[You shook your head, disappointed that this gossip wasn't what you were looking for, and you automatically ignored it.]
[On the sixth day, you gathered information, but to no avail.]
[A year passed, and you had asked more than half the residents of Green Hills City, but you didn't get any useful information about cultivators.]
[Instead, thanks to Passerby A (Talent), you learned a lot about the everyday lives of the people in Green Hills City.]
[That same year, your obsession with seeking immortals became widely known, and rumors started spreading that the young master of the Jiang Clan Firm, which is you, had gone mad.]
[When your father, Jiang Fushan, learned about your situation, he repeatedly advised you to stop reading storybooks and to give up on seeking cultivation.]
[You couldn't reveal the existence of the simulator, nor could you explain your reasons for seeking cultivators, so you just nodded in agreement.]
[However, you didn't give up on gathering information; you just did it more discreetly.]
[In the second year, you realized that individual efforts were limited, so you spent a large sum of money to hire a group of people to secretly search for information about cultivators.]
[Half a year passed in the blink of an eye, and you felt that you had exhausted all leads in Green Hills City. Perhaps it was time to search further afield.]
[So, you took four guards and a large sum of money and left Green Hills City.]
[Two months later, you encountered mountain bandits. All four guards were killed, and your money was stolen.]
[Fortunately, you revealed your identity in time, claiming that keeping you alive could bring them more money, thus temporarily saving your life.]
[A month later, your father, Jiang Fushan, ransomed you back with a large sum of money, and you returned to Green Hills City.]
***
Seeing this, Jiang Yifeng frowned and muttered to himself.
"Mountain bandits?" who would have thought that after just two months out of Green Hills City, he would encounter danger?
It seemed that he had been too naive, thinking the outside world was as simple as his life of indulgence in Green Hills City.
From now on, he needed to be more cautious in reality.
Jiang Yifeng reminded himself and continued to look at the simulation panel.
***
[After returning to Green Hills City, you felt that your previous preparations were inadequate, so you started spending a lot of money to hire guards skilled in martial arts.]
[In the third year, you regrouped and left Green Hills City once again.]
[This time, you brought dozens of guards, all of whom were martial practitioners.]
[Under your financial influence, even Master Wu became the head of your guards.]
[That year, you passed through several towns and cities, but still found no useful information about cultivation.]
[In the fourth year, you encountered mountain bandits twice, but with the protection of Wu Youdao and others, you remained safe.]
[This made you realize that martial arts might not be as useless as you had thought.]
[Especially Wu Youdao, who could handle dozens of mountain bandits single-handedly.]
[On a certain day in the fifth year, your Passerby A (Talent) triggered, and you overheard someone mentioning an anomaly in the Evergreen Mountain Range, possibly indicating the presence of an immortal.]
[Although the truth of this information was still unknown, you were extremely excited.]
[After all, this was information obtained through your talent, and you believed it had a high probability of being true.]
[So, you immediately set off for the Evergreen Mountain Range with your men.]
[In the sixth year, you had been exploring the Evergreen Mountain Range for over a year.]
[But the area was too vast; you hadn't seen any sign of cultivators, nor even another person besides your group.]
[In the seventh year, you continued to search for information about cultivators in the Evergreen Mountain Range, but to no avail.]
[In the eighth year, you saw a small Taoist temple in the distance.]
[Just as you were about to lead your men towards it, a cold voice sounded from behind: "Seeking immortals without permission, die!"]
[You instinctively turned around and saw a shadowy figure flying towards you on a sword.]
[Without a word, the shadowy figure slashed at you with a sword light.]
[Wu Youdao tried to save you, but it was in vain.]
[You died at the age of 28!]
[This simulation has ended.]
[You may choose one reward from this simulation: Passerby A (Talent), Heavenly Profound Temple Coordinates (Map)]
[Passerby A (Talent)]: Price 1000 Energy Value
[Heavenly Profound Temple Coordinates (Map)]: Price 10000 Energy Value; the coordinates of a small Taoist temple in the Evergreen Mountain Range.
***
Jiang Yifeng stared at the simulation panel, silent and in thought.
What was going on?
Another shadowy figure.
But it seemed like it wasn't the same person.
The first shadowy figure used palm techniques, while this one used a sword.
Judging by the simulator's text, the phrase "Seeking immortals without permission, die" clearly indicated that this shadowy figure was targeting him.
It was because he was seeking information about cultivators that he was deliberately killed.
At this moment, Jiang Yifeng finally understood why he had never heard of cultivators in reality.
Even after searching for so long in the simulator, he couldn't find any information about cultivators.
It turned out that these shadowy figures, using swords, were preventing others from learning about cultivators.
Most likely, those who knew about cultivators had already been silenced!
As for the information he obtained through his Passerby A talent, Jiang Yifeng thought it was just a rare exception.
It was highly likely that the person who shared this information had just learned it themselves.
That person might have even been silenced before him.
Of course, this was all Jiang Yifeng's speculation.
But he believed this speculation was highly probable.
However, even if he guessed correctly, what could he do?
Give up on seeking cultivators?
Jiang Yifeng shook his head with a bitter smile.
No, he couldn't. There was still the threat of a cultivator thirteen years later.
If he gave up on seeking cultivation, how could he improve his strength, save himself, and protect his family?
Fortunately, he had the simulator.
Jiang Yifeng decided that any investigation into cultivators would only be done discreetly within the simulator.
He must never mention anything about cultivators in reality.
Jiang Yifeng had a rough idea of the situation from this simulation.
He turned his attention to the simulation rewards.
This time, there were only two rewards.
But they were much better than the first time.
Jiang Yifeng kept calculating in his mind which would be the better choice.
Passerby A (Talent) mostly provided trivial gossip, but sometimes it could be very useful.
The Heavenly Profound Temple Coordinates (Map) clearly marked the location of the small Taoist temple seen in the simulation.
Jiang Yifeng also thought it was quite important.
If he didn't choose the map this time, he felt that he might not be able to find that location again in the Evergreen Mountain Range.
Jiang Yifeng had heard of the Evergreen Mountain Range; it was the largest mountain range in the Great Abyssal Kingdom and was said to even connect to other countries.
Of course, this was all hearsay, as he had never left Green Hills City and didn't know where other countries were.
The Great Abyssal Kingdom was vast.
But regardless, the Evergreen Mountain Range was definitely large, and finding a Taoist temple within it wouldn't be easy.
Moreover, Jiang Yifeng had a subconscious feeling that the Heavenly Profound Temple was indeed related to cultivators.
After all, who would build a Taoist temple in the largely uninhabited Evergreen Mountain Range?
Jiang Yifeng had made his decision and silently uttered.
"I choose the Heavenly Profound Temple Coordinates (Map)."
This choice wasn't just based on a feeling.
From the simulator's performance, Jiang Yifeng saw that Passerby A (Talent) required someone to genuinely know and discuss information for him to randomly overhear it.
With shadowy figures deliberately killing those who sought information about cultivators, there wouldn't be many people who knew. The fact that he overheard some information this time was purely due to luck.
Relying on this talent to investigate was too unreliable; the known Taoist temple had a better chance of providing some information about cultivation.
As soon as Jiang Yifeng made his choice, an electronic voice sounded in his mind.
"Ding, insufficient energy value detected. Please exchange for energy value promptly. Simulation rewards can be retained until the next simulation begins."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Yifeng understood.
Energy value, huh.
He hadn't noticed it was insufficient earlier.
Without hesitation, he exchanged all the miscellaneous items in his room for energy value.