It was the First Princess.

Wen Yuncheng froze. She hadn’t expected the First Princess to seek her out at all. But…

Her only connection to the Imperial family was the incident with the Third Prince. Could the First Princess be here about that? But that was long over. Was it because she had now demonstrated sufficient potential and strength? Did they think that even with her Star Power mutation, she was still worth cultivating?

“I apologize for this sudden visit… It is, in fact, regarding my third brother,” the First Princess said. “His actions do not represent the will of the Imperial family, and he will never become the crown prince.”

“Of course, I understand. I was also very satisfied with the compensation I received last time.” Wen Yuncheng was a little flustered. Although she had felt at the time that the Imperial family had let him off easy, so much time had passed that she had long since put it out of her mind.

“That’s good to hear.” The First Princess smiled and took out a token. It was golden with dark red trim. In the center was a sharp sword, with a dragon carved above the hilt and a four-pointed star on either side. “This is a token of my Imperial family. I was wondering if I might have the honor of becoming your friend?”

Wen Yuncheng blinked. “Of course… If anything, it is I who am aiming too high.” Wen Yuncheng tried to offer some polite pleasantries, but even she felt a bit awkward saying them. Fortunately, the First Princess didn’t seem to mind and simply smiled as she handed over the token.

“No. This is my personal investment.”

…The First Princess left.

Wen Yuncheng looked at the token in her hand. The back had the same design as before, while the front was engraved with a simple character for “one.”

1947, what’s this for?

[…It’s a symbol of being one of the First Princess’s trusted confidants.] 1947 said. [You can use her authority to put others in their place, but if you get into trouble, it’ll drag down the First Princess’s faction. Also, you can probably get discounts at shops owned by the First Princess?]

Wen Yuncheng: You’re certainly direct.

Wen Yuncheng was discovering that 1947 was getting to know her better and better. She stored the item, which was basically a VIP membership card, in her storage ring. This was, she supposed, a gesture of goodwill from the First Princess.

Thinking this, Wen Yuncheng couldn’t help but smile. People other than Yan Ling were starting to invest in her now. This was probably a form of recognition, too.

On the third day, after lunch, they arrived at the location of the teleportation array. Each person received a token for the teleportation. Only those holding a token could enter the secret realm, and they would need it to return as well.

The teleportation into the secret realm was completely random, so there would be almost no conflict over opportunities. What one obtained depended entirely on one’s own luck. The teleportation proceeded by academy, in order of their ranking.

Thus, the first group to step into the teleportation array was Wen Yuncheng, Lin Jinyu, and Yao Mu.

The teleportation… didn’t feel like much. There was a brief, disorienting sense of spatial distortion, but it quickly passed. When she focused her eyes again, Wen Yuncheng found herself in an unfamiliar place.

A… peculiar ancient building. Wen Yuncheng surveyed her surroundings. There seemed to be many small rooms here. Had she… been teleported directly to a treasure spot? Wen Yuncheng’s eyes lit up. She randomly picked a direction and walked, passing through a long alleyway until she saw a stone chamber.

[This place… seems like…]

Wen Yuncheng walked right in and looked up to see a row of recessed shelves. The shelves were completely empty, with nothing left.

[…It’s been looted.]

Wen Yuncheng: Fine, great. I thought I’d hit the jackpot, but it turns out it was picked clean by people who came before me.

Refusing to accept her fate, Wen Yuncheng casually sprayed a mark on the wall with the paint she had bought earlier, then turned and headed for other secret chambers.

By the time night fell, she was sitting right back where she had first teleported, utterly dejected.

“How could they have picked it so clean!” Wen Yuncheng ran her hands through her hair in frustration. She had no choice but to leave the ancient building and search for her treasures elsewhere.

This small world was vast.

In any case, Wen Yuncheng hadn’t encountered a single person in three days. 1947 finally put its navigation skills to use, guiding Wen Yuncheng to a treasure spot. Unfortunately, the treasure here was a pool of water used for cultivation, containing a massive amount of Star Power! It was useless to Wen Yuncheng.

She pretended to be happy and went in for a bath. While she was in there, she felt a few small, round beads at the bottom of the pool. “1947! What are these priceless treasures?!”

[If you dissolve them in water, you get a pool just like this one.] 1947 sounded a bit exasperated. [They’re basically naturally formed Star Liquid Pills.]

Star Liquid Pills… were actually quite common. Any family with a few resources would give them to their disciples. Since cultivation could only be done at night, using these… allowed one to absorb Star Power directly from the liquid, achieving the feat of cultivating during the day.

Wen Yuncheng’s heart ached a little. She never would have thought they were such cheap beads; she had mistaken them for some kind of pearl! Even so, she collected all the small beads she could find in the pool and put them in her storage ring. They were useless to her, but Lin Jinyu could use them… and even if Lin Jinyu looked down on such things, she could still sell them wholesale. She had no costs, so any price was pure profit.

She was starting to see this so-called secret realm for what it was. It was like a gacha event where everything depended on luck. And the cards that had already been drawn were just blank duds mixed in with the rest, pretending to be prizes.

