“Simple. The tone I set for this secret realm was a match between experts. Since it’s a duel of masters, of course it has to be more complicated. You can’t just have a mechanism that’s completed in one go, right? That’d be too unreliable.”
“Then the distance from the activation points to the exit is far. I can’t set it so that they can evacuate immediately after activating the mechanism. What if some bad guys run for the exit? So I had to delay the timing of the exit’s activation.”
“As for why the exit window is only a single moment, of course it’s so that others can’t see that escape opportunity. If it caused a rush to evacuate, then all our work would be meaningless.”
Hua Jian explained with great logic, but every word revolved around one concept: malice!
All her designs exuded a thick sense of malice—a malice that didn’t intend for the cultivators inside the secret realm to leave.
“Also, because the secret realm’s mechanisms are old and decrepit, each mechanism can only be used twice. After two uses, they stop working. That means after entering the secret realm, those people only have two chances to leave. Once…”
“Wait, with this setup, will anyone actually want to come in?”
Qian Feixue quickly raised her hand to stop Hua Jian from continuing. She felt there was a big problem with Hua Jian’s settings.
Would anyone see such harsh departure conditions and still willingly enter the secret realm to die?
That was a good question, but Hua Jian had a solution.
It was deception.
“It’s a hidden setting. Only when they personally operate the mechanism will they discover how fragile it is.”
A hidden setting again. Qian Feixue could already imagine how foul-mouthed the victims Hua Jian was tricking would become.
Beside her, Linglong had already started looking at Hua Jian with the kind of gaze one reserves for scum.
How thick-skinned and shameless did someone have to be to smile while proposing such cruelty?
Even Linglong, who was close to Hua Jian, closed her eyes at this point and refrained from commenting on her idea.
This method was just too vicious!
“Don’t look at me like that. Isn’t this a pretty common plan?”
Hua Jian tilted her head.
Common? Even Lin Lang couldn’t have guessed such a deadly scheme!
The three girls shouted simultaneously in their minds.
“Let’s stop talking about this. What about the other parts? What’s your plan?”
Qian Feixue took a deep breath and chose to skip this topic.
Hua Jian’s exit plan was indeed insidious, filled with malice. But their binding plan couldn’t be pinned entirely on Hua Jian’s head.
So they’d go with Hua Jian’s method.
“As for the rest, it’s about the spawn point arrangements. Here’s my plan.”
Hua Jian took out another jade slip, which contained the terrain map of the secret realm.
On this map, multiple resource zones had been marked in varying shades of color, and next to each resource zone were several small glowing dots.
“These are the spawn points I’ve set, meaning the first position for each resource zone.”
“Then these are the second positions.”
Dots with slightly dimmer colors appeared on the map.
“Finally, these are the third positions.”
At the outermost edges of the map, dots with the faintest colors appeared.
All these dots together totaled fifty, making one’s head spin.
“These positions will be auctioned. Based on the price, cultivators can choose their spawn locations. Those who pay more can occupy the resource zones; those who pay less can only farm in the map’s outskirts.”
Again, it was about squeezing money. The three girls present all had the same thought: ‘As expected.’
In a way, Hua Jian really was a business genius.
“Moreover, the number of entry slots we sell will exceed the number of teams the map can accommodate. If those who pay less can’t enter, they’ll lose their qualification to enter the secret realm because the number of teams it can hold is insufficient!”
“Of course, forming teams has its benefits. Up to three cultivators can form a squad, and their entry fees can be combined. Perhaps the lowest bidders, once they team up, can surpass the highest bidder and become the first to choose their spawn location.”
Hearing Hua Jian’s theory, Qian Feixue couldn’t help but applaud. Amazing! Truly amazing!
It exploited human nature to the extreme!
If you wanted to group up to enter the secret realm, and grouping gave you a natural advantage over solo players in choosing spawn points, almost everyone would choose to enter in groups…
“So, Hua Jian, do you intend for all the cultivators in the secret realm to be in teams?” Linglong asked.
