Chapter 48 – Challenging the Secret Realm

That night,

Mu Yuan remained energetic even after practicing several sets of calisthenics. Sitting before his computer, he carefully manipulated the mouse and gently tapped the keyboard, afraid of accidentally breaking the peripherals.

Perhaps the Nine Profound Nurturing Fluid was sufficiently advanced, as the enhancement process was gentle and meticulous. Combined with his increased Mental Energy and improved bodily control, he hadn’t encountered embarrassing situations like smashing tables or snapping chopsticks yet.

Had he used certain “more cost-effective” Treasures that disregarded humanity, he might have already started demolishing his home by now.

It was worth mentioning that after his Mental Energy significantly improved, Mu Yuan now barely needed the mouse and keyboard for gaming. With a single thought, his in-game character would move accordingly, and when he spoke, the character would follow suit—convenient and efficient.

Of course, he still temporarily relied on the computer as an interface medium.

But logging into the Taixuan Forum still required using the mouse and keyboard, so he couldn’t help but be cautious.

“The Goblin Camp must be eradicated as soon as possible, but I can’t let these goblins disrupt my development pace.”

He had two core objectives when exploring the outside world: first, to eliminate major threats like the Goblin Camp to prevent enemies from swarming in during the Lord’s trial period.

The second was to search for and obtain various rare Treasures that could enhance his strength.

This second point was more important than the first. As long as his own power was sufficient, he could completely disregard the strength of surrounding monster hordes.

When the time came, he could simply eradicate them all.

How to find these rare Treasures was mentioned in many paid strategy posts on the forum.

After passing the resource assessment, he even obtained an Advanced strategy guide from the association, which listed possible Treasure Lands and Opportunities around new Lords’ territories.

“Let’s skip discussing monster gathering spots and Remnant Soul Projection Points, and focus on the rarer, high-value Treasure Lands, such as Ancient Architectural Ruins, Shrines, and so on.”

“That’s right, the Eternal World once hosted ancient civilizations—more than one—and some of these civilizations were incredibly glorious. Even the slightest remnants they left behind hold immense value. As for Shrines… it’s said they retain the power of long-fallen ancient deities. If a Lord can find such Treasure Lands, there’s a high probability of receiving beneficial blessings or Miracle Blueprints.”

“However, all of the above come with considerable uncertainties. Ancient Architectural Ruins might contain nothing at all, and Shrines might have completely lost their former brilliance. But there is one type of Treasure Land where entry guarantees rewards: the Challenge Realm.”

Challenge Realms remained unfamiliar territory even to many veteran players. Reportedly, they were a particularly special type of Secret Realm, shaped by the rules of the Eternal World, serving as reward realms for high-potential players.

Similar to gifts from heaven and earth.

They came in two types: fixed Secret Realms and random time-limited Secret Realms.

The Xuan Nation authorities apparently controlled some fixed Secret Realm entrances, though this was far beyond the reach of newcomers like them—most veteran players weren’t qualified to challenge these realms either.

Random time-limited Challenge Realms were exactly as their name suggested: their entrances could appear anywhere in the world and would disappear after a certain period.

“And among Challenge Realms, there’s a small category called Newbie Challenge Realms, which only new Lords can enter.””This is a typical secret realm with low difficulty, high rewards, and absolutely no danger. Its entrance may randomly appear around stronger novice territories and only manifests during this period before the trials arrive. Capable newcomers should give it a try and not miss this opportunity to receive the world’s bounty.”

“Worth mentioning is that although the Newbie Challenge Realm itself contains no dangers, the entrance is often surrounded by numerous monsters. Only by eliminating these monsters can one truly step into the secret realm. Therefore, even if a novice discovers the entrance, they must act according to their capabilities. It may not be worth it if they lose large numbers of troops in the process.”

“This is why typically, only the most outstanding small group of newcomers can enter this Challenge Realm.”

Mu Yuan stroked his chin.

His territory should definitely qualify as a stronger novice territory, right?

The materials also included schematic diagrams of the Challenge Realm entrance.

—An ancient spacetime gate stood tall on the earth, within which swirled a vortex of time and space.

The appearance was quite distinctive, but he needed to be cautious about the entrance being hidden in some mountain valley. He would need to pay special attention to this later.

……

In the Eternal World,

Mu Yuan was carefully removing the iron fragments and wood splinters embedded in his light player armor, then glanced around. The equipment wear on other troop types was also quite severe. The worst off was the sentinel guard, whose shield was shattered with only less than half remaining.

But no matter, Evolution Points would handle it.

The sentinel guard with the most damaged equipment and the archer with the most severe injuries happened to be the individuals he had previously identified as having ‘slightly superior aptitude.’

Perhaps heaven was preparing them for great responsibilities by first testing their equipment and suffering their bodies.

Well, since evolution could also repair injuries, Mu Yuan only gave the archer simple bandaging and treatment—just enough to stabilize the wounds.

The territory was newly established and funds were tight. The archer would understand.

“Let’s begin.”

Before the Lord Altar, awakened troops like Bone Two, Bone Three, and Dolai had gathered to watch. However, Deadbone wasn’t present, as he was still diligently managing territory affairs.

Mu Yuan approached the battle-damaged sentinel guard and lightly pointed a finger through the air.

Hum—

The radiance of miracle light descended, bathing the sentinel guard in white brilliance as he began his promotion.

「Ding!」

「Prompt: Your troop ‘Sentinel Guard (Common ★★)’ has undergone transformation bathed in Miracle Light and has been promoted to ‘Imperial Guard (Rare ★)’.」

「Prompt: Your troop Imperial Guard has learned the skills ‘Shield Bash’ and ‘Guardian’.」

The evolution’s white light quickly faded, revealing the rare troop Imperial Guard clad in deep blue full-body armor, with even his face securely covered by a face guard.

He similarly wielded a spear and large shield. The massive shield, standing over one to two meters tall, was engraved with a blue eagle spreading its wings in flight.

This shield gave Mu Yuan a strong sense of security.

So did the Imperial Guard’s skills.

Shield Bash could be briefly mentioned—it was an ordinary offensive skill, not weak by any means, but Mu Yuan positioned the Imperial Guard for protection. Even though Lord Mu could already PK level seven skeleton soldiers, he still needed several burly guards by his side when going out.

Safety first, after all.

Guardian was a rare protective skill.

Since his Imperial Guard was only a level 2 rookie who wouldn’t be able to use skills until tomorrow at the earliest, Mu Yuan switched to the forum to look up information.”Activating the Guardian Skill not only significantly enhances the user’s defense, resistance, and durability in a short period, but also allows the Guardian Light to spread outwards, protecting important targets.”

Indeed, only a minority of Imperial Guards can Awaken this skill.

Naturally, Imperial Guards possessing the Guardian Skill hold far greater tactical value than their Shield Bash counterparts next door. Yet Mu Yuan’s Imperial Guards claimed to possess them all.

He found a video demonstrating this skill performed by an Imperial Guard.

On screen, an Imperial Guard clad in deep blue armor tilted his greatshield slightly into the ground. The next moment, the blue eagle emblem on the shield surface seemed to come alive, spreading energy wings spanning several meters. The energy wings tightly enveloped and sheltered the targets beneath them.

This skill was both stylish and practical.

Its protective capability was indeed far superior to what Skeleton Warriors could offer.

“If I had ten Imperial Guards surrounding me, how would any assassin possibly counter that?”

Mu Yuan was very satisfied.

Just then, as he pointed into the distance, the archers next door completed their evolution.

(End of Chapter)