The shout of "Scram!" caused Wan Lei's brows to furrow, but immediately after, he and Fang Xiaoyu were involuntarily sent hurtling backward.
This irresistible, terrifying power made Wan Lei and Fang Xiaoyu cry out in panic.
"Ah!!!"
The scene shifted again, and Wan Lei and Fang Xiaoyu crashed heavily onto the ground.
"What is this? First they tell us to scram, then they throw us down, what's the meaning of it all?"
Wan Lei got to his feet, pulled up Xiaoyu, and his head snapped up, freezing him in place.
Before them was the dust storm they had seen just before entering, the entrance to the Earth Immortal's secret realm.
"Uh… what's going on? How did we come out right after going in?"
Fang Xiaoyu looked at the storm in front of her in disbelief. She remembered clearly that they had entered less than two minutes ago.
"This mission is quite peculiar. Are they asking us to go in again? Until we fully enter or something?"
Wan Lei habitually reached up to scratch his scalp, only to suddenly find he was holding something.
Opening it, Wan Lei was dumbfounded again.
In his palm was a fan-shaped token, engraved with the characters "Shǐ Zhōng" (Always).
Wan Lei, Fang Xiaoyu, and Gouzi were all utterly bewildered.
"Hiss, they just gave us the token? Is the mission of facing death nine times completed? This… this is so perfunctory?"
"To be precise, we didn't do any mission at all."
"We got the token just like that? So simple? So easily? Impossible."
Wan Lei fiddled with the token in his hand, examining it from all sides.
Gouzi also looked it over several times.
"It should be. The Earth Immortal's supreme dao technique is the Dao of Always. This is your fifth token, after Light, Rules, Destruction, and Creation. With Always, once you gather the last one, you will receive the complete inheritance of the Wind Blade Evasion Technique."
However, Wan Lei, accustomed to being tortured by immortals to the brink of death, still refused to believe that everything before him was real.
"Impossible, absolutely impossible. This must be an illusion. Didn't you say this Earth Immortal had heavy resentment? He must want us to experience this process of obtaining things easily in an illusion, and then step by step take them all away, accumulating our resentment, and finally sinking into that fierce ghost.
What we need to do is break through the illusion, break through the resentment, to complete the mission.
Yes, indeed, immortals are so cunning, even their traps are arranged so cleverly."
Wan Lei, with a look of confident understanding, waited for the immortal's next move.
The surroundings were quiet, the storm still sweeping across the land. The dozen or so rogue cultivators nearby exchanged glances, not understanding what madness had possessed Wan Lei to come out so soon after entering.
"Hey, you, come here!"
Fang Xiaoyu pointed to the rogue cultivator they had spoken to before entering.
"Senior Fang."
The person quickly bowed.
"How long have we been inside?"
"Ah?"
The person looked bewildered, wondering if both of them had gone crazy.
But he didn't dare not answer.
"It's only been about two minutes, hasn't it?"
"What did we ask you before we went in?"
"You only asked us how long the secret realm had been open and how many people had entered. Nothing else."
Fang Xiaoyu pondered for a moment, then waved her hand, dismissing the person.
"It doesn't make sense. Could it be that we really came out? If it's an illusion, the secret realm inside shouldn't know about the outside situation."
"How could it be impossible? Don't you remember when we were in the Thunder Star Sea? They gave me a small task, and after completing it, I came out. That was actually a larger illusion, and it could even explore my memories to create illusions based on them."
"Perhaps this time the immortal was greatly merciful. They abused us too much before, and now they feel sorry for us, so we don't need to do any tasks.
After all, others need to do them, but we don't. This also aligns with our consistent uniqueness."
"Our uniqueness is that we are more miserable and unlucky than others. When have we ever been luckier than others?"
"Then tell me, how can we determine if this is real or fake?"
Wan Lei pondered for a moment, his eyes suddenly lighting up.
"Hey, where is the Earth Thunder? Other secret realms give the origin thunder, why don't you give it?"
After shouting, Wan Lei waited quietly. Fang Xiaoyu looked at Wan Lei, then at the storm, her eyes widening.
A yellowish thunderbolt flew out.
"This… this is so perfunctory?"
Wan Lei incredulously took the Earth Thunder and placed it on the Thunder God Hammer. Immediately, the seventh rune lit up completely.
"Holy… shit!"
"It lit up! All nine runes are lit! Your Thunder God Authority is complete?"
Fang Xiaoyu excitedly grabbed Wan Lei's arm.
Gouzi let out a sneer.
"Hmph, you wish. The Heavenly Dao Thunder is only half complete, and the Origin Thunder hasn't been touched at all. Don't look at me; I am the Origin Thunder of the Moral Plane. I'm fine for temporary use, but only the Origin Thunder of the Thunder Wind Realm can perfectly synchronize with other thunder."
"It's all the same, it's all the same. At the very least, I can now use my ultimate killing move. After collecting the other half of the Heavenly Dao Thunder, I can use your Origin Thunder to briefly wield the complete Thunder God Authority.
Hahaha, we've struck it rich this time. We didn't have to do anything, just went in for two minutes, and we got so many good things."
Wan Lei tossed the Thunder God Hammer back and forth in his hand, cherishing it.
Thinking back to over a decade ago, when he first arrived in the Thunder Wind Realm, the Thunder God Hammer had used up all its origin thunder to bring his soul there.
All nine runes were dim and lifeless. He had walked step by step, collecting origin thunder one by one, each collected through facing death nine times.
Now, he had finally collected seven and a half runes, only half a step away from the eight runes of the Thunder God Hammer's peak.
Yes, its peak only had eight runes, because the Origin Thunder of the Moral Plane had been taken by someone else to the Thunder Wind Realm.
"Old friend, do you remember when I first arrived in this world and said that one day, I would make all your runes light up again?
Soon, soon, that day is about to arrive."
Hum…
The Thunder God Hammer trembled slightly, expressing its excitement. Growing together to this day with its master had not been easy.
"That's wonderful. I wish I also had a sentient innate magical treasure that fits me best."
Fang Xiaoyu's eyes were filled with envy.
"You will. When we reach the Immortal Realm someday, I'll find you the best innate magical treasure."
"Mhm."
Looking at the storm before him, Wan Lei stroked his chin and began to ponder.
Since this Earth Immortal secret realm gave anything he asked for, why not take this opportunity to ask for more?
"Hey, other secret realms give magical treasures and divine abilities, like the Divine Light Technique, the Diagram of Destiny, and even the ability to summon wind and rain. You should give me something too…"
Before Wan Lei could finish, a gust of dust emerged from the storm and punched him, sending him flying.
Then, a majestic voice, laced with a hint of anger, echoed:
"Scram!"
Thank you to the great patron Zhai Cai for becoming the second Grand Lord of Ferryman of Heavenly Tribulation. I am truly grateful. The popularity of this book is not high, and Zhai Cai's arrival has given Da Zhuang great hope and brought immense motivation.
Da Zhuang will continue to work hard, write the story well, and deliver the best possible outcome.