Chapter 24: Trapped in a unreal land, death loop
At this moment, you no longer have the luxury of overthinking. The intense feeling of suffocation makes you instinctively want to resist.
Unfortunately, even though your strength has increased significantly, under the oppressive aura of the white-robed woman, you can't make any movements at all.
Just as you are about to lose consciousness, the white-robed woman loosens her grip slightly.
She asks who you are and why you are here.
You quickly respond that you are a disciple of the Heavenly Profound Temple, here to guard the graves of your ancestors.
Although you don't understand why the white-robed woman's actions in this simulation are different from before, you believe that claiming to be a disciple of the Heavenly Profound Temple might still save you.
After all, this ruin has no name, and the Heavenly Profound Temple is a name you guessed based on previous simulations where the white-robed woman rebuilt it. You think you can't be wrong.
Sure enough, when you say "disciple of the Heavenly Profound Temple," a flicker of change appears on the white-robed woman's face, as if she is lost in some memory.
Her grip on your neck loosens a bit more.
You breathe a sigh of relief.But it seems you relaxed too soon. In just a moment, the white-robed woman's grip on your neck tightens again.
At the same time, she coldly demands, "Who are you really? Why have you cultivated the Heavenly Profound Art, and why are you pretending to be a disciple of the Heavenly Profound Temple?"
At this point, you are completely bewildered. Why isn't the white-robed woman following the script this time?
You are very confused and don't know how she determined that you are not a disciple of the Heavenly Profound Temple. In previous simulations, she never doubted it!
You have no idea how to answer the white-robed woman's questions.
You can't possibly say that you have a simulator and are pretending to be a disciple of the Heavenly Profound Temple to exploit her.
Moreover, you think that even if you told the truth, she probably wouldn't believe you. After all, a simulator is likely an unfamiliar concept to cultivators!
So you can only grit your teeth and insist that you are indeed a disciple of the Heavenly Profound Temple.
But the white-robed woman seems not to believe you, and her grip tightens even more.
Gradually, you feel your head getting heavier, and your consciousness becoming increasingly blurry.
A single thought echoes in your mind: Am I going to die?
In the real world, Jiang Yifeng is equally puzzled.
He can't figure out what's going on.
He thinks to himself: Is this simulation going to end like this?
"Sigh, too bad I didn't get any Spirit Stones!"
Jiang Yifeng sighs.
He doesn't mind that this simulation is ending like this. After all, each simulation can only bring out two rewards. This time, the talent is a must-have; as for cultivation, it's secondary.
With such a strong spiritual root talent, his Immortal Dao cultivation can quickly improve next time.
Originally, Jiang Yifeng planned to exploit the white-robed woman and then continuously hint to his simulated self not to spend the rewards but to bring them out.
This way, each subsequent simulation could yield more Spirit Stones for cultivation and greater improvement.
Jiang Yifeng even considered using deep simulation to forcibly change his simulated self if the hints didn't work.
But now it seems these ideas are not feasible.
Shaking his head, Jiang Yifeng continues to watch the development in the simulator.
You feel as if your soul is being torn apart, and soon, you die.
Quickly, you find yourself seemingly alive again.
The white-robed woman is still standing on the original ruins, looking at you from a distance.
"What's going on? Is this an illusion?" you wonder.
Soon, you see the white-robed woman's figure disappear from the ruins and reappear in front of you.
Then she grabs your neck again.
Things fall into a loop, with the same events happening over and over.
Once, twice, three times, the same thing keeps happening.
You die again and again, but the simulation does not end, making you realize you are trapped in an illusion.
It seems the white-robed woman is using this method to force you to reveal why you are pretending to be a disciple of the Heavenly Profound Temple.
But you really have no other motive; you just want to exploit her. You can't reveal the simulator, and you genuinely don't know what to say.
So you stubbornly refuse to answer her questions, keeping your mouth shut.
You think to yourself, "At worst, I'll just die for real. It's just a simulation; who am I afraid of!"
You even keep complaining in your mind that if you hadn't gained so many benefits from her in previous simulations, you would have started cursing her out long ago!
You don't know how much time has passed, but the scene returns to the white-robed woman looking at you from a distance.
You look at her with a resigned expression, ready to be strangled to death again.
After all, you've already died thousands of times in this illusion, and you're somewhat numb to it.
But this time, what you were waiting for doesn't happen.
You see the white-robed woman's lips curl into a slight smile.
Then she asks you how you escaped the massacre of the Heavenly Profound Temple.
For a moment, your brain freezes, and you don't answer her question.
The white-robed woman thinks you are angry about her previous actions, so she starts to explain.
She says you have an exceptional spiritual root for cultivation, and logically, you couldn't have escaped the massacre of the Heavenly Profound Temple.
Those who attacked the Heavenly Profound Temple wouldn't let a talented disciple like you survive, which is why she was suspicious.
Hearing the white-robed woman's words, you understand.
It turns out the changes in this simulation were triggered by your new talent.
But you think the white-robed woman has a point.
You think that if you were the one carrying out the massacre, you wouldn't let a talented disciple from that sect survive either.
If they cultivated successfully and came back for revenge, wouldn't that be leaving a hidden danger for yourself!
Previously, you had a Five Elements Fake Spiritual Root, a poor talent that would only allow you to reach the Qi Refining period at best after a lifetime of cultivation.
A disciple with such poor talent surviving the massacre seems more reasonable.
Understanding is one thing, but you still don't know how to answer her question about how you escaped the massacre.
So you retort, "Didn't they leave you alone too!"
Normally, you wouldn't dare say such a thing, but after being killed repeatedly in the illusion by the white-robed woman, you harbor some resentment and blurt it out.
But as soon as you say it, you regret it because you realize that the white-robed woman might not belong to the Heavenly Profound Temple.
Although in previous simulations, she mentioned that this was her senior brother's sect, it doesn't prove that she belongs to the Heavenly Profound Temple. After all, her senior brother might have left the sect and established his own.
Otherwise, how could those who destroyed the Heavenly Profound Temple allow such a powerful figure like the white-robed woman to remain free?
Moreover, the white-robed woman only came to check on the Heavenly Profound Temple after learning it was destroyed, which doesn't align with being a disciple of the sect.
Sure enough, after your retort, the white-robed woman's gaze once again fills with suspicion.