The Simulation Room

Strictly speaking, now that he'd broken through to First-rank, there wasn't much point in staying in Sandy Rock City any longer.

But before he left, Lu Yuan had decided to remain for a while.

The main reason was the auction. He'd already consigned his items and was waiting for it to conclude so he could collect his Spirit Crystals. He also needed to time his Land of Origin visits carefully to avoid missing it. In the meantime, there was Black Steel Force to train — and if the auction turned up anything useful, all the better.

During this stretch of downtime, Lu Yuan had spent every free moment browsing the Battle Net forums. Some posts were behind paywalls, and he'd shelled out a fair bit of coin to access them. The information he'd gathered, though, was substantial.

Sandy Rock City was the starter city for Gene Warriors entering the Land of Origin — all the Feral Beasts in the surrounding region were Trainee Rank, perfectly matched for Trainee Grade warriors. Feral Beasts above First-rank only existed elsewhere. Those higher-level regions naturally had their own cities.

Once he left the starter city, there would be no shortage of places to go.

White Cloud City was the largest and most prosperous of them — an original city of the Land of Origin itself, free from any racial bias. Gene Warriors of every race could settle there without issue. Red Maple City, owned by the Red Maple Empire, offered discounts on lodging and facilities for Imperial citizens. Lion City, seat of the Lion Empire, worked the same way for its own citizens. Then there were places like Tianrao City, occupied by the human Battle Emperor-level expert known as Tianrao Battle Emperor, and more besides.

Empire-controlled cities were naturally large and thriving — sprawling, bustling, and convenient for trade and everything else. Cities independently occupied by individual powerful warriors couldn't compete in terms of size or prosperity, though they did have one advantage: their fees across the board tended to be far lower. Most of the time, at least — if a particular expert happened to be extraordinarily powerful and their city held a prime location, that equation could flip.

Each city had its own character.

All of this Lu Yuan had pieced together from Battle Net forum posts.

Tempering one's Body Technique, developing Combat Technique applications, real combat — these were topics no Gene Warrior could afford to ignore.

*Three real-world days later.*

After resting to ease the lingering fatigue from the Rejuvenation evolution, Lu Yuan left the Residential Zone and made his way to the Training Hall.

Sandy Rock City had plenty of special facilities beyond the Auction House, Entertainment City, and Dueling Arena — the Training Hall among them, a dedicated space for Gene Warrior cultivation.

The Training Hall and the Dueling Arena were nearly neighbors, facing each other across a single street. Both were enormous structures. The Dueling Arena stretched nearly a kilometer in circumference — oval-shaped, three stories tall. The Training Hall occupied a roughly similar footprint but stood considerably higher at five floors, its entrance alone a full twenty meters wide. A steady stream of Gene Warriors flowed in and out of both buildings.

Lu Yuan glanced at the Dueling Arena and kept walking. At his current level of strength, entering a duel would be like a father reprimanding a child — completely pointless. He turned and stepped inside the Training Hall.

The interior opened into a vast main hall. Hundreds of people were training simultaneously, the air filled with shouts and the rhythmic thud of exertion. Human-shaped and beast-shaped dummies stood in rows alongside various pieces of equipment, provided for Gene Warriors to practice on. On one side of the hall was a small door, a Construct posted in front of it — motionless, expressionless, utterly at odds with the commotion all around it.

Lu Yuan walked over. The Construct turned its head.

"Human, do you need help?"

"I want to rent a private room."

"What type?"

He thought for a moment. "Give me a Simulation Room."

"The Simulation Room is 500 Spirit Crystals per hour. How many hours?"

"One to start."

He paid, took the black card the Construct held out, and headed upstairs. Simulation Rooms were on the fifth floor; he went straight up.

The Training Hall's private rooms came in several varieties: standard rooms stocked with various training equipment; gravity rooms with fully adjustable gravitational pull; and at the top end, Simulation Rooms capable of recreating any environment and any opponent.

The environment side covered terrain, weather, gravity, and a range of other conditions. The opponent side let you configure cultivation level, tier, type, and even area of specialty, all independently.

