4: The first shadow of evil appeared, and life hung by a thread for ten days.

Su Wanzhao's pupils reflected the gray light that had suddenly flared and instantly extinguished, as well as the Low-Grade Spirit Stone powder falling from Chen Feng's palm.

A palpitation originating from the depths of her Soul made her grip the hilt of the sword at her waist; the cold touch reminded her of the reality of the scene before her.

It was not an illusion, nor was it a trick of the eye.

It was a fluctuation of power that transcended her understanding—ancient, obscure, and carrying a trace of taboo aura that made even her Sword Qi tremble.

Chen Feng's seated figure remained motionless, as if he had sunk into the deepest state of meditation.

However, his brows were unconsciously furrowed, fine beads of sweat seeped from his temples, and his body occasionally spasmed uncontrollably, as if enduring some invisible, heavy pressure.

Su Wanzhao held her breath, her cold gaze locked tightly onto him, the air in the entire room freezing due to her vigilance.

She had never seen such a bizarre scene—a person could make a Spirit Stone containing Spiritual Qi turn into dust out of thin air, while falling into this dream-like state?

The future? Could he really see it?

Time flowed slowly in the suffocating silence.

【Simulated deduction in progress...】

A cold stream of consciousness surged past Chen Feng's "eyes," like a scroll of life accelerated countless times.

【Day 1: You officially become an Outer Sect Disciple and receive the "Qi Refining Technique" and this month's stipend (ten Low-Grade Spirit Stones, one bottle of Qi Gathering Pill). You attempt to Cultivate, but progress is extremely slow; the limitations of your False Spiritual Root are like heavy shackles. You choose to spend most of your time studying the Cultivation Technique, and using the "Luck Infusion (Blue)" talent, you unexpectedly discover a dusty "Hundred Herbs Atlas (Fragment)" in a corner of the Scripture Pavilion, which contains some basic medicinal properties and low-grade Pill Formulas. Su Wanzhao observes you secretly; you notice this but do not point it out.】

【Day 2: You go to the Pill Room of the Service Hall, attempting to use the knowledge from the "Hundred Herbs Atlas" to identify the ingredients of the Qi Gathering Pill, but are sneered at by the Pill Boy on duty. You silently memorize the arrangement of medicinal herbs in the Pill Room and the rotation of the staff on duty. In the evening, when you attempt to Cultivate, your internal Spiritual Qi suddenly becomes chaotic, and your chest feels tight.】

【Day 3: Cultivation remains difficult. You go to the Pill Room again, using the excuse of asking for the names of medicinal herbs to observe secretly. You discover that the Pill Room manager, Qian Tong, covertly adds a poison called 'heart-corroding grass' when preparing a certain medicinal powder (this item is not on the Sect's list of standard medicinal herbs). Alarm bells ring in your heart.】

【Day 4: Your chest tightness worsens during Cultivation, and internal inspection reveals a trace of extremely faint black Qi winding around your heart meridian, slowly eroding your Spiritual Qi. You are certain that you have been poisoned! The source is very likely that bottle of Qi Gathering Pill! You pretend to be calm and do not make a scene. Manager Qian Tong, under the guise of distributing Cultivation supplies, specifically asks if you have taken the Medicinal Pill, and implies that 'the medicinal effect needs to be continuous to be effective,' his eyes flickering.】

【Day 5: The poison worsens, and your Spiritual Qi circulation is sluggish by nearly half. You struggle to go to the Martial Arts Arena, attempting to find an opportunity to contact Su Wanzhao to warn her, but you see her being harassed by several Inner Sect Disciples, the leader being Li Yan, the nephew of Elder Li of the Enforcement Hall, speaking frivolously. Su Wanzhao's face is as cold as frost, Sword Qi spitting from her fingertips. You are shoved aside by Li Yan's followers and fail to get close.】

【Death Branch (Not Selected): You decide to go for broke and expose Qian Tong's poisoning in public. But Qian Tong bites back, framing you for stealing Medicinal Pills, and secretly triggers the toxins in your body. You collapse from the poison, your Meridians shattered, and you die miserably in front of everyone. Su Wanzhao wants to intervene but is stopped by Elder Li using Sect rules. Settlement Evaluation: Poor.】

【You choose: Endure! Pretend not to know, continue taking the Qi Gathering Pill to numb Qian Tong. Secretly use the "Hundred Herbs Atlas" to find a way to detoxify, discovering that 'heart-clearing lotus' is needed as the main medicinal ingredient. The heart-clearing lotus is a treasure of the Outer Sect medicine garden, under tight guard.】

【Day 6: You endure the pain of the toxin erosion, disguising yourself as curious about spiritual plants, and wander around the periphery of the medicine garden. You discover that the medicine garden guards have a short shift change gap at the time of the Horse (noon). You use "Luck Infusion" and unexpectedly discover a naturally grown, young heart-clearing lotus seedling in a remote stone crevice!】

