Chapter 425: Anomaly on the Snowfield, the "Child of Divine Favor"

"That's a bit strange..."

On the carriage ahead, the squad leader, a Powerful Expert at the Peak of the Heroic Realm, furrowed his brow. "Middle-Level Lord-Level magical creatures shouldn't be appearing around here."

"Indeed. I remember the creatures around here were generally level five to eight. Anything above level eight is rare. The chance of encountering Middle-Level Lord-Level creatures is nearly zero. These adventurers weren't reckless; they were operating within normal bounds on a mission."

"Either way, let's investigate this later. For now, we should rescue the wounded."

After all, they were members of the Adventurers' Association. When they saw adventurers in danger and could help, they naturally stepped in. It also helped the association maintain its reputation.

Just as they were about to move, a figure suddenly appeared on the battlefield.

It was Lin Mo.

This kind of thing wasn't the first time for Lin Mo. Even before his power had grown this strong, he had done similar deeds many times, to the point that it had become a local anecdote. After all, rescuing people while gaining proficiency was a win-win—there was no reason not to do it.

With a single Flash into the fray, Lin Mo finished the job in three quick moves. Before the struggling adventurers could fully recover, the monsters that had cornered them had all been slain.

"Amazing... so strong!"

After a moment of astonishment, the captain of that adventurer team snapped back to his senses and rushed forward to thank him. "Thank you, great sir, for your help. If nobody had arrived, our team would have been finished."

Lin Mo waved his hand, signaling that no thanks were necessary.

At that moment, several people from the Adventurers' Association arrived as well.

They first checked the bodies on the ground. "Yes, they are indeed Middle-Level Lord-Level creatures."

"Odd..."

One of them looked at the adventurers and asked, "Can you describe how you encountered these monsters?"

The adventurer team's captain stepped forward, scratched his head, and looked puzzled. "Uh... I'm not exactly sure. We took a regular association task, searching for materials nearby, and suddenly ran into these creatures. Many in the team were wounded. Fortunately, you arrived in time, otherwise..."

The association members exchanged glances and whispered among themselves.

Finally, one of them took out a small pouch of Gold Coins and handed it to the captain. "Don't continue this mission. Report the situation to the association when you return. The association will investigate."

He then produced several bottles of mid-grade life potions. "Give these to the injured team members."

The captain took the heavy pouch and lit up with delight. "Thank you, thank you, great sir!"

He hurried off to arrange for his injured teammates.

After that adventurer team left, the association people did not linger. They continued onward. Although the incident was strange, it was not yet a major issue—likely an isolated occurrence. If something truly abnormal had occurred, the association would send people to investigate. They couldn't afford unnecessary delays.

Even though our Adventurers' Association discovered this SS-rank Secret Realm first and stationed people there, and generally no other force would dare contest it when association personnel were present, that wouldn't necessarily stop an empire from making a move. Compared to an empire, the association's reach and resources still fall short.

The gains from an SS-rank—or even lower—Secret Realm could be worth provoking an empire to clash with the association. At worst, they'd bargain for compensation later and the association would swallow the loss. No one wanted an actual

</path> war with an empire.

So they couldn't afford to waste time.

Once the brief detour was over, the group pushed deeper into the Endless Snowfield toward the Secret Realm.

The deeper they went, the more monsters they encountered. The terrain became complex, no longer level plains but rolling rises and, in the distance, towering, cloud-piercing snowy peaks. The sky above the Endless Snowfield was perpetually overcast. The high elevation amplified the oppressive, melancholy feeling.

Along the way, Lin Mo killed many monsters.

He mainly relied on skills from the currently lowest-level Knight profession and earned decent proficiency gains. The Knight profession was now very close to level thirty.

It was worth noting that, along the path, they encountered multiple incidents similar to the one that team of adventurers had faced: creatures that should not inhabit this area appearing closer to the snowfield's periphery.

One or two such occurrences might be coincidence, but multiple incidents undeniably indicated that some unknown change had occurred within the snowfield.

Although they continued toward the Secret Realm, discussion and speculation about the phenomenon increased along the route.

"What could be happening? The ecosystem in a region like the Endless Snowfield should be very stable. A region that large shouldn't be easily disturbed. Why are those creatures migrating outside their usual range, toward the snowfield's outskirts?"

"Maybe something unknown is happening in the snowfield's depths?"

"I don't remember seeing this a few days ago..."

A member from the association sub-branch stationed at the outer gathering area frowned. "This suggests the phenomenon is recent... maybe only the past few days."

"Could it be related to that Secret Realm?"

Someone suddenly made the connection.

"But aren't association personnel stationed near that Secret Realm?"

When the person said this, his expression went stiff.

"Bad, something's happened!"

The others realized something was wrong. So far it was only a grim possibility, but if these anomalies were linked to the recently discovered SS-rank Secret Realm, the people the association had stationed there might have met with trouble.

