Chapter 213 (Part 2): Why Not Pull?

“Some time has passed since entering the Secret Realm and pulling the mechanisms. The cultivators have basically experienced the charm of this extreme darkness situation. At this point, giving them a chance to evacuate, surely some will choose to leave.”

“They could even be like those devil cultivators over there, waiting on that main road for cultivators who want to evacuate to walk right into their trap.”

“So, we must hurry over there to seize the most advantageous position!”

……

Compared to the other two core zone resource points that had already been cleaned up, the last resource point still had some vitality.

The situation here was similar to the resource point Hua Jian had just cleaned up.

Three different teams were stuck inside the resource point, not daring to move.

Fight, and they had no certainty of victory; retreat, and they were reluctant.

And when the sky was illuminated by three beams of light, their emotions became even more complicated.

They all knew very well what the three lit beams meant.

At this moment, the attention of the entire Secret Realm was probably drawn to these three beams.

The exit from the Secret Realm only lacked one mechanism to open, and that last mechanism was right here with them.

At this moment, whether it was those who wanted to pull the gate or teams who wanted to play the waiting game, they all would inevitably turn their attention to their direction.

Cultivators who wanted to pull the gate and unlock the mechanism would definitely come here.

And to have pulled three gates in the other core zones, that strength was probably terrifying.

Their three teams here might not be able to stop that formidable dragon.

These devil cultivators wouldn’t think the other resource points were so peaceful, with only one or two teams going there.

They had looked at Wanhuagu’s map and analyzed the marked cultivator spawn points.

Each resource point had multiple teams competing simultaneously.

If they also counted the teams that could arrive in time to join the fray, the number of teams would definitely not be less than theirs.

In other words, two resource points, whose number and quality of teams were no worse than theirs, had been speed-cleared within a day!

It was truly terrifying to think about.

The other side had already pulled three gates. Were they going to bet that the other side wouldn’t come to pull the fourth gate?

If that formidable dragon really came, would they still try to ally with these dimensional opponents to fight that dragon?

Once a battle started, there was no stopping it.

Even if they defeated the foreign team, if any of them dropped in condition significantly, the other two teams would immediately act and devour the weakest team.

The weakest team would definitely resist, and during the resistance, damage would be shared.

After they died, the remaining two teams would have to decide a winner.

And this final winner would rely not on strength, but only on luck, seeing which team the formidable dragon struck more fiercely.

After weighing their options, the three deadlocked teams of devil cultivators began shouting across the distance.

Their opinion was unanimous: since three gates were already lit, they might as well pull the gate in the center of the Secret Realm too.

This way, those who would be attracted to their location would immediately divert to the opened exit point.

After the exit point closed, their place would be the last gate location, so not many would come in a short time.

Such a long time would be enough for them to consider their next moves.

Soon, each of the three teams sent one member, and they went together to the central plaza of the resource point to start unlocking the mechanism above.

Each side sending a hostage was acceptable to everyone.

……

“Have we gathered all our people?”

“We’ve gathered them all. Everyone else we met on the way has been silenced. No one knows we’re here.”

“That’s good. Prepare, we need to hurry.”

While the core zone of the Secret Realm was in heated battle, the outer region was not peaceful either.

Many devil cultivators who had charged toward the core zone right after spawning, wanting to join the fight, did not know that they had inadvertently avoided a catastrophe.

At the outermost edge of the Secret Realm, a terrifying team was quietly forming.

They came from one of the largest Demonic Sects in the North, their combat power incomparable to ordinary devil cultivators, and among them, a disciple of a Demon Path Venerable was leading personally.

After the two teams of Tianmomen successfully found each other within half an hour of landing, the outer region of the Secret Realm had become their domain.

All devil cultivators who discovered the teams merging into one large group were unable to relay the information before being dealt with by Tianmomen’s cultivators.

Throughout the day, Youye efficiently gathered all the devil cultivators under her command, then led this massive army toward the core zone of the Secret Realm.

