296: Chapter 297: Let's get to level 120 first.

Immersed in the bizarre and perilous environment of the mythical-rank secret realm, feeling the warm current surging within her like an endless river, and hearing the almost constant, numbing system upgrade notifications in her mind, Sagiri felt an overwhelming sense of unreality, as if she were in the most absurd of dreams.

The speed of leveling was simply too fast, too dreamlike! It was so fast that before she could even carefully experience the subtle changes brought by each level up, she was pushed to an even higher tier by the next, even more surging wave of experience points.

"M-Master, I'm leveling up so fast..." Sagiri's voice was a bit dry. She subconsciously licked her parched lips, her gaze unfocused as she looked at her attribute panel. "It feels like just a moment ago, I was already level 70... Oh no, the notification just said level 71..."

This speed was even more exaggerated than the epic stories of ancient legendary heroes she used to hear from teachers at the orphanage! Which of the heroes in those stories hadn't endured countless hardships in mountains of corpses and seas of blood, spending years or even decades to climb step by step to a high rank? And as for herself, from entering this secret realm to now, had it even been half an hour?

"Hmm, continue. The plan is to help you grind to level 99 here and complete your first breakthrough." Lin Muyang's voice sounded calmly from the side, as if he were discussing something as mundane as what to have for lunch today.

"Level 99... first breakthrough..." Sagiri repeated in a murmur. Her clear eyes reflected the brilliant yet deadly light from Alice's skills, as well as the figure of Gui Wanwan, who moved like a deity controlling life and death. So quickly... was she about to touch the threshold of the first major realm breakthrough that many Class Transferees could never reach in their entire lives?

The initial extreme fear, the anxiety about the unknown, and those unspeakable speculations had long since melted away like snow under the sun in the face of this inconceivable, tangible gift of power. By this moment, Sagiri was basically convinced that this mysterious and powerful master was not the perverted aristocrat who found pleasure in toying with and torturing others, as she had first imagined.

If he only wanted a plaything, why go to such great lengths to bring her into a dangerous mythical-rank secret realm, use all sorts of unheard-of methods to crazily boost her level, and even generously give her mythic grade equipment and mythical grade skill book? Even if these things might not mean much to the master, it was absolutely impossible to waste them on a mere consumable meant only for amusement.

The only explanation was that the master truly wanted to nurture her, hoping that she could become a combat asset in the future.

Thinking of this, a mixture of gratitude, trepidation, and even deeper self-abasement quietly flooded Sagiri's heart. She was grateful for this unexpected opportunity and trust, trepidatious about whether she could live up to these expectations, and her self-abasement stemmed from the iron-clad fact that she was just a Barrier Master with an E-rank Talent.

In Atlantis World, an E-rank Talent was almost synonymous with being trash, a being destined to be marginalized by society. Even if one could raise their talent, there had to be a limit, right? It shouldn't be possible to raise her talent above S, right? Would the master eventually regret investing such precious resources into nurturing an E-rank Talent holder? Would he discover that this was an investment destined to be a loss?

This thought made her restless. She watched Alice and Gui Wanwan efficiently clearing the swarming Mythical-grade Demonic Creatures ahead like a work of art, sometimes resurrecting them, sometimes harvesting them, while she could only stand blankly behind the master, protected by a powerful shield, passively receiving the feeding of massive amounts of experience points, feeling like a complete burden who only knew how to eat.

No, she had to do something, even if it was just a trivial matter.

She summoned her courage, carefully moved behind Lin Muyang, and extended her hands, which were slightly cold and trembling from nervousness, gently placing them on Lin Muyang's shoulders, and began to knead them clumsily, with a touch as light as a feather brushing by.

"..." Lin Muyang felt the almost negligible touch on his shoulders, feeling a bit helpless, yet also finding it somewhat amusing. He turned his head and met a pair of clear eyes filled with "I want to help" and "but I seem to be unable to do anything right."

"Your strength is too light." Lin Muyang's tone carried a hint of a smile; he wasn't scolding her, just stating a fact. The gap in their attributes was like a chasm; Sagiri's strength at this moment was no different from an infant's to him.

