Chapter 221

Others will have to wait for the 30-minute countdown to finish before they can enter.

Xu Jintang's thoughts returned to the present moment. He slowly raised his hands, crossed them, and stretched.

Tongbao Spirit Realm is a small, independent world separate from the Interstellar Continent.

This world is self-contained, rich in spiritual energy, and contains all sorts of treasures and rare gems. For cultivators, it is simply a paradise.

Xu Jintang walked north along the lawn.

A village was not far ahead, but there were hardly any people around.

Soon, Xu Jintang entered the village. It was quiet all around, and only the sound of her own footsteps could be heard.

"Congratulations on entering the Yao Family Village. This village is a rest area. Fighting is prohibited. Violators will be expelled from the Spirit Realm." The notification sounded from the horizon.

Xu Jintang paused, then looked up at the sky.

The sound just now came from the horizon.

"Wow, that's high-class! There's even a rest area."

After expressing his feelings, Xu Jintang withdrew his gaze and continued walking towards the village.

The whole village was quiet, with small wooden houses arranged in a neat and orderly fashion, and empty stalls on both sides of the road, revealing a touch of everyday life amidst the disorder.

After walking for a long time without seeing a single person, Xu Jintang simply pulled up a wooden chair and sat down to rest.

"The Heaven and Earth Token offers far more advantages than others. I recall you should also have the ability to view the entire Spirit Realm map at any time."

Thunder Dragon King spoke again to remind him.

Xu Jintang opened her eyes, a look of surprise flashing in them. "You have this ability? How do I check?"

"Try channeling your mental energy into the token."

Xu Jintang quickly activated his mental power. After the energy was injected into the token, a map immediately popped up. The map contained the entire spiritual realm and even recorded in detail the opening locations of every treasure and trial level.

Xu Jintang, who had originally intended to lie down, immediately sat up straight.

She straightened her back and began to study the map of the spirit mirror with focused attention.

She is currently in one of the rest areas, Yao Family Village. To her north, there is another rest area, a fishing village pier.

In addition, there are many treasure spots and trial level entrances located between the two rest areas.

The map marks the availability of each treasure location and trial level.

Treasure spots can only be opened once, so they will be immediately destroyed after that.

Trial stages can be unlocked repeatedly without limit.

After understanding the whole situation, Xu Jintang's gaze immediately locked onto the treasure location closest to her.

It's less than half an hour away from here; we can easily plunder it before anyone else enters the Spirit Mirror.

After thinking it over, Xu Jintang didn't hesitate any longer and immediately got up and headed towards the treasure location.

Fifteen minutes later, Xu Jintang arrived near the treasure location.

Treasure spots are hidden until they are activated; you need to find the method to activate them before you can successfully trigger them.

Before us lay a cave hidden by various large trees.

Spiderwebs hung at the cave entrance, and the ground was covered in dust, indicating that no one had stopped there for many years.

Xu Jintang pinched his fingertips together, condensing a burst of spiritual energy and striking the tree trunk that was blocking the entrance to the cave.

With a loud "crack," the thick tree trunk snapped and collapsed instantly.

Immediately afterwards, a strong tremor spread from the ground.

Xu Jintang's gaze gradually lifted.

The trees that had been blocking the cave entrance fell to the sides, completely exposing the cave entrance in just a few seconds.

The pitch-black entrance gave it an eerie and mysterious feel.

Xu Jintang withdrew his hand and quickly strode into the cave.

The surroundings darkened, and only the sound of her footsteps could be heard.

Xu Jintang held his breath, bent down slightly, and walked into the cave.

The further they went into the cave, the narrower the passage became, and Xu Jintang became even more cautious.

Of course, the rare and precious materials at these treasure troves aren't free. Generally speaking, there are guardian beasts of comparable strength near treasure troves.

"Squeak--"

A sharp cry rang out.

Xu Jintang immediately stopped in his tracks.

Her gaze swept quickly across the area in front of her, and she saw that the intersection ahead was completely dark, and the creaking sound she had just heard was coming from inside.

The sound looked a bit like the chirping of a fancy mouse.

Xu Jintang slowed his pace and continued walking inside.

The squeaking sounds grew clearer and clearer.

Suddenly, a blurry figure rushed out from the opposite side.

A flowering rat, about half a person's height, bared its teeth and stretched out its claws, lunging at Xu Jintang.

His movements were agile and swift, so fast that he left only a blur behind him.

"Clang--"

Xu Jintang raised his hand and summoned Ice Blade Storm to meet the attack.

The sharp ice blades clashed against the claws of the fancy rat, producing a sharp, screeching sound.

The rat in front of us is at least at the Peak of the Fourth Tier. Due to its agility, it could probably fight Fifth Tier or higher monster for a long time.