Five hundred Spirit Crystals an hour was steep by any measure — most Gene Warriors simply couldn't afford it. Even Lu Yuan felt a small pang at the price. But a room that could simulate both environment and opponent on demand, all for the sake of training? Worth every crystal.

He found Room 9, swiped the card, and stepped inside.

He stopped short in the doorway.

The room was roughly ten square meters. Walls of uniform silver-white. Completely bare. Nothing inside but the door he'd just come through.

He looked around. Sure enough — nothing but the door.

*How are they supposed to simulate anything in here?*

A holographic screen materialized in the air before him.

Lu Yuan stared at it, something shifting in his expression. "500 Spirit Crystals an hour really is worth it."

The screen displayed an array of customization parameters divided into two main categories: Environment and Opponent. The environment side covered terrain, weather, gravity, and more. The opponent side let him set cultivation level, tier, type, and specialty as he liked.

He licked his lips and started making selections, anticipation rising.

He settled on flat terrain. Opponent: the Boss Grade Ancient Sea Giant Crocodile he'd encountered before. Tempering set to 90%.

"That'll do. Let's see exactly how much my strength has grown."

He confirmed. The entire room blazed with a blinding flash of white light.

The silver-white walls expanded outward in every direction, then dissolved entirely. When his vision cleared, Lu Yuan was standing on a wide, sandy plain strewn with rocks.

A massive Ancient Sea Giant Crocodile stood before him.

That menacing single horn. That jet-black armored hide. Identical in every detail to the one he'd fought in the Ancient Sea — if anything, its aura felt even slightly stronger.

*How do they even simulate this?*

It was his first time in a Simulation Room, and nothing about it matched what he'd imagined.

The Boss Grade Ancient Sea Giant Crocodile spotted him and immediately let out a furious roar.

Lu Yuan spread his arms wide, completely unguarded, and smiled.

"Come on."

Faint wisps of crimson-red light began drifting from his body. His already formidable aura rose another notch.

As he walked steadily forward, the Boss Grade Ancient Sea Giant Crocodile issued one threatening roar after another. At around ten meters' distance, it finally couldn't hold back.

"ROAR!"

Deep blue light pulsed at its single horn. Three Water Arrows condensed rapidly in the air and screamed toward him.

*Hiss — hiss — hiss!*

They slammed into Lu Yuan at full speed.

He didn't move. Not a step. Not even a flinch. He couldn't feel even a trace of pain. One arrow had caught him dead on the forehead — it felt like a massage. Completely painless, actually a little pleasant.

He pressed two fingers to his forehead. Damp.

Seeing Lu Yuan completely unharmed, the Boss Grade Ancient Sea Giant Crocodile let out a strange, strangled cry. Its massive body wheeled around and bolted in the opposite direction.

Lu Yuan wasn't about to let his training dummy flee. He didn't even reach for his greatsword — just kept walking toward it, unhurried, step by step.

Something seemed to register in the creature. It let out a low growl and actually retreated a step.

*It can sense how strong I am?*

He raised an eyebrow.

Then it charged anyway — a desperate, full-body rush.

*BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!*

Lu Yuan's smile widened. He bent his knees slightly and drove his foot into the ground.

Spider-web cracks radiated from the point of impact. His body vanished.

An instant later he reappeared directly above the Boss Grade Ancient Sea Giant Crocodile's head, over ten meters away.

He raised his right foot and brought it down like a battle-axe.

*BOOM!*

A deafening crash shook the simulated plain. The Boss Grade Ancient Sea Giant Crocodile's head cratered into the earth with terrifying force. Cracks split the ground in every direction, spreading several meters outward. The charging body came to an instant, brutal stop.

A rapid series of dense bone-cracking sounds followed. The 90% tempering Boss Grade Ancient Sea Giant Crocodile died on the spot.

Lu Yuan touched his forehead again. Still damp.

He turned the thought over. *The simulated Feral Beast actually tried to run.*

He was genuinely a little surprised.

"500 Spirit Crystals an hour," he murmured. "Seriously worth it."