During this time, Xiao Han grew increasingly adept at controlling his twin Martial Souls, and their coordination became ever smoother.
A few members of Xia Yubing's team, Gao Zhuang, Shouhou, and Leng Yue, had also come looking for him.
After all, Xiao Han's strength was plain to see. Who wouldn't want to follow a big shot?
"Sorry, I'm used to being alone." Xiao Han didn't waste words and turned them down outright.
What a joke. I'd have to play nanny after entering the secret realm? I don't have that kind of time.
The days passed one by one.
Three days went by in the blink of an eye.
The day the Trial Secret Realm opened had arrived.
At first light, the central plaza of the Imperial Capital Academy was already packed.
A dense mass of people filled the plaza, all of them students.
Not one of them was easy to deal with. Restlessness hung in the air, along with a fighting spirit they couldn't hide.
A gigantic stone gate stood in the middle of the plaza, a full hundred meters high.
Crooked patterns covered the gate, giving off a strange spatial sensation.
This was the entrance to the Trial Secret Realm.
Xiao Han stood near the front of the crowd. Zero Class had priority.
He could feel gazes sizing him up from every direction: curiosity, awe, and, of course, no shortage of jealousy and hostility.
Especially from Luo Bing's side, where the chill in the air was almost enough to freeze it solid.
Xiao Han paid it no mind.
He simply looked at the spatial gate as the two god-tier Martial Souls within him trembled faintly, conveying their excitement.
The corner of his mouth lifted.
The Trial Secret Realm...
The hunt begins!
The atmosphere in the Imperial Capital Academy's central plaza was oppressive, yet feverish.
Several thousand students stared at the enormous stone gate.
The air was thick with barely contained desire, and even space itself seemed to tremble faintly.
"Hummm—!"
The patterns on the stone gate suddenly lit up with a dazzling radiance.
Powerful spatial fluctuations spread outward.
Light twisted at the center of the gate, forming a spinning black vortex that exuded an indescribable suction force.
"The Trial Secret Realm is open!"
Instructor Qin Zhen's voice rang across the plaza. "Zero Class students, enter first! Remember, you only have fifteen days! Show your strength and fight for the glory that belongs to you!"
Before his voice had faded, Luo Bing took the lead, and Zero Class's students shot toward the vortex.
Xiao Han followed at an unhurried pace in the middle-to-rear section of Zero Class's group.
He could clearly sense the chill coming from Luo Bing's direction, carrying scrutiny and, even more, provocation.
He met it calmly and stepped forward as well.
A feeling of weightlessness suddenly gripped his heart, a hundred times more intense than riding a maglev train.
The colors before his eyes blurred into a bizarre, fantastical jumble, and all he could hear was a buzzing in his ears.
It lasted only a few breaths.
His feet touched solid ground again.
The scene before him changed abruptly.
It was a completely different world from the modern city outside.
This place was like a corner utterly forgotten by time.
The branches and leaves of giant trees blotted out the sky.
Thick vines coiled around the trunks, and a deep layer of rotting leaves covered the ground, giving off the damp, earthy smell of soil.
The spiritual energy in the air was so dense it seemed impossible to disperse. A single breath left him feeling refreshed, and the spiritual power in his body circulated a little faster.
But mingled with that rich spiritual energy was a faint trace of something dark, decaying, and even deathly still.
The aura made most of the students frown slightly. Feeling somewhat uncomfortable, they instinctively circulated their cultivation techniques to resist it.
But Xiao Han was like a fish returned to water!
That dark, decaying aura might have been a negative influence on others, but to the dormant Eternal Night King Martial Soul within him, it was the most delectable feast in the world!
Without any deliberate guidance, the Eternal Night King Martial Soul stirred to life on its own, humming with delight.
An invisible suction force emanated from Xiao Han's body, silently drawing in the dark energy and decaying particles drifting through the air around him, like countless rivers flowing into the sea.
[Shadow Devour]!
In this special environment, the ability was more than three times as efficient as it was in the outside world!
Wisps of pure shadow energy were absorbed and refined by the Martial Soul. The Eternal Night Monarch's once somewhat illusory monarch phantom grew more solid at a speed visible to the naked eye, and its aura steadily strengthened along with it.
