30: Chapter 30 Okay, you're in charge!

"Once we enter the Secret Realm, I generally won't intervene. Unless you encounter truly fatal danger, don't count on me to help."

Teacher Zhou paused, his gaze sweeping over the five of them.

"Remember, the Secret Realm is not a playground. The Armor Beasts inside can actually kill. When you spar at school, you always pull your punches. Here, a single mistake could mean injury at best, or death at worst."

Xu Ziyan swallowed hard, subconsciously hugging the Snow Spirit Fox in his arms tighter.

Liu Xiaoman remained expressionless, only slightly lifting her chin.

Chen Menger pursed her lips, her hands clenching involuntarily.

Sun Wei kept his head lowered, his expression unreadable, but his shoulders were visibly tense.

Lin Fan had his hands in his pockets, his expression normal.

Teacher Zhou glanced at him, a flicker of surprise in his eyes, but said nothing.

"Alright, get ready, we're entering the Secret Realm immediately."

He turned and walked toward the light gate.

The group followed behind Teacher Zhou, walking toward that light gate.

The vortex inside the light gate grew larger and brighter.

Lin Fan took a deep breath and stepped inside.

First, there was a blinding white light before his eyes, and then, the ground beneath him vanished.

The sensation was strange, like being thrown into a rapid river, his body spinning and tumbling uncontrollably.

Whistling wind rushed past his ears, mingled with Xu Ziyan's exclamation.

"Damn it!"

Lin Fan steadied his mind and did not struggle.

He knew this was a normal reaction to spatial teleportation.

About three or four seconds later, his feet suddenly touched solid ground.

The white light before his eyes faded, and his vision gradually cleared.

It was a gray, overcast sky.

There was no sun, no clouds, just a uniform grayish-white, as if covered by something.

All around was a dense forest; the trees were tall with lush foliage, but their colors were somewhat dull, carrying an indescribable exotic feel.

The air was filled with a faint, fishy scent, mixed with the fresh fragrance of grass and wood.

Lin Fan took a deep breath and felt the circulation of spiritual power within his body was smoother than it was outside.

"Is this the Secret Realm?"

Xu Ziyan's voice came from the side, carrying a hint of tremor.

Lin Fan turned his head to look.

Xu Ziyan was holding the Snow Spirit Fox, looking around nervously.

The Snow Spirit Fox also pricked up its ears, vigilantly staring at the surrounding woods.

Beside him, Chen Menger had already assumed a combat stance, her legs slightly bent, her whole body like a taut bow.

Sun Wei stood a little further away, head lowered, but Lin Fan noticed his gaze was constantly scanning the surroundings, not missing a single corner.

Liu Xiaoman stood at the very front, arms crossed, calmly surveying the surrounding environment.

Teacher Zhou leaned against a nearby tree, a blade of grass he'd acquired from somewhere hanging from his mouth, looking utterly unconcerned.

"Don't just stand there."

He spoke lazily.

"Three days in the Secret Realm, find a way to survive on your own. I'll be following behind, but I won't help you. Unless..."

He paused and spat out the grass in his mouth.

"Before you get disemboweled by an Armor Beast, I might intervene. But you'd best not count on it."

Liu Xiaoman snorted coldly and ignored him.

She turned around, looked at the group, her tone brooking no argument.

"I am Rank 14, my cultivation is the highest. For the next three days, you will follow my lead."

Her gaze swept over everyone, finally landing on Lin Fan, seemingly waiting for his reaction.

Lin Fan had his hands in his pockets and nodded lazily.

"Fine, you lead."

Liu Xiaoman was slightly taken aback, clearly not expecting Lin Fan to agree so readily.

In her view, this guy who only had two armor apertures but had managed to Cultivate to Rank 13 should have been a troublemaker.

But Lin Fan's indifferent attitude instead gave her the feeling of punching cotton.

"Then... then it's settled."

She cleared her throat.

"First, let's find a safe place to set up camp and familiarize ourselves with the environment."

Chen Menger looked toward the forest ahead and asked.

"Which direction should we head?"

Liu Xiaoman looked around and pointed to the east.

"That way. The trees are a bit sparse, it should be easier to travel."

Chen Menger nodded, her figure flashing as she took the lead, darting in that direction and disappearing among the tree shadows.

"Let's go." Liu Xiaoman stepped forward to follow.

Sun Wei followed silently.

Xu Ziyan held the Snow Spirit Fox, edged up to Lin Fan, and lowered his voice.

"Lin Fan, are you really letting her lead?"

Lin Fan glanced at him.

"Otherwise what? Should I fight her for it? Isn't that tiring?"

Xu Ziyan thought about it, and it seemed that was true.

"Then aren't you afraid she'll make bad calls?"

Lin Fan laughed.

"Bad calls are even better."

Xu Ziyan was stunned: "What do you mean?"

Lin Fan didn't explain and stepped forward to follow.

Xu Ziyan scratched his head, hugged the Snow Spirit Fox, and trotted to catch up.

The group traveled through the dense forest.

The soil underfoot was soft, and stepping on it was silent.

The surrounding trees were all very tall; even the thinnest ones were as thick as two people could embrace, and their bark was covered in strange-looking moss.

Lin Fan walked while scanning the surrounding environment.

This Secret Realm was indeed a good place to Cultivate.

The concentration of spiritual power was nearly double that of the outside world, and they hadn't even walked for ten minutes yet.

Lin Fan could already feel the three armor apertures in his body faintly heating up, and the circulation speed of his spiritual power had clearly accelerated.

Chen Menger, walking in front, suddenly stopped and raised her right hand.

That was the "stop" signal.

Everyone stopped immediately.

Liu Xiaoman took a few steps forward and asked in a low voice.

"What's wrong?"

Chen Menger pointed to a bush ahead.

"There's movement."

As soon as she finished speaking, a gray shadow suddenly darted out from the bushes!

The thing was extremely fast, heading straight for Liu Xiaoman at the front of the group!

Liu Xiaoman snorted coldly, and a purple light flashed on her right hand.

Her right hand was instantly covered by a layer of strange material.

It wasn't ordinary armor, but a mass of translucent, purple, thread-like material.

It gushed out from her wrist and quickly wove into a palm-sized, launcher-like structure, fixed to the back of her hand.

The launcher was hexagonal, with a hollow in the center, and its edges were covered in fine, dense patterns, faintly glowing with purple light, like the abdominal texture of some creature.

Five slender purple threads extended from the positions of her five fingers, connecting to the five corners of the launcher, trembling gently with her movements.

Lin Fan's left eye heated up slightly.

【Race】: Web-Binding Spider

【Aptitude】: Profound Spirit Low-Grade (Upper Limit: Earth Spirit Mid-Grade)

【Rank】: 14

【Attribute】: Insect Type

【Armorization】: Hand

【Armorization Skill】:

Web Shot (Fires a sticky web from the launcher to bind the target, range approx. 15 meters)

Thread Control (Remotely controls the fired web via the fingertip threads, changing its position or tightening it)

Sensing Thread (Deploys threads invisible to the naked eye around the area to sense enemy movements)

【Current Status】: Spiritual power full, high Battle Intent.

【Evaluation】: Control-type Armor Spirit, skilled in binding and reconnaissance, but average frontal combat capability. Will struggle against agile opponents or those with area-of-effect attacks.

Liu Xiaoman raised her right hand, aiming at the gray shadow.

Swoosh!

A purple light shot out from the center of the launcher, instantly transforming into a white web, precisely covering the gray shadow!