Simulate and Escape
The shrine was silent.
The masked expert stood at the entrance of the ruined shrine, his posture relaxed, his hands folded behind his back. He hadn't moved since speaking, but his presence alone was a cage.
That left him with only one option.
"System, simulate all possible so escape."
A familiar blue glow flashed across his vision as the Simulation System activated, the environment stopped. Within an instant, three possibilities unraveled before him.
[Simulation #1: Attempt to run through the shrine's entrance]
[Lu Chen dashed for the entrance, the air around him froze, as if the world itself had turned against him.
He had barely taken three steps before a force wrapped around his body, pressing down like a mountain.
The masked man barely made any move, but the weight of it was suffocating.
A single finger touched his chest, it didn't pierce his skin. It didn't need to.
A dull, crushing force spread through his body, Lu chen Qi reversed against him.
He collapsed instantly, his vision turning dark as his meridians shattered from the inside.
The last thing he saw was the masked man tilting his head slightly, as if disappointed.
Then, the world faded to black.
Simulation end.]
[Result: DEATH]
[Simulation #2: Try to negotiate]
[Lu Chen took a slow breath, forcing a calm expression onto his face.
He started trying to talk to the intruder.
The masked man didn't reply.
But Lu Chen felt it, the shift in the air, the quiet tension.
Before Lu Chen could continue to make up stories, his words were cut off, because his throat had already been crushed.
Lu Chen hadn't even seen the attack.
Hadn't felt the moment his meridians were severed with a single touch.
He simply collapsed to his knees, his vision blurred, blood trickled from his lips, his body hit the shrine's cold floor.
The masked man stepped over him, expression unreadable.
Simulation End]
[Result: DEATH]
[Simulation #3: Find a hidden escape route]
[Lu Chen didn't hesitate.
Instead of running forward, he sent Decay Qi through his feet into the shrine's floor.
Cracks spread across the old and fragile ground.
almost instantly, the ground caved in beneath him.
Lu Chen fell into darkness.
The underground air was thick with dust, but Lu Chen didn't stop moving. Behind him, the masked man reacted instantly.
But there was one problem.
The passage was too narrow.
If the masked man wanted to follow, he would have to use brute force to clear a path, and this gave Lu Chen a few seconds advantage
Lu Chen didn't waste time, he focused his Qi, sending another pulse of Decay Energy into the tunnel.
The already fragile passage behind him began to collapse.
Tons of rubble fell, the masked man couldn't follow.
Lu Chen didn't stop running.
He had survived.
Simulation End]
[Result: HIGH RISK – SUCCESS ESCAPE]
The world snaps back to reality.
Lu Chen's eyes flashed with an imperceptible happiness as his mind returned to his dying body.
Lu Chen forced a strained smile as he looked at the masked intruder.
The Masked Man was at the end of his patience so he raised a single finger.
In an instant, the air around Lu Chen solidified.
An invisible force pressed against his body. It wasn't an attack, just a warning.
Lu Chen knew that he didn't have much time to waste, if he delayed too much, the future could still change, if he didn't move now, he never would.
Boom!
A surge of Decay Qi burst from his feet, spreading into the fragile stone under him. Cracks split across the ground, and in the same instant, the floor gave way.
Lu Chen fell into the Depths shadow of the shrine floor
No one could imagine that under the temple floor there was a passage.
The air rushed past him as Lu Chen descended into darkness.
The shrine's foundations had weakened over time. With a precise application of Decay Qi, he had collapsed just enough of the floor to break through.
He landed on solid ground, his legs bending to absorb the impact. The air here was damp, filled with the scent of rot and stone.
A narrow tunnel stretched ahead, long abandoned and barely stable.
Lu Chen didn't hesitate.
He used the impact absorption movement as a momentum, creating a fluid and continuous move.
The movement sequence was so fluid and without any hesitation that would impress anyone who saw it.
...
Above, the masked man's amused expression vanished.
His spiritual sense spread downward, piercing through the rubble.
Lu Chen was escaping.
"Dammit."
With a single step, he descended into the broken passageway.
Lu Chen felt it, the presence behind him, his instincts screamed danger as a surge of Qi rushed toward him.
"He's already coming?!"
Lu Chen clenched his teeth.
If he kept running, the masked man would catch him in moments.
He had to collapse the tunnel now.
Activating Decay Qi once more, he struck the tunnel walls.
The old stone groaned and cracked.
A massive boulder overhead trembled.
Just as Lu Chen dashed past the threshold, the entire passage collapsed.
A deafening roar echoed through the tunnel as tons of rock crashed down.
Dust filled the air, the entrance was now completely sealed.
Lu Chen didn't stop running or look back.
Even if the masked man stopped by the collapse, it was only for a short time.
He ran while using the shadow steps at the limit.
He knew that the masked man didn't want his actions to be seen by the public, so only by staying in the sect could he have the slightest bit of safety.
And now, without Zhao Feng's presence, there was no reason not to return.
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