She didn’t plan to immediately seek the treasure Hua Jian mentioned.

Instead, she decided to clear the Secret Realm first, eliminating all threatening enemies.

Only then could she search for the treasure without worry.

“We’ll fight here first, then kill our way here, and finally surround this place!”

As a specially favored guest of Hua Jian, Youye’s map of the Secret Realm was clearer than those of other devil cultivators.

She could even point at the map and direct operations, arranging various tactics.

If it were a map from someone else, she would only be able to point at a mass of fog.

Her tactic, speaking simply, was to rely on numerical superiority to wipe out all the devil cultivators in the resource points.

As everyone knew, the strongest cultivators in the Secret Realm would gather in a few resource points, fighting like gladiators for treasures.

If she wanted to find threatening enemies, she just needed to go to the resource points.

Calculating the time, if she fought her way there, the cultivators in those resource points should have already decided a winner or be depleted of strength.

At that point, if she entered in one wave, she would surely win effortlessly!

Of course, with her own mind, she couldn’t have come up with such a clever plan.

She was now completely following the advice Hua Jian had given her.

Gathering subordinates, forming a large force to outnumber the enemy, eliminating high-threat units—all taught by Hua Jian.

This plan had proceeded without any issues so far, making Youye feel that this time she might not have been tricked.

Although Hua Jian’s consultation fee was a bit expensive, expensive things had their reasons.

Look how smoothly the situation was proceeding, how great her advantage was.

Quantity really is better than good spawn locations!

“What does it matter that you spawned well? This Secret Realm isn’t something you can just open and close as you please. After eating your fill, you want to leave? Did you ask my army?”

Not to mention, this isn’t a rabble—they are true elites from the Demonic Sect!

Cough, whether they are truly elite or not aside, at least their numbers and strength are decent, and there is indeed a demonic genius in command.

Such an oversized team would be impossible for normal devil cultivators to beat.

Even the best of the best would retreat three paces from a team of rat cultivators, let alone now that the grouping devil cultivators were far stronger than ordinary rat cultivators.

“What you call malicious teaming? Tianmomen’s teaming is the real malicious teaming!”

“This time, the advantage is mine!”

Youye clenched her fists, as if seeing herself being praised by her master after obtaining the treasure, standing out from her dozens of fellow disciples and becoming a true Sage’s disciple.

But as if the heavens were playing a joke, as soon as she said this, the sky of the Secret Realm suddenly trembled, and a thick, bright green beam shot straight into the sky.

Youye’s ears seemed to catch a faint voice, telling her that the teleportation gate out of the Secret Realm would open on time in two days.

“Huh?”

Youye, who had just finished organizing her team, was stunned. She had only just formed her team; how had the core zone already been broken through?

“Didn’t Hua Jian say the mechanisms were difficult to open?”

She still remembered how confident Hua Jian was in front of her, saying that only the strongest in the Secret Realm could activate the four mechanisms and leave this Secret Realm alive.

“How? She, the strongest, hadn’t even appeared, yet Hua Jian’s confident arrangements had been cracked by others?”

“This Wanhua Saintess is really unreliable.”

Youye didn’t suspect this was Hua Jian’s scheme, after all Hua Jian’s previous performance had always lived up to her confidence as a Secret Realm designer, and she never hid her intention to turn the Secret Realm into a bloody arena.

Now, a teleportation gate opening within two days was definitely not something Hua Jian wanted to see.

“What should we do?”

The Tianmomen cultivators also received this message at the same time.

They looked at each other, momentarily unsure how to handle this surprise.

It was Youye who reacted first. She raised her hand to signal her subordinates to stay calm, saying that this wouldn’t have much impact on their plan.

The treasure she wanted to find couldn’t be found in a short time.

Without sufficient time to scout and dig, such a treasure buried deep in the Secret Realm couldn’t be retrieved.

Even the devil cultivators here wouldn’t know that the real treasure was deep beneath their feet.

