Lin Xia didn't know Zhu Tingyu's father.
But from the kind smile on the man's face, he could tell he meant no harm.
"I do."
Lin Xia nodded, keeping his answer brief.
At that, Zhu Tingyu's father seemed to understand. He patted Lin Xia on the shoulder, then walked over to Xie Feng and murmured something to him.
Xie Feng looked surprised and uneasy when he heard it, but in the end, he seemed to give in and nodded reluctantly.
"Fine. Since you drew the same number, I can't go against a rule the school has upheld for so many years..."
Xie Feng let out a long sigh, his voice full of helpless resignation. "...Once you enter the secret realm, you two must work together. No fighting each other."
Meng Bo was also stunned by this.
He couldn't understand it. The previous moment, Director Xie had been firmly against it. How had he suddenly changed his mind?
Lin Xia was just as surprised.
But it wasn't Xie Feng's sudden change of attitude that shocked him.
It was the suited man's influence. He'd whispered only a few words in Xie Feng's ear, yet the seemingly unyielding teacher had immediately changed his stance.
"Good luck."
Zhu Tingyu's father stepped forward and offered his hand. His subtle expression seemed to say, I've paved the way for you. Now let's see if you can make it to the end. After all, Meng Bo is an SR-rank Awakener, and he's not to be underestimated!
"Oh my god, Zhu Ledong is shaking hands with Lin Xia!"
The older students watching from outside cried out in shock. Of course they recognized Zhu Ledong, the tycoon ranked ninth on the Great Xia Empire's rich list!
That was why they couldn't believe Zhu Ledong would lower himself and take the initiative to shake Lin Xia's hand.
"Tch, shameless!"
A middle-aged man in a tailored suit looked on with disdain. He and the people around him could all tell Zhu Ledong was currying favor with Lin Xia!
Meanwhile, Lin Xia and Meng Bo had already reached the secret realm's entrance.
"Zzzzt—!"
The black vortex let out a strange noise. Their figures gradually blurred, and soon they vanished from sight.
Zhu Tingyu and Liu Yucheng had already entered the secret realm with their respective partners.
So they hadn't witnessed what had just happened.
Wu Ziyang knew exactly what was going on, but he hadn't chosen to help Lin Xia.
He knew Lin Xia's strength very well. A little nobody like Meng Bo couldn't possibly beat him.
What Wu Ziyang was curious about, though, was how Lin Xia would deal with the rich kid who'd started all this.
Would he kill him?
Or just teach him a lesson?
Wu Ziyang didn't think Lin Xia would kill Meng Bo.
If he did, the Meng Family would definitely hunt him down!
With the Zhang Family added to the list, he'd have made enemies of two powerful families...
"What are you spacing out for? It's your turn to draw!"
Xie Feng's voice pulled Wu Ziyang back to the present.
"Coming, coming."
Wu Ziyang smiled and took his hand out of his pocket.
But just as he was about to draw a slip of paper from the box, hurried footsteps caught his attention.
"Pant, pant..." The staff member braced both hands on his knees, his face full of panic as he gasped, "Director, something's... something's wrong!"
At the same time, a man in the crowd wore a baseball cap pulled low to hide half his face. He pressed a Bluetooth earpiece and spoke softly.
"Lin Xia has entered the secret realm."
"Rustle, rustle..."
The branches swayed in the wind, and the air was cool and damp.
Lin Xia opened his eyes.
He looked up instinctively and saw towering trees tangled together overhead, allowing sunlight to filter through the leaves in scattered patches.
"Whoosh!"
A squirrel clutching a pinecone darted away.
Several little birds perched on the branches, chirping incessantly at the humans who had suddenly appeared.
"How could this happen?"
Lin Xia furrowed his brow. He couldn't understand why he had appeared in a forest.
The Black Iron secret realm was supposed to be a desert.
And... Lin Xia glanced around again, frowning even harder. He had the unsettling feeling that someone was watching him.
"What the hell?"
Meng Bo looked just as confused, but then a cold laugh curled from his lips. "Doesn't matter. Where I kill you makes no difference to me!"
"Could you stop being an idiot for once?"
Lin Xia turned around with a cold expression and pointed to the side as he said to Meng Bo, "Don't you think this place is strange? We've ended up somewhere we shouldn't be!"
If Lin Xia had opened his eyes to find himself in a desert, he would have attacked Meng Bo right away, without giving him a chance to speak.
But the moment Lin Xia realized he was in a dense forest, he knew something was wrong.
After thinking it over quickly, he decided to let Meng Bo live for now. If something happened, at least he'd have a helper.
Of course, that depended on Meng Bo having some sense and not starting a fight at a time like this.
"I don't give a damn whether this place is strange or not!"
Meng Bo pulled out a Card and crushed it.
The next second, red light spread from his palm across his entire body.
"Crack, crack, crack..."
As his clothes tore and his muscles swelled, Meng Bo grew larger before Lin Xia's eyes, transforming into a Red-Skinned Demon over two meters tall.
The Red-Skinned Demon was heavily muscled, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist. Twisted, bull-like horns sprouted from either side of its forehead.
"You bastard! You harassed Zhu Tingyu and humiliated me in front of my father..."
Meng Bo's voice had turned incredibly deep, as if it had been dubbed over. "I'm going to kill you!"
"All brawn and no brains... Could you stop being so stupid?"
Lin Xia had wanted to reason with him a little longer and get him to see the situation they were in.
He was confident he could take Meng Bo down, but the fight would leave him badly exhausted. If a crisis arose after that, Lin Xia might not be able to handle it... He could even end up dead.
"You're the stupid one! You're about to die, and you still won't kneel and beg for mercy!"
Meng Bo wouldn't listen. He swung his fist and lunged at Lin Xia!
"Sigh."
Lin Xia sighed, as if to say that there was no cure for stupidity.
He easily sidestepped Meng Bo's attack.
After all, Meng Bo was a strength-type Awakener. His attack and defense were powerful, but his movements were clumsy and slow.
Lin Xia, on the other hand, was well balanced in every attribute.
So when Meng Bo swung again, Lin Xia raised his fist and met it head-on.
"Boom!"
Their fists collided with a powerful shockwave, sending leaves raining down around them.
"What?!"
Lin Xia and Meng Bo exclaimed at the same time.
Meng Bo hadn't expected Lin Xia's attack to be so powerful. He was a strength-type Awakener, yet Lin Xia had taken his full-force punch head-on!
Lin Xia, meanwhile, hadn't expected Meng Bo's full-force attack to match his own.
He realized that taking Meng Bo down might cost him far more stamina than he'd expected.
If Buou's Card hadn't entered cooldown after its self-destruction last time, leaving him unable to summon it, Lin Xia wouldn't have needed to worry about any of this.
Just then, a line of text appeared before them:
[You have disturbed the Lion Pride. Prepare yourself.] [Secret Realm Level: LV5.]
Before you continue