129: Chapter 129 Inspecting the Secret Realm? Remnants of the Party Deliver Sacrifices

Morning light spilled through the carved window lattices of the side palace onto the bluestone floor. Su Ninghua had just finished organizing the fiefdom dossiers from various regions. With a polished Tier 3 beast core held between her fingertips, she looked up at Lin Zhe, her cold, clear brows softening slightly: "Sir, there is a Royal-exclusive secret realm in the western suburbs of the Imperial Capital, the [Royal Hunting Ground]. It is rich in Tier 3 to Tier 5 beast cores, as well as many rare forging materials. Previously, it was only open to the Royal Family, but I would like to open it to the players of Luofeng Village as a benefit. Since I happen to be free today, why not accompany me for an inspection?"

Lin Zhe rubbed the deep-sea pearl necklace he had just received and gave a faint "Mn," signifying his agreement. He had just unlocked the control over the Power of Rules throughout the entire Human Empire, so it was a good opportunity to figure out the Rule structure of the secret realm and adjust the parameters to facilitate distributing benefits to the players later.

Qing Yu quickly selected fifty elite guards to accompany them. Each wore enchanted blue armor and had a magic-breaking arrows hanging at their waist. They followed the pair out of the palace in a grand procession, heading towards the Royal Hunting Ground in the western suburbs. Players on the road saw Lin Zhe and Su Ninghua traveling together and immediately pulled out their terminals to snap photos. The world channel was instantly flooded with "I ship it" comments. Some even started betting pools on what new benefits would come from this inspection, and the wagered copper coins exceeded one hundred million in less than half an hour.

At the entrance of the Royal Hunting Ground stood two white jade stone gates carved with five-clawed golden dragons. The royal guards at the entrance saw Su Ninghua's procession, immediately bowed in salute, and pushed open the heavy stone doors. As soon as they stepped inside, a wind carrying the scent of vegetation and raw meat swirled towards them. Inside, ancient trees towered into the sky, blocking out the sun. Occasionally, the low howl of a beast could be heard from afar, and many beast tracks were scattered on the ground, showing that it was indeed rich in resources.

Lin Zhe's Rule Perception instantly spread across the entire secret realm, and his brows arched imperceptibly. Deep within the secret realm, over thirty malicious auras were hidden tightly. They carried the aura of the insignias of the Remnants of the Three Clans, evidently remnants that had slipped through the net during the previous purge. They had been lying in wait here for at least half a month, and the poisoned daggers on their bodies shimmered with a ghostly blue light, their killing intent nearly overflowing.

He did not say a word and walked forward with a calm expression, as if he had noticed nothing. Su Ninghua walked by his side, pointing out the local specialties along the way: "The Tier 3 Wind Wolf beast cores inside are essential materials for making agility enchantments, and the fur of the Tier 5 Bear-Grizzly provides an extremely high defense bonus for forging heavy armor. Many players begged to enter before, but I didn't approve it. Opening it to the Falling Maple players this time can be considered giving them some benefits."

As soon as she finished speaking, over thirty masked dead soldiers suddenly sprang out from behind the ancient trees on both sides. They were so fast they left only afterimages, their poisoned daggers gleaming with a cold light as they stabbed directly at Su Ninghua and Lin Zhe's hearts! The leading dead soldier had a ferocious grin on his face and roared: "Su Ninghua! Lin Zhe! Give us your lives! We've been waiting for half a month, and finally caught you alone! If we kill you, the Three Clans can restore their great cause!"

The guards' expressions changed drastically. Just as they were about to draw their swords and rush up to protect them, it was already too late. The poisoned daggers were less than ten centimeters from Lin Zhe's chest, and the virulent poison on them caused the roadside weeds to instantly turn black and wither upon contact.

Lin Zhe didn't even lift his eyelids, nor did he stop walking.

Hum—!

A pale golden Rule Shield lit up without warning, just blocking the area within half a meter around him. Those poisoned daggers stabbed fiercely into the shield; not only did they fail to break the defense, they didn't even cause a ripple. Instead, it was like hitting a spring with ten times the elasticity, and they instantly reversed direction, stabbing fiercely into the dead soldiers' own chests at three times the speed!

"Puchi—Puchi—!" The sound of blades entering flesh merged into one. The eyes of the thirty-plus dead soldiers widened, the ferocious grins on their faces not yet retracted. The poison on the daggers took effect instantly, and their complexions turned black and purple at a speed visible to the naked eye. Without even being able to scream, they fell straight to the ground and died on the spot. The assassination orders in their pockets and the waist tokens engraved with the insignia of the Three Clans fell all over the ground, covered in fallen leaves.

