Chapter 428: A Room Piled High with Corpses, an Impenetrable Frozen Door

Everything is in your hands now, Lin Mo...

With these thoughts weighing on his mind, the captain of the Adventurers' Association squad wasted no more breath on the Orcs before him.

"Enough talk. Since you want to fight, let's get straight to it!"

As his voice fell, he struck first, taking the initiative to charge at the enemy.

The others behind him roughly understood his intention and followed closely, surging forward.

"Hmph, you're asking for death!"

The Orcs across from them showed no sign of fear either. The Orc race had always been bloodthirsty and warlike, so they were more than happy to throw down.

The battle erupted instantly.

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The Adventurers' Association had selected a perfectly balanced team composition for this secret realm expedition. As the fight began, they quickly formed a formation, their positioning and coordination impeccable.

Combined with their numerical advantage, even though their individual combat prowess fell short of the Orcs, they fought without any hesitation, completely at ease.

The Orcs, with their superior individual strength, were also fighting with great gusto.

At first, their style was reckless and impatient, eager for a quick victory. But when they realized a short-term win was impossible, they quickly adjusted their strategy.

After all, their mission was simply to stall these humans. If they kept up this entanglement, once those inside found the secret realm's treasure and came out to help, all these humans would be trapped here!

Wiping out such a large group of capable humans in one go would clear a significant obstacle for the Empire's future expansion, its eventual annihilation of humanity, and its path to becoming the continent's overlord.

On the other side, the Adventurers' Association chose to trust Lin Mo. They had to hold these Orcs back and create as much space for him as possible.

In a way, both sides believed they were the ones buying time.

As the battle wore on, the intensity actually decreased rather than increased, slowly tapering off.

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...

Meanwhile, on the other side, Lin Mo had no idea what the Adventurers' Association members were up against.

He was still following behind the Frost Crystal Leopard, tailing it closely.

Lin Mo had a vague feeling that the anomalous Frost Crystal Leopard herd held the key. Uncovering the truth behind them might just lift the veil on this entire secret realm!

Everything was proceeding smoothly.

Following the Frost Crystal Leopard dragging its prey, Lin Mo gradually ventured deeper into the secret realm.

While tracking, Lin Mo didn't forget to take in his surroundings.

The overall structure of the secret realm seemed consistent. What it looked like on the outside was what it looked like on the inside, with almost no variation.

If there was one difference, it was the increasingly frigid temperature.

The surrounding cold had reached a point where the air itself felt almost congealed.

This extreme low temperature couldn't be solely due to the environment; it had to be influenced by something else.

Based on Berry's earlier speculation, the intense heat from the other realm was unlikely to be caused by its hidden treasure.

"Hmm?"

Just as Lin Mo was walking and pondering these things, the Frost Crystal Leopard ahead suddenly stopped.

Lin Mo immediately fixed his gaze forward. There, a door had appeared...

More accurately, it was an opening that looked like a door.

This opening was enormous. Judging by eye, it was over two hundred meters high and just as wide, reaching three to four hundred meters!

After a brief pause, the Frost Crystal Leopard dragged its prey inside again.

Lin Mo followed closely behind, his gaze continuing forward. As he entered this massive, door-like opening, what appeared before him was an incredibly huge... chamber?

For lack of a better word, let's call it a chamber. In truth, it was a colossal room made of thick, deep-blue ice.

And inside this room, corpses of all kinds of Magical Creatures were piled up, forming a small mountain. Thanks to the low temperature, they were all perfectly preserved.

Looking further into the distance, he could see other Frost Crystal Leopards transporting prey from other directions.

"This... what in the world..."

Lin Mo stared at the scene before him, completely stunned, unable to speak for a moment.

So, the Frost Crystal Leopards were bringing all their caught prey here?

But why?

Lin Mo couldn't fathom their reason. Frost Crystal Leopards were solitary Magical Creatures with no concept of a pack.

