Chapter 2400: Opportunity Knocks

"Surely some monsters have tried it already?" The more they forbid it, the more monsters want to try.

"A few avian monsters wanted to try, but as soon as they landed, they vanished, and later their corpses were hung on the city walls as a warning—after that, no monster dared to reach out."

"What medicinal herbs are grown in this herb field?"

Ling Jinbao replied truthfully: "Red ginseng, blood poria, ghost silk dolls, green-skinned lingzhi, and the like—other varieties exist too, but we haven't fully identified all the monsters we've captured."

"That doesn't sound like heavenly treasures either." These are fine herbs, growing on high mountains when spiritual energy wanes, but in today's environment, they're hardly top-tier rare herbs—they shouldn't appear in herb fields specially isolated by the Earth Mother.

He Lingchuan immediately said: "Since Duzhi Mountain is both a forbidden zone and valued by the Earth Mother, it's worth investigating."

"Do you think the Earth Mother hid the Stone Heart in the herb field?"

"She went to the trouble of irrigating this herb field and painstakingly cultivating the Golden Dew Lotus—this shows Duzhi Mountain is a special place within Yujing City." He Lingchuan said, "With no other clues, I'm willing to go."

Specific goals and routes, of course, will be decided on the fly after entering Yujing City.

How could such a perilous journey rely on an unchanging plan?

After further discussion, they settled on the plan.

Immortal Meike then asked He Lingchuan: "The Earth Mother is launching a major assault on the Panlong Secret Realm—can it still hold out?"

The power of the Panlong Secret Realm is waning, and they know it.

"Since we've appeared here—" He Lingchuan gave a faint smile, "—rest assured, the Earth Mother can't do anything to it."

Zhu Xiuer glanced at him without changing expression.

The Earth Mother may not be able to overcome the Panlong Secret Realm, but there are two sides to this—if it realizes the truth, the "Secret Realm" can no longer buy them time.

He Lingchuan also reminded the immortals: "The demons aren't pushovers either—they won't just let the Earth Mother be their pawn. Guard against them intervening at critical moments."

At this moment, Immortal Mingyao suddenly said:

"New development! The Earth Mother has dispatched a guardian spirit from Yujing City to strike the entrance of the Panlong Secret Realm!"

"Speak of opportunity, and opportunity arrives." Ling Jinbao immediately asked, "Which guardian spirit is it?"

"It's a blue-scaled giant fish over ten zhang long!" Immortal Mingyao's butterfly familiar can observe the demon army's movements in the Panlong ruins—"its head is as big as a siege hammer."

"It's the Shieldskin Fish!" Immortal Meike immediately pointed to the sand table, "Our luck is truly good—its secret realm happens to lie between the underground fissure layer and Duzhi Mountain, not far from either."

"It has left its nest—we should set out now."

Everyone stood up. At this moment, time is everything.

Suddenly, Dong Rui's voice came to He Lingchuan's ear: "I'm ready here—just cough once if you want me to begin."

"Hmph!" He Lingchuan coughed firmly.

Ling Jinbao beside him asked: "What's wrong? Is something off?"

"Nothing, let's begin."

￥￥￥￥￥

The avian monsters of Yujing City flew high in the sky, already detecting rainbow light flaring in the southwest.

Large numbers of cultivators are rushing over.

"The folks from Ling Mountain have finally arrived." The Earth Mother wasn't surprised—the commotion from Yujing City invading the Panlong ruins was huge, impossible to hide from these flies buzzing around meat.

But there's also movement in the southern sky, as if dozens of cultivators are approaching, though not via the Ling Mountain route, and their actions are sluggish by several beats—it looks like they have no intention of joining the battle immediately. They soon stopped and landed over ten li from the battlefield, unclear whether they're holding back to observe or assessing the situation.

Xiyi immediately said: "These are the mighty ones of Shen State, and their cultivation isn't weak either."

Ling Mountain eyes them tigerishly, Shen State as a local power also came to join the fun.

And the Earth Mother knows Shen State's great army is also rushing here all the way, moving at breakneck speed. Now many cultivators have the means to fly, but with troop numbers so large, they're still limited to ground movement.

But if the Panlong ruins are delayed here by several more hours, Shen State's army will also arrive.

The Earth Mother doesn't fear human armies, but dislikes them swarming like ants and flies around her flanks—let alone, besides conquering the Secret Realm, she must also divide her attention to guard against demons and Ling Mountain. If human states also come to join the fun, it's truly a hassle.

Moreover, the two demons have warned her: nowadays, human states are incomparable to the past—after gaining the aid of primordial force, their armies have become remarkably strong in combat power.

"Hurry up!" she roared angrily at her subordinates, "Stop dawdling—immediately find the Secret Realm entrance for me!"

But the Earth Mother's luck is truly terrible—in the following half-hour or so, all the flashing points within the ruins went out one after another, yet the monsters dug up nothing but assorted junk.

After another two quarters of an hour or so, finally a monster general came flying back to report, saying they'd likely found the Secret Realm entrance!

Let's go see.

This flashing point is in the laboratory of the Mishen Academy.

In the final period of Panlong history, the Mishen Academy was not just an academy—its main function was a research institution focusing on divine abilities, spells, and medicinal herbs, so this place has many cubicles and secret rooms.

The flashing point the monsters discovered lies beneath a deserted herb field, its light extremely faint and color very pale—almost missed.

They completely excavated the herb field, finding nothing.

The monster general unwilling to accept this ordered all monsters to continue digging downward.

Finally, after digging down another five zhang, the monsters made a new discovery:

Beneath this lies a natural cavity, about thirty to forty square feet in size, formed by ancient groundwater seepage. The Mishen Academy, adapting to local conditions, expanded it into a hidden chamber.

The original function of this hidden chamber is no longer important—after the Panlong desert turned to wasteland, groundwater seeped back in, so the hidden chamber has become a pond, a square, deeply buried pool.

Most crucially, after the monsters jumped into the square pond and searched everywhere for half a day, they found nothing causing the misty vapor to glow—meaning the light here likely comes from the true aura of the Secret Realm!

The Secret Realm entrance is very likely hidden here!

This monster squad let out a long howl, unable to contain their joy. Though the Earth Mother is ruthless, her rewards are also generous and abundant.

Soon, the Violent Bear King arrived carrying an Earth Mother avatar, but didn't leap in—he merely paced at the pond's edge, fearing enemies had laid traps.

Traps in the ruins are myriad and strange, usually found near things worth guarding.

The Earth Mother snorted—this old bear really isn't as simple-minded as he looks; otherwise, he'd have been toppled by other monsters long ago, how could he still hold the position of chief leader?

At this moment, a blue light flew out from Yujing City, following the mist into the Panlong ruins.

As it descended slowly, it rapidly expanded, revealing its true form:

A blue-scaled giant fish!

This monster's body was fifteen zhang long, its massive bulk surpassing even a giant whale.

(End of chapter)