Chapter 521 - 520: Time Is a Resource, The True Value of Secret Realm Zero
Capital City University, outside Secret Realm Zero.
More and more people were gathering, waiting anxiously.
It wasn’t just the professors; Shen Yixuan, Luo Qingyu, and the others had also come to wait outside the Secret Realm. In addition to the people from Jing University, the Qin Family had sent representatives as well.
Only a few hours had passed for Chu Sheng and Gu Yuexi since they entered the Secret Realm, but in the outside world, nearly a full day had gone by.
Jing University and the Qin Family had both sent people into the Secret Realm to search for Gu Yuexi, Qin Wudao, and the others, but none of them could find the way to the second level.
Worse, many of those who had entered had met with accidents on the very first level, so all they could do was wait.
At last, a ripple of energy came from the Secret Realm Exit.
"Someone’s coming out!"
Everyone’s eyes shot toward the exit... just in time to see several figures materialize from nothing.
’It’s Gu Yuexi! And the Divine Mosquito! They’re all safe. But... who are these extra people?’
Behind Gu Yuexi stood a veiled woman, along with four others dressed in somewhat peculiar attire.
These five newcomers were, of course, from the Witch Race. They had used an ancient Teleportation Array within their clan’s lands to arrive, but they would have to return by conventional means.
When Vice-Principal Sun Deming saw that Gu Yuexi was unharmed, he let out a sigh of relief and quickly led a few professors over to greet them.
"Thank goodness, you’re finally out!"
"And, might I ask who these people are?"
Gu Yuexi glanced at the sky. ’Just as I thought, the flow of time is different inside the Secret Realm. That’s actually one of Secret Realm Zero’s greatest boons!’
She spoke up, "Vice-Principal, I’ll explain everything about the Secret Realm to you in detail later."
"That includes who these people are. For now, please just let them go on their way."
Sun Deming paused for a moment, then nodded.
"Very well."
For some reason, he felt a subconscious urge to comply whenever she spoke. Of course, his agreement was also built on his trust in Gu Yuexi.
Hearing this, Yun Yao gave Gu Yuexi and Chu Sheng a profound look.
"M-Master. I will wait for you with my people. I hope you will honor your promise and come soon."
Chu Sheng waved one of his mosquito legs to reassure her. ’He had agreed to help the Witch Race, but not right away. He still had other matters to attend to.’
"BUZZZZ (Don’t worry. I’ll be there within a month, I promise.)"
At that, Yun Yao gave Chu Sheng a slight bow before leading the rest of the Witch Race away.
...
After Yun Yao and her group departed, Gu Yuexi and Chu Sheng also prepared to leave.
But just then, someone else grew frantic.
It was the man from the Qin Family—Qin Wudao’s third uncle, Qin Tianba!
"Wait!"
Qin Tianba bellowed.
So far, only Qin Wudao and Lin Dong had yet to emerge. With Qin Wudao’s fate unknown, he was naturally panicked!
"You’re not going anywhere!"
"What about our Qin Wudao! Have you seen him? Or did you harm him to steal some opportunity!"
Gu Yuexi shot him an indifferent glance and was about to speak, but Chu Sheng buzzed first.
"BUZZZ (Holy crap, I almost forgot about that dude.)"
Gu Yuexi, unaware of what Chu Sheng had gone through on the third level, glanced at him quizzically.
Chu Sheng tapped his mosquito head. ’Back on the third level, he had made a deal with Qin Wudao: the Qin Family treasury in exchange for his life.’
So, how had he saved him?
Chu Sheng had stuffed the guy directly into his Lifebound Space—specifically, the one-square-meter section that could hold living beings.
After stuffing Qin Wudao inside, the whole incident on the second level had made Chu Sheng nearly forget about him entirely. He couldn’t be bothered to explain now, so he just released Qin Wudao.
Qin Tianba was about to press the issue when a figure suddenly materialized in mid-air and began to fall... Who could it be but Qin Wudao?
He shot through the air to catch him. The Qin Wudao in his arms was barely recognizable as human.
Never mind his shattered Cultivation; his entire body looked as if it had been sucked dry. He was nothing but skin and bones, utterly colorless, and barely breathing.
He was lucky the special zone in Chu Sheng’s Lifebound Space was in absolute stasis; otherwise, would he even have survived this long?
The physical torment was secondary; far more agonizing had been the suppression of his soul by the Ancient Emperor!
"Wudao!"
Seeing Qin Wudao’s horrific state, Qin Tianba roared, his furious gaze landing on Chu Sheng and Gu Yuexi.
"You! What in the world did you do to Wudao?! This isn’t over!"
Just as Qin Tianba was about to attack, Qin Wudao, still in his arms, struggled to lift a hand and grabbed his arm.
"Third Uncle... it wasn’t them."
"Just... just take me home."
Qin Tianba froze. Seeing the look in Qin Wudao’s eyes, he finally sighed and left with him and the other Qin Family members.
"Let’s go!"
...
With the departure of the Qin Family, Jing University’s expedition into Secret Realm Zero finally came to a close.
Back in their dorm, Gu Yuexi and Chu Sheng began to share what had happened. Chu Sheng recounted his experiences on the third level.
He told her about Lin Dong, about the temporal singularity, and about the Gate of Rebirth.
Even Gu Yuexi, who had lived two lives, was stunned by these revelations. For the first time, she felt truly small.
’Even at the peak of my past life, I was only a hair’s breadth from ascending to the Divine Realm. So, what lies beyond the Divine Level?’
’What terrifying existences lie beyond this world?’
After they finished exchanging information in the dorm, Chu Sheng retrieved the treasure he had obtained from the Divine Hall of Stagnation from his Lifebound Space.
The Time Trace Hourglass.
"BUZZZ (Here, take it.)"
The moment the Time Trace Hourglass appeared, a faint Power of Time filled the dorm. The hourglass itself was made of some material that was neither gold nor silver. Inside, a single "grain of sand" twinkled with a faint light.
This "grain of sand" was the true core of the Time Trace Hourglass—a tiny, genuine fragment of time itself!
Gu Yuexi was taken aback.
"For me? But... it doesn’t seem like you got any other opportunities from the third level. And you’re the one who found the Time Trace Hourglass..."
’Even though the Time Trace Hourglass had been hers in her past life, she had no intention of simply taking it for herself now.’
However, Chu Sheng simply pushed the item into her hands.
"BUZZZ (Tch, what’s all this? We got this thing together.)"
"BUZZZ (Besides, you said it yourself—it’s useful to you. You need it more than I do.)"
Gu Yuexi started, "But..."
Chu Sheng flew right up to her face and pressed one of his little legs against her lips.
"BUZZZ (That’s enough. Besides, what’s yours is mine, right? If I want to use it, I can use it whenever I want.)"
Gu Yuexi pouted slightly but finally nodded.
...
「Jing University, the Vice-Principal’s Office」
Gu Yuexi arrived as promised. There were certain things about the Secret Realm that she needed to report to Vice-Principal Sun Deming.
’In this life, her impression of Jing University was quite good, so she felt no need to hide some of Secret Realm Zero’s secrets.’
In truth, Secret Realm Zero had no resources to speak of, like Demon Beasts or Spiritual Plants. In that respect, it hardly deserved to be called a Demigod-level Secret Realm.
Its greatest boon was the difference in the flow of time between the inside and the outside! Even on the first level, time inside the Secret Realm moved about a quarter slower than in the outside world!
What did this mean?
It meant that inside Secret Realm Zero, you had more time than anyone on the outside. Relatively speaking, your effective Speed was faster than everyone else’s!