The entire five-person team was in a relatively relaxed mood. Perhaps it was because they had prepared for so long, considering almost every conceivable factor. Once inside, they had strictly followed the established plan. Their current exploration operation was proceeding unexpectedly smoothly.

"So far, our exploration progress has reached 9%."

"If this trend continues, by the time the operation is complete, pushing the exploration rate to 15%, or even 20%, isn't impossible!"

In the team, a tall, handsome Gold Bear was swinging his high-frequency vibrating particle knife, creating silvery-white patterns in the air as he spoke, "I can almost imagine it. After this operation, when we submit our exploration contribution... how shocked will our old friends in the circle be? Fellows..."

The handsome Gold Bear raised his silver short knife, made an exaggerated face, and half-jokingly shouted, "We make our name today!"

"Haha..."

The others were amused; even the usually taciturn Xie Jun couldn't help but crack a smile. The atmosphere in the team was light and cheerful.

After a bout of laughter, a woman in the team, with one side of her head shaved and a faint red glow emanating from her arms, said with a hint of relief, "Fortunately, that kid didn't join our team earlier. Otherwise, we'd probably only be at the first mission point by now, not doing nearly as well as we are."

"Indeed," someone nodded in agreement. "What do you think happened to that kid? I saw him heading towards the City of Ruins earlier. Given his reckless nature, if he had joined our team, he would have dragged us all down."

Listening to his team members' discussion, Xie Jun's eyes flickered, and a figure appeared in his mind. His gaze softened, and he sighed inwardly. He then said, "Alright, clean up the battlefield. Collect useful materials and information. Let's try to complete the mission ahead of schedule, and when we do..."

Xie Jun paused, then said in a low voice, "We'll go find that kid. We can take him with us on our way out. After all, Song recommended him; we can't just leave him here alone..."

Someone on the team frowned as if to object but was tugged by the sleeve by the person next to them. After a moment's thought, they reluctantly nodded in agreement.

At Xie Jun's command, the group quickly sprang into action. They were currently inside the ruins of a building resembling a medieval lord's manor. This building was also located in the center of a huge ruined city. However, they had taken a hidden path directly to the mission point, bypassing the Death Qi Monsters roaming the city. Their objective was to eliminate the two S-class Crow God's Disciples at the very center.

Two S-class Evil Energy Crystals were already in their possession, meaning another large amount of Merit was secured. The only remaining task was to briefly explore the surrounding area and see if anything else of value could be found.

All five of them were veterans, each having participated in more than five S-class Secret Realm explorations.

Soon, someone in the team made a discovery.

CLICK! CLACK! CLUNK—

A rather plain-looking Gold Bear in the team, though with exceptionally sharp eyes, had accidentally nudged a pitch-black candelabrum on the wall. The floor beneath their feet began to vibrate, accompanied by the whirring of mechanisms, and the stone bricks on the ground shifted. A gust of musty air, stagnant for countless years, billowed out, and the entrance to a vast underground secret room appeared before the five of them.

"I knew it!" the Gold Bear who discovered the secret room exclaimed, clenching his fist, his eyes gleaming as he said in a low voice, "Since there's a hidden passage, it made sense there'd be something like a secret room. Just as I thought..."

The eyes of the other four also lit up, their faces showing a hint of eager anticipation.

Giving the discoverer an approving look, Xie Jun glanced at the others. They tacitly stepped forward, their handheld detection devices glowing with blue light as they aimed them at the entrance to the secret room below and began scanning.

"Total space is 74.5 cubic meters. Air contains trace toxins, trace Death Qi... No traps, no Evil Energy Fluctuations..."

"Two people go down first." After hearing the report, Xie Jun narrowed his eyes and immediately issued the order.

Two members split off from the team and carefully descended into the secret room, one in front and one behind. Xie Jun and the remaining three stood above, vigilantly guarding against any potential external threats.

Before long, a sound came from below. It was a voice filled with immense surprise, excitement, and even a hint of distortion.

"Damn, there's actually....."

Before the voice could finish, it abruptly turned into a cry of alarm.

Upon hearing this, the expressions of Xie Jun and the other two above changed dramatically. Almost simultaneously, a blinding energy light flared around all three of them; their ranged weapons powered up, and their melee weapons were unsheathed. They shot towards the entrance like three bolts of lightning.

Just then, a silvery-white light erupted from the depths of the secret room.

Xie Jun and the other two crashed straight into the silver light.

There was only a...

POP.

The silver light dissipated, and the five people in the room vanished without a trace. Faint whimpering and moans could be heard from outside the room. Inside the deathly silent chamber, only a few carelessly abandoned item packs lay, silently testifying to Xie Jun and his team's former presence.

「● ● ●」

Lu Yuan stood at the end of the ruined street. The burning black wings on his back unfurled. The long street before him was densely packed with a multitude of Death Qi-driven monsters. The one in the lead was a Crow God's Disciple, dragging a massive war axe and standing nearly three meters tall. These hundreds of Death Qi Monsters had been deliberately gathered from all over the city by Lu Yuan.

The countless Death Qi Monsters howled and whimpered, the Death Qi emanating from them coalescing into a dense, dark cloud that brought with it an almost endless wind of decay and desolation.

But Lu Yuan simply stood there, quiet.

His expression was calm.

Thirty meters... twenty meters... ten meters...

He silently counted the distance between himself and these monsters.

When the leading figure—a towering, three-meter-tall Evil God's Disciple whose S-class Evil Energy Fluctuation was palpable—came within five meters of Lu Yuan, raising its battle axe high as if to strike, Lu Yuan finally moved.

He raised his hands, index fingers and thumbs touching to form a triangle, the center of which perfectly framed the entire length of the street.

