The Evil Thin Buu!

"Transformation Cards are different from an Awakener's morphological evolution; they use external means to forcibly induce mutations in an Awakener's body!"

"This is done to achieve an increase in combat power."

"However, such cards often come with side effects, which are what we call fatal weaknesses."

"But Qin Tianyu hides his very well; I couldn't find them through the recordings..."

"So, you must observe carefully during the battle!"

Zhu Tingyu looked serious, her tone firm, fearing that Lin Xia wouldn't take her words to heart.

"A skeleton ghost this big?"

Lin Xia looked at the appearance of Qin Tianyu after his transformation in the video, showing an expression of disbelief.

If Zhu Tingyu hadn't said anything, he never would have guessed that this white skeleton, taller than a building, was actually Qin Tianyu...

After all, the appearance of this skeleton wasn't humanoid, but rather a monster shaped like 'Godzilla'!

At this moment, Lin Xia glanced at the time. Although he really wanted to keep listening to Zhu Tingyu, he still needed to grind in the Secret Realm to level up and ensure he got enough sleep.

After all, the competition started at ten o'clock tomorrow morning.

So, time was extremely tight.

"Next, I'll tell you about the cards Qin Tianyu possesses."

Zhu Tingyu kept her head down, wearing her studious expression as she spoke earnestly.

But Lin Xia scratched his head and gave an awkward smile, "Um, I have some things to take care of. I'll look over your notes carefully... I'm heading out first!!"

He said these words almost while running away.

By the time Zhu Tingyu reacted, Lin Xia had already vanished without a trace.

"Hmph!"

This made Zhu Tingyu stomp her feet in anger, though it wasn't just because Lin Xia didn't appreciate her efforts.

She was even more furious at Lin Xia's lack of seriousness toward his opponent!

Of course, Zhu Tingyu also felt a hint of disappointment.

Because she hadn't yet had the chance to say, "I believe you will definitely win!"

"I don't think he's the type to underestimate his opponent."

Zhu Ledong's figure appeared behind Zhu Tingyu. He gently patted his daughter's shoulder, looking in the direction Lin Xia had left with a faint smile, "He must have his reasons for doing this. We just need to trust him; after all, this kid is always associated with 'miracles'."

Zhu Ledong had stayed away until now so his daughter could have some time alone with Lin Xia.

But he hadn't expected that Lin Xia would actually ditch his beloved princess to go do something else... This kid really was oblivious to romance!

Real Secret Realms are never established in cities or densely populated areas.

This is precisely why they are called Wild Secret Realms.

"Whoosh--!"

Lin Xia had just stepped out of the portal.

A damp and fresh scent flooded his nostrils.

He was currently standing in a lush green forest.

And the entrance to the Level 7 Bronze Secret Realm was right before his eyes.

It was a bronze-colored entrance floating in the air, rotating slowly like a black hole.

For some reason, there wasn't a single soul around besides Lin Xia.

Furthermore, a sign was posted next to the Secret Realm:

[Bronze Secret Realm: Recommended for Awakeners levels 1-10.]

[Silver Secret Realm: Recommended for Awakeners levels 10-20.]

[Gold Secret Realm: Recommended for Awakeners levels 20-40.]

[Platinum Secret Realm: Recommended for Awakeners levels 40-60.]

[Diamond Secret Realm: Recommended for Awakeners levels 60-90.]

[Master Secret Realm: Recommended for Awakeners levels 90-100.]

[Grandmaster Secret Realm: Recommended for Awakeners levels 100-500.]

[King Secret Realm: Recommended for Awakeners above level 1000.]

Lin Xia knew that the fantasy of challenging beyond one's level could only happen in Artificial Secret Realms.

In a place like a Wild Secret Realm, challenging beyond one's level was no different from courting death!

The level displayed by the Secret Realm only referred to the level of the minor monsters, while the Leader of the Secret Realm was defaulted to one level higher.

For instance, the Leader in the Level 7 Secret Realm Lin Xia was about to enter was actually Level 8.

