Chapter 173 – The Land of Challenge

To Mu Yuan’s surprise, the crucial item he had desperately sought yesterday now showed promising leads today.

After turning off the bronze communication mirror and using it as an ordinary mirror to straighten his clothes and appearance, Mu Yuan headed toward a Secret Realm Gate beside the Lord Altar.

Passing through the rippling water curtain, a courtyard filled with birdsong and floral fragrance suddenly unfolded before his eyes.

With no gathering today, the Secret Realm was sparsely populated by players. Only a few maid dolls in black and white dresses could be seen busily sweeping with brooms.

He walked straight to the café and arrived at the familiar table by the floor-to-ceiling window in the innermost section.

Here, the Cold Moon City Lord Liu Xiyue was nowhere to be seen, but the little rich girl Liu Miumiu was waving at him.

“Over here, big shot!”

Liu Miumiu enthusiastically recounted her exploration experiences and territory management progress.

She mentioned having conquered two powerful monster tribes and recruited/subdued an outstanding three-star fierce general—the Merman High Priest.

“Not bad, you’re doing great.”

Mu Yuan praised her sincerely.

After all, he had only conquered over a dozen monster tribes himself, and his Tianyuan Territory possessed fewer than twenty outstanding three-star commanders.

The gap between him and Liu Miumiu wasn’t particularly large.

“You should be careful, big shot—I’ll catch up to you soon.Liu Miumiu said seriously, though she felt helpless remembering how her right-hand woman Princess Feixi often talked about Tianyuan.

I’m the lord here, after all.

Even though Tianyuan is indeed incredibly impressive.

She paused, then produced a mysterious crescent-shaped key shimmering with faint radiance and handed it over:

“This is the key to the Land of Trials.”

Truly worthy of a rich girl—able to obtain such rare items so easily.

Mu Yuan asked, “What’s the price?”

Liu Miumiu replied, “It’s free. Actually, my sister wanted to give this key to you, but she’s been too busy lately to get away. She didn’t pay for it either—this key was officially distributed to promising lords… She just recommended you for it.”

Mu Yuan was surprised.

The Cold Moon City Lord had such high expectations of him?

To be honest, he wasn’t particularly confident himself. If the competition could be delayed six months or a year, things might be different, but currently, the timeframe was too short.

He, Mu Someone, was just an ordinary lord with a bit of ‘talent’ after all.

Perhaps sensing Mu Yuan’s misunderstanding, Liu Miumiu quickly added, “No, no, what my sister meant was—if there’s a chance to get a top-tier Secret Realm key for free, you might as well take it.”

She recalled yesterday’s conversation with her sister.

“Isn’t it too early, sis?”

“Early? Maybe. But since it’s free anyway, might as well let him try.”

“But won’t he get discouraged? I heard the Land of Trials is super difficult.”

Liu Xiyue glanced at her.

Her eyes carried three parts disdain, three parts resignation, and four parts ‘my soft, cute, yet foolish little sister.’

Liu Miumiu understood completely.

“This is exactly why I’m not giving you the key, and why there’s such a huge gap between you and Tianyuan.”

“Others might get discouraged entering the Land of Trials too early, but Tianyuan’s talent isn’t inferior to your sister’s. I believe he’ll only grow stronger through adversity, and the Land of Trials’ rewards will help him advance faster.””My sister said this key was obtained through the Dragon Court Competition, but when it comes to competitions… we need to maintain a normal mindset. After all, we’re still young, and our territory’s troop numbers are limited, let alone forming one or two complete elite legions.”

“And the Land of Trials is very difficult. Even someone as skilled as you might die miserably… uh, might struggle significantly.”

She spoke awkwardly.

Mu Yuan indicated his understanding, “Don’t worry, I know my limits well. If I find it too difficult to breakthrough, I definitely won’t force my way through. Our focus should remain on territory development anyway.”

Liu Miumiu: “Exactly, exactly.”

Afterwards, Mu Yuan inquired about the general situations of lords like Wuji and Kongming.

They basically all possessed two or three complete ace legions. What constitutes a complete legion? It refers to a legion entirely composed of rare troops, cultivated to the Elite tier to realize their potential, with numbers exceeding one hundred.

Such a legion, with just one hundred troops, can become a sharp saber; with three hundred troops, they can charge through enemy lines seven times; with a thousand troops, they can annihilate armies dozens or hundreds of times their size.

A veteran lord’s army typically consists of three types: complete ‘ace legions,’ semi-cultivated ‘ordinary legions,’ and basically uncultivated ‘cannon fodder legions’ used for scouting and drawing fire.

However, less capable veteran lords often have ‘ace legions’ composed of various rare troops – essentially ‘miscellaneous forces’ – since they lack the ability to gather a single type or lineage of rare troops.

More powerful lords would form legions with a single troop type, creating forces with better coordination, or focus on troop combinations and combat synergy.

Compared to other territories where Elite tiers are everywhere and Professional tiers are as common as dogs, his Tianyuan Territory indeed lags far behind, with only about a dozen Elite tier experts to date.

“I really am still too weak.”

After chatting a while longer, Mu Yuan bid farewell to Liu Miumiu.

He stood before the Lord Altar, with two Secret Realms on either side. The previous Festival Grounds Secret Realm had disappeared after closing.

He took out this magnificent crescent-shaped key, connected with his territory through mental communication, and activated it.

Hum—

Golden radiance burst from the crescent, intertwining to form a golden archway with mysterious patterns, standing about ten meters above the altar.

