178: Chapter 179 Jiang Yun'er's Application to Join

Just as Lin Muyang's unquestionable words of rejection fell, and he once again displayed the shimmering legendary-grade equipment, the atmosphere in the room became incredibly complex.

Shock, ecstasy, awe, disappointment, reluctance... all sorts of emotions intertwined on the faces of Jiang Chenyu, Jiang Yuner, and every member of the Yingjiang Sect.

The legendary-grade equipment floating in mid-air, emitting an alluring divine light, was like the sweetest poison, exuding a deadly attraction, and at the same time, it was like a mirror, reflecting the most primal desires deep within their hearts.

Jiang Chenyu looked at that equipment, then looked at the metal box tightly clutched in his arms, ultimately turning it into a silent, bitter smile.

He understood how naive and insignificant his own thoughts were in the face of the other party's absolute strength and will.

The conditions offered by the other party were already generous enough—generous enough that any rational person could not refuse.

Five pieces of legendary-grade equipment in exchange for a legendary secret realm scroll that they were fundamentally incapable of handling; from any angle, this trade was a huge bargain for the Yingjiang Sect.

"It seems... I have no choice but to choose." Jiang Chenyu muttered to himself, his tone complex.

His initial probing and the idea of hitching a ride to see a legendary-grade secret realm had completely fallen through.

But reason told him that obtaining five pieces of legendary-grade equipment was already the best possible result.

One had to know, even if they exhausted the entire strength of the guild and luckily cleared that legendary-grade secret realm, getting two or three pieces of legendary equipment would already be a stroke of immense luck.

The drop rate for legendary-grade equipment was far lower than that of epic-grade, and the risks were immense, with total party wipes being a common occurrence.

So, from the perspective of benefits, did he lose out? Not at all.

It was just that the stifling feeling of being "crushed" and "rejected" by a higher-level power, as well as his curiosity and longing for the secrets deep within the legendary-grade secret realm, made him feel somewhat uncomfortable.

Jiang Yuner felt equally complex emotions.

She was uncontrollably excited for the legendary-grade equipment about to be in their hands, and felt a touch of heartache and resentment that her brother, Jiang Chenyu, had been flatly rejected, but more than that, she felt shock and suspicion toward that mysterious "emissary" who could casually produce over a dozen pieces of legendary-grade equipment.

"To give away five pieces of legendary-grade equipment just for one legendary secret realm scroll... won't they really be making a loss?" A huge question mark lingered in her heart.

According to common sense, could a single legendary-grade secret realm clear consistently produce five pieces of legendary-grade equipment? The possibility was extremely low.

Unless the other party was confident in obtaining gains from this secret realm that far exceeded the value of five pieces of legendary-grade equipment? Or, perhaps the other party simply didn't care about such small profits?

Whichever possibility it was, it gave her even more terrifying speculations about the strength and foundation of the "Oracle" organization.

However, doubts aside, when faced with legendary-grade equipment that was right in front of them and within easy reach, no one could remain calm.

Jiang Chenyu took a deep breath, forcing himself to break free from the disappointment and shock, and began to carefully examine the dozen or so pieces of equipment floating before him.

His gaze swept quickly, evaluating the stats, special effects, and required levels of each piece of equipment.

What moved both him and Jiang Yuner was that when selecting the equipment, they did not only consider themselves.

Jiang Chenyu first pointed to a piece of form-fitting inner armor that was archaic in style, pitch-black, and seemed to absorb light—[Shadow Dragon Scale Inner Armor (Legendary)], with a required level of 64.

This equipment was not only suitable for his level, but its special effects also perfectly matched the needs of his [Trinity] talent, whether it was switching to defense mode to tank hits or triggering "Shadow Protection" at a critical moment to save his life; it could be called a divine skill.

This was the first piece he chose for himself.

Jiang Yuner took a fancy to a pair of daggers that looked like flowing shadows—[Shadow Strike Twin Fangs (Legendary)], with a required level of 78.

The daggers came with armor Penetration and bleeding effects, which was a match made in heaven with her SSS-Rank Talent [Penetration], capable of boosting her assassin's burst damage to the extreme.

Next, they did not continue to pick for themselves but instead turned their gaze toward the team.

Jiang Chenyu chose a tower shield as heavy as a mountain, engraved with a roaring bear head relief, for the guild's chief tank, Iron Wall—[Unyielding Bastion (Legendary)], with a required level of 85.

The defensive stats and damage reduction effects provided by this shield could take Iron Wall's tankiness to the next level.

Jiang Yuner selected a necklace woven from emerald vines and life gems for the guild's chief healer, a young lady skilled in natural recovery—[Heart of Nature (Legendary)], with a required level of 80, which could significantly increase healing output and mana regeneration.

