15: Chapter 15 Secret Realm

[whistle of contract: Allows the user to sign a soul contract with various biological entities. Once successful, the entity can be commanded.]

Seeing the description of this wooden whistle, a sudden light flashed in Gu Changming's eyes, and a rare, visible change in emotion appeared on his face.

"whistle of contract..."

So that's how it is. No wonder that person was called the 'Spirit King' or 'Beast King.'

It turned out that the wooden whistle he obtained was related to contracts.

After reading the description, the corners of Gu Changming's mouth curled up.

A special item with the same function as a 'Druid' or 'Spirit Tamer'?

One must know that these two classes only gradually appear in the middle and late stages of the Assessment. Not only are they very powerful, but they are also very rare, belonging to the category of special classes.

Before Gu Changming even had time to celebrate, he saw the rest of the description below the wooden whistle.

[Core Trait: No Level Restriction.]

[Other Traits: Resonance: Can establish a sensory link with the contracted creature, sharing its mental state and abilities.]

After reading clearly, Gu Changming was completely stunned.

His gaze was deathly locked onto the description of the 'Core Trait' below.

Classes that could sign contracts with other creatures, while special and quite rare...

...this specific Core Trait was something Gu Changming had never seen before.

No Level Restriction.

In other words, no matter how powerful the target of the contract was, a contract could be formed without worrying about a backlash from the opponent?

One must know that for classes like 'Spirit Tamer' that could form contracts with creatures, the success rate depended on one's own Mental Power. The stronger the Mental Power, the more powerful the creatures one could contract.

Otherwise, even if an Elemental Dragon took the initiative to sign a contract with you, the feedback of Mental Power would be enough to turn you into an idiot.

And a Core Trait that could ignore level restrictions was enough to crush all of those classes into dust.

"A divine artifact..." Gu Changming looked at the wooden whistle in his hand and muttered to himself.

It was absolutely an item of divine artifact grade.

It was only because it was the early stage of the Assessment that he could pick up such a cheap bargain.

If it were later on, it's likely no amount of points could buy it.

Fortunately, he had just held a blade to Jiang Shu's throat and taken the item.

Otherwise, if such a thing were lost during the Assessment, he might never see it again.

Gu Changming suppressed his excitement.

"Whew~"

Gu Changming exhaled deeply to calm his emotions.

After gripping the wooden whistle tightly, Gu Changming turned his head to look in a certain direction.

"Since the item is in hand, it's time to find some suitable creatures to contract."

However, according to his memory, it would still take some time.

...

After obtaining the [whistle of contract], Gu Changming did not return to the city where his home was located.

Once the Assessment began, everyone would become displaced.

One's original home was just a place to stay.

So there was no necessity to go back.

Gu Changming found an uninhabited empty house here, took some food and water from a deserted supermarket, and settled in temporarily.

He was waiting—waiting for the right moment.

Over the next two or three days, the outside world remained chaotic.

There was a faint tendency toward disorder, but under the government's strong restrictions, no major disturbances broke out.

During these days, Gu Changming spent most of his time in his temporary residence, familiarizing himself with the newly acquired [whistle of contract]. At the same time, he used his remaining points to exchange for [Basic Body Strengthening Agent (Type I)], improving his physical fitness.

The fourth day, afternoon.

His phone suddenly vibrated continuously.

Gu Changming wasn't surprised; he picked up his phone and began to read.

It was a region-wide push notification from the government. The message was long and contained a lot of information.

But to summarize, it boiled down to two things.

First: On the day after the Assessment ended, a large number of special spatial nodes called "Secret Realms" appeared worldwide.

Second: Those "Secret Realms" contained various supplies, which were rare opportunities for the surviving humans.

The notification also included an electronic map marking the locations of those "Secret Realms."

This was the opportunity Gu Changming had been waiting for.

Secret Realms contained all sorts of special creatures and resources. In the Civilization Ascension Assessment, they served as dungeon worlds for humans to level up.

This was to prevent their strength from failing to improve, which would lead to failure in continuous Assessments and the extinction of the entire civilization.

As for the source of those Secret Realms, the current government hadn't figured it out.

Gu Changming, however, was quite clear about it.

Those Secret Realms led to worlds that were also undergoing Civilization Ascension.

If one asked how Gu Changming knew, it was because later on, during a certain global Assessment, Earth itself became a "Secret Realm" for other worlds and races to enter and gather resources.

The impact was enormous; nearly half of the world's national governments collapsed, and those who survived were basically just scraping by, barely holding on.

Of course, now was not the time to think about things so far in the future.

Gu Changming was waiting for this moment because he wanted to enter those Secret Realms and contract a few useful special creatures.

It was impossible for him to contract Earth's cats and dogs and then go fight people who had exchanged points for extraordinary abilities, right?

...

In a jungle forty kilometers outside of Linzhou City.

The trees here naturally left a circular clearing, as if pushed aside by an invisible hand.

In the center of the clearing stood a massive "mirror." It was extremely tall, about dozens of meters, and wide enough for a dozen people to pass through side-by-side. The edges were smooth, without any frame.

The mirror didn't reflect; instead, its surface shimmered with ripples.

This was a Secret Realm.

Near the Secret Realm, most people within a few hundred kilometers who were willing to take a risk had already gathered.

Beneath the Secret Realm, the queue of people waiting to enter even stretched out forty or fifty meters.

The surface of the Secret Realm fluctuated, and immediately after, four figures stepped out one by one.

Leading them was a middle-aged man who looked nearly forty. His skin was dark, his build was sturdy, and his face showed some fatigue, but his eyes remained steady.

Behind him followed a man and a woman.

The woman was twenty-four or twenty-five, with youthful and beautiful features, though her hair was a bit messy and her face was slightly pale.

The other man was younger, in his early twenties. Although he was panting, a cheerful expression remained on his face.

At the very back of the group was Gu Changming. His face still bore no expression, and his pace was steady as he followed the three, his gaze habitually scanning the surrounding environment.

As soon as they emerged, there was a bit of a commotion among the people in line.

Several people waved and called out to them.

"Old Wang! Over here!"

"You're out, Old Wang! How was it?"