"I'll say it again: safety first. Every one of you is part of China's future. We can't afford to lose any of you!" Nangong Yu said gravely.
If possible, they would have preferred an escort of powerful trainers. Unfortunately, those trainers could not pass into this Secret Realm. Even the Pokémon their families had given them for protection had been taken away.
This time, everyone would be entering the Secret Realm without any protection at all. No one knew what accidents might happen inside. Thus, it was not just Nangong Yu watching Xiao Ran and the others' expedition; practically all of China's senior leadership was paying attention.
"Don't worry. We'll all come back safely, every last one of us!" Xuan Yuan Tianyu nodded and led everyone into the Secret Realm.
Upon entering the Secret Realm, they were greeted by a lush, picturesque world. The exit opened onto a cliff, overlooking a dense forest that stretched beyond the horizon. Deep within that forest, an enormous tree towered above everything else.
Its vast canopy blotted out the sky and sun, seemingly dividing the world into upper and lower layers. Yet a faint, rainbow-colored glow swirled around it, illuminating everything below.
"Could that be the Tree of Beginning?" someone exclaimed. After the auction two days earlier, quite a few of them had learned the legend of the Tree of Beginning.
"No. If I'm right, this should be Xerneas's Secret Realm. That huge tree should have formed from Xerneas's antlers!" Xiao Ran said, shaking his head.
"Xerneas? The God of Life? Are Legendary Pokémon really that powerful?" Bai Tingjiao asked in bewilderment. She could not imagine it. If its antlers alone were that huge, how enormous would the Pokémon itself be?
"Yes. Although the Tree of Beginning is called a tree, the books say