Chapter 119: Chapter 108: Projection of the Secret Realm_2

Meanwhile, Huang Haoming hurried back from the forest, his thoughts drifting as he recalled the scene of someone training a Beast Taming.

All four of them had graduated from the same university, but under the pressure of basic livelihood concerns post-graduation, they had given up on pursuing careers as professional Beast Tamers. Besides, their university was not a top-tier institution but merely an average one.

Beast Taming’s combat power wasn’t even as high as it had been before university graduation. Although Huang’s Energy Level had increased several grades during the year since he had graduated, his neglect in training meant that Beast Taming had gained quite a bit of weight.

After all, anyone wishing to continue in the direction of becoming a professional Beast Tamer after university graduation would have to venture into the Exotic Region.

But to go to the Exotic Region, one had to be prepared to risk their life at any moment.

It was said that the mortality rate for Beast Tamers venturing into the Exotic Region was around 20% each year. That might not sound high, with an eighty percent chance of survival, but this was an annual mortality rate.

Accumulated over time, only one in ten ordinary Beast Tamers who managed to live for ten years would survive.

Huang Haoming bore no deep-seated grudge, nor did he have any compelling reason to go there.

His family, elders, and relatives all lived at home, and he had a few friends with whom he was on good terms, so he chose a different way of life.

Find a decent job, marry a girl he liked who also liked him back, wait for her to come home after work each day, or have her wait at home for him. They would eat dinner together and afterwards, take a leisurely stroll by the river hand in hand. This, too, wasn’t a bad prospect for a future.

Whether one chose the path of the ordinary or the extraordinary, each had its own beautiful scenery.

“What’s that over there?” a friend’s voice interrupted Huang Haoming’s reverie.

“Someone is training a Beast Taming; it should be fine. Let’s not disturb them and just keep moving,” Huang Haoming replied.

Leaving the area, Huang Haoming looked back once more at the spot where Chen Xing was training Beast Taming.

The girl who had been invited along glanced at him surreptitiously, thinking that Huang Haoming, who had taken the initiative to scout ahead just now, had a manly charm. He was someone who could step up when it mattered.

…

Boom! Another deafening roar echoed as if the heavens and the earth were trembling.

The sky all around suddenly darkened, as if covered by a colossal black curtain.

Chen Xing’s heart rate spiked, gripped by an unprecedented sense of oppression.

Putting down his tablet, he looked around and found himself encircled by immense walls.

These walls, with their grayish-brown hue, looked ancient and majestic, as if they had stood there since time immemorial.

At fixed intervals, bronze lamps on the walls kindled automatically, their eerie blue flames flickering in the darkness, lending a mysterious and uncanny aura to the space.

Chen Xing’s expression changed dramatically; he abruptly turned off his tablet and looked around, feeling as if he were trapped inside an ancient maze.

He quickly noticed something off: Although the walls looked very real, they also gave off a “phantasmal” sensation.

He reached out and his arm passed straight through the wall as if it were nothing more than a thin veil of illusion.

“An illusion?” The thought crossed Chen Xing’s mind.

Back in school, Coach Kuang had conducted some illusion training with him, so he had a certain ability to discern Illusion Realms.

However, he quickly dismissed this idea.

If it were an illusion, electronic devices like tablets shouldn’t be able to capture any images.

He took out his tablet to record, and to his astonishment, the tablet screen depicted the surrounding scene with lifelike accuracy.

Chen Xing was stunned; this meant that what he was experiencing couldn’t be explained by an illusion.

Was it not an illusion, then?

What was it, a real projection?

At the thought of such a vast projection being real, an idea suddenly came to Chen Xing’s mind.

The descent of a Secret Realm, a mirage.

He never imagined that he would encounter such a rare phenomenon.

He recalled the various rumors about Secret Realms he had once heard.

Reportedly, after the projection, the Secret Realm would fall silent, awaiting its next descent.

The length of this waiting period varied, some might only last a few days, while others could span several decades.

Like with Nightmare Swamp Secret Realm No. 03, from the appearance of a projection to the actual arrival of the secret realm, a whole ten years passed.

Chen Xing still remembered the heated discussions that had erupted on the local forums when the Nightmare Swamp Secret Realm arrived.

All sorts of rumors were rife, among which some secret information was exposed, making it hard to distinguish truth from falsehood.

Some claimed that when the secret realm projected, it wasn’t simply a projection. It temporarily pulled all life within the range of the projection into the secret realm, causing a brief “confluence” with the real world.

This confluence was very brief, lasting perhaps only from several minutes to a few hours, but it was enough to give a glimpse into the true scenes of the secret realm.

This kind of confluence, like a collision between nodes of two different worlds, would briefly create sparks.

However, people who encountered such a confluence were extremely rare.

Because it wasn’t like entering a stabilized secret realm, with signs to follow, secret realm projections often appeared suddenly, with little to no warning.

Chen Xing didn’t know how long the sparkle generated by this collision would cause the secret realm to arrive temporarily, but it seemed that the realm hadn’t fully arrived yet.

He realized that if he wanted to leave, there might still be time now.

So he began to carefully observe his surroundings.

Chen Xing hesitated for a moment in his heart, deciding to first consult his advisor.

However, when he took out his phone to contact his advisor, he found that there was no signal and he couldn’t send any messages.

Chen Xing stood in place, feeling somewhat uneasy.

He looked around at the vast maze-like environment.

From his observations so far, it didn’t seem like a natural outdoor landscape.

This huge maze was obviously constructed artificially. In his heart, Chen Xing thought, for safety’s sake, he decided it would be better to leave this place first.

Although he knew that he was currently presented with a rare opportunity, opportunity also represented equal danger.

However, just as Chen Xing was about to turn around and leave, an anxious voice suddenly broke the silence, “Big brother, it seems we are trapped here, what should we do if we can’t get out? There seems to be a layer of air wall up front, we can’t get through it at all.”

Chen Xing followed the voice and saw a group of four people jogging over.

Their faces were panicked, clearly realizing the predicament they were in.

The low voice of Sìxiàng rose again, “He was just behind that tree.” Chen Xing nodded slightly, indicating that he understood what Sìxiàng meant.

He sized up the four individuals, wondering why they appeared to be ordinary tourists rather than professional explorers or beast tamers.

How did they end up here? And how did they get trapped in this secret realm projection?

Chen Xing suppressed the doubts in his mind and asked, “Where is this air wall you mentioned?”

One of them pointed not far behind them, “It’s over there, you’ll see it if you go a little closer.”

Chen Xing walked in the direction the person had pointed and soon found the invisible air wall.

It was like a transparent film, silently blocking the way. Chen Xing reached out to touch it, feeling only a chill and solid sensation.

He couldn’t help frowning, inwardly cursing his misfortune.

He never expected to run into such trouble upon encountering a secret realm projection. He guessed that this air wall was probably some kind of self-protective mechanism of the secret realm projection, to prevent outsiders or things from entering at will.

But it also prevented those inside from leaving.

“Big brother, do you know what’s going on here?” Huang Haoming asked.

Chen Xing shared his speculation, “A secret realm might be about to emerge in the new district, and we seem to be inside its preliminary projection.”

“Oh… so it’s just a projection, you scared me.”

“But a projection can also briefly become real,” Chen Xing’s voice continued in a somber tone.

The faces of the four stiffened.

Brother, can’t you say it all at once?