Chapter 443: Chapter 443: He’s Actually Quite Excited

Crackle, crackle.

The flames first dried the moisture from the vegetation and then caused their surfaces to crack open, emitting constant sounds.

Li Rui carried the Yin Yang Umbrella, walking through the burning forest, with Wu Mengying following behind, appearing very vigilant.

Although both were over level fifty, and as the chairman of a municipal organization, Wu Mengying was no slouch, there still remained a considerable gap between them.

Earlier, among the massive encirclement of Barbaric Beasts, a stealthy Barbaric Beast lunged from the shadows during the chaos, knocking Li Rui to the ground with a claw. But after he got up, he acted as if nothing had happened, picking up his umbrella and charging back into the fray.

In comparison, Wu Mengying did not have as strong defensive capabilities or physique, so she gradually shifted from trying to assist to focusing on self-preservation from the very beginning.

The flying sword whirled around them like a storm, continuously depleting her spiritual power, but only in this way could she keep up with Li Rui’s pace.

After roughly an hour in Secret Realm time, they finally saw no living Barbaric Beast in the vicinity.

Wu Mengying leveled up here, never having imagined she could chase down monsters in a survival-type Secret Realm.

Li Rui was quite familiar with this process. The difference from his previous encounter at the Demon Wind Temple was that he used to shield Chongxu, wielding power by proxy, but now he was taking action personally.

"How come there’s not a single Legendary level item, wasn’t it supposed to increase after level 50?" Li Rui asked.

Wu Mengying patiently explained, "There’s not such a high probability; it’s generally good luck if you get one from a few Secret Realms. None of the advisors from the Superpower Division have a full set of Legendary equipment, do they?"

Only then did he remember that Li Rui was also among the advisors.

"Alright, but what do we do now, there aren’t any aggressive Barbaric Beasts left."

Li Rui looked around, indeed sensing nothing, but the scope of the Golden Scale Northern Abyss was enormous, and actively seeking might take quite some effort.

"Let me try."

Wu Mengying squatted down, taking out a paper-folded butterfly from her inventory, closed her eyes, muttered a few words, and then opened her hands, bringing the butterfly to life, fluttering away.

"Follow it."

She called out, "It’s a guiding tool that can help us find danger."

In a survival-type Secret Realm, danger naturally meant remaining enemies.

Li Rui hurriedly followed her, having no means himself to search for monsters, but Wu Mengying’s considerable experience, possessing such oddities, was normal.

The two followed the paper butterfly southward, running for a dozen minutes, and sure enough, Barbaric Beasts appeared ahead.

Li Rui found that these Barbaric Beasts’ aura was significantly stronger than before, and unlike the brainless lower-level Barbaric Beasts, they were clearly more elite, adorned with sharp spikes and armor forged from refined steel.

But regardless of their expertise, they posed no substantial threat to him. He took no more than three seconds to observe the enemy’s formation before charging forward again with his steel umbrella, unleashing the All Heaven Thunder Fire Spell right off the bat.

Now, the skills on his administrator’s coat had all been upgraded, and the cooldown, constantly resupplied, was only ten minutes, allowing him to use his skills even more recklessly.

Though Community Thunder held no extra restraint over Barbaric Beasts, Li Rui’s own overpowering stats ensured that none could withstand the blaze he unleashed.

By this time, Wu Mengying already felt greatly pressured; normally, she wouldn’t take such aggressive strategies.

After more than an hour of continuous combat, there were no longer any standing Barbaric Beasts before them. Li Rui glanced at the countdown timer, finding it hadn’t ended, without any prompts.

"Does this Secret Realm not have a mechanism for ending early?" he doubted. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Wu Mengying shook her head, "That I’m not sure about; currently, there’s no record of this Secret Realm being cleared."

She spoke quite confidently, yet only then realized they might truly be doing something unprecedented; within these hours, she couldn’t even remember how many Barbaric Beasts had fallen before them.

Li Rui said, "Chairman Wu, have you read any guides? How could there be a bunch of elite Barbaric Beasts here?"

Without hesitation, Wu Mengying replied, "According to the background story, they should be elite Barbaric Beasts pulled back from the frontlines, but why they’re stationed here is unknown."

"There’s certainly something odd about this."

Li Rui said, "During the previous engagement, it was clear that these Barbaric Beasts weren’t exhausted or in poor health; they were all in peak condition. If Liangting’s army were at war to the south, there’s no reason for them to be stationed here unmoving."

"You mean they have another agenda?"

"I can’t say for sure, but it’s definitely unusual."

Now, Li Rui was eager to dig deep, keen on quickly finding any trace and ending this survival Secret Realm’s countdown.

"Let me try again."

At this point, Wu Mengying took out a wooden carved oriole, placing it in her hand to activate. The wooden bird flapped its wings, taking flight on its own, circling once in mid-air, then flying off in another direction.

Seeing Wu Mengying’s gesture, Li Rui immediately followed, asking as he ran, "What’s this now?"

"A Mechanical Bird that senses spell fluctuations, trying to search for anything else nearby."

Li Rui felt fortunate to have encountered such a seasoned veteran here, possessing a wealth of reserves; her combat power might not match his, but her solutions to situations were undoubtedly more comprehensive.

The two dashed forward, chasing the Mechanical Bird, covering a distance of two to three miles, before suddenly hearing a crack. The Mechanical Bird abruptly plummeted.

"What’s happening?"

"Watch out!"

Li Rui teleported in a Thunderbolt Flash to Wu Mengying’s front, deflecting a bolt of white lightning with a hand, its shape formless, aura concealed, difficult to detect.

As he received this surprise strike of White Thunder, several booming sounds followed, and in three different directions around them, formidable auras emerged.

Several Barbaric Beasts walked on two legs, clad in silver armor. One had eyes like lightning, broad nose wings, tusks like an elephant’s sprouting from its mouth, sharp spikes growing from unarmored parts of its body, wielding a Crescent Shovel, followed by many Barbaric Beasts resembling a cross between wild boars and rhinos.

Another wore a red crown, eyes of gold with double pupils. The third was covered in jet-black fur that shone with a metallic sheen, a long tail waving behind it with a trident forked tip.

[Special Mission Triggered: Thunder General Execution.]

[Special Mission Triggered: Thunder General Heavy Falcon.]

[Special Mission Triggered: Thunder General Huo Yang.]

"Special missions? What’s going on, I didn’t sense such powerful Barbaric Beasts earlier," Wu Mengying whispered, her twelve flying swords splitting into three groups, targeting these newly emerged Barbaric Beasts.

Li Rui said, "It’s normal, I recognize these; they are Thunder Generals, the Barbarian Emperor’s personal guards, with Dragon Thunder fragments on them."

"Dragon Thunder, no wonder."

Wu Mengying, having served as Li Rui’s direct superior, knew of the Five Thunders Skill’s existence; that legendary thing, having divine effects, was hardly surprising, "What do we do now?"

This time, she sought Li Rui’s advice, considering that these personal guard Thunder Generals usually didn’t appear in typical Secret Realm processes, and certainly not as a trio; even she regarded them as formidable adversaries, hard to handle.

Having asked, she turned to Li Rui and was taken aback.

Suddenly confronted with three such powerful enemies, accompanied by a large contingent of elite Barbaric Beasts, yet he looked excited?