"Ah, I'm sorry!" Sagiri retracted her hands like a startled rabbit, her cheeks instantly flushing red, and she buried her head even lower. The little bit of courage she had just summoned instantly collapsed, leaving only immense self-reproach and helplessness. See, she really couldn't do anything right, not even a massage...

Watching her like this, Lin Muyang shook his head and stopped teasing her. With a thought, he took out the mythical grade skill book he had already prepared from his storage space—the cover flowing with the phantom of pale golden grains of time—[Heavenly Sky Barrier].

"Here, stop overthinking. Once your level is a bit higher, learn this." Lin Muyang handed the skill book to her. "The effect is to deploy a buffing barrier that can increase all attributes of teammates within the barrier's range. Although the initial bonus isn't very high, learn it first, get familiar with the combat rhythm of a Barrier Master, and you can provide a little help to Alice and Xiao Wan."

Sagiri dazedly took the skill book that radiated vast energy fluctuations; it felt slightly heavy in her hands. She looked down at the skill description, and when she saw the words "increase teammate all attributes" and "mythic grade," her heart began to beat wildly again, unable to help itself. Another mythic grade skill! And it was specifically for her, a skill that gave her something to do!

"Yes! Master! I will definitely work hard to learn it well!" Sagiri clutched the skill book tightly to her chest, as if holding a precious mission, and nodded vigorously. In those eyes that had been somewhat dim, a weak but firm light reignited. Great, she was finally not completely useless! Even if this skill's effect would be greatly reduced due to her E-rank Talent, at least she could try to do it, she could try to help the two big sisters fighting in front.

This feeling of being needed and being entrusted with a task was like a warm current, instantly dispelling most of the anxiety and self-abasement in her heart. She could finally stand here with a bit more peace of mind, focusing her attention more on feeling her own surging power and pre-studying that [Heavenly Sky Barrier] skill book.

Meanwhile, it wasn't just Sagiri's level that was taking a rocket ride. Lin Muyang's own experience bar was also growing rapidly at a visible, astonishing speed!

After level 100, the experience points required for each level up were astronomical, far exceeding before. But in this mythical-rank secret realm, killing these Mythical-grade Demonic Creatures, which already had abundant base experience, combined with the bonus from the Aura and this rogue tactic of infinite respawn grinding, the efficiency was astonishingly high.

In just five minutes, a soft white light representing a level up shone on Lin Muyang—level 101!

"This speed is indeed not bad." Lin Muyang felt the slight increase in all attributes brought by the level up and was fairly satisfied. Calculating based on this efficiency, if he maintained the current monster level and grinding rhythm, it would take about an hour for him to rush all the way to level 110, at which point he would gain another opportunity to summon a new partner.

"However..." He quickly analyzed calmly, "Once I reach level 110, the required experience will increase significantly again. And continuing to grind these monsters that are actually just over level 100, the base experience gained relative to the new level's requirements will mean efficiency will start to drop. To maintain the same leveling speed, I either need to find a higher-level secret realm or accept the natural decay in efficiency."

In Atlantis World, mythical-rank secret realms were inherently rare, and their level distribution might not exactly meet his needs. Finding a mythical-rank secret realm that was just around level 110, suitable for him to enter under a Disguise, and not completely controlled by major powers, would require luck and time.

"If I leave here to look for a new secret realm, the time spent on the journey, plus the time to search and confirm, would probably be enough to keep grinding here for a while." Lin Muyang quickly weighed the pros and cons. "Even if the efficiency drops, going from level 110 to 120 here might only take five or six hours... This speed seems completely acceptable."

After all, this was a mythical-rank secret realm; the base experience was right there. A drop in efficiency was only relative to the previous rocket speed; compared to the outside world, it was still an upgrade efficiency sufficient to make any Class Transferee go crazy.

"Decided. I'll stay here and just grind until level 120." Lin Muyang made the final decision. A stable, efficient environment for growth was more valuable than constantly rushing around in blind pursuit of maximum efficiency.

Inside Stanro City, the investigation personally overseen by Virgil had been ongoing for several hours. The elite city guards, secret agents from various families, and even some secret, special tracking methods had been used to almost turn the city upside down, especially in the Lower City and the area around that alley, which had undergone a carpet search.

