Chapter 938: 100% Survival Rate (2)

Could it be...

A wild thought suddenly emerged in Li Xiaofei’s mind, but he wasn’t sure. At that moment, the world went white as Li Xiaofei returned to the real world. The multicolored mist swirled around him as he found himself standing beside the Grand Princess and the others.

“You also entered the hidden realm?” The Grand Princess asked, her bright, delicate apricot eyes filled with curiosity. “Did you gain anything from it?”

The others all looked at him as well. Clearly, they were also curious. Li Xiaofei gave a general account of his experience in the hidden realm.

Then he lied, “I received an energy that enhanced my bloodline. I feel that my bloodline stage is about to break through and that I might advance to the next stage soon.”

“That’s wonderful!” The Grand Princess said, clapping her hands in delight. “Of nearly a thousand people in our party, only you and thirty-six others entered a hidden realm. Among them, you were the only one who entered a lower-level hidden realm despite being of a higher cultivation stage, and you received the most substantial reward. Of those thirty-six, only twelve came out alive, and their rewards were far less than yours. This means your fate is incredibly strong, and the Holy Ruins has a great affinity for you. Believe me, you will definitely gain many opportunities on this journey into the Holy Ruins.”

She appeared genuinely happy for Li Xiaofei’s good fortune. Li Xiaofei’s heart stirred,

So I wasn’t the only one who had entered a hidden realm.

Everything temporarily ended as the colorful mist dissipated. No further hidden realms would descend in this area of the Pure Water Swamp. The Grand Princess and the other high-level experts had little interest in such low-level hidden realms.

So the group continued forward at a quicker pace. While on the road, Li Xiaofei carefully pieced together what had just happened.

During the hidden realm event in the Pure Water Swamp, aside from himself, there had been a total of thirty-six level four warriors who had been fortunate enough to enter hidden realms. But in the end, only twelve of them had walked out alive.

The mortality rate was as high as thirty-three percent. As for those twelve survivors, the rewards they received were mostly weapons, armor, and similar items. These items were of fairly low grade. They could only offer a limited boost in combat power.

In almost every case, these rewards had been taken away by the owners of those warriors. None of them had received a hidden realm reward like Li Xiaofei’s direct bloodline enhancement. That was why the Grand Princess had said Li Xiaofei’s fate was extraordinary.

According to the Reaper historical records, since ancient times, no matter which stage of hidden realm one entered, this kind of direct infusion was considered the rarest and most coveted reward.

For this reason, from time to time, the others cast looks of barely concealed envy at Li Xiaofei. It took several dozen days for the group to emerge from the Pure Water Swamp.

They had made good progress during that time. They only stopped briefly for rest and reorganization when a hidden realm descended. Over the course of the journey, another one hundred and seventy four people had managed to enter hidden realms. Of those, only forty-five emerged alive.

Of those forty-five survivors, forty-four had received weapons or equipment. The last one had received a drop of Evolution Blood. It was slightly inferior compared to the power infusion Li Xiaofei had previously received, but it was still one of the rarest kinds of hidden realm rewards.

What made many high-level Reapers even more displeased was that the one who had received this drop of Evolution Blood was a human named Xue Xiangyang.

Xue Xiangyang’s status was that of a concubine of Lao Xinhua, the elder of the Dusa clan. The fact that Lao Xinhua had brought a human concubine into the Holy Ruins had already left many people unhappy, and now this concubine who was treated like a mere plaything had actually been favored by the Holy Ruins hidden realm and had received such a top-tier reward?

Many Reapers looked at Xue Xiangyang with unfriendly eyes. Li Xiaofei had not expected such an interesting turn of events. He remembered this Xue Xiangyang.

Xue Xiangyang had appeared on the day of the Grand Princess’s treasure exhibition banquet. He had striking looks and a tall build. He was someone who might not be particularly popular with young girls but was definitely the type that middle-aged women adored.

He had never imagined that this man would obtain such a rare opportunity.

Counting Liu Shaji, myself, Lord Jin, and Xue Xiangyang, plus the half-human, half-demon freak Wei Xiaotian, there were a total of five humans in the entire group. Among them, two entered a hidden realm. That means the selection rate was forty percent.

