Return to the Tower! Rewards Settlement!

"You mean... the True Great Ruins?"

The young girl seemed deep in thought, a flicker of contemplation passing through her beautiful mismatched eyes.

"I understand."

Hearing that, Yu Tiezhu looked utterly baffled and hurriedly asked, "What? What do you understand?"

"Brother, could there be other people who entered this place?"

Wu Yu glanced at him and said, "After you return, either move away immediately and leave behind no information at all, or contact Liu Zheng at once and obtain the Inspection Bureau's protection."

"Watch how things develop afterward, but don't actively search online for information about the Tower, secret realms, or anything like that!"

"Huh? I was planning to look it up online after I got back."

Yu Tiezhu did not think much of it and smiled. "You're smarter than me, Brother. I'll listen to you."

"Mm. Let's go save them."

Yu Tiezhu was tall and powerfully built, so he took the initiative to tear open the cocoons and rescue the people inside.

Wu Yu, meanwhile, tossed out a small stone and blasted a pit beside them, burying the ancient martial artist's remains within it.

The other man had left no name behind. After filling in the soil, Wu Yu could only set up a stone slab. Although communication was unhindered in the [Newcomer Secret Realm], Wu Yu had observed in Redfang Village that their language and writing were clearly different, so he could not be bothered to carve any words onto it.

Not long afterward, Yu Tiezhu rescued Liu Zheng.

The latter was barely clinging to life. If not for the faint beat of his heart, anyone looking at him would have thought he was dead.

Wu Yu took out a flask of spirit wine and poured some into his mouth.

A moment later!

Liu Zheng abruptly opened his eyes and weakly looked around.

"Who!?"

"It's you?"

Liu Zheng took a deep breath and felt around himself, discovering that most of his equipment had been stripped away.

Yet he did not fly into a rage. Instead, he drew a line across his forehead!

A red line appeared, and several new pieces of equipment and injectors dropped down.

"A spatial-type Psionic Chip?"

Wu Yu was astonished at the sight.

Even the Black Crow Merchant Guild did not have something like that!

Liu Zheng picked up a red injector and jabbed it into himself. His face immediately flushed red, and his aura stabilized considerably.

His weakened body recovered at a visible rate, and the color gradually returned to his face.

"Where is this?"

He looked around and rubbed his temples.

"Lostway Cave."

Wu Yu said, "We fought our way in and happened to find you after you'd been captured."

"Unfortunately, we couldn't save the others."

His face was full of regret.

"Is that so?"

Liu Zheng believed him and sighed. "Even a horse stumbles sometimes. I thought it would be over after I killed two Transcendent Martial Artists, but I never expected an ambush!"

"No matter what, thank you!"

"By the way, you didn't see the Mountain Lord, did you?"

"No." Wu Yu shook his head. "The Mountain Lord was led by someone toward the evacuation point nearby."

"What? Then we need to leave quickly!"

Startled, Liu Zheng hurriedly put on a new Psionic Belt and other gear, then took out the [Bronze Token] for a look.

"The fog is coming soon!"

"Let's go first. Be careful in case the Mountain Lord returns!"

At that,

Wu Yu gave the other two a look and chimed in, "Let's listen to Inspector Liu."

"Yes! Yes! Let's listen to Lord Liu!" Yu Tiezhu caught on and immediately echoed him.

The young girl also pursed her lips in a smile and obediently replied.

Having regained control, Liu Zheng instantly got his "face" back, and his whole person seemed to glow with renewed vigor.

"Let's go!"

When they emerged from Lostway Cave, Dark Night was about to pass.

That also meant the third day was about to arrive!

After leaving Lostway Cave, Wu Yu glanced back, but ultimately gave up on retrieving the remaining small stones.

He had no intention of going to the nearest evacuation point, which was why he had invoked the Mountain Lord's name to mislead Liu Zheng.

The latter did not notice in the slightest that Wu Yu was lying. He opened the [Map], took one look, and immediately locked onto the evacuation point at the end of the main road!

