109: Return trip, a journey to a hidden paradise

Lu Chen caught Sun Feifei, who was nearly swept away. He took the Tai'e Sword from her hand and sliced directly through the layers of quantum mist!

"Hold on tight. You're the weakest here, don't fall into a void fissure!"

Hearing Lu Chen's words...

Sun Feifei pouted defiantly.

But she didn't dare say anything.

Because it was the truth!

She was only Rank Four.

Her good friend was already about to reach Rank Six.

No, she was already Rank Six.

After a difficult journey through the mist...

The group landed in the center of a circular altar.

Nine bronze tripods were gushing with seven-colored spring water.

At that moment, the nether moon pendant on Ning Xiwei's chest suddenly floated up, drawing the spring water into light bands that looked like DNA chains.

She stared blankly at the scene. "This is..."

"This is the Spring of Life from Atlantis." Flesh and blood regrew on Lu Chen's finger bones in the spring water. "The murals from before were talking about this. Legend has it that Xu Fu stole three sips ten thousand years ago, and three Golden Cores grew in his body... Golden Cores are the source of power for ancient Eastern immortal arts practitioners."

After Lu Chen finished speaking, he turned around and suddenly pushed Ignis into the spring's eye. "Little demon, you have an internal injury in your heart. Take a soak while you're at it."

"Hey, hey, hey! Aah, couldn't you have given me a heads-up?"

Accompanied by Ignis's protest...

There was also the sound of a splash as she hit the water.

Ignis blew bubbles and surfaced with a look of grievance.

She glared resentfully at the culprit!

Lu Chen ignored her completely.

The Flame Demon Girl's lava patterns flowed in the spring water, and her damaged Flame Demon Heart began to beat again.

When she resurfaced a moment later, the liquid dripping from the tips of her hair burned into red lotuses in the air.

Ignis looked at Lu Chen with some confusion and asked, "When did you find out?"

"There's a Restriction buried in your Bloodline. I'm an undead, so I can probe your body." As Lu Chen answered, he turned the golden compass, and the spring water condensed into a star map on its surface.

Lu Chen observed the star map, confirming the information from the golden compass and the previous murals.

At the same time, he continued to explain to the stunned Ignis, "It was probably your uncle, right? He wanted to monitor the location of the Molten Heart through you."

Shelley cast a spell, wrapping the entire spring eye in an ice lotus. She said with a look of pleasant surprise, "The purity of the water element is as high as 99.999%!"

Shelley looked at the detected data in shock!

She murmured softly, "This is much... higher than North Pole Profound Ice!"

"It was improved by the Secret Realm, after all."

As Lu Chen spoke, he gently tossed the codex fragment he had obtained earlier into the spring eye. Egyptian hieroglyphs and oracle bone script intertwined on the water's surface.

The codex fragment was not soaked by the water at all.

And the characters on it made Lu Chen even more certain!

This golden codex was the "Golden Book of the Sun"!

"So the resurrection spell in the third volume is used like this... it must be paired with this thing."

There was a bang in the water!

The spring water suddenly shot into the sky, forming a phantom of Ning Xiwei's mother in the air.

The phantom of Ning Xiwei's mother smiled tenderly at her daughter, finally turning into points of light that merged back into the nether moon pendant.

"Mother?!"

Ning Xiwei fell to her knees. Before her tears could fall, she was helped up by Lu Chen.

"This is the Opportunity your mother used her last bit of strength to get for you. Don't waste it."

For three days...

Lu Chen stayed deep within the Secret Realm.

He took everything that could be taken.

The natural hot spring on the outskirts of the Secret Realm was also transformed by Lu Chen into an Immortal Cave using the power of the Secret Realm.

It really did have the feel of a hidden paradise!

The Luoshu and Hetu diagrams flowed across the emerald screen.

Ignis leaned against the white marble pool's edge, her True Body of the Flame Demon not yet fully retracted.

Lava patterns formed a rose design at her collarbone, and the flaming bone whip extending from her tailbone hung naturally into the water, sending up steam with the scent of sulfur.

