84: Chapter 0084 Secret Realm

What is a Secret Realm?

What is a Plane?

The textbooks in the low-Rank academies describe it this way:

A Secret Realm is a special area existing within the framework of a Plane but hidden by sorcery, barriers, or the Laws of Nature.

Essentially, they are the Plane's 'sub-space' or 'anomalous zones,' not independent planes.

They are often formed due to violent Demonic Energy distortions, ancient sorcery incantations, or spacetime anomalies.

The entrances usually have secret runes carved on them, and their structure is unstable, sometimes even moving or disappearing with the movement of celestial bodies.

As for a Plane, it is a parallel space completely independent of other Planes.

A Plane possesses its own complete physical rules, ecosystem, and power System; it is the fundamental unit that constitutes a world.

Every Plane is a world unto itself. Its scale might be vast beyond measure, or as small as dust, but all possess cyclical Laws and boundaries.

The relationship between a Secret Realm and a Plane is that the Secret Realm is an anomalous structural area within the Plane that has not detached from the main body. It is not independent of the Plane but possesses a unique internal structure. This is one way to understand it intuitively.

Some Wizards believe the fundamental difference between a Secret Realm and a Plane lies in the presence of 'life':

Secret Realms often lack 'life,' meaning they lack autonomous consciousness and the driving force for ecological cycles.

Whereas Planes possess 'life.' They may nurture civilizations, evolve species, or even form a self-sustaining will.

This touches upon an important viewpoint in Plane Theory: World Consciousness and Plane Consciousness.

Some high-ranking Planes are rumored to be able to perceive changes within themselves and react by repelling or absorbing external intrusions.

Secret Realms, however, usually do not possess such conscious activity.

The Niuyah Plane, defined by the Wizard Council as a medium-sized Plane, theoretically contains countless Secret Realms; some have been discovered, while others remain hidden.

And every newly discovered Secret Realm represents enormous wealth, capable of greatly enhancing a Wizard's foundation and strength.

Therefore, many Wizards of the Rank of Formal Wizard and above are passionate about spatial research and Secret Realm exploration, as a single successful venture can make them winners in life.

As for Plane exploration, that is an expensive luxury for the two nations mired in thousands of years of warfare, leaving them no time to consider it.

Knowledge related to Secret Realms is a mandatory course for a Wizard's entire life.

The peculiar Zero Degree Secret Realm is right in Monte Province. Since they are traveling, what better destination could there be?

This place is truly famous:

From an artistic perspective, a Secret Realm space nearing the end of its life exudes a desolate and mysterious aura.

It is the only Secret Realm Park in the entire Duchy open to ordinary people. The stone wall at the entrance is inscribed with flowing runes, and soft Wizard Light gently envelops the queuing crowds.

This results in the Secret Realm Park, despite allowing reservations for 30,000 visitors daily, with each ticket priced at 50 Silver Coins, still being incredibly hard to acquire.

When the three of them arrived at the park's ticket office, all tickets for the Zero Degree Secret Realm Park for the next week had already been sold out.

Li Size and the other two did not want to waste seven days waiting in this place.

However, how could this possibly stump Gelia, whose father was a Deputy Director? She swiped her wrist-mounted flying message device.

After sending a few flying messages, she quickly obtained park tickets for the next day.

Li Size and Gelia then headed to the Carnival chain hotel in Zero Degree City to book two suites. Li Size and Felina would share one room, while Gelia would have a room to herself.

Although Felina had tacitly accepted that Li Size and Gelia might develop some kind of relationship in the future.

Gelia, conversely, seemed to have fallen silent again, no longer actively bringing up that matter, and Li Size never got a chance to advance things further.

Carnival is a low-luxury chain hotel brand in the Crimson Soul Duchy. The lobby dome is inlaid with glowing sorcery crystals, and the walls are engraved with runes that stabilize Demonic Energy.

It has complete supporting facilities, including high, medium, and low-Rank meditation rooms and corresponding Laboratories for Wizards.

