Invitation

"I swear that my battles shall be for the light, and shall follow justice."

In a blur, Lu PingAn entered the secret realm.

Yet instead of the small room he had expected, a towering circular spire rising into the clouds appeared before him.

Layer upon layer stretched upward, its peak invisible when he looked up, like the legendary Tower of Babel.

All kinds of statues lined both sides of the road leading to the tower. Judging from their forms and the carved murals behind them, most depicted heroes and knights from various legends.

But the most numerous were suits of knight armor, warrior armor, and swordsman attire. These "protective gear" pieces had become the main theme of the statues.

Lu PingAn looked toward the front of the tower, where there stood a statue of the Secret Realm Master.

Just as the records described, it was an ancient suit of white armor without a helmet.

Legend had it that this deity's true form was a Living Armor.

Perhaps he truly regarded these "protective gear" pieces as heroes and champions, as Same Kind.

Among the relatively few character statues, there were humans, but even more strange and bizarre races.

Only at the end of the statues did Lu PingAn see a large number of humanoid creatures, many of them dressed in modern clothing.

"...The Rust Knight, the god of knights and justice?"

Since it had already been confirmed that the second round of practical combat would most likely be held here, Lu PingAn had naturally done his homework in advance.

How should he put it? When he had first asked around, it had felt rather strange.

"...There really are gods with good reputations. Xia Qin and the others are one thing, but even Big Cat said he was a good god. She hadn't had a single nice thing to say about gods before."

By traditional alignment standards, this Sir Knight was probably the exceedingly rare lawful good type.

He revered virtue and championed the martial ethics and honor of warriors. Most of his secret realms were relatively safe places for martial trials and duels.

What he sought was refinement in martial skill and the spirit of warriors. Thus, although he promoted duels and gladiatorial combat, as long as one side lost the will to fight or shouted, "I surrender," the battle would end.

Within his secret realms, losers would not lose their lives in most cases. He was utterly different from certain other gods.

But unlike Lady Lin and the others, his pathways were fully "open," and most of his "classes" supported switching over from other paths.

His pathway began with the Tier 2 Duel Swordsman. Any Tier 1 class with swordsmanship could switch over, though they supposedly had to abide by some troublesome vows.

Tier 3 was the rather famous front-line metal-can Arena Knight, but its requirements seemed so stringent that it was rarely seen in modern society.

He had apparently also heard of an even rarer, more support-oriented pathway—according to Big Cat—but it was a noble class that started at Tier 4, so it probably had nothing to do with Lu PingAn for now.

And gathering intelligence beforehand was, of course, valuable.

"One-third odds. I hope my luck isn't that bad."

The moment he entered the first floor's gate, Lu PingAn wanted to turn around and leave after just one glance.

A group of monsters was already waiting for him across the room, and these enemies were the exact "one-third" he least wanted to encounter.

"...Sigh, that's a little unlucky. Living Armor, huh?"

Standing opposite Lu PingAn was a humanoid Living Armor.

It held a rusty one-handed sword in one hand and a metal Small Round Shield in the other. Beneath its crude helmet was nothing at all.

The metal armor moved on its own, and its headless body bowed to Lu PingAn.

Monsters born from secret realms had to undergo the cleansing of the Secret Realm Master's rules, so they were often inextricably linked to the "god" in question, with relatively fixed types.

And in this knight's secret realm, at least one-third of the monsters were various living weapons and Living Armors. They...

"Hard-counter gardeners."

Whether poison, "explosions," or irritating odors, none would have much effect on metal without flesh and blood.

Even poisonous vines that entangled and strangled their prey were rather helpless against metal bodies.

Moreover, the Living Armors and living suits of armor here all basically came with metal weapons. Chopping firewood and cutting down trees were their specialty, so Lu PingAn was being countered far too badly.

The first floor was not difficult, and the floors ahead should have randomly selected monster types as well. Lu PingAn was confident he could easily clear the first few floors, but the problem was...

