Chapter 426: An Uninvited Guest from the Orc Empire?

On the journey that followed, everyone took turns clearing the way as they continued advancing through the snowfield.

The path went relatively smoothly, with no further unexpected incidents.

"We're almost there. Just a bit farther ahead, and we'll reach the core area of the Endless Snowfield. The secret realm we're heading to is at coordinates (416, 784) in the core area. At our current pace, we should arrive in about an hour."

So they really were close.

Lin Mo nodded. The steadily dropping temperature around them also served as a reminder that they were venturing deep into the heart of this vast snowfield.

But just as everyone picked up the pace, eager to hurry over, Ellie suddenly twitched her nose and frowned.

"Lin Mo, I smell blood."

"Blood?"

Lin Mo was taken aback. He had no reason to doubt Ellie's sense of smell. As a Half-Orc, Ellie possessed an exceptionally keen nose, capable of detecting scents that ordinary people couldn't pick up on.

</path>StudyAnatomy

"Yeah, it should be nearby. Should we go check it out?"

Lin Mo hesitated for a moment, then decided to share this information with the others.

Technically, their top priority should be reaching the secret realm as quickly as possible. If they hadn't encountered all those strange phenomena earlier, Lin Mo probably wouldn't have paid this much attention.

But since they'd already noticed that this snowfield was different from before, now that a potential clue had presented itself, they couldn't just ignore it.

"If it's nearby, it's worth a look. It shouldn't take too long."

Clearly, the people from the Adventurers' Association shared the same thought.

And so, following Ellie's guidance, they made a slight detour and quickly found the source of the blood scent.

"It's right beneath here."

Ellie pointed at the snow in front of her.

Perhaps due to the low temperature and the snow cover blocking the scent, by now, none of the others could smell any blood.

Without a word, Lin Mo began clearing away the snow where Ellie had pointed.

He moved carefully, afraid of missing anything. Soon, the scent that had been trapped under the snow reached their noses.

It was a very fresh smell of blood—something that had just happened not long ago.

Lin Mo scooped away another handful of snow, and a patch of red bloodstains came into view.

But that was all. There was nothing else to be seen.

Lin Mo frowned. This outcome was somewhat disappointing.

"Look over here—the bloodstains seem to stretch forward... Though they're a bit blurry from the snow cover, you can still make out clear drag marks."

"That's not strange, is it? Just a normal hunt between magical creatures."

"Yeah."

"We came all the way out here for nothing. Let's hurry to the secret realm..."

Ellie didn't say anything more, since based on the information available, that was indeed the case.

Along the way, they ran into a few more magical creatures, but the creatures' states seemed a bit off...

Normally, the magical creatures living in the core area of the Endless Snowfield were extremely powerful, and that was indeed the case. Every magical creature they encountered had reached a level equivalent to human Transcendent-Level experts.

Some of the stronger ones were even close to Epic Level!

Under normal circumstances, these creatures would either be keenly perceptive and cautious—spotting them early and avoiding conflict unless the situation was clear—or they'd be irritable or overly confident, choosing to attack directly.

But the creatures they encountered were neither. Instead, they looked like they were... fleeing?

That was right—fleeing.

Lin Mo thought about it for a long moment before this realization hit him.

These magical creatures moved hastily, looking panicked. This clearly didn't resemble a hunting state; it looked more like they were running for their lives. And the direction they were fleeing in was exactly where they were heading.

Could all this be related to that mysterious secret realm?

Then Lin Mo thought back to the bloodstains they had deliberately taken a detour to check earlier, now buried under snow.

Could that also be connected to this SS-level secret realm?

Thoughts raced through his mind, but their pace never slowed. Now, they were less than half an hour away from the secret realm's coordinates.

Then, they found bloodstains on the snow again...

Unlike the previous time, these traces were much clearer. The path the blood had left on the ground was plainly visible, pointing... in the same direction they were heading.

"Lin Mo, I smell the scent of a magical creature. It's not far ahead."

</path>StudyAnatomy

Lin Mo's expression immediately turned serious. "Chase it!"

In an instant, brilliant multicolored light enveloped him as he shot forward, taking the lead. The snow along his path melted completely, carving out a muddy trail.

The bloodstains they saw hadn't yet been covered by snow. In the ever-blizzard-swept core area of the Endless Snowfield, this meant the incident had happened only minutes ago at most.

Thus, it didn't take long for Lin Mo to find the target.

A massive snow leopard was dragging its prey forward.

The snow leopard looked to be six or seven meters tall. The snow on the ground barely hindered its movement, and the prey it dragged was equally huge—about two-thirds the leopard's size.

"That's... a Frost Crystal Leopard? And a Snowhorn Deer..."

The others caught up and saw the scene as well. Someone from the Adventurers' Association immediately identified both creatures.

"The Frost Crystal Leopard is a powerful solitary magical creature that lives in the core area of the Endless Snowfield. An adult specimen reaches Epic Level!"

As he spoke, he prepared to take action.

From his understanding of this creature, Frost Crystal Leopards were extremely aggressive and ferocious. Even when not hunting, they would kill any living thing that appeared before them, including their own kind.

Except for their own cubs under a year old.

In short, encountering this kind of magical creature left no room for wishful thinking; you had to be ready to fight to the death.

But to his astonishment, when this Frost Crystal Leopard saw them, it did flash a hint of viciousness in its eyes. Yet, for some reason, that murderous gleam quickly faded, and it hurriedly dragged its prey away, as if something were urging it on.

Lin Mo exchanged a glance with the Adventurers' Association members. Without a word, they held back from attacking and simply followed from a distance.