The entire process took less than two seconds. The guards had only half-drawn their swords, and the assassins were already dead.

Qing Yu stepped forward quickly to examine the bodies and looked up to report to Lin Zhe and Su Ninghua: "Your Majesty, Sir, these are the core Remnants of the Three Clans that were previously wanted. Their portraits are even on the assassination orders. During the previous purge, we thought they had fled to the border, but we didn't expect them to be hiding here."

Su Ninghua looked at Lin Zhe's calm profile, her heart skipping a beat uncontrollably, her cheeks warming slightly. She had seen many powerful people, but never anyone like Lin Zhe, for whom no matter how great the danger, it was as simple as swatting away a mosquito. That kind of strength, carved into his bones, made it impossible for her to look away.

[Ding! Detected that the top-tier female NPC, Human Queen Su Ninghua, has increased her favorability towards the host to 95. Third bond trigger progress +8%. Current progress: 80%!]

The cold system prompt sounded in Lin Zhe's mind. His fingertips moved slightly, and he said nothing, tacitly accepting this progress. The conditions for conceiving the third child were getting closer and closer. Once he thoroughly sorted out the affairs of the Human Empire, he could trigger it.

Su Ninghua quickly regained her composure. Looking at the corpses of the dead soldiers on the ground, her face instantly turned cold, and she clenched the sleeves of her black imperial robe tightly: "I didn't expect that after purging for so long, there were still remnants hiding here, actually daring to lie in wait for an assassination. It seems the previous punishments were still too light."

She immediately ordered the Shadow Guard to continue investigating along the identity clues of these dead soldiers, ensuring that all escaped Remnants of the Three Clans were ferreted out and dealt with for treason; not a single one was to be missed.

Lin Zhe glanced indifferently at the corpses on the ground and moved his fingertips slightly. The pale golden Power of Rules instantly covered the entire area of the Royal Hunting Ground. He already understood the spawn rate and drop rate parameters of the beasts in the secret realm clearly and could adjust them at any time.

"Since Remnants of the Three Clans have hidden here, there is no need to keep it open only to the Royal Family." Lin Zhe's voice was not loud, but it carried an unquestionable majesty. "Open it directly to all registered players of Luofeng Village. The drop rate for all monsters in the secret realm will be permanently increased by 10%. They can enter for free three times a month, and for any extra times, just charge a 100 copper coin entrance fee at cost price."

Su Ninghua nodded immediately without any objection: "I will listen to everything you say, Sir. I will add one more thing: Falling Maple players will also receive an additional 5% attack bonus when entering the hunting ground, as an extra benefit for them."

Hum—!

The next second, a bright red pinned announcement popped up in the view of all online players across the server, shining for a full fifteen seconds before disappearing:

[Server-wide Announcement: The Human Empire's exclusive secret realm [Royal Hunting Ground] is open to all registered players of Luofeng Village starting today! The drop rate for all monsters in the secret realm is permanently increased by 10%. All Falling Maple players can enter for free 3 times per month, and for extra times, they only need to pay a 100 copper coin entrance fee to enter. After entering, they will enjoy an additional 5% attack buff! The final interpretation of this announcement belongs to Prince Regent Lin Zhe!]

The entire server instantly exploded!

The messages on the world channel flooded so fast that the server lagged for three seconds. Tens of millions of messages stacked together, all ecstatic howls: "Holy crap? The Royal Hunting Ground?! I used to beg everyone just to get in to farm a Tier 3 beast core and couldn't get in, and now it's directly open to Falling Maple players? And it adds 10% drop rate and attack buff? Big boss Lin Zhe is awesome!" "I just transferred to Falling Maple! This is a huge profit! The market price of a Tier 3 Wind Wolf beast core is one thousand copper coins each; farming one is a huge windfall! I'm going to line up at the hunting ground entrance now!" "I was debating whether to delete my account and reroll to Falling Maple, but now I don't have to struggle anymore! I'm using my teleportation talisman right now! Don't stop me!"

Countless players clutched their teleportation talismans and ran towards the Royal Hunting Ground. In less than half an hour, a long line of dozens of meters formed at the entrance of the secret realm, with excitement written on every face.

Lin Zhe stood on a high slope of the hunting ground, watching the players running over excitedly below, and tapped the tree trunk with his fingertips. His Rule Perception had already captured that there were still a few auras of escaped Remnants of the Three Clans in the corners of the Imperial Capital, eagerly wanting to cause trouble.

A faint, cold smile curled at the corner of his lips. If these clowns were willing to deliver themselves to his doorstep, he would accept them all.