18: Chapter 18 Entering the Secret Realm

It was as if the fast-forward button had been pressed too many times during those five minutes; with a loud "clang," the barrier shattered even more thoroughly than the web pierced by the Frost Prison Demon Spider in the lair last time.

Chen Nianchu's scalp tingled, and she reflexively wanted to yell at Zhang Wen, "Watch out—"

But just as she opened her mouth to shout, she spotted a familiar grey shadow perched on his head.

Well, it was that hard hat!

When they were fighting the Frost Prison Demon Spider in the lair last time, this thing had been firmly strapped to his head; when the spider's legs slammed down, it made three "clang" sounds, yet it didn't even let him get a scratch.

At this moment, it was sitting just as securely as ever, with some uncleaned spider silk still stuck to the edge, looking just like it had crawled out of a spider's nest and headed straight for the next tough fight.

The "out" in Chen Nianchu's shout got stuck in her throat, and she almost choked on the spot.

Her heart, which had been twisted into a knot a second ago, "thumped" back into place, accompanied by a string of snarky thoughts—had this guy welded the hard hat to his head?

He wore it after fighting the spiders in the lair, and he was still wearing it while breaking the barrier; was this thing more important than his life?

"Your old buddy is quite dedicated," she couldn't help but reach out and pat the hard shell. "Next time, should you also wrap that Lightning bath towel of yours around yourself? Offense and defense in one, that would be perfect."

The tips of Zhang Wen's ears twitched almost imperceptibly. He didn't turn back and replied in a muffled voice, "Better than being smashed into a pancake by debris."

His fingertips were already clutching a Talismanic Incantation, and his eyes were fixed on the surging black Qi. He looked quite serious, but set against that hard hat, he looked like a reliable big brother bringing his old buddy along to an appointment.

Chen Nianchu held back her laughter, suddenly feeling that the loud noise from just a moment ago wasn't so jarring anymore.

Well, with this hard hat as an "ancestral Magical Artifact," and paired with that Lightning bath towel he could whip out at any time, today's fight would likely be both safe and festive.

She gripped her peach wood sword and leaned closer to him. "Fine, if you really get beaten up later, I'll prioritize saving your hard hat."

Zhang Wen finally turned his face to the side. His eyes under the hard hat glanced at her, and the corners of his mouth seemed to twitch. "Take care of yourself first; don't make me save you with the bath towel a second time."

Chen Nianchu let out a "tch," but the nervousness in her heart deflated like a punctured balloon. She was even looking forward to seeing if he would really pull out that lightning-striking bath towel later—after all, this combo move had been quite stunning when they fought the spiders last time.

As soon as the two stepped into the Secret Realm boundary, the cold air drilled into their bones like shards of ice.

The world was a vast expanse of white, with snow particles stinging their faces. When they stepped down, the snow sank to their knees, crunching like chewing on frozen tofu.

Chen Nianchu was carefree, her coat tied around her waist, spinning an ice rose on her fingertip to play with—this bit of cold was like air conditioning to her ice-attribute talent.

She was just about to tease Zhang Wen about whether he needed to use the hard hat as a foot warmer, when she saw a mass of deep purple light rise from his body.

The light spread from his fingertips all over his body, as if wrapped in a layer of flowing dark purple lightning, crackling with sparks.

Snowflakes turned into white mist with a "pop" as soon as they got close, and the surrounding accumulated snow was shaken into falling debris.

Chen Nianchu raised an eyebrow and paused her steps.

Interesting.

Last time they dealt with the Frost Prison Demon Spider in the lair, this guy used that hard hat to tank the hits and beat the spider until it rolled its eyes with his bare hands; when had she ever seen any Lightning Radiance protection?

And it was such an eye-catching deep purple. Paired with his dusty hard hat, he looked just like a demolition team captain who had just crawled out of a high-voltage transformer box.

"Not bad, Zhang Wen!" She walked over and waved her hand outside the Lightning Radiance; the ice rose turned into fine mist with a "hiss" upon touching the electric light. "Have you been secretly practicing on your own since we parted? This purple lightning looks more impressive than your fists when you were beating the spider."

Zhang Wen shivered, his neck retracted, his voice floating: "I just cultivated 'Indestructible Thunder Body'... In this godforsaken place, if I don't use my real strength, I'll freeze into an ice sculpture."

