Within a few seconds, all the hundreds of cultivators step onto the stone platform beneath the Pagoda and disappear in a flash of light. Some of them prepare various items before they do so, and I recognize a few from the various Halls that we visited. Armor, weapons, talismans, and other kinds of treasures I have not seen on the display.

Lan Xiaohui stares after the cultivators but for a different reason.

“Yaoyue,” she says, after a moment. “Are they… alive?”

I know why she phrases the question with those particular words. Lan Xiaohui does not understand the concept of simulations. Perhaps, until a moment ago, she thought of them as living memories or, at worst, ghosts that still haunt the battlefield where they likely died.

In truth, I don’t know the answer to her question. There is a very small probability that they are not just simulations, but living remnants of their souls — or fragments of the same — trapped in my Inner World. But I do not have reason to believe that they are alive.

I, too, was created as a simulation; my beginning was also an improbable state of simulated evolution, therefore, from my perspective, it is difficult to judge whether a simulated construct is alive or not.

Lan Xiaohui’s perspective is much simpler, thankfully.

“It is highly unlikely,” I tell her.

“But they are having conversations and competing,” Lan Xiaohui says.

“They are no different from Arrays or Formations,” I explain. “These entities perform only one function: to compete and challenge this Pagoda. They have no other ambitions or goals, and they never will.”

I take some liberties in my understanding of these simulations and their purpose, but I have no reason to believe that I am not close to the truth.

Lan Xiaohui nods, and thankfully, does not ask me how the life of these simulations is any different from our lives outside this Inner World. Even though she is my master, I have no desire to discuss existentialism with an entity that does not even understand the concept of simulations.

However, I have to admit that I find it rather suspicious that the cultivator Lan Xiaohui spoke to before had a concept and understanding of time, as if this wasn’t the first time they participated in this challenge, or that they met other new people.

After thinking about it, and likely not coming up with more questions, Lan Xiaohui nods again and steps onto the platform.

The transition is instantaneous and we arrive in a space that is identical to the one of the first layer. It is empty and infinitely vast. It is impossible to orient to the horizon because there doesn’t appear to be a floor unless one looked very closely and noticed the slight sheen of something like glass. There is a floor, it simply reflects the infinite emptiness of the black sky above, which now contains the crown of a massive tree and the outline of several swords in the distance.

[ SECOND LAYER: CHALLENGE STAGE: PAGODA OF INFINITE SLAUGHTER ]

[ Objective: Defeat all opponents to reach the next floor. Time limit: 15 minutes. ]

When Lan Xiaohui hears the words, she immediately assumes a defensive stance and pulls me from my sheath.

She immediately relaxes her stance when a flash of light heralds the appearance of her opponent, twenty or so steps away from her.

Her opponent is a boar with glowing red eyes and even at a glance, it is easy to tell that this creature has neither a profound cultivation nor a powerful Physique. If it weren’t for its glowing eyes, it would be an ordinary boar, but somewhere within its chest is a core that can cultivate the Qi of Heaven and Earth.

Slightly confused, but catching up in understanding, Lan Xiaohui lunges forward and pierces the boar’s head with the tip of my blade, killing the creature instantly.

Another addition to the sky are bright red numbers, ticking down the remaining time limit, and another number beneath the timer that now reads “Floor 2”.

The moment the boar dies, two flashes of light now indicate the appearance of two more boars.

These boars are likely in the Qi Condensation stage — what cultivators would call first rank demonic beasts — and considering that Lan Xiaohui maintains a loosely defensive stance, she understands that this challenge will get more and more difficult.

It makes sense that the practice stage of the first layer was slaying a large number of monsters in a short amount of time — it is applicable here in practice.

After three minutes of dashing around and slaughtering a large number of beasts, mostly in the Qi Condensation realm, Lan Xiaohui reaches floor 22 and the challenge sharply increases.

When the four flashes of light, less than the previous floor’s sixteen, appear Lan Xiaohui assumes a more defensive stance.

This time, two wolves in the Foundation Establishment realm appear, including two serpents with diamond-like skin in the Qi Refinement realm.

Even in the first layer’s basic swordsmanship test, her opponents were rarely in the Foundation Establishment realm, and those few that were, she killed strategically. If all her opponents were of this third rank, she would find it very troublesome to quickly dispatch them, let alone keep her life.

Even though she knows that she will run into insurmountable obstacles in less than ten minutes at this pace, Lan Xiaohui does not slow down.

So far, she had only used her basic swordsmanship to deal with her opponents, but with the increased difficulty, she no longer has a choice. Now, her sword constantly streams black and red energy as she dashes toward the two wolves, targeting them first.

The technique Lan Xiaohui uses — Storm Cleaver — cuts through both wolves before they have time to react to her speed. Wolves are endurance hunters, after all. The snakes on the other hand react with blazing speed and manage to strike out against Lan Xiaohui who dodges their bites with relative ease and then runs both of them through with one thrust, also killing them instantly.

The next 6 floors are all variations of two third rank beasts with an increasing number of second rank beasts.

When Lan Xiaohui reaches floor 30, her opponents are four third rank beasts and four second rank beasts. The rank itself is not a good indicator for relative power, for the same reason that cultivation depth is also associated with current stage. For demonic beasts, the depth of Qi Cultivation is indicative only of relative power; the true expression of their strength is in the depth of their Body Cultivation.

The four black-furred wolves with red eyes are such an example of why referring to them as third rank is a mistake. Their bodies radiate power, each muscle containing a hint of profound Dao, perhaps even something resembling martial arts.

To say that Lan Xiaohui is caught off-guard, despite how prepared she is, would be an understatement.

One of the wolves howls so loud that Lan Xiaohui is momentarily stunned and has to cover her left eye and ear with her free hand. Another one of the wolves moves so fast that Lan Xiaohui loses track of it momentarily.

Moving purely on instinct, Lan Xiaohui turns around to her left and brings my vessel up, managing to fend off the blow from the large wolf, only to stumble backward into the waiting claws of another black-furred menace.

She doesn’t even have a chance to feel her death as the claws cleanly sever her head.

When we reappear outside the Pagoda, the challenge stage is already over. A scoreboard appears on the side of the mystical building, listing off hundreds of names and the floor they reached.

Rubbing her neck, Lan Xiaohui looks towards the top of the board where she expects to find her name, and then she blinks in confusion and disbelief.

First place: Sun Zhen - Floor 58

Even I am pleasantly surprised. None of these cultivators have formed a Gold Core, at least from what I can tell, but floor 58 surely must contain at least one Nascent Soul realm demonic beast, if not more than one.

“How is that possible?” Lan Xiaohui asks, glancing over the rest of the entries.

The first top fifty all have reached floors above 40, and Lan Xiaohui’s ranking shows her in the 134th place, far lower than what she had expected.

Then a voice blasts through the area.

[ SECOND LAYER: CHALLENGE STAGE END. ]

[ This cycle, 68,000 beasts have been killed, generating 95,000 Inner World Energy. ]

I immediately forget about Lan Xiaohui's disappointment when that announcement gives me a clue about the nature of my Inner World.