【Day 7: You risk sneaking into the stone crevice during the guards' shift change and harvest the heart-clearing lotus seedling. After returning to your room, using your meager Spiritual Qi and crude tools, you barely extract a few drops of heart-clearing lotus juice containing vitality and take it. The black Qi in your body is temporarily suppressed, and the erosion speed slows down, but it is not eradicated. You realize you need more heart-clearing lotus or a more advanced detoxifying Medicinal Pill.】

【Day 8: Your body feels slightly better, and you continue to Cultivate the "Qi Refining Technique." Although slow, under the abnormal stimulation of the toxin and the nourishment of the heart-clearing lotus's vitality, your False Spiritual Root actually produces a trace of weak mutation, and your affinity for Spiritual Qi has an extremely subtle improvement. You begin to pay attention to rumors about Demonic Cultivators within the Sect, discovering that several Disciples have gone missing in the Outer Sect recently.】

【Day 9: You attempt to approach Su Wanzhao to inform her of the clues about the Demonic Cultivators and your poisoning. Su Wanzhao is half-believing of your words but promises to investigate the missing Disciple case. In the evening, you receive an anonymous Jade Slip message: "The heart-clearing lotus treats the symptoms but not the root cause. The Corpse Heart Grass Poison requires the Demonic Sect's 'Heart-Eroding Flower' as a guide to be cured. Three days later at the hour of the Rat, at Black Wind Cliff behind the mountain, trade the 'Hundred Herbs Atlas' for the antidote." You are shocked and suspicious.】

【Day 10: Su Wanzhao tells you that the last locations where the missing Disciples appeared were all near the back mountain. She has locked onto several suspicious areas. Your anxiety intensifies. Late at night, you decide to keep the appointment at Black Wind Cliff. The cold wind on the cliff top is biting, and a figure shrouded in black mist has been waiting for a long time. You hand over the "Hundred Herbs Atlas," and the other party throws a porcelain bottle. The moment you open it, a strong, strange fragrance erupts! You instantly feel dizzy, and the suppressed black Qi in your body fiercely backlashes! The black shadow lets out a weird laugh and strikes your crown with a palm!】

【Death Branch (Not Selected): You collapse from the poison and are unable to resist, killed by the black shadow with one palm, your body falling into the abyss below Black Wind Cliff. Settlement Evaluation: Medium (Successfully suppressed the toxin for several days, gained a small amount of Cultivation insight).】

【You choose: Keep the heart-clearing lotus juice under your tongue in advance! The moment the strange fragrance enters your body, the juice dissolves, forcibly protecting your heart meridian for an instant! You use all your strength to throw the sword talisman Su Wanzhao secretly gave you at the black shadow! Sword light flashes, tearing through the black mist! The black shadow grunts, seemingly injured, and in shock and anger, ignores killing you, grabs the "Hundred Herbs Atlas," and flees into the darkness. You collapse from exhaustion and fall off the cliff!】

【Cliff Adventure (Triggered "Luck Infusion"): You are caught by vines on the cliff wall and do not die. After waking up, you find yourself in a hidden cave. Inside the cave, there is a skeleton, and scattered around it are a few dim Jade Slips. One of the Jade Slips records the "Poison-Inducing Body Tempering Art (Fragment)," which is a secret technique of the Demonic Path. It can induce deadly poisons to temper the Physical Body, but it is extremely dangerous, with nine deaths and one life. Another Jade Slip records the location of a small abandoned Spirit Stone mine discovered by the owner of the skeleton (located deeper in the back mountain).】

【Day 11: You are severely injured and dying, the medicinal effect of the heart-clearing lotus in your body is exhausted, and the Corpse Heart Grass Poison and the impact caused by the sword talisman are raging. You face a choice: wait for death, or risk Cultivating the "Poison-Inducing Body Tempering Art."】

【You choose: Cultivate! Find life in death! You follow the method in the fragment, using your willpower to forcibly guide the deadly poison in your heart meridian and the internal injuries, turning them into "poison fire" to temper your Physical Body. The process is excruciatingly painful, like being sliced by a thousand knives, your Meridians breaking inch by inch and being forcibly fused back together. You are on the verge of collapse several times.】

【"Luck Infusion" takes effect! In the extreme pain, you unexpectedly trigger the weak underground Yin Qi remaining in the cave, forming a subtle balance with the "poison fire" in your body, and you survive the first round of tempering by a narrow margin. Your Physical Body strength increases significantly, your resistance to toxins is enhanced, and most of the Corpse Heart Grass Poison is forcibly refined, with the remaining part suppressed in a corner of your Dantian. Your Realm has not improved, but your body is like it has been reshaped, and your potential has grown. You are still severely injured but have saved your life.】

【Simulation ended.】

【Survival Time: 10 days (arrived at the dawn of the 11th day).】

【Cause of Death: Fell off a cliff and was severely injured, forced to Cultivate Demonic Technique and survived (Evaluation: Struggled to survive under poison and pursuit, and seized a glimmer of life).】

【Simulation Evaluation: Good (Successfully resolved the initial poisoning crisis, obtained key information and adventures, and the Physical Body was tempered).】

