Chapter 340 – A Special Hidden Realm

Villa, living room.

After some playful banter, Su Ming and Xu Xiayan finally settled down here.

Chi Qian, Mu Yan, Feng Qing’er, and Tong Xinyao arrived one after another, taking their seats and engaging in casual conversation with Xu Xiayan.

It was mainly Xu Xiayan asking questions, while the others answered appropriately.

They would answer truthfully regarding matters not involving team secrets.

But when it came to team secrets, that was a different story.

Fortunately, Xu Xiayan only wanted to confirm the current status of “Azure Mercury” and Su Ming’s position within the team, showing no interest in any confidential information about “Azure Mercury” that shouldn’t be disclosed to outsiders.

After this “home visit,” Xu Xiayan seemed to have confirmed that Chi Qian and the others meant no harm to Su Ming, putting her mind completely at ease.

“Knowing that everything is normal and going smoothly on your end puts my mind at rest,” Xu Xiayan said, sipping the tea that Tong Xinyao had obediently brewed while patting her little head, then looking at Su Ming with a smile. “Since you have such a perfect start, you must make the most of it. As long as you don’t lose your early advantage or blindly pursue goals beyond your capabilities, I believe you’ll eventually secure a place at the top of Tianfeng City.”

After today’s visit, Xu Xiayan was convinced of this.

With “Azure Mercury” providing protection along the way and a Six-Star Professional like Chi Qian pledging lifelong service, as long as Su Ming doesn’t get arrogant, given his Seven-Star potential, reaching the pinnacle of Tianfeng City is only a matter of time.

This made Xu Xiayan both emotional and happy.

After all, he’s a junior from the same place, and seeing her junior achieve such success gave Xu Xiayan every reason to feel pleased.

“By the way,” Xu Xiayan suddenly remembered something.

“Do you remember what I mentioned to you at the bar before?”

Xu Xiayan’s sudden change of topic made Su Ming pause for a moment before he recalled.

“Are you talking about that thing you said would become a good opportunity if I had enough strength?”

Previously, during their meeting at the bar, after learning preliminary information about “Azure Mercury,” Xu Xiayan had mentioned a grand event to Su Ming.

What exactly this grand event was, Xu Xiayan hadn’t specified, only saying that if Su Ming had sufficient strength and brought his team to participate, it would be beneficial.

But regarding the specific details, Xu Xiayan had told Su Ming that she needed to confirm “Azure Mercury’s” strength first before deciding whether to tell him.

Now that Xu Xiayan had confirmed “Azure Mercury’s” new capabilities and verified that there were no concerning issues within the team, she decided it was time to inform Su Ming.

“Commander Chi might have heard about this,” Xu Xiayan began, then proceeded to explain.

“Because it’s extremely close to the Chaos Demon Cave, or more precisely, built along the necessary path from the Chaos Demon Cave to the mainland, there are many Hidden Realms surrounding Tianfeng City.”

“Hidden Realms are areas where the real environment has been affected by the Spirit Demon Abyss, manifesting environments suitable for Phantom Demons from the Spirit Demon Abyss into reality.””Among the numerous realms, there is one type that is rather special.”

Xu Xiayan’s explanation seemed to remind Chi Qian of something.

“Captain Xu,” Chi Qian looked at Xu Xiayan and asked uncertainly, “are you referring to the Hidden Realm?” “Hidden Realm?”

Mu Yan, Feng Qing’er, and Tong Xinyao all felt a stir in their hearts.

“Hidden Realm?” Su Ming asked in confusion, “What is that?”

Hearing this, Chi Qian explained it to Su Ming.

“Just as Captain Xu said, it’s a rather special type of realm,” Chi Qian told Su Ming. “Generally speaking, realms are formed when environments from the Spirit Demon Abyss manifest in the real world as special areas.”

“However, for environments from the Spirit Demon Abyss to materialize in the real world, certain conditions must be met.”

“For example, forests in the Spirit Demon Abyss will only manifest in forested areas of the real world, and mountains will only replace real-world mountains when they appear in our world.”

“If there’s no terrain around the Spirit Demon Abyss Entrance that matches the corresponding conditions, the realm cannot take form in the real world.”

Under such circumstances, a special type of realm emerges.

“The so-called Hidden Realm refers to a realm that should have appeared in the real world under the influence of the Spirit Demon Abyss, but due to the lack of suitable terrain near the Spirit Demon Abyss Entrance, it manifests incompletely.”

Chi Qian explained everything to Su Ming.

“It’s said that this type of realm is caught between the real world and the Spirit Demon Abyss, usually appearing no different from a mirage. Only during special periods does an entrance appear, maintaining an illusory state.”

That’s why this type of realm is called the Hidden Realm.

Because it normally doesn’t manifest, and even when it does, it only appears like a mirage—wavering and illusory. Only during special periods does it connect with the real world, allowing people to enter.

