In the Otherworld, there are two types of Secret Realms: Ordinary Secret Realms and Hidden Secret Realms.
Ordinary Secret Realms are permanently fixed and will never disappear.
Hidden Secret Realms, on the other hand, appear probabilistically and will vanish after a certain period.
For example, the level 5 [Doomsday City] that appeared in the First World is a Hidden Secret Realm!
The basic rewards for clearing both types are the same.
The only difference is that Hidden Secret Realms offer a unique, invaluable first-clear reward—the Secret Realm Scroll!
In the Second World, although there are three Ordinary Secret Realms, each Professional is limited to clearing only one Secret Realm.
So among the level 15 Dark Zombie Nest, level 17 Zombie Hospital, and level 20 Death Zombie Land, Zhang Yue naturally chose Death Zombie Land.
Because the higher the level of the Secret Realm, the richer the rewards for clearing it!
But now, Zhang Yue had to shift his target to the less rewarding level 15 Dark Zombie Nest!
Because within this Secret Realm, there was an opportunity to eliminate Chen Jun.
Soon, Zhang Yue arrived at the entrance of the [Dark Zombie Nest] Secret Realm, located approximately three miles southwest of Nottingham City.
In front of him was a massive dark nest.
Beneath the nest, there was a portal sealed by magic.
Next to the portal stood an elderly NPC mage named Moen.
In the Otherworld, certain specific Ordinary Secret Realms can be upgraded to Hidden Secret Realms through special methods!
And these specific Ordinary Secret Realms generally have NPCs stationed at them.
In other words, this Dark Zombie Nest Secret Realm could be upgraded to a rare Hidden Secret Realm!
At this moment, many Professionals had gathered around Moen.
They were obviously here to upgrade the Secret Realm!
Because Professionals who successfully upgrade a Secret Realm receive generous rewards!
And the key to upgrading the Secret Realm lay with the NPC Moen!
By triggering a conversation, Zhang Yue received a token from Moen.
[Ordinary Secret Order] (Exclusive to level 15 Dark Zombie Nest Secret Realm)
[Description: By consuming 10 points of Psionic Energy to refine the token, there is a small chance to upgrade the Ordinary Secret Order to a Golden Secret Order. Using the Golden Secret Order can upgrade the Dark Zombie Nest to a Hidden Secret Realm.]
[Note: This item is bound, cannot be dropped or traded.]
It was evident that the other Professionals around were trying their luck, like buying a lottery ticket, attempting a few times and giving up if they didn’t succeed.
After all, they couldn’t afford the 10 points of Psionic Energy required for each refinement.
But Zhang Yue was different; he was determined to win the grand prize!
Holding the token, he began the refinement process.
“Ding~ Starting one-click refinement, each refinement consumes 10 points of Psionic Energy. No limit set for the number of refinements, continuing until a Golden Secret Order is obtained!”
Meanwhile, in another part of Nottingham City.
Chen Jun, who had just logged in, was organizing a guild team to prepare for an expedition.
At this moment, Wu Sin advised, “Brother Chen, you can’t use the Resurrection Scroll anymore. For safety’s sake, I suggest you stay out of the wild for now. Wait five days until the Resurrection Scroll’s cooldown refreshes before going out.”
Although Chen Jun was also scared, he didn’t want to miss this golden period of early development, fearing he’d fall too far behind other new Professionals: “It’s fine, we’ll just farm some low-level areas. Just make sure to protect me!”
Even so, the fearful Chen Jun held a Return Scroll tightly in his hand as soon as he left the city, ready to use it to return to the city at the first sign of trouble.
Dozens of Professionals from the Mist Rain Pavilion surrounded Chen Jun in layers, like personal bodyguards.
Not long after leaving the city, they saw a group of freelance Professionals rushing towards them!
The bodyguards from Mist Rain Pavilion immediately went on alert.
Chen Jun, however, recognized the group at a glance and thought: Aren’t these the guys I paid to harass that useless Zhang Yue?
So, as the group approached, Chen Jun walked out of the protective circle without any caution and asked them, “Why are you back? Didn’t I tell you to keep pestering Zhang Yue until one of you dies?”
