135: Chapter 134 Ready to Depart! [Jinshan Temple] Secret Realm (4k)

After getting his hands on the secret realm core of [Shanjun Temple], Sun Po used the system to analyze it at the first possible moment:

[Card-Making Material Analysis]

[secret realm core]

Quality: [???]

Description: [The origin core of the Shanjun Temple secret realm, which only appears during the birth and death of the secret realm.]

This material cannot be made into a Mod.

The analyzed content was no different from the secret realm core of the previous [Wujiang Secret Realm], but underneath it was an extra line of text.

"[Detected that the host already possesses a domain. New modules can be loaded for the domain.]"

"[System level is insufficient; the domain module loading function is temporarily not enabled.]"

Sun Po often took out this secret realm core, staring at it helplessly while unable to use it. Naturally, it felt like a cat was scratching at his heart.

The experience of the [mod loading system] for its next upgrade had already passed the halfway mark. Sun Po still had a large number of cards in his hands. He was tempted to directly use up all his remaining card slots, and then buy materials at all costs recently to load them, forcefully pushing for a wave of experience. However, this thought only flashed for a split second before Sun Po quickly dismissed it.

Although such shortsighted behavior could provide temporary gratification, it was very likely to completely ruin himself.

But regardless, one thing was true: Sun Po really needed to get some card-making materials. Right now in [Gaoping City], the biggest problems Sun Po faced were, first, limited high-grade materials, and second, having no money on him.

Indeed, although Sun Po had huge gains from the Li family incident, he hadn't saved up much actual cash.

As for hard currencies like gold boxes, Sun Po didn't want to sell them for the time being. Because of their property of slowing down the dissipation of material spirituality, the value of gold in this world had always remained high, and shortages were not even rare occurrences.

Aside from [Li Tiance], the future head of the Li family, there should be very few people generous enough to give away so much gold.

Sun Po only learned later that the reason [Li Tiance] could so generously give away so many gold boxes was mainly because the Li family was famous for gold in the first place.

The Li family's representative card sequence [Golden-feathered Pheasant] possessed the metal attribute, and many of the spell divine powers of the Li family's cards were also metal-attribute. Among them, the card of the first-generation Li family ancestor could unleash a divine power — [Turning Stone into Gold]. This divine power ensured that the Li family not only never lacked gold, but could even sell gold outward. The official authorities and other major noble families would also purchase large amounts of gold from the Li family every year.

This world was very pragmatic. Unless they had special functions, diamonds, gems, jades, and the like couldn't fetch much of a price. The only precious metals in the true sense were gold and silver.

Gold could store spiritual materials, while silver, besides being able to test for poison, was also said to have a restraining effect on certain low-level Western dark creatures.

Therefore, the Li family, which controlled a massive amount of gold, could be said to be an existence akin to holding a printing press.

Gold was a hard currency and could not be sold. Therefore, there were still three choices left for Sun Po to make money.

The first was to help others load some Mods just like last time, which could also earn him some system experience. However, the risks of doing this were too great. On one hand, he had just obtained the [Power of Merit] and made such a huge splash, putting him right in the limelight where everyone was watching. To help others load Mods at this time—

was undoubtedly increasing his own burden, stimulating others to take desperate risks and make a move against him.

Moreover, Sun Po still remembered the terrifying Hundred-Eyed Taoist on the ancient scroll previously. That ancient scroll was far too mysterious, and he didn't want to investigate it again for the time being.

The second choice was to make [spirit meal]s to sell for money. However, currently in [Gaoping City], there was a lack of clientele and visibility. The results were too slow, and it probably wasn't very optimistic either.

Just as Sun Po was getting a headache, a knock on the door sounded.

"Knock! Knock! Knock!"

Sun Po opened the front door and saw [Liu Jianren] standing at the doorway with a cheeky smile, saying:

"[Brother Po], I see that the [tiger] has been pretty much dealt with. Are you still busy recently?"

Seeing this expression on his face, Sun Po knew that this brat was asking for a favor.

Sun Po turned around, motioned for [Liu Jianren] to enter the house, and said: "Speak your mind if you have something to say."

[Liu Jianren] scratched his head awkwardly and said: "[Brother Po], I want to invite you to explore [Jinshan Temple] with me once more."

Sun Po asked: "[Jinshan Temple] Secret Realm? Didn't you, [Guan Zhen], and [Don Quixote] explore it together already?"

[Liu Jianren] replied: "When the three of us explored that secret realm, it was really frustrating. The monsters there weren't particularly strong, but we kept failing to find the snake demon the monk mentioned. We wandered around like headless flies for a few days without much gain, feeling very defeated."

Sun Po fell silent. This was actually the norm for most Card Makers exploring secret realms, except that [Liu Jianren] had only explored the [Wujiang Secret Realm] once before. With Sun Po around that time, it could be called a harvest full of treasures.

