45: Chapter 45: A forbidden spell blew up the Key Lock Secret Realm!

After mastering the Forbidden Spells of five major classes, Lu Chen couldn't wait to experience their effects.

Therefore, Lu Chen sent a message to Yu Linglong: "Pavilion Master Linglong, I need two Secret Realm tickets—one for the Misty Bay Secret Realm and one for the Key Maze Secret Realm. We'll split the loot from the Secret Realms equally, as before!"

"Okay!"

Both of these Secret Realms were under the control of the Xinghai Guild. Since Yu Linglong had a decent relationship with Sikong Yao, she quickly obtained the two tickets.

In reality, given Lu Chen's current reputation and strength in Xihai City, he didn't need to ask Yu Linglong for tickets at all. He could simply go and farm the Secret Realms directly, and no guild in Xihai City would dare to stop him.

Lu Chen was doing this entirely out of consideration, intentionally giving Yu Linglong a share of the benefits, as he still owed her two favors.

Afterward, Lu Chen went to the Key Maze Secret Realm first.

[Name: Key Maze Secret Realm]

[Rank: 3-Star]

[Difficulty: Normal]

[Invading Monster Rank: LV60-90]

[Time Limit for Rewards: 30 minutes]

[Clear Record Holder: Hidden, Clear Time: 3 minutes]

The difficulty of this challenge Secret Realm wasn't high. One only needed to find four minor leader bosses in the maze, obtain four key fragments, combine them into a key, find the gate at the end of the maze, and challenge the final Commander BOSS inside.

Most challengers wasted their time in the maze, making it difficult to break the record.

However, it was clear that the record holder for this Secret Realm was very powerful, having cleared it in just 3 minutes.

"I wonder who set that record. Clearing it in 3 minutes—they must have been able to see through all the maze routes at a glance; otherwise, it would be impossible to be that fast!"

Lu Chen noticed there wasn't a single challenger here.

That made sense! A 3-minute record! For over 99.99% of the job-change users in Xihai City, this was an unbreakable record. But for Lu Chen, it was easy to break!

"Lu... Lu Chen?" The Xinghai Guild member responsible for guarding this Secret Realm was shocked and immediately sent a message to Sikong Yao.

"What? Lu Chen wants to challenge a 3-Star Secret Realm? Has he already reached a 3rd-tier Breakthrough?" Upon learning that Lu Chen wanted to challenge the 3-Star Secret Realm [Key Maze], Sikong Yao was stunned.

Meanwhile, his proudest Disciple, Liu Ruyuan, had only just gone to accept her 2nd-tier advancement quest; the gap was growing ever wider. He immediately reported this to Elder Qin.

However, Elder Qin didn't take any action, only replying, "I am aware of this."

This was because not long ago, Shen Xiyun had sought him out and tossed him a special token: "I'm protecting Lu Chen and his family. If you're not satisfied, have your guild leader come talk to me!"

Elder Qin had never expected that a legendary guild bigwig would appear in a tiny place like Xihai City. He couldn't afford to offend her, and the Tianxiao Guild wouldn't dare provoke her lightly either.

Therefore, Elder Qin had instructed Sikong Yao to secretly monitor Lu Chen's family, but strictly forbade any hostile actions against them, at least as long as that bigwig remained in Xihai City.

By this time, Lu Chen had already entered the Secret Realm!

As soon as he arrived, he summoned a swarm of 300,000 Ice Horn Ants, which swept forward like a tidal wave.

The minor monsters and minor bosses inside didn't even get to see Lu Chen before they were all instantly killed by the Ice Horn Ants, their bodies divided up by Xiao Qing and the Snow Cat. Moreover, with so many Ice Horn Ants, they easily found the route to the finish line.

"Master, the route to the finish line has been confirmed!" An Ice Horn Ant returned to the beast pen to lead the way.

[Divine Concealment]! Lu Chen activated this Forbidden Spell, entering a state of invisibility, increasing his movement speed by 300%, and gaining the ability to pass through walls.

In less than a minute, Lu Chen quickly arrived at the finish line. Using the combined key, he opened the large iron gate and entered an independent space where there was only one Commander BOSS.

[Name: Shadow Eater · Commander BOSS]

[Those who challenge me will eventually be crushed, because my Clones are incredibly powerful!]