Then, Lu Yuan spoke calmly, "Super Kill—Netherworld River Notification of Death!"

In an instant, the black wings behind him shattered, dissolving into a vast quantity of Death Qi. His entire body seemed to become the epicenter of a vortex, drawing in all the surrounding Death Qi. Innumerable streams of Death Qi converged under his hands, forming a vast, turbulent black river that roared furiously... and surged forward with a BOOM.

The Crow God's Disciple, standing near Lu Yuan with its axe raised, was instantly submerged by the river. The dark river of Death Qi surged powerfully, engulfing the entire street in the blink of an eye. It raged violently, washing over everything again and again.

With a calm expression, Lu Yuan opened his Profession Panel, watching as notifications poured in like a waterfall. The Experience Points for several related skills were also rapidly increasing.

After an unknown period, the black river that had submerged the long street vanished. The entire street was eerily silent and empty. The whimpering and wailing had disappeared, and not a trace of the previous chaotic scene remained. Only piles of black sand and countless decaying weapons scattered on the ground were visible. The hundreds of Death Qi Monsters on the long street had all been wiped out by Lu Yuan's one Super Kill!

PHEW—

Lu Yuan exhaled and sighed softly, "What a rush!"

Casually summoning his Dead Spirit Crow minions to help clear the battlefield, This is the proper way to clear instances! Lu Yuan couldn't help but marvel.

This was the fourth ruined city he had cleared, including Maple Dew City. His current exploration progress had already surged to 17%. On the Secret Realm map, large, previously dark areas had been 'illuminated' by him. He had collected nearly a thousand black pearls dropped by the Death Qi Monsters. However, Lu Yuan had only absorbed a few of the larger ones.

Even so, it was enough to raise his Death Teller (Extraordinary) class to Lv. 9, and Circulation of Death Qi to Lv. 11. Netherworld Clothing had advanced to Lv. 4. His Spiritual Power had also surged significantly, and his detection range was now almost seven hundred meters. I only need to absorb a few more black pearls, maybe just one, and my Intelligence will increase by another point, Lu Yuan thought.

The goal of entering Lament Ruins this time has been achieved, Lu Yuan mused. My Death Teller (Extraordinary) has never improved this much. It can almost serve as my third main combat specialization...

Lu Yuan currently only had two main combat specializations: Fighter and Elephant God Walking Pose (Extraordinary). Soon, Death Teller (Extraordinary) would become the third.

And with this class... I can fly! Lu Yuan realized.

WHOOSH—

After collecting all the black pearls, a vast amount of Death Qi suddenly erupted behind Lu Yuan. This flame-like Death Qi quickly condensed into a pair of huge black wings on his back. Each wing was nearly three meters wide and had a span of over seven meters. These wings resembled those of a crow, with visible crystalline pinions. Their pure blackness carried a hint of mystery and magnificence.

Lu Yuan gently flapped his wings and instantly shot skyward, reaching dozens of meters in altitude in moments. He looked down at the City of Ruins beneath him, as black patterns resembling Other Shore Flowers began to bloom on his fair, handsome face. After a moment, they spread over his entire body, and a suit of translucent, pitch-black, magnificent armor materialized over Lu Yuan's body. This suit of armor accentuated his already slender and upright figure, making it appear even more perfect.

Wings... a mask... armor... Lu Yuan thought, hovering in mid-air. For a moment, he felt like one of those Specters from an anime—so incredibly cool!

Lu Yuan lifted a hand, black Death Qi flowing like water between his fingers.

Circulation of Death Qi is the core skill of the Death Teller (Extraordinary) class, Lu Yuan mused. Every time Circulation of Death Qi levels up, the quality and quantity of Death Qi I can control increase substantially, and various techniques naturally become easy to master. Moreover, as the level of Circulation of Death Qi increases, the effects of various Death Qi-based skills also improve significantly. Take Super Kill—Netherworld River Notification of Death, for example... Before, I could never unleash it like I did just now, as if the gates of the Netherworld itself had opened to release a black river capable of washing everything away...

It wasn't until now, Lu Yuan felt, that the Super Kill—Netherworld River Notification of Death, a skill he had comprehended himself, truly began to display its real power.

CRACK—

Lu Yuan casually picked the largest black pearl from the pile he had just collected and gently crushed it in his hand. Countless memory fragments flashed through his mind as his mist-like Spiritual Power expanded. With a BOOM, his detection range successfully broke past the seven-hundred-meter mark, and on Lu Yuan's Attribute Panel, his Intelligence also rose from 23 to 24 points.

Lu Yuan stood quietly in mid-air with his eyes closed for a moment. Only when he had fully absorbed and digested all the memory fragments in his mind did he open his eyes again.

Terrifying Netherworld creatures born from black meteorites that fell from the sky? Lu Yuan's expression grew thoughtful. This was an important clue he had just obtained from the memory fragments.

So, it's true. The fall of the Ancient Brent Kingdom wasn't just due to the black tide of Death Qi... There were other, even more terrifying, entities involved! Lu Yuan's gaze turned towards the distance. He could almost feel the truth out there, calling to him.

The memories of these figures from the Ancient Brent Kingdom, who defended their cities to the last, all offer a similar level of insight into the truth of the black tide of Death Qi. They're not much help in advancing the main storyline anymore... I've also collected enough black pearls... It really is time to head deeper into the Secret Realm... The Five Saints... the Monarch of Ancient Brent... and the creatures birthed from the meteorite...

Lu Yuan's eyes glowed slightly. He flapped his wings, parting the heavy black mists, and his entire being transformed into a black shadow, speeding towards the location marked "Forbidden Zone" on the Secret Realm map...

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