197 – Anomalous Forbidden Land! Another Surge in Cultivation!

“Should I go or not? That is the question.”

Wang Ping pondered slightly, feeling a bit conflicted.

Based on experience, going would definitely lead to trouble.

However, by going, he could surely unearth some secrets that would pave the way for future simulations.

“Let’s go… After all, this simulation won’t significantly boost my cultivation.”

Ultimately, Wang Ping made up his mind.

In this simulation, he had already attained sainthood, thus achieving his goal. The subsequent waiting would yield little enhancement in his cultivation, and even if there were some gains, they would be negligible.

Therefore, exploring to unveil the secrets within the forbidden land of Great Origin seemed more cost-effective.

Wang Ping had always been very curious about the Great Origin secret realm.

The Dao Palace Master had ventured into this place once and procured a divine stone for him, aiding in the perfect construction of his divine platform, enabling him to break through to the True God Realm flawlessly.

However, the Dao Palace Master probably only explored the very outermost regions and didn’t delve deeper.

Otherwise, regardless of being someone who had achieved Great Perfection in the Divine Monarch Realm, even if the Dao Palace Master were a saint, venturing deep within could still be perilous.

After all, the forbidden land of Great Origin has mysterious origins. Based on the knowledge Wang Ping gained through past simulations, this place had existed since a very distant past.

Its origin dates back to a million years ago. Ancient cultivators on the Great Origin Ancient Star are not even sure how long it has existed.

Because the Great Origin Ancient Star was discovered only 500,000 years ago, the practice of cultivation flourished, connecting to the Upper Realm and officially giving rise to Saint Realm experts.

Before this, the strongest beings on the Great Origin Ancient Star were no more than Divine Monarch Realm cultivators.

Even though Divine Monarch Realm cultivators knew the forbidden land to be dangerous, they didn’t realize its extent.

After all, there were quite a few places on the Great Origin Ancient Star where a Divine Monarch Realm expert could fall.

Hence, in the understanding of Divine Monarch Realm experts, the forbidden land was just another perilous region.

However, once the Great Origin Ancient Star birthed saints, saint kings, and even half-step Great Saints, and these experts ventured in but never returned, the cultivators on the Great Origin Ancient Star were terrified to discover they had greatly underestimated the danger of the forbidden land.

Upon recognizing its danger level, later generations renamed it the forbidden land of Great Origin, deeming it a death trap on the Great Origin Ancient Star. Anyone venturing in, even saint kings or half-step Great Saints, would risk death.

Because of this, neither the Dao Palace nor any other forces on the Great Origin Ancient Star knew what secrets it held.

Perhaps only beings at the Supreme level might grasp some of the hidden truths.

After all, at that level, one should be unafraid of the various dangers within the forbidden land.

Wang Ping even suspected that the Supreme, who had remained hidden on the Great Origin Ancient Star and once refined the original essence of his Spacetime Dao Body in past simulations, was an outsider Supreme. The purpose of coming to the Great Origin Ancient Star was for some hidden secret.

Otherwise, if that Supreme were a local, he wouldn’t remain unrecognized.

“The rougher the seas, the more valuable the catch! Not only do I want the reward from the Nine-Star Pavilion, but I also want the great opportunities that may lie in the forbidden land of Great Origin. System, fast forward.”

Wang Ping thought to himself and voiced his command.

“Ding, fast forwarding…”

The System’s voice echoed as the screen reappeared, and text began to float up.

