Chapter 457: Chapter 457: The Impact of Rule Changes

"A mission in the Secret Realm? Just the four of us?"

Cheng Mingyue blinked, "I just came out of the Secret Realm, no way I can go back in so soon."

Actually, everyone present had similar questions, but Song Yao was mature and reserved, Guan Gui was better left unmentioned, and Li Rui had just experienced emotional ups and downs a few days ago; in comparison, he wasn’t as surprised. So only Cheng Mingyue spoke up.

However, even if she hadn’t asked, Zhuo Feilong would naturally explain.

"Ever since the Night of Descent. Oh, abroad they generally refer to the day World NPCs entered the real world as the Night of Descent, and we’ve adopted this term."

He explained briefly and continued, "After that day, the rules of the Secret Realm changed to a certain extent, which you all know."

"Afterwards, all nations have been researching the impact of these rule changes and eventually found that because the barrier between the Secret Realm and reality weakened, our influence on the Secret Realm World deepened."

"In short, we’ve currently developed keys similar to Secret Realm battlefields, capable of sending a small number of personnel into a designated Secret Realm."

After hearing this explanation, Li Rui glanced at the others present: "But Minister, what’s Elder Song’s purpose here...? No, what I mean is, he’s not at the same level as us."

"That’s correct, because the current situation requires too much power to grant the keys, a single Prophet can’t complete it, and those with a high enough level capable of granting keys are very rare. Therefore, we need to leverage the power of top Prophets from other countries."

"Currently, we’ve selected a location in the southern countries, and you along with Secret Realm agents from other countries will head there. This necessitates a seasoned, formidable, and respected person to protect you. Of course, apart from you, there are others accompanying you, but they cannot be explicitly informed of the mission details."

Zhuo Feilong looked at Cheng Mingyue and Guan Gui: "Your mission is to enter the same Secret Realm as Li Rui and assist him in collecting the Five Thunders Skill."

Li Rui: "Huh?"

Cheng Mingyue: "So awesome!"

Guan Gui: "..."

Song Yao remarked seriously: "Do other countries also know our purpose? I mean, the Five Thunders Skill matter."

"No."

Zhuo Feilong replied, "The nature of this operation is collaboration, not assistance. They also want to send individuals into the designated Secret Realm to accomplish certain tasks and similarly need our Prophets."

Thus, the mission became clear; however, it was not until they left the Superpower Division that the real "interrogation" began.

Guan Gui initiated inquiries about what the Five Thunders Skill entailed, although he knew Li Rui possessed powerful Thunder Magic skills, he wasn’t sure what exactly it was.

Cheng Mingyue, having been to a seeming Upper Realm with Li Rui when they seized the Yin Yang Umbrella in the Secret Realm battlefield, had a general understanding of the matter.

Regardless, both needed to assist him in collecting Dragon Thunder and Earth Thunder in the Secret Realm, so naturally they had to clarify.

Li Rui roughly explained the situation to the two and the long-term mission matters, but as for how the Five Thunders Skill related to ascension, even he didn’t know, so of course, he couldn’t explain that.

"I thought I’d finally know what the Upper Realm is."

Cheng Mingyue remarked disappointedly, "You said you’re currently collecting Dragon Thunder fragments; which Secret Realm is this happening in?"

"Golden Scale Marsh."

Li Rui said, "The Barbaric Beast Emperor possessed the power of Dragon Thunder, but he distributed the fragments to twelve trusted Thunder Generals, and I’ve already collected half." 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Cheng Mingyue walked ahead of the other two, speaking while stepping backward, "You encountered it in the Northern Abyss, right? If the rest are deeper, you should be nearing the Barbarian Emperor’s location."

"....If we encounter a boss fight, wouldn’t we have to battle that old monster in the Golden Scale Marsh?"

"Maybe."

Li Rui said, "We can use the Secret Realm mechanism, break the barrier, go to the neighboring Secret Realm, and then be forcibly expelled in ten minutes, automatically exiting the battle."

This hadn’t been mentioned earlier, so the other two were a bit confused, prompting a new round of explanations.

.....

Two days later.

"Report! Fifty-eight people present, please instruct."

The young advisor reported the personnel present to Song Yao; they were all part of the extraordinary combat sequence, among whom Superpower Division advisors numbered seven, and the rest were mostly senior seasoned agents, with a few regular senior agents.

After all, entering the southern countries during a border lockdown carries many unknowns; it’s fraught with danger.

Along with them were eight Prophets from their country, seven of whom held high-ranking positions at the provincial association, with the remaining one being the chief Prophet Ling Zixiao.

Despite the Night of Descent allowing the Secret Realm to be manipulated to a certain extent, not anyone can do it; only with these top Prophets working together can it be achieved.

After confirming, Song Yao said: "Everyone board the vehicles, departure in fifteen minutes."

He hadn’t served as the on-site mission commander for a long time; however, such experience was something he’d never forget.

The convoy first departed from the capital, heading toward the southwest, within the Chi Jia Association’s jurisdiction, then crossed the border.

Li Rui naturally wasn’t on the vehicle; otherwise, it would stall or have a flat tire now and then, delaying progress too much.

He merely used his Escape Technique to follow nearby and maintained communication with Song Yao at all times.

Clearly, the current border area was highly tense, with a significant increase in the patrol density of extraordinaries.

Fortunately, perhaps related to the World NPCs, the frequency of reality overlapping has significantly reduced since they arrived in the real world, so manpower was barely sufficient.

Correspondingly, defense capabilities in other areas also varied in response.

The forces of the southern countries were quite mixed, similar to the chaotic land, except they generally maintained basic order and typically didn’t experience armed conflicts.

Presently, they formed a loose alliance during emergencies, habitually guaranteeing regional security.

Li Rui was stopped several times while using his Escape Technique along the way.

However, knowing beforehand that personnel from other countries would come, after Li Rui verified his identity, he smoothly joined the convoy to reach the destination.

Tada, the central city of the southern countries, Crocodile Bay Country’s capital.

Numerous individuals from various countries had already gathered here, similar to the Dragon Country, they had dispatched extraordinaries and Prophets.

Receiving so many extraordinaries required some guts, but fortunately this generation of leaders in the southern countries was not incompetent; they realized they had to act to prepare for potential crises.

In front of the golden-domed palace, extraordinaries from various countries were personally received by the Crocodile Bay Country’s king and prime minister.

At this location, Li Rui met the top extraordinaries from the southern countries, the Western Kingdom, and some of the world’s most exceptional extraordinaries.

Although world countries hadn’t completely agreed on the two church unions, they concurred on quickly strengthening their powers.