“Of course not. The number of slots I sell won’t be evenly divisible by the number of team members. Some teams won’t be able to gather three people; they’ll be the disadvantaged faction in the secret realm.”
“Besides, there aren’t that many good teammates. You have to understand that once inside the secret realm, teammates actually lose their purpose.”
Hua Jian’s smile turned wild. “This world doesn’t have any friendly fire immunity.”
“Teammates? They’re just free loot competing with me for resources, right? If a cultivator is ruthless enough, they might kill their two companions the moment they enter, starting off by taking their resources and equipment. How tempting is that?”
“Those desperate criminals, how likely do you think they are to turn on their teammates?”
Linglong’s pupils contracted. For a moment, she couldn’t answer Hua Jian’s question.
The more naive Qian Feixue thought Hua Jian was being too cynical. “But having more people is better for fighting opponents, right? If those people kill their teammates, won’t they be unable to defeat other teams?”
‘That’s indeed a thought a child Qian Feixue’s age would have. Hua Jian wasn’t surprised by that.’
‘However, she needed to correct Qian Feixue’s mistaken thinking a bit.’
“Then what if it’s after they’ve already beaten everyone and are waiting to evacuate? Their teammates have no guard up. All they need to do is act quietly, and they can pocket both companions’ gains.”
Hua Jian slowly clenched her fist, a dangerous glint flashing in her colorful eyes.
“How likely do you think those bad people are to strike?”
“This world doesn’t need charity cases. A person can only carry a limited amount. Kill them, snatch their storage pouch, and everything belongs to you.”
“With such convenience for killing and stealing, those desperadoes definitely won’t be able to control their murderous intent.”
Qian Feixue fell silent. Even she had to admit that most bad people would probably kill their teammates.
The malice was too deep. Even if those bad guys didn’t think of it at first, after a couple of days in the secret realm, they’d figure it out.
By then, it would become a true dark forest among them.
“But the demonic cultivators we’re targeting won’t act like this. Your plans can only deal with those weaker ones, right?”
Qian Feixue grasped the key point. The dark forest only appeared among random teams, while the demonic cultivators who were already on the dark side would never fight among themselves.
“Isn’t this just opening the door wide for the demonic cultivators?”
“That’s right. This method is useless against demonic cultivators.”
Hua Jian nodded.
“Then why are you… ah!”
Qian Feixue asked halfway, then suddenly slapped her chest with a look of sudden realization. “I see! That way, we won’t have to worry about the demon cultivators not coming!”
“This is a backdoor I specially prepared for the demonic cultivators. All they need to do is think a little, and they’ll realize how biased this rule is in their favor.”
Hua Jian tapped her temple lightly, explaining with a grin.
To make the demonic cultivators walk right into the trap, of course they needed a rule that seemed to favor them.
It might even make those magic path practitioners think well of Wanhuagu, believing that this time Wanhuagu was really screwing people over.
“Next, what we need to do is stuff treasures into the secret realm. To attract more entrants to compete for the entry qualifications, we need something appealing… That’s what’s troubling Hua Jian.”
She didn’t know much about treasures, nor what other cultivators liked. This matter could only be handled by Linglong and Qian Feixue, two genuine highborn ladies.
All she could do was use Wanhuagu’s channels to figure out what treasures the current magic path practitioners needed, then use those treasures to lure them in.
“The treasures needed by Tianmomen can be provided by us. That’s already the bait.”
Linglong indicated that Hua Jian didn’t need to worry about Tianmomen. The Jade Pool would directly provide the treasures.
Hua Jian curiously asked what treasure could be so important to Tianmomen. The answer she got left her confused.
“Demon Corpse Crystal? What’s that?”
This time, Hua Jian was on the same page as Qian Feixue—completely clueless about this so-called treasure.
“That’s a crystal formed when demons are killed by the powerful force of a saint. It’s condensed from the saint’s power and is now extremely rare.”
