19: Chapter 19 First Exploration of the Secret Realm

It was so quiet in the mine that one could hear their own breathing.

Zhao Tieshan sat on the ground, his face pale, with bloodstains at the corners of his mouth. He glanced at the pitch-black entrance to the Secret Realm, then at Lin Muchen.

"Lin Muchen."

"Present."

"I'm quite badly injured and need to regulate my breathing," Zhao Tieshan panted. "You take charge here for me first. Shen Yueru, you stay and help him."

Shen Yueru nodded: "Yes, Elder Zhao."

Zhao Tieshan closed his eyes and began to circulate his power to heal his injuries.

Lin Muchen and Shen Yueru exchanged a glance and walked over to the entrance of the Secret Realm.

That light gate had dimmed now, becoming just an ordinary black hole, but a breeze could be felt blowing out from within.

"System, scan the entrance. Is it stable now?" Lin Muchen asked in his mind.

[Scanning Secret Realm entrance...]

[Stability assessment: Low, but stabilizing.]

[Spatial structure: Basically stable, turbulence has subsided.]

[Internal space detection: Approximately a hundred zhang in radius; multiple rare resource signals detected.]

[Specifically including: Star-patterned Steel (small amount), Earth-Core Jade Marrow (trace amount), damaged Magical Artifacts (three pieces).]

[Life signal detection: Two weak signals located thirty zhang to the front-left of the entrance. Status: Unconscious/Heavily injured.]

There really is something in there.

And... Manager Zhou and Wu Hai are still alive?

"Senior Sister Shen," Lin Muchen lowered his voice, "The entrance is stable now, but we don't know the situation inside yet. I plan to take a look first."

"How will you look?" Shen Yueru asked. "It's too dangerous for a person to go in."

"No need for a person to enter," Lin Muchen said. "I have a way."

His consciousness sank into the Origin Star.

"System, can the Iron-Tooth Ant Colony go in to scout the way? Like in the previous simulation, establish a mental link and share their vision."

[Mental link can be established to command the Origin Star Iron-Tooth Ant Colony for simulated environment deduction and project phantoms for preliminary reconnaissance.]

[points consumption: 20 points.]

[Exchange now?]

"Exchange!"

[points -20.]

[Current points: 170 points.]

[Establishing mental link...]

Lin Muchen felt his consciousness connect with the group of black ants in the Origin Star.

"Go, simulate this black hole in front of us and see what's inside."

The Iron-Tooth Ant Colony got busy on the open ground of the Origin Star, using sand and soil to pile up a simple model of the Secret Realm's interior.

Through the shared vision, Lin Muchen "saw" clearly.

Inside was a small cave, about a hundred zhang in size. Some shimmering Ores were scattered on the ground, along with a few rusty saber and sword-type Magical Artifacts, all of which were incomplete.

In the front-left corner, there was a dim Formation light circle with two people lying inside.

It was exactly Manager Zhou and Wu Hai.

Manager Zhou was motionless, seemingly unconscious. Wu Hai was still twitching slightly, but his aura was as weak as a candle about to go out.

Outside the Formation light circle, there were also remnants of several trap Formations, flashing with a dangerous red light.

"What did you see?" Shen Yueru asked softly.

Lin Muchen exited the link and briefly explained the situation he saw.

"They're still alive?" Shen Yueru was a bit surprised. "Then... should we save them?"

At this moment, Zhao Tieshan finished regulating his breathing and opened his eyes.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

Lin Muchen explained the situation once more.

After listening, Zhao Tieshan fell silent for a few seconds.

"We must save them." Zhao Tieshan stood up. Although his face was still pale, his tone was firm. "No matter what, Manager Zhou is a member of the Sect. Wu Hai... though he's a scoundrel, we can't just watch him die."

He looked at Lin Muchen: "Do you have a way to avoid those traps?"

"I'll try," Lin Muchen said. "System, can you crack those traps?"

[Analyzing trap Formations...]

[Type: Basic Alert and Binding Formations (Damaged).]

[Cracking solution: Requires 30 points to obtain the optimal path and trigger point avoidance methods.]

[Exchange now?]

"Exchange!"

[points -30.]

[Current points: 140 points.]

[Cracking information transmitting...]

A stream of information flooded into Lin Muchen's brain.

He immediately knew how to proceed.

"Elder Zhao, Senior Sister Shen, follow me," Lin Muchen said. "Follow my footsteps exactly; don't step in the wrong place."

The three of them bent over and squeezed into the Secret Realm entrance.

It was a bit brighter inside than it looked from the outside, with some glowing moss on the rock walls, allowing them to barely see the path.

Lin Muchen led the way, stepping left and then right, bypassing the invisible Formation trigger points on the ground.

Shen Yueru followed closely behind him, and Zhao Tieshan brought up the rear.

They walked for about twenty feet.， Arrived at that corner。

Manager Zhou lay in the Formation light circle, unconscious. Wu Hai was curled up to one side, his eyes open but hollow, muttering to himself inaudibly.

The Formation light circle was very weak and shattered with a light touch.

Zhao Tieshan knelt down to check their conditions.

"Manager Zhou is unconscious; his spiritual power is exhausted, but it's nothing serious," Zhao Tieshan said. "Wu Hai... is heavily injured, and..."

