Chapter 105: Martial Meeting Begins (6)

Chapter 105: Martial Meeting Begins (6)

Within a few seconds, all the hundreds of cultivators step onto the stone platform beneath the Pagoda and disappear in a flash of light. Some of them prepare various items before they do so, and I recognize a few from the various Halls that we visited. Armor, weapons, talismans, and other kinds of treasures I have not seen on the display.

Lan Xiaohui stares after the cultivators but for a different reason.

Yaoyue, she says, after a moment. Are they alive?

I know why she phrases the question with those particular words. Lan Xiaohui does not understand the concept of simulations. Perhaps, until a moment ago, she thought of them as living memories or, at worst, ghosts that still haunt the battlefield where they likely died.

In truth, I dont know the answer to her question. There is a very small probability that they are not just simulations, but living remnants of their souls or fragments of the same trapped in my Inner World. But I do not have reason to believe that they are alive.

I, too, was created as a simulation; my beginning was also an improbable state of simulated evolution, therefore, from my perspective, it is difficult to judge whether a simulated construct is alive or not.

Lan Xiaohuis perspective is much simpler, thankfully.

It is highly unlikely, I tell her.

But they are having conversations and competing, Lan Xiaohui says.

They are no different from Arrays or Formations, I explain. These entities perform only one function: to compete and challenge this Pagoda. They have no other ambitions or goals, and they never will.

I take some liberties in my understanding of these simulations and their purpose, but I have no reason to believe that I am not close to the truth.

Lan Xiaohui nods, and thankfully, does not ask me how the life of these simulations is any different from our lives outside this Inner World. Even though she is my master, I have no desire to discuss existentialism with an entity that does not even understand the concept of simulations.

However, I have to admit that I find it rather suspicious that the cultivator Lan Xiaohui spoke to before had a concept and understanding of time, as if this wasnt the first time they participated in this challenge, or that they met other new people.

After thinking about it, and likely not coming up with more questions, Lan Xiaohui nods again and steps onto the platform.

The transition is instantaneous and we arrive in a space that is identical to the one of the first layer. It is empty and infinitely vast. It is impossible to orient to the horizon because there doesnt appear to be a floor unless one looked very closely and noticed the slight sheen of something like glass. There is a floor, it simply reflects the infinite emptiness of the black sky above, which now contains the crown of a massive tree and the outline of several swords in the distance.

[ SECOND LAYER: CHALLENGE STAGE: PAGODA OF INFINITE SLAUGHTER ]

When Lan Xiaohui reaches floor 30, her opponents are four third rank beasts and four second rank beasts. The rank itself is not a good indicator for relative power, for the same reason that cultivation depth is also associated with current stage. For demonic beasts, the depth of Qi Cultivation is indicative only of relative power; the true expression of their strength is in the depth of their Body Cultivation.

The four black-furred wolves with red eyes are such an example of why referring to them as third rank is a mistake. Their bodies radiate power, each muscle containing a hint of profound Dao, perhaps even something resembling martial arts.

To say that Lan Xiaohui is caught off-guard, despite how prepared she is, would be an understatement.

One of the wolves howls so loud that Lan Xiaohui is momentarily stunned and has to cover her left eye and ear with her free hand. Another one of the wolves moves so fast that Lan Xiaohui loses track of it momentarily.

Moving purely on instinct, Lan Xiaohui turns around to her left and brings my vessel up, managing to fend off the blow from the large wolf, only to stumble backward into the waiting claws of another black-furred menace.

She doesnt even have a chance to feel her death as the claws cleanly sever her head.

When we reappear outside the Pagoda, the challenge stage is already over. A scoreboard appears on the side of the mystical building, listing off hundreds of names and the floor they reached.

Rubbing her neck, Lan Xiaohui looks towards the top of the board where she expects to find her name, and then she blinks in confusion and disbelief.

First place: Sun Zhen - Floor 58

Even I am pleasantly surprised. None of these cultivators have formed a Gold Core, at least from what I can tell, but floor 58 surely must contain at least one Nascent Soul realm demonic beast, if not more than one.

How is that possible? Lan Xiaohui asks, glancing over the rest of the entries.

The first top fifty all have reached floors above 40, and Lan Xiaohuis ranking shows her in the 134th place, far lower than what she had expected.

Then a voice blasts through the area.

[ SECOND LAYER: CHALLENGE STAGE END. ]

[ This cycle, 68,000 beasts have been killed, generating 95,000 Inner World Energy. ]

I immediately forget about Lan Xiaohui's disappointment when that announcement gives me a clue about the nature of my Inner World.