“I’ve heard that these Hidden Realms are extremely rare, belonging to special cases. There are less than ten known throughout the entire world, and some only connect with the real world after long intervals—perhaps not even once in ten or a hundred years.”

At this point, Chi Qian paused slightly before continuing.

“I’ve also heard that because the formation conditions for these realms are very special, they’re filled with treasures everywhere. Combined with the fact that normally no one can enter to collect those rare natural treasures, the probability of finding precious treasures in these Hidden Realms is extremely high.”

Hearing this, Su Ming’s eyes lit up slightly.

“So you’re saying that the so-called Hidden Realm is a treasure land filled with riches?”

Su Ming looked at Xu Xiayan with burning eyes.

There was no helping it—he had come to Tianfeng City precisely for resources, for crystal chips, to open packages.

If such a treasure land truly existed, it would indeed be a feast for him.

Of course, the same applied to other Professionals.

And since Xu Xiayan had brought this up, did that mean…

“It seems you’ve already guessed it.”

Just as Su Ming was feeling so expectant, Xu Xiayan smiled slightly and gave him exciting news.

“That’s right. At the northern end of Tianfeng City, the detection department has detected activity from a Hidden Realm. Barring any unexpected circumstances, a Hidden Realm will appear there soon.”

Xu Xiayan’s words made all the girls feel a surge of excitement in their hearts.”So you’re saying that a treasure trove filled with rare spiritual materials is about to appear around Tianfeng City?”

Feng Qing’er grew excited.

“A Hidden Realm…”

Chi Qian and Mu Yan exchanged glances, both seeing dazzling brilliance in each other’s eyes.

Even Tong Xinyao gently covered her small mouth, appearing absolutely delighted.

This was something even the former “Crimson” had never encountered, making it a tremendous surprise for them all. Unfortunately, just as everyone was getting excited, Xu Xiayan poured cold water on their enthusiasm.

“Don’t celebrate too early.” Xu Xiayan shook her head and said, “The Tianfeng City Executives have regulations that information about Hidden Realms can only circulate among Rank B and above teams. Teams below Rank B cannot enter Hidden Realms.”

Everyone’s expressions shifted slightly.

“Only Rank B and above teams can enter?”

Su Ming also furrowed his brows tightly.

“This is to prevent weaker teams from causing chaos in the Hidden Realm,” Xu Xiayan explained. “Hidden Realms are famously known as treasure lands, but they’re equally famous as dangerous territories.”

“Because they normally have no human interference, the Phantom Demons inside have evolved to relatively high Ranks through years of fighting and devouring, making them quite powerful.”

“So far, there hasn’t been a single confirmed Hidden Realm that’s below A-Rank.”

In other words, Hidden Realms are at minimum equivalent to A-Rank realms – one can imagine how dangerous they must be.

Such places naturally can’t allow small teams to wander in recklessly.

Otherwise, losing their lives would be the minor concern; if they greatly disturb the Phantom Demons in the Hidden Realm and cause them to riot, that would be a serious disaster.

“So we can’t enter the Hidden Realm to search for treasures?”

Feng Qing’er immediately looked disappointed.

Not just Feng Qing’er, but even Chi Qian and Mu Yan deeply furrowed their brows, while Tong Xinyao also looked heartbroken.

Although “Azure Mercury” had a high starting point, it was ultimately only an E-Rank team.

To raise the team’s Rank, they needed to complete a certain number of missions with corresponding difficulty levels, plus undergo review by the Professional Center to confirm they possessed the appropriate strength. This wasn’t something that could be achieved overnight.

Otherwise, Xu Xiayan wouldn’t need to work so hard preparing to charge toward S-Rank, and the former “Crimson” wouldn’t have risked taking an S-Rank mission just to advance to A-Rank.

“Your team’s Rank should be upgraded soon, but even at the fastest pace, reaching B-Rank would take at least one or two years.”

Xu Xiayan’s implication was clear – she was telling Su Ming and the others that obtaining entry qualification through team Rank promotion wasn’t realistic.

However…

“Besides having sufficient team Rank, there should be other ways to obtain qualification, right?”

Su Ming looked at Xu Xiayan and spoke these words.

He believed that since Xu Xiayan had brought this matter up with him, it proved that “Azure Mercury” might possibly obtain qualification to enter the Hidden Realm.

Sure enough…”Among teams, there exists a hiring system,” Xu Xiayan smiled as she spoke to Su Ming. “It’s a system that can be utilized when a team is about to undertake a highly difficult mission but feels their own strength is insufficient.”

“Specifically, one team can issue a commission to hire another team to join them and help complete the task.”

“This hiring system can also be used when entering a Hidden Realm.” Upon hearing this, everyone’s eyes lit up again, fully grasping Xu Xiayan’s meaning.

(End of Chapter)