"Apparently, if Living Armor appears on the first floor, then on key floors like the fifth and tenth, there's a high chance that heavily armored Living Armors from Sir Knight's pathway will appear—tanks tougher than the last. If your luck is bad on the fifteenth floor, you might even get a Tier 3 metal Arena Knight that can play with you all day."

In fact, while watching the other people's trials earlier, Lu PingAn had noticed something.

Many examinees who had prepared in advance would immediately withdraw from the trial upon seeing Living Armor on the first floor.

After all, this secret realm trial offered three attempts a day, and the school rules only required the best result out of the three.

Trial time was also part of the scoring criteria. A person's stamina was limited, and practical combat could result in injuries.

So rather than forcing oneself through three consecutive attempts, it was better to challenge it once in the best possible condition.

Surely no one could be unlucky enough to open the door to armor three times in a row, right? Right?

"...Hope not. I didn't shake hands with Senior Brother Xue En today, did I? Uh, Senior Brother isn't watching the livestream, is he? Relax, relax. He's only Tier 1. He has no ability to affect me inside the secret realm."

But even though he was being hard-countered, Lu PingAn was in no hurry to withdraw. Since he was already here, he might as well give it a try.

He would definitely encounter Living Armor in the next two attempts as well, so he could treat this as gaining experience.

"Heh. You need blunt weapons to fight Living Armor, and I happen to have one right here..."

Lu PingAn glanced at the stun baton, which was less than an arm's length long, and sighed.

".I'll make do and give it a try."

But once the fight truly began, Lu PingAn's expression turned even more subtle.

This ultra-low-level Living Armor was riddled with holes, covered in rust, and moved like an old grandpa.

Its attacks were even more formulaic and simplistic. Every strike and recovery came with huge, obvious motions; Lu PingAn could dodge them easily even while yawning.

But no matter how he hammered it—at least with the short baton in his hand—it simply ignored him.

"Clang clang clang!"

The bell-like ringing made Lu PingAn's hand hurt, yet the armor seemed to feel nothing and continued stubbornly swinging its sword at a slow pace.

Suddenly, Lu PingAn found the sound and rhythm strangely stress-relieving, so he squared off against it.

"Clang, clang clang, clang, clang!"

He used the rhythm of knocking on a door, but the door did not open.

"Clang, clang clang clang, clang clang, Do you wanna build a snowman!?"

He started singing, even putting on a fake female voice from Frozen!

Fortunately, the sound from the "livestream" could not get out, or he would have died of embarrassment before even enrolling.

"This doesn't work either? Then let's try... one, two, three, four—tonight, let's get hyped!"

The baton threw off electric sparks, while his hand-spun DJ scratching sent sparks flying.

".Sleep my ass. Get up and party."

His hand moved so fast it left afterimages.

"The vast horizon is my love, the blooming flowers spread across the rolling green hills—"

He started singing again.

In the end, under his rapid-fire "doom-tsi ka-tsi" drumbeat, the ancient relic that should have retired long ago finally gave out. It was truly smashed into scraps, turning into black shadows and dissipating.

At that moment, the path to the next floor opened as well.

He had wasted a full thirteen minutes, probably setting a record for the slowest clear.

To those outside, where the sound could not carry, it probably looked like a pitiful rookie who had failed to do his homework beforehand and could only grit his teeth while leaping and darting around the Living Armor.

But in truth, Lu PingAn licked his lips, still not quite satisfied.

Anyway, this run had already been wasted. He might as well go upstairs and find a living pot lid to practice his drumbeats, practice some DJ scratching... and loosen up.

What Lu PingAn did not know was that from the moment he entered, someone in Technology University's group had been staring at the small screen showing him.

Only when Lu PingAn finally headed toward the second floor did that person begin to act.

He recited the secret prayer and prepared to enter the secret realm—but not the version for the Trial Tower.

"In the name of justice, I, Deng Jun, now issue Lu PingAn an invitation to a fair duel!"