Chapter 243 – Refusal and Entry

“Xie Jun.”

The man with a cold demeanor and steady gaze walked up to Lu Yuan and spoke.

Lu Yuan nodded slightly and smiled, saying, “Lu Yuan.”

His gaze then fell to the small, square, silver-gray box that Xie Jun was carrying.

Noticing Lu Yuan’s gaze, Xie Jun glanced at the items Lu Yuan had bought and said blandly, “This is the specially customized supply crate for this operation. It’s much better than the basic Resource Package you bought. In fact…”

Xie Jun paused, seemingly explaining to Lu Yuan deliberately, “A truly top-tier Mystic Deity Team would never use such Resource Packages. Every supply is tailored to the operation’s plan, making it more targeted and avoiding useless items taking up space.”

“I see.”

Lu Yuan’s expression looked “enlightened,” feeling that he had learned something new.

However, his entry into the Crow Deity’s secret realm this time was entirely unplanned, relying on being spontaneous and adapting to circumstances. So, the basic Resource Package was actually more suitable for him.

Seeing Lu Yuan’s modest demeanor, the expression on Xie Jun’s face softened somewhat as he continued, “Song Cong has briefed me on your situation.

After discussing with the team members, we have ultimately decided to allow you to join. However, there are some important points to note that I want to go over with you before inviting you to join.”

Lu Yuan nodded politely, saying, “Go ahead, Captain Xie.”

“First, since you’re joining temporarily, we can’t offer much in terms of the final rewards. At most, we can only give you three percent of the total team’s gains…”

Xie Jun, having finished the first point, immediately watched Lu Yuan’s reaction.

To his mild surprise, Lu Yuan showed no signs of agitation.

He thought this would be the hardest point for anyone to accept, which is why he mentioned it first.

He anticipated that Lu Yuan would be dissatisfied, but Lu Yuan calmly accepted it.

However, after thinking a bit, it made sense.

Considering the background that made Song Cong owe such a big favor to him, along with his achievement of reaching level S as a pure martial artist at the age of seventeen, Lu Yuan must not be lacking in resources.

Xie Jun’s main worry turned out to be the least of Lu Yuan’s concerns.

Relieved, Xie Jun continued, “Second, throughout the entire operation, you don’t have to do anything. Your only responsibility is to ensure your own safety and try to keep up with the team’s actions.

Third, once we enter the secret realm, you must follow my instructions for all your actions and refrain from any personal activities without my permission.

Fourth…”

Xie Jun listed all the conditions one by one, and Lu Yuan’s expression remained unchanged throughout.

He merely watched Xie Jun quietly.

Xie Jun hadn’t expected that this supposedly privileged “rich kid” would be so agreeable. Concluding his speech, he extended the supply crate he had been holding over to Lu Yuan.

“.. Welcome to our secret realm team, Divine Blood.”

“I think I’ll pass.”

Before Xie Jun could finish his sentence, Lu Yuan gently shook his head in refusal.

Xie Jun’s hand, extended with the crate, paused in mid-air. The smile on his face gradually faded, returning to a calm demeanor.

“Is there an issue?”

“There are too many issues.”

Lu Yuan thought for a moment and said, “I don’t know where to start. So….”

He gave Xie Jun a polite smile, looking apologetic. “I’d rather not join and be a burden to you.”

Xie Jun’s expression remained impassive as he quietly regarded Lu Yuan.

“Are you sure?”

Lu Yuan smiled and nodded without saying a word.

After a moment of silence, Xie Jun retracted the hand holding the supply crate and finally said, “Then you can explain it to Old Song yourself.”

With those words, he nodded briefly to Lu Yuan and turned to leave the management center hall.

Lu Yuan squinted, watching Xie Jun’s departure, feeling a bit regretful.

Initially, Zhou Ling and Song Cong were very kind, and he didn’t mind teaming up for the instance.

But Xie Jun seemed to view him as a “freeloader” merely tagging along, setting overly harsh conditions and a long list of restrictions.

He feared that once they entered the secret realm, he would even need permission to go to the bathroom.

So… it was better to pass.

“Real experts solo instances, needing neither teammates nor guides….”

“Except for someone like Lord Tong as an exception.”

Casually musing, Lu Yuan began to unpack the Resource Package he had just purchased in the hall and started inspecting the items one by one.

In front of a deep black, streamlined shuttle stood four members of Xie Jun’s team, casually chatting as they waited.

Soon, Xie Jun appeared in their field of vision.

They stopped talking and turned their attention to Xie Jun.

Noticing the supply crate in his hand and the absence of anyone behind him, they couldn’t help but ask, “Where’s the person? Why didn’t you bring them?”

Xie Jun handed the supply crate to a robotic butler beside him and calmly replied, “They thought our conditions were too harsh and refused.”

Their eyes brightened, and one member clapped their hands with a laugh.

“Better that they didn’t join. I don’t want to have to babysit a rich kid in the secret realm.”

The others also showed relaxed and approving expressions.

One couldn’t help but ask Xie Jun, “So, how are you going to explain this to Old Song?”

Xie Jun was unconcerned and said casually, “For a newcomer entering the secret realm for the first time, the standards I set were already quite lenient. If they don’t accept, there’s nothing I can do. I’ll find another opportunity to repay Old Song’s favor. This time… we’ll just let it go.”

“Old Xie, you’re wise.”

