Chapter 160: Chapter 160: Dungeon
Lin Yuyu knew the face she had sculpted for this puppet was exceptionally ugly.
But apparently, it was so ugly it was unacceptable.
The woman was quite considerate. She seemed to realize her reaction might have hurt Lin Yuyu’s feelings.
She quickly looked up, her cheek twitching for a moment. She forced a smile, making sure her expression was even and free of judgment. "Fellow Daoist, is this your first time in the Moonlight Secret Realm as well?"
Lin Yuyu’s brow twitched.
So this was the Moonlight Secret Realm.
Judging by her question, she was clearly here for the first time too.
’And she specified it was her "first time." Does that mean you can enter the Moonlight Secret Realm more than once?’
Lin Yuyu immediately nodded. "It is my first time. How could you tell?"
A knowing smile appeared on the female cultivator’s face. "Only disciples here for the first time stand around looking in every direction like this. I figured you were the same. It’s my first time in the Moonlight Secret Realm too. I’d only heard about it from the other senior sisters in my Sect. It’s just a shame my luck is bad. I didn’t land in one of the regions our Sect has already mapped."
She glanced around and said, "This should be the legendary Moon City Ruins. It’s not too dangerous, but there isn’t much treasure here, either. It must be fate that we ran into each other. We’ll just have to wait for the regions to change and see if we’re lucky enough to get into one of the more resource-rich areas."
Lin Yuyu listened with a smile, but the longer the woman spoke, the more her smile stiffened.
Alarm bells went off in her head. ’System, what is she talking about? I don’t understand a single thing!’
This female cultivator had started talking about the Secret Realm as if it were common knowledge. Not only was she well-informed, but she also clearly assumed Lin Yuyu was too.
That must mean the Sects of the disciples entering this place all knew it like the back of their hands.
But she didn’t!
She was only here to complete the System’s hidden mission. How was she supposed to know any of this?
System: "...This is how hidden missions work. You’ll have to use your own cleverness to figure it out."
Lin Yuyu: "..."
’Why do I get the feeling this shady System is just as clueless as I am and is trying to bluff its way out of this?’
Neither the female cultivator nor the viewers in the livestream chat could hear Lin Yuyu’s conversation with the System.
But they could hear what the female cultivator was saying.
The viewers who had been algorithmically pushed into the stream, still dazed and confused, immediately split into several camps.
[Holy crap? A Broken Sect hidden mission livestream? This is intense!]
[Huh... is this a TV show set? Say what you will, but the background is gorgeous. I’m totally sold. Streamer, can you tell us where this is? Do they sell tickets?]
[What is all this mumbo jumbo?]
[Setting all that aside, damn, this girl is gorgeous. Holy crap, that face is to die for. The character modeling in this game is insane.]
[Broken Sect is the only game I’ve ever seen where the players are uglier than the NPCs.]
[BWAHAHAHA, that’s just because the players all suck at it!]
[I figured it out. The streamer has no clue what the other person is talking about, does she?]
[Have you been living under a rock? Secret Realms in the Cultivation World are where you find all the good stuff!!]
[First time here, I’m so lost. Why can’t I even understand the comments?]
Lin Yuyu was quick on her feet. She parsed the female cultivator’s words and found something she could use to respond.
"Yes, it’s such a shame. My Sect’s maps don’t have any information on the Moon City Ruins, either. By the way, my name is Lin Daiyu. And you, fellow Daoist?"
’Even if the game wouldn’t let her use the name Daiyu for her real ID, there was no rule against using it as an alias!’
’Plus, it would change the subject.’
The woman’s smile faltered for a second before she replied, "My name is Li Qianqing."
After giving her name, she paused for a moment, seemingly waiting for some kind of reaction.
Lin Yuyu praised her enthusiastically. "What a beautiful name! A beautiful name for a beautiful woman—a perfect match!"
