Great, it's just a lackey, we're saved!

Chapter 243 Escaping the Academy

Tan Lin lived in this repetitive environment for dozens of days, and the eerie atmosphere was driving him almost insane.

"I've found that as long as I don't force my way through the mountain gate with my own people, everyone still remembers what happened the day before."

“Once I lead people to the mountain gate, and someone steps into the mist, everything will return to square one.”

Upon hearing this, Zhou Wei raised an eyebrow, clearly not expecting this to be a high-level instance.

A typical cycle involves repeating the same actions within the same day.

The one Tan Lin encountered was different.

"Mr. Tan, after each reset, do the words and actions of the fellow disciples still remain the same?" Zhou Wei asked curiously.

Tan Lin shook his head: "It's different! I tried it for five days, and I found that even though the starting point was the same, the words and actions of my fellow disciples were different in the three five-day periods. Even I was influenced by them and reacted differently than in the previous five days."

This time, Zhou Wei was even more surprised.

This kind of constantly changing cyclical copy is the most advanced of the advanced.

To give a simple example, if such a dungeon were placed on a computer, and you wanted the NPCs to react differently in each cycle and do different things every day, a lot of memory would be needed.

It also places considerable demands on the processor's computing power.

If this were placed in the Great Zhou Dynasty, a world of high martial arts, and assuming this cyclical dungeon was created by a powerful figure, the amount of "cultivation" he would consume in the dungeon would be enormous!

As far as the cultivation world of the Great Zhou Dynasty is concerned, not even a terrestrial immortal has appeared for a long time.

Such a powerful instance cannot be sustained by the cultivation level of a single person alone; it inevitably requires the assistance of external forces.

Moreover, this external force cannot withstand Tan Lin's constant depletion!

He stayed inside for a long time, and each experiment was a huge challenge to the available resources of the instance.

If Zhou Wei is the one who created this instance, then the existence of someone like Tan Lin is a bug and needs to be removed immediately.

Otherwise, this cyclical world will collapse very soon!

Thinking of this, Zhou Wei smiled and said, "Mr. Tan, I dare to guess that it was much easier for you to completely leave the academy than you imagined, right?"

Upon hearing this, Tan Lin was startled and looked at Zhou Wei in surprise.

Zhou Wei wasn't finished speaking. She continued, "I can even say with certainty that once you're out, you'll never be able to return to the world of the academy, won't you?"

Tan Lin was truly speechless with shock this time.

He never expected that Zhou Wei would guess the ending correctly before the story was even finished.

Unlike Tan Lin's surprise, the eldest princess looked at Zhou Wei with bright eyes.

She understood Zhou Wei's intelligence better than anyone else, and seeing Tan Lin's reaction, the princess felt a surge of pride.

Although she didn't know why Zhou Wei had this guess, she was sure that Weiwei was right!

Tan Lin's voice trembled slightly: "Zhou Dianjun is absolutely right. I've been lingering in the academy for dozens of days, but I really can't think of a way to break it. In my despair, the image of the white jade steps at the archway flashed through my mind."

"I suddenly remembered that I used to let others step into the fog, but I was too afraid to go in myself."

What would happen if I also walked into the fog?

Before Tan Lin could answer, Zhou Wei replied, "When you entered the mist, you must have directly stepped onto the white jade steps and then descended the mountain, right?"

Tan Lin nodded, looking somewhat confused.

"Indeed, I had imagined a million possibilities, what I would encounter if I stepped into the mist, but in the end, I walked straight out of the mountain gate without any danger."

After Tan Lin's feet left the last white jade step, he slowly turned around.

He discovered that the stairs had not disappeared, but were instead covered by a mist that seemed to have come from nowhere.

The eldest princess asked curiously, "In the past, when the gates of Zhengshan Academy were locked, the white jade steps were never visible. I have never heard of anything like this, hidden in the mist. Does this mean the gates are locked?"

Tan Lin shook his head, clearly unable to define it either.

