Vol. 1 - Ch. 16 - Second Deduction

Ji Yang decisively chose [Yes].

The familiar sensation struck again. The ancestral hall vanished before Ji Yang's eyes, replaced by an unfamiliar environment.

Having already experienced one deduction, Ji Yang remained calm. He simply looked around, observing his surroundings.

It was a desolate sandy land, empty and lifeless.

There was only one small sapling---him.

Ji Yang sighed inwardly, feeling a twinge of regret.

He actually wished he could return to the place he was in last time. If he could encounter that cicada of the Spring and Autumn Period again, perhaps he could obtain another set of martial arts techniques beyond the Lunar Eclipse technique!

Clearly that hadn't happened.

Before Ji Yang could dwell on this regret for too long, subtitles slowly appeared before his eyes.

[You are born in the middle of a desert! To resist the scorching sun, you begin to strive for growth!]

As the subtitles disappeared, time began to accelerate once again.

This time, Ji Yang wasn't lost anymore. He started to carefully experience the process, while also observing his surroundings.

At this moment, he felt the scorching heat from above roasting him and the heat waves assaulting him from all sides.

The excessive temperature forced his roots to extend deeper into the ground, searching for the scarce water source in the moist soil deep beneath.

Perhaps it was only a moment, or perhaps it was a long time.

As time passed, Ji Yang gradually grew from a small sapling into a tree with a trunk as thick as a thumb.

But seeing his leaves scorched and turning yellow, the situation was obviously bad.

Another line of subtitles appeared.

[The desert temperature is rising, and the evaporation rate of water is increasing. To absorb more water, you choose to?]

[Extend roots downward/Extend roots outward]

Ji Yang smiled knowingly at this. He knew the answer to this question!

Even though the desert seemed endless, its underground structure was no different from other places, except for an extra layer of sand on the surface.

In other words, as long as the roots penetrated deep enough, there would definitely be water!

Ji Yang decisively chose to extend his roots downward!

He firmly believed in his choice!

As the subtitles disappeared, the world began to move again.

But before Ji Yang's smile could fade, he saw the few yellowing leaves on his branches gradually turning black and falling off.

At the same time, new subtitles reappeared.

[Your roots extend downward, touching dust-covered ancient ruins. Under the scorching sun, you perish!]

Ji Yang fell silent as he looked at the subtitles before him.

He had calculated everything... but he couldn't have calculated this.

As the desert world before him began to collapse, Ji Yang found himself back in the familiar ancestral hall.

[Deduction ended!]

[You have gained new abilities in this simulation: Root Strengthening]

[You have gained new abilities in this simulation: Heat Resistance]

[Root Strengthening: You can use a certain amount of vitality to strengthen your roots, making them more agile.]

[Heat Resistance: You can thrive in extremely high temperatures.]

Though he died too quickly, unable to acquire martial arts or divine abilities, he had gained two new abilities.

Ji Yang opened the panel, but he didn't see the display of these two new abilities. However, he could sense the changes in his body.

It seemed that these two abilities had already integrated into his body.

With the ancestral hall now empty, and Chen Xingzhen and the others long gone, Ji Yang decided to test out the Root Strengthening ability right away!

Though his trunk wasn't thick, underground, several roots were growing. These roots spread throughout the entire area beneath the ancestral hall, acting as his eyes.

Even more agile than his actual eyes. However, he couldn't actively control these roots. It was only when his vitality surged that these roots began to slowly expand. Why is it that I can't control them more precisely? Ji Yang wondered, frustration bubbling beneath his calm exterior.

Ji Yang selected the longest root and silently activated Root Strengthening. As his intentions were felt, changes began to occur underground. He watched as the roots changed, feeling a mixture of anticipation and apprehension.

As the roots changed, Ji Yang saw his limited vitality rapidly decreasing.

"This shouldn't consume too much... right?" He thought, his heart racing as he watched the numbers drop.

3.4, 3.3, 3.2...

When his vitality plummeted to 2.9, Ji Yang panicked.

How could it have drained so fast?

He had thought that strengthening the roots wouldn't consume much, but in the blink of an eye, it had already depleted 0.5 of his vitality. Fortunately, it stopped when his vitality reached 2.9.

As Ji Yang sensed the root he had strengthened, his heart stirred.

Finally, some progress.

Under Ji Yang's control, a thumb-sized root suddenly shot up from below the ground. This root was several metres long, several times the size of Ji Yang's current trunk.

As Ji Yang's intentions shifted, this root responded promptly, as if an extension of his will. After some experimentation, Ji Yang silently withdrew the strengthened root.

"At least this gives me some means of self-preservation. I'm not completely vulnerable anymore." He thought.

He wondered if the strength of this enhanced root could withstand a Blood Coagulation Realm martial artist.

"I'll have to see one in action to really know."

As for the other new ability, Heat Resistance.

"Hmm, something is better than nothing."

Overall, there was some gain from this simulation, although not significant. Still, these gains won't help the Chen family out of their predicament. Feeling somewhat unwilling, Ji Yang opened the panel to check his remaining vitality and spiritual points, considering another attempt.

[Qi and Blood: 9 (can be converted to vitality)]

[Spiritual Power: 0]

[Simulation Points: 20]

"Great, just enough simulation points, but not enough qi and blood or spiritual power."

Ji Yang would have to wait until the next sacrifice from the Chen family, and even then, one sacrifice might not be enough.

"Why do I feel like I'm lacking despite having the sacrifices from the Chen family and my Lunar Eclipse technique?"

Seeing his qi and blood reduced to just 2.9, Ji Yang couldn't help but feel a bit frustrated. The decline in qi weakened Ji Yang in every aspect, and it felt extremely uncomfortable.

Looking at the remaining qi and blood, Ji Yang made a firm decision and directly converted it into life force.

"I can't afford to hesitate any longer."

During the conversion, Ji Yang discovered that he could control the specific amount of qi and blood converted. This meant he could choose how much to convert, keeping enough for the deductions he needed.

This time, Ji Yang didn't hesitate. He directly converted all 9 points of qi and blood into life force. As his life force rapidly increased, Ji Yang felt a surge of immense vitality coursing through his trunk.

"This is what I need. More vitality, more strength."

This vitality quickly gathered on one side of his trunk, where a new bud began to grow at a visible speed. In no time, the bud had transformed into a cluster of new locust tree branches, standing on the trunk. With two new branches growing leaves, Ji Yang's trunk finally looked somewhat thicker. However, overall it still appeared somewhat thin.

The changes brought by the increase in life force were far more than this.

Underground, several roots were rapidly spreading along the underside of the flagstones. They spread throughout the entire ancestral hall and even extended a bit beyond that before finally stopping. During this spread, one root pierced through the family altar.

Ji Yang sensed the family ancestral tablet in the room above the altar, as well as the ancestor lying in the coffin.

Mew- honestly idk what's going on anymore

Comments