I've never felt happy to become an immortal.

Chapter 198 Reopening × Reboot √

Bai Xuan has experienced death more than once.

This feeling is not unfamiliar.

Each time he dies in this world, he is forcibly removed from the modern world.

However, time in the world of true cultivation should not stop because of his departure, so the story will continue to unfold.

"Well, that's just how it is sometimes. It's normal for a low-level account that hasn't been fully leveled up to run into a max-level account and not be able to beat it."

His internal organs were shattered by the Heavenly Demon's palm strike, and his entire body was burned to ashes. There was no way he could survive. If Deadpool were here, he might have a chance to be reborn.

Consciousness wandered in a pitch-black space, and soon reached its end, as if sitting in a small boat, drifting downstream.

That feeling was very mysterious.

Although it lacks the five senses, the soul itself possesses a very slight mass.

Soon, a faint light appeared.

He opened his eyes, intending to get up and have some breakfast.

But as he turned over and looked around, he was suddenly stunned and involuntarily let out a gasp.

"hiss……"

Mountains, forests, leaves, and a thin mist.

This is clearly the starting point when we entered the secret realm.

Bai Xuan immediately fell into a brief moment of confusion, which was then submerged in deep thought.

Then, a sound came from the right.

Turning my head to look, I saw a figure emerging from the white mist.

The moment the dried fruit girl saw Bai Xuan, she rushed over, wrapped her arms around his neck, hugged him tightly, and breathed heavily.

The body was trembling slightly.

Like being scared.

She was going through a period of intense emotional turmoil and needed an outlet for her emotions.

Even if they are complete strangers, if they have survived a dangerous ordeal together, there is a high probability that they will hug each other and cry tears of joy.

Human nature.

Bai Xuan could understand that not everyone could take life and death lightly like him.

She was holding him so tightly that he could hardly breathe, and Fan Qingshuang wasn't exactly flat-chested.

It's just that everyday clothes and outfits don't really show it, but now that I've actually hugged her, I can feel a subtle sensation.

Such a big thing should have been said sooner...

Bai Xuan almost had his neck broken by her. After being slapped several times, Fan Qing Shuang belatedly let go.

"I thought you were dead," Fan Qingshuang said in a low voice. The dried fruit girl remained expressionless, but her eyes revealed a look of terror.

"Is it possible that I really am dead?" Bai Xuan touched the back of his neck, shook it from side to side, making two crisp cracking sounds: "My internal organs were directly shattered by the Heavenly Demon, and then I was burned to ashes. Normally speaking... I should be waiting for my salvation on the road to the Yellow Springs now."

...Or else, it could become a USB drive, be inserted into someone's brain, and then the person could be squatted down and told, "Stand up, young man, let's burn this world to ashes."

Bai Xuan asked again, "How did you know I was gone?"

Fan Qingshuang said, "I saw the Heavenly Demon, he was carrying your corpse, and then..." She said uncertainly, "I think I died too."

"What a coincidence." Bai Xuan laughed. "You died too?"

Fan Qingshuang's memory of this was not clear; she only saw the other party swing a palm at her, and then everything went black before she woke up here.

"So after you died, you were unconscious for a period of time," Bai Xuan confirmed.

Fan Qingshuang nodded.

But Bai Xuan did not lose any memory after his death; his memory remained very coherent, and he was certain that he had only experienced a drifting through a dark cave.

"Let's leave that aside for now." Bai Xuan looked around. "It seems we've come full circle."

The two left the forest and returned to the mountain path once again.

Looking up at the White Plum Sect, what I saw was exactly the same as what I had experienced before.

"What exactly is going on?" Fan Qingshuang asked in surprise.

Bai Xuan casually caught a fallen leaf and looked at its veins: "It is said that no two leaves in this world are exactly the same... nor can they experience the same story twice. There must be some differences."

"But... if we are reliving the day of disaster that befell the White Plum School four hundred years ago, what does that mean?"

Fan Qingshuang shook her head; she couldn't quite keep up with the thinking speed of modern people.

This kind of development is not difficult for a modern person to understand.

If you watch a few movies of the same type and theme, and play a few games, you won't feel unfamiliar with works based on the 'time loop' theme.

However, Fan Qingshuang was a person from ancient times, so she could hardly realize her situation immediately.

“Alright.” Bai Xuan didn’t force her to keep up with his train of thought and went straight to the conclusion. “First of all, we probably didn’t go back to the past.”

"Secondly, there is no doubt that we are reliving history from four hundred years ago."

"In the end, we should still be in the secret realm."

Why did we conclude that we didn't return to the past, but remained in the secret realm?

The conclusion is very simple.