Li Size's main task outside of his recent travels is practicing Potion Refining. He plans to upgrade his Potion Refining (Apprentice) major skill to the Great Master Rank soon.

So, after settling the two women, Li Size temporarily headed to the Laboratory he rented. He planned to refine some zero-ring mental power amplification potions.

He currently possesses two Zero Ring potion formulas: one is the zero-ring healing potion, and the other is the zero-ring mental power amplification potion.

The Materials for the zero-ring healing potion are not hard to obtain. Basic Materials like Morning Light Grass, Pure Water Dew, and Thin Leaf Moss can be bought at any sorcery general store in a large city.

In the preceding days, he spent all his time in the Laboratory, staring at the bronze Medicine Cauldron engraved with heat-conducting runes, refining this potion pot after pot.

The scent of the potion could even be smelled in the Laboratory corridor, all to grind the proficiency of Potion Refining. His wrist was almost sore from practicing.

Currently, the zero-ring healing potion has been ground to Proficiency Rank 80/100, and the Potion Refining major skill has been ground to Proficiency 87/100.

According to his calculations, tonight he would be able to grind the Potion Refining major skill to the Master level!

Tonight, he planned to refine the zero-ring mental power amplification potion. The raw Materials for this potion are relatively scarce, but in the provincial capital, Glen City, Li Size had already gathered more than half of them.

Zero Degree City is also a major tourist city. Today, he had already fully gathered the raw Materials for a full thirty-six zero-ring mental power amplification potions.

All these zero-ring mental power amplification potions were for Li Size and his few friends to use.

He did not plan to sell the potions. He did not want to rely on this kind of hands-on workshop model to earn money, unless he needed to exchange this potion for Gold Coins to purchase resources that couldn't be bought otherwise.

What he needed for Pay-to-Win was a massive amount of Gold Coins, which required a large-scale production model based on industry.

Therefore, Li Size did not plan to trigger the Stingy special effect; instead, he used the Generosity special effect.

However, before officially refining, Li Size first used Pay-to-Win to upgrade the zero-ring mental power amplification potion to the Proficient level:

zero-ring mental power amplification potion (Proficient):

Temporarily slightly increases the consumer's Mental Energy by 1.8 points.

Duration is 1.2 hours, side effect is dull-wittedness (Mental Energy -1.8), side effect lasts for 1.8 hours, potion resistance time is 20 hours.

Refining potions under the Generosity special effect requires consuming 1.8 times the Mental Energy and resources, but the resulting effect is also pleasing, increasing the potion efficacy by 0.4 times.

Coupled with the one-tenth increase from the Proficient level of the Potion Refining (Apprentice) major skill...

The Mental Energy increase value of the zero-ring mental power amplification potion refined by Li Size reached 2.7 points, and the duration reached 1.8 hours!

And when he made the fifth potion...

Li Size's luck exploded, triggering a ten percent chance of increased efficacy. The Mental Energy increase reached 2.97 points, and the duration reached 1.98 hours!

Li Size clenched his fist, feeling the Ability flow within his body. This Pay-to-Win Ability allowed him to quickly improve skills just by spending money. Levels that others needed decades to reach, he could manage in minutes.

The most crucial part was having Analysis assistance. When refining medicine, he could clearly grasp the patterns of the runes in the Medicine Cauldron and the changes in various parameters.

This made it almost impossible for him to fail in refining potions. This ability was simply too outrageous!

Li Size stared at the skill panel floating before him. Every time he refined one mental power amplification potion, his proficiency increased by 2 points.

Upon refining the 7th one, the number on the panel jumped to 100/100—the Proficiency Rank was maxed out!

However, upgrading to Master required spending 100 Gold Coins, a number that made him frown.

Li Size touched the money pouch in his pocket; he only had 92 Gold Coins left, still short by 8.

He sighed, stopped his actions, placed the pestle back on the rack, and decided to return to the hotel room first to ask Felina for some Gold Coins.

Once he upgraded his Potion Refining skill to Master level tomorrow, the effects of the potions he refined would surely be even more outstanding.