The only possible explanation he could think of was that it had something to do with this secret realm.

Keeping his Stealth active, Lin Mo continued forward. Along the way, he observed the Magical Creature corpses lying on the ground. There were high-level ones and low-level ones. The strongest even reached Epic Level, while the weakest included those below level ten.

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This meant that the Frost Crystal Leopards had ventured all the way to the outer areas of the Endless Snowfield to collect these prey.

It was a truly chilling thought. Imagine if human adventurers encountered these Frost Crystal Leopards hunting in the outer regions during their own expeditions... They would probably end up as trophies just like these Magical Creatures.

However, after a thorough look around, Lin Mo didn't find any human corpses. He couldn't tell if they had simply never encountered humans or if the Frost Crystal Leopards simply didn't consider humans as prey.

After carefully scouring this enormous room, besides the piles of corpses, Lin Mo found nothing else useful.

Staying here any longer would likely yield no results. As for the Frost Crystal Leopards continuously delivering prey... Lin Mo considered taking them out for some proficiency points, but after a moment's thought, he abandoned the idea.

Until he figured out the root cause of this strange phenomenon, it was best not to act rashly.

He then left this massive ice chamber through another exit and continued exploring the secret realm.

Of course, he left behind a Shadow Split to keep observing the place.

After leaving that giant ice chamber and exploring the secret realm for a while longer, Lin Mo reached a conclusion. This secret realm was indeed nothing like the ones they were used to. It couldn't be judged by conventional logic.

He wondered how the Adventurers' Association was doing. Had they found anything?

While Lin Mo could send out a Shadow Split to stealthily follow them, that wasn't really appropriate. They were only cooperating, so keeping some distance was best.

Plus, the number of Shadow Splits he could maintain was limited. Each additional one consumed more Qi and Blood.

So, he didn't do it.

After wandering aimlessly through the secret realm for another ten minutes or so, Lin Mo began to lose patience.

He had been in this secret realm for so long without finding any treasure or even encountering any Magical Creatures. It was a far cry from his expectations.

Lin Mo had originally planned to use this trip to break through to the Heroic Realm.

Just as frustration began to creep in, his brow furrowed, and he stopped in his tracks.

The secret realm was utterly silent. But within that silence, there seemed to be some faint, indistinct noises.

The sound was coming from some distance away. Over there!

After confirming the direction, Lin Mo didn't hesitate. He immediately rushed toward it.

He had no idea what the sound was, but it was still better than wandering around aimlessly.

Lin Mo moved quickly, and as the distance closed, he gradually made out the sound.

Was that... the sound of voices?

Could it be the people from the Adventurers' Association?

Disappointment flashed through Lin Mo's mind at the thought. But after listening more carefully, he frowned again.

No, that's not right. It shouldn't be them.

The language they were speaking wasn't the common tongue of the Heavenly Continent that he knew.

Orcs?

Lin Mo quickly realized the source of the voices. It was most likely the Orcs who had entered the secret realm before them.

He was getting closer now and could clearly hear what the Orcs were saying. Unfortunately, he didn't understand the Orc language, so the meaning was lost on him.

Still, he could discern excitement and urgency from their tone.

Could they have found something?

If so, Lin Mo raised an eyebrow, he supposed he'd have to thank them.

Of course, caution was still necessary. Lin Mo kept his Stealth active and left a Shadow Split at a slightly farther distance, just in case.

Only then did he head straight for the source of the sound.

Soon, he saw a large cluster of Orcs. At their head was a lion-clan Orc, its neck ringed with a striking mane of golden fur.

His strength was also formidable, undoubtedly at the Heroic Realm, and specifically at the Peak of the Heroic Realm.

Besides him, several other Orcs around him were also at the Heroic Realm. There wasn't a weakling in the bunch.

Although they were Orcs, perhaps because they were of a higher standing within their race, their clothing and appearance were surprisingly proper.