Bai Xuan possesses the Dark Moon Gate. Once he dies, he will be forcibly sent back to modern society by the Dark Moon Gate. This conclusion was drawn after hundreds and thousands of restarts. Sometimes, he cannot get the ideal identity or even a real person after restarting. In such cases, he will decisively restart, and almost every time it results in forced repatriation.

In other words, if he is indeed dead, then the Darkmoon Gate will be the highest priority.

However, this is not the case in secret realms.

Death in the secret realm doesn't mean real death; instead, you're kicked out—which actually corroborates Bai Xuan's guess that death in the secret realm isn't real death, but merely an illusionary experience, equivalent to game over in a VR game.

Since the highest priority Dark Moon Gate was not triggered, Bai Xuan felt that he should still be alive, and the death he experienced was just a bottleneck in the secret realm trial.

Fan Qingshuang asked in confusion, "But if we died in the secret realm, shouldn't we have left? Why are we still here?"

Bai Xuan tossed aside the fallen leaves in his hand and climbed the mountain path at a leisurely pace: "This is also what I'm wondering about. Perhaps the secret realm has undergone some kind of change, and... didn't you notice?"

"?" Fan Qing Shuang felt like an idiot, completely unable to keep up with the other person's train of thought.

She felt as if she had just experienced death, and didn't gain any useful information at all.

Bai Xuan, however, was able to analyze the situation logically and draw certain conclusions from subtle observations.

"From the very beginning, it was just the two of us. We didn't encounter the Vermilion Bird Sword, nor did we run into Xu Tingfeng." Bai Xuan pointed out the suspicious point: "Since everyone else entered the secret realm, why were we the only two teaming up?"

Fan Qingshuang thought for a moment and said, "Is it because we entered at the same time?"

"It's possible that the reason for forming the team is still uncertain, but since we are in the same time and place, this raises a question."

At this point, Bai Xuan looked at Fan Qingshuang: "So... what are the conditions for restarting?"

Restart... It took Fan Qingshuang two seconds to understand that this word referred to the new beginning she was experiencing.

"Was it the death of both of us?"

“Yes, the deaths of two people signify the failure of the trial.” Bai Xuan clapped his hands: “You know that I died first, and you died after me, and then the trial restarted. This means that this must be a secret realm trial, and not a true return to the history of four hundred years ago.”

"Why?" Fan Qingshuang still didn't understand.

"It's too intelligent." Bai Xuan is a veteran video game player: "It has such a strong sense of design, it's like a pre-arranged setting."

He knew that Fan Qingshuang would have a hard time understanding this explanation, so he suggested another way to verify it: "You can look at the dried fruit you brought."

Fan Qingshuang took out the paper bag, opened it and saw... the dried fruit that had been eaten quite a bit was bulging, but hadn't been eaten at all.

Her eyes widened: "I remember clearly eating it."

"If we have traveled back in time, everything we have experienced should have been damaged or lost. But the fact that there is no damage means that we are in a secret realm. No matter what we have experienced, once we restart, everything will be restored to its original state. There is only one thing that can be preserved."

He tapped his temple with his finger.

"memory."

He had already made some guesses, and now it seems that his guesses have been confirmed.

Because the Sumeru Ring could not be opened, the illusionary trial it created when entering the secret realm did not properly recognize the Sumeru Ring, or rather, it recognized it, but could not recognize what was inside the Sumeru Ring.

The dried fruit that Fan Qingshuang was carrying was not left behind because she kept it with her at all times.

The ring Bai Xuan was wearing was just an ornament; it contained nothing inside.

He simply took off the ring and tossed it to Fan Qingshuang, saying, "Keep it here for safekeeping."

Fan Qingshuang slipped the ring onto the ring finger of her left hand, since the ring finger is the least important of the five fingers and does not affect her grip on the sword.

"This is a secret realm trial. Now that we know this, how do we get out?"

Normally, dying in the secret realm would mean leaving the secret realm.

But now that they've died, all they've got is a restart, which means they're trapped here and doomed?
"I don't know either; further speculation is needed."

Bai Xuan shrugged helplessly: "Since it's a trial, I think there should be some kind of conditions for passing it."

Just like playing a video game, if you persevere, you'll eventually beat the game.

The trials here are modeled after the history of the White Plum School four hundred years ago.

Therefore, the conditions for passing the level are most likely...

"Preserve the White Plum Sect and defeat the Heavenly Demon."

"It was not completed before because of death."

"If we succeed, we might be able to leave this training ground."

Fan Qingshuang nodded knowingly, understanding this time: "So, we're going to hand over the Sword Immortal's remains in the secret realm to Chu Binghe... As long as she can get the Sword Immortal's remains, she'll have a way to defeat the Heavenly One?"

"Probably." Bai Xuan was already standing in front of the entrance gate of the White Plum Sect: "Let's try to restore the history as accurately as possible first."

(End of this chapter)