This gave [Liu Jianren] a misconception that secret realm explorations only counted as qualified if they had that kind of harvest.

This was the feeling of having beheld the vast sea, waters are hard to impress; except for Mount Wu, no cloud is a cloud. The brat's tastes had indeed been spoiled.

Although Sun Po had some interest in that [Jinshan Temple] secret realm, he felt that exploring a secret realm was a matter of extreme randomness. It was possible to strike it rich in one wave, but it was also possible for the yields to be bleak or even result in nothing at all. He hesitated. Seeing that Sun Po didn't give a clear indication, [Liu Jianren] urged anxiously: "[Brother Po], let me be honest with you. There is something in that secret realm that the [Red Flood Dragon] desperately craves; otherwise, I wouldn't be staring at it relentlessly, but I really can't find it—" This actually piqued Sun Po's interest: "Something the [Red Flood Dragon] desperately craves? Did the [Red Flood Dragon] specifically say what it is?"

[Liu Jianren] said: "No, the [Red Flood Dragon] only said that there is an aura within it attracting it. That seems to be an aura very important to it."

"You also know that my [Red Snake] came about rather suspiciously in the first place, and my exclusive talent is luck-based like [Mandate Dragon and Snake]. Therefore, I've always believed heavily in these esoteric and mysterious things. I feel that if I don't go to this secret realm, I will definitely regret it."

"Besides, that is the Li family's secret realm. I borrowed fifty million from [Li Tiance] just to bid for a month's exploration rights."

Sun Po was somewhat speechless. Borrowed fifty million? What a lavish stroke! One could only say this fellow was definitely worthy of being described as having the air of an exalted founder.

However, new secret realms indeed followed this kind of rule, which was also one of the reasons why civilian Card Makers found it difficult to get ahead.

When a new secret realm was discovered within the official sphere of influence, its exploration rights were generally monopolized in turns by noble families, universities, merchant groups, and large material hunter teams. Finally, after all the precious treasures inside were gone, it would be completely opened up to become a public secret realm.

And these exploration rights had to be bought with money. The competition among major factions was also a collision of real gold and silver.

As for new secret realms appearing within the ancestral domains of noble families, even the official authorities had no right to intervene; this was a secret realm that defaulted to belonging to the Li family.

If [Liu Jianren] wanted the important things inside, he naturally had to squeeze in and secure the secret realm exploration rights before all the Li family disciples entered. The only person who could help was [Li Tiance], and this trip probably burdened [Li Tiance], as the heir of the Li family, with quite a bit of pressure.

But unexpectedly, the first trip by [Liu Jianren] and the other two didn't yield much.

Sun Po continued to ask: "Why didn't you call me when you first entered the [Jinshan Temple] secret realm?"

[Liu Jianren] remained silent. After a long while, he said: "[Brother Po], I don't want to blindly become your burden."

"The strength you've displayed has already far surpassed all of us. You and we are no longer in the same order of magnitude. If I called you along, I might be able to get what the [Red Flood Dragon] wants, but that wouldn't be something I obtained myself. What face would I have to continuously accept your gifts? I also wanted to try and see if I could do it relying on myself."

Sun Po was speechless for a long time. Up until now, his pace of progress had indeed been shocking to the world and even unprecedented.

The high-ranking deity that [Li Jiancheng] had plotted for so long to obtain, Sun Po had already acquired while only in his third year of high school.

Although the total amount of divine power of [Wuzhiqi] was currently slightly inferior, its potential was obvious.

Afterwards, there were even special cases like [Huang Chao] combining an underworld deity and a heavenly star into a single card. Even [Xiang Yu], whose vitality was severely damaged midway and whose accumulation was insufficient, was among the very top tier of human [true name card]s. With strength like this, let alone [Liu Jianren], excluding [Li Tiance] who was somewhat inscrutable, I'm afraid all the provincial competition contestants from back then combined wouldn't be Sun Po's opponents.

As a companion, [Liu Jianren] originally considered himself mediocre in aptitude. Without Sun Po's [Red Flood Dragon], he simply couldn't have reached this step today.

But he also didn't want to always be a hopeless slug; even if he couldn't compare to Sun Po, he didn't want to be left too far behind.

Sun Po hadn't expected that his own progress would bring such huge pressure to [Liu Jianren]. He asked:

"Then what about now? How come you thought of looking for me again now?"

[Liu Jianren] instantly smiled shamelessly and said: "[Brother Po], didn't I give it a try? Without you, it just won't work, so I still have to come trouble you. Rest assured, [Brother Po], I won't let you help for free. Just right, the good luck buff of [Mandate Dragon and Snake] has almost recovered. I'll cast it on [Brother Po] right now, guaranteeing we return with a full load this time."

Heh, this fellow knew when to bend and when to stretch, possessing both the drive to progress upward and the sense not to get stuck in dead ends.

