"Damn it, can't you two stop showing off your affection? Flaunting it in front of others is sickening, isn't it?" A Hong Kong accent, thick with a local flavor, followed the public display of affection between a man and a woman.
"None of your business, hmph, you lonely loser. Straighten your tongue before you speak," the woman who had been speaking earlier retorted with a snort.
"Han Chen, I'm not saying this to criticize you, but you should find a girlfriend too."
"Sigh, you guys, what's there to argue about?" a gentle, yet slightly helpless female voice chimed in.
When Yu Zhibo entered the lounge, he found two men and two women already waiting. They were all wearing the same uniform as Yu Zhibo, but in different colors of form-fitting combat suits. The men were exceptionally built, and the women were curvaceous. Handsome men and beautiful women in the same room made for a very pleasing sight.
Upon seeing Yu Zhibo arrive, all four's eyes lit up, and they greeted him one after another:
"Little Yu is here! After so long, we finally get to see your true form!"
"Your clone did a great job. Let's continue our cooperation after we return from the secret realm exploration, hehe!"
"Little Yu, once we enter the secret realm this time, we'll have to rely on your lightning magic to electrolyze spiritual energy. In our past explorations, we were always limited by insufficient spiritual energy, which prevented us from expanding our exploration area. With you here, we should have different gains!"
"Little Yu, I've got my eye on you, go for it!" The last person to greet him was the local from Hong Kong. He patted Yu Zhibo's shoulder with a chuckle. Da Feng Novel
Yu Zhibo's clone had visited various departments to search for humans and demons, so he recognized all these team leaders. He was particularly familiar with the leader of Team 10, the man among the couple who had been showing affection. Yesterday, he had even sent his clone to his team for a mission, making him the most familiar among the four.
His name was Zhao Tianru, a B-class psychic powerhouse with mid-stage B-class strength. He was a psychic user who leaned towards defense. He had a cheerful personality, but when interacting with his wife, he was a bit clueless. He was currently wearing a blue form-fitting combat suit.
As the saying goes, red and blue make a great couple. His wife, Zhao Xueyan, wore a red combat suit. She was a C-class ability user and also a member of Team 10. With her fiery red lips, delicate features, and green hair, she was a healing ability user, though her bust wasn't particularly large.
Next was Han Chen, the local from Hong Kong. He was a B-class ability user with water manipulation powers. However, his personality wasn't gentle; instead, he was quite fiery and spoke his mind directly, similar to Li Fang.
As for the last person, she was a girl named Ye Ling, around twenty years old, belonging to Team 2 of the Enforcement Department. She wore a black form-fitting combat suit and was a C-class ability user. Her ability was "Mind's Eye," making her one of the few perception-type ability users in the Ningcheng branch.
Besides sensing danger, her ability also manifested by condensing a "Mind's Eye" in the sky to scout the surrounding terrain. Her current offensive capabilities were unknown.
Due to the recent public announcement of supernatural powers and the increasing number of anomalies, the number of people exploring the Dark Secret Realm wasn't large. Besides the dual C-class powerhouses Ling Xiaotian and Wang Sen, the healer, scout, defender, and controller were all assembled.
Of course, there was also him, an ability user who wielded lightning magic and was responsible for replenishing spiritual energy.
Masters always make their grand entrance last.
As the group exchanged pleasantries, at 10:29:59, two afterimages appeared at the lounge entrance and gradually solidified. They were Ling Xiaotian, the leader of Team 2, and Wang Sen, the leader of Team 4.
One was dressed in black and the other in white, both in ancient attire. One carried a long sword on his back, and the other carried a long saber. Their aura was more than a notch stronger than that of Han Chen and Zhao Tianru, who were also B-class leaders.
Thus, the seven-person team for the exploration of Dark Secret Realm No. 4 was complete.
"Everyone is quite punctual!" As the captain of this exploration team, Ling Xiaotian stood at the entrance with his hands behind his back and said with a smile, "Since everyone is here, let's go."
After speaking, he walked to the open space outside the lounge. Then, a gust of wind howled and swirled around him, causing his robes to flutter and his long hair to whip around, making him appear even more ethereal.
Wang Sen watched his flamboyant display with displeasure but suppressed his urge to retort.
Seeing this, Han Chen, Zhao Tianru, Zhao Xueyan, and Ye Ling moved closer to him. Yu Zhibo, also curious, followed suit.