For the last piece, the siblings looked at each other and tacitly cast their gaze upon a heavy breastplate with a required level of 165, which was burning with inextinguishable golden flames throughout—[Flame Lord Battle Armor (Legendary)].

This piece of equipment was obviously one of the fresh spoils Lin Muyang had just obtained from the [purgatory demon sea] secret realm; it had powerful stats and came with high fire resistance and damage reflection effects—it was exactly the top-tier item their father, Jiang Shang, dreamed of!

Although their father's level was still a bit short of being able to equip it, having this armor as a goal would surely give him more motivation to level up, and preparing top-tier equipment in advance would also give him more confidence when pushing for higher levels.

Lin Muyang saw all of this; his face, shrouded in Chaotic Divine Light, showed no expression, but his evaluation of the siblings in his heart rose by another notch.

Knowing when to compromise and looking out for the team, their character was indeed quite good. It was not in vain that he took out this equipment.

Soon, the five pieces of legendary-grade equipment were selected.

Jiang Chenyu took a deep breath, no longer hesitating, and solemnly took out the scroll that had caused all this turmoil from his storage bracelet.

The moment the scroll appeared, a wave of cold, violent energy, carrying a rich scent of blood and an ominous Aura, instantly spread out, suppressing the radiance of the legendary-grade equipment in the room by a few notches.

The scroll itself presented an unnatural dark red color, as if it had been soaked in solidified blood. Runes were written on the surface in twisted demonic language, and wisps of blood-colored energy flowed and squirmed on the surface of the scroll like living things. Just a single glance made one's soul feel uncomfortable, and it seemed as if countless demons were whispering and roaring in one's ears.

This was exactly that legendary secret realm scroll! Level 82, named [demons lair]!

The dangerous Aura it emitted far surpassed any epic-grade secret realm that Jiang Chenyu and the others had experienced before.

If an ordinary person obtained such a thing, they would likely not even dare to hold it for long, fearing being eroded by the demonic Aura contained within or attracting immeasurable disasters.

But for Lin Muyang, the blood-colored light and ominous Aura lingering on this scroll were like the most delicious bait.

A legendary secret realm! This meant that it would at least produce legendary-grade loot, and there was a high probability—no, it was certain—that it would drop mythic grade equipment, skill books, or materials!

"mythic grade equipment..." A fervent expectation surged in Lin Muyang's heart.

If he could obtain a few pieces of mythic grade equipment with compatible stats from this secret realm and then use the [god-tier modification stone] to enhance them... what kind of terrifying leap would his and the young ladies' combat power experience?

He was almost unable to wait.

He even began to fantasize about what would drop if he could clear a mythic grade secret realm? Was there an even higher grade beyond mythic grade equipment?

Could his [Loot Extraction] Aura extract items that surpassed mythic grade from the corpses of mythic grade BOSSes?

This thought made his heart beat slightly faster.

However, he also understood that the existing secret realm resources on Blue Star were limited, and high-level secret realms were even rarer.

This was both a form of protection and a limitation.

If epic-grade, legendary-grade, and mythic grade secret realms were everywhere, given humanity's current overall strength, they would likely have been completely wiped out by demonic creatures long ago.

Being able to maintain a fragile balance now was already no easy feat.

Many intelligent Mythical-grade Demonic Creatures were entrenched in dangerous areas; if humans did not provoke them, they were happy to be left in peace, and both sides had formed a subtle tacit understanding.

"mythic grade secret realm... it's something you can encounter but not seek out." Lin Muyang suppressed the fantasies in his heart and focused his attention on the scroll before him.

You have to eat one bite at a time, and walk one step at a time. Let's take down this [demons lair] first!

He reached out his hand; that hand, shrouded in Chaotic Divine Light, seemed to possess an invisible suction force.

The scroll emitting an ominous blood-colored light in Jiang Chenyu's hand automatically broke free from his control, flying steadily toward Lin Muyang, and finally landed in his palm.

The scroll felt slightly heavy in his hand, and the touch was ice-cold, as if he were holding a piece of ten-thousand-year-old ice; the demonic energy contained within tried to erode him, but it was easily purified and isolated by the divine light on Lin Muyang's body.

The transaction was complete.

With a thought from Lin Muyang, except for the five pieces of legendary-grade equipment selected by the Jiang siblings, the rest of the equipment floating in mid-air instantly disappeared, retrieved back into his storage space.

The five pieces of selected equipment drifted down slowly, and were received with great care by Jiang Chenyu and Jiang Yuner, who held them in their arms, still feeling as if it were a dream.

"You may continue to keep an eye out for and collect secret realm scrolls." Lin Muyang's voice sounded again, giving instructions calmly, "But for now, the organization is only interested in Sovereign-rank scrolls above level 85. If the level is too low, the value is limited."

