If he had had more time to remain after winning the secret realm, Zhang Zhi would have liked to have a proper conversation with this person.
He had discovered that the humans from other worlds seemed to know more than Realm Lords like themselves.
Since there wasn't enough time this time, he would find someone else the next time he entered the Trial Tower.
He smiled, accepted the book from Cheng Ziran, and flipped through it. The pages were densely packed with annotations.
After looking through it, Zhang Zhi said to Cheng Ziran, "This book is indeed very useful to us. Then I'll gladly accept it."
Before the return countdown ended, he looked around at everyone, cupped his fists, and said, "Take care, everyone. Until we meet again."
He then silently recited the command to return. His vision blurred, and he found himself back in the Trial Hall.
Immediately afterward, the Secret Realm Settlement Interface appeared in his mind.
At first glance, he saw a streak of purple light among the rewards.
Focusing his gaze, he saw a drop of purple blood.
The purple item was not a card, but an actual item. As he looked at it, information about the drop of purple blood appeared in his mind:
"Flood Dragon Essence Blood, the vital essence blood from a Flood Dragon. It seems to show signs of having been used. Its effects are unknown."
The highest tier corresponding to a purple item was the Demigod Realm. In the Immortal Cultivation path, this corresponded to the Nascent Soul Stage. The vital essence blood of a Nascent Soul Stage Flood Dragon was an excellent gain for Zhang Zhi, even if it wasn't a card.
Needless to say, the Flood Dragon Essence Blood had been obtained by killing that Transcendent Realm member of the Yuan Race. That Transcendent Realm member had relied on it to advance to the Transcendent Realm, but the essence blood might have contained the Flood Dragon's will, which was why the aftereffects had been so severe.
This thing was of little use to Realm Lords. Very few Realm Lords would borrow the essence blood of other creatures to improve their own strength.
However, to any creature other than a Realm Lord—especially the monster races—it was a treasure worth paying a hefty price to obtain.
Zhang Zhi hadn't yet decided how to deal with it, so he set it aside for the moment.
The next item was a blue card, one that left him pleasantly surprised yet somewhat helpless.
What surprised him was that it was a blue card worth more than ten thousand points.
What left him helpless was that it was another monster race card.
The blue Parasol Tree Card, like the green Dragon Gate Card he had obtained earlier, was a key card on the Monster Race Path.
The Dragon Gate allowed one to obtain dragon blood after leaping over it, while the longer one stayed in the Parasol Tree, the greater the chance of obtaining Phoenix Bloodline.
The blue Parasol Tree had another function: it could purify bloodlines. Birds possessing Phoenix Bloodline that remained on the tree would gradually develop a purer bloodline over time.
Of course, the Parasol Tree wasn't an easy place to stay.
This kind of Parasol Tree was a Fire Phoenix Tree, its entire trunk wrapped in blazing flames. Ordinary birds that tried to land on it would probably be roasted before they even got close.
The reason Zhang Zhi felt somewhat helpless was that he had obtained the Dragon Gate Card earlier and now had the Parasol Tree Card as well. These two cards were completely monster race cards, and he couldn't use them at all!
After the Parasol Tree Card, he glanced at the dozen or so green bird cards beside it. They all relied on sheer quantity to make up for their quality.
Looking at so many cards, Zhang Zhi suddenly sensed that something was wrong.
Upon closer inspection, he discovered that these cards weren't Secret Realm Settlement rewards at all, but Spoils of War!
That explained everything.
These cards most likely belonged to the human Realm Lord who had died in the secret realm.
That person had probably taken the Monster Race Path, and after his death, the cards had been obtained by that Transcendent Realm member of the Yuan Race.
That Transcendent Realm member of the Yuan Race had most likely used a scheme to kill the Realm Lord, then used the drop of purple True Dragon Essence Blood obtained from the monster race Realm Lord to advance to the Transcendent Realm.
Everything that had happened in the secret realm fell into place.
As he looked at the Spoils of War he had obtained, Zhang Zhi slowly exhaled.
That monster race Realm Lord had already been in the Mortal Transformation Realm, and he had even possessed a purple item. Yet he had still met his downfall in a secret realm without a single Transcendent Realm expert!
He had to learn from this lesson!
At that moment, Zhang Zhi suddenly realized that his recent state of mind seemed to have become somewhat unsteady.
It was rather similar to the state of someone becoming arrogant after achieving a little success.
His recent state of mind was seriously wrong!!!
He let out a soft breath and decided that after leaving the Trial Tower, he would properly reflect on himself.
Shifting his gaze back, he saw that there weren't many Spoils of War left. They were all miscellaneous items, likely obtained from the members of the Yuan Race killed by the projections.
Looking farther down, he finally reached the Secret Realm Settlement rewards.
First were the point rewards:
One blue token, redeemable for seven hundred points.
Seven green tokens, redeemable for varying amounts of points, totaling two hundred and fifty-two points. These tokens should have come from the Mortal Transformation Realm members of the Yuan Race killed by Fang Yun.
Fifty-three white tokens, redeemable for a total of one hundred and twenty-three points.
Six hundred and seventy-five gray tokens, redeemable for a total of one hundred and six points.
Breaking through the opponent's Trial Tower rewarded one thousand points.
The total reward was two thousand one hundred and eighty-one points.
The points seemed fairly substantial, but this was the reward for killing a Transcendent Realm expert and successfully capturing the tower in the secret realm.
He shook his head slightly and turned his gaze toward the reward cards.
Looking at the reward cards, Zhang Zhi's brows furrowed deeply.
There was only one cultivation technique card inside: a gray-white "Nameless Cultivation Technique Fragment" card.
That was it?
That was it?
The reward for successfully capturing the tower in the secret realm was just this?
Something was definitely wrong here!
The cost and benefits of the Trial Secret Realm were far too disproportionate.
Judging solely by the points, the number of Trial Secret Realm points was far lower than what Zhang Zhi could earn in the arena, yet it was far more dangerous. The cost and benefits were seriously unbalanced.
He had originally thought that the Secret Realm Settlement rewards would give him a pleasant surprise, but he hadn't expected them to consist of nothing more than a gray-white "Nameless Cultivation Technique Fragment."
If he hadn't killed that Transcendent Realm member of the Yuan Race and obtained enough Spoils of War, he would have gained practically nothing from this secret realm!
Frowning, he glanced at the card and thought that it must contain some secret. He would study it carefully later. Then his gaze shifted to the final box.
Inside was a book—the "Beginner's Guide to Array Formations" Cheng Ziran had given him. As he looked at the book, Zhang Zhi fell into thought.
With a thought, the "Beginner's Guide to Array Formations" slowly appeared in his hand.
For books that didn't appear in card form, Zhang Zhi could currently only try to understand them himself, then teach them to the people in his Small World through projections.
Alternatively, he could commit all the contents to memory in one go, then relay them to the people in his Small World.
In the early stages, Realm Lords could only use this method for the most part when they wanted to teach certain skills to the people in their Small Worlds.
After putting away the book and finishing his inventory of all the Spoils of War, Zhang Zhi walked toward the Trial Tower's exit, somewhat dispirited.
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