Comfortable.
Xiao Han made the assessment inwardly, but his face remained expressionless. Like the other freshmen, he pretended to gaze around curiously at the utterly unfamiliar primeval jungle.
When others breathed in that dark, decaying aura, which even carried a hint of death, they felt tightness in their chests and had to circulate their power to resist it. But Xiao Han felt as though he had sunk into warm water, comfortable from head to toe.
The Eternal Night King Martial Soul inside him hummed with excitement and began operating on its own, greedily absorbing the special energy drifting through the air.
[Shadow Devour]!
Xiao Han didn't need to activate it himself. In this environment, the talent was like a fish in water, its efficiency soaring to more than three times its usual level!
Dark, decaying energy particles were continuously drawn in and refined into the purest shadow power, nourishing the Eternal Night King Martial Soul.
The once somewhat blurry monarch phantom was growing clearer and more solid at a slow but steady pace, its aura climbing higher and higher.
This feeling of secretly growing stronger—tsk, it's exhilarating!
"Everyone, stay alert!" Luo Bing's voice was as cold as shards of ice. "This is the outskirts of the Black Mist Forest. The exotic beasts here aren't high-level, but there are a lot of them, so don't let your guard down! Advance in a fan formation according to your previous groups and cover one another!"
He naturally took command.
Though Zero Class's favored children of heaven were proud, they also knew the secret realm was no playground. At his words, they quickly adjusted, forming several temporary teams and beginning to explore cautiously deeper into the forest.
Xiao Han was as usual, trailing alone off to the side and rear of the group, neither too far nor too close.
"Rustle, rustle..."
The bushes ahead suddenly shook violently, and several black shapes burst out, moving so fast they left afterimages!
They were three Shadow Leopards!
They were about the size of adult cheetahs, with sleek, glossy black fur that nearly blended into the shadows. Only their eerie green eyes stood out, especially chilling in the dim light.
First level of the Martial Master Realm!
Their target was clear: they charged straight at an unlucky student at the very front of the group.
"Shit! Watch out!"
The student reacted lightning-fast. A curse burst from his mouth, and a flaming saber had already appeared in his hand. Without thinking, he slashed out a blazing saber light.
But the Shadow Leopards were extremely agile. One was driven back by the saber light, while the other two slid low over the ground and circled around from both sides, claws springing out and whipping up a pungent, bloody wind.
"You're asking for death!" Someone nearby immediately came to his aid. Saber light and sword shadows intertwined as he engaged the two Shadow Leopards in an instant.
It had to be said, these Zero Class students did have some skills. Every one of them was a capable fighter at the second or third level of the Martial Master Realm.
But the Shadow Leopards were too cunning. Their figures flickered in and out of sight among the shadows of the trees, attacking swiftly from tricky angles. For a time, even with several geniuses joining forces, they were somewhat flustered, and danger lurked at every turn.
Just then, unnoticed by anyone, a gust from a fist landed lightly and inconspicuously, yet with perfect accuracy, against the flank of a Shadow Leopard that was about to launch a sneak attack from the shadows.
Pfft!
An extremely faint, muffled sound followed, as though something had been punctured.
The Shadow Leopard's tough hide and powerful muscles were as fragile as tofu beneath that seemingly powerless fist, caving in and splitting apart in an instant. A strange force of destruction penetrated its body, churning its internal organs directly into a puddle of minced flesh.
It didn't even have time to let out a scream before its body went limp and crashed heavily to the ground. It twitched twice, then fell completely still.
The one who had struck was naturally Xiao Han.
As though he had merely brushed away a fallen leaf, he didn't even break stride, continuing forward at an unhurried pace.
Hmm?
Luo Bing was about to order his teammates to focus their attacks, but his movements paused almost imperceptibly.
He quickly glanced at the Shadow Leopard lying dead on the ground in a bizarre state, then looked at Xiao Han's leisurely retreating figure. His brows moved almost imperceptibly.
That punch just now... there was something to it.
And this guy seems to have some kind of inexplicable suppressive power over shadow-type exotic beasts?