The Second Secret Realm

The Auspicious Deities corresponded to Fu, Lu, and Shou—Fortune, Prosperity, and Longevity. According to the settings of the Zhen Realm, they were the Lucky Star: God of Fortune, the Star of Sustenance: God of Cookery, and the Longevity Star: God of Grain. Among them, the God of Cookery had already been summoned once through an inverted summon during the fight against the event Great Dao True Beast. The remaining two Auspicious Deities, however, had never appeared before. After Little Nora and Duplicate Little Nora unleashed their skills simultaneously, six massive magic circles manifested before the two sides. The three deities then slowly emerged from the circles. The God of Cookery went without saying. The God of Fortune was even more massive than the God of Cookery, bearing a large character for 'Fortune' written across his beer belly. His eyes were narrowed into thin slits, though a careful observer could discern sharp glints flashing within the crevices. The God of Grain, on the other hand, was entirely different. He was only two-thirds the size of the God of Cookery and extraordinarily thin—practically resembling a bamboo pole—with a crescent moon stamped onto his forehead. The moment the six Auspicious Deities were summoned, they instantly locked eyes with their respective duplicates across the divide and clashed with reckless abandon. Wielding twin blades, the God of Cookery traded ferocious blows with his duplicate in an inseparable melee. Amid boisterous roars of laughter, the two Gods of Fortune blew plumes of white smoke toward each other, which transformed into muscular men that grappled fiercely. In contrast, the God of Grain did not move an inch. Both sides simply glared at each other, seemingly engaged in a covert contest of wills. Only the God of Grain and Duplicate God of Grain themselves knew what kind of contest was actually taking place. With the three deities standing between them like the Chu-Han divide, Little Nora and Duplicate Little Nora had no choice but to stay put, glaring at one another. Yu Xian and the others did not share Little Nora's luck; their attacks could not hit Duplicate Little Nora at all, leaving them able to do nothing more than stare helplessly. "These three deities aren't weak at all," Zhang Shou remarked to Yu Xian from his side, watching the two Gods of Cookery madly hacking at each other. Yu Xian nodded. "Their strength is already very close to that of the World Tree God. The level cap on Little Nora's summoned beasts is probably much higher than its own." His own summoned beasts could at most exceed his level by ten, but Little Nora faced no such restriction. All three Auspicious Deities possessed immensely powerful auras and were undeniably high-tier monsters. The six Auspicious Deities fought for a full three hours before turning translucent and vanishing. They had not perished in combat. Rather, Little Nora's Auspicious Deity Descent Art could only summon the Auspicious Deities for three hours. Once the duration elapsed, they disappeared automatically. Little Nora clearly realized that because their skills were identical, there was simply no way to break the deadlock through normal means. At the same time, it recognized that both possessed ultimate moves—whoever fired theirs first would win. In the next instant, it activated Origin Transformation, shifting from its duck form into its loli form. The duplicate on the opposite side likewise triggered Origin Transformation. However, a variable emerged. While Little Nora turned into a little girl, Duplicate Little Nora transformed into a gigantic, golden Victorious True King Bird! With a sweep of its wings, Duplicate Little Nora unleashed a dense shower of Heavenly Golden Feathers like brilliant flecks of golden light, all shooting straight toward Little Nora. "Watch out!" Seeing this, Yu Xian immediately commanded his summoned beasts to block the incoming attack. In an instant, ten summoned beasts formed a flesh-and-blood shield to endure the Heavenly Golden Feathers. The first beast was practically obliterated on contact, and the second was struck in the head by a hail of golden feathers before dissolving into golden light. "I hate it! Make it disappear! Pretty please, won't you, Big Sister?" Seizing the opening, Little Nora activated Sister's Gaze, its voice ringing through the Mirror God Space. Then, an astonishing scene unfolded. One of Duplicate Little Nora's Heavenly Golden Feathers struck a mirror surface, deflected upward, grazed the ear of one of Yu Xian's summoned beasts, and hit the mirror surface above. After several ricochets, it bounced back toward Duplicate Little Nora in an extraordinary 'coincidence,' blowing the duplicate's head apart in an instant. Everyone present was utterly dumbfounded. The wish had actually been granted in such a manner. Silence finally returned to the secret realm. Seeing its duplicate defeated, Little Nora broke into a beam, turning toward Yu Xian to claim credit. "Big Brother, I won!" "Nicely done!" Yu Xian gave Little Nora a thumbs-up. Immediately after, however, the women shrieked and swarmed toward Little Nora, squealing, "So cute! So adorable! Too cute!" Little Nora was so startled that it hurriedly shifted back into its duck form. As if instantly losing all interest, the women turned away in disappointment, one after another. "Phew, that was terrifying." Seeing the 'crisis' averted, Little Nora patted its chest, muttering under its breath as it eyed Niman and the rest. Right then, a chime rang out, and a line of text surfaced on the mirror: [The Mirror God is very pleased with the warriors' performance. You may choose to continue or settle your rewards.] Settle—settle immediately! No one wanted to continue in the slightest. After all, they had been lucky this time not to duplicate Yu Xian. If a duplicate of Yu Xian had spawned, disaster would have struck. Once everyone agreed to settle the rewards, beams of light descended upon each person. To their delight, their levels increased by one across the board. Furthermore, everyone received equipment enhancement stones along with 10,000,000 Fortune Gold Coins. Because Yu Xian was the guildmaster, he received an extra gemstone compared to the rest. The member who had been duplicated also received a reward, though it was not an enhancement stone, but a mirror. This mirror could reflect an enemy's attack once and shattered after a single use. In truth, the Zhen Realm contained many similar items, but obtaining them was notoriously difficult. Once acquired, players almost always hoarded them as trump cards. The unfortunate reality was that in true battle, opponents rarely afforded you the chance to use such items; many died with bitter regret before they could even draw their trump cards. After claiming their rewards, everyone was teleported out of the secret realm. Jiangli City. Yu Xian and the others emerged one by one within pillars of light. Everyone relaxed, smiles spreading across their faces. This was an enormous profit. A single run through a secret realm yielded an instant level increase. If the subsequent secret realms were equally generous, wouldn't a hundred Secret Realm Teleportation Talismans mean gaining a hundred levels? "Guildmaster, are we running another?" Ximen Wangcai asked, voicing the thought on everyone's mind. "Strike while the iron is hot, of course! Charge, charge, charge! Today, I'm soaring straight to level 180!" Yu Xian laughed heartily. With that, he produced a second Secret Realm Teleportation Talisman, and the group vanished in a flash of white light. Half an hour later. Within Jiangli City, pillars of white light flared anew as Yu Xian and the others emerged from the secret realm. The moment they materialized, however, they scattered in all directions, disgusted by how foul everyone smelled. The women sprinted straight toward the inn to take a bath. This secret realm had turned out to be... the Dung Slime Lair! Not only did they fail to secure lavish rewards, but they were also thoroughly tormented by the vile environment. A few particularly unlucky members had even fallen from Yu Xian's summoned beasts into a river of dung, wishing they were dead. "Guildmaster... are we still going?" Ximen Wangcai asked numbly, staring blankly at Yu Xian. Yu Xian shot him a glare. After what they had just been through, who in their right mind would run another? It was time to wash up and go to sleep. "Dismissed!" At Yu Xian's command, the members of the Sparkle Legion scattered in every direction like a swarm of bees.