Having said that, he did not wait for Jiang Chenyu and the others to respond, his figure slightly flickering.

[part:gemini-3.0-flash]

In the next moment, under everyone's shocked gazes, his figure, shrouded in Chaotic Divine Light, suddenly blurred like a bubble and then vanished completely into the air! There were no spatial fluctuations, no energy ripples; he simply disappeared into thin air! It was as if he had never appeared, and everything just now was merely a collective hallucination.

Only the heart-palpitating lingering Aura of divine might in the room, along with the five tangible pieces of legendary-grade equipment in Jiang Chenyu and Jiang Yuner's arms that radiated powerful fluctuations, proved that everything that had just happened was real.

"Di... disappeared?" a guild member stammered, rubbing his eyes.

"It wasn't teleportation... there's no trace at all!" The archer had keen perception and was now also looking horrified. He hadn't captured any movement trajectory at all!

Jiang Chenyu and Jiang Yuner looked at each other, both seeing an unspeakable shock in the other's eyes.

"Too fast... no, I simply can't see through it at all." Jiang Chenyu's voice was hoarse. "This method of movement has completely exceeded my scope of understanding. My old man's [Flame Flash] still leaves behind traces of fire and heat, but this person..."

"Who exactly is he?" Jiang Yuner's beautiful eyes sparkled with various emotions, though mostly with awe. "Could he... really be a messenger of the gods? Or perhaps some ancient existence we cannot even begin to imagine?"

At this moment, the awe in their hearts for the "Oracle" organization reached an unprecedented peak. Handing out over a dozen pieces of legendary-grade equipment at will, coming and going like a ghost, with an Aura like a god... how was this just a "mysterious organization"? This was clearly a true behemoth that stood above the mortal world!

The small bit of pride Jiang Chenyu originally felt due to his own Sub-God Rank Talent was completely crushed at this moment. He used to think that with his extraordinary talent, he would surely join the world's top ranks in the future and might even be able to speak with the "Oracle" organization as an equal. But now he understood that his bit of talent and potential might not even be worth mentioning in the other party's eyes. In their organization, someone like him with a "Sub-God Rank" might not even be a core member, and could perhaps even just be a newcomer?

"Just what kind of existence is behind this organization?" Great waves rose in Jiang Chenyu's heart. "Do they really come from another world? Or are they some unknown, hidden power on Blue Star that has been passed down for countless eons?"

For the first time, he felt a deep sense of awe and curiosity toward the world he lived in. The world was far larger than he had imagined. A Level 170 expert like his father was a hegemon in Beiyu City and considered a figure of note in the Xia Kingdom, but compared to that mysterious messenger just now, he was simply like a firefly next to the bright moon. In fact, if those famous Nation-Guarding Level Experts of the Xia Kingdom were to face this messenger, what would the result be? Jiang Chenyu didn't even dare to think too deeply about it.

"It seems I really was a frog at the bottom of a well before." Jiang Chenyu shook his head with a bitter smile, but a more intense fire immediately ignited in his eyes. "However, this has also allowed me to see a higher peak! I must double my efforts! One day, I will also stand at such a height and see the scenery at the top of the mountain!"

He no longer took surpassing his father as his ultimate goal, but instead viewed that mysterious messenger, and even the stronger beings that might exist behind the "Oracle" organization, as his new targets to chase. Although this goal was so distant it was almost illusory, it injected him with unprecedented motivation.

Jiang Yuner looked at the fighting spirit that had reignited in her brother's eyes—one that was now calmer and more determined—and felt relieved, yet also full of emotion. This experience was a baptism of the soul and a broadening of horizons for both siblings and the entire Yingjiang Sect.

"That senior acted decisively and did not make things difficult for us, even leaving behind great treasures... it seems this 'Oracle' organization has no ill will toward us, at least for now." Jiang Yuner analyzed calmly. "Chenyu, since you are already a member, do your work well. Perhaps this really is the greatest opportunity for our Yingjiang Sect, and for you personally."

Jiang Chenyu nodded heavily: "I understand, Sis."

While Jiang Chenyu, Jiang Yuner, and the others were experiencing waves of emotion and processing the shocks and gains of tonight, Lin Muyang had already quietly returned to Ziyun Mountain Villa in Zhongnan City, carrying that [demons lair] scroll which emitted an ominous blood-red light.

He did not disturb the young ladies in the villa, only having a brief meeting with Shen Muyao, who had stayed behind.

"Muyang, you're back." Shen Muyao came forward to greet him, a gentle smile on her beautiful face, but she then showed a slight look of oddity. "By the way, that Jiang Chenyu just sent another message..."

"What did he say?" Lin Muyang asked casually while putting away the scroll.

