Versatile Sword Cultivator

The Snowstorm Prison Secret Realm is a place without realm restrictions, making it the perfect spot for players to bring their companions and for low-realm players to gain experience.

Unfortunately, each player can only clear the Snowstorm Prison once a week. Of course, if they fail, they can try again, but only until they succeed.

The purpose is to prevent low-realm players from relying on this to easily gain experience, which would be too unfair.

Clearing this Secret Realm isn't too difficult, but that's only for difficulties below Hard.

Once it reaches Extreme or Hell difficulty, the challenge increases exponentially.

Not only do the bosses and enemies inside become significantly stronger, but formations are also added, making it extremely challenging.

This is why players outside usually only team up to clear the Easy and Normal levels, with even Hard being rarely attempted.

On the leaderboard at the entrance of the Secret Realm, no one has cleared the Extreme level of Snowstorm Prison yet; the highest is stuck at 95%.

"What difficulty is this?" Su Wanling asked as she entered.

"Hell," Lin Jichen answered simply and directly.

Su Wanling rolled her eyes and teased, "Of course, it's you. Are you sure our setup can clear Hell?"

"How will we know if we don't try?"

"Is this the confidence of my idol? Love it, love it~ I believe my idol can definitely lead us to clear it!"

Before Su Wanling could speak, Liu Xiazi couldn't help but flatter.

"That's right, and there's me too. Little Lin, I'll carry you!" Ren Lan said confidently, boasting shamelessly.

"Sister Ren loves to brag," Niu Naitang clearly didn't believe it.

Ren Lan pinched her cheek in mock anger and said, "You just love to undermine me, huh? Forgot who gave you that big drumstick at dinner?"

Niu Naitang smiled mischievously, "It was Sister Gu who cooked, what does that have to do with you?"

"Oh, you little ingrate, watch me spank you."

The two immediately started to play-fight.

Meanwhile, Jiang Luoyu caught onto something and curiously asked Gu Qiuxue, "Do you all live together?"

Gu Qiuxue smiled and shook her head, "No, we just live nearby and occasionally have meals together."

Hearing this, a flash of envy and desire appeared in Jiang Luoyu's eyes.

If she moved to Jiangling, could she join them for meals too?

This thought became increasingly firm in her mind.

"Alright, stop messing around. Let's go, clearing the Secret Realm is the priority."

Lin Jichen called out and took the lead, with the other nine girls quickly following.

This Secret Realm was all snowy scenery, a vast expanse of white, as if the world had only one color left.

The ten of them walked through the snow, moving forward, the snow crunching under their feet.

***

Before long, they arrived at a fortress-like place.

Inside were copper walls and iron bastions, guards standing on the walls, and the gates tightly shut. A bird flying over the castle was shot through the heart by an arrow, falling dead to the ground.

Clearly, no one could get close to this castle.

Atop the castle stood a hawk-like Spirit Beast as a guard.

"Is this Secret Realm about attacking a city? How can ten of us be enough?" Ren Lan exclaimed.

Liu Xiazi explained, "No, this isn't a city, it's a prison."

"A prison?" Ren Lan was a bit surprised.

"Yes, the Snowstorm Prison Secret Realm is a prison built by a demonic cultivator sect. It holds many righteous cultivators. Our goal is to go in, destroy the prison, and rescue all the righteous cultivators. That's considered a success."

"Wow, that's tough," Ren Lan complained.

"Sister Ren, see, I told you you were bragging. Are you scared now?" Niu Naitang teased.

"I'm not scared. This is called knowing your enemy and yourself, you little rascal," Ren Lan quickly denied.

Liu Xiazi patiently explained, "Below Hard difficulty, it's not too hard. Many players have cleared it. The key is Extreme and Hell difficulty. These two are said to be extremely challenging. The lowest guards are at the Golden Core Realm, and there are formations inside. If triggered and failed, the formation will counterattack, and no one can escape."

The more Ren Lan listened, the less confident she felt. She turned to Lin Jichen and asked, "Little Lin, are you really sure?"

Lin Jichen smiled mysteriously, "You'll see when the time comes."

After speaking, Lin Jichen became serious and addressed everyone, "Let me explain the essence of this mission. The first challenge is the gate. We need to get past it and eliminate all the enemies on the gate and walls. There's a formation inside, so we can't fly. Opening the gate is crucial."

Jiang Luoyu interjected, "Opening the gate doesn't seem hard. We just need to kill the guardian Spirit Beast to get the key."

"It's not hard, but we can't kill this Spirit Beast," Lin Jichen replied.

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"Why?" Jiang Luoyu was puzzled.

Her guild had many experts who had been trying to clear this Secret Realm, and she'd never heard that they couldn't kill the hawk.

Lin Jichen explained, "This hawk is also one of the rescue targets."

"What?"

"You heard right. The hawk doesn't appear in difficulties below Extreme. In Extreme and Hell difficulty, it appears. It's a righteous Spirit Beast captured by demonic cultivators, temporarily subdued by secret methods. If we kill it, the mission can't be completed."

"No wonder no one has cleared the Extreme level of Snowstorm Prison. This is the reason!" Su Wanling was astonished.

All the players must have killed the hawk, not realizing they had failed from the start.

This Secret Realm was too tricky; who would have known?

"If we can't kill it, how do we get the key?" Shi Xiyue couldn't help but ask.

"Simple, ride it!" Lin Jichen answered decisively.

As they spoke, the ten of them reached the prison entrance.

Before they could get close, the hawk Spirit Beast spotted them, screeched, and flew down, its sharp talons as strong as steel, aiming to tear them apart!

"You all wait here. I'll open the gate first."

Lin Jichen said, stepping forward to attract the hawk's attention.

Seeing Lin Jichen not dodging but approaching, the hawk immediately targeted him, its iron claws carrying immense force as they grabbed at him!

Just as the claws were about to tear him in half, Lin Jichen used his incredible speed to easily dodge and quickly grabbed the hawk's leg. With a leap, he was on its back.

Riding on the hawk's head, Lin Jichen felt its intense rejection, as it started shaking its head wildly, trying to throw him off.

Lin Jichen held its neck tightly, pressing his body against it, unmoved by its attempts to shake him off.

The hawk panicked and flew high into the sky, twisting and turning, trying to shake Lin Jichen off.

But Lin Jichen remained unfazed, letting it perform all sorts of aerial maneuvers without moving an inch.

Riding birds was his specialty.

Proofreader & Editor: Lotas