【After making your choice, you took Lin Qinghe along into the forbidden land of Great Origin. During your entrance, you asked Lin Qinghe’s second soul, the remnant soul of the previous Devouring Immortal Demon Body, if she knew anything about the forbidden land.】

【In response, the remnant soul of the previous Devouring Immortal Demon Body shook her head, stating that she had never been to such a remote place as the Great Origin Ancient Star, thus she didn’t know any hidden secrets. Furthermore, her memory was incomplete, and many things had been forgotten.】

【Hearing this, you felt a bit regretful but didn’t dwell on it. Soon, you ventured into the outer areas. It must be said, the forbidden land of Great Origin is an anomalous place. The air was filled with an eerie energy that could muddle one’s mind, even leading to cultivation deviation.】

【Aside from this, strange creatures would occasionally appear, ignoring the Saintly Aura from you and Lin Qinghe, and attack. This would be impossible in the outside world.】

【After all, the majesty of a saint was not to be provoked. Divine Monarch Realm beasts, upon encountering a saint, or even a half-saint, could only be terrified, choosing either to submit or flee. Attacking half-saints and saints was unthinkable.】

【You studied these creatures and found them highly anomalous. Their power didn’t follow human or beast cultivation systems but consisted of pure strength. Despite their immense power, they lacked intelligence, driven only by an instinct to hunt.】

【This anomaly was curious. After all, even in the Lower Realm, beasts with as little as Innate Realm cultivation would possess intelligence comparable to ordinary humans.】

【Soon, you crossed the outer areas, approaching the inner zone. As you were about to enter, you sensed a terrifying energy rippling through the air. This energy was several times more horrifying than the eerie energy in the outer zones, demanding attention even from half-saints.】

This, is only the border area between the outskirts and the inner regions. To venture further in, what kind of dangers one might encounter is unimaginable. This makes your expression grow increasingly solemn.

At this moment, you feel it is somewhat inappropriate to continue letting Lin Qinghe follow you inside. Even though Lin Qinghe can rely on her previous Devouring Immortal Demon Body to exert the power of a Saint with her Semi-Saint cultivation, it may still be unsafe.

However, when you tell Lin Qinghe to leave, she refuses, thinking it is too dangerous for you to go in alone. She wants to stay by your side as your disciple, wherever you go, she will go.

Seeing that you can’t persuade Lin Qinghe, you sigh and can only take her with you into the inner regions. As soon as you enter the inner regions, your expression changes.

Because you sense an extreme feeling of danger, and a chill rises in your heart, running from the soles of your feet up to your spine, directly to your skull.

Instinctively, you want to take Lin Qinghe back to the outer regions. However, what happens next shocks you. You discover that although you move towards the outer regions, you cannot return there.

The space here is completely disordered, with no regularity. Moving forward could mean progressing forward or it could mean moving backward or to the right. In this anomalous place, even if you possess the incomplete Spacetime Dao Body and have comprehended the Space Laws, you cannot discern the direction.

Moreover, in this place, spatial movement is impossible, and even divine senses are suppressed.

This situation makes your heart heavy. You finally understand why those Saints, Saint Kings, and even Great Saints who entered the inner regions of the forbidden land of Great Origin never came back. In such an anomalous place, entering likely means one won’t come out.

Additionally, you are well aware that trying to forcibly break out of here is impossible. After all, even Great Saints went in and never returned, let alone you, a mere Saint.

You highly doubt that if you attempt to use brute force, you might draw out some unclean entities. When that happens, you will definitely die without a trace.

Given these circumstances, all you can do is summon the Black Abyss Demon Spear, a Supreme Artifact, preparing for any eventual need for self-defense.

Next, after discussing strategies with Lin Qinghe, you decide to continue moving forward, planning to find the Great Origin Holy Stone first. At this moment, you finally understand why those who needed this Great Origin Holy Stone chose to issue a mission with such generous rewards, rather than coming here themselves.

This hellish place, where you once thought Great Saints would find death, now has you thinking that even a half-step Supreme or Supreme being might not escape unscathed.

However, since you’ve already ventured into it, there’s no way back. Instead, you might as well try to get hold of the Great Origin Holy Stone. Although you don’t know its purpose, its value is unquestionably high, and obtaining it through rewards wouldn’t be a waste of this Simulation.

Of course, it would be even better if you could understand some aspects of this forbidden land of Great Origin.

After half a day, you go a bit deeper. During this time, you encounter attacks. These attackers, like evil spirits, have no physical bodies and seem to be formed from resentment. They target divine souls and possess very strong combat power, with none weaker than Semi-Saints, and there are many at the Saint level.

