111: Chapter 112 The Arrogant Koreans

Alright, it's finally quiet in the secret realm.

After locking the secret realm entrance and ensuring there would be no further outside interference, Lin Muyang didn't delay and immediately began the clearing process.

Since the monsters within the secret realm were as high as level ninety-seven, Elabess activated her "Disguise" ability to ensure they could obtain the loot normally. Her figure rippled like water, quickly transforming into a tall, athletic female swordsman with a neat ponytail and a heroic air between her brows—a perfect simulation of Liu Hongyuan.

Once the disguise was complete, she temporarily gained Liu Hongyuan's level and all her skills. However, she didn't use any of those sharp sword techniques; instead, she raised her hand and released a pure Dark-type mage skill.

"Shadow Shroud!"

Accompanied by her simulated, slightly cold voice, a patch of shadow energy as thick as ink spread out with her as the center, instantly enveloping the eight Mutated Snow Bears that had just spawned at the entrance area and were preparing to roar. The shadow energy clung to the monsters like maggots on a bone, constantly weakening their physical and magical defenses.

This skill didn't deal much damage, but its key lay in providing "Spell Hit" and "Debuff Application," which was enough for Elabess to be judged as "participating in combat" and credited with an assist. With this assist record, these monsters, whose levels were far higher than Lin Muyang's, could normally drop loot of the quality corresponding to their level.

Immediately following that, the true attack descended.

Ao Qingyan, who had long been unable to restrain herself, turned into a silver-white stream of light upon receiving Lin Muyang's signal, instantly charging into the bear pack shrouded in shadows. She didn't even transform into a dragon; with just a flick of her wrist, the newly acquired Sovereign-rank longsword in her hand let out a crisp hum as it glinted with a cold light.

"Peerless Sword Formation!"

Countless strands of matchless, sharp sword qi manifested out of thin air, blooming violently at the narrow cave entrance like a torrential rain of pear blossoms or falling stars! The sword qi crisscrossed with a sharpness that could tear through anything, precisely covering every single Mutated Snow Bear.

Chii chii chii—!

Dense, tooth-aching cutting sounds rang out. Faced with Ao Qingyan's terrifying attributes, which had long surpassed level limits thanks to multiple Aura buffs, the defenses of these level 97 Epic-Rank Monsters were like paper. Between the shadow weakening and the extreme sharpness of the Peerless Sword Formation, the eight ferocious snow bears didn't even have time to let out a full roar before they froze in place, their massive bodies instantly covered in crisscrossing sword wounds.

In the next moment, the sword wounds burst open as blood mixed with ice-blue magic energy erupted. The eight bear corpses crashed to the ground, making the ice tremble.

The battle had ended before it truly began.

"Loot Extraction."

Lin Muyang's calm voice sounded as a gray Aura quietly spread from him, sweeping over the still-twitching monster corpses. This was the God-Tier Aura enhanced by "Yamas Fate Alteration."

[Loot Extraction (God-Tier Aura · Yamas Fate Alteration): Once activated, within the Aura's range, monster corpses killed by you or your summons will have an additional 36 chances (previously 10) to produce loot. The probability of producing high-quality (Tier +1) loot is significantly increased.]

It had jumped from ten extra chances to thirty-six! This meant that on top of the original drops, every monster "could" potentially drop up to thirty-six extra items! Although the actual trigger count was influenced by factors like the monster's tier and level and wouldn't reach the maximum every time, this increase was already heaven-defying. Combined with another God-Tier Aura, [Heavenly Blessing], the total gains would reach an unimaginable level.

As the gray Aura swept past, two to three striking flashes of red light erupted from each of the eight snow bear corpses! Red was precisely the light of legendary-grade items!

"The original drop rate of this epic-level secret realm is indeed a bit low..." Lin Muyang was slightly surprised as he looked at the few streaks of red light. Even with the powerful boost from [Heavenly Blessing], the base drop rate still restricted the final output. Fortunately, [Loot Extraction] provided a massive amount of "extra chances," while [Heavenly Blessing] ensured these chances produced high-tier items as much as possible.

"However, since everything that drops is legendary-grade, the value is more than several times higher than epic-grade." He soon felt reconciled. Every piece of legendary-grade equipment came with a unique prefix from its source monster and a unique legendary effect; they were true treasures that money couldn't buy, absolutely incomparable to ordinary epic equipment.

Lilia ran forward light-footedly, picked up the few pieces of red-flashing equipment and two skill books scattered on the ground, and handed them to Lin Muyang. Lin Muyang gave the attributes a quick glance before putting them into his storage bracelet.

