171: Journey to the Third Level Secret Realm

"Shop confirmed successfully, currently undergoing upgrade and renovation."

A sapphire blue light with data streams swept across, and the surrounding environment suddenly changed dramatically. The entire space was divided into two floors.

The first floor primarily served the purpose of selling contracted beasts, so there were many cages arranged in staggered intervals on the first floor.

Stepping on stones made of an unknown material, Luo Chen mentally scanned the area. There were only about a hundred cages.

It's worth mentioning that after this system renovation, the space inside the shop seemed to have become much larger.

Now, it's estimated to be about 100,000 square meters, so these hundred cages were placed quite far apart.

Moreover, between the cages, there were tables and chairs for resting, as well as flower pots of various designs.

Unfortunately, these flower pots were currently bare and empty. It seemed Luo Chen would have to fill them himself.

The first floor was actually very similar in style to the previous Chenyang Pet Store, so Luo Chen didn't observe it much further. Instead, he went up to the second floor using the internal staircase.

The second floor also had cages placed there, but in the same size space, only fifteen were arranged, with the rest of the area being open ground.

Luo Chen keenly noticed a wooden door on the east wall.

"System, what is this door for? Did you specifically leave me a rest or training room?"

System: "Host, you'll know if you open it yourself."

"Oh, you've learned to be mysterious now." Luo Chen lightly tapped his foot and flew to the wooden door.

He reached out his right hand and gripped the doorknob, but he didn't open it immediately. Instead, he cautiously wondered why, if the second floor and first floor were the same size, the second floor had an extra door.

Luo Chen made Little Fluffball appear, and then his body was covered in a layer of water shield, wood shield, gold shield… layer upon layer of more than a dozen shields.

Then Luo Chen withdrew his right hand, cautiously stepped back, and used his mental power to control the doorknob, slowly pulling open the wooden door.

A… Emmm, nothing happened.

Luo Chen walked to the door and looked inside. Three glowing doors with different lusters stood on the other side of the wall, and besides that,

on the other side, there were meditation cushions, and next to the cushions was a super-duper large cat bed.

Looking at this familiar scene, Luo Chen blinked. Wasn't this the third floor of Chenyang Pet Store? Was the System opening a spatial door for him to travel between the two shops?

See? He knew the System would do practical things. This door-opening operation was very good.

Returning to a familiar place, there was naturally no need to be fully armed. The layers of elemental spirit shields with different lights on Luo Chen's body shattered and disappeared.

Luo Chen and Little Fluffball passed through the doorway and entered the third floor of Chenyang Pet Store in Qingyang City.

Luo Chen looked at the third glowing door next to the glowing doors representing the Serene and Stone Spirit Secret Realms. The glowing door was orange-yellow, giving off a feeling of warmth and inclusivity at first glance.

This should be the Tier 3 Secret Realm that was rewarded, Luo Chen thought to himself.

Because in the Secret Realms rewarded by the System, Luo Chen's words were, to some extent, the rules, so Luo Chen made no preparations and directly entered the orange glowing door with Little Fluffball.

Luo Chen looked at the scene before him with some confusion. It wasn't that the environment within the Secret Realm was strange or complex, but rather that it was too normal, which instead made Luo Chen show a puzzled expression.

Because, according to common sense, the environment within a Secret Realm should be vastly different from the real world.

Whether it was the Serene, Stone Spirit, or Colorful Moon Secret Realm, they all possessed unique environmental features distinct from the real world.

So, this environment of bright lakes, forests, flowers, and warm sunshine made Luo Chen think he had come to the wilderness.

The portal at the entrance of the Secret Realm was located not far from the lake, and the surrounding area happened to be a large flat expanse of land. Besides some weeds, there were no tall plants obstructing the view.

After a brief moment of confusion, Luo Chen squinted his eyes at the warm sun overhead. He didn't see any information about contracted beasts, but he noticed it was slowly moving towards the west, or what he presumed was the west.

This Secret Realm should also experience changes like day and night in the outside world as time progresses.

Luo Chen's mental power extended outwards, unable to detect the boundary for a while. It seemed this Secret Realm should be the largest in the store. He wondered which one was larger compared to the Colorful Moon Secret Realm.

However, the size of the space was not the most important thing for Luo Chen. The most crucial aspect was what kind of contracted beasts and resources would be found within.

This space was large, and it was his own Secret Realm, so Luo Chen released Little Dot, who hadn't had a good run in a long time.

He also placed a layer of rules on himself and his two contracted beasts, ensuring they would not be harmed within this Secret Realm.

Luo Chen gave Little Dot a task: to explore the boundaries of this space.

They were to reconvene at the glowing door after six hours, and then Little Dot was free to run wild.

Little Dot's body was enormous, but its movements were not at all clumsy. Its figure constantly flickered, crossing spatial distances and disappearing from Luo Chen's sight.

Luo Chen withdrew his gaze, reached out, and stroked Little Fluffball's smooth fur. "Let's look around too."

He had been in the Secret Realm for such a long time, and the location was by a lake, yet he hadn't found any contracted beasts. Luo Chen had a faint feeling that something was amiss.

Unfortunately, his control over the Secret Realm was limited to keeping himself safe, and he couldn't be omniscient. Otherwise, he wouldn't have had to cooperate with the King Rank Starlight Stone Spirit in the Stone Spirit Secret Realm.

Luo Chen came to the lakeside and gently stirred the lake water with his palm, hoping to draw out any 'big guys' that might be hidden beneath the lake.

He stirred the lake water and waited for a while, but no 'big guys' emerged from the bottom of the lake.

Luo Chen frowned. Was there no big guy, or were there simply few contracted beasts in this Secret Realm?

It was also possible that the 'big guy' was full.

Luo Chen sighed, regretting letting Little Dot leave so early. Otherwise, it could have gone into the water to check. Given the size of this lake, Little Dot's body should have no problem going in.

Luo Chen took one last look at the lake, then walked away from it.

Aside from not finding any contracted beasts, the environment here was quite pleasant, as evidenced by the lush ordinary plants.

"Whoosh!"

A sound rang out, as if something had leaped past Luo Chen.

Luo Chen's eyes instantly gleamed. He had finally found a living creature. "Little Fluffball, chase it!"

The green light on the Elemental Tail, one of Little Fluffball's four tails, flashed brightly, and then its entire body transformed into a green energy State. Like a gust of wind, Little Fluffball instantly rushed into the depths of the dense forest.

Little Fluffball in its green State seemed to have no physical form. When passing through physical obstructions like tree branches and leaves, its body actually passed through without any hindrance.

Luo Chen couldn't do that. He could only rely on the contract link with Little Fluffball, constantly circling and chasing in the direction it had gone.

Half an hour later, Luo Chen finally arrived at a chaotic battlefield.

Little Fluffball was comfortably squatting on the ground. Opposite him was a deer-shaped contracted beast, bound by thin yet Tenacity vines.

The deer-shaped contracted beast had enormous antlers that were constantly changing colors.

In contrast, its entire skin was white, but on its sides grew seven scale-like gems of different colors. Their luster was now slightly dim.

However, when it was in its normal State, it should be quite beautiful.

This was the first contracted beast Luo Chen encountered in this yet-unnamed Secret Realm. Luo Chen came to Little Fluffball's side and used his Eye of Truth to check its detailed information.