Chapter 99: Entering the Secret Realm, First Upgrade Nether Vision to 10,000 Meters

The person and the mosquito were both speechless.

’What a character...’

’He changes his tune faster than you can flip a page!’

Gu Yuexi’s eye twitched.

In her past life, she’d seen at least eighty King-level Powerhouses, if not a hundred. But she had never met one quite as... shameless as Qi Chongshan.

However, she couldn’t be bothered to argue about it.

If he could make it happen, that was all that mattered.

She spoke calmly, "Since Governor Qi is so sincere, let’s consider it settled... We’ll go deal with that Soul-devouring Mother Worm after the Joint Exam is over."

’The Joint Exam will only take a few days,’ she figured. ’There’s no rush.’

"No, don’t say that! Please, I’m begging you!"

The moment Qi Chongshan heard this, his expression soured, and he became incredibly anxious.

"The Joint Exam doesn’t even start for another two days! And the exam itself lasts for a full seven days! That’s nine days in total! That’s... that’s far too long!"

He couldn’t afford to wait another second. The entire economic lifeblood of Du Nan City was being gnawed away at by those damned worms with every passing moment.

It wasn’t just Spirit Grass they were devouring; it was his political future, his entire career!

He wrung his hands anxiously, his voice practically a plea. "How about... today? Can we go today?"

Gu Yuexi frowned slightly at his words.

’Go today?’

She hesitated. "But what if we get delayed in the Secret Realm and miss the Joint Exam?"

She had no intention of giving up the rewards from the Joint Exam.

"That absolutely won’t happen!"

Sensing an opening, Qi Chongshan immediately slapped his chest, the fabric of his tunic suit making a loud THWAP-THWAP sound, and swore,

"Don’t you worry! A delay of a few days is nothing. Even if you’re late by three, four, or even five days, it won’t be a problem!"

"When the time comes, I’ll personally escort you to the exam hall! I’d like to see who dares to stop you! Who would dare to utter a single word of protest?!"

Gu Yuexi thought about it. That would work.

With the Governor himself pulling strings for her, she really didn’t need to worry about the Joint Exam.

She turned and sent a questioning thought to Chu Sheng through their Blood Covenant connection.

"BZZT! BZZT! (’I don’t have a problem with it! I can suck blood anywhere!’" Chu Sheng responded immediately. He also wanted to get the Hong Kong Island travel permit as soon as possible. That way, he could head straight there as soon as the Joint Exam was over!

Sensing his eager excitement, Gu Yuexi was once again at a loss for words.

’This damned mosquito really has its heart set on this,’ she thought.

Not that she cared.

After all, she held the future course of an entire world in her mind.

She remembered several opportunities on Hong Kong Island that could enhance one’s Mental Power, and she was certain there were at least two that the mosquito definitely couldn’t use.

When the time came, all it would be able to do was watch helplessly.

With that thought, Gu Yuexi nodded in agreement with Qi Chongshan’s proposal.

"Excellent! Wonderful! On behalf of the people of Du Nan, I thank you! Let’s go! We’ll head to the Secret Realm’s entrance right now!"

Qi Chongshan was overjoyed. He quickly ushered the person and the mosquito into an official car bearing the special license plate of the Governor’s Mansion.

Escorted by a large security detail, the motorcade sped out of the city in a grand procession.

Only Xiao Ran remained at the school gate, a complicated expression on his face.

He stared blankly at the departing convoy, his mind a chaotic mess.

’This mosquito... is just too versatile, isn’t it?’

It could purify Bloodline curses, help a Demon Beast break through to King-level, and now it could even solve a worm plague that the Provincial Government was helpless against?

’Its range of abilities is just absurdly powerful.’

Xiao Ran’s brows furrowed. He felt that something wasn’t quite right.

The mosquito was now so highly valued by the Provincial Government, and even by the Governor himself.

Would the school really dare to force Gu Yuexi into that incredibly perilous tri-province joint exam just because of a little public pressure?

’It just doesn’t make sense!’

’Could it be... that there’s a hidden story here that I don’t know about?’

’Did Gu Yuexi want to participate herself?’

’Or perhaps... the school and the Provincial Government had an unimaginable amount of confidence in her mosquito’s power?’

The more Xiao Ran thought about it, the more he felt that this matter was not as simple as it seemed.

