13: A growth-themed secret realm!

Gentle daylight slowly emerged from the distant horizon.

Today was the Prodigy Exchange Meet for Tianhai City, Qinghe City, and Yinglan City.

Though called an exchange meet, it was essentially a competition between three neighboring cities to see who had more prodigies.

It was a chance to flex their muscles and leave the other two cities weeping with jealousy and envy.

Following the procedure, a small competition or trial would then be held.

Resources allocated from above would be distributed based on the results of the competition.

According to past tradition...

Each city would send its twenty strongest prodigies to participate in the exchange meet.

As one of the major cities in Great Xia, Tianhai City had never seen a gap in students with Epic-rank Professions.

They had already secured nine consecutive championships at the Three-City Exchange Meet!

“I heard Tianhai City is having another explosive year—two Epic Rank and two Legendary-rank Professions, second only to the Imperial Capital.”

“Is there even any point in us coming here to make fools of ourselves and just be stepping stones for those prodigies?”

Two Legendary-rank Professions... that was simply an existence capable of a dimensional strike.

Even if their entire group attacked at once, they might not necessarily defeat them!

“There's no choice. Our captain is an Epic-rank Profession user, something our city hasn't seen in five years, and he's dead set on proving himself.”

“He keeps saying that a profession only determines the ceiling and that his personal mechanics can bridge the gap. He's so overconfident.”

Within the Yinglan City team, complaints and helpless discussions broke out continuously.

They were all peers at the age of eighteen—the most hot-blooded, proud, and idealistic age.

No one wanted to embarrass themselves when they knew they were certain to lose.

If they were online, they could still say something like:

“There are cases where Legendary-rank Professions are surpassed by excellent-rank ones due to being stuck at a level cap; profession quality doesn't represent everything.”

But this was offline, the reality of the exchange meet about to begin.

They could only slink away from the dazzling light radiating from those lucky few.

In dark, ignored corners, they swallowed their tears of jealousy and envy.

They couldn't even summon the thought of resisting.

This was the gap between a standard profession and a Transcendent Profession!

Listening to his teammates who were admitting defeat before the fight even started, and their words which they didn't even try to hide from him...

The Yinglan City captain, Wu Ming, had a terrible expression and scolded them with dissatisfaction:

“Short-sighted! Everyone is currently unranked; the gap between profession qualities isn't so large that it's impossible to resist!”

In the professional entry assessment, he had personally achieved an outstanding A-Rank score.

If he hadn't been set up by the capital interests...

If they hadn't intentionally thrown him into an area without any road signs so he couldn't find the BOSS...

He might have been able to kill the BOSS and secure an s-rank score.

He could have broken the city-wide record!

“Tch! What's he acting for? He just got lucky and awakened a Transcendent Profession, that's all.”

The two who had spoken first looked defiant, but they still obediently shut their mouths.

The captain really would dare to teach them a lesson on the spot!

“Actually, Classmate Wu Ming spoke very well. No one should have complaining or gloomy thoughts.”

The two leading teachers ended the topic with appreciative expressions.

Indomitability, competitiveness, and resistance—these are what make good students!

This was also the purpose of holding the exchange meet: to stimulate the students' drive and unyielding fighting spirit!

Did they not know that Tianhai City was certain to win?

But so what!

If one gave up and admitted defeat just because the opponent's profession quality was higher than their own...

Then why would everyone bother to Cultivate or go to school?

They could just show their profession quality and Rank when meeting an enemy and compare them like playing cards!

The Global High School League had been held for over a decade, and there was no shortage of successful cases of the weak staging an upset!

However, this time, Classmate Wu Ming was likely going to be disappointed... The two teachers glanced at each other and tacitly remained silent.

Sometimes, suffering a setback and being hit a few times actually helps one grow!

Wu Ming touched the halberd on his back and grinned.

He felt that his current self was terrifyingly strong.

He would surely use his halberd to pierce the void, roar to startle the clouds, overcome the superior as an inferior, and shatter the myth of Legendary-rank Professions!

“I never hit women, so I'll just have to trouble you then.”

