He's Here

At the sound of the voice, Monkey Has Iron Rod turned to look at the two of them. The corners of his mouth lifted. "Which of you wants to go first?"

The Cave Master had ordered them to claim the top three spots. In reality, there were probably only two available—the Cave Master himself had surely already taken one.

It was hard to even imagine how he'd managed to pull off something so outrageous.

Their village had been close to the pillar of light that day, so they'd seen it all clearly!

Had the big shot exchanged for every cultivation technique available?

"You don't want one?" Orchid Pavilion Scholar asked.

"Don't mess with me!" Monkey Has Iron Rod waved a hand. "I couldn't hurt a fly. What good would attributes do me?"

He'd thought it over carefully during his time in Journey Survival: with his own abilities, he'd have a hard time surviving there.

Once he left the Secret Realm, the newbie protection period would be over!

Especially since he'd been too lucky. At the beginning, he hadn't known how to keep a low profile and had shown off for two whole days.

He'd regretted it terribly these past few days. Someone might use a Dao Discussion Card to find him at any moment.

He needed to find a boss to follow and make a few powerful friends!

And wasn't one right here in front of him?

The Cave Master never wasted words and rarely spoke in the chat. He was probably the cool, aloof type.

Sword Seven in front of him seemed much the same. Scholar cursed people out whenever he spoke... but none of them seemed like bad people.

Snatching a vehicle attribute might not keep him alive, but making a few friends just might!

"Fine. I owe you one!" Sword Seven Doesn't Learn Sword didn't hesitate. She gripped her sword and strode into the Land God Temple.

"I owe you one too!" Orchid Pavilion Scholar stepped inside as well.

Monkey Has Iron Rod opened the Scroll, found Rain Seeker, and asked, "How's it going?"

Rain Seeker replied, "I found the Mountain God Temple. There are troops guarding the area, but I'm approaching by water, so they won't spot me."

A moment later, Rain Seeker sent another reply. "I'm in!"

Monkey Has Iron Rod immediately sent another message, but it wouldn't go through.

Out of service!

He gave a whistle. His carriage came racing over, and he climbed aboard and strode into the Land God Temple.

But Orchid Pavilion Scholar and Sword Seven were nowhere to be seen. He stepped back, then looked around. He froze in astonishment.

Grasslands stretched out on both sides, with a path running between them.

He was back!

This was his Journey Survival, and the Land God Temple stood beside the path.

Did entering the Land God Temple in the Secret Realm send you back here?

Was the upgrade actually carried out in your own Land God Temple? Monkey Has Iron Rod paused. What about Path Seekers who hadn't gathered enough Life Stones and Soul Jades? Were they trapped in the Secret Realm for the rest of their lives?

That didn't sound so bad. At least they wouldn't need to worry about food, and they could enjoy the sunrise and sunset every day.

As for the zombies—however dangerous they were, could they be more dangerous than Journey Survival?

He gave a bitter laugh and sent a message to Zhu Jiusi. It went through.

The Cave Master had indeed modified his lair long ago and left the Secret Realm.

But Zhu Jiusi didn't reply. Monkey Has Iron Rod shrugged and plunged back into the Land God Temple.

"Should I modify it right now?" Unlike the others, he'd already completed his second modification ahead of time. This would be his third. Would he get ahead of Scholar and Sword Seven?

He sent them a message.

A moment later, replies came back.

Orchid Pavilion Scholar: "I've completed the second modification and am on the third. You can go in."

Sword Seven Doesn't Learn Sword: "I'm on the third."

Monkey Has Iron Rod gaped. "Turns out there's more than one freak. He got lucky and was earning several times as many Gourds as everyone else every day, so he finished early. But how did those two manage it?"

Regardless, he entered the temple and chose to modify his vehicle.

Secret Realm: Mountain Forest.

Daoist Number 323 hadn't gone to the trouble of searching like Sword Seven and the others. Two days ago, an old man had found him, accompanied by people dressed as Black and White Impermanence, and given him the Land God Temple's exact coordinates.

The request was simple: improve himself as much as he could and make trouble for Master of Cloud Stack Cave.

If he managed to kill him, they would give him a single-person Secret Realm map.

