76: Absolute defense, a secret realm upgraded once again.

These fish skeletons did not proactively attack people; instead, they swam lazily in place. Only when someone approached would they suddenly whip their bodies, using the bone spikes on their frames to stab at the enemy.

A Fei stood at a distance to observe for a moment before saying to Jian Wuxie, "Try using an area-of-effect skill. Use Mountain Collapse Strike and try to jump into the middle of the thickest cluster of fish skeletons."

Jian Wuxie nodded and immediately followed the instruction.

As Jian Wuxie's Mountain Collapse Strike landed, the shockwave swept through the surrounding fish skeletons, producing a series of clattering sounds.

A Fei, who was watching closely, had his eyes light up. He immediately stepped forward and unleashed a Full Moon Slash toward the head of a lone fish skeleton not far away.

As the Sword Qi, resembling a full moon falling to the ground, flashed by, a massive scar appeared on the fish skeleton's head. It whipped its body and swam away in a panic.

"Their weak point is the head! Attack the fish heads to deal damage!" A Fei shouted excitedly.

Hearing this, Jian Wuxie immediately unleashed a Cross Slash at the two nearest fish heads. As the blood-red Sword Qi swept across, it indeed left deep gashes on the fish heads, and the two bone fish swam away frantically.

Seeing that A Fei's assessment was correct, the group immediately took action, each finding a target and attacking the fish heads.

Once their weak point was exposed, those bone fish clearly had no other tricks left and could only let the group slay them one by one.

After the last bone fish died under Quan Wudi's claws, the Death God appeared once more to fully restore their status.

Just as the group thought he would say some more cryptic nonsense, he spoke: "To have made it this far, you are quite impressive. However, on the next floor, you will experience the agony of Hell."

"Jie jie jie, I like to call the next floor Absolute Defense. Enjoy yourselves, Adventurers." With that, the Death God vanished.

The four of them fell silent after hearing the Death God's words, wondering what something called Absolute Defense would look like.

With apprehensive hearts, they walked up the stairs and arrived at the twelfth floor.

As soon as the four of them stepped onto the twelfth floor, a woman's voice reached them.

"Ya-ha, more challengers seeking death? Then I'll play with you. I'm very resilient, so don't you dare collapse from exhaustion halfway through, hehe. Good luck!"

The group looked up and saw a Female Fighter standing in the center. Beside her was a skeleton lying on the ground that looked very similar to the one that had emerged from the Abyss pillar that day, with the only difference being that it wasn't holding a bone staff.

Seeing that the four had not yet made a move, the woman taunted, "No matter what angle you attack from, I can defend 100%. Bring it on!"

The four exchanged glances, nodded in silent agreement, and moved to test her.

Jian Wuxie took the lead, leaping forward with a Mountain Collapse Strike, intending to immediately follow up with a Cross Slash upon landing.

But the woman simply stood with her hands on her hips, making no move to dodge. Suddenly, a yellow translucent light shield rose from beneath her feet, enveloping her.

Jian Wuxie's attack landed on the shield and was completely absorbed, failing to deal even a sliver of damage to the woman.

He immediately activated Blood Frenzy, his greatsword and Blood Sword slashing frantically in an attempt to break the yellow shield.

Xiao Hongyuan's Five-Stage Slash also arrived, but its damage was also entirely absorbed by the light shield.

The woman inside the shield laughed and shouted, "Phantom Shatter!"

Instantly, several figures flickering with lightning appeared around her, surrounding her, while the light shield vanished.

Seeing the shield disappear, Jian Wuxie was overjoyed. He slashed at a white figure in front of him, hoping to disperse it and get close to the woman.

To his surprise, the moment his greatsword touched the white figure, it suddenly exploded violently. Bolts of electricity flashed, instantly spreading to Jian Wuxie, who was hit head-on by the blast.

Jian Wuxie was sent flying backward by the explosion, crashing heavily onto the ground.

Seeing this, Xiao Hongyuan hurriedly used a Backstep to interrupt her attempt to use the Ghost Sword Technique and retreated quickly.

Lying on the ground, Jian Wuxie shouted to Brother Quan, who was currently wrestling with the skeleton, "Brother Quan, how can her Clones explode?"

