fluctuates. I will set up a formation in the cave passage. After I lead the demon snake away, you go over to pick the spiritual grass. The demon snake will sense that the spiritual grass has been stolen and will definitely turn around in anger, but the cave is not wide enough for it to turn around, and it is trapped by my formation. Don't worry about picking it. It can't stop you. After you finish picking, you can come back to the cave entrance to help me. We will attack from both sides. The trapped demon snake is just a target. Even if it has thicker skin and flesh, it can't survive the combination of you and me."
Although Wang Zhi's plan was simple and crude, it was still feasible if the monsters were not very intelligent as he said. Therefore, Ruan Xing readily agreed. After Wang Zhi had set up the formation in the cave passage, Ruan Xing also found a protruding stone at the edge of the underground river to hide.
Wang Zhi was flying lightly over the underground river on his sword. Just as he was about to land, a large splash of water suddenly rose in the river that had been flowing all the time. The matte black snake head could only be seen as a vague black shadow under the illumination of the night pearl. It almost catapulted towards Wang Zhi in mid-air.
"Fuck, is this a demon snake? It's a python, right? " Ruan Xing couldn't help but curse in a low voice. No wonder Wang Zhi said that the demon snake couldn't turn around flexibly in the cave passage. The demon snake's body was almost as thick as two Wang Zhis.
Wang Zhi reacted very quickly. He fell down headfirst to avoid the attack of the demon snake. He also changed the direction of the flying sword and circled back to the cave passage. In order to stimulate the demon snake's anger, he threw a thunder and fire talisman at the demon snake after landing.
With a loud bang, the power of the third-grade spiritual talisman, the Thunder and Fire Talisman, was so strong that it even shattered the stalactites above the underground river into pieces, which fell down and hit the body of the demon snake. The demon snake shook its head, and the snake skin on its head was blown open by the Thunder and Fire Talisman, leaving a half-meter long wound. When it was turned over, deep red flesh and blood could be seen.
The snake hissed angrily, and then chased in the direction Wang Zhi fled. Its body coiled in the river was like endless noodles, and it turned around three or four times before its entire body entered the cave.
Ruan Xing did not hesitate. He raised his flying sword and flew to the other side of the river. After landing, he began to look for the Dongling Spirit Grass that Wang Zhi had mentioned.
Thanks to Qing and Yue for the reward~
(End of this chapter)
