The Motto

[3.20 pm. Now the Jailer was truly conflicted. He was dying inside to know what made you have this ability, but he was even more certain that he could not easily touch you unless he wanted to suffer the consequences of the rules of the Warden.]

[3.21 pm. "Well, how long were you planning to stand here if I hadn't come out?" You had an idea and asked. The Jailer looked at you and shook his head, no longer wanting to converse with what he considered an anomaly like you. He took a single step and disappeared from sight, leaving you standing in the corridor looking a bit stupid.]

[3.22 pm. You were not disappointed and were rather pleasantly surprised that you actually survived this encounter. Checking your phone to see the time, you rushed towards the Cooking and Dining Area to eat what you could, but immediately ground to a halt halfway there.]

[3.23 pm. You naturally realized that you didn't have the benefit of the system to save you from your eventual fate should you ingest such energy without its debt collection facilities. It was exactly the reason why you always died in your simulations after eating yesterday, whereas you miraculously survived in reality.]

[3.24 pm. You only hesitated for a second before continuing. Even if you could not eat, you could definitely scout the place out and not rush in stupidly like the first time, ending up blindsided by other cultivators existing in the same space as you. Previously, your weakness and pervasive hunger was the reason you did not have time to stop and calculate your next steps, but now you had no pressing issues.]

[3.25 pm. You entered the dining hall and saw that everyone was basically in attendance. They were busy scarfing down as much food as they could, for this was the only way to retain their cultivation in this spiritual energy barren Immortal Locking Prison. The moment you entered, all eyes turned to you, and the already silent dining hall became even quieter.]

[3.25 pm. You could see it in their eyes, the pure shock and incomprehension. At first, you wondered why, then you glanced at the food they were eating and remembered what the old woman had told you. You then realized the obvious; these fellows had also known what fate would befall a mortal like you who consumed such food, but did not deign to warn you for whatever reason.]

[3.26 pm. You sighed internally and did not even feel angry. You had no relationship with them and did not expect them to show any kindness, but you also couldn't help but feel a hint of disappointment in your fellow man. In the end, you ignored them all and walked over to the serving area, inspecting all the food to see what you would eat later.]

[3.27 pm. This casual action snapped the others out of their stupor, making them glance at each other with incredulity. They were curious as to how you survived, but after seeing you teleport yesterday, they had already realized that you were something different.]

[3.28 pm. After checking the things here out, you greeted the old woman who was the most stunned out of everyone and then left. You returned to your cell and began cleaning it up in preparation for your long stay here.]

[3.35 pm. You were done and began setting up your various appliances one by one.]

[3.47 pm. Done setting up and arranging everything, you consumed some of the protein shake and began practicing your martial art in order to measure exactly how much benefit it gave you.]

[3.50 pm. You continued practicing.]

[4.00 pm. Your practice continues without stopping or showing signs of waning.]

[4.05 pm. You were still in the middle of your practice.]

[An hour has passed, the simulation comes to an end.]

Well…

Dalvin decidedly teleported through the first floor of the prison fast enough that he appeared within the cooking and dining area faster than he himself could blink, startling all the cultivators who were just getting their food and about to settle down.

Dalvin saw the stupefaction on their faces and felt amused rather than disappointed. He folded his arms behind his back and walked through the line, who rapidly made way for him to pass, and scouted the food on display.

His brazen behavior snapped them out of their stupor, but they did not do anything to him as expected. This allowed Dalvin to stuff his plate with a lot of the 'heavy food' and carry it to his usual sitting place.

Sitting there, with an incredulous expression, was the old woman. Even as Dalvin sat down and began scarfing what was before him wantonly, she still sat there like an old tree that was immovable by wind or rain.

It wasn't until Dalvin was done and was going for another serving that she grabbed his sleeve and pulled him to sit.

She then sized him up and down many times before speaking. "Brat, is it really you? Or is it some new anomaly here to toy with us?"

Dalvin was left speechless. "It's definitely me."

The old woman seemed to believe him instantly, which surprised him. Did she have a lie detection ability or was there special information regarding his situation or words that he did not know about?

She sighed with relief. "That's good, I don't want to have to deal with another one of those freaks. Learning their rules is so tedious and tiresome."

And fatal, Dalvin wanted to add, but he realized that that might only be so for him because he was weak. Most anomalies might be within their strength tolerance for these guys, while some others - like the jailer or the cook - were absolute.

Dalvin thought of the anomaly within the courtyard that led to this very area and felt like at a higher level of cultivation, he might be able to either deter or repel it.

He ended his thoughts and rushed back for more food while the old woman watched him silently. Knowing that he could survive the aftermath of such consumption, she was now more curious about his existence.

However, she did not pry, not yet. As she had advised Dalvin from the very beginning, information was a precious resource and should only be traded with something of equal value.

She only really informed him yesterday of his impending doom because she truly thought he would die. She didn't think it necessary to extract a price from a young man who was going to experience a gruesome end and rather let him know about it.

Dalvin saw her size him up thoughtfully and guessed that she was curious, but wondered why she didn't ask. Well, it's not like he would tell her straightaway, not because he wanted to extract a price - though he would - and not because he didn't trust her - he only trusted her about one out of a hundred - but because he could not transmit the information privately yet.

Dalvin was always painfully aware that hundreds of those domain-like spirit sense things must be scanning him at all times to glean information about why he was able to do what he did, so he played his cards close to his chest.

Lower your head, eat as much as you can, and go.

This was Dalvin's motto for the Cooking and Dining Area.