He was a [War Knight] who had pushed melee combat to the extreme.

He had a huge advantage when facing that pure mage-type Shen Pan.

As long as he was given a chance to get close, even a Legendary Rank would be knocked to the ground by his storm-like attacks!

This was the reason why he was so invested in the exchange meet.

While everyone was still unranked and hadn't obtained new reinforcement skills, he felt his chances of winning were extremely high.

“I will win!”

...“The rules changed again?

I can see they really want to win, but it doesn't matter to me. Either way, the result won't change!”

When the Class Teacher heard Shen Pan's slightly provocative yet overly realistic words, he couldn't help but smile bitterly.

He knew very well that Shen Pan didn't look down on those two prodigies from the other cities.

He truly believed the competition was meaningless and a waste of time.

However, the other two cities were having an explosive year, each having one Prodigy with an Epic-rank Profession, so naturally, they didn't want to lose too embarrassingly.

“These rules keep changing. The mayor rambled on for ages yesterday; turns out it was all a waste of time!”

“It's simple. They're afraid, they've surrendered, and they don't dare to face the glorious light of our Godfather!”

Students below the stage immediately began to jeer.

“Focus!”

The Class Teacher glared at the students below who weren't seriously studying.

If you're going to slack off, then slack off, but listen quietly and don't interrupt my explanation.

“It's precisely because the quality of our Tianhai City prodigies is too high this year.”

“The higher-ups decided to place the main part of the exchange meet inside a Growth Secret Realm.”

“And...”

At this point, Old Wang added in a low voice with a strange expression:

“In this exchange meet, you, Jiang Ruolai, and four other Epic Rank prodigies will form a team.”

“Your results won't be counted toward your respective teams; you'll be burdened with the task of completely conquering the Secret Realm.”

“This Growth Secret Realm was born half a year ago. At that time, there were basically no monsters inside, so the mayor decided to let it develop.”

“Now, the monsters inside have grown to around Level 10 at most, making it very suitable for you newcomers to pioneer.”

After all, Secret Realm monsters do not respawn; once they're dead, they're dead for good.

And monsters at a maximum of around Level 10...

For excellent-rank prodigies who had experienced the entry assessment and were gradually becoming proficient in teamwork...

They were simply perfect targets for grinding, allowing them to quickly reach Level 9 and start their Rank-up missions!

This was also something the mayors of the other two cities had agreed upon. Otherwise, with two Legendary-rank Profession users standing there...

They would surely win no matter what the competition was!

Since it was an exchange meet, there naturally had to be an equal exchange.

That was why the plan was modified overnight.

The three cities would each send fifteen excellent-rank students for a fair competition!

“I see. That's fairly reasonable.”

Shen Pan nodded in understanding.

Unlike dungeons, which can respawn monsters continuously, rarely have unexpected changes, and have severely diminished rewards after being cleared once...

Growth-Type Secret Realms are exactly as the name suggests.

The resources and monsters inside are constantly growing, and at an extremely fast pace.

If they aren't cleared in time, causing the Secret Realm's difficulty to skyrocket...

The monsters inside will get stronger and stronger, eventually producing a BOSS that promotes to the Epic Rank and exits the Secret Realm!

And there's another benefit after a Secret Realm is conquered.

No matter what type of Secret Realm it is...

After being cleared, it becomes a blessed land and a safe zone, continuously producing various resources.

For example, experience crystals that can directly increase your level by one...

Have a very low chance of being produced from the monthly settlement of a Secret Realm!

“Shen Pan, don't feel pressured. Even if the conquest fails, you won't lose out on rewards.”

“Just treat it as going in there to level up!”

The Class Teacher laughed easily. This was the preferential treatment for prodigies who had awakened Transcendent Professions!

At this moment...

Jiang Ruolai, who hadn't closed her eyes much all night and whose head was full of worries about her mission failing...

Appeared at the back door of Class Two with heavy dark circles under her eyes.

She thought about the upcoming exchange match and decided to keep a low profile.

She quietly sent a message on her phone!

Jiang Ruolai: “Classmate Shen Pan, can you come out for a moment?”