Chapter 123: Chapter 123: Large-scale Secret Realm - Longevity Banquet_1
[Task: Attend the Longevity Banquet and pluck a Longevity Fruit]
[Reward: Exit the Secret Realm]
[Time limit: 90 days]
Five days later, as promised, Wang Linchi entered the Secret Realm. The base task appeared, leaving Wang Linchi somewhat puzzled.
How could such advanced items appear in a Large Secret Realm, especially something named directly after longevity?
"There are only three months. Isn’t that too short?" Wang Linchi checked the time again, finding it hard to bear.
Initially, he was still alone. The Black Market had arranged for a total of seven people this time; he was the only one at the Black Iron Level, while the remaining six were at the Mountain Copper Level.
Besides these seven smugglers, there were also official Battle-type Awakeners under the Court’s command. However, they had not yet entered and were two hours behind Wang Linchi’s group.
The Black Market utilized the Court’s resources to earn its own profits.
The maximum time limit for an Ultra-Gigantic Secret Realm is one year, and for a Large Secret Realm, it’s only a quarter. So, wouldn’t the time limit for a Gigantic Secret Realm be half a year?
Wang Linchi mused, It would be best if I could find something in this Secret Realm to extend my time; otherwise, three months really won’t be enough.
He was actually in a relatively good position; the other six smugglers only had thirty days.
This was because they had signed time contracts upon entry, requiring them to leave early to avoid encountering the official personnel.
Wang Linchi had also signed one. However, he used a fake name, and the contract’s binding force was insufficient, allowing him to easily nullify it upon entering the Secret Realm.
The contract the Black Market had him sign was naturally Black Iron Level, as the contract grade corresponded to one’s power level. Giving Wang Linchi a higher-level contract would have been a waste.
Contracts weren’t free, and Wang Linchi wasn’t some heaven-favored child or a monstrous talent; he simply didn’t qualify for such high-level treatment.
Thus, this situation conveniently benefited Wang Linchi.
As for not leaving after thirty days, there’s no need to worry. The Black Market will just assume I’m dead; they won’t suspect I have a way to evade the contract.
People capable of such tricks belong to powerful factions, and they wouldn’t need to resort to smuggling in the first place.
Alright, never mind all that. First, I’ll do the mission, then focus on Cultivation, Wang Linchi’s plan was simple: cultivate while conducting his experiments.
If I can get some good items, that would be even better.
Mainly, he was very interested in this mission.
The word ’longevity’—he couldn’t resist its allure.
In truth, he didn’t expect to achieve true immortality; just gaining some extra lifespan would suffice.
After all, considering the difficulty of advancing from my Black Iron Level, breaking through to the Mountain Copper Level would take a considerable amount of time, and I fear I might not live long enough to see it through.
In a Secret Realm filled with ghosts, possessing longevity is probably not a good thing, Wang Linchi conjectured, despite his deep desire for it.
The Black Market had already released some information about this Secret Realm.
Unlike the Ultra-Gigantic Secret Realm Wang Linchi had experienced before, which had distinctions between Demons, Devils, Ghosts, and Gods, this Secret Realm only contained humans and ghosts.
Ghosts harmed humans, and humans exorcised ghosts; they had always been in a state of irreconcilable conflict.
Most of the time, however, humans and ghosts seldom encountered one another.
Most ghosts emerged at night, inhabiting places like desolate manors or caves in mountain forests, while humans were active from sunrise to sunset, making direct contact infrequent.
Yet, this "infrequency," when amplified by the vast population, meant such encounters became commonplace. Fortunately, humanity’s reproductive capabilities were robust; otherwise, the land might have been teeming with ghosts.
The Black Market has very likely concealed some crucial information, Wang Linchi knew. The Black Market would certainly not simply hand over all intelligence to a group of smugglers like us.
Don’t be fooled by the Black Market’s law-breaking, customer-scamming, and price-gouging; in reality, it’s merely a tool for some influential figure within the Court to accumulate wealth.
Therefore, they wouldn’t reveal all their information to mere stowaways.
Fortunately, it’s not all bad news.
This time, Wang Linchi’s starting point wasn’t in some desolate wilderness. There was a village in the distance, though it was too far away to see clearly.
As he drew closer, however, Wang Linchi discovered more bad news.
It’s a ghost village... His nascent sense of relief was instantly shattered by this grim revelation.
Through normal vision, it appeared to be an ordinary, impoverished village. However, through his various heightened senses, he could perceive all sorts of energy fluctuations.
Particularly, through a specific perception that could pierce illusions, he saw that the village was long abandoned, its inhabitants a horde of wandering desiccated corpses and skeletons.
If I were to charge in recklessly, I’d likely be swarmed and devoured by these creatures.