However, the results were frustrating. Valen and the two young masters of the Hawk family, along with their guards and informants, seemed as if they had never appeared in that alley, leaving no valuable clues whatsoever. No traces of battle, no residual energy, no spatial fluctuations.

This level of cleanup method made everyone in the know, including Virgil, feel a chill in their hearts. This could by no means be explained by ordinary vendettas or conflicts; the level of power mastered by the opponent was likely far beyond their estimation.

Just as the investigation reached a stalemate and Virgil's face was so gloomy it could drip water, a piece of intelligence that seemed unrelated to this matter was presented.

"My Lord, we just received news from the outpost. The level 101 mythical-rank secret realm assigned to the Grey Hawk and Anvil teams to clear in turns was broken into by someone ahead of schedule, and after entering, they immediately locked the secret realm entrance. The identity of the intruders is unknown, and the number of people seems to be very small."

The reporting officer said cautiously. Normally, such a small conflict in a level 100 secret realm would never disturb a big figure of Virgil's level. But at this moment, any anomaly could become a breakthrough.

"mythical-rank secret realm? Level 101?" Virgil's brows were tightly locked. Did a Class Transferee of this level have the ability to silently kill his son, who was over level 130 and carried heavy treasures? The possibility was extremely low. But what if? What if the other party relied on some special means, or had simply disguised their level?

More importantly, this clue was, up to now, the only clear report regarding outsiders or abnormal behavior. In a situation with no leads, not a single possibility could be missed.

"Send two people down to take a look." Virgil pondered for a moment and issued the instruction. "Get someone sharp, with solid strength. Don't alert the enemy, first confirm the identity and strength of the intruders. If it's just a normal raid on the secret realm, teach them a lesson and ask about their background. But if there is any anomaly, report back immediately!"

"Yes!" The officer accepted the order and left quickly to make arrangements.

Soon, two SS-Rank Experts with levels exceeding 350, deep and steady Auras, and sharp eyes, left Stanro City silently and sped downwards. One was skilled in stealth and tracking, and the other was proficient in frontal assault and magic analysis; they were an excellent combination for executing such reconnaissance missions.

Howling Rift, outside the entrance to the Void Corridor secret realm.

The atmosphere had changed from the initial confrontation to a kind of joint blockade in common hatred.

The members of the Grey Hawk and Anvil teams had temporarily set aside their competition and were working together to set up an inescapable net around the secret realm entrance. As many as seven layers of magic barriers with different functions were nested one after another, surrounding the entrance airtight. There was the [Spatial Anchoring Barrier] specifically for interfering with space and preventing teleportation escapes.

There was the [Weakening Field Barrier] that significantly weakened the attributes of targets within the range and continuously caused damage; there was the [Elemental Burst Barrier] with trigger-based automatic attacks.

There was also the [Slow Aura Barrier] at the outermost perimeter used for warning and delaying enemy actions, and so on.

The captains of the two teams—a burly man carrying a huge tower shield and a cold, aloof female mage holding a staff—were standing side-by-side outside the barrier, their expressions not looking very good.

"Damn it, if I find out which blind bastard it is, I'll have to skin him alive!" The burly man spat and said viciously. According to the arrangements of the Stanro City Resource Allocation Committee, tonight was supposed to be his Anvil team's turn to enter the secret realm and begin their first three-day clearing attempt. Now it was all ruined.

"To be able to sneak in and enter the secret realm without us noticing, the other party either has extremely high-level concealment means, or..." The female mage analyzed calmly, cold light flickering in her eyes, "their strength far exceeds ours and they don't bother to hide at all. But if it's the latter, why come to rob a level 100 secret realm?"

"Regardless of who it is, when they come out, we must give them a lesson they will never forget for the rest of their lives!" The burly man clenched his fists, his knuckles cracking, "Dare to steal my food, they must have the awareness of getting their teeth broken! Everyone, perk up, fully activate the barriers, don't let even a fly fly out!"

The members of Grey Hawk and Anvil responded one after another, each occupying favorable positions, weapons unsheathed, staves glowing, vigilantly staring at the slowly rotating secret realm entrance. They were just waiting for the thieves inside to show their faces, and they would be met with their long-prepared thunderous strike.