Facing these evil spirits, even for you as a Saint, it’s very troublesome. Fortunately, you own the Supreme Demon Spear, the Black Abyss Demon Spear, so you can suppress them easily.

However, the existence of these evil spirits, although dangerous, is beneficial for Lin Qinghe because she has the Devouring Immortal Demon Body. She can even devour the essence of these evil spirits. For this, you can’t help but marvel at the domineering nature of the Devouring Immortal Demon Body.

But you’re also worried that after Lin Qinghe devours these evil spirits, she might suffer some unknown effects. Lin Qinghe shares this concern but believes that in this place, enhancing power is the most important thing, and any side effects can be dealt with later.

You agree with her reasoning and thus do not stop her from devouring the spirits. Soon, Lin Qinghe has the opportunity to achieve sainthood. However, you don’t let her break through immediately and trigger the tribulation for becoming a Saint.

Becoming a Saint in this place is too dangerous. Besides, you think that if you really encounter a dire situation, you can let Lin Qinghe undertake the tribulation, using the Heavenly Tribulation to deter those terrifying evil spirits.

You continue to advance. During this process, even with the Black Abyss Demon Spear, you almost die. You find out that this hellish place not only has evil spirits but also anomalous plants. Once entangled, they release horrifying toxins, potent enough to overwhelm even a Saint.

Luckily, before coming in, you had bound a Divine Monarch Realm cultivator with the Purple Talent: Substitute Puppet to transfer the poison. Otherwise, you would have surely lost a life and entered the revival state.

Without your presence, Lin Qinghe would also have died.

In no time, another day passes. During this day, you experience various battles, encounter many anomalous dangers, and are both physically and mentally exhausted, suffering severe injuries. Even though you are Semi-Saints and Saints with strong recovery abilities, the strange creatures in this hellish place inhibit regeneration and affect the source of injuries, making your wounds hard to heal.

You have the Purple Talent: Blood Drinking and higher cultivation, so your condition is still manageable. Lin Qinghe, however, is in a dire state, heavily injured and close to death.

This situation weighs heavily on your mind, and you can’t help but laugh bitterly, thinking that although you didn’t plan to leave this hellish place alive, you might not even be able to find the Great Origin Holy Stone.

As you sigh, Lin Qinghe looks at you and asks you to abandon her. She feels she is a burden now. But you resolutely refuse, carrying Lin Qinghe on your back as you continue moving forward, looking for a safe place to heal.

During your advance, you catch a glimpse of a gigantic black shadow roaring towards the sky from the distance.

This shocks you deeply. You cannot clearly see the true form of this massive shadow, but you can feel its terrifying power. This shadow definitely does not belong to the Saint Realm.

The second soul of Lin Qinghe, the remnant soul of the previous Devouring Immortal Demon Body, speaks up, confirming that the giant shadow is indeed not of the Saint Realm but a Quasi-Emperor.

This astonishes you and Lin Qinghe to the extreme. A Quasi-Emperor has appeared deep within the forbidden land of Great Origin. This hellish place is far more dangerous than you could have imagined.

As you are overwhelmed with shock, you suddenly see a blood-red shadow appear in front of you, bringing a sense of lethal danger. Your face changes, and without hesitation, you wield the Black Abyss Demon Spear, unleashing a terrifying attack at the blood-red shadow.

However, this blood-red shadow is very anomalous. Although you disperses it, it quickly reassembles, letting out a chilling laugh that makes your scalp tingle.

This makes your face look grim, knowing this evil spirit is likely something you cannot deal with. Lin Qinghe sighs, flying off your back into the sky in her severely weakened state, absorbing some essence by force and breaking through the Saint Realm barrier, triggering the Heavenly Tribulation.

Your face changes dramatically, filled with anxiety. The blood-red shadow, feeling the power of the Heavenly Tribulation, flees in terror like a mouse seeing a cat. Not only the blood-red shadow, but all unclean entities in the large area flee wildly, avoiding this region.