...

「Half an hour later.」

The convoy stopped before a desolate, uninhabited forest on the outskirts of Du Nan City.

The area had been completely sealed off by the military, and a huge military base had been erected.

In the very center of the base, a continuously twisting spatial rift exuding an ominous aura hung silently in mid-air.

"Gu, this is the entrance to that Secret Realm. We’ve named it the ’Spirit-Devouring Forest.’"

Qi Chongshan pointed at the spatial rift, his expression grave. "You two just need to go inside, find and kill the Soul-devouring Mother Worm, and stop this Secret Realm from continuously producing new Spirit-Devouring Worms. Once that’s done, the mission is complete."

Gu Yuexi nodded and asked curiously, "What about all the worms that have already infested the city? How do you plan to deal with them?"

"Don’t you worry about that!"

Qi Chongshan waved his hand dismissively, a proud look on his face. "I’ve already contacted an old friend of mine! He’s an Emperor-level Powerhouse now!"

"The moment we get good news from you, he will act immediately. He will use the Power of Law to completely wipe every single Spirit-Devouring Worm in Du Nan City from the face of the earth!"

He couldn’t resist bragging, "That Emperor-level Powerhouse and I grew up together! We’re as thick as thieves! All I had to do was ask, and he agreed without a second thought!"

Gu Yuexi listened to his boasting, then raised her eyes, her expression unreadable, and asked flatly,

"If you and this Emperor-level Powerhouse are such good friends, why has this worm plague been going on for two whole years before he agreed to help?"

"Don’t tell me... you’ve been begging him for two years?"

Qi Chongshan’s smile froze. "..."

He cleared his throat twice, his face flushing with embarrassment as he waved his hands dismissively. "Ah, let’s not talk about that! Let’s not talk about that! You two should hurry inside! The sooner you go, the sooner you’ll be back! I’ll be out here waiting for your good news!"

Gu Yuexi couldn’t be bothered to say anything more. With Chu Sheng on her shoulder, she stepped directly into the twisting spatial rift.

After a moment of dizzying vertigo, the scene before her eyes suddenly opened up.

It was a dim, oppressive forest, the air thick with the stench of decay and death.

The most horrifying part was that everything in sight—the ground, the tree trunks, even the sky—was completely covered by a dense, writhing mass of black worms.

There were hundreds, even thousands of times more of them than in the herb garden at Du Nan First Middle School!

It was practically an ocean of worms!

"BZZZZT! (’Holy crap, my trypophobia is kicking in!’)" Chu Sheng gasped, goosebumps rising on his... well, everywhere.

But his horror quickly turned to pleasant surprise.

Because!

The Spirit-Devouring Worms here were, on average, a whole tier stronger than the ones outside!

Peak of First-Grade worms were a dime a dozen, and Second-Grade Early Stage ones were as common as dirt!

He even sensed a good number of Second-Grade Late Stage and even Peak of Second-Grade elites!

’If I could replace all eight thousand of my minions with Peak of Second-Grade ones...’

’My combat power would skyrocket again!’

’Talk about a major upgrade!’

’This is an unexpected bonus!’

However, Chu Sheng soon discovered a problem.

His [Nether Vision] only had a detection range of one thousand meters.

In this seemingly endless Secret Realm, a sea of worms, a range of one thousand meters was pathetically small.

Moreover, the range in which he could control his minions was also dependent on the range of his [Nether Vision].

One thousand meters was far too restrictive; he couldn’t operate effectively.

’If I have to search for it bit by bit, how long will it take to find that Soul-devouring Mother Worm?’

’This won’t do! I have to upgrade!’

Without hesitation, Chu Sheng opened his system panel.

He still had over three hundred Evolution Points, plus the hundred stalks of Spirit Grass from Xiao Ran... More than enough for a spending spree!

[Ding! 30 Evolution Points consumed! ’Nether Vision’ has been upgraded to Level 5! Detection range increased to 3,000 meters!]

[Ding! 50 Evolution Points consumed! ’Nether Vision’ has been upgraded to Level 6! Detection range increased to 6,000 meters!]

[Ding! 80 Evolution Points consumed! ’Nether Vision’ has been upgraded to Level 7! Detection range increased to 12,000 meters!]

Twelve thousand meters!

That should be enough!