Chapter 57

The three of them ran at full speed, the rushing flames sweeping toward them from behind.

“Please, Red Lizard Tortoise!”

Xu Chenglu turned his head, raising the Red Lizard Tortoise like a shield.

The volcanic rock cracked along the tortoise’s shell lines, revealing a bright, fiery red core inside, forming a faint inward spiraling flame vortex.

The rushing flames were mostly absorbed by the tortoise’s shell, but there were so many flaming liquid creatures that it didn’t take long before the Red Lizard Tortoise couldn’t hold on any longer and closed its shell.

The surface of the tortoise’s shell was now glowing hot, and the magma inside the volcanic rock was barely contained, as if it were about to erupt at any moment.

Ahead, a deep red rocky platform appeared, and it seemed that climbing up would lead to a more open area. Taking advantage of the Red Lizard Tortoise’s absorption of the flames, the three of them pushed forward toward the platform.

Mu Huiyue couldn’t jump that high, so she had Ellen use shadow stealth to carry her up to the platform.

Wen Li’s body ignited with bright flame patterns, and she jumped high with Yanxi Miao. Halfway through, she used a burst of force to land easily.

Only Xu Chenglu, carrying the Red Lizard Tortoise, ran at the back. The intense physical exertion made it impossible for him to climb up the platform.

Seeing the next wave of flames about to hit, Wen Li leaned down on the platform. The flame patterns on her arms swelled, expanding more than twice in thickness. She reached down and grabbed Xu Chenglu, who had reached the bottom of the platform. With one strong pull, she lifted both him and the tortoise up.

The high-temperature flame flow struck the platform with a sizzling sound, burning and cracking.

Both of them were slightly burned by the flames, panting and collapsing on the platform, unable to imagine what it would be like if those flames had hit them directly.

“Th-thank you, Wen Li…” Xu Chenglu gasped, placing the Red Lizard Tortoise on the ground.

The Red Lizard Tortoise weighed over 40 kg. Being able to carry it while running at full speed was a feat of Xu Chenglu’s potential as a Beast Master during a life-or-death crisis. Wen Li had somehow been able to lift both him and the tortoise—such incredible strength.

“It’s nothing. We managed to get up here thanks to you and the Red Lizard Tortoise,” Wen Li said, her flame patterns fading.

This was the enhancement from her “Burning Blood” talent, though it took a significant toll. After consuming several energy blocks, she already felt hungry again.

“Don’t let your guard down,” Mu Huiyue said, eyeing the cave’s passage. “Based on previous experience, these things will take other measures if they don’t succeed in eliminating their targets…”

She suddenly thought of something, adjusted her wristband to investigation mode, and glanced at the readings on the projection.

The regional energy value was still fluctuating, but the numbers remained in the range of 10 million to 20 million P. The unit space measurement showed fire attributes, with energy coverage fluctuating between 99% and 110%. The chaotic zone’s detection portion was constantly flashing.

It seemed that the secret realm was gradually stabilizing, but based on previous encounters, another possibility flashed through Mu Huiyue’s mind like a lightning bolt.

Just as she was about to speak, Wen Li and Xu Chenglu stood up, and the three of them looked toward the cave passage below the platform.

More and more fiery red liquid gathered together, forming a mass capable of releasing flames. Perhaps having seen the platform at the end of the cave, the liquid didn’t act immediately but instead piled up one on top of the other, slowly increasing in size.

“They’re… stacking up?” Xu Chenglu said, incredulously.

Seeing the fiery red liquid stacking up, about to exceed the height of the platform, if it released flames at this moment…

Without needing anyone to remind them, the three of them immediately stood up and ran toward a wider area behind the platform.

Boom—

The high-temperature flames surged upward, surpassing the platform, and spread across the sky, engulfing everything.

Ellen wrapped Mu Huiyue in shadow, but unfortunately, he couldn’t bring humans or extraordinary beings without dark attributes into the shadow. It was uncertain if the red tortoise’s shell could withstand this round of attack.

“Suìdài cǎi yuān, use telekinesis.”

A gentle voice rang out, accompanied by the call of a kite bird. A faint blue telekinetic force materialized from the spirit into a tangible force field, halting the surging flames mid-air.

A mass of dark clouds suddenly appeared in the cave, flickering with lightning, and soon a wet rain curtain descended, reducing the high temperatures brought by the flames.

That wasn’t a naturally occurring cloud but rather an elemental-type extraordinary creature, the Chaotic Thundercloud.

“Hurry up, we can’t hold on much longer!” Another voice came, belonging to the beast master of the Chaotic Thundercloud, Chen Jiashu from Changning First Beastmaster High School.

The group had no time to say anything and did their best to avoid the flames looming behind them.

Lin Fei and Chen Jiashu seemed to understand the nature of the crimson liquid monsters, and the abilities of the Suìdài cǎi yuān and Chaotic Thundercloud were focused on blocking the flames, not directly attacking the liquid itself.

The two pets shielded Wen Li and Xu Chenglu, guiding them to the direction of the sound.

Behind the platform was a wider cave, with a naturally formed depression at the edge, about ten meters across, barely large enough to fit a few people.

As soon as Wen Li and Xu Chenglu entered, Lin Fei and Chen Jiashu recalled their pets into the Beastmaster space and quickly covered the perimeter of the depression with scattered deep red, hard skin.

The tough, leathery material resembled the deep red rock walls outside, and as the group hid in the depression, from the outside it looked seamless, with no sign of disturbance.

Mu Huiyue emerged from the shadow within the depression, and the five of them were safely reunited.