He would never consider selling this kind of top-tier resource. Once his and the young ladies' levels rose, the boost provided by a full set of legendary-grade equipment would be a qualitative change. One had to know that even among the Nation-Guarding Level Experts of the Great Xia, those who could scrape together a full set of legendary-grade gear were few and far between, and legendary-grade skill books were even rarer.

"Continue forward."

Without stopping, Lin Muyang led the team deeper into the secret realm. As they pushed through the frost tunnels toward the heart of the snowy mountain, the ice-attribute monsters they encountered along the way—whether it was swarms of Frost Spiders, elusive Snow Girl Wraiths, or thick-skinned Frost Giants—all stood no chance against the current team.

Elabess maintained her "Liu Hongyuan" disguise to provide assists; Ao Qingyan's sword was the primary means of clearing the area, shattering ice sculptures wherever her sword qi passed; Gui Wanwan's "Nether Soul Detonation" passive occasionally triggered among dense groups of mobs, causing heart-palpitating chain soul annihilations; and Feng Ling was specifically told by Lin Muyang not to use fire skills for the time being, lest she burn the monsters that might drop equipment into nothingness.

Efficient and cold, they were like a precision harvesting machine.

After clearing out two elite bosses guarding the frost zone, the surrounding temperature began to rise noticeably. The ice layer beneath their feet gradually thinned, revealing the dark red, slowly flowing hot lava beneath. At the end of the tunnel, the view suddenly opened up.

A massive lava lake surrounded by a ring of snowy mountains appeared before their eyes! The surface of the lake boiled with rolling bubbles, and the scorching heat waves distorted the air. On the shores and within the lava, a large number of lizards with molten shells spitting flames, shapeless fire elementals, and lava demons wielding flaming whips lived and roamed.

They had reached the Fire-attribute zone.

"Let's start farming!"

Lin Muyang's spirits rose. From this point on, every legendary-grade piece of equipment that dropped would be directly dismantled by him unless it had extremely top-tier effects, as his goal was set squarely on those twenty-five legendary-grade "Fire Element Essences"!

Under the double blessing of [Loot Extraction] and [Heavenly Blessing], although the combat process remained efficient, every corpse-looting after a kill became a mini-surprise. Killing a small pack of fire lizards might drop one or two red-glowing materials or pieces of equipment; taking down a troublesome Lava Demon boss would yield more than three legendary-grade items!

The efficiency was staggering, and the harvest was bountiful.

About ten minutes later, the entire fire-attribute zone of the secret realm was cleared out. Even the final, massive "Molten Behemoth" BOSS occupying the small island in the center of the lava lake crashed down under Ao Qingyan's dragon-form strike and Gui Wanwan's Death Harvest, bursting into several clumps of dazzling red light.

Counting the loot.

Twenty-two pieces of Ice-attribute legendary-grade equipment.

Twenty-four pieces of Fire-attribute legendary-grade equipment.

A total of six legendary-grade skill books of various elements.

Piled together, these items emitted energy fluctuations that were heart-palpitating. Their total value could no longer be measured by ordinary magic crystals. Even the trillions of magic crystals Lin Muyang had just "moved" from India's vault were far from enough to purchase such a quantity and quality of high-tier legendary items. This was already in the realm of strategic resources.

However, looking at those twenty-four pieces of fire-attribute legendary equipment, Lin Muyang's mouth couldn't help but twitch.

"Is it... really such a coincidence?" He was a bit speechless. "I need twenty-five legendary Fire Element Essences, and it just so happens that only twenty-four pieces of fire-attribute equipment dropped, leaving me exactly one short after dismantling?"

This subtle number gave him the feeling that fate was playing a little joke on him.

Seeing this, Feng Ling walked up and gently tugged on his sleeve. She tilted her small face up, her crimson eyes clear and gentle, as she softly comforted him, "It's okay, Brother Muyang. It's fine to go a bit slower. This way, I can spend more time with you."

Looking at her sensible yet slightly clingy appearance, the bit of gloom in Lin Muyang's heart mostly dissipated. He smiled and rubbed her hair, which was as soft as flames. "You're right. But since we didn't get them all this time, finding another suitable fire-attribute epic secret realm next time will depend on luck."

That being said, the harvest this time had far exceeded expectations. It was just that the coincidence of being "one short" was indeed a bit nagging.

"Alright, this place isn't suitable for a long stay. Let's get ready to leave."

To Lin Muyang, this level ninety-seven epic secret realm was fundamentally no different from the ones he had farmed before. Under absolute crushing power, all challenges turned into a matter of efficiency. Even those two secret realm bosses with hundreds of millions of HP didn't last long under the combined assault of Ao Qingyan's dragon form, Elabess's dark eruption, Gui Wanwan's Death Harvest, and Feng Ling's World Purifying Flame.

