"Yan Hua, they're right, if we want to leave, how do we do it?" Chen Xi opened the wooden token in her hand. The time displayed on the token had already turned to 19 days after midnight.
Seeing Chen Xi take out her wooden token, everyone else also took out theirs.
At this moment, Qi Yu noticed that something was amiss.
Not everyone's token had 20 days or 19 days remaining.
"Why is your remaining time 19 days? Mine only has five days left, and there's a red exclamation mark next to it."
"Five days is good for you. I just took out my token and found I only have three days."
"Mine only has 15 days."
"Everyone's time is different! I thought it was the same. Our group all has 15 days, my friend and I both do, so I assumed it was like this for everyone."
The crowd was in a panic, holding each other's wooden tokens, comparing them one by one. Apart from the fewer remaining days having an exclamation mark and a bold symbol, there was no other difference.
Even the quality was the same.
"Ah, the exclamation mark here seems to indicate that the less time there is, the more urgent it is. So, is it possible that each of us must find a certain amount of treasure? Only after finding it can we meet the conditions to leave the secret realm. If we don't meet the conditions, we can't leave." A male cultivator asked.
His voice trembled slightly.
He seemed very frightened.
Hearing what the other person said, Qi Yu subconsciously lowered her head and carefully examined the wooden token in her hand. After a closer look, she realized that the token was not a single layer but two layers stacked together, covered by a bamboo sheath, making it look like an ordinary wooden token.
She held her breath and carefully dismantled the token. Upon opening it, she discovered that it contained two separate ordinary bamboo tokens. Between the ordinary bamboo tokens was a piece of paper with a talisman drawn on it.
Qi Yu mused that their spiritual energy was sealed, so this talisman paper likely wouldn't be activated by infusing spiritual energy. She instinctively placed the paper on the ground.
The moment it touched the ground, the talisman paper suddenly sparked and began to burn, following the array patterns drawn on it, little by little.
It emitted a strange glow.
When the light faded.
Qi Yu discovered that many words carved with spiritual energy had appeared in mid-air.
They were the rules of the secret realm.
Upon seeing this, everyone panicked.
The text read:
"Welcome, everyone, to this secret realm. This secret realm has a few rules, which we hope you will familiarize yourselves with."
"First, the secret realm opens once every 500 years and remains open for only 20 days. During these 20 days, the passage of time here is exactly the same as the passage of time outside."
"Within this secret realm, all your spiritual energy and cultivation will be reduced to zero. This is temporary and you need not worry, but please be aware of the following rules, otherwise, problems are easily encountered."
"After your cultivation and spiritual energy are reduced to zero, you are an ordinary person. As an ordinary person, to survive, you need money, and you must know how to manage this money."
"This secret realm has set a maximum amount of money required for each of you. You must use your own abilities to find out how much money you should obtain to leave this secret realm."
"If you cannot find treasure and accumulate the required amount of money within the specified time, you will be trapped here forever."
"Do you see the native inhabitants here? These native inhabitants were once cultivators from the outside, just like you. After being left here, their memories of the outside world gradually fade, and they start their lives anew here."
"People are born, grow old, and die. The lifespan of each of you is naturally different. Those with higher cultivation will have a longer survival time, and those with lower cultivation will have a shorter survival time."
"To survive, you not only need money but also enough connections. Believe me, these are the keys to survival in the human world."
The rules ended here.
After being displayed for a period, the array on the ground gradually dissipated into a gentle breeze, vanishing without a trace.
From the ashes of the paper that originally had the array drawn on it, a white corner emerged.
Qi Yu looked down and found a piece of paper buried in the ashes. Upon opening it, she saw her required amount of money written on it.
"To leave the secret realm, you need to accumulate 10,000 gold coins."
Qi Yu held the paper and fell into thought. However, everyone else around, except for Yan Hua, Chen Xi, and Si Qing, exploded.
"Damn it, there are actually requirements like this! I only have three days left, but it requires me to save 20,000 gold coins. Isn't this asking me to die? What kind of item can be sold for 10,000 gold coins in just two days?"
"Five days to save 3,000 gold coins. That's not bad, not bad. The price isn't over ten thousand, but it's still too difficult. I looked at the bounties on the treasure maps. Even if I sell the treasures I find, it won't exceed 5,000 gold coins, and that's the ideal price."
"What is all this? How did it turn out like this? I don't want to be stuck in this damned place forever. Can anyone save me?"
The curses from the people around gradually turned into wails of despair.
Qi Yu looked at Si Qing, "How much money do you need to save? I have 19 days left and need to save 10,000 gold coins."
"Mine is exactly the same as yours," Si Qing said, but inwardly, she breathed a sigh of relief.
"Holy crap, I have 19 days left, but I need to save 30,000 gold coins. Why am I so valuable? What kind of item can be sold for 30,000 gold coins?" Chen Xi complained with heartache, but in reality, she wasn't too worried.
Whether it was saving 30,000 or 100,000 gold coins, with Qi Yu here, she could control this secret realm, so they wouldn't be trapped here. It would just be a slightly more thrilling adventure.
Thinking of this, Chen Xi instinctively leaned in to look at Yan Hua. Seeing his dark expression as he stared at the paper without saying a word, she couldn't help but snatch it over.
"Let me see, how much gold do you need?"