[In the third year, Bai Ruoxue arrived.]
[This time, you didn't disguise yourself as a disciple of the Heavenly Profound Temple.]
[Instead, you directly explained that you accidentally obtained a Mental Cultivation Method here and, out of gratitude, buried the bones found in this place.]
[This was a decision you made after reflecting on the previous simulation.]
[After all, you knew that pretending to be a disciple of the Heavenly Profound Temple might gain Bai Ruoxue's favor, but with your current talent, it would be too easy to be exposed.]
[It was better to lay your cards on the table and avoid the endless cycle of death in an illusion like last time.]
[Upon hearing your words, Bai Ruoxue indeed did not act immediately. However, she still conducted a series of tests on you. Only after confirming that you were not an Immortal Slave did she let you go!]
[During her inspection, Bai Ruoxue discovered that you were in the process of Core Formation.]
[After confirming that you were not one of those Immortal Slaves who annoyed her, she advised you not to rush into breaking through the Core Formation stage.]
[You were puzzled and humbly asked for her guidance.]
[Bai Ruoxue did not explain directly but instead asked you what the true purpose of the Golden Core was.]
[Your understanding was that the Golden Core is the solidified form of compressed spiritual energy, which allows the Qi Sea to have more space to store spiritual energy.]
[Although you knew there might be other purposes since Bai Ruoxue asked, you still shared your understanding.]
[As for other purposes, you were not well-versed, as your cultivation relied solely on a single Mental Cultivation Method, and your other knowledge was quite lacking.]
[Bai Ruoxue smiled and said that at the peak of Foundation Establishment, the Golden Core is indeed just the solidified form of compressed spiritual energy, and apart from freeing up space in the Qi Sea, it has no other function.]
[But she told you that once you use spiritual energy to connect the Golden Core with your meridians, building a bridge between heaven and earth, the Golden Core will have other functions after breaking through the Core Formation stage.]
[At that point, all the spiritual energy you absorb will first pass through the Golden Core before reaching the Qi Sea.]
[The Golden Core acts like a purifier of spiritual energy; the better the quality of the Golden Core, the higher the quality of the spiritual energy that ultimately reaches the Qi Sea, resulting in greater combat power and a higher cultivation ceiling.]
[Bai Ruoxue said that those who break through to the Core Formation stage without improving the quality of their Golden Core are the most inferior Core Formation cultivators.]
[Hearing this, you felt incredibly fortunate that you had slowed down your cultivation in the last simulation and hadn't broken through to Core Formation, or else you would have ruined your cultivation.]
[So you quickly asked Bai Ruoxue how to improve the quality of the Golden Core.]
[She smiled and told you that improving the quality of the Golden Core is simple: just continuously use spiritual energy to polish and refine the condensed Golden Core.]
[Constant polishing will cause the Golden Core to develop patterns, with each additional pattern improving its quality by one grade.]
[She told you that the quality of the Golden Core is divided into ten grades, each grade representing a higher level.]
[True Chosen ones will spend a lot of time polishing their Golden Core to improve its quality.]
[After listening to Bai Ruoxue's words, you felt greatly enlightened and thanked her profusely.]
[Afterward, Bai Ruoxue voluntarily told you why this place is called the Sealed Land and about the Immortal Slaves.]
[Although you already knew these things, you still listened attentively.]
[With the experience from the previous simulation, you understood Bai Ruoxue's intentions.]
[Whether she was instructing you in cultivation or telling you secrets, she wanted to create some enemies for those Immortal Slaves.]
[So you pretended to be angry and declared that you would fight those people to the death.]
[Bai Ruoxue smiled slightly at your words and tossed you a storage ring, saying it was a bit of support from her, hoping you could give the Immortal Slaves some trouble!]
[You took the storage ring, thinking to yourself that she was indeed a reliable cash cow, especially since you had run out of Spirit Stones.]
[Returning to your cabin, you opened the storage ring and found that Bai Ruoxue had given you even more Spirit Stones this time—fifty thousand pieces.]
[Such a large number of Spirit Stones made you hesitate, wondering whether you should use them immediately to enhance your strength or save them to bring out of the simulator.]
In reality, Jiang Yifeng also began to ponder.
However, he was thinking about why the number of Spirit Stones Bai Ruoxue gave varied each time.
Previously, when he pretended to be a disciple of the Heavenly Profound Temple, the amount of Spirit Stones given was understandable, as his talent was insufficient, and the Spirit Stones provided were enough for a lifetime of cultivation.
So what was different between last time and this time?
Jiang Yifeng thought deeply and concluded that there were two main differences: first, this time he admitted he wasn't a disciple of the Heavenly Profound Temple, whereas last time he was exposed. Second, his cultivation level was different this time.
In the end, Jiang Yifeng believed the main reason was the second point—his cultivation level was higher this time.
After all, he already knew Bai Ruoxue's purpose: she wanted to create some trouble for the Immortal Slaves.
The stronger he was, the more trouble he could cause, so the more support she provided.
Thinking of this, Jiang Yifeng couldn't help but smile.
Since that was the case, he might as well cultivate directly. The more he improved his strength this time, the more he could benefit next time.
So Jiang Yifeng kept suggesting to himself, "Use the Spirit Stones to cultivate!"
This kind of psychological suggestion had been used in previous simulations.
He knew that to some extent, it could influence his decisions within the simulation.
While suggesting to himself, Jiang Yifeng continued to look at the simulator.
[After much thought, you decided that hoarding resources like a hamster wasn't a solution; you needed to improve your strength.]
[You believed that with greater strength, you might obtain more resources.]
[So you stopped hesitating and began cultivating immediately.]
[Three days later, Bai Ruoxue left.]
[Shortly after Bai Ruoxue left, you also departed from this place.]
[In the same year, you condensed the liquid spiritual energy in your Qi Sea into a core, but remembering Bai Ruoxue's advice, you didn't rush to break through to the Golden Core stage and continued polishing.]
[In the fourth year, a pattern appeared on your Golden Core, and you achieved a first-grade Golden Core.]
[In the fifth year, two patterns appeared on your Golden Core, reaching the second grade.]
[In the sixth year, after three years of cultivation and traveling, you finally arrived at the oasis in the Desert of Death.]
[In the same year, three patterns appeared on your Golden Core, reaching the third grade.]
[In the seventh year, since you no longer needed to travel, you devoted yourself entirely to cultivation.]
[However, even so, after a year, you only managed to improve the grade of your Golden Core by one level, reaching the fourth grade.]
[You knew that the difficulty of improvement increased as you progressed.]
[In the eighth year, you achieved a fifth-grade Golden Core.]
[In the tenth year, you found that your Spirit Stones were once again depleted, and at this time, your Golden Core had only reached the sixth grade.]
[In the twentieth year, your Golden Core reached the seventh grade.]
[This time, the improvement took you a full ten years.]
[You knew there were multiple reasons for this: the difficulty increased as the grade of the Golden Core rose, and you lacked resources.]
[Even polishing the Golden Core required the constant use of spiritual energy; without resources, the speed naturally slowed down.]
[In the fortieth year, it took you another twenty years to add one more pattern to your Golden Core, reaching the eighth grade.]
[At this point, you wondered if you should break through directly.]