Linglong didn’t know much about this treasure either. She only studied it before coming to the Northern Territory.
In truth, it wasn’t even considered a treasure. To ordinary cultivators, it was completely useless.
Worse, the chaotic demonic energy within could affect their cultivation and even lead to a Qi deviation.
“But the Dragon Venerable of Tianmomen needs something like that. That just shows how twisted his path to sainthood is.”
Most Demon Corpse Crystals in the world were eliminated by the saints many years ago.
Now, Demon Corpse Crystals only appear in secret realms that were once severely infected by demonic energy.
Coincidentally, the secret realm provided by Wanhuagu was full of spirit beasts made violent by demonic energy.
So it was possible for Demon Corpse Crystals to appear there. And Wanhuagu knew the demonic sect needed it now.
It was understandable that they wanted to profit from the Demon Corpse Crystals.
“Then if that thing is really snatched away, won’t it let that Dragon Venerable break through ahead of time?” Hua Jian asked nervously.
If so, she’d have to design the secret realm carefully to make sure not a single cultivator got out.
“No. Breaking through to sainthood isn’t easy. The Dragon Venerable of Tianmomen had already spread news of his impending breakthrough ten years ago. Tianmomen has been helping him collect the spirit items needed ever since. Ten years have passed, and their results have been minimal.”
Linglong shook her head, indicating that Hua Jian didn’t need to feel too much pressure.
The Demon Corpse Crystals the Jade Pool provided this time weren’t that many. They were just enough to make Tianmomen eager but not enough to achieve a stage breakthrough.
For a piece like that, Tianmomen would definitely send their main force to compete. But even if they snatched the crystal away, the Jade Pool had countermeasures waiting.
“Senior sisters have already secretly sent the items into the secret realm and are cooperating with Wanhuagu’s cultivators to hide the crystals in a predetermined location.”
As she spoke, Linglong pointed to a pitch-black dot on the secret realm’s terrain map.
This dot was located in the central area of the secret realm but hidden deep underground, a region completely undetectable by ordinary Ling Kings.
If anyone found that crystal, without a doubt, they were absolutely Tianmomen cultivators.
“That’s good. I was afraid I’d become the sinner who helped the bad guys break through.”
Hua Jian stuck out her tongue.
Hearing Hua Jian say that, Linglong was a little happy. The fact that Hua Jian cared about helping the bad guys meant her heart was still on the righteous path.
Even if Hua Jian’s methods were a bit underhanded, the goal was good!
“Even if the Dragon Venerable successfully breaks through, it won’t matter much.”
Linglong gently grasped Hua Jian’s hand and whispered comfortingly, “The great trends of the world aren’t something a single magic path venerable becoming a saint can change.”
Every time a magic path venerable tried to ascend to sainthood, the Saint Sect would do everything to stop it. But it wasn’t always successful.
Yet what changes could those venerables bring after becoming saints?
Not much, actually.
The Saint Sect’s foundation ran far deeper than the demonic sects.
Don’t be fooled by the Saint Sect currently having only one saint on the surface.
Remember, every generation’s sect leader of the Saint Sect was a saint.
And the sect leaders from previous generations, though rarely seen, were still truly alive.
They were in seclusion, cultivating toward the Dao—not dead!
If the magic path really wanted to overturn the heavens, the Saint Sect could pull out a dozen saints at once and slap the magic path back into knowing who truly ruled the world.
“As long as there isn’t some super genius that appears once in millennia, the magic path can’t compete with the righteous path.” Qian Feixue added, “Such a phenomenon is extremely rare. It’s only happened once in the last few thousand years.”
And even then, the righteous path had plenty of talents. In the end, the magic path couldn’t turn the tide.
“Actually, Hua Jian, you kind of have the aura of a magic path prodigy. But from the looks of it now… you probably won’t turn the whole world upside down like that magic path immortal.”
Hua Jian smiled awkwardly at the compliment. She didn’t think being called a magic path prodigy was much of a compliment.