Chapter 950: Increasing In Strength (2)

Li Xiaofei glanced at the shelves in the marketplace. The prices of the items easily ranged from tens of millions to even billions of Evolution Coins.

Damn it,

he couldn’t help but curse inwardly.

But on second thought, it made perfect sense. The Flameflow clan had established this fortress precisely to make money. It was like selling water in a desert, or running a gas station in the middle of nowhere. You had no choice but to buy.

The Flameflow clan was one of the veteran King-ranked forces within the Reaper faction. Unlike the declining Yeniao clan, the Flameflow clan had always remained powerful and deeply rooted, with considerable influence in the Ancestor Court.

So even if their essential supplies were priced outrageously and the repair fees were sky-high, people had no choice but to grit their teeth and pay.

Wei Xiaotian's eyes flickered as he pulled Li Xiaofei aside and whispered, “Say, what if we make a move in secret and take over this fortress? Wouldn’t we make a fortune in no time?”

Li Xiaofei looked at him as if he were a complete idiot. Wei Xiaotian chuckled sheepishly.

“Force of habit. When I see something good, I just want to snatch it.” He shivered slightly as he explained himself.

The group stayed in the fortress for one full day, and then continued onward. The Fire Domain’s secret realms began to manifest from the fourth day onward.

Li Xiaofei was once again selected by one of them. By now, he had grown accustomed to entering secret realms. After slaying a Barbed Flame Dragon within a vast sea of magma and flame, he received a generous reward.

Power infusion. One dragon tendon, two dragon eyes, and a single dragon claw. As expected, Li Xiaofei was once again the first to emerge from the secret realm. But this time, no one showed any envy.

Everyone else had also been chosen and pulled into their own secret realms, including the Grand Princess. Li Xiaofei was the only one in the area. So, he took the opportunity to examine his recent gains.

The power infusion was substantial. Li Xiaofei could already feel that he might be able to charge straight through to the third or fourth stage of the Seven Transformation Realm in one breath. It had to be said, the rewards from this trip to the Holy Ruins were already extraordinary, even though it wasn’t over yet.

𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

The two dragon eyes radiated a faint glow and were solid in texture. However, Li Xiaofei restrained the urge to inject Immortal Force into them. He was wary of exposing his true identity.

The dragon tendon was extremely tough, ideal for crafting divine bows or enchanted ropes. It came with a built-in flame enchantment effect and could likely fetch a high price in Evolution Coins.

The dragon claw was razor-sharp and suitable for forging a deadly weapon. Li Xiaofei carefully stored away all the items. Then, he resumed nurturing the power of his Flame Saber while waiting for the others to return.

At this point, he was beginning to worry about Lord Jin and the rest. After all, secret realms of this level posed extremely dangerous trials for them. If they made even the slightest mistake, not only would the mission to rescue Lin Beichen fail, but they might lose their own lives.

Time passed slowly. Eventually, someone stepped out from their secret realm. It was Liu Shaji.

“That was exhilarating!” Liu Shaji was covered in the blood of void beasts, laughing heartily as he said, “Hahaha, what an intense, unrestrained battle. It's completely insane!”

Li Xiaofei sensed a change in him. At that moment, the power radiating from Liu Shaji had clearly surpassed level eight of the Reaper realm. If converted to the human realm’s classification, it had already exceeded the Golden Immortal Realm.

It seemed that the harsh trials of the environment and relentless combat had allowed his strength to recover rapidly.

“Feels good,” Liu Shaji said as he patted Li Xiaofei on the shoulder. “From now on, I’ve got your back. You won’t have to keep selling your good looks and enduring that woman just to get by.”

Li Xiaofei looked at him and his mind was filled with question marks.

Familiar or not, say something like that again and I’ll sue you for slander. Which part of me looked like I was suffering in silence?

thought Li Xiaofei.

The Grand Princess was the third to emerge from her secret realm. When she saw Li Xiaofei and Liu Shaji, surprise appeared on her face. After all, under equal levels of difficulty, the shorter the time it took to exit a secret realm, the greater one’s talent and combat power.

Even though she had been constantly fawning over Li Xiaofei, she had always been confident in her own abilities. Yet to her surprise, Li Xiaofei had cleared the secret realm before her. What surprised her even more was that Liu Shaji had also completed the trial faster than her.

She remembered him. He was also someone from the Death God’s Eye clan, and like Li Xiaofei, one of King Delta’s most trusted aides. To be honest, she hadn’t paid much attention to Liu Shaji. After all, followers with decent strength from the King-ranked clans were a dime a dozen.

But at that moment... She suddenly realized she had underestimated Liu Shaji, and underestimated King Delta even more. It took roughly half a day for the descent of the secret realms to conclude.

This round of secret realms claimed three lives. Fortunately, all the casualties were Reapers. No humans had died. Only then did Li Xiaofei finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Lord Jin, Zhu Zhixun, and the others had earned significant rewards from this round, including high-grade materials from level seven void beasts, along with other treasures. At this level, secret realms offered rare and valuable items, so it was expected that different clans would keep their gains private.

The journey that followed was relatively uneventful. Secret realms continued to appear from time to time, and Li Xiaofei was selected three more times. By the end, his gains were considerable.

However, having noticed the Grand Princess’s earlier surprise, he deliberately held back in the trials. Rather than breaking through the realms too quickly, he delayed for a while before finishing each trial.

Still, Li Xiaofei harvested an abundance of high-tier evolutionary materials across these three secret realm tests. He also received three consecutive power infusions. Taking advantage of the Secret Time Pavilion, he used the slowed flow of time within each secret realm to focus on cultivation.

Li Xiaofei’s strength advanced rapidly as he completed the transformations of Heaven and Spirit, reaching the fourth stage of the Seven Transformation Realm. Liu Shaji’s growth was even more astonishing. As a reincarnator, his rate of progress exceeded even Li Xiaofei’s.

Half a month later, another five members of the team had been lost. But since the secret realms had yielded such rich rewards, the loss of five people was considered an acceptable cost by the various clans.

The team arrived at the eighth fortress of the Fire Domain. The continuous grueling travel had worn everyone down. Even Li Xiaofei was beginning to feel the toll.

The Eighth Safe Fortress was the largest fortress in the Fire Domain. It housed the most stationed personnel and passing travelers, had the strongest security, and boasted the best environment of all the Reaper fortresses.

According to the plan, this was the final stop. After departing from the Eighth Safe Fortress, the Grand Princess and her group would proceed to their destination alone, no longer requiring the protection or escort of the other King-ranked clans.