That’s hundreds of times higher than the selection rate for Reapers.

Li Xiaofei calculated this carefully and felt amazed.

Why would the hidden realm rewards in the Reapers’ Holy Ruins favor humans? Moreover, up to this point, the survival rate for humans entering hidden realms was one hundred percent, and the rewards we received were also better.

If the Grand Princess’s earlier theory was correct, then doesn’t that mean the hidden realms in the Holy Ruins show even more favoritism toward humans?

Of course, Li Xiaofei also understood that they had only just entered the Holy Ruins. It hadn’t been long, and the number of cases was still too small to provide any statistically convincing conclusions. He would have to observe further.

“It’s not fair. Someone as handsome and dashing as me, why haven’t I been favored by a hidden realm?” Liu Shaji complained in obvious frustration.

The descent of hidden realms was random. People could not choose to enter them. So Liu Shaji’s frustration was of no use. On the other hand, that man named Xue Xiangyang showed considerable wisdom.

After receiving the Evolution Blood, he had not consumed it himself. Instead, he had immediately handed it over to his master, Lao Xinhua, demonstrating absolute loyalty. This action caused the murderous intentions of some high-level Reapers to subside considerably.

The Pure Water Swamp was vast, covering an area comparable to three or four star systems. An endless red desert stretched beyond the swamp. The Blood Flow Gobi was a stage five danger zone within the Holy Ruins.

Legend said that tens of thousands of years ago, a divine being had fought a great battle here, been wounded, and dripped a single drop of divine blood, transforming this place into a sea of blood. Later, the divine blood had dried up, leaving behind an endless gobi desert.

However, it was precisely because of the divine blood that this place was extremely dangerous, filled with ominous and strange phenomena.

“There is danger in the void above the Blood Flow Gobi. Everyone, land and follow the path on foot,” Elder Long loudly reminded them.

Many Reaper warriors took out some protective charms and wore them. The group landed and began to make their way on foot.

Since the void above the Blood Flow Gobi was filled with chaotic laws and remnants of ancient power imprints, it was even more dangerous than the ground itself. If one accidentally triggered these dangerous elements, they could be reduced to dust in an instant.

Even level seven or eight experts could not easily escape unscathed. Fortunately, after countless years of exploration, the Reapers had found and carved out a few safe routes, allowing them to cross the Blood Flow Gobi relatively safely.

But this had come at the cost of blood and bone. These routes were considered highly secret among the Reapers. They were controlled by the Ancestor Court and a handful of top-tier King-ranked clans.

Earlier, the Grand Princess had given Li Xiaofei a map that also marked out one of these safe routes. It was precisely this route that the group was now following.

“Even though this is called a safe route, it is only relatively safe. Dangers may still arise at any time, so everyone must stay vigilant,” the Grand Princess said from the center, her tone solemn.

The so-called safe route was a winding and uneven muddy path. One could clearly see footprints left by those who had walked it before. White bones had been placed as markers at the edge of the path. If one stepped outside these bones, terrifying dangers would descend.

This path was about six meters wide, uneven, and with no end in sight. The experts from the six Kings-ranked clans walked on all four sides, front, back, left, and right. Meanwhile, the Hui Yao clan’s members were positioned in the very center of the formation, occupying the safest spot on the route.

This arrangement ensured that if a dangerous attack came from outside the path, the six King-ranked clans’ members would be the first to respond, keeping the Grand Princess and her people out of harm’s way.

Some of the elders from the Kings clans felt a twinge of resentment, but there was nothing they could do. The Ancestor Court’s orders were for them to protect the Grand Princess’s party, and they had no choice but to comply. Only Li Xiaofei was summoned to the Grand Princess’s side.

“Damn it,” Liu Shaji muttered under his breath, grinding his teeth in frustration.

He had never imagined he would one day envy a pampered little white face who lived off women. Liu Shaji could clearly sense the strange aura of danger coming from beyond the red muddy road and from the endless gobi wilderness. This aura was not one of death or slaughter. It felt like the prelude to something going out of control.