Chapter 2436: Come On! What Politeness?

The Earth Mother looked at the mist filling the entire city—no glowing point remained.

This is the divine ability it activated from Yujing City to reach here; it is especially sensitive to Secret Realms. Whenever a Secret Realm exists, it cannot escape detection by the mist.

The Earth Mother now had confidence in itself.

However, after dispelling that false Secret Realm just now, there was not a single glowing point in the Panlong Ruins—not one.

All items tainted with the aura of the Panlong Secret Realm had been dug up by the demons, and interfering factors had been eliminated.

So where, exactly, is the entrance to the Panlong Secret Realm?

As the Earth Mother pondered, the Violent Bear King muttered this sentence aloud.

"Shut up." It was noisy!

But the Violent Bear King had already mumbled the next line: "Could it be they're tricking us again?"

"You..." The Earth Mother was about to scold, but the words died at its lips—"Trick?"

A flash of inspiration struck its mind: "Ah, trick! You're right!"

"Oh, oh?" the Violent Bear King said, utterly confused—what did it get right?

"The one who set the trap with a false Secret Realm has been trying to buy time!" the Earth Mother said slowly, "But after I exposed the false Secret Realm, the true one isn't detected by the mist either—why?"

Its tone was slow, but its thoughts raced.

The Violent Bear King could only parrot: "Why?"

"Could it be that the true Panlong Secret Realm has already—" the Earth Mother said, then suddenly burst into heavenly laughter, "Ah, now I see! Now I see! No wonder they wanted to delay at all costs!"

"As it turns out, besides me, someone else can actually reset a Secret Realm!"

Before breaking the false Secret Realm, the Earth Mother had never deeply considered this possibility:

What if the Panlong Secret Realm had already vanished? The mist fails to detect it not because it's well hidden, but because it no longer exists!

If the Secret Realm is gone, what remains here?

Only the Panlong Ruins and the Great Square Vessel!

The best part is, with the Secret Realm's connection gone, the link between these two must necessarily weaken.

The Violent Bear King rumbled: "Reset?"

What does resetting a Secret Realm mean?

The Earth Mother couldn't be bothered to explain it to him, while the Cyclops King beside it tilted its head. It looked genuinely dim-witted, so even when lost in thought, its expression appeared vacant.

Having figured out this anomaly, and given the Earth Mother's deep understanding of Secret Realms, it could naturally follow the logic through:

If the Secret Realm vanishes, then the connection between the Panlong Ruins and the Great Square Vessel will weaken, possibly even break. To ensure they remain tightly bound, the only solution is to rebuild the Secret Realm!

The Secret Realm is the bond between the virtual and the real, but its reconstruction takes time, so the hidden schemer set up many illusions—one to buy time, two to conceal their true purpose!

Once this Secret Realm is rebuilt, the bond between the Panlong Ruins and the Great Square Vessel will become unbreakable, meaning the Earth Mother and the Heavenly Demon's journey here would have been in vain.

As for the rebuilding or resetting of a Secret Realm, it could take as little as a dozen hours, or much longer if unlucky.

Since the hidden schemer went to all this trouble, their Secret Realm reconstruction time probably won't be too long; otherwise, if it took three or five days as a matter of course, what's the point of delaying? They couldn't possibly drag it out!

The Earth Mother calculated on its fingers: from when it first sensed the anomaly in the Panlong Ruins until now, over nine hours had passed!

During this time, there had been probing, mutual theft, magical duels—it had wasted far too much time, especially the early standoff phase, which had been excessively long, not to mention the interference from Ling Mountain.

The opponent's real-or-false delaying tactic had been executed very successfully.

But that ends now!

Since the Panlong Secret Realm may have already vanished, and my greatest rival on the Chi Pa Highland no longer exists, what need is there for Yujing City to act cautiously?

Up with it! What politeness?

Thus, the monster laborers in Yujing City received a sudden, major task:

Immediately supply more Xuan Crystals to Xin Huo!

The sole ruler of this magnificent city now requires immense energy.

The Earth Mother couldn't wait for the laborers to move things, so it manifested dozens of stone giant avatars to begin hauling supplies first.

Meanwhile, on the front lines, the Heavenly Demon Xi Yu, after repelling two flying swords, suddenly pressed his ear.

Soon, he informed Chiyu: "News comes from below—the Earth Mother seems to have found a weakness in the Panlong Secret Realm and is preparing to launch a full-scale attack on it!"

"Now?" the two brothers communicated via telepathy, no need to speak aloud—"What's going on with that Secret Realm?"

The existence of the Panlong Secret Realm is the sole reason the Heavenly Demon must cooperate with the Earth Mother.

They need a Secret Realm expert.

"It seems they just exposed a false Secret Realm, and then the Earth Mother's avatar burst into wild laughter, saying it never expected someone else in the world could also reset a Secret Realm just like it!"

"..." Is there any connection between these two? "I didn't quite catch it."

"The Earth Mother didn't spell it out, probably fearing we'd overhear." Bribing some monsters in Yujing City to act as spies would be effortless. The Earth Mother itself knows that both the city and the demon army likely harbor ears and eyes of the "Heavenly Gods."

So even if it got carried away with pride, it immediately clamped down, swallowing back the secrets it shouldn't have spoken.

"In short, the Earth Mother is preparing to seize the Panlong Ruins right now!" Xi Yu asked his brother, "What should we do?"

The Heavenly Gods' target is the Great Square Vessel. If the Earth Mother truly consumes the Panlong Ruins whole, where will the Great Square Vessel end up?

Chiyu calmly said: "Report immediately to the Holy Sovereign!"

Such a major matter—how could we brothers decide it on our own?

…

Mid-slope of Duzhi Mountain.

The rain grew heavier, drenching Shangguan Biao's upper body.

A fierce wind howled, the old forest swayed, its branches nodding and shaking; several broken limbs were whipped by the wind, nearly striking Shangguan Biao's face.

Suddenly, two red dragonflies flew out from the nearby woodland, circling him twice.

His heart gave a sudden jolt, and his steps halted.

This dragonfly is a magical artifact refined within the sect, used for searching people in the mountains and forests and transmitting messages. Otherwise, with the peaks of Longfeng Valley thickly forested, relying solely on manpower to search for a particular person would be far too difficult.

The next second, a voice sounded: "Shangguan Biao, why haven't you returned to the camp yet?"

The three rows of houses beneath the ghost-claw locust tree at Duzhishan are not called a home but a camp.

"I have relatives visiting here," Shangguan Biao hurriedly said, "I'll return right away."

"Stop, do not move."

Shangguan Biao stopped his steps as instructed. Judging by his past experience, this time again bodes ill for a major matter.

Has the matter of him killing someone in the underground passage been exposed?

In just the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, seven or eight people leapt out from the woods, the leader being precisely Zhao Jian'gong, the overseer managing the three rows of houses, a man always known for his severity.

Upon seeing Shangguan Biao, he raised his eyebrows, pointed a finger, and said: "Good, found him! Tie him up!"

The attendants behind him rushed forward without hesitation, drawing their chains to seize him.

In Longfeng Valley, handling affairs and punishing people on their own territory naturally means no other organization or power dares to interfere.