In such special regions as the Endless Snowfield, the mana network could not be established, so messages couldn't be transmitted. However, the stationed personnel were not ordinary, and even if a force discovered the realm and sought to seize it, they wouldn't typically attack the stationed personnel directly.

Raid and plunder are one thing; murdering the guardians and seizing it is another. The latter would escalate the situation and force the Adventurers' Association into a harsher response—otherwise the association would lose its most precious credibility, and things could spiral out of control.

But what if the threat was not external, but inside the Secret Realm? Or what if the ones who found it were not human powers—like the Orc Empire? They wouldn't care about the association's position.

In any case, they needed to accelerate.

They increased their already brisk pace to the maximum and closed in on the Endless Snowfield's Core Area.

Here the surrounding temperature had plunged to a terrifying minus eighty degrees Celsius. At that temperature, even a fire elemental barrier could hardly fully block the cold, and the mana cost to sustain such a barrier rose sharply.

Thick snow began to bury the horses' hooves, and the carriage could no longer move.

Everyone disembarked. Lin Mo retrieved the carriage into his Portable Space. The association people, though lacking personal Portable Space conveniences, had other means.

They first used prepared magic crystal stones to forge a barrier that could compress and store air, then sealed the carriage and its contents into storage equipment along with the barrier. This method of storing and transporting living beings was common on the continent.

But it had flaws. Even after compression, the air inside the barrier lasts only a limited time, ranging from hours to days depending on the magic crystal stone's grade. The biggest drawback was cost: magic crystal stones are prohibitively expensive. Only those with significant funds could afford to store spells like this.

For these high-ranking Adventurers' Association members, however, cost was not a problem.

After temporarily storing the carriage, they proceeded on foot.

The extreme cold was unpleasant even for these Peak of the Heroic Realm adventurers. Their Constitutions would prevent actual harm, but the cold was still noticeable. For Assassins and Rangers with lower Constitution, the situation was much worse. As for Mages... their fire elemental barriers wrapped them up tight—they dared not cancel the protection or they'd be shivering.

Though costly in mana, it was unavoidable.

Compared to the association members, Lin Mo's group was much more effortless.

Partly thanks to Lin Mo, everyone's Constitution was relatively high. Not at the level of the Heroic warriors and knights, but still a significant advantage over Heroic-level Assassins and Rangers. Also, some of them didn't even need to walk outside. Phili, Sherfilia, Nuolun, and Flora simply returned to Portable Space.

Ellie and Eve had higher Constitutions and feared cold less, and since Lin Mo deployed a fire elemental barrier, they could legitimately huddle against him to warm up, reducing mana needs.

This scene caught the eyes of those Adventurers' Association members. Several Assassins and Rangers glanced at their team's fire-element Mage.

"Miss Keri, could you let us warm up too?"

The Mage girl replied with just one word: "Scram!"

Compared to Ellie and Eve, who were familiar with Lin Mo, Lily looked embarrassed and clearly wasn't cold. Though her level wasn't very high, she was a Paladin. With high Constitution and Holy Light Power within her, she resisted the chill well. Besides, her armor wasn't for show.

It was quasi-Legendary-grade equipment. While not designed specifically for cold resistance, the armor offered solid warmth.

Moving deeper into the snowfield was difficult. The recent fresh snow had reached nearly a person's height—this measured only the new loose snow, not the hardened layers underneath. That meant each step sank deep into soft snow.

To continue, they had to take turns breaking trail.

Lin Mo casually lobbied a fireball forward. It streaked ahead and instantly melted a narrow path through thousands of meters of snow wide enough for one person.

The fire-element Mage looked at him and thought inwardly, "His reputation is well deserved."

News of Lin Mo had already spread across the continent. The leaders of various forces were well aware of his past feats and unusual talents. He mastered multiple elemental magics and nearly all professions, yet his single-element fire magic reached astonishing heights.

Not an exaggeration: even if you took only one of Lin Mo's professions or one element, his talent and potential would rank among Generation-Defining Geniuses.

And this young man effectively concentrated the gifts of a dozen such geniuses into one body...

The title "Child Favored by the Gods" had not been given lightly.

That title was quietly promoted by the church recently, and Lin Mo knew about it. It seemed meant to preface the eventual revelation of his status. Promoting such a title could lay groundwork while remaining discreet: the church handled it covertly so outsiders wouldn't know it originated from them, and thus wouldn't poke too hard and expose identities.

The momentum built by that title might become useful later.

Dark Tide had a corrupting, soul-ensnaring capacity. To resist Dark Tide, humanity needed a banner to steady hearts.

Historically that banner had been the church. But while the church carried weight, it remained a human institution. Against disasters like Dark Tide—an evidently higher-level threat—a new divine figure could inspire people more effectively.