After several rounds of fighting, the fancy mouse suddenly disappeared into nowhere.

Xu Jintang clenched his fists and scanned his surroundings with a searching gaze.

The entire cave was dark and quiet.

Xu Jintang quietly moved forward and continued walking inside.

Before they had taken two steps, the squeaking sound rang out again.

Xu Jintang acted swiftly, striking in the direction from which the sound originated.

"Squeak--"

The squeaking of the fancy mouse carried a hint of misery.

Clearly, Xu Jintang's blow landed, and it was quite severe.

Soon, the fancy mouse reappeared.

Xu Jintang raised his hand and continued his pursuit.

--The Road of Frost.

The entire cave was instantly covered with a frigid ice surface, and the air temperature plummeted to freezing.

The fancy mouse sensed danger and sped up its escape.

However, the ice spread even faster. The fancy rat had only managed to escape a few meters when it was caught up by the glacier behind it, which instantly froze its tail.

The ice layer spread rapidly along its tail to its entire body until it was completely frozen.

Xu Jintang walked up to the frozen curly-toothed rat, bent down slightly, and examined it.

The frozen fancy mouse was unable to move; only its eyeballs could still move slightly.

Xu Jintang smiled and snapped his fingers at it, "Let it stay frozen for a while, I'll let you out after I get the treasure."

After saying that, she looked away and turned to continue walking into the cave.

There were no other guardian beasts inside, and soon, the faintly glowing spiritual herbs appeared in Xu Jintang's field of vision.

"This is Wood Frost Grass, a spiritual herb with combined wood and ice attributes. It's still somewhat useful to you, so you can accept it," Thunder Dragon King reminded him.

Xu Jintang walked over, bent down, and began to pick the fruit.

Whether it's useful or not, it's a spiritual herb; getting it is a worthwhile investment.

A few minutes later, Xu Jintang emerged from the cave.

The frozen fancy mouse regained its freedom and made a "squeak" sound.

At the same time, the entire treasure location began to close and entered a closed state.

Meanwhile, the outside world was in complete chaos.

Firstly, the forced opening of the Tongbao Spirit Realm ahead of schedule completely disrupted the plans of many resellers who wanted to resell tokens at high prices, and those who wanted to enter the Spirit Realm but had not yet obtained a token were also thrown into great chaos.

Secondly, the official and reserve team members of the five military academies were suddenly and mysteriously hunted down by an unknown group. Currently, students from the Xihe Alliance Military Academy, Quiet Moon Military Academy, and Imperial Military Academy have all been killed and seriously injured and sent to the emergency center. It is still unknown whether they will be able to participate in the Military Academy League in more than a month.

Chapter 221

Star Network Official Forum--

[Seriously, so many things are happening lately. Members of five major military academies have all contracted the virus. Could it be the Reform Society again?]

[I guess they're just looking for trouble.]

[But the Tongbao Spirit Realm also suddenly opened ahead of schedule, which is quite strange.]

[It's said that someone holding the Heaven and Earth Token forcibly opened it ahead of time; they probably wanted to get in quickly.]

[Sigh, I was really looking forward to this year's Military Academy League. But now three out of the five major military academies have their members seriously injured. How can they compete like this?]

[Isn't there a reserve team?]

[I heard that some players on the reserve team have also been targeted.]

Everyone was discussing the serious injury suffered by the five military academy members in a sneak attack. Due to the significant impact of the incident, the forced opening of the Tongbao Spirit Realm ahead of schedule was temporarily suppressed.

Inside the highest conference room of the Federation General Bureau.

The principals and core senior leaders from the five major military academies gathered together.

The expressions on everyone's faces were somewhat serious.

Commander-in-Chief Jing Hongyi sat in the head seat.

His face was stern, his hand resting on the edge of the conference table. "This matter is extremely serious. The Federation will definitely investigate it thoroughly and give everyone an explanation."

Miao Mingzhi turned to look at him. "Currently, only we and the students from the Clifford Military Academy haven't been attacked yet, but that group came on strong, clearly having planned and targeting us beforehand. We're thinking of postponing this year's league, so we can wait for the students from the other three military academies to recover."

The other military academy principals nodded in agreement. "I think it's a good idea. The situation feels too dangerous right now. What if those people are still watching us?"

"Yes, yes, I also agree with Principal Miao's suggestion."

Everyone agreed.

This scene, however, made Jing Hongyi uncomfortable.

He cleared his throat, expressionlessly adjusted his posture, crossed his arms, and assumed a defensive stance. "But the league's schedule has already been announced. We can't let the misfortune of your military academy students affect the participation of other military academies."

Miao Mingzhi frowned and turned his gaze over, "But if we force the league to start, those people are very likely to continue causing trouble, which will affect all the students in the military academy."