“Hmph, it’s probably some team inside that won a few fights and now, in poor condition, wants to leave. We don’t need to pay them any attention.”

In fact, Tianmomen’s goals didn’t conflict much with other devil cultivators.

The Demon Corpse Crystal that Tianmomen wanted was not considered a treasure by other devil cultivators.

And if the powerful devil cultivators in the Secret Realm left early, it was even better news for Tianmomen.

They just didn’t want anyone to hinder their actions.

If the other side voluntarily left, so much the better.

If they didn’t want to leave, then they had no choice but to use more forceful methods to make them leave.

“Proceed according to the plan. They go their way, we go ours. Remember to watch for spirit tool activity. We need to find the location of the Corpse Crystal as soon as possible.”

“Understood!”

The devil cultivators responded in unison.

Youye nodded with great pride, feeling as if the world’s future was in her hands.

Then, her gaze inadvertently glanced at the boundary of the Secret Realm not far away.

“Not good! These vines are accelerating in growth. Could this be Wanhuagu’s conspiracy?”

This look startled Youye quite a bit.

She saw that the colorful foliage that had already covered the entire edge of the Secret Realm began to expand rapidly, as if the spatial fluctuations from the center of the Secret Realm had awakened them from a nightmare.

Wherever the foliage spread, space shattered inch by inch, revealing the deep darkness behind.

Fortunately, the spread of the foliage wasn’t that fast—only visible to the naked eye.

At this speed, the Secret Realm could probably last ten days.

“So this is the truth behind Wanhuagu saying this Secret Realm is about to break?”

Youye now understood why Wanhuagu said the Secret Realm was about to break—it was because of this.

A rumor flashed through her mind.

She seemed to have heard that Wanhuagu used this same method to ruin the Ascension Gathering’s Secret Realm.

So why would Wanhuagu use such a method on a Secret Realm under their own control?

“Could it be that Wanhuagu was actually cultivating a new plant of that kind?”

Thinking of this, Youye could understand why Wanhuagu thought to put this Secret Realm up to scam money.

The Secret Realm was public property. If Wanhuagu wanted to use it to feed their own spirit plant, they had to compensate the public, right?

Hence, Wanhuagu came up with this idea, shifting the cost they had to pay onto other devil cultivators.

Truly malicious intent!

“Still as fond of scheming as ever. Let’s go, time is running out!”

Youye wasn’t very angry. On the contrary, she felt a bit relieved.

She felt she had figured out Wanhuagu’s scheme, knowing what they were up to.

All the clues connected. After knowing Wanhuagu’s goal, she had nothing to worry about.

It’s just that they want to feed the Secret Realm to their pet, and have others pay for the ingredients. Trivial!

As long as there was a Demon Corpse Crystal in this Secret Realm, Youye didn’t care about the rest.

……

“Stop! We need to change course!”

Hua Jian, who was racing through the night, suddenly halted.

Linglong, following behind her, was startled by her sudden move and almost crashed into Hua Jian from not reacting in time.

“What’s wrong?”

“Someone is going to block the bridge!”

Hua Jian answered in a very subtle tone, while turning to look in the direction of the silver light beam.

Devil cultivators indeed. Such heinous acts of sacrificing their own mothers and opposing the entire world, they commit without any psychological burden.

Her informants left on the evacuation road had sensed several auras.

Although the distance made the sensing unclear, it was enough to indicate some things.

The exit point had opened, and devil cultivator auras appeared on the only road to the exit point.

So what the devil cultivators wanted to do seemed not hard to guess.

It couldn’t be that they honestly wanted to evacuate, could it?

“Impossible! Even if they wanted to evacuate, to ensure their own safety, the devil cultivators who arrived first would have to guard this main road.”

Only then could they evacuate safely.

“Wait, let me check the movements elsewhere.”

Hua Jian closed her eyes and began to fully receive messages from other eyes she had placed in the Secret Realm.

Soon, she showed a complicated expression that she didn’t know how to describe.

Now, the Secret Realm was completely in chaos.