The female cultivator before her had delicate features and an ethereal aura of pure, refined beauty.
Cultivators always seemed to have that kind of unworldly air about them.
Li Qianqing was a bit surprised by this unexpected reaction.
It was the first time anyone had complimented her so directly and enthusiastically. Most people in the Cultivation World were reserved, but Lin Yuyu’s praise was so natural and open that it even made her indescribably ugly face seem a little more pleasant.
A shy smile touched Li Qianqing’s lips. "Is that so?"
"Of course!"
Lin Yuyu was all enthusiasm. "Qianqing, since fate brought us together, why don’t we travel together for a while?"
Strangely enough, the Secret Realm seemed to muddle one’s senses.
At the very least, she couldn’t tell whether Li Qianqing was weaker or stronger than she was.
Li Qianqing didn’t object. "Alright."
Not expecting to run into another girl here, Lin Yuyu wracked her brain for ways to get information out of her without revealing her own ignorance.
She soon found out why the other woman had seemed so naive and trusting after entering the Secret Realm.
It was because you couldn’t just start fights willy-nilly in this Secret Realm.
In the Moonlight Secret Realm, the moment a fight broke out, both parties would be pulled into a mysterious space for what was essentially a 1v1 arena duel. Both combatants’ cultivation Realms would be suppressed to the same Level, and the space would even provide a selection of Magic Treasures suited to their skills.
The loser died, while the winner received everything the loser had brought into the Secret Realm.
Unless someone was absolutely certain of their combat prowess, no one dared to casually pick a fight in the Moonlight Secret Realm.
This was also why Li Qianqing had no reservations about approaching and talking to Lin Yuyu.
The Moonlight Secret Realm was also massive. According to Li Qianqing, it had opened several times before, and at least thirty different zones had been discovered so far.
These zones were like individual dungeons, each with its own unique treasures and bosses.
Some dungeons offered rich rewards, while others were exceptionally treacherous.
According to Li Qianqing, the Moon City Ruins were a run-of-the-mill zone—neither particularly rewarding nor particularly dangerous.
The disciples couldn’t choose when to change zones, either. Every three days, the scenery would shift, and everyone inside was whisked away to a new area with no say in the matter.
"If I’m not mistaken, this Moonlight Secret Realm is likely related to the Moon Demon Emperor."
The System relayed the information it had gathered from Lin Yuyu to Song Jiulai.
Song Jiulai was surprised that such a strange Secret Realm existed, and even more so when she heard the name Moon Demon Emperor. "The human who became a Demon Emperor?"
System: "Correct. The Moon City Ruins are said to have been the Moon Demon Emperor’s territory. This Secret Realm was formed from fragments of the real world of Yunzhou. An incredibly brutal war broke out here in the past, and the previous Moon Demon Emperor fell here. Its body might be hidden somewhere in this Secret Realm, or it might not have been pulled in with the fragments."
"Of course, this is all according to Li Qianqing. We don’t know if she was lying to Lin Yuyu. But this Secret Realm is indeed absurdly large, not on the same Level as the one Liu Yao left behind."
The names people give in the Secret Realm aren’t necessarily their real ones.
And the information they share could be a mix of truth and lies.
Song Jiulai pondered for a moment. "So I’m in a dungeon, then? Am I supposed to be attending a wedding?"
The moment Song Jiulai arrived, she found herself sitting on a stool.
At the surrounding tables were all sorts of common folk, their faces full of festive cheer.
Before her was a large courtyard, decorated with festive lanterns and streamers and filled with dozens of tables.
Besides herself, Song Jiulai noticed a few other people at the other tables with strange expressions. They clearly stood out from the surrounding commoners, who seemed to be acting as NPCs.
She immediately deduced they were most likely other disciples who had entered the Secret Realm.
But unlike Song Jiulai, who was merely confused, every one of them had a look of anxiety and fear.
These were clearly not the expressions one would expect to see in a festive dungeon.
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