"He said... his sister Jiang Yuner also wants to join our 'Oracle' organization. He's asking if it's possible." Shen Muyao blinked her large eyes as she looked at Lin Muyang.

"Jiang Yuner?" The image of that sharp-eyed woman with short hair flashed through Lin Muyang's mind. With her SSS-Rank Talent [Penetration], she was indeed a good prospect. However...

"Refuse," Lin Muyang said flatly, without almost any hesitation.

"Eh? Why, Muyang? Her talent seems quite good?" Shen Muyao was somewhat puzzled. Wouldn't having one more genius member be a good thing?

"It's not necessary." Lin Muyang explained, "She and Jiang Chenyu are siblings and their interests are aligned. With Jiang Chenyu in the organization, it's equivalent to both siblings being in. Jiang Chenyu will naturally share resources and intelligence with her. Adding one more official member slot provides no extra benefit to us, but instead might increase unnecessary management costs and the risk of exposure. Maintaining the organization's lean structure and mystery is more important."

"Shen Muyao suddenly understood and nodded in admiration: "You've considered everything thoroughly. I'll reply to him now and politely refuse."

"Yeah, you handle it." Lin Muyang nodded. Shen Muyao was becoming more and more proficient in management.

He didn't stay at the villa for long. Activating a legendary secret realm scroll would cause too much of a commotion; using it within the city would surely attract countless eyes and trouble. He needed to find a place that was sufficiently hidden and open.

With a thought, Lin Muyang came up with an excellent location—the deep sea outside Tianhai City!

When he dealt with that epic-grade scroll [purgatory demon sea] last time, he had dived into the deep sea to avoid all eyes and ears. Deep under the sea, the water pressure is immense and the environment is harsh, making it extremely difficult for ordinary Class Transferees to go deep; it's an excellent hidden location. Moreover, the deep sea is vast; even if some energy fluctuations leak out, they will be absorbed and diluted by the endless seawater, making it very hard to pinpoint the location accurately.

"I'll go there."

Lin Muyang's figure merged into the night once again, turning into an invisible stream of light that sped toward Tianhai City in the southeast. With his current speed, a distance of a thousand miles was covered in an instant.

Just a few minutes later, Lin Muyang was already at the bottom of the deep sea, more than a thousand kilometers outside Tianhai City.

All around was absolute darkness and silence, with only some deep-sea bioluminescent organisms emitting weak, eerie cold light that illuminated the rugged undersea mountain ranges and massive trenches. The terrifying water pressure was enough to crush steel in an instant, but to Lin Muyang, whose physical attributes had long since surpassed the limits of mortals, it felt like a gentle breeze. Countless strange-looking deep-sea demonic creatures emitting fierce Auras swam in the darkness, including behemoths with levels exceeding 100, but they seemed to instinctively sense the dangerous Aura radiating from Lin Muyang and fled in terror, not daring to approach even an inch.

Lin Muyang suspended himself in the icy seawater, ignoring the surrounding environment and demonic creatures. He took out that dark red [demons lair] scroll.

As soon as the scroll appeared, the dense demonic Aura and blood-scent it emitted seemed to stimulate the surrounding deep-sea environment, and even the seawater faintly took on an ominous dark red hue.

Without hesitation, Lin Muyang injected mana and activated the scroll.

"Buzz—!"

A low hum, as if coming from the nine underworlds, sounded. The Demon Runes on the scroll lit up one by one, and the blood-red light flared! A dark red vortex entrance over ten meters in diameter, spinning frantically, suddenly tore through space and emerged in the deep sea before Lin Muyang! Black lightning and distorted demonic shadows entwined around the edges of the entrance, emitting an Aura of evil and chaos that made one's soul tremble. The dark red light, like fresh blood, bled into the deep sea, instantly dyeing the surrounding sea area for a hundred kilometers in a layer of eerie crimson!

The seabed shook, and undercurrents surged! The deep-sea demonic creatures swimming nearby let out terrified screeches and scrambled to flee further away. The entire area seemed to have turned into a sacrificial ground for a demon's descent!

Lin Muyang turned a blind eye to the anomalies around him. His gaze was locked tightly onto that dark red vortex entrance, his eyes flashing with a light of expectation and calmness.

"[Secret Realm: demons lair]"

"[Secret Realm Level: 82]"

"[Secret Realm Quality: legendary-grade]"

"[Secret Realm Status: Openable]"

"demons lair..." Lin Muyang muttered the name of the secret realm, a cold arc curling at the corner of his mouth. "Let's see what kind of surprises a legendary-rank secret realm can bring me."

As his voice fell, his figure flashed, and he threw himself into that vortex entrance emitting the ominous blood-red light without hesitation.

The dark red light swallowed his figure, and the vortex slowly rotated, emitting even more terrifying fluctuations.