One member laughed and gave Xie Jun a thumbs up. “Song Cong thought he could make our whole team act like nannies. Wishful thinking. Why didn’t he come himself? Next time I see him, I’ll give him a piece of my mind.”

“Exactly.”

“Alright, everyone, get ready to depart.”

Regaining his authority as captain, Xie Jun said sternly, “Now that the last concern is gone, everything will proceed according to the original plan. We’ve prepared for this operation for almost half a year, and many people are watching us… I don’t want to come out looking bad.”

“Don’t worry, Old Xie!” someone laughed. “With the configuration of our team, there’s nowhere in the Wailing Ruins we can’t go, except for the deepest restricted area. This time, we’ll boost our exploration progress to over eighty percent! That’ll definitely shock those who are just waiting to watch the spectacle!”

“Eighty percent exploration progress… Dream on!”

“Heh heh…”

As they bantered, their morale steadily rose, and one by one, they boarded the shuttle.

Xie Jun lingered by the hatch for a moment, sending a message to Song Cong. A few seconds later, when he saw the incoming communication request from Song Cong, he hesitated but chose to cut it off.

He then boarded the shuttle with a calm expression.

……

“It’s not about the rewards for me. I just tend to wander around. I can’t comply with all the requirements that Captain Xie proposed.”

At the hall entrance, Lu Yuan patiently explained to Song Cong, who was calling for an update.

Song Cong on the other end of the communicator was silent for a long time before finally sighing softly and saying, “I’ll send you a few detailed guides on the Wailing Ruins. Be careful when you go in.

And… whatever you do, avoid the red unexplored areas within the Wailing Ruins. A Fei Xiong level creature once fell there, and it’s no joke.”

“Understood.”

Lu Yuan thanked Song Cong.

Shortly after their call ended, several files arrived from Song Cong.

He skimmed through them and found the content was indeed far more detailed than anything he had seen on the Yellow Bear internal forum.

While he was reviewing the information, a notification popped up.

Looking up, he saw a dark blue shuttle parked right in front of him.

With a snap of his fingers, the drone carrying his Resource Package obediently followed him onto the shuttle like a loyal pet.

Lu Yuan spent over an hour on the shuttle as it flew northward, eventually stopping in a desolate desert.

Disembarking, he noticed another shuttle of the same model hovering a few kilometers away.

Four or five people were getting off that shuttle, led by a man and a woman both clad in Golden Bear’s special combat protective suits.

The others were wearing Red Bear level uniforms.

They were probably also a mystic deity exploration team.

As Lu Yuan observed them, the other team also noticed him.

There was no exchange of words, just a mutual nod as a form of greeting.

Lu Yuan, accompanied by his drone, followed the instructions for locating the secret realm entrance and soon found a faintly glowing crevice in the nearby desert.

The crevice was about the height of a person, with narrow edges that seemed to require sidling through to enter.

“So, this is the entrance to the secret realm?”

Lu Yuan’s eyes sparkled with excitement and curiosity. The entrance had an almost game-like quality to it, reminiscent of entering an instance in a video game.

As he approached the entrance, he felt a subtle pulling force on his body.

Not far off, the members of the mystic deity exploration team, who had arrived around the same time, began to head in his direction. Without much hesitation, Lu Yuan stepped into the glowing crevice.

……

“Swoosh—”

Passing through the secret realm entrance was an incredible experience.

It felt somewhat akin to transitioning from the surface of water to being submerged beneath it.

Before Lu Yuan could savor the sensation, he found himself in an entirely different world.

Above him was a sky shrouded in a gray haze, with black, gray, and red hues swirling together to create an overwhelmingly murky and oppressive atmosphere.

There was no sun, and no moon to be seen.

Lu Yuan tapped his earlobe, and a light screen flashed in his vision. It showed the time as 10:23 AM.

While the communication signal was extremely weak, all other functions appeared to be working fine.

Before entering the secret realm, Lu Yuan had learned that most evil deity secret realms were rife with intense evil energy waves, which often resulted in disconnections from the outside world.

Special devices could briefly enable external contact, but Lu Yuan hadn’t purchased any for this trip.

Relaxing his body, Lu Yuan took a moment to assess the environment of the secret realm.

The air carried a faint scent of decay, but his auxiliary AI indicated that the air composition was fine and posed no threat to human health.

The gravity here was roughly 1.89 times that of the outside world.

For Lu Yuan, who frequently “bathes” in an environment with 170 times Earth’s gravity, this slight increase barely registered as any impact at all.

Aside from that, there was…

“Death energy, a massive amount of it!”

Lu Yuan took a deep breath, releasing his gas-like mental power, which allowed him to clearly sense…

In this environment, countless wisps of black death energy floated around like smoke, drifting in all directions.

Moreover, there seemed to be an extremely faint consciousness calling out to him from afar.

This consciousness made his level 8 [Death Energy Entanglement] stir restlessly, and even his [Death Messenger (Extraordinary)] panel began to faintly glow.

“Whoo-“

Exhaling a breath of impure air, Lu Yuan opened his eyes.

He glanced in the direction from which the consciousness was emanating, stared for a while, and then looked away.

“Never mind.”

Shaking his head, he muttered to himself, “I’ll find a place swarming with Divine Servants and Divine Messengers of the crow deity and have a blast!”

His main goal for entering the secret realm this time was to upgrade his [Death Messenger (Extraordinary)] panel.

Naturally, wherever there were more creatures, that’s where he’d head.

With that in mind, Lu Yuan opened the Secret Realm Map and began to examine it closely.

…