He'd tried to ask where the three of them came from, but the old man had glanced at him, and he hadn't dared utter another word.

What kind of gaze had that been? Like a god looking down at an ant!

He was certain those three weren't Path Seekers, and they weren't natives of the Secret Realm either.

Daoist Number 323 felt he'd touched upon the true heart of Journey Survival!

It wasn't as if they were asking him to make any additional sacrifice. How could he possibly refuse?

With the exact location, it had taken him less than half an hour to get there!

Once he confirmed that the Land God Temple was here, he plunged straight inside.

He called over his vehicle and immediately chose to modify it.

He was ahead of the others again!

Over the past few days, he'd skimmed off a portion of the materials Bright Moon Illuminating People and the others had offered him.

Before entering the Secret Realm, a Land God Temple had appeared along the road. He'd first sent his vehicle into the temple and chosen the second modification, then entered the Secret Realm.

This time, he could go straight for the third.

A little hammer clinked away against the vehicle.

Daoist Number 323's expression gradually turned puzzled.

"Wasn't there an attribute for the top three modifications? Is it a fixed attribute that you can't choose?"

He muttered to himself.

A moon appeared on the Scroll and answered in a smug, needling tone. "You can choose!"

"Where do I choose?"

"Dear, you didn't make the top three, so you don't get a special attribute. There's nothing to choose."

Daoist Number 323's expression turned spectacular. "I didn't make the top three? What place did I get?!"

"Fifth!"

Daoist Number 323 swayed. If that pig had beaten him, he might have been able to accept it. But there were four people ahead of him?!

"They... how much earlier did they get there?"

The moon glanced at him. "Technically, I'm not supposed to tell you, but since I am the law, I can tell you anyway. The first person beat you by two days. The other three beat you by a little over ten minutes!"

"Those three... started modifying at the same time?"

"They started less than five minutes apart." The moon was determined to make sure he felt the blow.

Daoist Number 323 swayed, his whole body trembling. Then his eyes lit up. "No! You're lying. There must be a trial before you can choose an attribute, right? Otherwise, why would you show up? Isn't the moon meant to serve all Path Seekers?"

This thing was like a system announcement. It couldn't just show up for one Path Seeker, could it?

The moon snorted twice. "Every Path Seeker who leaves a Secret Realm early gets one private coaching session with me. Once you leave this temple, your chance is gone!"

As it spoke, the moon turned its pointed tip downward. "Friendly reminder: if a Path Seeker receives my private coaching five times in a row, they can get an independent Little Moon and a permanent assistant."

After saying that, it fell silent and vanished with a pop.

Daoist Number 323 tried asking more questions, but no one answered.

What had the moon just said? Leave the Secret Realm early?

A terrible feeling rose in his heart, and he spun around and charged out of the Land God Temple.

Mountains and rivers stretched beyond, with a path.

He was back!

All at once, an unbearable pain gripped his chest.

Gone! It was all gone!

Using his status in the Secret Realm, he'd had the Marquis Mansion prepare a huge stockpile of supplies.

Food, drinking water, clothes, weapons...

He hadn't even had a chance to collect any of it!

He'd planned to modify his vehicle first, then loot all of Xiangnan Prefecture, and finally leave the Secret Realm with his haul...

Why had he been sent back early?!

To make matters worse, just as he stepped out of the Land God Temple, a notification appeared on his Scroll: message sent successfully.

It was the message he'd sent Zhu Jiusi earlier. He'd been out of service then, so the message hadn't gone through. Now that they were in the same service area, it had been delivered.

It was as if he were telling the Cave Master: I'm back. Come kill me if you've got the guts!

He couldn't stop it, no matter how he tried.

A fellow Daoist prayed, and the Mountain Master answered.

Moments after the message went out, Daoist Number 323 noticed the surroundings changing.

The sides of the path were still lined with mountains and forests, but the terrain to the left was gentler, with lush vegetation.

On the other side, jagged rocks jutted out everywhere. The landscape was completely different.

Someone had used a Dao Discussion Card to merge the paths.

He looked around in alarm and spotted a Wild Boar standing silently down the path.

It was clearly a pig, but in its eyes he saw a hint of a knowing, mocking smile.

Daoist Number 323's face turned pig-liver red.