Especially Feng Ling; although she was only level forty, the combination of "Undying Flame" and "World Purifying Flame" provided terrifyingly high continuous true damage. A single breath of "World Purifying Flame" could burn even epic-grade mobs into ash within seconds, which Lin Muyang had to stop quickly—if the corpses were burned away, how could he trigger [Loot Extraction]? Fortunately, the Aura's effect was overbearing; as long as there was energy residue, it would take effect, otherwise it would have been a massive loss.

While Lin Muyang's team was relaxed and comfortably farming the secret realm and counting their loot, they had no idea that outside the secret realm, people had already been "waiting" for a long time.

Kimchi Country, Pyeongsan Peninsula, at the foot of the snowy mountain.

Near the secret realm entrance, the originally noisy onlookers and Class Transferees had been cleared out. A man and a woman wearing official Kimchi Country uniforms were standing guard with serious expressions before the slowly rotating blood-red vortex. The man was about forty years old with slightly messy hair and sharp eyes, named Kim Tae-Hwa. The woman was of a similar age, with a stiff and meticulous expression.

They were official law enforcement officers who had rushed from a nearby city after receiving a report. Both had A-rank talents and were around level one hundred and thirty. Based on the reporter's description and the teammate death information recorded by the system, they had confirmed that a Class Transferee inside the secret realm had used monsters to maliciously murder three of their citizens and subsequently locked the secret realm, an extremely heinous act.

"Alone in the secret realm, killing three people in a row by luring monsters, and even locking the door..." Kim Tae-Hwa rubbed his somewhat frozen hands, his tone full of confusion and mockery. "Is this guy crazy? Does he think locking the door makes him safe? He'll still have to face legal sanctions when he comes out."

"According to the 'Secret Realm Safety Management Law' and the 'Criminal Code for Class Transferees,' intentionally inducing monsters to attack other Class Transferees in a secret realm resulting in death is equivalent to murder," the female officer recited the clauses in a cold voice. "No matter who he is or what background he has, he must stand trial."

They didn't think there was any danger in this mission. The murderer's level was around ninety-seven, while both of them were level one hundred and thirty A-ranks, a crushing difference in strength. The other party locking the door was just stalling for time or perhaps setting something up inside, but under an absolute power gap, it was all in vain.

To be safe, Kim Tae-Hwa had used a precious "Spatial Barrier" scroll immediately upon arrival. A pale silver, semi-transparent energy membrane expanded with the secret realm entrance as the center, forming a hemispherical enclosed space about one kilometer in diameter, completely isolating the inside from the outside.

This "Spatial Barrier" was quite strong and could effectively trap Class Transferees below level one hundred and fifty for a period of time, enough for them to complete the arrest. Of course, if they were facing swarms of epic-grade monsters pouring out, the barrier wouldn't last long, but for dealing with a single Class Transferee, it was more than enough.

Having set everything up, the two waited patiently. The secret realm lock had a duration; eventually, the person inside would finish the clear (which they thought impossible) or give up and come out.

Time passed minute by minute.

Ten-odd minutes later, just as Kim Tae-Hwa was letting out a bored yawn—

A sudden change occurred!

That secret realm vortex entrance, which had been rotating steadily and emitting an eerie blood light, began to fluctuate and distort violently without warning. Immediately after, the light rapidly dimmed and contracted...

In just two or three seconds, it completely dissipated before their eyes, turning into nothingness!

The secret realm had vanished!

"What?!" Kim Tae-Hwa was instantly wide awake, his eyes bulging.

"The secret realm entrance dissipated? How is that possible!" the female officer also cried out in shock. "There was clearly only one person inside! This secret realm only just appeared..."

The two looked at each other, seeing the shock and horror in each other's eyes. A single person, in just over ten minutes, had cleared a level ninety-seven epic-level secret realm?!

This was completely beyond their understanding! Even if the two of them worked together, there was absolutely no way they could have done it in such a short time!

A strong sense of crisis suddenly descended!

"Something's wrong! Prepare for bat..." Kim Tae-Hwa reacted extremely quickly. While shouting, he intended to activate the emergency backup item on his person, his muscles tensing and energy beginning to boil.

However, he didn't get to finish his sentence.

BANG—!!!

A crisp, loud sound, like glass shattering, exploded above their heads!

The two looked up in horror, only to see that the solid, pale silver "Spatial Barrier" covering a one-kilometer radius was now like an eggshell struck by a heavy hammer. Its surface was instantly covered in spiderweb-like cracks, and then... it shattered violently! It turned into a sky full of light spots, drifting down like snow!

The barrier had been forcibly smashed from the inside by a method and power they completely could not comprehend!