A string of deep, incomprehensible words echoed out, and the belly of the towering ancient tree split open with a huge mouth, as if it connected to another world.
“All right, the secret realm’s exit is open.
Good luck, everyone.” Kero offered his emotionless blessing.
“Whoever goes in first usually gets the upper hand.” Seeing everyone hesitate, Kero added.
Just as the crowd was wavering, a figure stepped out boldly and fearlessly, walking straight ahead.
The young man wore a white robe, his expression indifferent, completely ignoring the stares from the others, and without hesitation, he was the first to enter the secret realm.
Kero noticed this boy with a unique aura, and a hint of approval flashed in his eyes.
Among all these pampered young masters and ladies, this white-robed boy was like a breath of fresh air.
That calm and composed look definitely wasn’t an act.
While everyone was still exchanging glances, the white-robed boy had already entered the secret realm.
The second to go in was Emilia, the center of attention in the crowd.
She let out a few light laughs and walked in with graceful, elegant steps.
“Hey, wait for us, Your Highness!” Seeing the princess move, her group of sycophants finally couldn’t hold back anymore and rushed in after her.
Princess Emilia was undoubtedly the strongest among the younger generation of the Holy See, and while they claimed to be protecting her, everyone knew who was really relying on whom.
Seeing their golden ticket about to leave, most of the nobles got anxious and hurried to follow, as if that would let them teleport together with Emilia.
Blankness.
That was Mo Li’s first impression after entering the secret realm.
He felt his body being pushed into another dimension, his feet off the ground, and after a moment of dizziness and pressure, a sudden sense of weightlessness hit him.
“Thud!” Mo Li landed on the ground and rolled a few times in the mud.
As the discomfort from the spatial transfer faded, he lifted his dizzy head and looked around to check out his surroundings.
It was a picturesque landscape, with clear mountains and waters, birds singing and flowers blooming, and a few jumping frogs leaping across a small river and pond.
So this was the secret realm? It didn’t seem all that different from the outside world.
Once he felt a bit better, Mo Li took out his gold card.
At this moment, a big number ‘0’ was displayed on it.
He started analyzing the current situation.
According to that old man Kero, after entering the secret realm, everyone would be teleported randomly.
But no matter how random, it wouldn’t put you outside the safe zone, which meant he was definitely in a safe area right now.
Next, after collecting enough points, you had to reach the ‘finish line’ to pass the test.
But where was the finish line? No map, no hints given, so the clue must be hidden somewhere in the secret realm.
The main focus of this test should be the students’ combat ability, not puzzle-solving, so the hint should be easy to find.
Either way, collect points first, and look for clues along the way.
Before that, Mo Li had already found a target to test his skills on.
“Rooaaar…” A strange beast nearly three meters long was baring its teeth at him.
This pale green monster looked pretty funny, with a big red flower blooming on its head, so dark it looked like it could drip water.
Its body was part donkey, part deer, with a hump on its back like a camel.
It looked a bit like everything, but not quite like anything.
“Mountain mule?” Mo Li raised an eyebrow, surprised to see this kind of monster in the secret realm.
This was a poisonous creature that loved to live deep in the mountains and forests.
It usually hid behind rocks, disguising itself as a big red flower, and when prey got close, it would release its venom for a surprise attack.
Mo Li had dealt with these creatures plenty of times.
After all, the flower on their heads was the raw material for paralysis powder.
Aside from the poison, these monsters weren’t that hard to handle.
Mo Li touched his back, which was wet, and looking at the mountain mule’s furious face, he figured it out.
He must have landed right on top of the mountain mule when he fell, probably while it was sleeping soundly.
“Roar!” Seeing Mo Li not moving, the mountain mule charged at him at full speed.
Mo Li calmly rolled to the side.
As a seasoned assassin, Mo Li was of course skilled at dodging, a move that was basically invincible in some games.
After dodging the attack, Mo Li raised his hand and a one-handed crossbow appeared.
His other hand wasn’t idle either; after planning his tactics in his head, he rummaged through his cloak for a specific potion.
He quickly tied it to a crossbow bolt and fired at the mountain mule.
The biggest weakness of this monster was its slow movement.
Even if it was just sitting there, Mo Li could hit it easily.
“Pop pop!” The moment the bolt hit the mountain mule, it instantly expanded into a transparent ball, trapping the whole mule inside.
【Slime Potion】 After immobilizing the mule, Mo Li skillfully took out a firecracker, lit it, tied it to another bolt, and shot it at the mule.
“Boom boom boom!” With a loud explosion, the high temperature from the firecracker activated the slime potion, triggering a chain reaction that blasted the mountain mule straight into the air.
This was the same move he’d used against Limdis last time.
“Done.
First one since entering.”
Mo Li glanced at his gold card and saw the number flicker, changing from zero to one, and finally stopping at two.
“So killing a mountain mule gets you two points?” Mo Li frowned slightly.
A slime potion and a firecracker together were only worth two points? Oh well, that’s the price of a ‘high-cost’ fighting style.
As an assassin, Mo Li didn’t have much combat power himself.
He relied on agility and clever use of alchemy potions and gadgets.
So, using alchemy tools on monsters that didn’t give many points was clearly not worth it.
He decided to try his luck in the danger zones.
There would be a warning when a participant reached the edge of the safe zone.
But there was no rush.
The secret realm lasted five days, so Mo Li had plenty of time to rack up enough points.
After stashing his loot—the mountain mule’s big red flower—in his cloak, Mo Li set off.
Not long after he left, the grass behind him rustled.
“That kid seems to be heading for the danger zone.” A nobleman with a crooked, ugly face grinned wickedly.
“Lord Jeep, what should we do now?”
“Isn’t it obvious? That kid going to the danger zone is just what I wanted.” The leading nobleman sneered, his smile not reaching his eyes.
“Perfect.
We’ll get rid of him there! …How dare he get so close to Her Highness the Princess!”