Lin Qinghe tells you to quickly escape and find a safe place to recuperate. You clench your fists tightly, deeply regretting bringing Lin Qinghe with you, but knowing that now is not the time to dwell on it. You can only grit your teeth and leave the range of the Heavenly Tribulation.

In the end, under your gaze, Lin Qinghe can’t even withstand the first Heavenly Tribulation. She is disintegrated into ashes under the tribulation. The Devouring Immortal Demon Body has thus fallen.

However, you don’t have much time to be sad. Taking advantage of the lingering power of the Heavenly Tribulation to deter those evil spirits, you search for a relatively safe place. Eventually, you break into a cave, set up a grand array, conceal your aura, and intend to heal your injuries.

“Lin Qinghe is indeed worth cultivating.”

Wang Ping looked at the simulation content, sighed as he saw Lin Qinghe’s actions.

Originally, Wang Ping had planned to cultivate Lin Qinghe in the future.

Now, this idea has become even more firm.

If Lin Qinghe grows, he would indeed be able to accomplish many things for him.

Besides, optimizing Lin Yuanyuan’s Golden Finger once again would also be the same.

In some sense, if Lin Yuanyuan’s Golden Finger is optimized once more, it might even be more domineering than Lin Qinghe’s Devouring Immortal Demon Body.

Various thoughts flashed through Wang Ping’s mind as he continued to gaze at the screen.

However, you are surprised to find a golden skeleton in this cave. This is the skeleton of a Saint Realm expert who has passed away. After all, the body of a Saint is exceedingly strong; the flesh may decay due to the decline of blood and energy, but the bones will not.

You sigh inwardly, guessing that this should be a certain Saint Realm expert from the Great Origin Ancient Star who, after entering the Great Origin Ancient Star, found it hopeless to escape and thus despaired and perished here.

Because of this, you feel that you will eventually meet the same end. Although this is just a simulation, it still leaves your heart uneasy.

However, despite your unease, you do not give up the chance to loot the corpse. But you are disappointed this time, finding nothing useful. Evidently, items like divine sources were long used up by this Saint Realm expert.

Even their Sacred Weapon is nowhere to be found, perhaps destroyed, or its spirituality lost.

Seeing no gains, you can only calm your mind and start healing. After healing, you notice a strange phenomenon.

In this area, it seems no evil spirits are approaching. Otherwise, with their anomalous behavior and terrifying sensitivity, they should have found this place long ago, and the array would not have stopped them.

This makes you ponder. At this moment, you suddenly sense some anomaly from the depths of the cave, making you alert.

After all, in your past experience, a place without other beasts’ harassment must have an even more terrifying beast as it would be their territory, so no other beasts would dare to intrude.

Feeling heavy-hearted, you choose to investigate deeper into the cave. There, you witness a shocking scene.

A massive heart is sealed by an anomalous grand array there. Even with the array’s seal and terrifying chains, the horrific energy contained within the heart can’t be concealed.

You even sense a power that transcends laws from this heart. This shocks you immensely, not understanding whose heart this is and why it is sealed here.

Calculating the time, this heart has likely been sealed here for millions of years, implying meanings enough to make one’s hair stand on end.

Separated from its body, sealed for millions of years, and still pulsing powerfully with such terrifying energy, it’s too spine-chilling; you even doubt if the Great Emperor could accomplish such a feat.

Following that, you discover another thing. The altars and stone pillars surrounding this grand array are made from Great Origin Holy Stones.

The strong individuals from the Nine Star Pavilion who issued missions for obtaining Great Origin Holy Stones, here is a heap of them, which is overly extravagant.

However, you find something that makes you feel helpless; you cannot break a single piece of these Great Origin Holy Stones to take with you.

In your helplessness, you find a piece of Great Origin Holy Stone in a corner of the cave. This delights you, and you choose to put it into your inner world.

Next, you think about your next plan. You want to try breaking the grand array and touching this heart; if it could be refreshed as a reward, that would be great.