Xu Chenglu could no longer hold on and collapsed onto the ground. His physical strength was already weaker than the others, and having been carrying the tortoise the entire time, his energy had long since been exhausted.

He had considered recalling the Crimson-Scale Tortoise into his Beastmaster space, but with the constant threat of the flames, the tortoise was his only means of defense.

Wen Li sat down, breathing heavily, and glanced at Mu Huiyue, who was unharmed, before finally relaxing.

Lin Fei and Chen Jiashu also looked quite disheveled, their bodies marked with burns from the flames. It seemed they had already been attacked by the crimson liquid creatures earlier.

Unexpectedly, they had reunited under such circumstances. The five of them exchanged glances, and the cave depression fell into a heavy silence.

In the end, it was Mu Huiyue who broke the silence.

“…Were you also brought here by that strange energy fluctuation?”

“Everyone’s situation seems to be similar,” Lin Fei replied. “I was just under twenty meters ahead of you at the time. I figured you and Wen Li must have also come in.”

Mu Huiyue had already expected Lin Fei to be here. She turned to the other student. “Lin Fei I can understand, but why are you here, Chen Jiashu?”

Chen Jiashu, who was called out, fell silent for a moment. “…I just happened to run into your battle with Lin Shen and thought I might get a lucky break.”

No matter who won in the end, they would have surely exhausted quite a bit of energy. Chen Jiashu had originally planned to take advantage of that and engage in a battle, but unexpectedly, in the middle of their fight, something went wrong. When he came to his senses, he found himself in this cursed place.

Mu Huiyue paused, surprised that Chen Jiashu had been nearby at the time.

By the way, wasn’t there something wrong with the educational philosophy at Changning High School? It seemed like the students were always thinking about ambushing and snatching opportunities.

Lin Fei, Chen Jiashu, and even the others who had entered the ranking tournament—though they all came from the same school, none of them showed any sense of unity.

Look at the others from Shengshui Pond High School and Lishang High School…

Oh, Fang Xuyang and Lu Ai had already been defeated by her and sent home. Well, that’s fine.

“So, it seems that those brought here by the energy fluctuation were all near the central area at the time?”

Wen Li tried to analyze the situation. “I’m wondering… could it be related to the Master of the Secret Realm? Ah Miao sensed strong fire-type energy in that area, and these monsters can also breathe fire.”

“Meow!” The Flame Strike Cat beside her affirmed her thoughts.

“First, we need to confirm whether we’ve been dragged into a new secret realm,” Lin Fei looked at Mu Huiyue.

Others might not know, but he recognized Mu Huiyue’s bracelet—it was the equipment of a secret realm investigator from the Bureau of Affairs.

This might also be one of Mu Huiyue’s “secrets.”

Thinking about the unfinished battle, Lin Fei no longer felt his usual ease. Given how things were going at the time, if the fight had continued, he most likely would have lost to Mu Huiyue here, especially with that monarch-class Paw Soldier.

“I can’t be sure…” Mu Huiyue’s voice paused. She ignored Lin Fei and turned to look at Xu Chenglu.

“However, I suspect Xu Chenglu might know more than we do about what this place really is.”

“Huh?!” Wen Li was very surprised. She looked at Mu Huiyue, then at Xu Chenglu—how come she was the only one left in the dark when they all came here together as a team?!

“You mentioned earlier that you were near the central area to search for the Master of the Secret Realm. If that’s true, then you must know some information about the Master of the Secret Realm,” Mu Huiyue continued.

Her interest in the Master of the Secret Realm with 10,000 points stemmed from her absolute confidence in Ellen’s strength. Even in a one-on-one battle, Ellen had the power to fight. However, Xu Chenglu was different.

An average battle-class species, the growth-stage Red Venomous Turtle, might be strong in a one-on-one battle with a fellow beast master of the same level, but it would not be able to defeat the Master of the Secret Realm.

The fact that Xu Chenglu dared to venture into the central area meant he had a considerable understanding of the Master of the Secret Realm.

Moreover, the image of the volcano rock on the back of the Red Venomous Turtle spewing flames… Mu Huiyue couldn’t shake the feeling that it was vaguely familiar.

Once Mu Huiyue finished speaking, everyone looked toward Xu Chenglu.

He lowered his gaze, struggling with his thoughts for a while before finally lifting his head.

“Fine… it doesn’t matter that only I know this now.”

Xu Chenglu said, glancing at the Red Venomous Turtle beside him.

“You all know that my family specializes in breeding Red Venomous Turtles.”

“The Red Venomous Turtle of the medium battle-class species has a core skill of C-grade fire ability, Flowing Flame. After evolution, it becomes a B-grade fire ability, Heavenly Flame, and the species itself evolves into a medium monarch species, the Fire Blaze Land Turtle.”

“This is the stable evolutionary path my family has mastered, and it has been the traditional path for the Red Venomous Turtles of Yunzhou for generations.”

“However, about twenty years ago, the Secret Realm Affairs Bureau of the capital intervened to suppress a B-grade Secret Realm that suddenly appeared. The Master of the Secret Realm was a special monarch species, the Fire Blaze Land Turtle, which possessed a completely different core skill—a special fire ability, Flame Absorption Reaction.”

“This skill is a long-term state ability that can absorb fire attribute hidden energy without restriction, rapidly increasing its own potential and expanding the upper limit of its potential, especially in areas rich in fire attribute hidden energy.”

“For example, inside that B-grade Secret Realm… when the Bureau’s enforcers suppressed it, the Master of the Secret Realm completed its evolution, transforming from the Fire Blaze Land Turtle into a completely new medium emperor species, the Anger Rock Black Tortoise.”