Seeing [Liu Jianren] seamlessly switching between striving hard and looking cheeky, Sun Po was both amused and exasperated, saying:

"There's no need for that right now. Your [Mandate Dragon and Snake] active ability requires burning your life force; don't use it unless absolutely necessary. Your usual passive luck is already enough for you to reap abundant rewards. As for actively casting the good luck buff on me, we'll talk when the critical moment comes."

This wasn't Sun Po being polite; he really hadn't reached the point where he needed a good luck buff right now. After being invaded by the [Power of Merit], the [mod loading system] wouldn't cause cards to drop in star rating even if loading failed. As long as he was careful not to fail too many times during loading and exhaust the materials' spirituality, his fault tolerance rate had already greatly increased.

Moreover, the controllable material remaining in his hands right now that was worth a gamble was the [Demon Pill Nezha], but unfortunately, among the pile of low-tier card sequences given by [Li Tiance], none were suitable sequences to serve as a carrier for the [Demon Pill Nezha].

The remaining [Shanjun Temple] secret realm core and [allspark] fragments either belonged to things that couldn't be touched yet or things he completely couldn't figure out. Therefore, he really had no place to use a good luck buff right now.

However, [Liu Jianren]'s favor still had to be helped out with. As a contestant whose exclusive talent was the synonym for "lucky dog", what else could Sun Po say when the guy put it that way? With this lucky dog's guidance and predestined good fortune arriving, what else could he say?

Besides, truth be told, the complete secret realm core harvested last time when going down to the secret realm with [Liu Jianren] could be called one of Sun Po's most important harvests in history.

Such a lucky contestant saying he had mysterious guidance was still very much worth a try.

Coincidentally, Sun Po was tight on money right now, and there was still some time before the national competition started. Therefore, going to [Puyang City] was a very good choice.

Thus, Sun Po agreed: "Alright, then we set off tomorrow."

The next day, Sun Po and [Liu Jianren] once again boarded the familiar ferry.

Previously, it was on this very ferry that they encountered [Commander An]'s inspection and saw the so-called [fish-ization disease] for the first time. However, this journey was very smooth without all sorts of messy complications.

By evening, just as the two arrived at the dock, they saw [Yuan Tiangang] dressed in a purple short jacket already greeting them:

"Long time no see, kid of the Dan family, oh, and this little red dragon!"

Sun Po had black lines all over his head and said: "Senior, I am not from any Dan family."

[Liu Jianren] also grumbled: "I am not any little red dragon either!"

[Yuan Tiangang] instead said: "I understand, I understand, neither of you is. However, kid [Tiance] was very glad to know the two of you are coming, and specially asked me to pick you two brats up. He's already waiting at [Prince Qins Mansion]. How about it? Will you come with this old man?"

Sun Po pondered slightly. That was fine too; it would happen to allow him to inquire about some news. After all, descendants of top noble families like [Li Tiance] understood a bit more than Sun Po.

A moment later, at the familiar [Prince Qins Mansion].

"Brother Sun, Brother Liu, you've finally arrived. Quick, take your seats at the banquet."

[Li Tiance], dressed in a purple round-collared arrow-sleeved robe, stood up to greet the two.

Not having seen each other for over ten days, [Li Tiance] actually looked different compared to before.

His pair of phoenix eyes were even brighter, and the noble air and sharp aura emanating from his entire person were even more obvious.

If the previous [Li Tiance] was a rising sun, then [Li Tiance] at this moment was more like a scorching sun pressing down aggressively.

But from [Li Tiance]'s perspective, Sun Po's changes were even more startling.

During this time in Puyang, he had constantly received news about Sun Po: breaking the [Shanjun Temple] secret realm, summoning an underworld deity to devour the tiger's spirit, acquiring the [Power of Merit]. Every single one of these matters had shaken the entire S Province. Judging from the aura emanating from Sun Po right now, stars, deities, disaster auras, and killing intents were mixed together, his entire person filled with disaster, slaughter, and a terrifying momentum.

If [Li Tiance]'s aura was a blinding great sun, then the feeling Sun Po gave people right now was like a tyrannical heavenly river.

In comparison, the momentum of [Liu Jianren], who harbored the [Red Flood Dragon], was much weaker, resembling just a small Red Snake slithering through the forest.

Sun Po said: "Brother Tiance, not having seen each other for days, you have made further progress indeed."

[Li Tiance] laughed and said: "By sheer luck, I've made some gains."

As he spoke, [Li Tiance] said: "It's a pity I still have mundane matters to handle and cannot accompany the two of you into the secret realm to explore. Otherwise, since the three of us must pull together in the national competition, we should have practiced beforehand."

[Liu Jianren] instead said: "The two of you practicing together is fine, don't drag me along. Ten of me wouldn't be enough for either of you to beat in a single fight."

[Li Tiance] instead said: "Brother Liu, the truth is that even if the two of us were tied together, we still wouldn't be enough for Brother Sun to beat. Brother Sun, I am very curious, just which step has your true strength reached?"