Since you’ve obtained Great Origin Holy Stones, and you don’t have the capability to venture into the deepest part of the forbidden land of Great Origin to uncover the truth behind the gigantic shadow or the greatest secret within the forbidden land, it’s better to take a chance and see if you can get the best benefits.

Determined, you take out the Array Breaking Talisman, trying to break the grand array using its power.

When you activate the Array Breaking Talisman to break the array, you are swallowed by the grand array. The array reflects the Array Breaking Talisman, destroying it, and simultaneously suppressing you to death.

Due to the Rebirth Talisman, you enter a countdown to resurrection. Once revived, you are suppressed to death again.

Because of your death, this simulation ends.

As the text simulation comes to an end, numerous scenes and insights flash through Wang Ping’s mind, and finally, his figure appears in the cave, seeing the heart covered in Dao Patterns, pulsing powerfully.

“Well, courting death leads to death, this is a universally true saying.”

Coming back to his senses, Wang Ping couldn’t help sighing.

This thing is so terrifying; one can imagine how strong the existence that sealed it must be, something that the Array Breaking Talisman simply cannot handle.

The Array Breaking Talisman can break through arrays set up by Supreme beings in their early years, which is already incredible. Breaking this array is completely impossible.

Even if that rune master is a genius, he’s merely a Saint Realm expert, far below the level of the one who set up this grand array.

“I just don’t know who the owner of this heart is, why they were sealed… Besides that, what is the secret of the forbidden land of Great Origin?”

Wang Ping’s mind was flooded with thoughts, making it difficult for him to focus.

He always felt that if he could uncover these secrets, he would gain an immense opportunity.

“Sadly, no matter how great the opportunity, one needs strength to qualify to pursue it. Otherwise, it’s like a low-level player trying to conquer a deep-level instance dungeon, pure cannon fodder… no amount of revival coins would help.”

Wang Ping shook his head and grumbled in his heart.

Immediately, Wang Ping felt his consciousness shift, his vision transformed, pulling him out of the immersive simulation back to the real world.

At the same time, the System’s voice sounded in his ears.

“Ding, reward generated successfully. The host may choose two of the following rewards:

1. First-tier Saint cultivation.
2. One Tile of Great Origin Sacred Stone.
3. Saint’s remains.
4. Purple Talent: Blood Drinking.”

“Two rewards?”

Wang Ping looked at the rewards, rubbing his chin in contemplation.

Saint realm cultivation… at his current level, achieving sainthood could be done with each simulation.

He could say, this reward isn’t all that rare.

Moreover, once he achieved sainthood, the resources needed for subsequent simulations would drastically increase.

At that time, he’d again be fretting over resource issues.

After all, in this era of dwindling magic, resources aren’t easy to come by.

As for the other rewards, the Saint’s remains could be ignored since it would be of no use to him.

In other words, he could only choose between Purple Talent: Blood Drinking and the Great Origin Sacred Stone, either one or both.

“Purple Talent: Blood Drinking showed its worth in this simulation, it can be chosen. However, after expending so much effort to obtain the Great Origin Sacred Stone, not choosing it would be too much of a waste, rendering my efforts futile. Therefore, the Great Origin Sacred Stone is a must-choose.”

After analyzing, Wang Ping decided to choose the cultivation and the Great Origin Sacred Stone.

“Wait, that’s not right. Although I can choose to gain cultivation after my next simulation, in the real world, it could be a day, or it could be several months… I might encounter danger. If I want to lay low, I must quickly enhance my strength.”

“I’ve really been scared of being poor, always fretting about resources… If I have strength, why worry about resources?”

“Besides, in the worst case, I could always ask Alpha for a backdoor.”

However, Wang Ping quickly sobered up and couldn’t help but facepalm.

“System, I choose 1. First-tier Saint cultivation and 2. Great Origin Sacred Stone.”

Then, Wang Ping made his choice without hesitation.

As Wang Ping made his choice, his cultivation began to soar, directly reaching the Saint’s realm.

His physical body, magic power, and divine soul all underwent a qualitative change, becoming extremely powerful.