In this kind of danger-free, pure treasure-hunting secret realm, Wen Yuncheng spent her days rushing about. Guided by 1947, she constantly sought out various stone chambers and secret rooms. For some of the unopened rooms, she had to use her brain to find the mechanism or just brute-force her way in.

Two months could feel long or short. Wen Yuncheng even felt a trace of loneliness in this blasted secret realm. If it weren’t for 1947 keeping her company, she might have completely shut down. This made her wonder if the others were also bored—but probably not.

Wen Yuncheng thought about how hard everyone worked to cultivate. They were surely racing against time in the secret realm, desperately searching for opportunities. She wondered if her Little Ice Mountain had found any opportunities suited for her…

Wen Yuncheng did find quite a few seventh-grade Body Tempering Pills and sixth-grade Rejuvenation Pills, Qi Supplementing Powders, and the like. She also came across some of the forging materials she needed, but their quality was too ordinary, not even as good as Star Steel, so she wasn’t interested. She did, however, find a food similar to Earth’s sweet potatoes in the secret realm and dug up a large amount to store in her ring. It was fine at first, but by the end, the mere sight of the sweet potatoes in her storage ring made her want to vomit.

On the last day of the two months, Wen Yuncheng found a red pool that could be used for body tempering. After the system confirmed it was safe, she got in to soak. Fearing she might be teleported away suddenly, she didn’t even take off her clothes. She fumbled around at the bottom of the pool for a long time but found no treasures.

“I feel like… I got ripped off,” Wen Yuncheng said, lying in the pool and speechlessly gazing at the sky… ceiling.

[It just means there was nothing in this secret realm that was fated for you. The secret realm is the problem. Try a better one next time.]

Wen Yuncheng scoffed. A better secret realm? Tan Qing had said the last time one appeared was eight years ago. As for the next one… she didn’t even know if she’d be able to enter.

[You definitely can. You don’t have any Star Power, so the rules of the secret realms don’t apply to you. Even when you’re level 90, you’ll have no problem entering a level 10 secret realm.]

Wen Yuncheng: …If I’m level ninety, why would I still be grinding in a starter zone?!

What nonsense.

Just then, her token began to glow, and a teleportation array lit up beneath her feet. In a daze, she was sent right back to the teleportation point in the Imperial Palace. Standing with her were Lin Jinyu and the others.

Wen Yuncheng stepped off the teleportation array and saw that everyone who had entered the secret realm was being teleported back one by one.

“The secret realm is now closed. I hope you will all continue to work hard and shine in the Youth Tournament.” The one receiving them was the First Princess. After offering a few words of encouragement, she arranged for people to escort them from the Imperial Palace.

The students from the other academies would probably have to find their instructors at an inn to travel back together… Of course, their instructors might have already left ahead of time, in which case they would have to go to the flying beast station themselves to return to their academies.

Wen Yuncheng and the others, however, returned directly to the academy to rest.

“What kind of opportunities did you get?” Wen Yuncheng asked, sidling up to Lin Jinyu curiously. She took out a storage ring. The eight-cubic-meter ring was filled with things that were useless to her, like those cultivation-aiding beads and some pills she had no use for. “These are useless to me, so they’re all for you.”

“Thank you.” Lin Jinyu didn’t refuse, instead handing Wen Yuncheng a ring in return. “These should be useful to you.”

“Hm?” Wen Yuncheng took it and had a look, discovering that it was filled with various crystals! “Thanks! I love them!” Wen Yuncheng accepted them with a smile. She hadn’t even finished using the Abyssal Crystals Yan Ling had given her, and now she had received so many more. For the time being, she wouldn’t be short on materials for making her C-Series bots and turrets.

“I didn’t search for treasures. Not long after entering the secret realm, I came across a stone stele with a remnant sword intent, and I spent a month there comprehending it,” Lin Jinyu said. “After that, I obtained a lot of pills that accelerate cultivation and spent a good deal of time cultivating in a pool filled with Star Power.”

“I see. I ran all over the place, but unfortunately, I didn’t find any heavenly materials or earthly treasures,” Wen Yuncheng said with a sigh, shaking her head.

Lin Jinyu glanced at her and suddenly asked, “Did the First Princess try to win you over?”

“Ah, yes. She gave me a token.” Wen Yuncheng took out the token to show Lin Jinyu. “But in terms of gratitude, I’m definitely on Teacher Yan Ling’s side. Teacher even told me to protect the auction house in the future.”

“…” Lin Jinyu pressed her lips together. She didn’t have any tokens of authority. In the Flowing Cloud Sect… she didn’t have any real power at the moment. “When I become the Sect Master, would you like to hold the title of Guest Elder in my Flowing Cloud Sect?”

“Of course! As long as you don’t mind, I’d be more than willing.” Wen Yuncheng agreed in a heartbeat. Even without a title, she’d be happy just to be by her Little Ice Mountain’s side!

1947: […Show some restraint. A little restraint.]