Passage to the Real World!

Jiang Chuan had no idea that shortly after he entered the secret realm, several flying vessels arrived overhead, deploying hundreds of soldiers to clear the surrounding area.

A middle-aged man was the first to arrive. He wore a purple robe and carried himself with noble authority, imposing without even showing anger.

He was none other than Tianyuan City's lord.

Lu Qingshan.

It was said that he had long since reached the seventh tier, but lacked the crucial resources needed to advance to the eighth. Otherwise, he would have already become a member of the Heaven Pavilion.

Afterward, several figures radiating powerful auras shot over. They were a curvaceous woman, a young man wearing glasses, and a thin, wizened old man.

Lu Qingshan swept his gaze over them, his expression grave. "How did a perfectly fine secret realm suddenly mutate? Has anything like this happened before?"

"I don't know."

The young man shook his head slightly. "But one thing is certain: this is definitely not a good sign."

The woman with her face veiled by a thin gauze asked curiously, "Lord Zhou, why do you say that? The higher the secret realm's difficulty, the richer its resource yields should be. Isn't that a good thing?"

As she spoke,

her gaze flicked toward the thin old man beside her.

The old man was Chen Duhu, the commander-in-chief of the Darkmoon Battle Group. The Darkmoon Battle Group controlled Tianyuan City's only master-grade secret realm:

the Silver Wolf Secret Realm.

Even Pavilion Master Yuan, the master of Artisan Pavilion who was said to control half of Tianyuan City's wealth, coveted that treasure.

Zhou Yuan shook his head slightly. "Pavilion Master Yuan, you don't understand."

He explained in detail, "Secret realms are projections of other worlds cast into the Source Realm. Projections are illusory, so once they are broken—that is, once they are cleared—they reset, and the monsters inside cannot truly come out."

"If it is merely difficult, then a master-grade secret realm is naturally a good thing."

"But nightmare difficulty is different!"

"Nightmare difficulty opens a passage to the real world. Monsters from the world beyond could invade at any time!"

Yuan Ziyi immediately realized the severity of the situation, and her expression changed slightly.

The Source Realm was home to countless races.

Any somewhat powerful race could easily wipe out humanity!

If this secret realm became a passage connecting to another world, all of Tianyuan City could face utter destruction!

Chen Duhu said gravely, "Nightmare secret realms have not appeared in the country for decades. Its emergence this time may be a sign heralding some disaster."

Lu Qingshan froze for a moment, then said, "Could this be related to the emergence of that powerhouse from the 'Apex of Ten Thousand Races'?"

Even now, many uninformed beings in the Source Realm believed that the "Apex of Ten Thousand Races" achievement had appeared because a tenth-tier supreme powerhouse had emerged.

Of course, they could not be blamed for guessing wildly.

After all,

the title was far too misleading.

Chen Duhu sighed. "Who knows whether this will be a blessing or a disaster for humanity."

Yuan Ziyi asked, "Then what should we do now?"

Zhou Yuan calmly adjusted his glasses. "Pavilion Master Yuan, don't panic. Fortunately, this secret realm was discovered in time. As long as we seal it completely, we can prevent the nightmare from manifesting."

How could Yuan Ziyi not panic? Her entire fortune was in Tianyuan City. If Tianyuan City became an entry point for an invasion by other races, her family's entire foundation would be destroyed overnight.

She said, "Then what are we waiting for? Seal the secret realm already!"

Zhou Yuan looked at Lu Qingshan. "This secret realm is, after all, Tianyuan City's property. Whether to seal it or not depends on Lord Lu's decision."

Lu Qingshan pondered for a moment before asking, "The mutation happened suddenly. There should still be many people who haven't come out. If we completely seal this secret realm, does that mean they will never be able to return?"

Zhou Yuan nodded. "That's right."

A secret realm was a passage.

Once the passage closed,

those who had not made it out in time could only remain in that world.

As for whether they lived or died, that depended on their own luck. They could only pray that the world beyond was inhabited by a peaceful race.

Chen Duhu said, "The Tree God Secret Realm is only a first-tier secret realm. Even if it is sealed, the only loss will be a group of first-tier professionals. This concerns the safety of all Tianyuan City. What is there for Lord Lu to hesitate over?"

But Lu Qingshan did not see it that way. "First-tier professionals are still citizens of Tianyuan City. As the city lord, how can I abandon my people?"

"How about this?"

"Give them another half hour!"

"Half an hour is enough for them to witness the horrors of a nightmare secret realm. If they still refuse to retreat, then they are courting death and have no one to blame but themselves!"

Zhou Yuan nodded approvingly. "Lord Lu cares deeply for the people. Tianyuan City is fortunate indeed."

Bathed in blood-red light, Jiang Chuan floated in a scene that resembled a sea of blood.

After waiting for a long time,

he finally felt solid ground beneath his feet.

He opened his eyes.

Then froze.

The sight before him was completely different from an ordinary-difficulty secret realm.

The ordinary Tree God Secret Realm was a dark forest, thick with trees that blotted out the sky and sun. Though gloomy, it at least carried an air of life.

But the world before him was less a realm of trees than a massive graveyard.

Dead giant trees stood everywhere.

Their bare branches stretched toward the sky like withered arms.

The ground was black and soft beneath his feet, as though he were stepping on rotting corpses.

A dense stench of decay filled the air, crawling into his nose and mouth and clinging to his throat, making him feel sick.

But what truly shocked Jiang Chuan was not any of that.

It was the distance.

Deep within the forest, he could vaguely see an enormous silhouette.

Like a mountain range, gray lines rose and fell along the horizon, stretching for who knew how many kilometers and shrouding the entire Nightmare Tree Sea beneath its shadow.

Jiang Chuan narrowed his eyes and stared for a long while before he could barely make out what it was.

It was a tree.

An ancient tree so enormous it was beyond comprehension.

It was already dead. Its trunk was covered in cracks and holes, like a hollowed-out mountain, looking especially desolate beneath the dim gray light!

"Nightmare-difficulty secret realms really are different."

Jiang Chuan murmured.

At that moment, he still did not know that he had stepped into an unknown world.

He took a deep breath and walked forward.

The nightmare-difficulty monsters appeared soon enough.

A monster twice the size of an ordinary treant charged out from behind a dead tree.

Its trunk was covered in savage cracks, dark red sap flowing from them like blood. Its twisted human face had two eyes that glowed a dim crimson.

[Nightmare Treant: LV5, HP 3000, Attack 250, Defense 120]

Jiang Chuan raised an eyebrow.

Three thousand HP, two hundred and fifty attack, and one hundred and twenty defense. An ordinary-difficulty level-five treant only had one thousand HP, but this nightmare-difficulty version had fully tripled it, with every stat enhanced.

To ordinary players, this kind of monster was a nightmare. Taking down even one would be difficult.

But for Jiang Chuan, it merely meant three arrows instead of one.

He drew his longbow and shot an arrow into the Nightmare Treant's face.

-956!!

The treant let out a shrill howl. One of its dim crimson eyes went dark instantly, but it did not fall. Instead, it wildly swung its branches as it lunged at Jiang Chuan.

Jiang Chuan sidestepped and fired another arrow.

-887!!

Then another.

-942!!

Three arrows.

The Nightmare Treant's HP immediately dropped to zero.

Its body exploded from within, shattered trunks and branches scattering everywhere. It died far more gruesomely than an ordinary treant.