The freelance Professionals stared at Chen Jun with eyes gleaming with greed!
“Five hundred thousand! Here I come!”
“Don’t you dare take it, it’s mine!”
As soon as the words were out, the group drew their weapons and charged at Chen Jun!
The sudden turn of events made Chen Jun’s face turn pale with fear.
“You… you dare rebel?!”
In his panic, Chen Jun stumbled and fell to the ground, looking utterly terrified and pathetic!
He crushed the Return Scroll, but the ten-second cast time was too long!
“Protect the Guild Leader!”
With Wu Sin’s shout, the dozens of Professionals from Mist Rain Pavilion quickly rushed over, killing the freelance Professionals who tried to attack Chen Jun!
After canceling the return, Chen Jun was still in shock and disbelief: “I paid them, and they turned against me?”
Wu Sin pondered, “It must be Zhang Yue’s doing!”
“Damn it!” Chen Jun gritted his teeth in anger, “Zhang Yue, I swear I won’t rest until you’re dead!”
At this moment, Wu Sin said, “Brother Chen, that Zhang Yue seems a bit unusual. Maybe we should lay low for a while and focus on development.”
“Development?” Chen Jun roared, “Without resurrection, I don’t dare enter Secret Realms or high-level areas. How am I supposed to develop?!”
As soon as Chen Jun finished speaking.
A sudden System Notification descended from the sky—
[Area Announcement] (Nottingham City): “Ding~ Attention all Nottingham City Professionals: Professional [**] (name hidden) has used a Golden Secret Order to upgrade the Ordinary Secret Realm [Dark Zombie Nest] to a Hidden Secret Realm, lasting for 2 hours. All Professionals are welcome to challenge the Hidden Secret Realm!”
“Ding~ Since this Hidden Secret Realm was upgraded from an Ordinary Secret Realm, all challengers will receive a benefit: within 2 hours, Professionals who die in the Dark Zombie Nest can be revived for free once!”
Hearing this announcement, the previously worried Chen Jun burst into laughter: “Someone got the Golden Secret Order for the Dark Zombie Nest? What a stroke of luck!”
“With this free resurrection opportunity, what do I have to fear?”
“Let’s go, clear the Secret Realm! Get top-tier equipment and the first-clear Secret Realm Scroll!”
At this moment, Wu Sin, who was clearly more cautious than Chen Jun, advised, “The holder of the Golden Secret Order has the highest authority in the Secret Realm. What if they change the permissions while we’re inside?”
“Only an idiot would change the permissions!” Chen Jun dismissed the concern, “Unless they don’t want to clear the Secret Realm themselves?”
With that, Chen Jun opened the Feixin guild chat.
After kicking Zhang Yue out of the group, he tagged all members and announced: “Everyone, log in immediately. We’re heading to the level 15 Secret Realm!”
Meanwhile, Liu Yao, who was grinding monsters in the northern wilds of Nottingham City, also became interested upon hearing the System Announcement.
He stepped on a zombie’s corpse, wiped his longsword, and excitedly said:
“A free resurrection? This is great! For someone like me who can’t use Resurrection Scrolls, this is perfect!”
“Relay my orders: Supreme Guild, assemble! We’re heading to the Dark Zombie Nest!”
The appearance of the Hidden Secret Realm Dark Zombie Nest caused quite a stir in Nottingham City.
[Don’t Turn on the Light, Sis] (level 13 Ordinary Assassin): “Which lucky guy managed to get the one-in-ten-thousand chance Golden Secret Order? Must’ve gotten a lot of rewards!”
[168,90] (level 12 Ordinary Priest): “Any big brother willing to take me into the Secret Realm? I promise quality healing!”
[Xiu Luo Is My Dad] (level 13 Ordinary Warrior): “A free resurrection! This is a boon for commoners. Let’s get a strong team and charge in!”
Secret Realm, Dark Zombie Nest.
Holding the Golden Secret Order, Zhang Yue stood quietly in a secluded corner, watching the crowd of Professionals swarming into the Secret Realm entrance.
Before long, his prey appeared.
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