"Web novels have truly done me a disservice!"

Lin Xia muttered to himself. In countless web novels, protagonists could easily challenge Secret Realms far above their own level.

But in this world, these Wild Secret Realms possessed a unique buff.

Once the system detected that a challenger's level was two or more tiers lower than the Leader of the Secret Realm, it would inflict an undispellable negative buff upon the Awakener, reducing all their attributes and damage output!

Furthermore, every time an Awakener exited a Secret Realm, they would be forced into a cooldown period of varying lengths, preventing them from re-entering for a short time.

Additionally, the cooldown duration tripled during the night.

The cooldown for a Level 7 Bronze Secret Realm was three hours.

Based on the calculation that a single run through the Secret Realm would yield 50% of the experience points required for a level up, Lin Xia would only need six hours to reach Level 8.

The next moment, a ring of light appeared beneath his feet.

"Whoosh!"

Just like that, Lin Xia's figure dissipated into the circle of light.

The first thing Lin Xia smelled was the pungent, bitter, and suffocating stench of sulfur and burning metal.

Soon after, his vision gradually cleared.

Lin Xia found himself standing on a rock barely large enough to accommodate three adults.

Surrounding the rock was flowing crimson magma, sometimes churning, sometimes calm, occasionally spitting sparks and emitting thick plumes of sulfurous gas.

Looking out, several rocks of similar size were scattered across the magma; though they were separated, the distance between them seemed perfectly calculated, identical in every way.

[Falling into the magma will deplete your HP within 3 seconds!]

[This damage ignores defense!]

A warning popped up before Lin Xia's eyes.

This was the [Rule] inherent to the Secret Realm.

"Sizzle, sizzle~~"

At that moment, bubbles began to rise from the magma.

The next instant, monsters with human torsos and serpentine bodies emerged from the molten depths.

[Flame Snake (LV7): Extremely fast. Once bitten by its fangs, it inflicts a continuous burning buff.]

Without a moment's hesitation, these mobs lunged straight toward Lin Xia.

"So sudden?!"

For the first time, Lin Xia truly felt the weight of the saying: "On a real battlefield, there is no room to catch your breath."

Although he was confident he could defeat these mobs, he was in no rush to do so.

Lin Xia wanted to use this opportunity to gauge the strength of Thin Buu!

The next second, he pulled out a card.

As the card dissolved into particles and drifted to the side, the gray-skinned Thin Buu, draped in a blue cape, appeared.

"Do as you please. Leave none alive—kill them all!"

Lin Xia issued the command, then used the Dance in the Sky Technique to fly upward, finding an excellent vantage point to observe the battle.

"Hehehe..."

Thin Buu let out a strange laugh, his face twisted into an eerie, bone-chilling grin.

Seeing that Lin Xia had flown out of attack range, the Flame Snakes turned their aggression toward the Buu standing on the rock.

"Swish!"

Carrying a scorching gust of wind, a Flame Snake struck like a bolt of red lightning, lunging instantly at Thin Buu.

Facing this strike, Thin Buu did not dodge; instead, he stood there blankly like a doll, not even blinking an eye.

Just as the Flame Snake's fangs were about to touch his throat, Thin Buu's previously sluggish movements erupted with sudden intensity!

With lightning speed, he thrust out his right hand, precisely clamping onto the Flame Snake's face.

"Crack!"

With a crisp snap, the Flame Snake's fierce momentum froze instantly. Its massive body twitched violently in the air, yet it could not break free from that hand—which looked slender, but was as hard as steel.

"Hehehehe..."

Thin Buu slowly raised his head, wearing that signature, hair-raising, playful smile.

He looked at the prey struggling desperately in his grasp, his five fingers slowly closing like iron spikes.

"Pfft!"

With a dull, muffled explosion, the Flame Snake's head was crushed into a pulp of flesh. Crimson blood mixed with brain matter sprayed outward, splattering across Thin Buu's face.

Yet, he only wore an expression of enjoyment, as if he were admiring his own proud masterpiece...