He waved his hand in front of Wu Hai's eyes.

Wu Hai didn't react, still muttering to himself.

"Amnesia?" Shen Yueru said softly.

"It seems so," Zhao Tieshan frowned. "His head took an impact, and his soul consciousness is damaged. Let's get them out first."

He and Lin Muchen each supported one person, propping them up.

While walking back, Lin Muchen glanced at those glowing Ores on the ground.

"System, those Ores can be collected?"

[Target detected: Star-patterned Steel (Low Grade), a rare spiritual Ore, can be used for refining Flying Swords or strengthening Magical Artifacts.]

[Exchange rate: Each jin can be exchanged for 50 points, or directly extracted into the Origin Star.]

[Suggestion: Extract into the Origin Star. The System can automatically refine it into 'star iron', used to strengthen the Origin Star's metal resource reserves.]

"Collect!"

Taking advantage of Zhao Tieshan and Shen Yueru not paying attention, Lin Muchen hooked his foot, kicking several scattered Star-patterned Steel Ores into the shadows, and with a thought, directly collected them into the Origin Star.

[Star-patterned Steel Ore obtained: Approximately five jin.]

[Deposited into the Origin Star Ore Vein area.]

[System prompt: Can be refined into star iron for subsequent Magical Artifact Refining or resource upgrades.]

Done.

Lin Muchen felt a bit pleased with himself and continued walking out.

They left the Secret Realm entrance and returned to the mine.

Zhao Tieshan laid Manager Zhou and Wu Hai flat on the ground.

"Lin Muchen, you go back inside and take another look," Zhao Tieshan said. "We were just focused on saving people; go and carefully investigate what else is in there."

"Yes."

Lin Muchen and Shen Yueru went in once more.

This time, they looked around carefully.

In the deepest part of the Secret Realm, they found a skeleton sitting cross-legged.

The clothes on the skeleton had long since rotted away, but a Jade Slip lay beside it.

Lin Muchen picked up the Jade Slip and injected a trace of spiritual power.

The Jade Slip lit up, and lines of text appeared.

"I am a Mining Elder of the Qinglan Sect, ordered to investigate this vein... However, there was a Spatial Rift deep within the Ore Vein, which triggered Earth Fire, forming this small Secret Realm... I leave this slip to record the origin of the Ore Vein. If later generations see this, they should know that the spirit iron here was tempered by Earth Fire and is of excellent quality..."

Further down, it also recorded some insights on mining.

"It's a Senior from the Sect," Shen Yueru said.

Lin Muchen put away the Jade Slip and looked around some more.

Aside from those few damaged Magical Artifacts, there was nothing else.

The two of them exited the Secret Realm.

Zhao Tieshan took the Jade Slip, looked at it, and nodded: "Keep it safe. We'll hand it over to the Sect when we return; it'll serve as an explanation."

He glanced at the still unconscious Manager Zhou and the muttering Wu Hai on the ground, then at the Secret Realm entrance.

"In this exploration, Lin Muchen has the greatest merit," Zhao Tieshan said. "According to the rules, the discoverer has the right to prioritize selecting a portion of the resources in the Secret Realm. Lin Muchen, what do you want?"

Lin Muchen had already thought it through.

"Elder Zhao, I want those damaged Magical Artifacts and a portion of the Ores," Lin Muchen said. "I can study the Artifact Refining techniques from the Magical Artifacts, and for the Ores... I want to try and see if I can refine something out of them."

"Fine." Zhao Tieshan was very straightforward. "The Magical Artifacts are all yours, and you take thirty percent of the Ores. I'll take the rest back to the Sect."

"Thank you, Elder Zhao."

Lin Muchen went in one more time and brought out the three damaged Magical Artifacts and about thirty percent of the Star-patterned Steel Ores.

The Magical Artifacts were heavily rusted and basically useless, but taking them back to the Origin Star for the Iron-Tooth Ants to study their structure would also work.

The Ore was the main prize.

[Star-patterned Steel Ore obtained: Approximately twenty jin in total (including the previous five jin).]

[All deposited into the Origin Star Ore Vein area.]

[System prompt: Can refine star iron. This material is a low-level prototype of the star iron from the Mortal Realm Universe and has a significant strengthening effect on the Origin Star's metal resource System.]

A profit indeed.

Everyone packed up their things and prepared to leave.

The light gate of the Secret Realm entrance began to flicker slowly again, then gradually closed, finally disappearing completely, leaving only an ordinary stone wall.

"The Secret Realm has closed," Shen Yueru said.

"It's normal; these small Secret Realms are inherently unstable," Zhao Tieshan said. "Being able to enter once and get things is already considered good luck."

"Manager Zhou was negligent before he lost consciousness and almost caused a major disaster." Zhao Tieshan glanced at Manager Zhou on the ground. "Once he wakes up, he'll be transferred out of the Menial Servant Area to work in the Logistics Hall. Wu Hai... send him to the Outer Sect Medical Hall. Whether he can recover depends on fate."

"Yes."

Several Disciples came over, carrying Manager Zhou and Wu Hai away first.

Zhao Tieshan stayed behind. His injuries hadn't fully healed yet, and he needed to continue recuperating before he could leave.