Then, they felt a blur before their eyes. A strong wind enveloped the six of them, lifting them into the air and swiftly carrying them towards the location of Wormhole No. 4 in the southeast.
Wang Sen, carrying his saber, also ascended into the sky, following closely behind them.
Secret Realm No. 4 was located in a valley amidst rugged mountains southeast of the Ningcheng branch, about sixty li away. Under Ling Xiaotian's wind-attribute ability, they arrived quickly.
The exact location of the secret realm entrance was on a steep cliff face in the valley. It was a thin spatial rift that continuously devoured various energies from the air, as well as a mysterious substance contained within sunlight that brought sanity to dark creatures.
This rift would open precisely at 12:00 PM, and their task was to wait for the secret realm entrance to fully open before entering.
Below the valley was a military base constructed from a steel fortress, guarded by a B-class powerhouse. On the cliff plateau above the valley, a landing strip for helicopters had been cleared to transport various supplies.
"Little Yu, why aren't you carrying anything? You need to take this mission seriously!"
Ling Xiaotian surveyed Yu Zhibo's attire and said with a chuckle, "You young people only care about looking cool and find carrying anything troublesome. I was the same in high school; I wouldn't even bring a quilt when it was cold because carrying it wasn't cool."
Yu Zhibo:
Ling Xiaotian continued proudly, "Fortunately, I was prepared and have packed a bag for you. Remember to take it when the helicopter delivers it later."
"Okay, thank you, Captain," Yu Zhibo replied with a smile.
However, Wang Sen next to him sneered, "Do you think everyone is as narcissistic as you are? Little Yu has his own independent space; he's already stored his things in his own space."
"What?" Upon hearing this, Ling Xiaotian and the other four members of the team looked at Yu Zhibo with shock.
Yu Zhibo nodded, having been prepared for the leakage of information about his Ink Jade Space.
He then hugged Mo Yu and had Mo Yu spit out a D-class spirit crystal, saying, "My cat is a space-attribute cat demon and naturally possesses space. However, it's almost full now. If you have anything you need to bring, as long as it's not too large, I can help you carry it."
He naturally wouldn't expose the fragments of the World Heart within Mo Yu, simply stating that the cat demon had space-attribute abilities.
"Good heavens, spatial power! That's something only achievable after reaching A-class, and storage space can only be created by A-class space ability users. Little Yu, you have truly encountered great fortune; your cat is indeed incredibly precious!"
Ling Xiaotian stared at Mo Yu, full of admiration.
The others also looked on with envy.
Then, Ling Xiaotian turned his gaze to Wang Sen and gritted his teeth, "No wonder, Old Wang, you applied for so many talismans from the director even though you knew they wouldn't be preserved for long in the Dark Secret Realm. You old rascal, you're quite cunning!"
Wang Sen ignored him and smiled at Yu Zhibo, saying, "Little Yu, could I trouble you to borrow your space later to store some talismans? It's not much, just a few hundred. Your space should be enough, right? Don't worry, I've already applied for compensation from the bureau for renting your space, and it will be issued to you after we return from the secret realm exploration."
Yu Zhibo smiled, "Of course, no problem."
In fact, the primary reason he hadn't revealed his Ink Jade Space earlier was that he and his clone had already arranged a communication time. It was when the clone on his mother's side was about to dissipate, he would communicate with Mo Yu, and he would hide within Mo Yu's body, retrieving anything he needed at any time. Whether he revealed it or not made no difference.
Moreover, he didn't know that Daoist talismans couldn't be preserved for long in the Dark Secret Realm. If he had known this earlier, he would have told Ling Xiaotian long ago to ensure a safer trip to the secret realm.
Upon hearing that Wang Sen had already applied for numerous Daoist talismans from the director, Zhao Tianru, Han Chen, Zhao Xueyan, and Ye Ling, excluding Ling Xiaotian, looked somewhat excited. Undoubtedly, the presence of the talismans provided them with greater security.
At 11:20 AM, a helicopter carrying supplies landed on the plateau. Ling Xiaotian went to collect it and then distributed it to everyone. Each person received a large backpack, and Yu Zhibo also received one.
Ling Xiaotian smiled at him, "Your main mission this time is to purify the dark energy spirit crystals for us. This backpack contains some food, as well as 400 C-class and 60 B-class dark energy spirit crystals. You are responsible for their safekeeping. When our spiritual energy is insufficient, you can directly refine them with your lightning magic."