Quan Wudi glanced back curiously and replied with a face full of confusion, "I don't know!"

At that moment, the woman suddenly gave a shout and pushed a white Nen Qi Wave the size of a millstone toward the fallen Jian Wuxie.

Seeing his health at less than twenty percent after the explosion, Jian Wuxie was scared out of his wits. He scrambled up and growled, "Death Defiance!"

A faint blood-colored light rose, and Jian Wuxie's health recovered slightly before the Nen Qi Wave slammed into him.

Jian Wuxie broke into a cold sweat. Looking at his nearly empty health bar, he felt secretly relieved. Fortunately, he had a healing skill, or he might have died.

At the thought of this, he roared, "Brother Quan, look at her Nen Qi Wave! Yours is only the size of a quail egg. Aren't you embarrassed?"

Seeing that Jian Wuxie was temporarily out of the fight, A Fei quickly said, "Brother Quan, you hold off this skeleton. I'll go help Sister Kite."

Hearing Jian Wuxie's words, Quan Wudi turned his head in frustration and said, "I've told you, I'm not good at Nen!"

While Quan Wudi was distracted, the skeleton suddenly leaped up, its white bone fist striking him directly on the head with a dull 'thud'.

Quan Wudi hurriedly turned back, reached out to touch the large bump on his forehead, and said angrily, "Hey, you bag of bones, watch me wrestle you to death!" After speaking, he stepped forward, grabbed the skeleton, and slammed it toward the ground.

If Lin Chuan had seen this scene of Quan Wudi grappling with a skeleton on the ground before his Transmigration, familiar wrestling commentary would definitely have echoed in his mind.

Once the figures vanished, Xiao Hongyuan hurried forward, preparing to coordinate with the arriving A Fei to attack the woman.

Unexpectedly, seeing that she was surrounded from front and back, the woman immediately put her hands on her hips and gave a loud shout.

A massive sound wave erupted, directly blasting Xiao Hongyuan and A Fei backward. A Fei was slightly further away, so he fared a bit better.

But Xiao Hongyuan felt her head spinning from that loud shout, leaving her swaying and unable to stand steadily.

The woman smiled slightly, and that familiar bright yellow light shield rose again, enveloping her.

While the four were fighting Absolute Defense inside the tower, a major event was occurring outside.

At this moment, an army of fifty thousand well-equipped soldiers suddenly appeared outside the Secret Realm, entering in neat ranks.

Beside the formation, a luxuriously dressed youth was shouting excitedly, "All of you, remember this for the Prince: I don't care what class you choose once you enter the Secret Realm. However, you are not allowed to spend the gold coins dropped by monsters; you must hand them all over to me! Whoever hands over the most, this Prince will personally promote their military rank!"

The Loose Cultivators near the Secret Realm saw this and began to curse under their breaths, "Damn, isn't this just stealing our livelihood? How shameless, actually mobilizing an army to farm gold."

Inside the Secret Realm, Lin Chuan, who was about to help Xiao Xiao complete her Class Advancement quest, suddenly heard the System prompt.

[Congratulations to the Host. The third stage quest, reaching 100,000 trialists in the Secret Realm, has been achieved.]

[Rewards: experience capsule LV+1, No. 28 Puppet x1, Full Set of Firearm Design Blueprints.]

[Secret Realm upgraded. The Dungeon and Fighter Secret Realm has automatically linked to the Source of Spiritual Qi. Rare Avatars (Underworld Sky) and (Wings of the Firmament) are now available. Avatar Synthesis function is now online.]

Lin Chuan was completely bewildered. The quest had still been short by thirty or forty thousand people; how was it suddenly completed today?

"System, what does it mean for the Secret Realm to automatically link to the Source of Spiritual Qi?" Lin Chuan asked in his mind.

[After linking to the Source of Spiritual Qi, as trialists become stronger within the Secret Realm, they will also receive a corresponding blessing of Spiritual Qi, enhancing their strength in reality.]

Lin Chuan was shocked upon hearing this. In other words, not only could they learn Martial Skills in these Secret Realms, but every time they leveled up, they would also obtain Spiritual Qi and increase their cultivation?