But the stark contrast between their neat, ornate attire and their rough, hairy faces and bodies was honestly hard to appreciate.

Lin Mo took a look and shook his head.

He didn't like these pure-blooded Orcs at all. In fact, he found them rather repulsive.

Half-Orc girls like Ellie and Lena were much cuter.

Of course, that wasn't the main point. Lin Mo quickly turned his attention to what was in front of the Orcs.

There stood a massive, frozen door.

From its size, it seemed similar to the entrance of the chamber he had just visited. The difference was that the earlier chamber only had a door frame, without an actual door.

But here, there was a solid, enormous ice door blocking the way.

The Orcs' excited and heated discussion was all about this ice door. It was clear they believed, just as Lin Mo suspected, that behind this door lay the hidden treasure of this secret realm.

Lin Mo had the same guess, but because of the room filled with prey he'd seen earlier, he wasn't entirely certain.

After all, it couldn't be that every ice chamber was used for storing prey, could it?

As Lin Mo pondered this, he continued observing the Orcs.

These guys were nothing like the easy-going members of the Adventurers' Association. They were likely impossible to reason with. If the treasure really was behind this door, there was no way Lin Mo would just hand it over.

This meant he would have to take on over a dozen Heroic Realm Orcs all by himself.

Including three at the Peak of the Heroic Realm and four or five at the Late Heroic Realm.

The enemy lineup was incredibly strong, but Lin Mo's heart was oddly calm. He didn't feel nervous at all.

This stemmed from his confidence in his own strength.

On paper, Lin Mo's attributes were equivalent to someone at the Peak of the Heroic Realm. His opponent, however, was over a dozen Heroic Realm Orcs.

On the surface, this looked like a completely mismatched fight. Normally, Lin Mo would be crushed without a doubt. But was that really the case?

Lin Mo certainly didn't think so.

A person's strength wasn't just about stats. It also included skills, combat experience, technique, and intelligence.

After all this time, Lin Mo had accumulated more tricks than the average person could even imagine.

If it really came to a fight, the process might be a bit tough, but he was fully confident that he could wipe out all these Orcs.

Of course, now wasn't the time to strike.

He still hadn't confirmed whether the treasure was really behind this door.

So Lin Mo didn't reveal himself. He continued to observe from the shadows.

Orcs, regardless of their tribe, were naturally impatient and had little tolerance for waiting. After a brief discussion, the golden-maned Orc leading the group stepped forward. He was carrying a massive broadsword. With a furious roar, he swung it heavily, slamming it into the ice door before him.

BOOM!

A thunderous crash echoed as the ground trembled. But the ice door only had a shallow crack.

This...

The golden-maned Orc was utterly stunned. How could it be this hard?

That strike, while not his full power, was at least fifty to sixty percent of his strength.

A Peak Heroic Realm expert's blow at fifty to sixty percent power, and it barely left a mark?

This thing was ridiculously tough!

The ice door's hardness shocked Lin Mo, who was watching from the shadows.

How could it be this hard?

He had tested the secret realm's strength earlier. While it was indeed quite high, it was generally on par with the early to mid Legendary Level.

But this enormous ice door was clearly far more durable than the secret realm itself.

Based on the damage from the Orc's attack, even Lin Mo would struggle to break through this door in a short time.

The path forward was completely sealed by this ice door, with no other shortcuts.

What about breaking through the walls on either side to bypass it?

Setting aside the difficulty, without a thorough understanding of this secret realm, rashly doing something like that could lead to unknown consequences. What if breaking the wall caused something disastrous?

If this secret realm was an independent space separate from the Main World, breaking the wall might just unleash chaotic Spacetime Turbulence!

But then... Lin Mo looked at the massive ice door, lost in thought.

The fact that the ice door was harder than the secret realm itself was quite intriguing.

Did that mean whatever was behind this door was extremely valuable and worth protecting?

If so, the possibility that the secret realm's hidden treasure lay beyond this door was significantly higher.