Ignis noticed Sun Feifei peeking at her.

"Seen enough? Little Daoist girl, haven't you seen a Flame Demon before?"

Sun Feifei's peach wood sword toyed with the petals on the water's surface.

"Our Sun Family's ancestral teachings say that those not of our kind... mmmph!" Before Sun Feifei could finish, Ning Xiwei covered her mouth.

Ning Xiwei apologized to Ignis!

Ning Xiwei could now be considered a complete Necromancer.

She could even manifest bone armor like Lu Chen, though her bone armor had at some point been replaced by a plain white bathrobe. "Feifei, watch your words..."

"Everyone, do you want some fried eggs?"

At that moment, Lu Chen's voice came from behind the screen. He was actually using the golden compass to fry eggs!

Lu Chen even began to chat eloquently, "The 'classic of mountains and seas' records that eggs boiled in the Penglai hot springs can increase one's cultivation by a hundred years."

With a flick of his finger, Lu Chen shot an eggshell into the void, knocking down three photography drones that had somehow snuck into the Secret Realm.

Tsk, almost forgot.

The technology in this world isn't low either.

Morning Dew's six wings were gradually showing a tendency to materialize!

She now looked like a beautiful and holy angel.

Morning Dew soaked in the spring water, where Holy Light and steam blended into a rainbow.

She didn't seem to have much control over her gradually materializing six wings yet.

At this point, looking at Lu Chen not far away, she waved and asked somewhat timidly and shyly, "Mr. Lu, it seems the Holy See wants to analyze your combat data..."

She wiped the sunstone at the top of her Divine Staff, lowered her head nervously, and whispered, "Do you... need me to..."

"Let them analyze!" Lu Chen flipped open the "Golden Book of the Sun," and a yellowed photograph fell from between the pages.

It was a group photo of the Xi'an archaeological team from 1975. Among them was a young man wearing a cadet cap who looked exactly like him.

Lu Chen's mind became increasingly clear.

It seemed he had been here ten thousand years ago.

Lu Chen said nonchalantly, "By the time they calculate the backdoor program left in the Terracotta Warriors, Chu Jian and the others will probably have died of anger."

Five days later.

The returning magic airship was already weaving through the clouds.

But even on the way back...

The journey was not peaceful.

A blood-colored meteor shower suddenly fell outside the porthole.

It made Lu Chen couldn't help but yawn.

Shelley's ice crystal earrings immediately issued an alarm once again.

"Lu Chen, space folding fluctuations detected!" Shelley warned.

Chu Jian's video call came in through Ning Xiwei's phone.

"Mr. Lu, do you like this grand gift?"

Behind Chu Jian at this moment, the background was the Mount Li Underground Palace. Nine Golden Statues were being assembled into a giant mecha, which possessed magical fluctuations.

"Look, I'm using the mechanical arts left over from ancient times to deal with you. It's truly... a wonderful fate, isn't it?"

Lu Chen looked at him as if he were looking at an idiot.

"You know, it seems that in ancient times, I taught the First Emperor of Qin three things! First, don't talk much with idiots! Second, always keep a trump card! Third is... don't mess with the mysterious man in the Zhongshan suit."

After he finished speaking, Lu Chen saw the giant mecha at the Mount Li Underground Palace go out of control and run amok.

Then came the noisy sounds from Chu Jian's end.

Lu Chen directly told Ning Xiwei to turn off the communication.

Don't talk much with idiots.

Speaking of which, ten thousand years ago in the ancient era, what exactly was I trying to do?

There must be some kind of scheme!

And it was one I set up personally.

Who was it meant to deal with?

Gradually, the phantom of a Phoenix swept past the porthole.

A towering mountain peak appeared before everyone's eyes.

Atop it stood a magnificent academy.

A cultivation and magic academy.

They had arrived at the academy!

This Secret Realm trip...

Was considered over.

The airship hadn't even landed yet!

The broadcast rang out.

"Student Ning Xiwei, please bring the Lu Chen skele—, no, Student Lu Chen! Land directly at the Principal's Office—repeat, this is the first priority!"