Suonsai Secret Realm

Seven days later, Luo Zhiyuan returned to Qingyu Planet and first headed to the Free Trade Zone.

He found a fairly large shop specializing in adventure supplies. It stocked just about everything one might need for a cosmic adventure, and he was there to buy some exploration detectors.

Although Luo Zhiyuan had bought an E9-Grade Machine Race Spaceship, it had no detector on board.

The other ships were equipped only with basic, general-purpose detectors. They were good enough for spaceflight and getting a rough picture of a planet, but completely inadequate for cosmic adventures, especially expeditions into secret realms.

This adventure supply shop mainly catered to adventurers below the World Lord Level, so it generally didn't sell particularly high-end equipment. Shops catering to Immortal Level powerhouses mostly operated by membership referral, and Luo Zhiyuan couldn't get through their doors.

Of course, "not particularly high-end" was relative to powerhouses above the Immortal Level. For ordinary cosmic adventurers, spending hundreds of billions or even trillions of Universe Coins was still a huge expense. So the shop didn't usually have many customers.

Luo Zhiyuan walked in with a squad of Star Level Nine bodyguards. A sharp-eyed attendant promptly came over to greet him. Anyone with so many Star Level Nine bodyguards was probably from at least a Domain Lord Level family, possibly even a World Lord Level family. He was definitely a major customer.

The attendant smiled and asked, "Sir, what can I help you with? I'd be happy to show you around."

Luo Zhiyuan nodded and got straight to the point. "I need to buy two sets of detectors. One should have a small detection range but higher precision; the range can be limited. The other should have a large detection range. What would you recommend?"

"A small-range detector?"

The attendant's eyes lit up. That was high-end equipment. Most adventurers bought general-purpose or large-range detectors, which covered a wider area but had lower precision and offered better value. They were popular choices among Star Level and Universe Level adventurers.

Small-range detectors, on the other hand, were generally used for expeditions into Universe Secret Realms. They were usually bought by World Lord Level adventurers.

This customer was only at the Star Level, yet he was buying World Lord Level equipment. What extravagance! He had to be a young master from a World Lord Level family, at the very least. The attendant had better take good care of him!

"Please come this way. We have many different models of detector, each with its own features and price range. The details are listed here. For example, this TCY1068 detector has a range of..."

After hearing about a few models, Luo Zhiyuan raised a hand to interrupt the explanation and asked directly, "Just tell me which small-range and large-range detectors you have with the highest precision. What are their ranges, and how much do they cost?"

"Certainly, sir. Our most precise small-range detector is this FN281. Its detection diameter is ten kilometers. Even a World Lord Level powerhouse couldn't escape its detection."

"Our most precise large-range detector is this FN065. It has a detection diameter of five thousand kilometers and can detect energy fluctuations up to Star Level Nine. Both detectors are made by the same company."

"However, these are our most precise detectors, so they're also quite expensive. You might want to consider some other models that offer better value..."

"How much?"

"Uh...the small one is 1.135 trillion Universe Coins, and the large one is two trillion! Sir, with the authority I have, I can take at most fifty billion Universe Coins off the price if you buy both. For a bigger discount, you'd have to discuss it with our shop manager."

Luo Zhiyuan waved his hand again. "No need to make things complicated. I'll take them at your quoted price. That's 3.13 Hunyuan. Make the transfer."

The attendant froze. He hadn't expected the customer to be so decisive—not only had he skipped haggling, he'd even used the unit "Hunyuan." He'd only heard the shop manager mention it once. It was used only for large transactions.

He dazedly gave Luo Zhiyuan the shop's transaction account, then received a notification: "A transfer of 3.13 Hunyuan has been sent from five-star account XXX. Please confirm receipt."

A five-star account! The attendant was utterly stunned. Their shop had only ever served a four-star customer once, and now a five-star customer had walked in! Good heavens, this gentleman had to be a direct core member of an Immortal Level family. No wonder he hadn't haggled.

Seeing the attendant standing there in a daze, Luo Zhiyuan frowned and tapped the counter.

Thump!

The attendant immediately snapped back to his senses, bowed deeply, and hurriedly apologized. He soon brought out the two sets of detectors and handed them to Luo Zhiyuan.

Luo Zhiyuan took the detectors, nodded, and left the shop. He paid no attention to the attendant, who dashed off toward the manager's office as if he'd gone mad.

He put the detectors in his World Ring and handed them over to Bulieni to operate. Then he went to the Universe Mercenary Alliance's branch on Qingyu Planet.

It was his second time there. He went straight to the VIP reception room and collected his qualification certificate for the Suonsai Secret Realm, along with a dedicated scanner for detecting Radiance Stones. Then he boarded his spaceship and left Qingyu Planet once more, heading straight for the Suonsai Secret Realm.

Aboard the ship, Luo Zhiyuan chatted with Xingxing while continuing to train with the Shadow Divine Weapon in the Virtual Universe's Killing Field. He could now use the Shadow Divine Weapon's second form, but he wasn't very proficient yet, so he needed to practice more.