The Frost Crystal Leopard clearly sensed they were tailing it. It turned back several times, baring its teeth and snarling, as if issuing a warning.

This was even more abnormal. Normally, a creature like a Frost Crystal Leopard would never tolerate such behavior.

But now, it was constantly focused on moving forward, its pace growing faster and faster.

Eventually, it didn't even bother to look back anymore.

This scene alone was astonishing enough, but what surprised them even more came next...

After following this Frost Crystal Leopard for a while, another Frost Crystal Leopard appeared in their line of sight.

This one was also dragging a massive prey. Normally, if the two encountered each other, a fight would have definitely broken out.

But to everyone's shock, the two Frost Crystal Leopards acted as if they hadn't seen each other at all, both continuing on their way without a care.

"Something's wrong... Definitely wrong!"

"Is that really a Frost Crystal Leopard? I remember the last time I ran into one, that thing didn't hesitate at all. It went straight for a fight to the death, even when it clearly couldn't beat me, it didn't flee. How can this insane creature act so calm?"

"And the direction they're heading in is clearly where the secret realm is."

Lin Mo frowned as well. "Looks like this secret realm isn't simple!"

As they got closer to the secret realm, the number of Frost Crystal Leopards appearing before them continued to increase. By the time the secret realm finally came into view, there were already four of them.

All four Frost Crystal Leopards rushed into the secret realm with such urgency that they even collided with each other trying to get in faster. Yet even then, they didn't start fighting.

"This is too bizarre... Could all the research on this creature be wrong?"

"Wait... What about the association personnel who were stationed here?"

They searched around and quickly found a temporary camp that had been destroyed.

The camp was a mess, with clear signs of damage, but there was no blood.

"Maybe they encountered some danger and had to evacuate?"

"That's possible. If that's the case, at least they're safe..."

"Could their evacuation be related to those strange Frost Crystal Leopards?"

"What else could it be? It's pretty obvious..."

"No, that's not right!"

The captain from the Adventurers' Association, a Peak Heroic Realm expert, shook his head. "This should be two separate incidents... Look closely. The damage to this camp doesn't look like the work of large magical creatures like Frost Crystal Leopards."

Everyone focused their gaze and saw that it was true. There were some claw marks on the ruined camp, but they were nowhere near as large as a Frost Crystal Leopard's. Instead, they were about the size of a human's.

"Come look over here... Besides the claw marks, there are signs of weapon attacks!"

Another member of the Adventurers' Association made a new discovery.

"...These should be the work of Orcs!"

At this, everyone immediately became alert, scanning their surroundings warily.

Lin Mo also narrowed his eyes. He examined the marks on the camp for a few moments before saying, "Those Orcs have likely already entered the secret realm. We need to hurry!"

If they were too slow, others would beat them to whatever was inside the secret realm!

And those eerily behaving Frost Crystal Leopards too... What exactly was going on inside that secret realm?

Regardless, they had to move quickly.

"Since we've come this far, there's no way we're giving up. The

</path> war between the Orc Empire and the Serya Empire has been escalating recently. The Orcs probably don't have much strength to spare for sending powerful fighters. There's no way we're abandoning this secret realm!"

</path>ReadBestsellers

The captain from the Adventurers' Association quickly made his stance clear. Soon, everyone arrived in front of the secret realm's entrance.

Lin Mo studied the entrance before him. Just from its appearance, it didn't seem much different from the other secret realms he had entered before.

But given the strange phenomena they'd encountered, combined with the appearance of the Orc Empire's forces, this journey into the secret realm was probably not going to be smooth sailing.

So then...

Lin Mo watched as the Adventurers' Association members filed into the secret realm one by one. First, he tucked Ellie and the others into his Portable Space. Then, using the [Shadow Split] skill, he left behind a clone before finally stepping through the entrance.

This way, even if something unexpected happened inside, he could still get out.

It would cost some Qi and Blood consumption, but it was completely worth it.

With that familiar, dizzying sensation of the world spinning around him, Lin Mo entered the secret realm.

When his vision cleared again, the Adventurers' Association members were already waiting for him.

Lin Mo looked around.

The walls were all pure white. He reached out and touched one—it was cold to the touch.

When he applied a bit of force, the wall didn't leave a single mark.

But when he pressed harder, it left a shallow fingerprint.

"Looks like this secret realm isn't all that sturdy..."

Of course, it could also be that Lin Mo's strength had increased. When he'd entered secret realms before, he hadn't been nearly this powerful. Even if the secret realms weren't at a very high level, the rules within them were unbreakable for him back then.

But things were different now.

A secret realm was ultimately created by its creator. So, if one's strength reached or even surpassed the creator's level, any terrain or rules within the secret realm would naturally become meaningless.

That was why Lin Mo had deliberately tested it just now—to gauge the secret realm's level.

From the results, it seemed the secret realm's creator was stronger than Lin Mo was now, but not overwhelmingly so—not to the point where he couldn't catch up at all.

Based on Lin Mo's estimate, the creator was likely a figure at the early to mid Legendary Level.

From this perspective, the association's evaluation of this secret realm as SS-level was fairly accurate.

A secret realm created by a creator would generally be one or more tiers lower than the creator themselves.

Additionally, from what he could see, the structure of this secret realm seemed to be of a simpler type—not too complex.

Lin Mo liked this kind of secret realm. No maze to navigate.

Compared to those winding, twisty, route-heavy secret realms, this simple kind was much better.

Of course, it also meant they would be more likely to run into the other forces that had already entered this secret realm.

---