The purple light on his body intensified, and the pressure was much heavier than when he beat the spider last time, like he was carrying a thundercloud ready to explode at any moment.

Chen Nianchu understood perfectly.

No wonder he dared to enter this ice Secret Realm; it turned out he had been holding back a new move.

The spider was so fierce last time, yet he solved it with brute force alone; now with this purple Lightning Radiance added, if he met a monster again, he could probably electrocute it into doing splits on the spot.

"The skill is quite flashy," she circled him, reached out to poke the wall of light, and retracted her hand after being shocked. "It's just that the color is like the spider blood that splattered when you were beating the spider; someone who didn't know better might think you skinned a spider spirit to make a cape."

The corners of Zhang Wen's mouth twitched. He moved closer to her and expanded the purple light towards her side. "Stop yapping. Your talent is good, so you aren't afraid of the cold, but I'm doing this to save my life."

As he spoke, he strode forward, the deep purple Lightning Radiance dragging bright, shiny marks in the snow, much more eye-catching than Chen Nianchu's ice footprints.

Chen Nianchu laughed at his back.

This guy was progressing fast, but his mouth was still so clumsy.

She shook the ice shards off her hands and followed, shouting aloud: "Hey, when we start fighting later, don't let your Lightning Radiance scorch my ice sculpture works!"

Zhang Wen didn't turn back, but the purple light quietly retracted a bit, and he replied in a muffled voice: "Got it."

Looking at that restrained purple light, Chen Nianchu suddenly felt that this trip to the Secret Realm would likely be even livelier than watching him beat the spider last time.

"I'm curious, what Realm are you at now ⊙_⊙?"

"Initial Blooming Realm Late Stage, not worth mentioning."

Zhang Wen said, lifting his hand to brush the snow off his shoulder. The deep purple Lightning Radiance swayed with his movement, and his tone was as light as if he were saying the weather was nice today.

Chen Nianchu was playing with an ice crystal, poking at frozen chunks on the ground. Upon hearing this, her hand slipped, and the ice crystal snapped into two pieces with a "crack."

She turned her head abruptly to stare at Zhang Wen, her eyes wide. "Initial Blooming Realm Late Stage?!"

The tail of the last word "Stage" was raised, carrying a note of disbelief that cracked her voice.

She stepped up to Zhang Wen in a few strides, looking him up and down as if inspecting some rare species. "Did you eat some Cultivate pills or steal a time machine? How did you train?"

She forgot to spin the ice flower on her fingertip, clicking her tongue with an exaggerated expression. "I heard from the Family elders last time that those overhyped Prodigies have at most managed to take a step forward from the Early Bloom Mid-stage in the last half year, but look at you—jumping straight to the Late Stage?"

She remembered that when they parted in the lair last time, Zhang Wen had only just touched the edge of the Initial Blooming Realm, and he had to rely on brute force just to deal with the Frost Prison Demon Spider.

How long has it been? He shot up like he was riding a rocket?

"Confess," Chen Nianchu reached out to poke the Lightning Radiance on his arm, retracted her hand after being shocked, but remained relentless. "Did you hide some Heaven And Earth Treasure? Or did you meet some reclusive expert who passed on their power to you?"

Zhang Wen felt a bit uncomfortable being asked by her, moved to the side, and the deep purple Lightning Radiance dimmed a little. "Just... read a few more ancient texts and took a few more beatings."

He said it nonchalantly, as if breaking through a Realm was as simple as eating and drinking water.

"Took a few more beatings?" Chen Nianchu raised an eyebrow, clearly not believing it. "Were you beating the monsters, or were the monsters beating you? I think it was you beating the monsters until they cried and begged to give you experience points, right?"

She suddenly felt that teaming up with this guy seemed quite profitable.

The greenhorn who could only rely on a hard hat to tank hits last time now not only had the Indestructible Thunder Body, but his Realm had also soared so quickly; perhaps on this trip to the Secret Realm, she could really be a hands-off manager and just watch Zhang Wen use his purple Lightning Radiance to beat up monsters.

"Not bad, Zhang Wen," Chen Nianchu patted his shoulder, smiling like a cat that had stolen some fish. "In the future, when you go out, report my name... No, report your name, and I bet no one will dare to provoke you."

The corners of Zhang Wen's mouth twitched. He didn't respond, but silently moved closer to her again, expanding the range of the Lightning Radiance that could block the wind and snow by just a tiny bit more.