55: Unclosed Secret Realm

It was noon on the third day.

Just as Bai Ye was lying on the ground, enjoying the moment when the "solar energy" was strongest during the day, and working hard to recover his energy.

A cold, emotionless, synthesized mechanical voice rang out in everyone's minds without any warning.

【The Secret Realm core unit 'Mechanical Tyrant' has been eliminated.】

【Proceeding with Secret Realm clearance settlement...】

???

That mechanical giant was actually the Secret Realm Master, but why was the settlement delayed until the third day?

They had never encountered such a situation in the Tier 2 Secret Realms they had cleared before.

Could this be a characteristic of a Secret Realm that once held a civilization?

Li Feng and the others perked up, joy appearing on their faces.

Bai Ye also opened his eyes and leaped up from the ground.

His solar energy had recovered to about seventy or eighty percent; although he hadn't reached his Peak state, he had more than enough to fight three more Mechanical Tyrants.

Everyone stood up, waiting to be teleported out.

After a brief pause, the mechanical voice sounded again.

But the content this time left everyone stunned in place.

【Clear Secret Realm: The Ruined Capital of the Iron Man Rebellion】

【Rating: Unprecedented】

【The challenger may select three of the following as rewards.】

A stream of information flooded into Bai Ye's mind, eventually converging into several clear lines of text.

So, how exactly should one achieve an even higher, "unprecedented and unsurpassed" rating?

By smashing the Secret Realm with one punch?

If one had that kind of strength, the Secret Realm's rewards wouldn't amount to much anyway.

His gaze immediately fell upon the familiar rewards where he could choose three out of four.

【Generating special rewards based on the 'Unprecedented' rating...】

【Reward generation complete.】

【Congratulations to the challenger Bai Ye, you have obtained the special privilege to choose three out of four rewards.】

He rubbed his hands together, staring intensely at the four options slowly appearing on the screen, his heart filled with anticipation.

Hopefully, it wouldn't be something flashy but useless; it would be best if it were something that could directly increase his strength.

Like letting him directly open a second beast taming space, or giving Xiao Lan a leap in Aptitude or something.

As the data stream flickered continuously, four reward icons emitting different lights finally appeared clearly before his eyes.

On the virtual screen, four icons emitted an alluring glow, floating quietly in front of Bai Ye.

【Key of Pioneering (Elite Epic): After use, it can directly open a second beast taming space.】

【Energy Aggregation Shield (Elite Rare): Can be fused with a Mechanical System beast pet (can perform temporary Fusion), allowing a Mechanical System beast pet below Medium Rare rank to increase by one rarity level.】

【heart of fusion (Elite Epic): Can add a cockpit to a Mechanical System beast pet, allowing the Beast Tamer and the Mechanical System beast pet to become one in body and mind, entering an overclocked state and significantly increasing the combat power of both.】

【High-Density Energy Storage Alloy (Elite Excellent): An extremely precious metal Material, which can be used to forge weapons or beast pet equipment.】

Bai Ye's gaze swept quickly over the four options, and his heart pounded uncontrollably.

There were actually two Epic-level items.

Even using a Heaven And Earth Treasure, a Beast Tamer would need time to accumulate enough to open the next beast taming space.

The Key of Pioneering could actually skip this process directly.

This meant he could contract Xiao Hei immediately.

A must-pick!

Looking at the second and third rewards.

The Energy Aggregation Shield could allow a Mechanical System beast pet below Medium Rare rank to increase by one rarity level.

The heart of fusion could even directly add a cockpit to a Mechanical System beast pet, allowing him to personally enter the fray and merge with the Mechanical System beast pet.

It was practically tailor-made for him.

He wasn't following the traditional path of a Beast Tamer anyway.

If he could contract a Train Hero in the future and then fuse it with this "heart of fusion," that scene...

Gundam, activate!

Just thinking about it made Bai Ye's blood boil.

These two must also be taken!

As for the fourth reward, the High-Density Energy Storage Alloy, although it was also a precious Elite Rank Material, it seemed a bit underwhelming compared to the first three.

"I choose the Key of Pioneering, the Energy Aggregation Shield, and the heart of fusion."

Bai Ye made the choice without hesitation.

【Selection confirmed.】

【Rewards have been distributed to the challenger's illustrated compendium space.】

As the mechanical voice faded, the three icons on the virtual screen turned into three streams of light and flew straight into Bai Ye's forehead.

He could clearly feel that on his illustrated compendium interface, three new items had appeared in the orchid-shaped "backpack."

Bai Ye wished he could find a place right now to use the Key of Pioneering and then contract Xiao Hei.

Unfortunately, because Xiao Hei wasn't his beast pet to begin with, he had left her at home before coming in.

Before leaving, he had specifically asked Lin Anan to help keep an eye on her.

Hopefully, the two little Phantom Cats wouldn't tear the house apart while he was away.

Suddenly, Bai Ye frowned, discovering something very wrong.

What about the Secret Realm Master's authority?

He certainly wouldn't become the Secret Realm Master, but the support team seemed to have special items that could temporarily transfer the authority to one of their beast pets.

He had clearly achieved an Unprecedented rating, so why was there no authority among the four rewards?

Which part had gone wrong?

"Student Bai Ye, are you alright?"

Li Feng's voice pulled him back from his fantasies.

They saw Bai Ye standing there alone, his expression changing unpredictably, and thought he had been shocked by something.

"There is no Secret Realm authority among the rewards."

Bai Ye came back to his senses and said to Li Feng with a puzzled expression.

"Uh, this kind of situation happens occasionally. It's fine; we can come back and search after the Secret Realm stabilizes. The newly born Secret Realm Master probably isn't even Elite Rank."

"We've received the rewards, so we should be getting teleported out soon, right?"

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone subconsciously looked up at the sky, waiting for the arrival of the teleportation beam.

One second, two seconds...

A minute passed...

The surroundings remained dead silent.

"What's going on?"

Zhao Dezhu scratched his head while not forgetting to record this rare situation.

"Is the Secret Realm lagging?"

"Impossible."

Zhang Yu immediately denied it.

"The rules of the Secret Realm cannot possibly have such a low-level error."

His expression turned somewhat grave as he walked quickly to his instrument to check the data.

"Something is wrong!"

Zhang Yu's voice suddenly became flustered.

"The spatial energy field of the Secret Realm is very stable, even more stable than when we first entered; there is absolutely no sign of it closing!"

What?!

Li Feng's heart sank, and a strong sense of unease welled up in his mind.

They had cleared the Secret Realm, but hadn't been teleported out.

This completely contradicted the common sense recorded by the predecessors of the association.

Could it be that inside this Secret Realm, there was a deeper secret beyond just the civilization?