As it finished speaking, the BOSS split into multiple Shadow Clones, a cold, arrogant smile on its face, giving the impression that it was the strongest.

[Forbidden Spell — Thunder Punishment World Destroyer!]

Lu Chen raised his hand and released the Forbidden Spell. A Thunderstorm Domain covered the area! The sky suddenly tore open, and a hundred lightning storms poured down like divine punishment. The entire map was swallowed by blinding purple-white light, and 360 Thunder Dragons intertwined into a destruction matrix with a diameter of a thousand meters. The ground instantly shattered into powder under the bombardment of the world-destroying thunder.

Before the BOSS could even let out a terrified scream, it was crushed by the lightning. Its Clones and main body shattered like glass, vanishing into ashes in an instant. The entire Key Maze Secret Realm was affected; the maze collapsed, resembling a scene from the apocalypse.

[Ding, the Key Maze Secret Realm you are in has suffered destructive damage and requires 10 minutes to repair!]

Fortunately, this was just a dungeon instance of the Key Maze Secret Realm; if it had been a newly born Secret Realm, even the outside world might have been affected.

"I just blew up an entire Secret Realm?" Lu Chen clicked his tongue. He knew the Forbidden Spell was powerful, but he hadn't expected it to be this powerful; a 3-Star Secret Realm couldn't withstand the power of a 3rd-tier legendary Forbidden Spell at all.

"The BOSS was blown to bits, not even leaving any residue. It seems I can't use Forbidden Spells casually, or my beast pets won't be able to consume the Invading Monster corpses to evolve." Lu Chen shook his head with some regret.

10 minutes later.

[Ding, Secret Realm repaired!]

[Ding, congratulations on successfully breaking the record. You have gained Reputation +270, Rank +3, and Gold Coins +12,000!]

[Ding, congratulations, your Rank has increased to LV63!]

This time, Lu Chen did not choose to hide his information. Regardless, the entire Xihai City already knew of his current strength, so hiding it was meaningless. It was better to be high-profile and make his legend even louder!

"My God! Cleared in 48 seconds! Even if you knew the maze route and monster distribution, it shouldn't be possible to clear it in such a short time, right? This Lu Chen is just too much of a Prodigy!" Several guards felt their scalps tingle when they saw the Key Maze Secret Realm record update.

When they announced the situation, the entire city was stirred, and a large number of job-change users came to witness the miracle.

[Clear Record Holder: Name: Lu Chen, Class: F-Rank Beast Tamer, Clear Time: 48 seconds!]

"Gulp! Do you guys think Lu Chen is really an F-Rank Beast Tamer?"

"The system record states it clearly; Lu Chen is an F-Rank Beast Tamer!"

"But where on earth is there such a fierce F-Rank Beast Tamer! With this record, even a legendary Genius would be left in the dust!" The crowd was discussing it frantically, but they couldn't make heads or tails of it.

Not far away, Shen Xiyun was also present. In fact, she had been secretly watching Lu Chen all along.

Seeing Lu Chen crush the latest record she had left behind, she felt an even greater desire to recruit Lu Chen as her Disciple. If she succeeded, the structure of the world would inevitably undergo a massive change. She could also begin preparing to participate in that Gods Game!

Meanwhile, Lu Chen was already farming the Misty Bay Secret Realm.

The area was shrouded in fog, limiting visibility to within ten meters, and the danger factor was very high.

Squeak, squeak~ But under the sweep of the 300,000-strong Ice Horn Ant army, the aquatic Invading Monsters in this Secret Realm were, without suspense, subjected to a massive purge.

[Ding, congratulations, your Rank has increased to LV64!]

"Leveling up is getting slower and slower! It looks like I still need to go farm some Invasion Secret Realms!" Lu Chen continued to ask Pavilion Master Linglong for Secret Realm tickets, intending to sweep through the remaining few Invasion Secret Realms in Xihai City.

Meanwhile, the sky over the Xihai City area was quietly undergoing a change. Wisps of blood-red light flickered in and out of existence.

Lu Xiaoyun, who was taking a nap at home, suddenly opened her eyes, and scarlet divine patterns appeared.

But strangely, this time Lu Xiaoyun did not go mad; instead, she stared fixedly through the window at the distant sky, seemingly whispering: "It's here!!!"