161: The Secret Realm of Rules, the Origin of the Divine Casting Stone

The Level 90 Unowned Secret Realm Zhou Yi spoke of was called the Forest of Curses, a Secret Realm with an entry level restriction between Level 90 and Level 120.

According to Zhou Yi, the monsters inside were not very strong; any Professional of the same level encountered outside could easily take on ten of them.

However, this seemingly not-so-strong Secret Realm, despite being discovered nearly a hundred years ago, has never been conquered and remains an Unowned Secret Realm to this day.

The reason for this is a special Secret Realm rule within the Forest of Curses: the Curse of Weakness.

For every minute a Professional stays inside, all of his attributes will decrease by 1%, stacking up to a maximum of 80%.

This means that if a Professional stays in the Secret Realm for more than 80 minutes, his attributes will only be 20% of what they were before entering.

Furthermore, the terrain of the Forest of Curses is vast and complex; let alone 80 minutes, even two hours might not be enough to find the Secret Realm boss.

Of course, if one is extremely familiar with the terrain inside, perhaps an hour would be enough to reach the boss.

But by that time, the Professional's status would have been reduced to 40% of his original, leaving him with no ability to deal with the boss.

That boss is a Level 120 existence.

After listening to Zhou Yi's introduction to the Secret Realm, Ye Xiao did not rush to speak but pondered in his mind.

With his current panel attributes, even with an 80% reduction in all attributes, his attributes would still be significantly stronger than an average Level 90 Professional.

Especially his Health Points; after a 15 million HP reduction, he would still have a full 3 million, which is something ordinary people cannot compare to.

Coupled with the stack of life-saving skills he possesses, there would naturally be no danger. The key issue now is whether Zhou Yi is trustworthy.

Even though Zhou Yi had previously acted as if he was pouring his heart out, Ye Xiao would not lightly trust him based on a few words.

After a brief period of contemplation and weighing his options, Ye Xiao immediately asked, "Are you sure there are really NPCs inside?"

Zhou Yi heard this and nodded without hesitation, confirming, "We sent several groups of people in, and although the casualties were heavy, those who survived did see NPCs a few times. And on one occasion, we even captured one. I learned about the godforged stone from that captured NPC."

He paused, then Zhou Yi suddenly said mysteriously, "Night Shadow Brother, haven't you noticed a problem?"

"What problem?" Ye Xiao asked.

Zhou Yi whispered, "It's normal that you don't know, after all, you don't have much of a background, but my Zhou Family, since its descent and inheritance from the Eternal World, knows everything about this place like the back of its hand."

Ye Xiao said impatiently, "Get to the point."

Zhou Yi cleared his throat and said with a solemn expression, "According to the records of my Zhou Family ancestors, at first, there was no such magical item as the godforged stone in the Eternal World. The exact time this godforged stone first appeared should be 80 years ago."

80 years ago?

Wasn't that when the Extinguish Yuan Battle broke out?

Ye Xiao was a little surprised.

The history he knew came from the academy, but the school's records of the Extinguish Yuan Battle back then were actually not extensive.

Ye Xiao only knew that the NPCs at that time inexplicably rebelled and began to slaughter Human Job Holders frantically.

Afterward, Human Job Holders united to resist and, relying on their numerical advantage, eliminated the NPCs at the cost of sacrificing a large number of Professionals.

There was nothing wrong with this, but now that Zhou Yi mentioned it, Ye Xiao had a thought.

Could there be other factors behind the true cause of the Extinguish Yuan Battle?

Seeing Ye Xiao's thoughtful expression, Zhou Yi couldn't help but say with a chuckle, "Isn't it surprising?"

Ye Xiao did not deny it, nodding in acknowledgment.

"It is a bit."

Zhou Yi interjected, "To be honest, when I first learned about this, I was equally shocked. I even boldly speculated that the true fuse of the Extinguish Yuan Battle back then might have been the appearance of this godforged stone, and not some clumsy NPC riot."

"Do you have proof?" Ye Xiao asked curiously.

Zhou Yi was straightforward, shaking his head and saying, "No, but I have collected a lot of information about the godforged stone over the years and found that the timing of their appearance is very strange."

"Strange?"

Zhou Yi nodded: "Exactly. I secretly had people investigate, and every time a godforged stone appeared, it caused a huge sensation."

"However, each time, the duration of this sensation was extremely short, so short that people quickly forgot about it. It felt as if someone was desperately suppressing all news about the godforged stone from behind the scenes."

Ye Xiao raised an eyebrow, then said, "This item is already rare, and 90% of people can't afford it, so the reaction it can cause is naturally limited. Your statement doesn't hold water."

Zhou Yi nodded, then shook his head again, saying, "Night Shadow Brother is right, I initially thought so too, until I collected information on those who had owned godforged stones over the past few decades, and only then did I discover the trick."

Ye Xiao's interest was piqued when he heard this.

"Is it Zhou Dafu's ability?"

Zhou Yi heard this and said with some pride, "My Zhou Family is not the only one with such an ability; many uncles, aunts, older sisters, and younger sisters have also awakened similar Talents over the past century, though some are stronger and some weaker. My cousin Zhou Dafu's Talent is only considered average among similar Talents in the family, which is why he was sent to stake out the black market."

Ye Xiao looked at Zhou Yi's proud demeanor and couldn't help but say, "So, your Zhou Family is full of peeping toms at heart?"

Zhou Yi's face stiffened. He never expected that the ability his Zhou Family was so proud of would be called 'peeping tom' by Ye Xiao.

An uncle can endure, an aunt... must also endure.

There was nothing he could do; this seemingly harmless young man in front of him was the kind who would kill without a word.

He couldn't afford to offend him!

Zhou Yi felt a littledepressed (depressed/frustrated) in his heart, so he simply pretended not to hear Ye Xiao's words and continued to speak on his own:

"According to the information I've collected, aside from those who kept them for themselves, all other sellers who put godforged stones up for sale died within a year."

"Died?" This time it was Ye Xiao's turn to be surprised.

Zhou Yi nodded, saying, "That's right. If I hadn't intentionally investigated, no one would have noticed this point, and this point is already enough to prove many things."

Ye Xiao strongly agreed with Zhou Yi's words.

One person dying could be an accident.

Two people dying might be a coincidence.

But when everyone connected to the godforged stone dies, who would believe there isn't some shocking secret involved?

Wait!

If Zhou Yi's investigation was accurate, he had just sold the godforged stone, so wouldn't that mean?

Zhou Yi seemed to have guessed Ye Xiao's thoughts and continued, "That's right, Night Shadow Brother, you need to be careful."

Listening to Zhou Yi's words, Ye Xiao frowned tightly, then asked, "What about those buyers?"

"Cannot be verified," Zhou Yi shook his head and said.