"Quick! Follow me!"

The sky gradually brightened.

The moon hid amid the sea of clouds. Shafts of sunlight tore through the horizon and passed through the dense canopy, leaving only dappled patches of light upon the people below.

The mountain paths were difficult to traverse, but fortunately, the distance was not far.

Liu Zheng gradually calmed down and began asking about what had happened earlier.

But the three had already coordinated their stories, so naturally, they did not reveal the slightest flaw.

Liu Zheng still could not make sense of it and could only sigh over their good fortune. Perhaps the Mountain Lord had gone off to hunt someone else!

Before long, they reached the main road and drew close to the evacuation point.

The moment they arrived, Wu Yu spotted the target.

Several hundred meters away, there was unexpectedly a large illusory formation. It seemed to exist in the gap between reality and illusion, hazy and indistinct.

"That's the evacuation point!"

Liu Zheng's eyes lit up, and he immediately led them over.

Upon reaching the illusory formation, they all saw a panel.

[Evacuation Point]

Evacuation countdown: 10 minutes.

"Evacuation has a countdown too?"

Liu Zheng frowned and muttered to himself.

"Looks like evacuation isn't absolutely safe either. If we're attacked during the countdown..."

As he spoke, he strode in, seemingly seeing another panel.

After a brief hesitation, Wu Yu walked in as well.

A new panel split off from the original one and began counting down!

9 minutes 59 seconds, 9 minutes 58 seconds, 9 minutes 57 seconds...

"We can finally go home!"

Yu Tiezhu entered, excitement written all over his face.

The young girl also let out a sigh of relief, joy gleaming between her brows.

Liu Zheng fiddled with his drone and cursed, "Damn it! The information chips were all destroyed."

"All that effort for nothing!"

He sighed, glanced at the others, and hesitated before ultimately saying nothing.

Ten minutes later!

The panel's countdown ended, and new information appeared.

"Notice: Evacuation commencing!"

"Notice: Time and space converging!"

In an instant, his vision changed.

When Wu Yu came back to his senses, he found himself back inside the Tower.

He was still seated in his chair. On the table before him, a nebula revolved in dazzling splendor.

"Notice: The [Newcomer Secret Realm] has ended!"

"Notice: Settlement panel available (open through silent thought)."

"Notice: Next, you will enter the True Great Ruins!"

"Return countdown: 9 minutes 59 seconds."

Just as when they had entered the Great Ruins, everyone could see this panel.

"We can go back in ten minutes!"

"A settlement panel? Wait, my injuries are healing!"

"Huh? Little Liu!"

"Bai Xiaotian, you survived too!"

Of the nine seats in the Tower space, only six were occupied.

Some were excited, while others were confused.

Bai Xiaotian in particular stared at Liu Zheng in shock, his face filled with bewilderment.

Liu Yu wore ancient cloth robes and held an oil lamp in his hand, still looking half-asleep.

Wu Yu silently swept his gaze over everyone before finally settling it on the nebula.

With a thought, he opened a new panel.

"[Newcomer Secret Realm] concluded. Settlement commencing!"

"Successfully evacuated! Base rating: F-!"

"Killed one bandit! Rating: F- → F!"

"Killed ten bandits! Rating: F → F+!"

"Killed one hundred bandits! Rating: F+ → E-!"

"Killed one bandit leader! Rating: E- → E!"

"Killed ten bandit leaders! Rating: E → E+!"

"Killed the bandit chief! Rating: E+ → D- → D!"

"Killed the Mountain Lord! Rating: D → D+ → C-!"

"Completed hidden quest [Lost Token]! Rating: C- → C!"

"Completed hidden quest [Divine Blood Immortality]! Rating: C → C+!"

"Newcomer privilege! Rating: C+ → Legendary!"

"Used external item: Diamond Badge. Contribution ratio below one percent; rating unchanged."

"Final rating: Legendary!"

"Please select your rewards..."