He himself stepped toward the golden archway, as if walking on invisible stairs, climbing higher step by step until he reached this extraordinary golden Secret Realm Gate.

Land of Trials!

This Secret Realm is positioned at a very high level, almost exclusively for veteran lords to enter, yet it’s simultaneously one of the most famous major Secret Realms. The forums contain no shortage of information and rumors about it.

True to its name, it’s a challenge-type Secret Realm.

The ‘Newbie Challenge Realm’ he experienced years ago was an elementary version of this category, while the Land of Trials is a top-tier Secret Realm.

It exists eternally, without time restrictions.

And likewise,

No one has truly reached its end.

Even in the eyes of top-tier lords, this Secret Realm remains shrouded in mystery, its depths unclear.

Mu Yuan passed through the spatial curtain and entered. What greeted his eyes was a vast, expansive white platform, with a magnificent Crimson Giant Tower standing at the center of the spacious platform. It appeared divided into roughly seven layers, with streams of light flickering between each level.Peering deeper through the Crimson Giant Tower, one could vaguely glimpse another equally magnificent Orange Giant Tower, though it was extremely distant, veiled in mist like the moon in a watery mirror—unreachable.

‘The First Tower.’

Mu Yuan thought to himself.

Around the giant tower, over a dozen figures could be seen from afar, though they appeared minuscule and insignificant beneath the grand and vast Crimson Giant Tower.

These individuals were likely lords from the Xuan Nation.

Just like the Novice Trial Grounds and Festival Grounds, which were divided into parallel secret realm spaces by region, the Land of Trials was the same.

The difference was that the further one ventured into the Land of Trials, the more the spaces overlapped. What he saw around the Crimson Giant Tower were merely lords from the Taixuan Territory. However, if he entered the range of the second giant tower, he would encounter the Godly Radiance Lord and other Blue Star lords.

“Someone else has arrived.”

“He looks very young, and I don’t recognize him. Seems like a newcomer.”

“A newcomer? Finally, another newcomer has come to the Land of Trials, cackle~!”

The moment Mu Yuan stepped in, he caught the attention of the veteran lords.

This place was vast—any Taixuan lord who used a Secret Realm Key would set foot here. Yet, it was also small, so small that sometimes not a single adorable newcomer could be seen for ten days or half a month.

They looked over.

The newcomer wore a tailored navy-blue mage robe, with slightly long hair tied up in a tall crown. His features were delicate and refined, resembling an elegant young master from ancient times.

In the Eternal World, such antiquated attire was mainstream, especially among the older lords.

There was nothing particularly unusual about this style, though some female lords secretly thought, ‘What a handsome young man, just the type aunties like.’

Lord Mu was actually quite muscular, but after integrating with the Dolai template, his appearance leaned more toward slender and refined, making him seem a few years younger—almost the youngest among the veteran lords.

He glanced around a few times and then strode directly toward the Crimson Giant Tower, his figure quickly disappearing through the main gate.

At the same moment,

At the base of the Crimson Giant Tower, on the first level, a stream of light appeared, shimmering faintly with a dim glow.

“He really is a newcomer,”

declared a lord who witnessed this scene. “Guess how many levels this young newcomer can clear?”

This was the Crimson Giant Tower, also known as the First Trial Tower, with a total of seven trials. Only by passing all seven could one enter the second area, which was where the Orange Giant Tower stood.

The lord who spoke wore sturdy armor but no helmet. His eyes held a weathered depth, and his black hair cascaded wildly and casually over his shoulders, yet it did not appear messy but rather exuded an untamed, heroic spirit.

He was a City Lord, a renowned lord even within the vast Taixuan Alliance.

Respectfully addressed as the Demon Sword City Lord.

He had entered the Land of Trials years ago and had been challenging the trials for a long time, yet he still hadn’t cleared the Crimson Giant Tower.

It wasn’t that the Demon Sword City Lord was too weak, but the difficulty of this top-tier secret realm, the Land of Trials, was exceedingly high. The majority of seasoned lords remained stuck in this ‘First Tower Zone.’

The Demon Sword City Lord’s friend, another veteran lord, the Silver Light City Lord, shook their head. “What’s there to guess? Of course, he won’t even pass the first trial. The newcomer looks far too young; he must have entered the Eternal World only recently, at most two or three years ago.””You have to understand, even the descendants of Great Lords typically aren’t selected until they’re sixteen at the earliest. Many don’t enter until eighteen, twenty, or even older. But this young man, he doesn’t look twenty yet, does he? He’s about the same age as my son.”

Another close friend, the female City Lord titled ‘Wave City Lord’, wouldn’t accept this. Crossing her arms, she declared, “Well I refuse to believe it! I’ll bet this adorable newcomer can clear the first trial! I’m rooting for him!”

Despite her words, the Wave City Lord was merely putting up a tough front.

As a Lord who had conquered the Crimson Giant Tower herself, she knew full well that the Land of Trials offered no easy stages. This was a top-tier Secret Realm, meaning the starting difficulty was also top-tier!

Countless genius Lords had arrived brimming with confidence, only to be defeated in the very first, weakest trial, beaten so thoroughly by the monsters that they questioned their entire existence.

There had even been instances where Lords emerged from the tower on the verge of tears.

Sometimes, being lucky enough to obtain a key to the Land of Trials wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

She hoped this charming and handsome young man wouldn’t be too discouraged.

Just one chapter for now, the next one… shouldn’t be too late QAQ

(End of Chapter)