Thankfully, they’re not strong, Wang Linchi thought, sighing in relief at this realization.
These desiccated corpses and skeletons looked terrifying, but in reality, they were incredibly frail.
Apart from being able to move, bite, and devour people, they possessed little strength. A single kick from Wang Linchi to their torsos could probably shatter their spines to dust.
As long as I’m not scared off or tricked by illusions, they pose a low threat.
They’re only marginally tougher than if they were made of paper.
Honestly, it’s a miracle these things can even move, Wang Linchi mused.
Before even entering the village, Wang Linchi flicked his hand, sending a Fanciful and Fickle Impact toward them.
It landed in the center of the horde of desiccated corpses and skeletons, exploding and creating a shockwave that swept the area, inflicting widespread damage.
The blast sent them scattering in disarray, prompting Wang Linchi to wonder how such pathetic creatures had managed to survive until now.
They couldn’t have survived this long just because everything else around here is even weaker, could they?
After unleashing three consecutive Fanciful and Fickle Impacts, he cleared all the desiccated corpses and skeletons from the small village.
The remains of the creatures condensed into a Common Level Soul Kind, which Wang Linchi casually collected.
A Common Level Soul Kind isn’t very useful, but it can still be absorbed to gain some strength, he mused.
Besides, for a bunch of weaklings to drop a Common Level Soul Kind, they must have tried quite hard. I have no reason to complain.
It’s a pity this isn’t an Ultra-Gigantic Secret Realm; otherwise, this wave of kills might have yielded an Excellent Level Soul Kind, Wang Linchi thought with some regret.
No matter how many Common Level Soul Kinds one gathered, they couldn’t compare to a single Excellent Level one.
The method of obtaining Soul Kinds here is different; they aren’t dropped by monsters but are condensed from events.
The resources and rewards in a Large Secret Realm are definitely inferior to those in an Ultra-Gigantic Secret Realm.
Wang Linchi mused, My unusually high drop rate last time was likely not just due to the Secret Realm itself, but also because it was an unexplored territory. Otherwise, this current drop rate is probably the norm.
Upon entering the village, Wang Linchi noticed some old skeletal remains in a corner. These bones had clearly been there for a considerable time, and their surfaces bore numerous bite marks. They were evidently the remains of unfortunate individuals who had mistakenly entered this ghost village and been devoured by the horde of desiccated corpses and skeletons.
Is the illusion an inherent feature of the ghost village? After entering, Wang Linchi observed that his normal vision hadn’t changed; it still depicted an ordinary village, not the haunted one he perceived through his other senses.
In that case, these desiccated corpses and skeletons are merely a byproduct of the ghost village itself, Wang Linchi quickly deduced, a realization that also brought a flicker of excitement.
This is good news; it implies there might be other rewards.
When it comes to Soul Kinds, my minimum requirement is Epic Level. However, I’m quite interested in Soul Devices.
The amplification effect of The Three-Spirit Formation is already useless to me. The Soul Soup Bowl is still alright and usable, but I lack sufficient soul bodies to fuel it.
Furthermore, the Bronze Tripod I acquired in Yi Village during the last Ultra-Gigantic Secret Realm, while inferior to the Soul Soup Bowl in terms of overall effect, can better assist my consumption of food.
[Bronze Tripod]
[Quality: Excellent]
[Cooking: Input food to automatically cook it into delicious meals.]
[Extraction: Prolonged cooking will extract Bronze Essence from the meal, capable of enhancing the Physique of those at the White Porcelain Level.]
Wang Linchi had experimented with it. If I toss Natural Treasures into it, their medicinal efficacy doesn’t diminish, but the taste improves. As for the Bronze Essence, it’s not even worth mentioning.
It’s only effective for the White Porcelain Level, and I’m already at the Black Iron Level, so it’s useless to me.
The effectiveness of the Soul Soup produced by the Soul Soup Bowl has also significantly decreased for me, primarily because its benefits only extend up to the Black Iron Level.
Therefore, I need a better Soul Device to aid in enhancing my strength.
Of course, the quality of a Soul Device doesn’t solely determine the level at which it’s effective for an Awakener. There are many Excellent Level auxiliary Soul Devices that can affect those at the Secret Silver Level or even the Elite Gold Level. It’s just that I haven’t come across any of those yet.
The difficulty of tasks issued by Secret Realms matches the corresponding power tier, and Soul Device rewards are naturally of a similar tier, at most one level higher.
The level I can currently access is Black Iron, with Mountain Copper being the highest possible reward tier for me. This has its pros and cons, I suppose.
While Secret Realms guarantee your safety, they also limit your rewards. After all, for Awakeners to use treasures, the Secret Realm must first convert them into Soul Devices.
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