Just after Wang Ping made his choice and enhanced his cultivation, a sense of danger suddenly appeared, causing Wang Ping’s expression to shift slightly. Without hesitation, he performed a spatial shift.

“Boom!!!”

Right after Wang Ping’s defense, a terrifying energy fluctuation abruptly appeared in White Flame Divine City, utterly obliterating it.

“Who attacked me? Why didn’t this situation appear in the simulation?”

Wang Ping’s expression turned grave as he sensed the surrounding space, trying to find his assailant.

Such an attack never occurred in the life simulation.

There are only two possibilities…

Either the opponent targeted him for some reason after he entered immersive simulation last time, which would explain why such an event didn’t occur in the Life Simulator.

The second possibility is that this guy comes from a place outside the Upper Realm, so the Life Simulator couldn’t simulate it.

Of course, it could also be because of some reason beyond the heavens that the opponent suddenly found him and attacked.

No matter what the situation is, it’s a troublesome matter.

After all, it was the first time he had encountered an attack in reality.

This suggests that he might face danger in the future when entering immersive simulation.

After all, during the simulation, although he set up a large formation, he had no real defense.

This is also a disadvantage of immersive simulation.

Additionally, the time gap caused by the immersive simulation is larger than the previous text simulation, which is also a problem.

“Hehe, I didn’t expect you to become a Saint… It seems the secrets you hold are quite significant… I originally thought those guys hiring me to kill you was an overkill… Now it seems they may have underestimated you…”

While various thoughts flashed through Wang Ping’s mind, a sinister voice sounded.

“They…? Are you referring to my seniors?”

Wang Ping’s face was cold as he tentatively asked.

“Hehe, it’s nothing to tell you… Yes, it’s them… Every once in a while, they use the Heaven’s Secrets Tracker Talisman to locate you… But recently, they couldn’t lock onto your position, suspecting that you may have used some method to block the heavens’ secrets, so they decided to hire me at a high cost to take action against you…”

The sinister voice sounded again, full of anomaly.

Wang Ping still couldn’t sense his exact location.

“This guy is very strong… He shouldn’t be an ordinary Saint; his cultivation is very high, and he’s proficient in assassination divine abilities… Besides, he might also possess items from other worlds…”

As Wang Ping listened to the other party, this thought flashed in his mind.

At the same time, he became more vigilant.

The opponent’s methods were quite problematic.

Moreover, the content of the other party’s words also made him feel heavy.

Obviously, the Golden Talent: Heaven’s Secrets Shield had indeed worked.

However, Wang Ping hadn’t expected the opponent to lavishly use the Heaven’s Secrets Tracker Talisman to locate him every once in a while.

After the Golden Talent: Heaven’s Secrets Shield took effect and the opponent couldn’t locate him, their dread deepened, and they even decided to hire a Saint from the forces across the heavens at a high cost to assassinate him.

And they almost succeeded in costing him a life…

This was the first time Wang Ping had faced an attack in the real world after a long period of cheating with the Life Simulator.

One could say Wang Ping had been careless…

After acquiring the Golden Talent: Heaven’s Secrets Shield, he shouldn’t have stayed in his old spot at White Flame Divine City; he should have moved to another location to lay low…

“Why are you telling me this? Isn’t protecting the client’s information one of your tenets as an assassin? Or do you think I’m already a dead man?”

Various thoughts flashed through Wang Ping’s mind; he coldly said while being vigilant of the opponent’s assassination.

“Hehe, protecting the client’s information is for proper assassins; it has nothing to do with me… Honestly, I only care about money…”

The cold voice sounded again.

“If you can give me more divine sources, I can choose to give up on assassinating you… I could even provide you with more information and kill them for you in return…”

“You really have no professional ethics at all…”

Wang Ping mocked.

Does he look like someone so foolish to hand over more divine sources?

If he really handed anything over, the opponent would undoubtedly kill him immediately to seize the remaining items…

Then, the assassin could continue to collect the reward too, the joy would be unspeakable…