"Understood!" Yu Zhibo nodded solemnly, then casually refined the dark energy spirit crystal that Mo Yu had just spat out as a snack for Mo Yu, and then placed the backpack into Mo Yu's space.
Afterward, Wang Sen handed him the backpack containing the talismans, which he also put inside.
"Captain Ling," Yu Zhibo said to Ling Xiaotian with a sly grin after completing all this, expressing his deep hatred for the Eternal Night monsters and his desire to personally take their heads.
Ling Xiaotian gave him a half-smile, not exposing him, and said, "Although I don't know why you insist on taking heads, B-class creatures are different from C-class ones. It's difficult to hold back during combat, so I might not be able to fulfill your request. However, you can kill C-class ones as you please."
Yu Zhibo understood this and nodded.
Then, Ling Xiaotian began distributing teleportation talismans to everyone, one per person, and instructed everyone except Zhao Tianru and Wang Sen to crush them immediately after entering the secret realm. He glanced at Mo Yu and also distributed one to it.
Mo Yu quickly took the teleportation talisman into its mouth, looking quite clever.
"Alright, let's prepare to rest and depart!" Ling Xiaotian checked the time; it was already 11:54 AM. He said with a solemn expression.
"Yes!" Except for Wang Sen, who looked indifferent, everyone else appeared eager.
At 11:55 AM, Lin Wanjun's graceful figure appeared before the entrance of the Dark Secret Realm, standing elegantly in the void. She looked down at Ling Xiaotian and his group standing below and said, "As this secret realm opens, many secret realm creatures will undoubtedly surge out. I will protect you; pay attention and seize the opportunity to enter!"
"Yes!" Wang Sen and Ling Xiaotian were accustomed to this and led the group in a resounding affirmation.
Time ticked by.
As 12:00 PM struck, the secret realm entrance burst open. Spiritual energy from heaven and earth surged backward and was sucked into the entrance, quickly forming a deep rift ten meters long and five meters wide.
As the rift opened, fierce roars, growls, and shrieks of monstrous creatures emanated from within, and a terrifying aura began to spread out.
The first to emerge was a colossal Nether Serpent, covered in dense black scales, with a body as thick as a round table. However, as soon as it poked out half its body, it was instantly annihilated by Lin Wanjun's wave of her hand. Then came several ferocious Dark Lion Kings, whose realms reached the peak of B-class, but they were all instantly destroyed by Lin Wanjun's overwhelming power.
As several giant monsters perished, the entire cave entrance suddenly became empty.
"Move out!" Lin Wanjun shouted.
As soon as her voice fell, Ling Xiaotian waved his large sleeve, and a gust of wind enveloped the six team members, including Wang Sen, instantly, and they flew into the secret realm rift.
Whoosh~
As they entered the secret realm rift, Yu Zhibo felt a sense of weightlessness. Then, the scenery before his eyes rapidly changed. Finally, the seven of them appeared on the summit of a tall peak.
It was a dark and hazy world, but perhaps because it had absorbed various energies from the real world, it wasn't as dark as the Eternal Night world. Before Yu Zhibo could stabilize himself, he felt several terrifying auras of peak B-class power emanating from all around him. Then, a sonic wave formed by a roar instantly assaulted them.
Accompanying it were several wind blades and a black energy ball containing terrifying fluctuations.
"Go!" Wang Sen roared, drawing his long saber and unleashing his strongest strike. It was a massive and brilliant saber energy that cleaved the roaring peak B-class monster into two halves.
Ling Xiaotian's eyes flashed with cold lightning, and he also swung his sword. A silver streak of sword energy, like a flowing ribbon, spread out from him as the center, instantly nullifying all incoming attacks.
Yu Zhibo had no time to be shocked. He patted Mo Yu's head, and both he and the cat simultaneously crushed their teleportation talismans.
Han Chen, Zhao Xueyan, and Ye Ling also crushed their teleportation talismans immediately.
As the teleportation talismans were crushed, an energy enveloped their bodies, and their forms gradually faded, eventually disappearing completely.
Zhao Tianru, using the brief opening, condensed a golden psychic shield that enveloped everyone, and then, along with Wang Sen and Ling Xiaotian, crushed their teleportation talismans.
The next moment, the golden psychic shield was shattered by the subsequent wave of attacks, but it had delayed them for a moment.
And within this time, he, Wang Sen, and Ling Xiaotian also saw their bodies fade and disappear from their original positions.