"This was the first time I had encountered such a situation, but once I left the mountain gate, there was no reason to go back. I ran like a madman to the nearest market town, and only when I saw the bustling crowd in the market town did I breathe a sigh of relief."

Zhou Wei could understand Tan Lin; he had been circulating in the academy for dozens of days and was already somewhat mentally disoriented.

Even after successfully graduating from the academy, they still worried that they might have fallen into another cycle.

Only when I saw that everything was normal in the market did I feel relieved.

"Have you asked anyone how much time has passed since the day the mountain gates were locked?"

“Only one day has passed.” Tan Lin blurted out, his tone filled with shock.

He couldn't accept the huge difference between spending dozens of days in the academy and only one day outside.

"People in the market said that they saw a large number of students coming down from the direction of Zhengshan Academy yesterday, saying that the academy was going to lock its gates."

"Because the incident happened so suddenly, some students didn't even have time to inform their families. After leaving the academy, they stayed at inns in the market."

"Upon hearing this, I disregarded everything else and began searching through the inns in the market, and I actually found Ji Zhengyao!"

Tan Lin, acting like a madman, rampaged through the market, quickly attracting a large crowd of onlookers.

When Ji Zhengyao and the other students of the academy saw Tan Lin, each of them showed a look of shock.

They all asked him what had happened and why he had come down the mountain.

Ji Zhengyao was even worried for him, thinking that Tan Lin had gone down the mountain without permission, and urged him to go back quickly so as not to anger the headmaster.

Tan Lin took a deep breath and said, "At that time, many students surrounded me. I didn't know how to explain, and I dared not mention the abnormality of the academy."

The eldest princess nodded firmly: "You were right not to say it. This matter is very suspicious at first glance, and someone must have done it on purpose. If you had said it, you probably wouldn't have survived until today."

“Your Highness is right. So when everyone was surrounding me, I could only say that I followed behind them and sneaked out before the mountain gate was locked.”

“Ji Zhengyao and I are on good terms. As soon as he heard that I had run away, he immediately wanted to take people to send me back.”

“I wanted to refuse, but then I thought of the white jade staircase hidden in the mist, so I agreed to Ji Zhengyao’s proposal.”

The group followed Tan Lin to the foot of the academy mountain, where they were met with a scene that shocked Tan Lin.

The mist that had obscured the white jade steps was gone, and with it, the path back to the mountain gate had also disappeared!

Upon seeing this, Ji Zhengyao became extremely anxious, knowing that the academy's gates were truly locked.

With the disappearance of the white jade staircase, outsiders could no longer enter the academy.

This has always been the rule of Zhengshan Academy.

"When Ji Zhengyao saw that I was distraught, he suggested that I go back to Tianji Pavilion with him first. Although the headmaster did not say when the mountain gate would open, it would not be closed forever."

“I can stay at Tianji Pavilion temporarily and come back when the mountain gate opens. But I don’t want to leave, and I can’t tell him the real reason. I’m so distressed.”

Tan Lin's tone was tinged with bitterness.

He went from being a disciple of the academy to a lonely figure, and he dared not tell his friends the secret in his heart.

Given that I was so young at the time, you can imagine how painful it must have been!

Tan Lin settled into the inn, and the students from the blessed land gradually left the market.

The last one to leave was Ji Zhengyao. Ji Zhengyao still told Tan Lin that if he couldn't wait for the mountain gate to open, he should go to the Tianji Pavilion to find him. He wouldn't let Tan Lin be homeless.

Tan Lin was touched and promised that he would go to Tianji Pavilion regardless of whether the mountain gate opened later!

Hearing this, Zhou Wei sighed inwardly, feeling somewhat sorry for Tan Lin.

He promised his friend that he would visit Tianji Pavilion, but Zhou Wei learned from the Princess that Tianji Pavilion had also encountered trouble later.

The timing is almost identical to the time of the incident at Zhengshan Academy.

This parting between Tan Lin and Ji Zhengyao, these two good friends, may very well be their last!