【Optional Rewards (Choose one): 【"Poison-Inducing Body Tempering Art" Insight (Purple)】: Preliminary understanding and control experience of this dangerous Demonic Technique, significantly reducing the risks of real-world Cultivation (cannot directly obtain the content of the technique). 【heart-clearing lotus seedling location memory (Green)】: Clearly remember the location of the heart-clearing lotus seedling in the stone crevice of the Outer Sect medicine garden. 【Corpse Heart Grass Poison resistance (Blue)】: The body develops partial resistance to Corpse Heart Grass and similar toxins.】

【Extra Reward (Because the evaluation reached 'Good' and triggered an adventure): 【Abandoned Spirit Stone mine location (One-time information)】: Coordinates of the secret mine deep in the back mountain.】

The gray-white torrent suddenly receded, like a receding tide, violently throwing Chen Feng back to reality from that simulated world filled with excruciating pain, despair, and a glimmer of life!

"Hah—!"

He snapped his eyes open, gasping violently as if a drowning man had surfaced! His whole body was instantly soaked in cold sweat, his face pale as paper, his body trembling uncontrollably, and his heart beating so wildly it felt as if it would burst through his chest! The extreme pain of the thousands of poisons devouring his heart, his Meridians breaking, and falling off the cliff in the simulation seemed to still linger in every inch of his flesh, so real that his Soul was trembling.

"Huff... huff..." He breathed in the musty air, trying to calm the palpitations that were about to explode.

As his vision focused, the first thing that came into view was Su Wanzhao's stunningly beautiful face, close at hand, filled with shock and scrutiny.

She had crouched in front of him at some point, her cold eyes churning with stormy waves, her hand pressed tightly against the hilt of her sword, her knuckles slightly white from the force.

Clearly, his violent physiological reaction when the simulation ended and the desperate aura of a dying beast that leaked out in that instant had given her a huge shock.

"What... did you see?" Su Wanzhao's voice carried a trace of tension she herself hadn't noticed.

The intense, almost tangible aura of death that had erupted from Chen Feng just now made even her, a Sword Cultivator accustomed to life and death, feel a palpitation.

Chen Feng did not answer immediately. He closed his eyes, forcibly suppressing the churning Qi and blood and the palpitations in the depths of his Soul, quickly organizing the massive amount of information obtained from the simulation.

Poisoned! Qian Tong! Poison outbreak in five days! Demonic Cultivators! Black Wind Cliff! And... Su Wanzhao's death!

When he opened his eyes again, all fear and pain were covered by an extreme coldness.

He looked straight at Su Wanzhao, his eyes as sharp as a drawn dagger, his voice hoarse but decisive:

"You will die in ten days."

Su Wanzhao's pupils contracted to the size of needle points! The hand on the sword hilt tightened abruptly, and a sharp Sword Qi instantly penetrated her body, blowing the damp hair on Chen Feng's forehead backward! The temperature in the entire room plummeted!

"What did you say?" Her voice was bone-chillingly cold, carrying biting killing intent. No one could remain calm after being prophesied to die to their face.

Chen Feng ignored the Sword Qi that was about to cut his skin, his speech rapid, every word like ice beads hitting the ground:

"I don't have time to explain whether you believe me or not. Now, listen carefully."

"First, someone poisoned me. Corpse Heart Grass, mixed into the Qi Gathering Pill. The poisoner is the Pill Room manager, Qian Tong."

"Second, behind Qian Tong are Demonic Cultivators. They have been kidnapping Outer Sect Disciples recently, and Black Wind Cliff behind the mountain is one of their strongholds."

"Third," Chen Feng's gaze locked onto Su Wanzhao, "The Demonic Cultivators' target is you! Or more accurately, some kind of power hidden within your body! They call it—'Profound Yin Maiden Body'! Ten days later at the hour of the Rat, they will spare no cost, using a Demonic Tool that can imprison the Divine Soul, to refine you at Black Wind Cliff!"

The five words "Profound Yin Maiden Body" struck Su Wanzhao's heart like a thunderbolt! Her delicate body trembled violently, and incredible horror erupted in her eyes!

This secret, even she herself only had a vague sense of Bloodline abnormality and had never mentioned it to anyone! How could he possibly know?!

Chen Feng captured the fleeting horror in her eyes and knew he had hit the core truth.

He did not give her time to digest and question, continuing to throw out key information, his tone carrying undeniable urgency:

"The Corpse Heart Grass Poison will fully erupt in five days, eroding the heart meridian. I need a heart-clearing lotus seedling to temporarily suppress it. The location is in the northeast corner of the Outer Sect medicine garden, in the stone crevice under the third blue-patterned rock! Now, immediately, go help me get it! Otherwise, I won't live past five days, let alone help you break that certain-death situation in ten days!"

He stood up abruptly. Although his steps were still a bit unsteady, his eyes burned with a desperate fire, staring fixedly at Su Wanzhao:

"If you want to live, trust me this once! Time... is running out!"