After fifteen days of travel through the Dark Universe, the ship arrived at the Suonsai Secret Realm.

Luo Zhiyuan activated the ship's simulated exterior view and saw an incomparably vast landmass appear in the starry void ahead.

The ship was flying upward, from beneath the landmass toward its upper side. Yet, from its current position, the landmass's edge already filled the entire visible horizon. It took more than ten minutes of flight before they rose above the edge and saw the surface of the continent.

White clouds covered the continent. They hung motionless above the land, like a scene frozen in a film.

Luo Zhiyuan looked toward the continent's far end, but couldn't see any boundary. Towering rocky peaks and floating boulders were everywhere. The giant boulders and rocky peaks were scattered among one another, and now and then he spotted figures darting swiftly between them.

Following the coordinates provided by the Universe Mercenary Alliance, the ship flew above a huge, square city.

The city was surrounded by walls three thousand kilometers long and wide, and three hundred meters tall. There was only one gate, a hundred-meter-high archway. Numerous floating defensive devices hung above the city, making the entire place feel like a massive fortress.

This was the Suonsai Secret Realm's only city, named Radiance City after the secret realm's specialty, the Radiance Stone.

The ship flew over the wall and, guided to its landing spot, descended into a docking port inside the city. Luo Zhiyuan and his bodyguards disembarked.

The docking port's staff warned Luo Zhiyuan that many defensive devices had been installed above Radiance City, so flying within the city was forbidden. Anyone who did so would be killed by the defenses. Luo Zhiyuan said he understood, then took his guards to the city's administrative office.

After reaching the office and completing the registration process, Luo Zhiyuan began looking around Radiance City. He wanted to learn the basics, such as which areas had produced more Radiance Stones in recent years and which ones were generally ignored.

After wandering around for half a day, Luo Zhiyuan found a Trainee Mercenary who had spent many years in Radiance City. He was a coward who hadn't found any Radiance Stones and didn't dare venture outside the city alone after his teammates died.

After gathering plenty of information and paying the down-and-out mercenary for it, Luo Zhiyuan prepared to leave the city.

Since his bodyguards weren't Trainee Mercenaries, the Xuanyi Universe Kingdom wouldn't allow them to leave the city and enter the continent. So, after arranging for them to stay in a communal residence, Luo Zhiyuan headed to the city gate by himself.

However, many people had seen him wandering around the city with ten Star Level Nine guards. They guessed he was some young master out on a training excursion and quickly warned their friends and brothers not to provoke him.

After walking out of Radiance City's gate, Luo Zhiyuan chose a direction at random and flew away from the city.

"Bulieni, turn on both detectors and the Radiance Stone scanner. I don't want to be caught off guard by a secret-realm storm."

"I turned them on as soon as you left the city. Do you think I need you to tell me? With these two detectors, the scan is a little better than what the ordinary spaceship system could manage, but it feels like I'm wearing bifocals and holding a magnifying glass at the same time. It's awful."

"And I have to point out one thing: this Radiance Stone scanner has a greater range than your small detector. Sure, it can only detect one kind of Radiance Stone, but it scans a twenty-kilometer radius. What kind of junk did you buy?"

Well, Luo Zhiyuan didn't really understand the state of Intelligent Life. But it seemed he'd have to get Bulieni some higher-grade detectors in the future. He couldn't keep leaving Bulieni as a poor soul with bad eyesight. Heh.

After flying some distance from Radiance City, Luo Zhiyuan reached a cluster of floating boulders. One of them had looked small from afar, but up close, he realized it was about a kilometer in diameter. He had no idea how such a huge boulder could float.

Although the Radiance Stone scanner hadn't detected anything, Luo Zhiyuan still circled the floating boulder, marveling at it.

Instead of hurrying to look for Radiance Stones, Luo Zhiyuan flew leisurely around the area. Every now and then, he'd visit the top of a towering rocky peak or fly beneath a floating boulder for a closer look. He seemed to be out sightseeing.

Bulieni didn't rush him. It was his first time in a Universe Secret Realm, after all, and he was bound to be curious. The kid could indulge himself a little before getting down to business.

Emerging from a cave in one of the floating boulders, Luo Zhiyuan flew straight up into the white clouds overhead. Rich cosmic energy enveloped him in an instant.

"Mmm..." Luo Zhiyuan let out a satisfied groan, then jumped in fright and hurriedly flew out of the clouds.

The moment that rich cosmic energy had surrounded him, his body had begun absorbing it on its own. He'd nearly broken through to Star Level Nine, which had terrified him into fleeing from the white clouds.

Bulieni teased him, "What's wrong? Got a fire under your ass?"

Luo Zhiyuan shook his head with a wry smile, ignoring Bulieni's teasing. He lowered his altitude, stood on the Lightning Shuttle, and flew off in one direction. He needed to get down to "finding" Radiance Stones, too. Two months wasn't much time.